Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 5:24
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
24. the Son of man ] Ben-Adam has a general sense of any human being (Job 25:6, &c.); in a special sense in the O. T. it is nearly 90 times applied to Ezekiel, though never used by himself of himself. In the N. T. it is 80 times used by Christ, but always by Himself, except in passages which imply His exaltation (Act 7:56; Rev 1:13-20). The Title, as distinctively Messianic, is derived from Dan 7:13, and is there Bar-Ensh, a word descriptive of man in his humiliation. The inference seems to be that Christ used it to indicate the truth that “God highly exalted Him” because of his self-humiliation in taking our flesh (Php 2:5-11).
hath power upon earth to forgive sins ] and therefore of course, a fortiori, hath power in heaven.
I say unto thee ] Rather, to keep the emphatic order, To thee I say.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
24. take up thy couch“sweetsaying! The bed had borne the man; now the man shall bear the bed!”[BENGEL].
Lu5:27-32. LEVI’S CALLAND FEAST.
(See on Mt9:9-13; and Mr 2:14.)
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But that ye may know, that the son of man,…. Whom the Scribes and Pharisees took for a mere man, in which they were mistaken; for though he was really a man, and the son of man, yet he was God as well as man; he was God manifest in the flesh:
hath power upon earth to forgive sins; even in the days of his flesh, whilst he was in his humble form on earth; for he did not cease to be God by becoming man, nor lose any branch of his power, not this of forgiving sin, by appearing in the form of a servant; and, that it might be manifest,
he said unto the sick of the palsy: these are the words of the evangelist, signifying, that Christ turned himself from the Scribes and Pharisees to the paralytic man, and thus addressed him:
I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He saith unto him that was palsied ( ). This same parenthesis right in the midst of the words of Jesus is in Mark 2:11; Matt 9:6, conclusive proof of interrelation between these documents. The words of Jesus are quoted practically alike in all three Gospels, the same purpose also (second perfect active subjunctive).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Unto thee [] . Standing first for emphasis. Luke emphasizes the direct address to the man : unto thee I say, in contrast with the apparently less direct, thy sins be forgiven thee. In Jesus ‘ mind the connection was assumed; now he brings out the personal side of the connection. In forgiving the man’s sins he had healed him radically. The command to rise and walk was of the same piece.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power,” (hina de eitdete) “Then in order that you all may perceive (hoti ho huios tou anthropou ekousian echei) that the Son of man (heir of humanity, the Redeemer) has administrative authority,” that had been granted Him of the Father, Joh 3:35; Joh 5:26-27; Mar 2:10. That you may have visible evidence, a Divine work done before you, that I have power to forgive sins, I will just make him arise and walk, our Lord, in essence responded to them.
2) “Upon earth to forgive sins,” (epi tes ges aphienai hamartais) “Upon the earth (right now) to forgive or remit sins,” as I have done to this believing, paralytic man before us, in doing what the Father sent me to do, Joh 4:34; Joh 6:38; Joh 17:4; Luk 19:10. He came to set sin’s captive free, to liberate those who trust in Him, Luk 4:16-18; Heb 2:9; Heb 2:15; Eph 1:7; 1Jn 1:8-9.
3) “(He said unto the sick of the palsy,)” (eipen to paralelumeno) “He said to paralytic,” yet before them on the couch or bed; He was pardoned, forgiven, and his sins remitted by faith in Jesus Christ, the chief means of pardon, Rom 4:4-5; Act 10:43; Rom 10:9-13.
4) I say unto thee, Arise,” (soi lego egeire) “I say to you, rise,” or get up, Psa 33:9. He couldn’t never had, but he did, at the word and by the miraculous power of Jesus Christ, that those beholding might believe, Mar 2:11; Joh 3:1-2; Joh 20:30-31.
5) “And take up thy couch, and go into thin ‘ e house.” (kai aras to klinidion sou poreuou eis ton oikon sou) “And take up your pallet or couch and go into your house or residence,” Mat 9:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins’, he said to him who was paralysed, “I say to you, Arise, and take up your couch, and go to your house.” ’
Here we have the positive message that this account is all about. The sudden switch in subject in the middle of the verse should be noted. It has caused some to see the original account as having been interfered with in one way or the other before Mark got hold of it. But it is difficult to see how Mark could have got over this point so personally and yet so succintly without using this method. And the fact that scholarly Luke accepts it by citing him suggests that he saw nothing wrong with it. It is in fact dramatic. Jesus makes His solemn declaration to the Scribes and then instantly speaks to the man, all in one breath, closely connecting the two. The repetition of ‘He said to him who was paralysed,’ is not a simple repetition but a deliberate contrast with what He says in Luk 5:20. The repetition draws attention to the contrast between that and here. The point is brought home. The purity of the Greek takes second place.
