“Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?”
Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up, take your mat and walk? — the question is deliberately provocative because the answer is not what it first appears. Saying your sins are forgiven is actually easier in one sense: it is unverifiable. No one can look at a person and see whether their sins are forgiven; the claim requires no visible demonstration. Saying get up and walk is harder in that it is immediately falsifiable — the person either gets up or they don't. Jesus is using the verifiable as evidence for the unverifiable: if the healing happens, it confirms the authority to forgive.
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