---
title: Luke 7:48
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/luke-7-48/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/luke-7-48.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Luke 7:48
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Luke 7:48

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Then he said to her: 'Your sins are forgiven.'"

## JW Usage

JW commentary on Luke 7:48 treats Jesus's pronouncement to the sinful woman as another exercise of his delegated authority — Jehovah granted Jesus the right to declare forgiveness, and Jesus does so as Jehovah's appointed agent. The reaction of the other guests in v. 49 ("who is this who even forgives sins?") is read as their misunderstanding, not as evidence of any unique divine claim by Jesus.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus does not say "your sins are forgiven by Jehovah" or "I declare on God's behalf that your sins are forgiven." He says "your sins are forgiven" — first person, his own authority. The reaction of the guests in v. 49 mirrors the scribes' reaction in Luke 5:21: who is this? In both passages the divine prerogative of forgiveness is exercised by Jesus directly, and in both the bystanders correctly identify what is happening. The agent-of-Jehovah reading requires Jesus to be performing a delegated function, but no Old Testament agent ever forgave sin in his own name. Pair Luke 7:48 with Acts 7:60 (Stephen asks Jesus to forgive his killers) — the apostolic church understood Jesus as the one to whom one prays for the forgiveness of others, not merely as a delegate.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus Forgives Sins — Only God Can Do That](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jesus-forgives-sins.md) — Mark 2:5-12 [Deity of Christ]