It was a big deal for Jesus to claim to forgive sin. This raised the ire of the religious leaders; obviously this was something only God could do. But why wait to show that he was God? Why tell people so often to avoid revealing his divinity, and then choose to reveal it like this? Because Jesus chooses to be defined by making the broken whole again. This wasn't a God who showed up and started barking out orders, incinerating everyone who stood in his path. This was a God who became like us so that we could become closer to him.