2.01 Reading Notes on Matthew 9:1-8

Matthew 9

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

9 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man,lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.

Jesus crossed over the Jordan heading westward from Gadara, in the Decapolis, to Nazareth.

The teachers of the law, meaning scribes (professionals trained in writing and reading and thus matters pertaining to the written laws) and/or Pharisees (laymen who took up the task of maintaining and teaching the law from the time of the Babylonian captivity onward, after the temple was obliterated).  This may exclude the Sadduccees in this case as a group.  It's possible some scribes were Sadduccees.  The latter group derives from the priesthood but one didn't need to be priest apparently to be a Sadduccee.  This group took a liberal approach to the Torah and was viewed by the Pharisees as having sold out to materialism and secularism.  The esteem of Pharisees by the people as keeping the traditions and laws is now in stark contrast to the party of the priests.

These teachers accuse Jesus of blasphemy in forgiving sins (cf. Luke 5:17-26 "Only God can forgive sins").  Evidently they are either close enough to the healing to have heard this, or others repeated it.  Rather than confront Jesus openly, they grumble to each other.  Jesus doesn't hear it yet knows what they are thinking.

"Which is easier to say?"  Here the question is rhetorical since "your sins are forgiven" has no obvious, physical proof for display.  One can say it casually, without fear of discovery if false.  On the other hand the efficacy of "Get up and walk" can be easily proven or disproven.  Beyond a more passive "you are healed and can walk" it is a command begging a demonstration.  Jesus doesn't say he is healed, he orders him to demonstrate what is only possible if he already is.  This is dramatic, then, and a direct response to the teachers of the law.

Technically, from the divine standpoint this is not a logical argument, since forgiving sins (as the teachers have noted) is entirely God's domain, whereas human prophets have healed through God's delegated power.  Lesser to the greater is not a conclusive form of argument.  But from a man's standpoint, from what can be verified by human observation, the "get up and walk" statement is a reasonable start for Jesus asserting his credibility.

"So you know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" Jesus orders the man to take up his mat and walk home, which he promptly did.

The crowd understood.  Again, not a solid demonstration or reception that he is properly God in nature, or even an absolute proof the God has delegated what cannot be verified by human observation (forgiveness of sins).  They still see him as a man but recognize that his authority at least to heal has come from God.  That establishes credibility in teaching. It doesn't even say specifically that they accepted his authority to forgive sins.  The authority that amazed them was that to heal, despite Jesus' aim to establish authority for something greater.  But maybe some believed.

Analyzed this way, this language, sparse in outlining the miracle's effect on the people in terms of forgiveness of sins, feels somewhat anticlimactic when compared to Jesus' other miracles in other parts of Israel. But then this is Nazareth.  At the end of Matt 13 (by then he has circled from Nazareth around the Galilee and returned to teach at his hometown's synagogue) he confirms this to us with "a prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home".  He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matt 13:58)