Matthew 9:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

While recognizing that declaring His identity might be unsettling to His audience, He demonstrated His nature through others—not only through His supporters but also through His adversaries, showcasing His profound wisdom.

Through His supporters, the Lord exhibited this when He addressed the leper, saying, “I want to be cleansed,” and when He noted to the centurion, “I have not found such faith in Israel” (Matthew 8:3, 10); and through His adversaries, on this particular occasion. Since the scribes insisted that forgiveness of sins belonged solely to God, the Saviour intended to demonstrate that the Son of Man on earth possesses the authority to forgive sins; therefore, He instructed the one who was healed, “Rise, pick up your mat, and go home.”

In another instance, when the Jews asserted, “We do not seek to stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, because You, being a man, claim to be God” (John 10:33), the Saviour did not contest this belief about Him; rather, He reaffirmed it, stating, “If I do not perform the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves” (John 10:37, 38). He then provided further evidence. What was this proof? He restored the body of the paralytic. While addressing the paralytic, He did not explicitly declare His authority, for He did not say, “I forgive you your sins,” but rather, “Your sins are forgiven.” Yet when it became necessary to affirm His authority to His critics, He clearly stated, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Do you see how He sought to be acknowledged as equal to God the Father? He did not claim that the Son of Man required assistance from another, nor did He suggest that His authority was given by someone else; instead, He declared that He possesses authority. This declaration was not made out of pride but to persuade His adversaries that He was not committing blasphemy by equating Himself with God the Father. The Lord consistently aims to present clear and undeniable evidence. For instance, He instructed the one healed from leprosy, “Go, show yourself to the priest” (Matthew 8:4). He empowered Peter’s mother-in-law to serve Him and allowed the swine to plunge into the sea. Similarly, as a sign of the forgiveness provided to the paralytic, He restored his physical strength, and, as proof of that restoration, He commanded him to carry his mat, ensuring that the miracle would not be perceived as an illusion.

Having restored the paralytic, the Lord sent him home. In doing so, He demonstrated His humility and reiterated that the miracle performed was no illusion. He made those present during the paralytic's illness witnesses to his healing. It was as if He had expressed: I would have desired to heal through your ailments those who consider themselves healthy but are truly unwell in spirit; however, since they are unwilling, go home and address those who are there. Do you see how the Lord reveals Himself as the Creator of both soul and body? He heals the sick man spiritually and physically, manifesting the unseen through the seen.

To attest to the newfound strength of the body, He instructed him to pick up his mat, so that the miracle would not be mistaken for an illusion. He directed him to return home, both to avoid drawing personal acclaim by remaining visible to everyone and to provide undeniable witnesses to his healing—those who had observed his prior condition—so they might have cause to place their faith in Him.

He first bestowed the forgiveness of sins, then revealed the power of resurrection; initially, through the command to take up his bed, He illustrated the removal of physical weakness and illness, and subsequently, through the instruction to return to his home, He indicated the pathway for believers to reclaim their place in Paradise, from which the first human ancestor, Adam, had fallen, burdened by sin.

In this way, our transformative journey captures the attention of others, and we glorify God, who bestows such power and authority upon believers, enabling us to secure a place in heaven even while still on earth. Although the grace and strength of baptism remain within us, we can still falter in sin, failing to maintain the health and purity of our souls. Thus, when we sin, we are called to feel remorse for our misdeeds, experience shame, and embrace a humble spirit of repentance so that we can once again hear in our souls the words spoken to the paralytic: ‘Go on, child!’ Receiving mercy from God, we can turn our sorrow into joy. This sorrow is likened to spiritual honey drawn from a hard stone, as suggested in the phrase, ‘He made him suck honey out of the rock’ (Deuteronomy 32:13); and the stone represents Christ, as Paul teaches (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Do not be astonished that I refer to sorrow as ‘honey’, for as Paul says, ‘Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation’ (2 Corinthians 7:10). Just as honey may seem bitter to one whose tongue is wounded, so can the fear of God generate sorrow when the wounds of sin still burden the soul. However, once these wounds are healed through repentance, the soul receives the joy of the Gospel, as the Savior assures us: ‘And your sorrow will turn into joy’ (John 16:20). This sorrow is akin to that felt by the Lord’s disciples at His departure, as well as the remorse felt by Peter at his denial, and the sorrow experienced by every faithful individual who repents for having neglected virtue.

