Mar 2:5

When Jesus saw their faith.

Faith for others

The perfect concurrence of the paralytic cannot be doubted, and probably he had already poured out his soul in confession; still, we have no right to ignore what the Holy Spirit has here recorded, viz., that it was the sight of his bearers faith which drew from Christs lips the words of forgiveness. It is a fact full of mystery, but full also of consolation, that not a few of the gifts of healing and restoration-on the centurions servant, on Jairus child, on the blind man at Bethsaida, on the Syro-Phoenicians daughter-were obtained through the faith and prayers, not so much of the sick and afflicted themselves, as of their relations and friends. Surely this dependence of man upon his fellow creatures was intended to foreshadow the great mystery of Redemption through Anothers Blood. It may well have been placed on record by the Holy Spirit to teach us that whenever we try to bring others to the feet of Jesus to be healed of their souls sickness-be they friends or enemies-whenever we offer up the prayer of faith, which we are assured shall save the sick, we are associating ourselves in deeds of mercy and acts of intercession with the Great High Priest of the world-the One Mediator between God and Man-the Man Christ Jesus, our Lord. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

Faith visible

Faith is sure to be visible to the naked eye. That which never manifests itself in action is not the faith which Jesus sees with approval Faith that cannot be seen is dead faith-dead and buried. (H. C. Trumbull.)

Jesus saw their faith

Here was the explanation of their strange conduct, and the secret motive power of their determined action. The crowd saw their eccentricity, Jesus saw their faith. If there be anything good within us Christ will be sure to see it. Here, then, we see the power of faith.

I. It deepened their sympathy for this sufferer. If they pitied before, they would have a keener sympathy now they believed that a cure was possible.

II. It devised a scheme for bringing him to Christ.

III. It carried out that scheme in the most extraordinary way.

IV. It attracted the admiration of Christ. He saw their faith.

V. It obtained a cure for the sufferer. Their faith. (Anon.)

The faith of a child

An evangelist of today tells that, after one of his meetings, he observed that a little girl kept her seat after all others had left. Thinking that the child was asleep, he stepped forward to awaken her, but found she was praying that God would send her drunken father to that meeting house that very night, there to be converted. The evangelist waited, and soon a man came rushing in from the street, and knelt tremblingly at the childs side. He had been brought thither by a sudden impulse which he could not resist, and then and there he found Christ. The childs faith was honoured in the conversion of her father. (The Sunday School Times.)

A paralytic healed on the faith of others

What I would especially remark in these words, is the benefit which this sick man received from the faith of others. He was healed upon the faith of the men who brought him to Jesus. Several instances of the same kind occur in the history of Christs miracles. The conduct of the Saviour, in these instances, is agreeable to the general plan of Gods moral government. As He has placed mankind in a state of mutual dependence, so it is an essential part of the constitution of His government, that some shall be benefited by the faith and piety, or shall be liable to suffer by the vice and wickedness of others. The bestowment indeed of future and eternal blessings must depend on personal qualifications. Observation shows us that this is no uncommon case. The virtue and happiness of communities greatly depend on the wisdom and integrity of rulers. The advantages which one enjoys by his connection with the virtuous, and the dangers to which another is exposed by his connection with the vicious, are not always owing merely to himself, but often to the immediate providence of God, who allots to each one such trials and such assistances as His wisdom sees fit. From this part of the Divine constitution we may derive some useful instructions.

I. We see the reasonableness of intercession. If God is pleased to employ some men as visible instruments of general good, we may rationally suppose that He often, in a more secret and invisible manner, connects the happiness of many with the fervent prayers of a few, or even one godly soul. Of the Jews, in a corrupt period, the apostle says, they were beloved for their fathers sake. Some will ask, perhaps, how is it reasonable that our future happiness should be made to depend on anothers prayers? We have not the command of their hearts, we cannot oblige them to pray for us; why should we be exposed to suffer for their neglect? What if, in His good providence, He brings you in the way of some useful warnings and instructions, and grants you some awakened and convincing influences of His kind spirit, when you have not sought them? And what if He does this in answer to the fervent prayers of others? Will you say that all this is wrong?

II. We see from this subject that the doctrine of Scripture concerning our being involved in the consequences of the primitive apostasy is agreeable to the analogy of providence.

