Luke 5:21

‘And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

The Scribes would probably be mainly the local Scribes, doctors and teachers of the Law (depending on Luke 5:17), supported perhaps by one or two from Judaea and Jerusalem. The larger party from Jerusalem would come later. Being mainly local they were almost certainly Pharisees, with any other having been brought in by the locals. (Some Scribes were Sadducees). They were looked to by the people to interpret the Law and did so on the basis of oral tradition passed down among them, much of which was the result of scribal decisions in the past. There would appear to have been three types of such oral tradition: (a) some oral laws which were claimed as having come from Moses as having been given by the great lawgiver in addition to the written laws; (b) decisions made by various judges which had become precedents in judicial matters; and (c) interpretations of great teachers (Rabbis) which came to be prized with the same reverence as were the Old Testament Scriptures. In order to become Scribes they had to become learned in these oral traditions, which were called ‘the tradition of the Elders'. They looked on themselves, and were generally looked on by the people, as the guardians of the Law. They had almost certainly come to sound out this new teacher so as to make a judgment on Him.

‘Began to reason.' They were weighing up His words and coming to their ‘considered' judgment on them. They had not come to learn but to act as critics. Thus when they heard His words to the paralysed man their ears pricked up, and they probably whispered quietly among themselves. ‘How dare He speak like this? It is pure blasphemy. For surely only God can forgive sins.' Had they listened more reasonably they might have recognised that He had not quite said what they thought. Like Nathan of old He had only assured the man of God's forgiveness (2 Samuel 12:13). But they were not thinking sympathetically.

‘He speaks blasphemies.' That is, He is taking over God's prerogative and therefore acting against God. Indeed almost making Himself out to be the equal of God. Their words remind us how easy it is to be so set in our thoughts that we can only think in one way. They had not come to think fairly about what Jesus was saying, or what He was doing. They had come to measure it by their yardstick. And in that light there could be only one conclusion. And in fact by that yardstick even a Messiah coming in terms of their own expectations would have been a blasphemer. The theory of a Messiah was fine, but the actuality was not, and never would be, acceptable to them unless He handed over all religious aspects to them. A free thinking Messiah would not be allowable.

‘Who can forgive sins but God alone?' They were, of course, correct. From the point of view of being forgiven in the sight of God (which was what Jesus had meant) it was only God Who could do it. But Jesus had actually spoken ambiguously. They could have seen it as meaning simply, ‘God has forgiven you' as a word of comfort and assurance, but they saw it as meaning ‘I have bestowed on you God's forgiveness'. In their view that went along with His outrageous religious attitude. But it was open to men either to see Him as a declarer of forgiveness (as with Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:13) or as One Who shared the prerogative of God. The Scribes, in fact, actually came to the right conclusion, that He could forgive sins, but made the wrong response. Because of their prejudice they were not willing to yield to the truth.