I believe Jesus said this to the man whom his friends let down through the roof where our Lord Jesus was. They were expecting Jesus to cure him of his illness, but rather our Lord Jesus told him, "Your sins are forgiven you." They felt that if He had cured him it would have been better, that's why Jesus asked them that question you posted.
He was basically asking them, is it better for Me to heal you spiritually (forgiving your sins) or physically (curing his disease).
[quote author=St. John Chrysostom, "Homily on the Paralytic let down through the roof"] 7. See moreover He makes a second proof of His power of forgiving sins. For to forgive sins is a very much greater act than to heal the body, greater in proportion as the soul is greater than the body. For as paralysis is a disease of the body, even so sin is a disease of the soul: but although this is the greater it is not palpable: whereas the other although it be less is manifest. Since then He is about to use the less for a demonstration of the greater proving that He acted thus on account of their weakness, and by way of condescension to their feeble condition He says “whether is easier? to say thy sins are forgiven thee or to say arise and walk?” For what reason then should He address Himself to the lesser act on their account? Because that which is manifest presents the proof in a more distinct form. Therefore He did not enable the man to rise until He had said to them “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy) arise and walk:” as if He had said: forgiveness of sins is indeed a greater sign: but for your sakes I add the less also since this seems to you to be a proof of the other. For as in another case when He praised the centurion for saying “speak the word only and my servant shall be healed: for I also say to this man go and he goeth and to the other come and he cometh,” He confirmed his opinion by the eulogy which He pronounced: and again when He reproved the Jews for finding fault with Him on the Sabbath day saying that He transgressed the law, He proved that He had authority to alter laws: even so in this instance also when some said “He maketh Himself equal with God by promising that which belongs only to the Father,” He having upbraided and accused them and proved by His deeds that He did not blaspheme supplied us with indisputable evidence that He could do the same things as the Father who begat Him. Observe at least the manner in which He pleases to establish the fact that what belongs to the Father only, belongs also to Himself: for He did not simply enable the paralytic to get up, but also said “but that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins:” thus it was his endeavour and earnest desire to prove above all things that He had the same authority as the Father.
I recommend you read the complete homily for context.
And another homily:
[quote author= St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXIX on the Gospel of St. Matthew] “And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”1211
By His own city here he means Capernaum. For that which gave Him birth was Bethlehem; that which brought Him up, Nazareth; that which had Him continually inhabiting it, Capernaum.
This paralytic, however, was different from that one who is set forth in John.1212 For he lay at the pool, but this at Capernaum; and that man had his infirmity thirty and eight years, but concerning this, no such thing is mentioned; and the other was in a state destitute of protectors, but this had some to take care of him, who also took him up, and carried him. And to this He saith, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee,”1213but to that He saith, “Wilt thou be made whole?”1214 And the other He healed on a sabbath day, but this not on a sabbath, for else the Jews would have laid this also to His charge; and in the case of this man they were silent, but in that of the other they were instant in persecuting him.
And this I have said, not without purpose, lest any one should think there is a discrepancy from suspecting it to be one and the same paralytic.
But do thou, I pray thee, mark the humility and meekness of our Lord. For He had also before this put away the multitudes from Him, and moreover when sent away by them at Gadara, He withstood not, but retired, not however to any great distance.
And again He entered into the ship and passed over, when He might have gone over afoot. For it was His will not to be always doing miracles, that He might not injure the doctrine of His humanity.1215
Now Matthew indeed saith, that “they brought him,” but the others, that they also broke up the roof, and let him down.1216 And they put the sick man before Christ, saying nothing, but committing the whole to Him. For though in the beginning He Himself went about, and did not require so much faith of them that came unto Him; yet in this case they both approached Him, and had faith required on their part. For, “Seeing,” it is said, “their faith;” that is, the faith of them that had let the man down. For He doth not on all occasions require faith on the part of the sick only: as for instance, when they are insane, or in any other way, through their disease, are out of their own control. Or rather, in this case the sick man too had part in the faith; for he would not have suffered himself to be let down, unless he had believed.
