Matthew 9:1-38

The Sick of the Palsy. Call of Matthew. Raising of Jairus' Daughter

1-8. The paralytic healed and his sins forgiven (Mark 2:1; Luke 5:17). The peculiarity of this miracle is that it was worked to prove a doctrine, and that in the face of opposition. There were present certain scribes and Pharisees, some of whom had doubtless come from Jerusalem expressly to oppose Jesus. Jesus at once threw them a challenge by saying to the man, 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.' The scribes understood this to mean that He claimed to forgive sins as God only can do. Instead of repudiating this suggestion, as a mere man would have done, Jesus accepted it, and proceeded to prove His claim by a miracle. 'Whether is easier,' said He, 'to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk?' The former, of course, is easier. Any impostor can say, 'Thy sins are forgiven,' because it is impossible for men to know whether the words have taken effect or not. But not gvery one can say, 'Arise, and walk,' because if such words are spoken without authority, the speaker is at once convicted of imposture.

This miracle, like the resurrection, maybe regarded as a vindication by God Himself of the character of Jesus. No man could make the claims that Jesus did, without rendering himself liable to the most serious imputations upon his character. Either He was the Son of God, or, as the scribes rightly said from their point of view, a blasphemer. Hence in this miracle Jesus deliberately appealed to the judgment of God, and God by working the miracle vindicated the character of Jesus.