Mark 2:9

ἐγείρον ([264][265] may be original, but it looks like a correction of the intrans. ἔγειρε. Mt. and Lk. have ἔγειρε here, and all three have ἔγειρε at Mark 2:11.

[264] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mark 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[265] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mark 1:1 to Mark 10:15; Mark 10:30 to Mark 15:1; Mark 15:20 to Mark 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mark 16:8 and Mark 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

9. τί ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον; See on Mark 10:25. Here Christ gives them a test by which they can see whether their adverse judgment is just. It was easy to say “Thy sins are forgiven,” because no one could prove that the claim to work this invisible miracle was baseless. But the claim to have power to heal with a word could be tested at once; and if it proved to be true, it was a guarantee that the other claim was true also. His healing the body was evidence that He could heal the soul. But Christ healed the man in answer, not to the unbelief of the Scribes, but to the belief of the man and his bearers. He would have healed him, if the Scribes had not been there. As they were there, He made the healing serve a double purpose.