Forasmuch then as they had evinced so great faith, He also evinces His own power, with all authority absolving his sins, and signifying in all ways that He is equal in honor with Him that begat Him. And mark; He implied it from the beginning, by His teaching, when He taught them as one having 192 authority; by the leper, when He said, “I will, be thou clean,”1217by the centurion, when upon his saying, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed, He marvelled at him,”1218and celebrated him above all men; by the sea, when He curbed it with a mere word; by the devils, when they acknowledged Him as their judge, and He cast them out with great authority. Here again in another and a greater way He constrains His very enemies to confess His equality in honor, and by their own mouth He makes it manifest. For He, to signify His indifference to honor (for there stood a great company of spectators shutting up the entrance, wherefore also they let him down from above), did not straightway hasten to heal the visible body, but He takes His occasion from them; and He healed first that which is invisible, the soul, by forgiving his sins; which indeed saved the other, but brought no great glory to Himself. They themselves rather, troubled by their malice, and wishing to assail Him, caused even against their will what was done to be conspicuous. He, in fact, in His abundance of counsel, made use of their envy for the manifestation of the miracle.
Upon their murmuring,1219then, and saying, “This man blasphemeth; who can forgive sins but God only?”1220let 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,”1221and when He said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel;”1222but 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.”1223
And not here only, but also in another case again, when they were saying, “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God,”1224neither in that instance did He put down this opinion, but again confirmed it, saying, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works.”1225
2. 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?”1226
But that it belongs to God only to know men’s secrets, hear what saith the prophet, “Thou most entirely alone1227knowest the hearts;”1228and again, “God trieth the hearts and reins;1229” and Jeremiah too saith, “The heart is deep above all things, and it is man, and who shall know him?”1230and, “Man shall look on the face, but God on the heart.”1231 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.1232
“For wherefore,” saith He, “think ye evil in your hearts?”1233
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 193 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.
And whereas, when He spake unto the sick of the palsy, He spake without clearly manifesting His own authority: for He said not, “I forgive thee thy sins,” but, “thy sins be forgiven thee:” upon their constraining, He discloses His authority more clearly, saying, “But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power1234on earth to forgive sins.”
Seest thou, how far He was from unwillingness to be thought equal to the Father? For He said not at all, “The Son of Man hath need of another;” or, “He hath given Him authority,” but, “He hath authority.” Neither doth He say it for love of honor, but “to convince you,” so He speaks, “that I do not blaspheme in making myself equal with God.” Thus everywhere His will is to offer proofs clear and indisputable; as when He saith, “Go thy way, show thyself to the priest;”1235and when He points to Peter’s wife’s mother ministering, and permits the swine to cast themselves down headlong. And in the same manner here also; first, for a certain token of the forgiveness of his sins, He provides the giving tone to his body: and of that again, his carrying his bed; to hinder the fact from being thought a mere fancy. And He doeth not this, before He had asked them a question. “For whether is easier,” saith He, “to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee? or to say, Take up thy bed, and go unto thine house?”1236 Now what He saith is like this, “Which seems to you easier, to bind up a disorganized1237body, or to undo1238the sins of a soul? It is quite manifest; to bind up a body. For by how much a soul is better than a body, by so much is the doing away sins a greater work than this; but because the one is unseen, the other in sight, I throw in that, which although an inferior thing, is yet more open to sense; that the greater also and the unseen may thereby receive its proof;” thus by His works anticipating even now the revelation of what had been said by John, that “He taketh away the sins of the world.”
Well then, having raised him up, He sends him to his house; here again signifying His unboastfulness,1239and that the event was not a mere imagination; for He makes the same persons witnesses of his infirmity, and also of his health. For I indeed had desired, saith He, through thy calamity to heal those also, that seem to be in health, but are diseased in mind; but since they will not, depart thou home, to heal them that are there.