III. That our salvation through the atonement and righteousness of a redeemer appears to correspond with the general constitution of gods moral government. It is an essential part of the Divine plan that the virtue of some should not only benefit themselves, but extend its kind and salutary influence to others. We see this to be the case among men; and probably it is the case among all moral beings except those who are in a state of punishment. The angels, we are told, are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation.

IV. Our subject removes the principal objection urged against the dedication of infants to god in the ordinance of baptism. For it shows that some may be benefited by the faith of others. It is often asked, What advantage is baptism to infants? They have no knowledge of the use and design of it. They have not that faith which is required to baptism. If they are baptized, it cannot be on their own faith, it must be on the faith of their parents; and what benefit can they derive from the faith of another? But this is no more an objection against the baptism of infants than against intercession for infants

V. Our subject teaches us the importance of the station in which we are placed. We are acting not merely for ourselves, but for others, for many others, how many we cannot tell; for we know not how many are connected with us; nor how extensive may be the influence of our good or bad conduct. A holy and religious life is certainly of vast importance to ourselves; for on this depends the happiness of our existence through all the succeeding ages of eternal duration. But when we consider ourselves as standing in a near connection with our fellow probationers; when we realize how much good a sinner may destroy, or a saint promote; how many souls may be corrupted by the example of the one, and how many may be converted by the influence of the other; the importance of our personal religion rises beyond all conception.

VI. We see that benevolence must be an essential part of true religion. If God has placed us in such a connection with those around us that their virtue and happiness will be affected by our conduct, we are evidently bound to act with a regard to their interest. (J. Lathrop, D. D.)

Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Power of these words

These words, so it is recorded, saved the life of that zealous minister of God, Donald Cargill. He had been for some time under conviction of sin, and his mind was harassed by Satans assaults. Being naturally reserved, he could not prevail upon himself to lay his troubles before others. At last, in a paroxysm of despair, he resolved to bring his life on earth to a close. Again and again did he seek the banks of the Clyde, with a steadfast resolution to drown himself; and repeatedly was he interrupted by meeting persons he knew. Not to be frustrated, he rose one morning and walked to an old coal pit, intending to throw himself into the abyss. At the verge, the words above quoted flashed across his mind; the effect was powerful and instantaneous; he returned to praise God for a free salvation, and to serve Him in a faithful and consistent Christian life.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

5. When Jesus saw their faithItis remarkable that all the three narratives call it “theirfaith” which Jesus saw. That the patient himself had faith, weknow from the proclamation of his forgiveness, which Jesus madebefore all; and we should have been apt to conclude that his fourfriends bore him to Jesus merely out of benevolent compliance withthe urgent entreaties of the poor sufferer. But here we learn, notonly that his bearers had the same faith with himself, but that Jesusmarked it as a faith which was not to be defeateda faithvictorious over all difficulties. This was the faith for which He wasever on the watch, and which He never saw without marking, and, inthose who needed anything from Him, richly rewarding.

he said unto the sick of thepalsy, Son“be of good cheer” (Mt9:2).

thy sins be forgiven theeBythe word “be,” our translators perhaps meant “are,”as in Luke (Lu 5:20). For it isnot a command to his sins to depart, but an authoritativeproclamation of the man’s pardoned state as a believer. And yet, asthe Pharisees understood our Lord to be dispensing pardon bythis saying, and Jesus not only acknowledges that they were right,but founds His whole argument upon the correctness of it, we mustregard the saying as a royal proclamation of the man’s forgiveness byHim to whom it belonged to dispense it; nor could such a style ofaddress be justified on any lower supposition. (See on Lu7:41, &c.).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

When Jesus saw their faith,…. The faith of the sick man, and his friends, who seemed confident, that could they get at Christ, a cure would be wrought: the faith of the one appears in suffering himself to be brought in such a manner, under so much weakness; and with so much trouble; and of the other in bringing him, and breaking through so many difficulties to get him to Christ.

