Book Two, Chapter 3: The Shocking Alternative

Why would a good God let evil in at all? Lewis begins his answer with free will. As he tells it, the Dark Power and the first humans used their freedom to go wrong, and God began a rescue with three preliminary steps before the shocking solution: Christ himself. This chapter also holds Lewis's best-known argument, that Jesus cannot be only a good moral teacher, because the real choices are Lunatic, Liar or Lord.

Mark 2 puts that argument in a crowded house. Four friends carry a paralyzed man, cannot get through the crowd, and dig through the roof. They are free people making a bold choice. Jesus "saw their faith" and says something nobody asked for: "Son, your sins are forgiven."

The scribes' reaction is the key. They are sitting there, "questioning in their hearts, 'Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'" Think about how sharp that is. They are not confused about what Jesus said, and they are right that forgiveness of sin ultimately belongs to God. If someone wronged you and a stranger announced that the person was forgiven, you would be offended. Sin is finally against God, so only God can wave it off. A teacher who says this either holds God's authority or is making an outrageous claim. That is the corner Lewis's argument pushes on: the option of "merely a good teacher" is not on the menu.

Jesus answers by asking which is easier: telling the man his sins are forgiven, or telling him to get up and walk. The first is easier, because nobody can check it. So he gives something checkable. "But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" — he tells the man to rise. The visible miracle backs the invisible claim. The man gets up, picks up his bed, and walks out in front of everyone.

Freedom shows up again here. The friends use theirs to bring someone to Jesus. The scribes use theirs to keep a question locked inside. Jesus perceives it anyway, yet he does not override either response. Free will is what makes trust and love possible, and it is also what makes refusal possible. The rescue does not coerce. It shows up in a house, says something outrageous, and lets people decide.

The crowd's reaction is, "We never saw anything like this!" Wonder is a fine start, but the chapter presses past wonder toward a verdict. You can call the claim insane, call it a lie, or take it as true. The man on the mat walked home on his own legs, which is what you would expect if the claim were true.

So the question for you is personal: what do you do with what Jesus says about himself?