Seest thou how He indicates Him1240to be Creator both of souls and bodies? He heals therefore the palsy in each of the two substances, and makes the invisible evident by that which is in sight. But nevertheless they still creep upon the earth.
“For when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which” (it is said) “had given such power unto men:”1241for the flesh was an offense unto them.1242 But He did not rebuke them, but proceeds by His works to arouse them, and exalt their thoughts. Since for the time it was no small thing for Him to be thought greater than all men, as having come from God. For had they well established these things in their own minds, going on orderly they would have known, that He was even the Son of God. But they did not retain these things clearly, wherefore neither were they able to approach Him. For they said again, “This man is not of God;”1243“how is this man of God?” And they were continually harping on these things, putting them forward as cloaks for their own passions. 3. Which thing many now also do; and thinking to avenge God, fulfill their own passions, when they ought to go about all with moderation. For even the God of all, having power to launch His thunderbolt against them that blaspheme Him, makes the sun to rise, and sends forth the showers, and affords them all other things in abundance; whom we ought to imitate, and so to entreat, advise, admonish, with meekness, not angry, not making ourselves wild beasts.
For no harm at all ensues unto God by their blasphemy, that thou shouldest be angered, but he who blasphemed hath himself also received the wound. Wherefore groan, bewail, for the calamity indeed deserves tears. And the wounded man, again,—noth 194ing can so heal him as gentleness: gentleness, I say, which is mightier than any force.
See, for example, how He Himself, the insulted one, discourses with us, both in the Old Testament, and in the New; in the one saying, “O my people, what have I done unto thee?”1244in the other, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me.”1245 And Paul too bids, “In meekness instruct those that oppose themselves.”1246 And Christ again, when His disciples had come to Him, requiring fire to come down from heaven, strongly rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”1247
And here again He said not, “O accursed, and sorcerers as ye are; O ye envious, and enemies of men’s salvation;” but, “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”
We must, you see, use gentleness to eradicate the disease. Since he who is become better through the fear of man, will quickly return to wickedness again. For this cause He commanded also the tares to be left, giving an appointed day of repentance. Yea, and many of them in fact repented, and became good, who before were bad; as for instance, Paul, the Publican, the Thief; for these being really tares turned into kindly wheat. Because, although in the seeds this cannot be, yet in the human will it is both manageable and easy; for our will is bound by no limits of nature, but hath freedom of choice for its privilege.
Accordingly, when thou seest an enemy of the truth, wait on him, take care of him, lead him back into virtue, by showing forth an excellent life, by applying “speech that cannot be condemned,”1248by bestowing attention and tender care, by trying every means of amendment, in imitation of the best physicians. For neither do they cure in one manner only, but when they see the wound not yield to the first remedy, they add another, and after that again another; and now they use the knife, and now bind up. And do thou accordingly, having become a physician of souls, put in practice every mode of cure according to Christ’s laws; that thou mayest receive the reward both of saving thyself and of profiting others, doing all to the glory of God, and so being glorified also thyself. “For them that glorify me,” saith He, “I will glorify; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed.”1249
Let us, I say, do all things unto His glory; that we may attain unto that blessed portion, unto which God grant we may all attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.
Matthew 9 is about "The Paralytic Restored" It talks of how a paralytic lying on a bed was brought to Christ and when Christ saw their faith, He said to the lame man, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." Then this Holy Scripture reads: And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" But goes on to describe that Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?
So Christ was talking to the skeptic scribes when He asked the question. The scribes who were the ones responsible for maintaining the wriiten word of God thus far. And the scribes were always looking for was to prove that they knew Gods Word better than God (Christ). They were always looking to 'trip' Christ up, to prove Christ a fraud or that He really didn't have knowledge of the Holy Scripture. Christ goes on to explain to the skeptical scribes that, yes, He could have just told the lame man to get up and walk, but because He wished it to be known that "the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" He had said thus. The ending verses of this Scripture lesson says: Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
And glory be to our God Whom gave His Power to men to minister to us that we might be forgiven of our sins and be healed; and have the honor of standing in His Glorious Presence.
