In light of the Old Testament, Jesus knows that his death will bring divine judgment on the world because he is the Son (John 12:30–33) and will reconcile God and man because he has authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:5–12). David Wells sums up the identifying power of Jesus’s death and resurrection with a rhetorical question: “His actions, in this regard, had an implied Christological significance, for who can forgive sin but God alone? (Mark 2:7 / Luke 5:21).”8 In a biblical
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