And, behold, they brought to him a man sick, a paralytic, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the paralytic;
Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you.
Read Chapter 9
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Thy sins are forgiven thee. We do not find that the sick man asked this; but it was the much greater benefit, and which every one ought to prefer before the health of the body. (Witham)
He says this, because he wished to declare the cause of the disease, and to remove it, before he removed the disease itself. He might also desire to show the paralytic, what he ought to have prayed for in the first place. (Menochius)
The sick man begs for corporal health, but Christ first restores to him the health of his soul, for two reasons: 1st. That be might insinuate to the beholders, that the principal intent of his coming into the world was to cure the evils of the soul, and to let them know that the spiritual cure ought most to be desired and petitioned for. Corporal infirmities, as we learn in many places of the sacred text, are only the consequences of the sins of the patient. In St. John (chap. iii.), Christ bids the man whom he had healed, to sin no more, lest something worse should befal...
Now in the narrative of the paralytic a number of people are brought forward for healing. Jesus’ words of healing are worthy of reflection. The paralytic is not told, “Be healed.” He is not told, “Rise and walk.” But he is told, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven you.” The paralytic is a descendent of the original man, Adam. In one person, Christ, all the sins of Adam are forgiven. In this case the person to be healed is brought forward by ministering angels. In this case, too, he is called a son, because he is God’s first work. The sins of his soul are forgiven him, and pardon of the first transgression is granted. We do not believe the paralytic committed any sin [that resulted in his illness], especially since the Lord said elsewhere that blindness from birth had not been contracted from someone’s sin or that of his parents.
They brought to him, as we said before, a second paralytic lying on a pallet because he was unable to enter. “And Jesus, seeing” not the “faith” of him who was brought forward but of those who were bringing him forward, said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven you.” O wonderful humility! He addresses as “son” this abject and infirm paralytic with disjointed members whom the priests did not stoop to touch. A son, indeed, because his sins are forgiven him. In line with the biblical metaphor, a soul lying in its body with all the strength of its members gone is brought for healing to the perfect Doctor, the Lord. If the soul is healed through his mercy, it will receive strength enough to immediately take up its pallet. .
This paralytic, however, was different from that one who is set forth in John. John 5:1 For he lay at the pool, but this at Capernaum; and that man had his infirmity thirty and eight years, but concerning this, no such thing is mentioned; and the other was in a state destitute of protectors, but this had some to take care of him, who also took him up, and carried him. And to this He says, Son, your sins be forgiven you, but to that He says, Will you be made whole? John 5:6 And the other He healed on a sabbath day, but this not on a sabbath, for else the Jews would have laid this also to His charge; and in the case of this man they were silent, but in that of the other they were instant in persecuting him.
And this I have said, not without purpose, lest any one should think there is a discrepancy from suspecting it to be one and the same paralytic.
But do thou, I pray you, mark the humility and meekness of our Lord. For He had also before this put away the multitudes from Him, and...
Note in this regard, my brothers, that God does not inquire into the wants of those who are deliriously ill. He does not wait to see the faith of the ignorant or probe the senseless wishes of the sick. Yet he does not refuse to help the faith of another, so that by grace alone he confers whatever is proper of the divine will. In fact, my brothers, when does a doctor ever inquire into or examine the wishes of those who are ailing, for a patient is prone to be of a contrary mind in his wishes and demands? Sermons
Does He distinguish and separate anyone out, calling one to Himself as foreknown while sending the other away as not predestined? Never! Therefore, “you should not make excuses for your sins” [Psalm 140:4, LXX], nor should you want to make the Apostle’s words an occasion for your own destruction, but should run, all of you, to the Master Who calls you. For even if someone is a publican, or a fornicator, an adulterer, a murderer, or whatever else, the Master does not turn him away, but takes away the burden of his sins immediately and makes him free. And how does He take away the other’s burden? Just as He once took away that of the paralytic when He said to the latter: “My son, your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2), and the man was immediately relieved of his burden and, in addition, received the cure of his body. - "Second Ethical Discourse"
. "His own city" means Capernaum, for it was there that He was living. He was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, and lived for an extended length of time in Capernaum. This paralytic is not the same as the one mentioned in John (Jn. 5:2-9), for that one was beside the Sheep’s Pool in Jerusalem, while this one was in Capernaum. And that one had no one to help him, while this one was carried by four men, as Mark says (Mk. 2:3-12), who lowered him through the roof, a fact which fact Matthew omits.
And He entered into a boat, and passed over, and came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed.:
Hs own city means Capernaum, for it was there that He was living. He was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, and lived for an extended length of time in Capernaum. This paralytic is not the same as the one mentioned in John [5:2-9], for that one was beside the Sheep' Pool in Jerusalem, while this one was in Capernaum. And that one had no one to help him, while this one was carried by four men, as Mark says [Mk. 2:3-12], who lowered him through the roof, a fact which fact Matthew omits.
And Jesus seeing their faith:
Eher the faith of the men who brought the paralytic, for Jesus often worked a miracle on account of the faith of those who brought the one sick; or, of the paralytic himself.
Said to the paralytic, Take courage, child; thy sins be forgiven thee:
Jesus calls him child, either as one of God' creatures, or because he believed. To s...
