Was Jesus really any different from all the other "miracle workers" in His day? Weren't there other people who could heal?

Some claim Jesus was no different from other healers. However, Jesus did more than heal the body. The healing of the paralytic (Mark 2:1–12) records Jesus’ saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven” before He miraculously healed the man.

The claim to forgive sins made Jesus stand out among other healers. Some critics say Jesus’ miracles weren’t different from Greco-Roman “divine men” such as Asclepius, his sons Machaon and Podarlirius, Machaon’s four sons, Menecrates of Syracuse, or Pyrrhusa. Others bring up a story written 150 to 200 years after Jesus’ time: a story of Apollonius of Tyana, healing a lame lion hunter. In these stories, however, forgiveness of sins is never mentioned.

Some atheists take a different approach and say Jesus didn’t claim anything unique when He said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” They say Jesus was only acting as a priest and not claiming to be God. This is how they challenge the historicity of Mark’s record, where the teachers of the law clearly react to Jesus’ extension of forgiveness as a claim to divinity. They protest, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v. 7). Critics say this verse is fiction.

But the truth is that there is no evidence Jewish priests ever claimed to forgive sins. While they were involved in atonement rituals, no text shows they verbally pronounced forgiveness of sins— even in connection with sacrifices. The Letter of Aristeas mentions that priests sacrificed in total silence at the Jerusalem Temple. Also, there is a category of atonement connected to purification, not forgiveness for any sin. Leviticus 12:6–8 talks about the priest’s role in atonement rites for a mother who had recently given birth. Jesus’ claim to forgive sins appears unique within this Jewish context.

Since sin is ultimately an offense against God, the authority to forgive sins is an exclusively divine function. That is why the scribes’ extreme reaction makes sense. They recognized that when Jesus extended forgiveness of sins, He was claiming to do something only God had the authority to do.

The uniqueness of Jesus’ claim to forgive sins invites us to answer the question He once posed to the Apostle Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29).