Two Gospel episodes portray Jesus of Nazareth as someone who forgives sins. All three synoptic Gospels relate how Jesus once told a paralyzed man in Capernaum that his sins were forgiven (Mark 2.5 par.). This occasion instigated a controversy, which culminated in Jesus’ declaration that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth (Mark 2.10 par.). In addition, Luke’s Gospel includes an episode in which Jesus tells a sinful woman that her sins are forgiven (Luke 7.47–8), which made the onlookers wonder who he might be, since he even forgives sins (7.49).

It is the aim of the present study to enquire how Jesus related forgiveness and its proclamation to his own person and mission. I will attempt to answer, within the necessary limits set by the nature of historical reconstruction generally and of Jesus research specifically, the following basic questions: is it plausible that the historical Jesus did claim to forgive sins in some manner that resembles the way in which this is narrated in the Gospels? If so, in what sense did he purport to forgive sins? What, if anything, does this tell us about who Jesus claimed to be and how he was perceived by his contemporaries?