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        Last Christmastime I saw a family that I knew at the mall where they stood staring at a series of cages at the animal shelter display. They had two daughters and a son who had wanted a dog as a pet for a long time. After years of their subtle--and not so subtle--pleading with the parents they finally gave them permission to look for a dog. They took up the assignment with great joy. The parents decided to see about rescuing a dog that had been cast aside. So there they then stood in front of a cage, considering the dog that they had chosen.

        It was clear that the cage was restricting a lively, normal dog. He was a three-year-old, shorthaired rat terrier. The expression in his eyes showed that he had no clue why he was caged. Fear and uncertainty projected from his tiny face.

        The family took the dog for a test walk. Out of the cage he was a different creature. There was a bounce in his step and a "smile" in his walk as he enjoyed a short taste of freedom. Release, even temporary release, felt good. It seemed obvious that if he could have the kind of release that he was getting a taste of now, then his fear and uncertainty could be reversed. The family did free the dog. When they brought him home, the love that he had for them was evident from the start. They had freed him, and he seemed grateful. Even though they always wondered what had caged him, in a sense it no longer mattered. He experienced the release that comes from obtaining a freedom previously denied. What really struck me was the joy that their releasing the dog brought to him--and to them.

        Considering forgiveness as a claim of Jesus Christ is very different from bringing home a new pet, of course. As humans our predicament is much more serious than the dog's situation was. But we know what cages us in. It is our sin. Sin produces a barrier between us and God who created us; sin entraps, ensnares and cages us. Sometimes we sense that nothing will let us out of the cage in which we have placed ourselves. Perhaps we think that God wants to keep us caged to pay our debt for our actions.

        Such a view of God, however, fails to explain adequately why Jesus came and what His claim was all about. Not only did He claim to be able to forgive sin, but He acted on the opportunity to provide forgiveness. He longs to release people from the cages that they create for themselves.

Christ's Claim Demonstrated

        It is inadequate to say that Jesus claimed to forgive sins--He did more than make the claim. He supported the claim with action.

        One day, as Jesus was teaching, some men lowered a paralytic through the roof so that the paralytic was in front of Jesus. Because of the crowd, the men had been unable to enter through the door. Jesus did not chastise them for interrupting His eloquent exposition; He took note of their faith and then said to the man lying on the mat, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

        These words were possibly shocking--and probably disappointing--to the man and to those around him. The man had been brought to Jesus so that he could receive the ability to walk. Perhaps he thought that the spiritual dimensions of his life could wait--he had more pressing physical needs.

        Not only that, but a person did not have the right to forgive sin; only God could do that. So the initial impression of Jesus' remarks must have been startling. The man still lay on the mat, as paralyzed as when he was lowered down from the roof. Here Jesus was making a claim to the prerogatives of God, a claim that was maybe even arrogant and offensive.

        We know that Jesus' remarks caused offense because the theological experts, the Pharisees, and their interpretive assistants, the scribes, began to question Jesus' actions: "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

        Jesus responded with questions: "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?"

        Jesus was asking, "Which is the easier claim to make? Is it to speak a word that brings forgiveness or to speak a word that brings healing?" In one sense the harder thing is to tell the man to get up and walk. Why? Because if Jesus says, "Walk," then the authority of His word is tested visibly by the response. The man will need to walk, and the results, or the lack of results, will be immediately evident to all.

        In contrast, if Jesus speaks about forgiving sin, that is easy to say because no one can see the result of that claim. The result is unverifiable.

        But in another sense, to forgive sin is more difficult to do, since in order to forgive sin, one must have the power and the authority to do it. The theologians all knew that such power was God's alone, so that this claim from a man was hardly credible. At least it was not credible until Jesus put His question to the test. What Jesus did was even harder than what He had asked. He put the two statements and the actions together "that you may know that the Son of Man has authority ... to forgive sins."  Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."

        What Jesus did was to say, "I am not claiming to forgive sin, I am showing that I have this authority. God's power working through Me will show you that I have this authority as the promised, appointed, authoritative Agent of God, who shares God's ability to judge." If the paralyzed man gets up and walks, the walking speaks volumes about Jesus' authority to forgive sin: "I will tell him to get up, so that you can see that I can forgive sins."

Jesus' Lessons in Demonstrating Forgiveness

        The man got up immediately. Jesus had shown His authority. The man's walk home brought two reactions. First, the man himself praised God. The man was out of his "cage." One can only imagine the joy and the gratitude that he felt for what Jesus had done. The man had received more than he had asked for--not only was he walking, but he was forgiven. Forgiveness accompanied the release. And joy accompanies healing and release. In fact, in this case, the healing itself pictured the very release that had been granted. The walk of the man was a walk into a new life.

        Second, "everyone was amazed." We sometimes think that in those days a miracle occurred on every corner. However, the reaction of the people shows that they were as amazed as we probably would be if a miracle happened in our presence. In fact, in Matthew 9:8, which describes this same event, we read that the crowd was "filled with awe," and they "praised God, who had given such authority to men." Those who witnessed this event understood that Jesus not only claimed to forgive sin but that God had worked in such a way as to demonstrate that Jesus had such authority. It was amazing but true. They had seen it.

Jesus' Joy in Giving Forgiveness

        I believe that Jesus received much satisfaction from being able to help the man out of his "cage." In fact, in another text, involving a sinful woman, Jesus showed that He wants to forgive sin. It is why He came. In this passage He makes the point that the joy this woman showed was appropriate and that He would honor her action by restating the fact of her forgiveness. In fact, the account commends her action as the expression of a grateful heart full of love, because she appreciated being forgiven much.

        The woman's example shows that receiving forgiveness leads naturally to a grateful love toward the One who forgives. Jesus taught that heaven rejoices when a sinner seeks forgiveness from God by repenting before God.

        To get out of a "cage," we have to want to get out of the cage, as well as to have someone with authority to release us from it. When forgiveness occurs, there is joy from God and from the one forgiven.

Forgiveness As Release

        Forgiveness is more than leaving behind sin and its penalty. Forgiveness frees us to serve God, to relate to Him and to engage in the activities that He gives us the privilege to do with Him. To come to Jesus, seeking from God the forgiveness that Jesus has the authority to bestow, is to gain release from that which limits our ability to be what God created us to be.

        God longs to forgive us. If we do not know Him, we may come to Him seeking forgiveness. We may trust Him to give us release. He will do it; He has promised that He will. That is why He sent His Son to die in our place, to pay the penalty for our sin and to set the stage for our forgiveness. What more could God have done to show how much He wants us to turn to Him?

        The family loves their dog. To them he is a great dog. When I look at the dog now, I see the story of the joy of release, the joy of a new life lived with a new family. In a way I see me in him. For just as he was freed from a cage and a fear-filled life, so Jesus has freed me from my "cage" of sin. My prayer is that I will always appreciate what it means to have been forgiven and released.

        Jesus showed that forgiveness from Him is available for the asking. Let us ask for that forgiveness and rejoice in getting to know our gracious Forgiver.

Luke 5:17-26, NIV One day as [Jesus] was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. ..." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."