Authority to Forgive

Author: Joseph

Date: March 29, 2020

Yeshua forgave a paralytic man of his sins and then commanded him to get up and walk. Two miraculous things happened. The first is that the paralytic man’s sins were forgiven. The second is that the paralytic man was healed and able to walk again. Even more surprising than these miracles, however, is a statement often overlooked in this passage.

The statement that is most surprising is at the end of verse 8 of this chapter, which states, “But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (Matthew 9:8) [emphasis mine]. Who are these “men” that authority was given to?

The first option is the literal sense of “men” as mankind. This option fails to be true for many reasons. First, it is Yeshua (God in the flesh) alone that had this authority. No one else in the entire Bible was able to forgive sins except Yeshua and therefore the “men” that are being referenced must be in direct relation to God and His authority. Mankind has no authority to forgive sins, even less so when they are apart from God.

The second option is that “men” is referring to Yeshua, but this does not make sense because the word is plural and speaks of “men” without any reference to “son of man” or any other term that would parallel with a title that was given to Yeshua. Yeshua certainly has the authority, but this statement was not referencing Him, at least not alone, for the “men” is plural.

The third option is that “men” directly refers to the disciples of Yeshua, who were granted authority through Him. This makes sense for many reasons: they were more than one (cf. Luke 6:13-16; 10:1), they were granted authority through Yeshua (cf. John 20:23), and they even practiced this authority (Acts 5:1-11).

(Note: It is important to remember that the writer of the gospel of Matthew wrote after the events that occurred and included statements such as the one we are analyzing now having known more information than we have received so far in our reading of this gospel. The writer of Matthew is stating that the people were awestruck of the authority given to the disciples, but this authority had yet to be given to them during the event he was describing. Nevertheless, it was given to them by the time this gospel book was written).

This means that the disciples of Yeshua were able to extend the forgiveness from Yeshua’s authority or conversely render judgement upon unrepentance (cf. Matthew 10:13-15).

This authority is given to all the disciples of Yeshua, even those of today, and comes with great responsibility, requiring a mature understanding of its use.

We cannot, as Yeshua’s disciples, render judgment haphazardly (cf. Luke 9:51-56). Such an abuse of authority will not work and will wrongfully bring dishonor to God. We must also not withhold forgiveness from those who sin against us (cf. Matthew 6:14-15). Just as God has forgiven us, we must also forgive those who sin against us.

"...God alone is the source of forgiveness..."

We can, however, extend forgiveness of sins to those who put their faith in God. Of course, this is not done by our power (we don’t have any), nor for our own purpose (only God’s will is to be done). Forgiveness can only be done through God’s authority, by His power, and for His will. When we remember that God alone is the source of forgiveness and we are only extensions, forgiving others of their sins can be done righteously.

You have the authority, as a disciple of Yeshua, to forgive others of their sins. Use this authority to extend the kingdom of God and to bring glory to His name.

Matthew 9:1-8

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB). www.lockman.org