Luke 5:20

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Luke 5:20. They were all amazed — Greek, εκστασις ελαβεν απαντας, astonishment seized all, that is, the Pharisees and doctors of the law, as well as the people: and they glorified God — Matthew says, who had given such power unto men; power not only to heal diseases, but to forgive sins. For they could not but acknowledge the authority of Christ’s declaration, Thy sins be forgiven thee, when their eyes showed them the efficacy of his command, Arise and walk. And were filled with fear —

With a reverential kind of fear and dread, in consequence of this marvellous proof of the divine presence among them; saying, We have seen strange things to-day — Sins forgiven, miracles wrought. Greek, παραδοξα, paradoxes, or, incredible things, as Dr. Campbell renders it; things which we should think impossible to be performed, and should conclude to be tricks and illusions, had we not indisputable proofs of their reality. Indeed, “whether we examine the nature of this miracle, as being a perfect and instantaneous cure of an obstinate, universal palsy, under which a person advanced in years had laboured, it seems, for a long time, a perfect cure produced by the pronouncing of a single sentence; or whether we consider the number and quality of the witnesses present, Pharisees and doctors of the law from every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem, together with a vast concourse of people; or whether we attend to the effect which the miracle had upon the witnesses; — namely, the Pharisees and doctors of the law, not able to find fault with it in any respect, though they had come with a design to confute our Lord’s pretensions as a miracle-worker, were astonished, and openly confessed that it was a strange thing which they had seen; the multitude glorified God who had given such power unto men; the person upon whom the miracle was wrought employed his tongue, the use of which he had just recovered, in celebrating the praises of God: in short, view it in whatever light we please, we find it a most illustrious miracle, highly worthy of our attention and admiration.” — Macknight. Still, however, it does not appear that these Pharisees and doctors of the law, though struck with amazement at this miracle, were convinced thereby of the divine mission of Jesus, or induced to lay aside their enmity against him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:17-26 How many are there in our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, who do not sit under the word, but sit by! It is to them as a tale that is told them, not as a message that is sent to them. Observe the duties taught and recommended to us by the history of the paralytic. In applying to Christ, we must be very pressing and urgent; that is an evidence of faith, and is very pleasing to Christ, and prevailing with him. Give us, Lord, the same kind of faith with respect to thy ability and willingness to heal our souls. Give us to desire the pardon of sin more than any earthly blessing, or life itself. Enable us to believe thy power to forgive sins; then will our souls cheerfully arise and go where thou pleasest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The tiling - See the notes at Matthew 9:1-7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. housetop—the flat roof.

through the tiling … before Jesus—(See on [1575]Mr 2:2).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 5:18"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when he saw their faith,.... That is, Jesus, as the Syriac and Persic versions express it; when he saw the faith both of the paralytic man, and of the men that brought him, which was shown in the pains they took, and trouble they were at, in getting him to him;

he said unto him. The Vulgate Latin only reads, "he said"; but the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, still more fully express the sense, rendering it, "he said to the paralytic man"; and the Ethiopic version, "he said to the infirm man"; as follows:

man, thy sins are forgiven thee. The other evangelists say, he said "son"; perhaps he used both words: however, all agree that he pronounced the forgiveness of sins, which were the cause of his disease; and which being removed, the effect must cease; so that he had healing both for soul and body; See Gill on Matthew 9:2.

Geneva Study Bible

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 5:20. ἄνθρωπε, man, instead of Mk.’s more kindly τέκνον and Mt.’s still more sympathetic θάρσει τέκνον; because (suggests J. Weiss) it was not deemed fitting that such a sinner should be addressed as son or child! This from Lk., the evangelist of grace! The substitution, from whatever reason proceeding, is certainly not an improvement. Possibly Lk. had a version of the story before him which used that word. Doubtless Jesus employed the kindlier expression.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. Man] St Mark has “Son,” and St Matthew “Cheer up, son,” which were probably the exact words used by Christ.

are forgiven thee] Rather, have been forgiven thee, i. e. now and henceforth. In this instance our Lord’s power of reading the heart must have shewn Him that there was a connexion between past sin and present affliction. The Jews held it as an universal rule that suffering was always the immediate consequence of sin. The Book of Job had been directed against that hard, crude, Pharisaic generalisation. Since that time it had been modified by the view that a man might suffer, not for his own sins, but for those of his parents (John 9:3). These views were all the more dangerous because they were the distortion of half-truths. Our Lord, while he always left the individual conscience to read the connexion between its own sins and its sorrows (John 5:14), distinctly repudiated the universal inference (Luke 13:5; John 9:3).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. For a moment the great Physician gave place to the Heart-reader; and the Lord spoke those strange, grand words to give comfort and peace to the suffering, silent, sick man. Jesus read what was in the heart of the poor paralytic; his sins distressed him more than his malady; very possibly the sad infirmity had been brought about by his old dissolute life. The soul, then, must be healed first. It was for this, we believe, that the story of the man with the palsy was told and retold by the first Christian preachers, and so found a place in the three Gospel narratives - this lofty claim of the Master to forgive sins; a claim so grandly supported by a miraculous act done in the open daylight in the presence of the people. Luke 5:20