Comments
I'm in the dark :D
He was basically asking them, is it better for Me to heal you spiritually (forgiving your sins) or physically (curing his disease).
7. See moreover He makes a second proof of His power of forgiving sins. For to forgive sins is a very much greater act than to heal the body, greater in proportion as the soul is greater than the body. For as paralysis is a disease of the body, even so sin is a disease of the soul: but although this is the greater it is not palpable: whereas the other although it be less is manifest. Since then He is about to use the less for a demonstration of the greater proving that He acted thus on account of their weakness, and by way of condescension to their feeble condition He says “whether is easier? to say thy sins are forgiven thee or to say arise and walk?” For what reason then should He address Himself to the lesser act on their account? Because that which is manifest presents the proof in a more distinct form. Therefore He did not enable the man to rise until He had said to them “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy) arise and walk:” as if He had said: forgiveness of sins is indeed a greater sign: but for your sakes I add the less also since this seems to you to be a proof of the other. For as in another case when He praised the centurion for saying “speak the word only and my servant shall be healed: for I also say to this man go and he goeth and to the other come and he cometh,” He confirmed his opinion by the eulogy which He pronounced: and again when He reproved the Jews for finding fault with Him on the Sabbath day saying that He transgressed the law, He proved that He had authority to alter laws: even so in this instance also when some said “He maketh Himself equal with God by promising that which belongs only to the Father,” He having upbraided and accused them and proved by His deeds that He did not blaspheme supplied us with indisputable evidence that He could do the same things as the Father who begat Him. Observe at least the manner in which He pleases to establish the fact that what belongs to the Father only, belongs also to Himself: for He did not simply enable the paralytic to get up, but also said “but that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins:” thus it was his endeavour and earnest desire to prove above all things that He had the same authority as the Father.
I recommend you read the complete homily for context.
And another homily:
[quote author= St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXIX on the Gospel of St. Matthew]
“And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into His own city. And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”1211
By His own city here he means Capernaum. For that which gave Him birth was Bethlehem; that which brought Him up, Nazareth; that which had Him continually inhabiting it, Capernaum.
This paralytic, however, was different from that one who is set forth in John.1212 For he lay at the pool, but this at Capernaum; and that man had his infirmity thirty and eight years, but concerning this, no such thing is mentioned; and the other was in a state destitute of protectors, but this had some to take care of him, who also took him up, and carried him. And to this He saith, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee,”1213but to that He saith, “Wilt thou be made whole?”1214 And the other He healed on a sabbath day, but this not on a sabbath, for else the Jews would have laid this also to His charge; and in the case of this man they were silent, but in that of the other they were instant in persecuting him.
And this I have said, not without purpose, lest any one should think there is a discrepancy from suspecting it to be one and the same paralytic.
But do thou, I pray thee, mark the humility and meekness of our Lord. For He had also before this put away the multitudes from Him, and moreover when sent away by them at Gadara, He withstood not, but retired, not however to any great distance.
And again He entered into the ship and passed over, when He might have gone over afoot. For it was His will not to be always doing miracles, that He might not injure the doctrine of His humanity.1215
Now Matthew indeed saith, that “they brought him,” but the others, that they also broke up the roof, and let him down.1216 And they put the sick man before Christ, saying nothing, but committing the whole to Him. For though in the beginning He Himself went about, and did not require so much faith of them that came unto Him; yet in this case they both approached Him, and had faith required on their part. For, “Seeing,” it is said, “their faith;” that is, the faith of them that had let the man down. For He doth not on all occasions require faith on the part of the sick only: as for instance, when they are insane, or in any other way, through their disease, are out of their own control. Or rather, in this case the sick man too had part in the faith; for he would not have suffered himself to be let down, unless he had believed.
Forasmuch then as they had evinced so great faith, He also evinces His own power, with all authority absolving his sins, and signifying in all ways that He is equal in honor with Him that begat Him. And mark; He implied it from the beginning, by His teaching, when He taught them as one having 192 authority; by the leper, when He said, “I will, be thou clean,”1217by the centurion, when upon his saying, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed, He marvelled at him,”1218and celebrated him above all men; by the sea, when He curbed it with a mere word; by the devils, when they acknowledged Him as their judge, and He cast them out with great authority.
Here again in another and a greater way He constrains His very enemies to confess His equality in honor, and by their own mouth He makes it manifest. For He, to signify His indifference to honor (for there stood a great company of spectators shutting up the entrance, wherefore also they let him down from above), did not straightway hasten to heal the visible body, but He takes His occasion from them; and He healed first that which is invisible, the soul, by forgiving his sins; which indeed saved the other, but brought no great glory to Himself. They themselves rather, troubled by their malice, and wishing to assail Him, caused even against their will what was done to be conspicuous. He, in fact, in His abundance of counsel, made use of their envy for the manifestation of the miracle.
Upon their murmuring,1219then, and saying, “This man blasphemeth; who can forgive sins but God only?”1220let 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,”1221and when He said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel;”1222but 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.”1223
And not here only, but also in another case again, when they were saying, “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God,”1224neither in that instance did He put down this opinion, but again confirmed it, saying, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works.”1225
2. 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?”1226
But that it belongs to God only to know men’s secrets, hear what saith the prophet, “Thou most entirely alone1227knowest the hearts;”1228and again, “God trieth the hearts and reins;1229” and Jeremiah too saith, “The heart is deep above all things, and it is man, and who shall know him?”1230and, “Man shall look on the face, but God on the heart.”1231 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.1232
“For wherefore,” saith He, “think ye evil in your hearts?”1233
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 193 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.
And whereas, when He spake unto the sick of the palsy, He spake without clearly manifesting His own authority: for He said not, “I forgive thee thy sins,” but, “thy sins be forgiven thee:” upon their constraining, He discloses His authority more clearly, saying, “But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power1234on earth to forgive sins.”
Seest thou, how far He was from unwillingness to be thought equal to the Father? For He said not at all, “The Son of Man hath need of another;” or, “He hath given Him authority,” but, “He hath authority.” Neither doth He say it for love of honor, but “to convince you,” so He speaks, “that I do not blaspheme in making myself equal with God.”
Thus everywhere His will is to offer proofs clear and indisputable; as when He saith, “Go thy way, show thyself to the priest;”1235and when He points to Peter’s wife’s mother ministering, and permits the swine to cast themselves down headlong. And in the same manner here also; first, for a certain token of the forgiveness of his sins, He provides the giving tone to his body: and of that again, his carrying his bed; to hinder the fact from being thought a mere fancy. And He doeth not this, before He had asked them a question. “For whether is easier,” saith He, “to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee? or to say, Take up thy bed, and go unto thine house?”1236 Now what He saith is like this, “Which seems to you easier, to bind up a disorganized1237body, or to undo1238the sins of a soul? It is quite manifest; to bind up a body. For by how much a soul is better than a body, by so much is the doing away sins a greater work than this; but because the one is unseen, the other in sight, I throw in that, which although an inferior thing, is yet more open to sense; that the greater also and the unseen may thereby receive its proof;” thus by His works anticipating even now the revelation of what had been said by John, that “He taketh away the sins of the world.”
Well then, having raised him up, He sends him to his house; here again signifying His unboastfulness,1239and that the event was not a mere imagination; for He makes the same persons witnesses of his infirmity, and also of his health. For I indeed had desired, saith He, through thy calamity to heal those also, that seem to be in health, but are diseased in mind; but since they will not, depart thou home, to heal them that are there.
