Jesus Forgives and Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching. Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. They heard that the Lord had given Jesus the power to heal the sick. ¹⁸ So some men came carrying a man who could not walk. He was lying on a mat. They tried to take him into the house to place him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹ They could not find a way to do this because of the crowd. So they went up on the roof. Then they lowered the man on his mat through the opening in the roof tiles. They lowered him into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw that they had faith, he spoke to the man. He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to think, “Who is this fellow who says such an evil thing? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³ Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he spoke to the man who could not walk. “I tell you,” he said, “get up. Take your mat and go home.” ²⁵ Right away, the man stood up in front of them. He took his mat and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with wonder. They said, “We have seen unusual things today.”