His new claim is startling. Now He has moved from ambiguity to clarity. ‘So that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.’ He claims authority on earth to forgive sins! ‘Forgive’ is in the present infinitive, ‘to go on forgiving sins’ as a personal activity. And we notice that the words are spoken directly to the Rabbis. It is they whose thoughts He is challenging. He wants them to know that He can forgive sins in God’s name, something which no other can do.
But we note first the title under which He claims the right to forgive sins. He does so as ‘the Son of Man’. Some have tried to make this mean simply ‘man’ on the basis of the Aramaic, but Mark was an Aramaic speaker and yet he translated it as ‘the Son of Man’, with Luke following suit, treating it as a title and making an unambiguous connection with the ideas that lie behind that term. It is significant that in the Gospels the term is only ever used on the lips of Jesus (Mar 8:31; Luk 24:7; and Joh 12:34 are not really exceptions for they are referring to what Jesus actually said), and in the New Testament only ever referred to Jesus. Thus there are no good grounds for denying these words to Jesus.
He begins to develop the term from the moment of His baptism. His first use of it is to Nathaniel at his call following Jesus’ baptism, where He speaks of angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man (Joh 1:51). He then uses it to Nicodemus with clear heavenly connections. ‘No man has ascended into Heaven but He Who descended out of Heaven, even the Son of Man’ (Joh 3:13). Thus according to John the Son of Man is closely connected with Heaven and has His source in Heaven right from the beginning. And as we have seen above He continues using it to depict His own authority, to depict His manhood, to depict His coming sufferings and to depict His coming in glory, all of which He partakes in as God’s chosen One.
The connection with the coming in glory unquestionably connects the title with Dan 7:13-14. There ‘a son of man’ comes on the clouds of Heaven to receive dominion and power and glory, and from the remainder of the chapter it is clear that He is the representative of the saints of the Most High, that is the future promised King of Israel. And by His receiving the kingship He obtains the power to judge and to show mercy, to condemn or to forgive. Thus Jesus is revealing Himself as this figure and declaring that He therefore has the power to forgive sins on earth. He leaves all who hear to consider what the full consequences of such a statement are.
To the problem that Jesus had set these men they could give no answer. Had they said that it was easier ‘to make the man walk’ they would have had to do it. And they knew that they could not. Only a man in direct touch with God could do that. But they would not admit that they were wrong either. So they sank into sullen silence
Then Jesus drove in the last nail. He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, Arise, and take up your litter, and go to your house.”
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
Ver. 24. See Trapp on “ Mat 9:2 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 9:3 “ See Trapp on “ Mar 2:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
24. ] ., probably not parenthetic: see in Matt.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 5:24 . : by introducing the participle Lk. improves the style as compared with Mk., but weakens the force of the utterance, “arise, take up thy bed and go”. The same remark applies to the words of the scribes, Luk 5:21 , “who is this that speaketh blasphemies?” compared with, “why doth this person speak thus? He blasphemes.” Lk.’s is secondary, the style of an editor working over a rugged, graphic, realistic text.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
that = in order that,
know. Greek. oida. App-132.
the Son of man. App-98and App-99. First occurance in Luke; compare twenty-sixth, Luk 24:7.
power = authority. App-172.
upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
earth. Greek. ge. App-129.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
24.] ., probably not parenthetic: see in Matt.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
that the: Dan 7:13, Mat 16:13, Mat 25:31, Mat 26:64, Joh 3:13, Joh 5:27, Rev 1:13
power: Isa 53:11, Mat 9:6, Mat 28:18, Joh 5:8, Joh 5:12, Joh 5:22, Joh 5:23, Joh 17:2, Joh 20:22, Joh 20:23, Act 5:31
I say: Luk 5:13, Luk 7:14, Luk 8:54, Joh 11:43, Act 3:6-8, Act 9:34, Act 9:40, Act 14:10
and take: Joh 5:8-12
Reciprocal: Luk 18:14 – went
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jesus did the apparently more difficult thing to prove that He could also do the apparently easier thing. This is the first time Luke recorded Jesus calling Himself the "Son of Man." Luke used this title 26 times, and in every case Jesus used it to describe Himself (except in Act 7:56 where Stephen used it of Him). This was a messianic title with clear implications of deity (Dan 7:13-14). Since the Son of Man is the divine judge and ruler, it is only natural that He would have the power to forgive. It was only consistent for Jesus to claim deity since He had just demonstrated His deity by forgiving the man’s sins. He would demonstrate it by healing him.