Matthew Chapter 9 verse 6 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 6. - But that ye may know. From his authority in the physical world they may have direct knowledge (εἰδῆτε) of his authority in the spiritual world. Observe that the claim is even in the so-called "Triple Tradition." That the Son of man hath power (better, authority, with Revised Version margin, and the American Committee) on earth to forgive sins (ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας). Observe (1) that our Lord does not say "I," but "the Son of man" ; (2) that the emphatic words in the sentence are "hath authority," and "on earth." It would therefore appear as though our Lord wished to call the attention of those present to a phrase which they already knew, but did not rightly understand. He seems to point them to Daniel 7:13, and reminding them that even there "one like unto a son of man" (cf. supra, Matthew 8:20, note) receives authority (ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, ver. 14), tells them that this authority includes forgiving sins, and that this may be exercised not only in the future and in "the clouds of heaven," but now (ἔχει) and "on earth." Further, if, as seems likely,. the phrase was understood to symbolize the nation, he desired them to see in himself the great means whereby the nation should rise to its ideal. If, as is possible, though hardly probable, this saying of our Lord's is chronologically earlier than Matthew 8:20, and there,-fore the earliest occasion on which he used the phrase, the almost direct reference to Daniel 7:13 makes it the more interesting. (Then saith he to the sick of the palsy). The thought of the sentence is continued, but as he now turns directly to the sick man, its form is altered. Arise, take up. The Revised Version, retaining the wrong reading, ἐγερθείς, inserts "and." Thy bed (ver. 9, note), and go unto thine house. Thus avoiding publicity.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(6) That ye may know that the Son of man hath power.--Better, authority, as in John 5:27. The two passages are so closely parallel that we can hardly be wrong in thinking that the words now spoken were meant to recall those which some, at least, of those who listened had heard before. This view, at any rate, brings out the fulness of their meaning. As they stand here, they seem to include both the two hypotheses mentioned in the Note on Matthew 9:3. The Father had given Him authority to "forgive sins" and to "execute judgment" because He was the Son of Man, the representative of mankind, and as such was exercising a delegated power. But then, that discourse in John 5 showed that He also spoke of Himself as the Son of God as well as the Son of Man (John 5:25), and as such claimed an honour equal to that which was rightly paid to the Father (John 5:23). Ultimately, therefore, our Lord's answer rests on the higher, and not the lower, of the two grounds on which the objectors might have been met.Arise, take up thy bed.--As St. Mark gives the words we have the very syllables that had been spoken to the "impotent man" at Bethesda (John 5:8), and in any case words identical in meaning; and the natural inference is that our Lord meant to recall what the scribes from Jerusalem had then seen and heard. . . .