Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 9:6
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
6. take up thy bed ] The Oriental frequently spreads a mat upon the ground and sleeps in the open air, in the morning he rolls up his mat and carries it away.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But that ye may know … – That you may have full proof on that point; that you may see that I have power to forgive sin, I will perform an act which all must perceive and admit to require the power of God.
Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine own house – The fact that the paralytic man could do this would prove that a miracle was performed. He was healed by a word; it was done instantaneously; it was done in the most public manner. The fact that a man, just before perfectly helpless, could now take up and carry his own bed or couch, proved that a divine power had been exerted; and that fact proved that he who had performed the miracle must also have the power and the authority to forgive sin. It is proper to add, in illustrating this, that in the East a bed is often nothing more than a bolster and a blanket spread on the floor. The bed provided for me, says Professor Hackett (Illustrations of Scripture, p. 112) consisted merely of a bolster and a blanket spread on the floor. The latter could be drawn partially over the body if any one wished, though the expectation seemed to be that we should sleep in our ordinary dress, without any additional covering. Such a bed is obviously a portable one; it is easy to take it up, fold it together, and carry it from place to place, as convenience may require.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 9:6
But that ye may know that the Son of Man.
Forgiveness
This narrative is remarkable,
1. Because it is evident that while our Lord forgave the sick mans sins for his own sake, He healed his disease for the sake of those who stood by.
2. Because our Lord claims the power of forgiving sins, not because He is the Son of God, but because He is the Son of Man.
3. It is one of the very rare instances in which a miracle seems to have been performed for the purpose of convincing unbelief. What is this forgiveness? It must be the same thing as human forgiveness. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. It therefore cannot mean the remission of punishment. Forgiveness is reconciliation; the offence is no longer allowed to stand between the parties. When God forgives He receives us back to His favour. It is free, full, and outruns our repentance. But He does not destroy the consequences of sin; the punishment remains. But it entirely changes the character of the punishment. What we regarded as the blow of an angry Ruler, becomes the chastisement of a kind Father. Our Lord claims the power of forgiving sins, not because He is the Son of God, but because He is the Son of Man. Why does our Lord thus describe Himself? We are accustomed to think that the pardon of sin is a power possessed by God alone. When Christ calls Himself the Son of Man, He is displaying before our eyes a pattern of what we ought to be, and of powers we ought to possess. Were we perfect beings, the power of forgiving sins would be ours. The ministry of reconciliation is committed to man. The forgiveness of sins is the reconciliation of the sinner to God; people of great personal holiness have the power of reconciling sinners to God. This may fall short of the power to forgive; but it is because the holiest man falls short of the measure of Christ. We may now see why our Lord accepted the challenge of unbelief. He cured the man to show the bystanders that they ought to have like power. It was man, not God, who had made the way of forgiveness hard. Love raised the life that self-righteous scorn had trampled down. (J. P. Wright, M. A.)
The forgiveness of sins
Christ here addressed the soul of the man first; sometimes His first attention was given to the body. From the indiscriminate order of Christs procedure in this matter, we like to see how body and soul are equally dear to God. The power which is given to Christ upon earth to forgive sins.
1. There is a beautiful justice in the fact that He who purchased the pardon, at such an untold price of suffering, should be the one to whom it is permitted to have the joy of giving it.
2. At the moment when our blessed Lord said these words the apostles were all standing by; and He did His own work, in His own solitude, to His own glory.
3. In these words on earth I read the blessed promise that so long as this earth shall last, more and more wicked though it may grow, He will never leave this earth while it is an earth, but will be always here to do His forgiving work. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The forgiveness of sins
I. As the great want of man.
II. As the peculiar achievement of christ.
III. As the primary offer of the gospel. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)
1. The force of the name Son of Man, implying
(1) Divine origin.
(2) Representative of manhood. Not the Son of the Jew, or carpenter.
(3) Brotherhood.
(4) Manlike sympathy.
2. His grand prerogative-power on earth to forgive sins.:Forgiveness is His own right by virtue of His
(1) Sacrifice;
(2) Intercession (Act 5:31).
3. The great blessing-forgiveness. The soul might have been healed and the body untouched; but the paralysis, both moral and physical, was removed.
(1) Forgiveness is obtainable on earth.