Seest thou how He indicates Him1240to be Creator both of souls and bodies? He heals therefore the palsy in each of the two substances, and makes the invisible evident by that which is in sight. But nevertheless they still creep upon the earth.
“For when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which” (it is said) “had given such power unto men:”1241for the flesh was an offense unto them.1242 But He did not rebuke them, but proceeds by His works to arouse them, and exalt their thoughts. Since for the time it was no small thing for Him to be thought greater than all men, as having come from God. For had they well established these things in their own minds, going on orderly they would have known, that He was even the Son of God. But they did not retain these things clearly, wherefore neither were they able to approach Him. For they said again, “This man is not of God;”1243“how is this man of God?” And they were continually harping on these things, putting them forward as cloaks for their own passions.
3. Which thing many now also do; and thinking to avenge God, fulfill their own passions, when they ought to go about all with moderation. For even the God of all, having power to launch His thunderbolt against them that blaspheme Him, makes the sun to rise, and sends forth the showers, and affords them all other things in abundance; whom we ought to imitate, and so to entreat, advise, admonish, with meekness, not angry, not making ourselves wild beasts.
For no harm at all ensues unto God by their blasphemy, that thou shouldest be angered, but he who blasphemed hath himself also received the wound. Wherefore groan, bewail, for the calamity indeed deserves tears. And the wounded man, again,—noth 194ing can so heal him as gentleness: gentleness, I say, which is mightier than any force.
See, for example, how He Himself, the insulted one, discourses with us, both in the Old Testament, and in the New; in the one saying, “O my people, what have I done unto thee?”1244in the other, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me.”1245 And Paul too bids, “In meekness instruct those that oppose themselves.”1246 And Christ again, when His disciples had come to Him, requiring fire to come down from heaven, strongly rebuked them, saying, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”1247
And here again He said not, “O accursed, and sorcerers as ye are; O ye envious, and enemies of men’s salvation;” but, “Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”
We must, you see, use gentleness to eradicate the disease. Since he who is become better through the fear of man, will quickly return to wickedness again. For this cause He commanded also the tares to be left, giving an appointed day of repentance. Yea, and many of them in fact repented, and became good, who before were bad; as for instance, Paul, the Publican, the Thief; for these being really tares turned into kindly wheat. Because, although in the seeds this cannot be, yet in the human will it is both manageable and easy; for our will is bound by no limits of nature, but hath freedom of choice for its privilege.
Accordingly, when thou seest an enemy of the truth, wait on him, take care of him, lead him back into virtue, by showing forth an excellent life, by applying “speech that cannot be condemned,”1248by bestowing attention and tender care, by trying every means of amendment, in imitation of the best physicians. For neither do they cure in one manner only, but when they see the wound not yield to the first remedy, they add another, and after that again another; and now they use the knife, and now bind up. And do thou accordingly, having become a physician of souls, put in practice every mode of cure according to Christ’s laws; that thou mayest receive the reward both of saving thyself and of profiting others, doing all to the glory of God, and so being glorified also thyself. “For them that glorify me,” saith He, “I will glorify; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed.”1249
Let us, I say, do all things unto His glory; that we may attain unto that blessed portion, unto which God grant we may all attain, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might forever and ever. Amen.
Source.
Then this Holy Scripture reads: And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" But goes on to describe that Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them "Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?
So Christ was talking to the skeptic scribes when He asked the question. The scribes who were the ones responsible for maintaining the wriiten word of God thus far. And the scribes were always looking for was to prove that they knew Gods Word better than God (Christ). They were always looking to 'trip' Christ up, to prove Christ a fraud or that He really didn't have knowledge of the Holy Scripture.
Christ goes on to explain to the skeptical scribes that, yes, He could have just told the lame man to get up and walk, but because He wished it to be known that "the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" He had said thus.
The ending verses of this Scripture lesson says: Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
And glory be to our God Whom gave His Power to men to minister to us that we might be forgiven of our sins and be healed; and have the honor of standing in His Glorious Presence.