He said unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee; pointing and striking at the root of his disorder, his sins. Christ calls him son, though, in this afflicted condition a person may be a child of God, and yet greatly afflicted by him; afflictions are not arguments against, but rather for sonship: “for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?” He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, and by chastising them, dealeth with them as with sons; and such as are without chastisement are bastards, and not sons,

Heb 12:6, yea he calls him a son, though a sinful creature, and who had not, as yet, until these words were spoken by Christ, any discovery and application of pardoning grace unto him: he was a son of God by divine predestination, being predestinated to the adoption of children: he was a son by virtue of the covenant of grace, he was interested in, as appears by his enjoying pardon of sin, a blessing of it; which runs thus, “I will be their Father, and they shall be my sons and daughters”, 2Co 6:18. He was one of the children which were given to Christ as in such a relation: and for the sake of whom Christ was now a partaker of flesh and blood, and in a little time was to die for them, in order to gather them together, who were scattered abroad. The blessing Christ conferred on this poor man is of the greatest consequence and importance, forgiveness of sin: it is what springs from the grace and mercy of God; it is provided in a promise in the covenant of grace; Christ was sent to shed his blood to procure it, in a way consistent with the holiness and justice of God; and this being done, it is published in the Gospel, and is a most considerable article in it, and than which, nothing can be more desirable to a sensible sinner: and blessed are they that are partakers of it, their sins will never be imputed to them; they will never be remembered more; they are blotted out of God’s book of debts; they are covered out of his sight, and are removed as far as the east is from the west, even all their sins, original and actual, secret or open, of omission, or commission; [See comments on Mt 9:2].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Their faith ( ). The faith of the four men and of the man himself. There is no reason for excluding his faith. They all had confidence in the power and willingness of Jesus to heal this desperate case.

Are forgiven (, aoristic present passive, cf. punctiliar action, Robertson’s Grammar, pp. 864ff.). So Mt 9:3, but Lu 5:20 has the Doric perfect passive . The astonishing thing both to the paralytic and to the four friends is that Jesus forgave his sins instead of healing him. The sins had probably caused the paralysis.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “When Jesus saw their faith,” (kai idon ho lesousten pistin auton) “And Jesus beholding the faith of them,” of all five of them, the paralytic and the four energetic men who with care, compassion, concern, and perseverance had brought him there, Act 14:9; Eph 2:8.

2) “He said unto the sick of the palsy,” (legei to paralutiko) “He says (said) to the paralytic,” or the palsied man, expressing His concern.

3) “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” (teknon aphientai sou hai hamartiai) “Child (of simple faith) thy sins are forgiven, pardoned you,” you are absolved from present and future consequence of unbelief you once had, Psa 32:1.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

‘And Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven”.’

Jesus was clearly moved by the faith and persistence of these five men (including the paralytic). He ‘saw their faith’. But then He did the unexpected, He said to the man, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ This was in the perfect passive indicative and could mean ‘have been and therefore are forgiven.’. But some see it as an aoristic perfect and as thus meaning ‘are this moment forgiven’. Both interpretations are possible. Either way forgiveness was being declared, and we know from many examples that when Jesus used the passive in this way He was intending God to be seen as the subject.

But why did He speak like this when the man had come for healing? It may puzzle us but no Jew of that time would have asked such a question. They would have agreed that his condition must connect with some sin, either his or his parents (compare Joh 9:2), and that forgiveness of that sin could well relate to any attempt to heal. Jesus, however, did not think like that. Clearly as He looked at the man, with his eager gaze fixed on Him, possibly clouded by the fear that he was not worthy, He knew something specific about this man which led Him to say it.

It is quite possible that the paralysis had actually resulted from some deep sin. Cases are known where people have become paralysed as a result of some traumatic event in their lives. That cannot be ruled out. But it is more likely that Jesus knew of his private struggle with sin and knew that he had prayed, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’, and yet was still in doubt. But whatever the situation Jesus’ words suggest that He knew that the greatest need of this man was an assurance of forgiveness. His very words seem to suggest that He knew that this man had repented and that God had forgiven him. So He gives him that assurance.

‘Son.’ The word is strictly ‘child’. This may well mean he was a very young man which adds more poignancy to the situation.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Ver. 5. When he saw their faith ] By their works; as the goodness of the promised land was known by the grapes and fruits brought back by the spies. In all our good works, Christ’s eye is upon our faith, without which “it is impossible to please God.”

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Mar 2:5 . ., their faith, that of the bearers, shown by their energetic action, the sick man not included ( , Victor Ant., Cramer, Cat.). , child, without the cheering of Mt.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Jesus. App-98.

saw. Greek. eidon. App-133.

their faith. We cannot exclude the faith of the paralytic himself, who had doubtless persuaded the four to do this for him.

