Matthew 9:4

For, when one reads of God as being "the searcher and witness of the heart; " when His prophet is reproved by His discovering to him the secrets of the heart; when God Himself anticipates in His people the thoughts of their heart, "Why think ye evil in your hearts? " when David prays "Create in me a clean heart, O God," and Paul declares, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," and John says, "By his own heart is each man condemned; " when, lastly, "he who looketh on a woman so as to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," -then both points are cleared fully up, that there is a directing faculty of the soul, with which the purpose of God may agree; in other words, a supreme principle of intelligence and vitality (for where there is intelligence, there must be vitality), and that it resides in that most precious part of our body to which God especially looks: so that you must not suppose, with Heraclitus, that this sovereign faculty of which we are treating is moved by some external force; nor with Moschion, that it floats about through the whole body; nor with Plato, that it is enclosed in the head; nor with Zenophanes, that it culminates in the crown of the head; nor that it reposes in the brain, according to the opinion of Hippocrates; nor around the basis of the brain, as Herophilus thought; nor in the membranes thereof, as Strato and Erasistratus said; nor in the space between the eyebrows, as Strato the physician held; nor within the enclosure of the breast, according to Epicurus: but rather, as the Egyptians have always taught, especially such of them as were accounted the expounders of sacred truths; in accordance, too, with that verse of Orpheus or Empedocles:

The Lord Himself, in short, when rebuking our thoughts, includes in His censures this aspect of the flesh, (man's heart), the citadel of the soul: "Why think ye evil in your hearts? " and again: "Whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.

In this paralytic the whole Gentile world is offered for healing, he is therefore brought by the ministration of Angels; he is called Son, because he is God's work; the sins of his soul which the Law could not remit are remitted him; for faith only justifies. Lastly, he shows the power of the resurrection, by taking up his bed, teaching that all sickness shall then be no more found in the body.

Upon their murmuring, then, and saying, "This man blasphemeth; who can forgive sins but God only?" let us see what He saith. Did He indeed take away the suspicion? And yet if He were not equal, He should have said, "Why fix upon me a notion which is not convenient? I am far from this power." But now hath He said none of these things, but quite the contrary He hath both affirmed and ratified, as well by His own voice, as by the performance of the miracle. Thus, it appearing that His saying certain things of himself gave disgust to his hearers, He affirms what He had to say concerning Himself by the others; and what is truly marvellous, not by His friends only, but also by His enemies; for this is the excellency of His wisdom. By His friends on the one hand, when He said, "I will, be thou clean," and when He said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel;" but by His enemies, now. For because they had said, "No man can forgive sins but God only," He subjoined, "But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins upon the earth (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."

In this case indeed He discloses also another sign, and that no small one, of His own Godhead, and of His equality in honor with the Father. For whereas they said, "To unbind sins pertains to God only," He not only unbinds sins, but also before this He makes another kind of display in a thing which pertained to God only; the publishing the secrets in the heart. For neither had they uttered what they were thinking.

For "behold, certain of the scribes," it saith, "said within themselves. This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"

But that it belongs to God only to know men's secrets, hear what saith the prophet, "Thou most entirely alone knowest the hearts;" and again, "God trieth the hearts and reins;" and Jeremiah too saith, "The heart is deep above all things, and it is man, and who shall know him?" and, "Man shall look on the face, but God on the heart." And by many things one may see, that to know what is in the mind belongs to God alone.

Implying therefore that He is God, equal to Him that begat Him; what things they were reasoning in themselves (for through fear of the multitude, they durst not utter their mind), this their opinion He unveils and makes manifest, evincing herein also His great gentleness.

"For wherefore," saith He, "think ye evil in your hearts?"

And yet if there were cause for displeasure, it was the sick man who should have been displeased, as being altogether deceived, and should have said "One thing I came to have healed, and amendest Thou another? Why, whence is it manifest that my sins are forgiven?"

