Matthew 9:5

3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

4 But Jesus, ^aknowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’?

6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

7 And he arose and departed to his house.

8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^amarveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew the Tax Collector

9 ^aAs Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

10 ^aNow it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^atax collectors and ^bsinners?”

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: ^a‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^bbut sinners, to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^a“Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

15 And Jesus said to them, “Can ^athe friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ^bthen they will fast.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Matthew 9:5 Mean?

Matthew 9:1-8

In the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26), the physician Luke uses a medical term, "palsied" (KJV), the technical Greek word used to describe paralysis from disease in some part of the nervous system. Because his disease was so debilitating, the man needed comfort and healing. Jesus thus refers to him as "son," or more literally, "child," showing His fatherly compassion.

Paralysis represents sin's crippling power and the sinner's sheer helplessness to do anything to relieve his own suffering. The apostle Paul speaks of our initial lack of spiritual strength in Romans 5:6, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." With this miracle, Jesus forgave the penalty that the man had incurred through sin and raised him from his miserable state.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Paralytic (Part Two)

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 9:5:

Matthew 9:1-8
Luke 5:17-26
Luke 5:36-39

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Matthew 9:6 >>

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Matthew the Tax Collector

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting

What Does Matthew 9:5 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning