the authority to forgive

Matthew 9:1-8 (ESV)
And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. [2] And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." [7] And he rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
And behold some of the scribes said to themselves, “this man is blaspheming.” But Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “why do you think evil in your hearts?” Sunday after Sunday I stand up and in the name of Christ forgive the sins of the people gathered to hear God’s word and partake of the sacraments. Everyonce in awhile there is a visitor who takes umbrage at that. They quote the scribes. I always find that peculiar. “Only god can forgive sins, “ they say.
The only people in scripture to have made that claim are the Pharisees and scribes. Where they got this bit of wisdom I don’t know. God can indeed forgive sins, and does. Perhaps it reaches to a further truth, that all sin is a sin against God. One recalls David saying “against you, and you only have I sinned” Psalm 51, this after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and killed Uriah the Hittite, a man of valor who had fought faithfully beside David in countless campaigns. One might surmise that he had sinned against a few others. But David is correct. All sin is sin against God. Therefore all forgiveness must come from God.
All sin is against God. When we sin against others we sin against God who created them and God who redeemed them. When we sin against a brother or sister, a coworker, a fellow believer or unbeliever, we sin against a person who was first created in God’s image, and then redeemed by His blood. In sinning against them we sin against ourselves, against the blood that has redeemed us. In so doing we scorn the love God has for us and for this person, because the love is the same. This again is why all sin is born of unbelief, all sin is born of false worship, the result of having other gods in our lives, the result of not Fearing, loving and trusting in God above all things. This is just as true of Gossip as it is of murder, of stealing as it is of fornication and adultery, coveting and bearing false witness. So all sin is a sin against the first commandment, first and foremost. That we sinners have graded sin is only the result of us deciding what sin we will tolerate and to what extent, mostly so we can wink at each other and lie about how good we are.
But behind it all is the fact that sin is not primarily what we do, but a condition of unbelief into which we are born, indeed into which we are conceived. It is an ugly thing. So perhaps it is only God who can forgive sins. But then God does forgives sins, and he does so through those he has forgiven. He commands us to forgive, and if we forgive then it must be that God has forgiven. Some would say that you can only forgive those sins that are committed against you, but then that would be to ignore the fact that when you were sinned against, it was not you but God who had been sinned against, so that when you forgive those who have sinned against you, for the sins they committed against you, you have spoken for God, and forgiven them on behalf of God if you have forgiven them at all. But then God has given to us the duty to forgive sins. And with forgiving sins comes an ever more glorious reality. We are restored not only to a good heart and clean conscience but we are also promised a new body in heaven, a restored body that knows no pain, no ailment.
Yes, sin is at the heart of all that ails us in this world. Forgiveness is the cure.