Matthew 9:3

‘And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, “This man is blaspheming”.'

The Scribes were the teachers of the Law, and they had come to check Jesus out. Here was this man performing all these miracles, and they wanted to know if He was ‘sound', that is, whether He taught what they taught. And these dreadful words convinced them that He did not. Indeed they considered that what He had said was blasphemy. Who was this man to dare to suggest that a man's sins were certainly forgiven? Men could only hope and pray, and give alms, and then hope that God would take notice of them. Only God could determine whether a man was worthy of forgiveness. For that was their problem. They did not believe in God's free forgiveness.

But Jesus had come to bring men forgiveness. He had come to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Thus he knew that forgiveness was available for all who truly turned to God from their past lives, seeking a true change of heart. And He had seen that in this man before Him.

Central to the idea of blasphemy was the using of God's Name lightly, but that clearly also included a careless claiming of the prerogatives of God. And that was what they saw Jesus as doing. Their thought was simply, ‘None can forgive sins apart from God', and they considered that He did it in His own way, so that to claim the knowledge that a man was forgiven was insupportable arrogance.