Christ Healed the Palsied Man and Forgave His Sins, August 18

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. Matthew 9:2. When Jesus came as a man to our world, Satan had led the Jews into the practice of a religion that pleased the powers of darkness. The professed people of God had departed from God and were following another leader. Through their own perversity, they were going on to destruction, but Christ came to dispute the authority of Satan.... The life of Christ was made one long scene of conflict. Satan stirred up the evil hearts of people, and set envy and prejudice at work against the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. He caused people to question and to doubt the word, works, and mission of Christ.... They [the Jews] followed Christ from place to place, in order that, if possible, they might catch some word from His lips to misstate, misconstrue, and publish abroad, giving it a meaning that had neither been expressed nor intended. Thus the way of Christ was hedged up by people who claimed to be just and holy.... In this way Satan led people who might have been a power for Christ to work on the enemy's side in the controversy, and to become agents whereby he instilled into the hearts of the people questioning, suspicion, doubt, and hatred.... The leaders of the people were ever watching for an excuse for their attitude of unbelief, and when He wrought His most convincing miracles, they were ready to catch up anything that would appear like an objection to His divine claims. When Jesus had healed the palsied man, He had said to him, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” ... In the miracle that Christ had wrought, He had changed the man's heart and had renewed him in mind and body, thus demonstrating to the Pharisees the fact that He had power to forgive sins, and to bring righteousness and peace to the sinner. Yet the Pharisees saw in His words of divine power a matter for unbelief and accusation.... Jesus saw that however deeply rooted were the principles that were set in opposition to the principles He proclaimed, yet they were delusion and falsehood, and had originated in the enemy of all righteousness. Jesus said to the people, “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”—Manuscript 65, 1895 (The Signs of the Times, April 25, 1895).