How does Luke 5:21 connect with Old Testament teachings on forgiveness? Setting the Scene in Luke 5 • A paralyzed man is lowered through the roof, eager for healing. • Instead of addressing the physical need first, Jesus declares, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20). • Immediately “the scribes and Pharisees began thinking: ‘Who is this man who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ ” (Luke 5:21). • Their protest rests on a deeply rooted Old Testament conviction: forgiveness of sin belongs exclusively to the LORD. Old Testament Foundations: Only God Forgives • Exodus 34:6-7 — “The LORD... forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.” • Psalm 130:3-4 — “If You, O LORD, kept a record of iniquities... But with You there is forgiveness.” • Isaiah 43:25 — “I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake.” • Daniel 9:9 — “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness.” Key thread: every writer agrees that pardon is God’s prerogative; humans can announce it only on His terms. Sacrifice, Blood, and Atonement in the Law • Leviticus 4 and 5 describe sin offerings: the priest sprinkles blood, “and the priest shall make atonement... and he will be forgiven” (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35). • Leviticus 17:11 explains why: “It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” • Even here, forgiveness does not originate with the priest or the animal; God grants it through the divinely prescribed sacrifice. Prophetic Promises of Deeper Forgiveness • Isaiah 53:5-6 — the Suffering Servant “was pierced for our transgressions... the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” • Jeremiah 31:34 — under the new covenant God promises, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” The prophets hint that ultimate, once-for-all pardon will arrive through a Person sent by God. Luke 5:21 as Fulfillment • When Jesus pronounces forgiveness without offering a temple sacrifice, He steps directly into the divine role portrayed throughout the Old Testament. • The scribes recognize the implication: if only God can forgive, Jesus is either blaspheming or revealing His divine identity. • By immediately healing the man’s paralysis (Luke 5:24-25), Jesus supplies visible proof that His invisible act of forgiveness is real. • The scene unites three streams of Old Testament teaching: – God alone forgives sin. – Forgiveness is tied to atonement. – A coming Servant will bear sin and inaugurate the new covenant. Takeaways for the Reader • Luke 5:21 stands on the bedrock of Old Testament theology and shows Jesus fulfilling it in living color. • The same God who forgave through sacrifices now forgives through His Son, the true atoning Lamb. • Scripture’s storyline points unbroken from Sinai’s altar to the roof-top miracle in Galilee, affirming that Jesus possesses the very authority of God to forgive sins today. |
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