6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: 7 “Why does this guy speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning within themselves[b] and said to them: “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier:‡I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn't, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes' inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God! to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins have been forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and start walking!’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of the Man[d] has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—He says to the paralytic: 11 “To you I say, get up, pick up your pallet and go to your house!” 12 So forthwith he got up, picked up his pallet and went out in front of them all; so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”[e]
15 Now it happened, as He was reclining at the table in his house,[g] that many tax collectors and sinners[h] joined Jesus and His disciples at the table; for there were many and they followed Him. 16 The scribes and the Pharisees, seeing Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to His disciples, “Why is it that He is eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?” 17 Upon hearing it Jesus said to them: “It is not the healthy who have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”[i]
- a The roof was presumably flat, with an outside staircase leading up to it. I suppose damaging someone else's roof could be considered a crime, but they were determined. If Jesus was in His own house, there would be no problem.
- b Time and again the Inspired Record will point out that Jesus could read people's thoughts.
- c I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn't, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes' inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God!
- d That is what the Text says, “the Son of the Man”, which appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself. The phrase does not make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man.
- e Quite right; they never had!
- f Presumably this happened as He headed out toward the sea.
- g Matthew's—he evidently put on a big dinner and invited all his associates.
- h ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ seems to have been almost a frozen idiom. A Jew who collected taxes for Rome was viewed as a traitor and held in very low esteem.
- i Perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘to repentance’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.
- j Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘day’ instead of ‘days’ (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.), but presumably the fasting would take place on more than one day.
- k There is no way of renewing an old wineskin. Whenever a church becomes an ‘old wineskin’, any introduction of new wine will always cause a split. Anyone who wants to obey the Holy Spirit will probably not be welcome in such a church. To be with Jesus it is often necessary to go ‘outside the camp’ (Hebrews 13:13).
- l Between verses 22 and 23 all of John chapter 5 takes place—that chapter revolves around the second Passover of His public ministry, in 28 ad A year and a half have passed since His baptism.
- m My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high priest’. As a direct result of David's visit, Abiathar became high priest. For a complete discussion please see the Appendix: Abiathar is not Ahimelech.
- n This is a crucial point. The Pharisees, etc., had turned the Sabbath into an instrument of domination that they used to impose their authority on the people.
- o The Lord of the Sabbath can change the rules, or even retire it! Jesus' claim was totally unacceptable to the Pharisees; He was depriving them of their favorite instrument.