Matthew 9:6

III. THE POWER OF THE SON OF MAN.

6. But that ye may know.

By doing that which is capable of being put to the proof,. will vindicate my right and power to do that which in its very nature is incapable of being proved. By these visible tides of God's grace. will give you to know in what direction the great under-currents of his love are setting, and that both are obedient to my word.-- Alford.

The Son of man

cannot simply mean a man, or. mere man, for this would be untrue in fact, since the powers in question do not belong to men as such; nor could any reason be assigned for this circuitous expression of so simple an idea. The true sense is determined by Daniel 7:13, where the phrase is confessedly applied to the Messiah, as. partaker of our mature,. description which itself implies. higher nature, or, in other words, that he is called the Son of man because he is the Son of God. This official application of the term accounts for the remarkable and interesting fact that it is never used of any other person in the gospel, nor of Christ by any but himself.-- Alexander.

Hath power on earth to forgive sins.

"Authority" is. better rendering than "power," and it is so given by the Am. Revision Committee. He had "authority" from the Father who had sent him, and who had committed judgment to his hands on earth. Not merely authority while on the earth to forgive sins, nor authority to forgive sins committed on the earth, but authority to exercise the function of forgiveness of sins upon the earth; that is, that ye may know that this is the Messiah's earthly mission.-- L. Abbott. Bengel finely remarks, "This saying savors of heavenly origin." The Son of man, as God manifest in man's flesh, has on man's earth that power which in its fountain and essence belongs to God in heaven.-- Alford. Sins are against God, and therefore only God can forgive them; for in the nature of things only he can forgive against whom the offence has been committed.. can forgive the evil done to myself, but. cannot forgive the evil done to my neighbor. He only can forgive that. So that the reasoning of the scribes was right: "only God can forgive sins." Jesus, forgiving sin, either blasphemed or was divine. He goes on to prove that be was divine.-- P.

Arise.

The forgiveness of Christ did not remove the palsy; that was the result of. separate, distinct act of Christ. It is quite conceivable that it might never have been removed at all, that he might have been forgiven, and the palsy suffered to remain. God might have dealt with him as he did in David's case; on his repentance there came to him the declaration of God's pardon, his person was accepted, the moral consequences were removed, but the natural consequences remained. "The Lord hath put away thy sin; nevertheless the child which is born to thee shall die." Consider, too, that without. miracle they must have remained in this man's case. It is so in every-day life. If the intemperate man repents he will receive forgiveness; but will that penitence give him back the steady hand of youth?-- Robertson.

Take up thy bed.

A light mattress. Other men brought him on the bed; he can now carry himself away, bed and all.-- Whedon. Christ's argument here affords. fair test of all priestly claims to absolve from sin. If the priest has power to remit the eternal punishment of sin, he should be able, certainly, to remit the physical and temporal punishment of sin. This Christ did; this the priest does not, and cannot do.-- Abbott. Any popish priest can say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, and the credulous may believe that. miracle of pardon is performed; but it is not quite so easy to perform the bodily miracle. The Papist may claim that He performs. miracle in transforming the sacramental elements into real flesh and blood, and his followers may believe him; but it always takes. sensible and material miracle, attested beyond rational doubt, to make the moral miracle credible. When. man does heal the sick and raise the dead at will, we may then begin to believe that he has authority to forgive the sins by which disease and death are produced.-- Whedon.