(2) Many realized it now. (J. Harris.)
The Son of Man
There have been two men in the world, says St. Paul: the fallen Adam, with his infantile and undeveloped perfections; and the Christ, with His full and complete humanity. All other men are fragments; He is the Entire and perfect Chrysolite. Aristotle is but the rubbish of an Adam, and Adam is but the dim outline sketch of a Jesus. And between the two there have been none. The one Man as God meant Him, the type of man, the perfect humanity, the realized ideal, the home of all the powers of manhood. (Dr. Maclaren.)
Eastern beds
The Oriental frequently spreads a mat upon the ground and sleeps in the open air. In the morning he rolls up his mat, and carries it away. (A. Cart, M. A.)
Forgiveness personal
The Rev. H. Wilkins, Cheltenham, in Good Cause for Good Cheer, writes: It is no general statement, but a personal assurance of the forgiveness of sins. Looking with His own keen glance of love into the sick mans eyes, He says: Thy sins be forgiven thee. The general truth of the pardon of sins is not enough for us, we want a personal forgiveness. One day when Martin Luther was almost overwhelmed with despair in his cell at Erfurth, an old monk tried to comfort him by repeating the article of the Apostles Creed, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Luther often repeated the same words. Ah! said the good old monk, it is not enough to believe in the forgiveness of Davids sins or Peters sins; this the devils believe. Gods command is to believe that our own sins are forgiven. This was the assurance that Jesus gave here. He knew this mans life-history; He knew, probably, that there was a close connection between his suffering and his sin; but whatever his sins were, they were frankly forgiven.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. But that ye may know, c.] External miracles are the proofs of internal ones. Three miracles are wrought in this case. (I mean, by miracle, something produced or known that no power is capable of but that which is omnipotent, and no knowledge adequate to but that which is omniscient.) The miracles are these:
1st. The remission of the poor man’s sins.
2d. The discernment of the secret thoughts of the scribes.
3d. The restoring of the paralytic, in an instant, to perfect soundness.
Thus one miracle becomes the proof and establishment of another. Never was a clearer proof of omnipotent energy and mercy brought under the senses of man. Here is an absolutely perfect miracle wrought and here are absolute incontestable proofs that the miracle was wrought; and the conclusion is the fullest demonstration of the Divinity of the ever-blessed Jesus.
Arise, take up thy bed] Being enabled to obey this command was the public proof that the man was made whole. Such a circumstance should not pass without improvement. A man gives proof of his conversion from sin to God who imitates this paralytic person. He who does not rise and stand upright, but either continues grovelling on the earth, or falls back as soon as he is got up, is not yet cured of his spiritual palsy. When we see a penitent enabled to rejoice in hope of God’s glory, and to walk in the way of his commandments, he affords us all the proof which we can reasonably require, that his conversion is real: the proof sufficient to satisfy himself is the witness of the Holy Spirit in his own heart; but this is a matter of which those who are without cannot judge: they must form their opinion from his conduct, and judge of the tree by its fruits.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But that ye may know that the son of man,…. That they might have a visible proof, an ocular demonstration, that though he was the son of man, truly and really man, yet not a mere man; but also as truly and properly God, God and man in one person, and so
hath power on earth to forgive sins: not only ability as God, but even authority to do it as mediator, even whilst he was on earth, in a state of humiliation, in fashion as a man, in the form of a servant, conversing with sinful mortals.
Then saith he to the sick of the palsy; turning himself from the Scribes, unto him, and without putting up any prayer to God, but by a mere word of command, says to him,
arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house: he ordered him to “arise” from his bed, on which he was carried by four men, and “take up his bed”, and carry it himself; which would be not only an evidence that the disease had left him, but that he was in full strength, and perfect health; and to “go” to his own “house”, not only that the multitude might see that he could walk home himself, whom they had seen brought by others; but that those in the house, who had been eyewitnesses of his great disorder and weakness, might be also of his cure.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That ye may know ( ). Jesus accepts the challenge in the thoughts of the scribes and performs the miracle of healing the paralytic, who so far only had his sins forgiven, to prove his Messianic power on earth to forgive sins even as God does. The word may mean either power or authority. He had both as a matter of fact. Note same word in 9:8.
