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Gibbs, Jeffrey A. “9:1-8: Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic." Matthew 1:1-11:1. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006, pp. 454-462.
Matthew 9:1-8 centers around Jesus' healing of a paralyzed man. Gibbs takes the verb of the men bringing the paralytic to indicate an ongoing activity. They persisted with difficulty because of the crowd. This also suggests to Gibbs that the participle "seeing" has causative rather than temporal force. The emphasis is on Jesus' ability to know the motivation of the friends, rather than simply to see their movement (Gibbs 2006, 454).
Jesus' assertion of verse two, that the paralyzed man's sins are being forgiven, draws an accusation in verse three of blasphemy. The scribes apparently understand that Jesus is asserting his ability to forgive, i.e., to do God's work (Gibbs 2006, 455). Gibbs observes that this was an internal thought of the scribes, but that in verse four Jesus "saw" it, just as he saw the people bringing the paralyzed man. This further emphasizes Jesus' ability to do what only God can do (Gibbs 2006, 456). By verse eight, Matthew's assessment of the crowd's attitude also affirms this special authority. God had given authority to heal and forgive to the man Jesus (Gibbs 2006, 457).
Gibbs reminds his readers that Matthew 8-9 contain three triads of miracles. This passage (9:1-8) is the third miracle of the second triad, a group which show Jesus' authority (Gibbs 2006, 458). In this instance, Matthew doesn't even mention the man's sin, only his illness. Jesus, however, moves directly to sin as the ultimate cause of suffering (Gibbs 2006, 459). Jesus' salvation not only takes away sin, but here is able to heal sickness.
In response to Jesus' healing, the scribes consider Jesus to be blaspheming. Gibbs observes that Jesus asks the scribes about their evil attitude, which fails to recognize Jesus as Lord (Gibbs 2006, 460). Jesus' healing of the paralysis shows that he is able to heal.
The response of the crowds is very different from that of the scribes. Gibbs observes that Matthew's reference to God as giving this authority to men is cryptic. Gibbs does not take it as a reference to healing authority of the Church in later time. Rather, he sees it as an assertion that Jesus, as the true "man," has great authority (Gibbs 2006, 461). The authority of the work of ministry is also passed on to Christians in Matthew 28, thus keeping the authority among men.