For Adam, shifting the blame to Eve after transgressing God's commandment brought him no benefit, nor did it serve her to point fingers at the deceptive serpent. Given that we are created by God with free will and the authority over our own passions—the internal guiding principles of the soul—we are not beholden to any external force. Therefore, the essential sorrow that leads to salvation lies in self-examination, acknowledging our own transgressions rather than blaming others, and expressing genuine remorse paired with confessing our sins.

This theme of self-reflection and penitence is illustrated by Lamech, who openly admitted his sin and judged himself far more than Cain, declaring, ‘If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times’ (Genesis 4:24). In mourning for his own guilt, he demonstrated genuine contrition and thus avoided divine judgement, as the Prophet states, ‘Declare your sins so that you may be justified’ (Isaiah 43:26). The Apostle corroborates this by saying, ‘If we were discerning ourselves, we would not be judged’ (1 Corinthians 11:31). Lamech’s repentance exemplified the path to avoiding divine wrath.

Following him, the Ninevites, an entire city, experienced a profound conversion. They not only committed sins but also received God's condemning decree. However, they turned to repentance and heartfelt remorse, responding to Jonah’s declaration: ‘In three days, Nineveh will be overthrown’ (Jonah 3:4). They did not succumb to despair nor harden their hearts but conversed among themselves, wondering, ‘Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish’ (Jonah 3:9). Each person turned from their wicked ways, fasting and donning sackcloth, from the least to the greatest, with the king himself joining in humble repentance. Mothers neglected their infants in their deep sorrow, exemplifying an anguish so profound that, as the Psalmist states, they ‘forgot to bring their bread’ amid their lamentation (Psalm 101:5-6).

This exhibited a true communal response of remorse, leading to a reversal of God's judgement upon them. Their heartfelt repentance transformed divine wrath into favor. The scripture records that Jonah proclaimed that Nineveh would face devastation in three days, a view also upheld by the Greek Holy Fathers. Contrasting with the Massoretic text, the Vulgate, and the Syriac translations, which suggest forty days for their repentance. Therefore, recognizing that we too lead lives immersed in sin requires us to embrace this salvific sorrow and dedicate our days to repentance.

If we neglect this, as the Lord articulated, the Ninevites will indeed stand in judgement against us on the day of resurrection, as they repented when confronted by Jonah’s cries, while we ignored the call of Christ, who is both God and our Jonah. Jonah merely spoke of impending doom without offering repentance or the promise of the kingdom. In contrast, Christ offers life—an opportunity for divine adoption and access to the heavenly kingdom. Jonah heralded worldly destruction but lacked the revelation of eternal judgement, while the Lord disclosed both the temporal and eternal consequences for those who live heedlessly in sin.

Yet, this final judgement will not occur simply after three days as foretold to Nineveh; it will manifest after a period of grace that embodies God’s forbearance. His patience leads us to repentance, but let us beware lest our hard-heartedness and unrepentant spirits accumulate wrath for ourselves on the day of reckoning, where everyone will receive recompense according to his own deeds. Those who persist in repentance with a contrite heart seeking forgiveness will be granted mercy, joy, eternal life, and unimaginable blessings, while those unrepentantly entrenched in sin will face sorrow, difficulty, and endless torment.

David, too, exemplified genuine sorrow for God, depicting the essence of true repentance. He laid bare his transgressions before God, lamenting his sins and sharing the immense grace he received: ‘I acknowledged my sin to the Lord, and You forgave the guilt of my sin’ (Psalm 32:5). He termed his internal struggles and impulses the root of evil—the passions that dwell in the soul, and his transgressions the deeds that he ultimately overcame through sincere weeping and remorse—leading him to find both forgiveness and inner healing.