Then saith he to the sick of the palsy ( ). These words of course, were not spoken by Jesus. Curiously enough Matthew interjects them right in the midst of the sayings of Jesus in reply to the scorn of the scribes. Still more remarkable is the fact that Mark (Mr 2:10) has precisely the same words in the same place save that Matthew has added , of which he is fond, to what Mark already had. Mark, as we know, largely reports Peter’s words and sees with Peter’s eyes. Luke has the same idea in the same place without the vivid historical present ( ) with the participle in place of the adjective. This is one of the many proofs that both Matthew and Luke made use of Mark’s Gospel each in his own way.
Take up thy bed ( ). Pack up at once (aorist active imperative) the rolled-up pallet.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But that ye may know,” (hina de eidete) “But that you all may know or perceive,” that you scribes may comprehend who I am, Joh 7:17.
2) “That the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,” (hoti eksousian echei ho huios tou anthropou epi tes ges aphientai hamartias) “That the Son of man has or possesses authority upon the earth to forgive sins,” Mr 2:10. The miracles Jesus performed had, as their priority purpose, to reach the hearts of men, that they might believe and be saved, not merely that physical and emotional ills be healed, Joh 3:1-2; Joh 20:30-31.
3) “(Then saith he to the sick of the palsy” (tote legei to paralutiko) “Right then, at that moment, he said to the paralytic,” as a case of direct address, to affront the cold skepticism of the unbelieving scribes.
4) “Arise, take up thy bed,” (egeiri aron sou ten klinen) “Rise, take up your mattress,” on which you have been held bedridden, as a paralytic-slave so long, Luk 5:24.
5 “And go unto thine house.” (kai hupage eis ton oikon sou) “And go into your house,” or your own place of residence, of your own strength, Mr 2:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
6. That the Son of man hath authority on earth. This authority is very different from what was given to the apostles, and from what is now exercised by the pastors of the Church: for they cannot so properly be said to pardon sins, as to declare that they are pardoned, when they deliver the commission which is entrusted to them. By these words Christ declares that he is not only the minister and witness, but likewise the author, of this grace. But what means this restriction, on earth? Of what avail will it be to us to have obtained pardon here, if it be not ratified in heaven? Christ’s meaning was, that forgiveness of sins ought not to be sought from a distance: for he exhibits it to men in his own person, and as it were in his hands. So strong is our inclination to distrust, that we never venture to believe that God is merciful to us, till he draws near, and speaks familiarly to us. Now, as Christ descended to earth for the purpose of exhibiting to men the grace of God as present, he is said to forgive sins visibly, because in him and by him the will of God was revealed which, according to the perception of the flesh, had been formerly hidden above the clouds.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) That ye may know that the Son of man hath power.Better, authority, as in Joh. 5:27. The two passages are so closely parallel that we can hardly be wrong in thinking that the words now spoken were meant to recall those which some, at least, of those who listened had heard before. This view, at any rate, brings out the fulness of their meaning. As they stand here, they seem to include both the two hypotheses mentioned in the Note on Mat. 9:3. The Father had given Him authority to forgive sins and to execute judgment because He was the Son of Man, the representative of mankind, and as such was exercising a delegated power. But then, that discourse in John 5 showed that He also spoke of Himself as the Son of God as well as the Son of Man (Joh. 5:25), and as such claimed an honour equal to that which was rightly paid to the Father (Joh. 5:23). Ultimately, therefore, our Lords answer rests on the higher, and not the lower, of the two grounds on which the objectors might have been met.
Arise, take up thy bed.As St. Mark gives the words we have the very syllables that had been spoken to the impotent man at Bethesda (Joh. 5:8), and in any case words identical in meaning; and the natural inference is that our Lord meant to recall what the scribes from Jerusalem had then seen and heard.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Power on earth The counterpart of power in heaven. It could be no superior scientific skill, it could be no mere earthly magnetic power, it could be no accidental coincidence of events.
Take up thy bed A light mattress. Other men brought him on the bed; he can now carry himself away, bed and all.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins (then he says to the sick of the palsy), “Arise, and take up your bed, and go up to your house.”
