Luke 5:22

5:22 Jesus knew what they were thinking: While the Pharisees were accusing Jesus of blasphemy, he was reading their minds—something only God can do.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 5:22 . The expression “in your hearts” coming in here suggests that Lk. may have omitted it in Luk 5:21 merely to avoid repetition.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(22) When Jesus perceived their thoughts.—Better, their reasonings, the Greek noun being formed from the verb used in Luk_5:21.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. when Jesus perceived] Rather, Jesus, recognising.

their thoughts] Rather, their reasonings.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But when Jesus perceived their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient;

he answering said unto them, what reason ye in your hearts? This he said, not as being ignorant what their reasonings were, for it is before said he perceived their thoughts, but to expose the wickedness of them; in one exemplar of Beza's it is added, "evil things", as in Mat 9:4. See Gill on Mat 9:4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The miracle:

v. 22. But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He, answering, said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

v. 23. Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Else up and walk?

v. 24. But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

v. 25. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

v. 26. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

Jesus, in His omniscience, read their thoughts as easily as though they had spoken aloud, and answered in that sense, promptly calling them to account for their condemnation of His words. He proposes a question to them as to what they believed to be easier, to say: Forgiven be thy sins; or to say: Arise and walk. The scribes and Pharisees naturally thought that the saying of the former would be the easier, since the fulfillment lay in the spiritual field and could therefore not be seen or controlled by men. That this miracle of mercy really happened at the word of Jesus they did not believe. The Lord therefore performed before their eyes what they considered the more difficult, for a testimony unto them, incidentally proving that His words to the sick man could not have been blasphemy. The fact that He, the Son of Man, actually possessed the power on earth to forgive sins, He demonstrated by saying to the paralytic: To thee I say, Arise, and pick up thy hammock, or couch, and go to thy house. And without delay, at once, the sick man got up before them all, took up the bed upon which he had been lying, and went to his home, full of praise toward God for the miracle of healing performed in his case. His faith and trust had been gloriously vindicated. Christ the Lord has power to forgive sins as the Son of Man. Had God not, in Christ, become man and reconciled the world to Himself, He would have the power to destroy the sinners, but not to save them, since His holiness must be preserved at all costs. And Christ, the Head and Lord of His Church, has given the power to forgive sins to His Church on earth. This is the peculiar church power which Christ has given to His Church on earth, which His servants administer according to His command, Joh 20:23. When the absolution is spoken by the minister of the church or by any Christian in comforting his neighbor, then we may gladly believe that such word of forgiveness is spoken down from heaven itself and is the merciful sentence of God upon us. Of this fact the people had an inkling on that occasion in Capernaum. The greatest astonishment took hold of them all, even the Pharisees that hardened their hearts against Jesus feeling something of the power of God in the incident. The people in general glorified God, being filled also with awe in the presence of such supernatural evidence. Their opinion was that they had seen strange things, such as appeared contrary to the common run and course of nature, wonders which human reason declares to be impossible.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

perceiving what they were thinking

This phrase indicates that they were reasoning silently, so that Jesus sensed rather then heard what they were thinking.

Why are you questioning this in your hearts?

This can be written as a statement. AT: "You should not argue about this in your hearts." or "You should not doubt that I have the authority to forgive sins." (See: Rhetorical Question)

in your hearts

Here "hearts" is a metonym for people's minds or inner beings. (See: Metonymy)

Which is easier to say ... walk?

Jesus uses this question to make the scribes think about what might prove whether or not he could really forgive sins. AT: "I just said 'Your sins are forgiven you.' You may think that it is harder to say 'Get up and walk,' because the proof of whether or not I can heal the man will be shown by whether or not he gets up and walks." or "You may think that it is easier to say 'Your sins are forgiven' than it is to say 'Get up and walk.'" (See: Rhetorical Question)

easier to say

The unspoken implication is that one thing is "easier to say because no one will know what has happened," but the other thing is "harder to say because everyone will know what has happened." People could not see if the man's sins were forgiven, but they would all know he was healed if he got up and walked. (See: Ellipsis)

you may know

Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. The word "you" is plural. (See: Forms of You)

the Son of Man

Jesus was referring to himself.

I tell you

Jesus was saying this to the paralyzed man. The word "you" is singular.

translationWords

heart

Son of Man

authority

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

22. ἐπιγνοὺς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς. ‘Jesus, recognising.’

τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν. ‘Their reasoning.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. ἐπιγνοὺς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν. The compound verb implies thorough and accurate knowledge (1Co 13:12; Rom 1:32; Justin, Try. 3. p. 221 A). The subst. ἐπίγυωσις is used of “the knowledge of God and of Christ as being the perfection of knowledge: e.g. Pro 2:5; Hos 4:1, Hos 4:6:6; Eph 1:17, Eph 1:4:13; 2Pe 1:2, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:8, 2Pe 1:2:20; Clem. Alex Pæd. ii. i. p. 173” (Lft. on Col 1:9). Comp. the climax in Apost. Const. 7:39, 1, γνῶσις, ἐπίγνωσις πληροφορία. On both ἐπίγνωσις and διαλογισμούς see Hatch, Bibl. Grk. p. 8. The latter seems here to mean “thoughts” (ἐνθυμήσεις, Mat 9:4) rather than “discussions” (9:46). In LXX it is used of the counsels of God (Psa 39:6, Psa 91:6). It is, however, more often used in a bad sense (Psa 55:5, 93:11, Psa 145:4, etc.), and is specially freq. in Lk. (2:35, 6:8, 9:47, 24:38). Not in Jn., and only once each in Mt. and Mk.

ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν. This seems to imply that there had been o utterance. Christ read their thoughts. See on Rom 1:21.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Perceived. See on Mr 2:8.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 22-24. The Miracle. — The miraculous work which is to follow is for a moment deferred. Jesus, without having heard the words of those about Him, understands their murmurs. His mind is, as it were, the mirror of their thoughts. The form of His reply is so striking, that the tradition has preserved it to the very letter; hence it is found in identical terms in all three narratives. The proposition, that ye may know, depends on the following command: I say to thee...The principal and subordinate clauses having been separated by a moment of solemn silence, the three accounts fill up this interval with the parenthesis: He saith to the paralytic. This original and identical form must necessarily proceed from a common source, oral or written. — It is no easier, certainly, to pardon than to heal; but it is much easier to convict a man of imposture who falsely claims the power to heal, than him who falsely arrogates authority to pardon. There is a slight irony in the way in which Jesus gives expression to this thought. “You think these are empty words that I utter when I say, Thy sins are forgiven thee. See, then, whether the command which I am about to give is an empty word.” The miracle thus announced acquires the value of an imposing demonstration. It will be seen whether Jesus is not really what He claims to be, the Ambassador of God on earth to forgive sins. Earth, where the pardon is granted, is opposed to heaven, where He dwells from whom it proceeds.

It is generally acknowledged at the present day, that the title Son of man, by which Jesus preferred to designate Himself, is not simply an allusion to the symbolical name in Daniel 7, but that it sprang spontaneously from the depths of Jesus’ own consciousness. Just as, in His title of Son of God, Jesus included whatever He was conscious of being for God, so in that of Son of man He comprehended all He felt He was for men. The term Son of man is generic, and denotes each representative of the human race (Psa 8:5; Eze 37:3; Eze 37:9; Eze 37:11). With the art. (the Son of man), this expression contains the notion of a superiority in the equality. It designates Jesus not simply as man, but as the normal man, the perfect representative of the race. If this title alludes to any passage of the O. T., it must be to the ancient prophecy, “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head” (Gen 3:15). — There is a tone of triumph in this expression, Luk 5:25: He took up that whereon he lay. The astonishment of the people, Luk 5:26, is expressed differently in the three narratives: We never saw it on this fashion (Mark); They glorified God, which had given such power unto men (Matthew). This remarkable expression, to men, is doubtless connected with Son of man. Whatever is given to the normal man, is in Him given to all. Matthew did not certainly add this expression on his own authority, any more than the others arbitrarily omitted it. Their sources were different.

Παράδοξα, strange things, in Luke, is found in Josephus’ account of Jesus. By the term to-day the multitude allude not only to the miracle,—they had seen others as astounding on previous days,—but more particularly to the divine prerogative of pardon, so magnificently demonstrated by this miracle with which Jesus had just connected it. — The different expressions by which the crowd give utterance to their surprise in the three Syn. might really have been on the lips of different witnesses of this scene.

Keim, applying here the method indicated, pp. 253-4, thinks that the paralysis was overcome by the moral excitement which the sick man underwent. Examples are given of impotent persons whose power of movement has been restored by a mighty internal shock. Therefore it is just possible that the physical fact might be explained in this way. But the moral fact, the absolute assurance of Jesus, the challenge implied in this address, “In order that ye may know,...arise and walk!”—a speech the authenticity of which is so completely guaranteed by the three narratives and by its evident originality,—how is this to be explained from Keim’s standpoint? Why, Jesus, in announcing so positively a success so problematical, would have laid Himself open to be palpably contradicted by the fact! At the commencement of His ministry He would have based His title to be the Son of man, His authority to forgive sins, His mission as the Saviour, His entire spiritual work, on the needle’s point of this hazardous experiment!

If this were the case, instead of a divine demonstration (and this is the meaning which Jesus attaches to the miracle), there would be nothing more in the fact than a fortunate coincidence.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.