Chapter XXV.—Of the Man Sick of the Palsy to Whom the Lord Said, “Thy Sins are
Forgiven Thee,” And “Take Up Thy Bed;” And in Especial, of the Question Whether Matthew
and Mark are Consistent with Each Other in Their Notice of the Place Where This Incident
Took Place, in So Far as Matthew Says It Happened “In His Own City,” While Mark Says
It Was in Capharnaum.
57. Hereupon Matthew proceeds with his recital, still preserving the order of time, and
connects his narrative in the following manner:—“And He entered into a ship, and passed
over, and came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy,
lying on a bed;” and so on down to where it is said, “But when the multitude saw it, they
marvelled; and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.”909 Mark and Luke
have also told the story of this paralytic. Now, as regards Matthew’s stating that the Lord
said, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;” while Luke makes the address run,
not as “son,” but as “man,”—this only helps to bring out the Lord’s meaning more explicitly.
For these sins were [thus said to be] forgiven to the “man,” inasmuch as the very fact that
he was a man would make it impossible for him to say, “I have not sinned;” and at the same
time, that mode of address served to indicate that He who forgave sins to man was Himself
God. Mark, again, has given the same form of words as Matthew, but he has left out the
terms, “Be of good cheer.” It is also possible, indeed, that the whole saying ran thus: “Man,
be of good cheer: son, thy sins are forgiven thee;” or thus: “Son, be of good cheer: man, thy
sins are forgiven thee;” or the words may have been spoken in some other congruous order.
58. A difficulty, however, may certainly arise when we observe how Matthew tells the
story of the paralytic after this fashion: “And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and
came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on
a bed;” whereas Mark speaks of the incident as taking place not in His own city, which indeed
is called Nazareth, but in Capharnaum. His narrative is to the following effect:—“And again
He entered into Capharnaum after some days; and it was noised that He was in the house.
And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive
them, no, not so much as about the door: and He spake a word910 unto them. And they
came unto Him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they
could not come nigh unto Him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was: and
when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. And
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when Jesus saw their faith;” and so forth.911 Luke, on the other hand, does not mention the
place in which the incident happened, but gives the tale thus: “And it came to pass on a
909 Matt. ix. 1–8.
910 Loquebatur verbum. [“Was speaking the word” is probably the meaning.—R.]
911 Mark ii. 1–12.
Of the Man Sick of the Palsy to Whom the Lord Said, ‘Thy Sins are Forgiven Thee,’ And ‘Take Up Thy Bed;’ And in Especial, of the Question Whether Matthew and Mark are Consistent with Each Other in Their Notice of the Place Where This Incident Took Place, in So Far as Matthew Says It Happened ‘In His Own City,’ While Mark Says It Was in Capharnaum.
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Of the Man Sick of the Palsy to Whom the Lord Said, ‘Thy Sins are Forgiven…