The words and deeds of Jesus are the manifestations of God’s love for a sinful humanity. At the same time, they pose the inevitable question: who is this Jesus? At his word the lepers were cleansed, the lame threw away their crutches and leaped like a deer; the dead came back to life. Who is this man who has such power? The titles of dignity such as prophet, liberator, the One to Come, are only partial expressions of his personality.
The contemporaries of Jesus, his friends, and foes alike, were confronted with an unprecedented experience. They knew very well that only God could forgive sins. So they were shocked to hear Jesus telling the sinners: “your sins are forgiven”. They could not grasp how a man could use such authority. Either he is a blasphemer or he is equal to God. But they could not imagine how a human being could be equal to God.
