Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 5:21

"And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" — Luke 5:21 (ASV)

In Jewish law conviction of blasphemy (an overt defilement of the divine name) was a capital crime penalized by stoning. Pharisees and teachers of the law were convinced that Jesus had crossed over the line.