Matthew 9:6

And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. This incident appears to follow next in order of time to the cure of the leper (Matthew 8:1). For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 2:1....

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...

1-8 The faith of the friends of the paralytic in bringing him to Christ, was a strong faith; they firmly believed that Jesus Christ both could and would heal him. A strong faith regards no obstacles in pressing after Christ. It was a humble faith; they brought him to attend on Christ. It was an active faith. Sin may be pardoned, yet the sickness not be removed; the sickness may be removed, yet the sin not pardoned: but if we have the comfort of peace with God, with the comfort of recovery from sickness, this makes the healing a mercy indeed. This is no encouragement to sin. If thou bring thy sins to Jesus Christ, as thy malady and misery to be cured of, and delivered from, it is well; but to come with them, as thy darlings and delight, thinking still to retain them and receive him, is a gross mistake, a miserable delusion. The great intention of the blessed Jesus in the redemption he wr...

Verse Matthew 9:6. _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

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 Hack...

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 9:1 _The_ _paralytic forgiven and healed. _Parallel passages: Mark 2:1; Luke 5:17. (For connexion of thought, cf. Matthew 8:18, note.) In the parallel passages this narrative follows our Matthew 8:1. Matthew's account is shorter, as usual. MATTHEW 9:1 AND HE ENTERED INTO A SHIP; _boat _(Revised Version). So completely did he grant the request of the Gadarenes. Obs

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...

Matthew 9:1. _And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith_ The faith of the bearers, and the faith of the palsied man himself, Matthew 9:2. _Said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee._ It was remarked, by a mediaeval writer, that we do not find Christ calling any of the apostles, not even the very chief of them, by the name that he gave to this palsied man, «Son.» This is the title that he gives to a sin-sick sinner, lying on a bed before him, waiting to be healed. Oh, the tenderness of Christ to sin and misery! He puts a kind of sonship upon this man which he had not possessed before....

SON OF MAN (_ See Scofield) - (Matthew 8:20). _ SINS SIN (_ See Scofield) - (Romans 3:23). _...

CHAPTER 9 1. A Man Sick of the Palsy Healed. (Matthew 9:1 .) 2. The Call of Matthew (Matthew 9:9 .) 3. With the Publicans and the Sinners. (Matthew 9:10 .) 4. The Question of John's Disciples. (Matthew 9:14 .) 5. The Ruler's Request.(Matthew 9:18 .) 6. The Woman Healed of an Issue of Blood. (Matthew 9:20 .) 7. The Maid Raised from the Dead. (Matthew 9:23 .) 8. The Two Bli