Bible Commentaries

CHAPTER 9.

THE HEALING MINISTRY CONTINUED.

Matthew 9:1-8. The palsied man (Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26).

Matthew 9:1. ἐμβὰς: Jesus complied with the request of the men of Gerasa, who had intimated so plainly that they did not want any more of His company. Whatever His purpose in crossing over to the eastern shore may have been, it was frustrated by an event which in some respects was an unexpected disaster. Was it rest only or a new sphere of work He was seeking there? vide notes on Mark.—εἰς τ. ἰδίαν π.: entering the boat which had been moored to the shore, Jesus returned with His disciples to His own city, to distinguish it from Gerasa, the city that shut its gates against Him; so named here only. When precisely the following incident happened cannot be ascertained. Luke’s indication of time is the vaguest possible; “on one of the days”. Matthew and Mark give it in different sequence, but their narratives have this in common, that they make the incident occur on arrival in Capernaum after an excursion; in either case the first mentioned, though not the same in both. Vide notes on Mark.

Matthew 9:2. καὶ ἰδοὺ: usual formula for introducing an important incident.—προσέφερον, the imperfect, implying a process, the details of which, extremely interesting, the evangelist does not give. By comparison with Mark and Luke the narrative is meagre, and defective even for the purpose of bringing out the features to which the evangelist attaches importance, e.g., the value set by Jesus on the faith evinced. His eye is fixed on the one outstanding novel feature, the word of Jesus in Matthew 9:6. In view of it he is careful, while omitting much, to mention that the invalid in this instance was brought to Jesus, ἐπὶ κλίνης βεβλημένον, lying on a couch. To the same cause also it is due that a second case of paralysis cured finds a place in this collection, though the two cases have different features: in the one physical torments, in the other mental depression.—πίστιν αὐτῶν, the faith of the men who had brought the sick man to Him. The common assumption that the sick man is included in the αὐτῶν is based on dogmatic grounds.—θάρσει τέκνον: with swift sure diagnosis Jesus sees in the man not faith but deep depression, associated probably with sad memories of misconduct, and uttering first a kindly hope-inspiring word, such as a physician might address to a patient: cheer up, child! He deals first with the disease of the soul.—ἀφίενται: Jesus declares the forgiveness of his sins, not with the authority of an exceptional person, but with sympathy and insight, as the interpreter of God’s will and the law of the universe. That law is that past error need not be a doom; that we may take pardon for granted; forgive ourselves, and start anew. The law holds, Jesus believed, both in the physical and in the moral sphere. In combining pardon with healing of bodily disease in this case, He was virtually announcing a general law. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,” Psalm 103:3.

Matthew 9:3. τινὲς τ. γραμματέων: some scribes present on this occasion. Ominous fact duly introduced by ἰδοὺ; its significance still more distinctly recognised by Luke, who gives it prominent mention at the beginning of his narrative (Matthew 9:17). Sure sign of the extent, depth, and quality of Christ’s influence.—βλασφημεῖ: of course; the prophet always is a scandalous, irreverent blasphemer from the conventional point of view. The scribes regarded forgiveness purely under the aspect of prerogative, and in self-defence Jesus must meet them on their own ground. His answer covers the whole case. There is more than prerogative in the matter; there is the right, duty, privilege, and power of every man to promote faith in pardon by hearty proclamation of the law of the moral world. This is dealt with first.

Matthew 9:4. ἐνθυμήσεις: Jesus intuitively read their thoughts as He read the mental state of the sick man.—ἵνα τί: elliptical for ἵνα τί γένηται understood = in order that what may happen, do you, etc. (vide Bäumlein, Schul. Gram., § 696, and Goodwin’s Syn., § 331).

Matthew 9:5. εὐκοπώτερον (from εὖ and κόπος, whence εὔκοπος; in N.T. (Gospels) only the comparative neuter is found, as here). The question as to ability, δύναμις, is first disposed of; which is easier—εἰπεῖν: they are both alike easy to say; the vital matter is saying with effect. Saying here stands for doing. And to do the one thing was to do the other. To heal was to forgive. It is implied that it is easier to forgive than to make a palsied man strong. Christ means that the one is ordinary, the other extraordinary; the one is within the power of any man, the other belongs only to the exceptional man; there is no assumption in declaring pardon, there is pretension in saying “arise and walk”.

Matthew 9:6. ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε: transition to the other aspect, that of ἐξουσία, the point raised by the scribes when they looked a charge of blasphemy.—ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀν., ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς: these two phrases point at supposed disabilities for forgiving. “Forgiveness takes place in heaven, and is the exclusive prerogative of God,” was the thesis of the scribes. “It may be exercised even on earth, and by the Son of Man,” is the counter thesis of Christ. Therefore “Son of Man” must be a title not of dignity but of humiliation. Here = one whom ye think lightly of; even He can forgive.—τότε λέγει. Jesus stops short in His speech to the scribes and turns to the sick man, saying: ἔγειρε, etc., also in Matthew 9:6, intransitive. The reading ἔγειραι in T.R., Matthew 9:6, is a correction of style, the use of the active intransitively being condemned by grammarians. Hence this various reading always occurs. (vide Suidas, s.v., and Buttmann, Gramm., p. 56.)—τὴν κλίνην, a light piece of furniture, easily portable.—ὕπαγε: all three actions, arising, lifting, walking, conclusive evidence of restored power.

Matthew 9:7. aid, done; a convincing argumentum ad hominem. Who would dispute the right to forgive to one who could do that, or persist in the charge of blasphemy against Him? At least those who do will get little sympathy from the mass of spectators.