Having stunned them to silence Jesus then positively declared His position and His intention. In order that they might know that He truly was the Son of Man, the God-anointed One of Daniel 7, and therefore had the right while on earth to forgive sins He would perform a miracle. He would do what they could not do, what only One Who was approved of God could do. He would enable this man to walk. Then if they were honest, having failed to argue against His reasoning, they would have to admit His right to forgive sins.
So turning to the paralytic He told him to rise from his mattress and walk home carrying his mattress. What better proof could there be that he was genuinely healed, and therefore now coming under the approval of God, and therefore also forgiven.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The argument in deed:
v. 6. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
v. 7. And he arose and departed to his house. Far from admitting a pretension on His part which would amount to a blasphemy, He, the Son of Man, deliberately assumes a divine prerogative also in healing the body. The greater includes the smaller: the right and the authority to pardon sins implies the power and the ability to heal mere bodily ailments. If He had been guilty of blasphemy, He could not have had the authority to cure the sick man by a peremptory command. He, the true human being, is nevertheless not a mere man, but can command the sickness and restore the sick to complete health by a word of His almighty power. The man that had been chained to his cot in utter helplessness could now shoulder this same cot and walk out in the fullness of perfect vitality.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 9:6-7 . ] placed near the beginning of the sentence so as to be emphatic: that the Son of man is empowered upon earth (not merely to announce, but) to communicate the forgiveness of sins. does not belong to . . (Grotius), in which case its position would convey an awkward emphasis, and the order of the words would naturally be . . . (as Marcion read them), but it is joined to in the consciousness of the brought with Him from heaven . “Coelestem ortum hic sermo sapit,” Bengel.
.] is neither to be taken parenthetically, nor is to be understood (Fritzsche), in order to justify the parenthesis; but Matthew’s style is such that no formal apodosis comes after , but rather the call to the paralytic , etc. Matthew reports this change in regard to the parties addressed with scrupulous fidelity ; and so, after concluding what Jesus says to the scribes with the anacoluthon , he proceeds to add, in the narrative form , “then He says to the paralytic.” This is a circumstantial simplicity of style which is not to be met with in polished Greek writers, who would have omitted the . altogether as a mere encumbrance. See passages from Demosthenes in Kypke, I. p. 48 f.
, . . .] therefore an immediate and complete cure, which does not favour the far-fetched notion that the declaration of Jesus penetrated the nervous system of the paralytic as with an electric current (Schenkel).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
Ver. 6. That the Son of man hath power, &c. ] And therefore is more than a man. The Rhemists tell us of one man that could remove mountains. But none but the man Christ Jesus could ever remit sins. He only it is that blots out the cloud, and the thick cloud too, enormities as well as infirmities, Isa 44:22 , for this is a true axiom, Peccata non minuunt iustificationem, though sins be different, justification is not. Take heed ye add not words to God’s covenant.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
6. . . . ] The Messiah: an expression regarded by the Jews as equivalent to , ch. Mat 26:63 . See also Joh 5:27 . “The Alexandrian Fathers, in their conflict with the Nestorians, made use of this passage in proof of the entire transference which there was of all the properties of Christ’s divine nature to His human; so that whatever one had, was so far common, that it might also be predicated of the other. It is quite true that had not the two natures been indissolubly knit together in a single Person, no such language could have been used; yet I should rather suppose that ‘Son of Man’ being the standing title whereby the Lord was well pleased to designate Himself, bringing out by it that He was at once one with humanity, and the crown of humanity, He does not so use it that the title is every where to be pressed, but at times simply as equivalent to Messiah.” Trench, p. 208.
] Distinguished from , as in ch. Mat 16:19 ; Mat 18:18 . Bengel finely remarks, “Clestem ortum hic sermo sapit.” The Son of Man, as God manifest in man’s flesh, has on man’s earth that power, which in its fountain and essence belongs to God in heaven. And this not by delegation, but “because He (being God) is the Son of Man.” Joh 5:27 .
] See a similar interchange of the persons in construction, Gen 3:22-23 .