Son, Greek. Teknon. Sea App-108.

thy sins be forgiven thee. Thus proclaiming His Deity, being the second subject of His Ministry. See App-119.

sins. See App-128.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Mar 2:5. , their faith) So painstaking.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

sins

Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

saw: Gen 22:12, Joh 2:25, Act 11:23, Act 14:9, Eph 2:8, 1Th 1:3, 1Th 1:4, Jam 2:18-22

he said: Mar 2:9, Mar 2:10, Isa 53:11, Mat 9:2, Luk 5:20, Luk 7:47-50, Act 5:31, 2Co 2:10, Col 3:13

Son: The Jews believed that not only death but all disease was the consequence of sin. “There is no death without sin, nor any chastisement without iniquity;” and that “no diseased person could be healed of his disease till his sins were blotted out.” Our Lord, therefore, as usual, appeals to their received opinions, and asserts his high dignity, by first forgiving the sins, and then healing the body of the paralytic. Mar 5:34, Mat 9:22, Luk 8:48

sins: Job 33:17-26, Psa 32:1-5, Psa 90:7-9, Psa 103:3, Isa 38:17, Joh 5:14, 1Co 11:30, Jam 5:15

Reciprocal: Luk 7:48 – Thy Joh 20:23 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

FORGIVENESS AND A NEW LIFE

When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mar 2:5

The narrative from which the text is taken abounds in points of the deepest interest, but I am going to speak on only one subject, viz., forgiveness.

I. The forgiveness in this case was a present forgiveness.The poor man went home that day with all the peace and happiness of a forgiven man. Whatever burden there had been on his conscience was gone. He rose from his bed that day as completely free as if he had never sinned. Now this was not an exceptional case. The Lord Jesus forgives at once and for ever. This forgiveness is given at the outset of your Christian career, so that you may go on your way all through with the blessed peace of a forgiven man. What a difference it must make in life if we are permitted to enjoy this sacred gift of the forgiveness of sin. We all have our cares and sorrows. But think of the misery of having to bear all that sorrow and care alone, in separation from God, and embittered by the consciousness of unforgiven sin, and contrast it with the joy of being able to draw near to a loving Father, and to pour out the whole before Him in the peaceful assurance that every barrier is broken down, because all sin is forgiven for ever.

II. This forgiveness is granted by the Lord Himself in direct intercourse with the sinner.This narrative is a beautiful illustration of the Christian ministry. We want to be like those four men who carried that poor man to the Lord. If there be any poor paralysed, sin-stricken soul, we want to help that poor sinner into the presence of the Lord Jesus; and when he is there to trust him to the Lord, and leave him in His hand.

III.Though this forgiveness was followed by a new life and power, it was granted when the poor man was in a condition of utter helplessness.It was followed by a cure, and that cure was granted as an evidence or proof of its reality. But the forgiveness was granted before it was proved, and that when the sinner lay utterly prostrate and helpless at the feet of his Lord. What a blessed lesson for those who know the bitterness of sin! Does it not teach that when you are brought face to face with Christ Jesus, and when your eye just looks to Him, with nothing of any kind between your soul and Him, there is a pardon, a free pardon, a full pardon, a saving pardon, a soul-healing pardon, even before you discover in your own heart the slightest evidence of a cure?

Rev. Canon Edward Hoare.

Illustrations

(1) I know your thoughts, Christ seems to say; you accuse Me of pretending to extraordinary powers without any evidence that My claims are well founded. The veriest impostor, you say, may do that. No man has a right to speak so, unless he is prepared to verify his words by signs following. Who can possibly say whether the absolution you pronounce is ratified in heaven or not? And out of condescension to their secret murmurings, Jesus attests His power. He works a miracle which the eyes of all can see, in proof that He possesses that which they denied to Him, because it carried with it no evident confirmation.

