Matthew 9:8

Matthew 9:8. They were afraid (according to the best authorities). Either a religious awe, awakened by the higher character in which Jesus had presented Himself, or a spiritual conflict echoing that between Christ and the scribes. The result was they glorified God, who had given such power, or ‘authority.' Power to forgive sins as well as to heal; the two were indissolubly united in the demonstration.

To men. This probably means ‘to mankind,' Jesus being regarded as the representative of mankind in this matter. The pardon of the paralytic was a foreshadowing of the rending of the vail of the temple, promising direct intercourse between God and the sinner, yet through the Son of man. Comp, the parallel passages.