. is not parenthetic, nor is . . . an elliptic sentence; but the speech and narrative are intermixed. A simple construction would require either . , or We have, in the text, the first member of the former construction joined with the second of the latter.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 9:6 . : transition to the other aspect, that of , the point raised by the scribes when they looked a charge of blasphemy. ., : 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. . Jesus stops short in His speech to the scribes and turns to the sick man, saying: , etc., also in Mat 9:6 , intransitive. The reading in T.R., Mat 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.) , a light piece of furniture, easily portable. : all three actions, arising, lifting, walking , conclusive evidence of restored power.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the Son of man. See App-98. XVT.
power = authority. See App-172.
earth = the earth. Greek. ge. App-129.
unto. Greek. eis. Same as “into”, Mat 9:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
6. . . .] The Messiah: an expression regarded by the Jews as equivalent to , ch. Mat 26:63. See also Joh 5:27. The Alexandrian Fathers, in their conflict with the Nestorians, made use of this passage in proof of the entire transference which there was of all the properties of Christs divine nature to His human; so that whatever one had, was so far common, that it might also be predicated of the other. It is quite true that had not the two natures been indissolubly knit together in a single Person, no such language could have been used; yet I should rather suppose that Son of Man being the standing title whereby the Lord was well pleased to designate Himself, bringing out by it that He was at once one with humanity, and the crown of humanity, He does not so use it that the title is every where to be pressed, but at times simply as equivalent to Messiah. Trench, p. 208.
] Distinguished from , as in ch. Mat 16:19; Mat 18:18. Bengel finely remarks, Clestem ortum hic sermo sapit. The Son of Man, as God manifest in mans flesh, has on mans earth that power, which in its fountain and essence belongs to God in heaven. And this not by delegation, but because He (being God) is the Son of Man. Joh 5:27.
] See a similar interchange of the persons in construction, Gen 3:22-23.
. is not parenthetic, nor is … an elliptic sentence; but the speech and narrative are intermixed. A simple construction would require either . , or We have, in the text, the first member of the former construction joined with the second of the latter.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 9:6. , ye may know) This word also breathes authority.[396]- , on earth) This is exclusively the place where sins are committed and remitted. Earth was the scene of Christs works from the beginning.[397] See Pro 8:31; cf. the two clauses in Psa 16:3; see[398] Jer 9:24; Joh 17:4; Luk 2:14. I have, says He, all authority in heaven, much more on earth; see ch. Mat 16:19, Mat 28:18.[399] This speech savours of a heavenly origin.-, authority) The argument from power to authority holds good in this passage.-, He saith) A similar change of person between the protasis and apodosis occurs in Num 5:20-21, and Jer 5:14.
[396] Bengel just below translates (rendered in E. V. power) by authority, and refers to it by anticipation.-(I. B.)
[397] Nay more, it is the wrestling arena between sin and grace.-V. g.
[398] E. B. inserts here Gen 6:5, which has been adopted by the later editions.-(I. B.)
[399] We also in our turn may now say: Seeing that He had that power, when sojourning on the earth, why should He not also have the same, now that He has been raised from the dead and taken up into heaven? Act 5:31.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Son of man
(See Scofield “Mat 8:20”).
sins Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
that the: Isa 43:25, Mic 7:18, Mar 2:7, Mar 2:10, Luk 5:21, Joh 5:21-23, Joh 10:28, Joh 17:2, Joh 20:21-23, Act 5:31, Act 7:59, Act 7:60, 2Co 2:10, 2Co 5:20, Eph 4:32, Col 3:13
Arise: Mat 9:5, Luk 13:11-13, Act 9:34
Reciprocal: Num 14:17 – General Mat 12:8 – General Mat 16:13 – I the Luk 5:24 – power Joh 1:51 – the Son Joh 5:8 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9:6
Jesus then proposed to prove his power (from EXOUSIA meaning authority) to perform the invisible by doing the visible. Addressing the palsied man, Jesus told him not only to arise, but to take up his bed and go home. This evidently was the bed on which he was lying when the men came to carry him to Jesus.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 9:6. Application of the argument, stated by all three Evangelists in the same terms.
The Son of man, here equivalent to the Messiah.
Hath authority. Power is not so exact
On earth. Christ claimed and exercised this authority as the incarnate Son of God, or as the Son of man on earth, having brought it with Him from heaven, as the One who is at once like unto us, and above us all as the crown and perfection of humanity.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 6
The meaning is, he wrought the visible miracle of healing, in attestation of his claim to the possession of the invisible power of forgiving sin.