From: Matthew 9:1-8
The Curing of a Paralytic
[1] And getting into a boat He (Jesus) crossed over and came to His own
city. [2] And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on his
bed; and when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic, "Take
heart, My son; your sins are forgiven." [3] And behold, some of the
scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." [4] But Jesus,
knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
[5] For which is easier to say, `Your sins are forgiven', or to say,
`Rise and walk'? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins"--He then said to the paralytic--
"Rise, take up your bed and go home." [7] And He rose and went home.
[8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God,
who had given such authority to men.
Commentary:
1. "His own city": Capernaum (cf. Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1).
2-6. The sick man and those who bring him to Jesus ask Him to cure the
man's physical illness; they believe in His supernatural powers. As in
other instances of miracles, our Lord concerns Himself more with the
underlying cause of illness, that is, sin. With divine largesse He
gives more than He is asked for, even though people do not appreciate
this. St. Thomas Aquinas says that Jesus Christ acts like a good
doctor: He cures the cause of the illness (cf. "Commentary on St.
Matthew", 9, 1-6).
2. The parallel passage of St. Mark adds a detail which helps us
understand this scene better and explains why the text refers to "their
faith": in Mark 2:2-5 we are told that there was such a crowd around
Jesus that the people carrying the bed could not get near Him. So they
had the idea of going up onto the roof and making a hole and lowering
the bed down in front of Jesus. This explains His "seeing their
faith".
Our Lord was pleased by their boldness, a boldness which resulted from
their lively faith which brooked no obstacles. This nice example of
daring indicates how we should go about putting charity into
practice--as also how Jesus feels towards people who show real concern
for others: He cures the paralytic who was so ingeniously helped by his
friends and relatives; even the sick man himself showed daring by not
being afraid of the risk involved.
St. Thomas comments on this verse as follows: "This paralytic
symbolizes the sinner lying in sin"; just as the paralytic cannot move,
so the sinner cannot help himself. The people who bring the paralytic
along represent those who, by giving him good advice, lead the sinner
to God" ("Commentary on St. Matthew", 9, 2). In order to get close to
Jesus the same kind of holy daring is needed, as the Saints show us.
Anyone who does not act like this will never take important decisions
in his life as a Christian.
3-7. Here "to say" obviously means "to say and mean it", "to say
producing the result which your words imply". Our Lord is arguing as
follows" which is easier--to cure the paralytic's body or to forgive
the sins of his soul? Undoubtedly, to cure his body; for the soul is
superior to the body and therefore diseases of the soul are the more
difficult to cure. However, a physical cure can be seen, whereas a
cure of the soul cannot. Jesus proves the hidden cure by performing a
visible one.
The Jews thought that any illness was due to personal sin (cf. John
9:1-3); so when they heard Jesus saying, "Your sins are forgiven", they
reasoned in their minds as follows: only God can forgive sins (cf. Luke
5:21); this man says that He has power to forgive sins; therefore, He
is claiming a power which belongs to God alone--which is blasphemy.
Our Lord, however, forestalls them, using their own arguments: by
curing the paralytic by saying the word, He shows them that since He
has the power to cure the effects of sin (which is what they believe
disease to be), then He also has power to cure the cause of illness
(sin); therefore, He has divine power.
Jesus Christ passed on to the Apostles and their successors in the
priestly ministry the power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins
of any, they are retained" (John 20:22-23). "Truly, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven" (Matthew 18:18). Priests
exercise this power in the Sacrament of Penance: in doing so they act
not in their own name but in Christ's--"in persona Christi", as
instruments of the Lord.
Hence the respect, the veneration and gratitude with which we should
approach Confession: in the priest we should see Christ Himself, God
Himself, and we should receive the words of absolution firmly believing
that it is Christ who is uttering them through the priest. This is why
the minister does not say: "Christ absolves you...", but rather "I
absolve you from your sins..." He speaks in the first person. So
fully is he identified with Jesus Christ Himself (cf. "St. Pius V
Catechism", II, 5, 10).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.