(2) No notes on this sermon would be complete without reference to Martin Luthers experiencehow, alarmed by a thunderstorm, when a student, he was brought under deep conviction of sin, and he entered the monastery at Erfurt. To gain peace he undertook the most laborious and humbling employments, with wallet on his back, begging in the streets; he practised extreme rigour in the ascetic life; he found no peace, he became thin, and a deadly pallor and strange wildness came over him. No peace; he was discovered in a fainting state on the stone floor of his cell. It seemed to him a fearful thing to meet a holy God. All was darkness in his soul. At this crisis an aged monk, sitting at the side of his couch, repeated the words of the Creed, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. The words penetrated the soul of Luther. They were balm to him. At length he said aloud, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Ah! but, returned the monk, we are to believe not merely that there is forgiveness for David or for Peter; the command of God is that we believe there is forgiveness for our own sins! Luthers spirit revived; here was rest for his storm-tossed soul: I believe in the forgiveness of sinsof my sins. Peace, strength, health came back; he walked in the light and hope and joy of the living.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Chapter 13.

The Healing of the Paralytic-II

“When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”-Mar 2:5-12.

In the last chapter, we thought of the part played in this incident by the four faithful friends. Let us to-day study the action of our Lord. When the bed on which the sick of the palsy lay was lowered through the roof and let down just in front of Him, that was the first word He spoke to the sick man, “Son, thy sins are forgiven thee.”

The Need and the Word.

(1) What a strange and startling word it was! Sins? But who had said a word about sins? No one. What then was the meaning of our Lord’s startling word? It was just a case of speaking to the young man’s deepest and sorest need. The Gospels often remind us of Christ’s wonderful power of insight. “He knew,” John says, “what was in man” (ii. 25). And so He knew what was in this paralytic. He saw that he suffered from a sorer plague than the palsy. Probably his affliction was due to excess and sin; and it was the memory of the sin that was the intolerable burden. And Jesus speaks first to the most bitter and urgent need. He speaks to the guilt-laden soul. “Son,” He said-and the tenderness of the address is worthy of note, indicating as it did that prodigal though the paralytic had been, he was still beloved-“thy sins are forgiven thee.” The four friends brought him to Jesus in order to get healing for his body: Jesus begins by healing the soul.

The Word and the Boon.

(2) What a gracious word it was! If Jesus had done no more for this paralytic, I believe he would have gone back to his house a singing soul. If he had been carried home as physically helpless as he came, he would yet have possessed a joy beyond words. For Jesus had conferred upon him the boon he most urgently craved. He had delivered him from the burden and fear of his sin.

It was to give this supreme boon Jesus came to earth. “It is He,” said the angel, “that shall save His people from their sins” (Mat 1:21, R.V.). Sin is to this day the world’s sorest plague.

Sin is to this day the soul’s deadliest hurt. Physical pain is nothing to the guilt and shame of sin. And it is from sin and its haunting dread that Jesus came to redeem us. He goes about our world, whispering to those who through fear of death have been all their lifetime subject to bondage, this gracious message: “Son, daughter, thy sins are forgiven thee.”

The Boon and its Giver.

(3) But is it a true word? Can Jesus give the forgiveness of which He speaks? Or is He merely mocking men with a promise which He can never fulfil? That was the very point on which the scribes sitting by challenged Him. “He blasphemeth,” they said; “who can forgive sins but one, even God?” (Mar 2:7, R.V.). And Jesus promptly meets their challenge, and gives evidence of His power to forgive. “Whether is easier,” He asks them, “to say… Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise,… and walk?” (Mar 2:9, R.V.).

These scribes had been saying to themselves the offer of forgiveness was one the reality of which they could not test, and that Christ had spoken of forgiveness because He found Himself unable to heal. Our Lord proceeds at once to heal, in order to demonstrate His right to forgive-a demonstration all the more conclusive in the eyes of all present, inasmuch as they had a saying to this effect: “There is no sick man healed of his sickness until all his sins have been forgiven him.” So, without waiting for a reply from the scribes, Jesus goes on to say, “But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power [authority] on earth to forgive sins (He saith to the sick of the palsy) I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house” (Mar 2:10-11, R.V.).

The Giver and His Authority.

