Passage Read: Matthew 9-10
Meditation Verses: 9:1-2
Thought
Seeing the determination of these men for their friend, Jesus was moved to proclaim the forgiveness of the man's sins. The man and his friends did not ask for forgiveness. The man did not express repentance. But this is the man who was let down through the roof by his friends, that's how determined they were to get him in front of Jesus for healing! That's how certain they were that Jesus could and would heal him. And Jesus was so moved by compassion that He gave him an even greater gift: forgiveness. And to prove His authority to forgive sins, He also healed the man.
Application
It is shocking that Jesus has given this authority to His disciples. But we can't just go around declaring this person and that person forgiven. Jesus saw the faith of these men, expressed in their determination to get their friend to Jesus for healing, and He extended forgiveness to Him. We too can assure and even declare a friend forgiven when they are earnestly seeking Jesus, desperate for some help or blessing from Him, convinced that only He can give it, even if it isn't forgiveness they are seeking. God is delighted by any display of earnest seeking, convinced faith, that He gladly grants forgiveness to the seeker. I can do the same, at least for those who desperately seek but sense no response.