Luke 5:22-26: in context

When a paralyzed man is brought to Jesus, Jesus first says something unexpected: your sins are forgiven. The onlookers are scandalized, for who can forgive sins but God? Jesus, knowing their thoughts, asks, which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven, or to say arise and walk? Then, that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he tells the paralytic to rise and walk, and immediately the man does, glorifying God. The visible healing was given to prove the greater, invisible reality: that Jesus has authority to forgive sins.

The heart of this account is Jesus' claim to authority that belongs to God: the authority to forgive sins. The onlookers rightly understood that only God can forgive sins, and were scandalized that Jesus claimed to do so. And Jesus does not retreat from the claim; he proves it. By healing the paralytic with a word, he demonstrates the authority behind his forgiveness, so that they may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. The visible healing, which they could see, was the proof of the invisible forgiveness, which they could not; if he could do the one, he could do the other. Jesus has authority to forgive sins. This meets our deepest need. The paralytic's need for healing was real; but Jesus addressed first his deeper need, forgiveness. For our deepest need is not physical but spiritual: the forgiveness of our sins, the removal of the guilt that separates us from God. And Jesus has authority to meet exactly this need. He can forgive sins, address the deepest problem of the human heart, remove the guilt that no one else can remove. Who is it, Scripture asks, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases? It is God; and Jesus, forgiving sins, exercises the authority of God. This directs us to come to Jesus not only for lesser needs but for the forgiveness only he can give. We come to God with many needs, and rightly; but our deepest need is forgiveness, and Jesus has authority to give it. The paralytic came for healing and received first forgiveness, the deeper gift. And we too may come to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, knowing that he has authority on earth to forgive, that he can meet our deepest need, removing the guilt that separates us from God. This calls us to bring our sins to Jesus for the forgiveness he has authority to give. He proved his authority to forgive by healing the paralytic; and that authority is exercised toward all who come to him with their sins. Let us come to Jesus not only with our lesser needs but with our deepest need, the forgiveness of our sins, trusting that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive, and receiving from him the forgiveness that only he, exercising the authority of God, can give, so that our deepest need is met by the one who says, your sins are forgiven, and proves he has the authority to say it.

Do I come to Jesus with my lesser needs while neglecting my deepest need, the forgiveness of my sins that separates me from God, and can Jesus, who forgave the paralytic and healed him to prove that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, move me to bring my sins to him for the forgiveness only he can give, trusting that he has authority to meet my deepest need and to remove the guilt that no one else can remove, receiving from him the word, your sins are forgiven?