Jesus - our Forgiver

Luke 7:48 Then He said to her, "Your sins have been forgiven."

Has there ever been a man who could forgive sins but Jesus? In the history of mankind, besides Jesus, has there ever been a man who claimed the absoulte authority of the heaven and the earth and all that is in them, and say, "you need forgiveness because you have sinned against me and you've been sinning ever since you were born. Unless I forgive you, you will perish."

In the verse 39 of the same chapter, the pharisee who had invited Jesus said to himself, "If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." It is important to realise that the pharisee did not realise that he himself was also a sinner and he needed forgiveness from Jesus also. The pharisee regarded the woman as a sinner and an outcast and he regarded himself as a righteous man. This kind of thinking is prevalent. Most people do not regard themselves as sinners because they do not want to create any guilty feelings and unnecessarily make themselves with depressing thoughts. After all, they are not too bad because they haven't commited murder, theft or adultery. Many churchgoers, I believe, err too in this regard. Although they may call themselves as sinners in the church's boundary, they do not truely realise they are REALLY sinners and that they are TRUELY BAD. Most people have only a vague concept of sin and this is probably because they haven't taught on sin much at all. The doctrine of sin is not preached and the biblical records on sin only seem to them as stories that are far from reality.

Jesus says, "your sins are forgiven," Jesus speaks now and will speak until He comes again. Everyone is commanded to open their eyes and open their ears to see the reality that they are sinners and they need forgiveness desperately. Forgiveness is granted to everyone who repents. Yes, you need to repent and I need to repent. These are the first words that Jesus spoke, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2) Why does Jesus command us to "repent:"? Because he will forgive those who repent. He will forgive you, if you repent. Repentance is not a one time event that occurs at the conversion. True Christians repent till they die and go home to be with Jesus.