David’s perseverance in affliction can be seen in his expressions of sorrow, as he states: ‘For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me’ (Psalm 32:4), and ‘As I weep and mourn so I humble myself’ (Psalm 34:12). He professed, ‘I will drench my bed with tears’ (Psalm 6:6), and ‘I am worn out from my groaning’ (Psalm 6:6); reflecting the depth of his brokenness. He called upon the Lord asking for mercy and acknowledging his persistent sins: ‘Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath’ (Psalm 6:1), and ‘I know my transgression and my sin is always before me’ (Psalm 51:3).

Therefore, dear brethren, let us together approach in worship and humbly bow down—exemplifying the repentance that David himself exemplified—before the Lord, who fashioned us and summoned us to this reconciling sorrow and weeping. For he who lacks such responses has not truly heard the call to repentance and will not be counted among the Lord’s chosen, nor shall he partake in the promised divine comfort proclaimed within the Gospel: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted’ (Matthew 5:4).

But if anyone claims to be without sin and feels no need to mourn, this is indeed rare and perhaps even unlikely. It's commendable to strive for moderation of one's passions, yet the Gospel shows us another level of worthy sorrow—much like the Lord’s disciples mourning the loss of their truly good Master, Christ, whom we also seem to lose.

Moreover, our loss also encompasses the pleasures of paradise, as we have traded that for a reality fraught with suffering and toil. We have forfeited the joy of intimate communion with God, fellowship with His angels, and the promise of everlasting life. Who, aware of such loss, can remain unmoved? Those who do not grasp this truth should reflect on their standing among the faithful. Rooted in divinely inspired doctrine, let us weep for ourselves, brethren, and through our tears, seek to wash away the stains of sin so that we may find mercy and return to paradise, partaking in eternal life and comfort. May we all receive this grace through the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, dominion, honor, and worship with the Father, timelessly and with the Holy Spirit, now and forevermore. Amen.

Then, addressing the paralyzed man, He commanded: “Get up, take your bed upon your shoulders, and return to your home.” Note, first, that He did not say "authority received" or "authority bestowed," but rather "He has authority"; for by His divine nature, He possesses such authority, being God and consubstantial with the Father. Secondly, the phrase “on earth to forgive sins” indicates that forgiveness is granted solely in this life and not in the afterlife, specifically not after judgment and recompense. Lastly, to prevent any accolades from people, He instructed the paralytic to return home: “Get up, take your bed, and go to your house.”

His declaration is not made from vanity but to demonstrate to His adversaries that He is not blaspheming by asserting His equality with God the Father. At the beginning of His address to the paralyzed man, He did not fully disclose His authority, saying not I absolve you of your sins, but your sins are forgiven. However, when it became necessary to affirm this to His challengers, He made His authority clear: I have authority. The Lord consistently seeks to provide transparent and undeniable evidence; and so it is here: as proof of the forgiveness of sins for the paralytic, He revitalizes his body, and as evidence of the restoration of his body, He commands him to carry the stretcher, so that the miracle He performed would not be dismissed as an illusion. To the astonishment of all present, His words infused life-restoring power into the afflicted man, who had been without strength, and the paralytic promptly obeyed the command of the Healer.

4), those who carried the paralytic took considerable effort to break through the roof (εξορυξαντες). Thus, it can be assumed that they accessed the roof of the house, necessitating the removal of the mortar that held the tiles together, followed by the excavation of the earth, and ultimately dismantling the ceiling. The mat or bedding used to transport the paralytic was surely something light enough for the healed man to carry, resembling a portable felt surface for restful stops, suitable for the situation described. Upon observing the faith of the individuals who brought the afflicted man, Jesus addressed the paralytic, saying, “Child, your sins are forgiven you.” The Pharisees present perceived this declaration as blasphemous, believing that only God has the authority to forgive sins. In response, Christ revealed that healing a sick person is no more challenging than forgiving sins; thus, if they acknowledged His capability to heal—something they could not deny—they must also accept His authority to forgive transgressions. To dispel any doubt from the Pharisees about the validity of His statement, “Thy sins are forgiven thee,” Jesus instructed the man, “Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.” With the immediate effect of His command, the Pharisees would have inferred that His assurance of forgiveness also held true efficacy. The phrase “Son of man on earth” stands in contrast to their reference to God in heaven.