But now he for his part utters no such word, but gives himself up to the power of the healer; but these being curious and envious, plot against the good deeds of others. Wherefore He rebukes them indeed, but with all gentleness. "Why, if ye disbelieve," saith He, "what went before, and account my saying a boast; behold I add to it also another, the uncovering of your secrets; and after that again another." What then is this? The giving tone to the body of the paralyzed.

[Daniel 2:28] "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." Therefore it is only in vain that thou inquirest (other MSS have: "that he inquire") of men as to something which is known only to God in heaven. Also, by indirectly drawing Nebuchadnezzar away from the worship of many gods, Daniel directs him to the knowledge of the one (true) God.

"Who hath shown thee, King Nebuchadnezzar, what is going to take place (the Vulg. reads: "the things which are going to take place") in the last times." Avoiding the blemish of adulation but cleaving to the truth, he courteously suggests that it is to the king, for it was to him that God had revealed secrets concerning what was to occur in the last times. Now either these "last days" are to be reckoned from the time when the dream was revealed to Daniel until the end of the world, or else at least this inference is to be drawn, that the over-all interpretation of the dream applies to that final end when the image and statue beheld is to be ground to powder.

"Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed were as follows." He does not say, "The visions of thine eyes," lest we should think it was something physical, but rather: "of thy head." "For the eyes of a wise man are in his head" (Ecclesiastes 2:14), that is to say in the princely organ of the heart, just as we read in the Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are ones who shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Again: "What are ye meditating in your hearts?" (Matthew 9:4). To be sure, other authorities in treating of this chapter, conjecture that the authoritative part of the soul (to hegemonikon) lies not in the heart but, as Plato says, in the brain.

We read in the prophet the words of God: "It is I who cleanse you from all your iniquities." Consequently the scribes, because they were judgmental in construing the words of God, accused him of blasphemy. But the Lord, reading their thoughts, shows himself to be God who knows the hidden things of the heart. He breaks his silence: "With the same majesty and power by which I perceive your thoughts, I am able to forgive their sins; see for yourselves what the paralytic has received."

(Verses 3, 4.) And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves: He blasphemes. And when Jesus saw their thoughts, he said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? We read in the Prophet, saying God: I am the one who blots out your iniquities (Isaiah 43:25). Therefore, the scribes, because they thought he was a man and did not understand the words of God, accuse him of blasphemy. But the Lord, seeing their thoughts, shows himself to be God, who can know the hidden things of the heart, and speaks in a silent manner: With the same majesty and power with which I behold your thoughts, I can also forgive sins to men. Understand what the paralytic suffers from among you.

We read in prophecy, I am he that blolleth out thy transgressions; (Is. 43:25.) so the Scribes regarding Him as a man, and not understanding the words of God, charged Him with blasphemy. But He seeing their thoughts thus showed Himself to be God, Who alone knoweth the heart; and thus, as it were, said, By the same power and prerogative by which I see your thoughts, I can forgive men their sins. Learn from your own experience what the paralytic has obtained. When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he said, Why think ye evil in your hearts?

"And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?" By knowing their thoughts, Jesus shows that He is God. He rebukes them by saying, "You think that I am blaspheming by promising to forgive sins, which is a great thing, and that I resort to this because it is something which can not be verified. But by healing the body, I shall guarantee that the soul has been healed as well. By doing the lesser deed, though it appears to be more difficult, I shall also confirm the remission of sins, which is indeed something great even though it appears easier to you since it is not visible to the eye."

Knowing their thoughts, because he alone knows man's thoughts. First, he reprehends their villainy: Why do you think evil thoughts in your hearts? For they called him a blasphemer: "Remove the evil from your thoughts" (Is 1:16).

I could never see how one escaped the dilemma aut deus aut malus homo by confining oneself to the Synoptics. Moderns do not seem startled, as contemporaries were, by the claim Jesus there makes to forgive sins; not sins against Himself, just sins. Yet surely, if they actually met it, they would feel differently. If Dr Pittenger told me that two of his colleagues had lost him a professorship by telling lies about his character and I replied, "I freely forgive them both", would he not think this an impertinence (both in the old and in the modern sense) bordering on insanity?