Our Lord’s strange but gracious word about forgiveness was also a true word. The healed man was the proof of the reality of forgiveness. The outward healing was the verification of the inward grace. The spiritual blessing manifested its reality in the sphere of the physical. We too have evidence in abundance to prove that the promise of forgiveness is no delusion. We know of people to whom Christ has spoken as He spoke to the sick of the palsy, and we can see the change. We know by their life, even by their very appearance that the burden of sin has been lifted and its haunting dread clean taken away. This word is a true word. Forgiveness is no word, no dream, no mere phrase. Men need never fear of being deceived in Christ. “He is a great forgiver,” said a criminal on his way to execution. Yes, “a great forgiver!” He has authority to forgive, and however great our load and black our record we can yet say with humble confidence, in the familiar words of the creed, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”

Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary

5

Jesus saw their faith; nothing said about the faith of the patient.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mar 2:5. See on Mat 9:2. Be of good cheer, is omitted here, and in Lukes account, the latter has Man instead of Son.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Mar 2:5-12. When Jesus saw their faith The faith of the bearers of the paralytic, as well as of the paralytic himself, manifested by their making these extraordinary efforts to bring him to Jesus, he had compassion on the afflicted person, and, previously to his cure, declared publicly that his sins were forgiven. But there were certain of the scribes, &c. See whence the first offence cometh! As yet not one of the plain, unlettered people, were offended. They all rejoiced in the light, till these men of learning came, to put darkness for light, and light for darkness. We to all such blind guides! Good had it been for these if they had never been born. O God, let me never offend one of thy simple ones! Sooner let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth! These scribes, hearing what Christ said, were exceedingly provoked. And though they did not openly find fault, they said in their own minds, or, perhaps, whispered to one another, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? The word , blasphemy, in profane writings, signifies slander, calumny, or any kind of opprobrious language. But in Scripture it denotes opprobrious speeches against Gods being, attributes, or operations, such as when we ascribe to God the infirmities of men, or to men the perfections and operations of God; it signifies also irreverent speeches, addressed immediately to God, such as when we curse God, as Jobs wife desired him to do. Macknight. The meaning of the word here is, Why doth this fellow arrogantly assume to himself what belongs to God? a sense which it has 16:65, and in other passages. These Pharisees and teachers of the law, being ignorant of our Lords divinity, thought he was guilty of blasphemy in pretending to forgive the man his sins, because it was an assuming of what God had declared to be his incommunicable prerogative, Isa 43:25. Whereupon Jesus, knowing all that passed, immediately reasoned with them on the subject of their thoughts, by which he gave them to understand that it was impossible for any thought to come into their minds without his knowledge, and consequently proved himself to be endued with the omniscient Spirit of God. He next demonstrated, by what he said to them, that the power he claimed did really belong to him, demanding, Whether is it easier to say Namely, with authority, so as to effect what is said; Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, (to command, as the word often signifies,) Arise and walk That is, whether is easier, to forgive sins, or to remove that which is inflicted as their punishment? The Pharisees could not but be sensible that these things were one and the same, and therefore they ought to have acknowledged that the power which did the one could really do the other also. If it be objected to this, that the prophets of old wrought miraculous cures of diseases, but never claimed the power of forgiving sins, neither could claim it; the answer is, that the cases are widely different; none of the prophets ever pretended to work miracles by his own power, as Jesus did. The Pharisees making no answer, Jesus, without troubling himself any further, (except to tell them, that what he was about to do would demonstrate his power on earth to forgive sins,) turned to the paralytic, and bade him rise up and carry away his bed. And the words were no sooner pronounced, than the cure was accomplished: the man was made active and strong in an instant. He arose, took up his bed with surprising vigour, and went off, astonished in himself, and raising astonishment in all who beheld him. The Pharisees indeed, it seems, were only confounded; but the rest of the people were not only struck with amazement, but affected with a high degree of reverence for God, and admiration of his power and goodness, glorifying him, and saying, We never saw it on this fashion!

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The pains they took proved their faith in Jesus’ ability and willingness to heal. Jesus responded by dealing with their friend’s need better than they had expected. Sin is the root of all sickness, not that there is always a close correspondence between sinfulness and sickness. Jesus authoritatively forgave the man’s sins as only God could do and so dealt with the ultimate cause of sickness.

"We must admire several characteristics of these men, qualities that ought to mark us as ’fishers of men.’ For one thing, they were deeply concerned about their friend and wanted to see him helped. They had the faith to believe that Jesus could and would meet his need. They did not simply ’pray about it,’ but they put some feet to their prayers; and they did not permit the difficult circumstances to discourage them. They worked together and dared to do something different, and Jesus rewarded their efforts. How easy it would have been for them to say, ’Well, there is no sense trying to get to Jesus today! Maybe we can come back tomorrow.’" [Note: Wiersbe, 1:115.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)