<p>9:3&nbsp;<em>Behold-&nbsp;</em>AV and some MSS. We are invited to imagine the faces of those men, and likewise perceive as Jesus did what they were thinking within.</p>
<p><em>Certain of the scribes said within themselves: This man blasphemes</em>- Consider the huge emphasis of the New Testament upon 'thinking / talking within oneself', especially within the Gospels. The same Greek phrase is used repeatedly:<br />
- &quot;Think not to say within yourselves&quot; (Mt. 3:9)<br />
- &quot;The scribes said within themselves&quot; (Mt. 9:3)<br />
- &quot;She said within herself&quot; (Mt. 9:21)<br />
- The believer who fails to grow spiritually has no root &quot;within himself&quot; (Mt. 13:21)<br />
- &quot;They reasoned within themselves... Why do you reason within yourselves...&quot; (Mt. 16:7,8)<br />
- &quot;The husbandmen... said within themselves&quot; (Mt. 21:38)<br />
- The disciples &quot;disputed within themselves&quot; (Mk. 9:33)<br />
- Have salt &quot;within yourselves&quot; (Mk. 9:50)<br />
- The Pharisee &quot;spake within himself&quot; (Lk. 7:39)<br />
- The guests &quot;began to say within themselves&quot; (Lk. 7:49)<br />
- The rich fool &quot;thought within himself, saying...&quot; (Lk. 12:17)<br />
- &quot;The steward said within himself&quot; (Lk. 16:3)<br />
- The unjust judge &quot;said within himself&quot; (Lk. 18:4)<br />
- Peter &quot;doubted in himself&quot; (Acts 10:17)<br />
- Jews who heard the Gospel &quot;reasoned within themselves&quot; (Acts 28:29 Gk.)<br />
- Israel &quot;through the lusts of their own hearts... dishonoured their bodies within themselves&quot; (Rom. 1:24)<br />
- &quot;Within yourselves... you have a better and enduring substance&quot; (Heb. 10:34)<br />
- &quot;Partial within yourselves, judges of evil thoughts&quot; (James 2:4).</p>
<p>There are many other Bible verses which likewise speak of the internal state of a person and the significance of our self-talk- these are just examples of one Greek phrase. It is logical therefore to expect that the great adversary or 'satan' to be internal thinking, how we think and speak within ourselves. And properly understood, this is indeed what 'satan' in the Bible sometimes refers to.</p>
<div>&nbsp;The Jews got caught up on the issue of whether Christ's forgiveness of others made Him God or not- just as some folk do today. His response was to refocus them on the fact that He wanted&nbsp;<em>you</em>&nbsp;to<em> know</em>&nbsp;that He had real power to forgive&nbsp;<em>their</em>&nbsp;sins (Lk. 5:24). I spend a lot of time arguing against the trinity and the 'Jesus = God' mentality. But the essence is, do we&nbsp;<em>know</em>&nbsp;on a personal level that the Lord Jesus really has the power to forgive&nbsp;<em>our</em>&nbsp;sins?
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