There have been many ideas in the minds of people over the centuries concerning who Jesus really was. Beliefs in this area range from denying He even existed to the highest of all—that Jesus is God and to be worshipped.

I suggest that we take a brief look at who Jesus thought He was. What is the self portrait Jesus gave the people of His time? Did He tell people He was just a human being like them? What about His actions? How did He behave? Answering these questions will take several devotions. Let us begin.

The story in Mark 2 about Jesus healing the lame man gives us some idea of His view of Himself. Two very different things occur here to give us a good idea of how Jesus saw Himself in relation to others.

First there is the matter of healing the man. No one who was there at the time denied that a notable miracle occurred. That is important for us today.

People—who are not as wise as they think they are—will say that no miracle took place. Various attempts are made to explain away the miracle in non-miraculous terms. The eye witnesses, however, are confident a miracle did take place, even those who desperately desired to discredit Jesus.

So then, Jesus' friends and His enemies all agree on the matter of Him being able to heal the sick and even raise the dead. (See John 11 especially verses 45-53 where our Lord's enemies recognized His power over death. Had they been able to disprove the resurrection of Lazarus they would have gleefully done so.)

Now back to the Mark passage. The other and very curious matter is this thing He says to the sick man about forgiving him his sins. Now the Jews knew that only God could forgive sins. But here was this untrained rabbi saying to the man that He forgave him his sins.

Why would Jesus try to do what only God can do? Well, some people who believe He said the word of forgiveness suggest Jesus was insane. But Jesus said in our passage to look at the miracle to see that He was able to do both. None of the doctors of the day could cure the man and Jesus did it simply with a word. Which was easier to do? Both the healing and the forgiving of sins were beyond what humans could accomplish.

Jesus did the impossible thing of healing the man and no one could deny that. So He calls on the people to believe that He could do the other impossible thing of forgiving sins.  What about Jesus? Jesus is God in human form.

Have you seen the truth that Jesus is indeed God? Do you bow down in worship and praise of Him? Do you recognize the value of praying to Jesus and telling Him of your need for Him in both the spiritual and physical areas of life?

If you have been hesitant, choose to believe and act. Come immediately to Jesus and tell Him all your sorrow—physical and spiritual. Like this man who was physically healed, come to Jesus and find spiritual healing. Come, and come today.