John Calvin Commentary Matthew 9:2

"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 are forgiven." — Matthew 9:2 (ASV)

And when Jesus saw their faith. It is God alone, indeed, who knows faith; but they had given evidence of faith by the arduousness of that attempt, for they would never have submitted to so much trouble, nor contended with such formidable hindrances, if they had not derived courage from entire confidence of success. The fruit of their faith appeared in their not being exhausted when they found the entrance closed up on all sides. The view which some take of these words, that Christ, as a divine person, knew their faith, which lay concealed within them, appears to me a forced interpretation.

Now, as Christ granted to their faith the favor which he bestowed on the paralytic, a question is usually raised on this passage: to what extent do people derive advantage from the faith of others? First, it is certain that the faith of Abraham was of advantage to his posterity, when he embraced the free covenant offered to him and to his seed. We must hold a similar belief with regard to all believers, that by their faith, the grace of God is extended to their children and their children’s children even before they are born. The same thing takes place with infants, who are not yet old enough to be capable of faith.

With regard to adults, on the other hand, who have no faith of their own (whether they are strangers or related by blood), the faith of others can have nothing more than an indirect influence in promoting the eternal salvation of their souls. Just as the prayers by which we ask God to turn unbelievers to repentance are not without effect, our faith is evidently of such benefit to them that they do not attain salvation until, in answer to our prayers, they have become partakers of the same faith with us. However, where there is a mutual agreement in faith, it is well known that they promote the salvation of each other. It is also beyond all question that earthly blessings are often bestowed on unbelievers for the sake of the godly.

With regard to the present passage, though Christ is said to have been moved by the faith of others, yet the paralytic could not have obtained the forgiveness of his sins if he had had no faith of his own. Christ often restored unworthy persons to bodily health, as God daily maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but there is no other way in which he is reconciled to us than by faith. There is a synecdoche, therefore, in the word their, when it is said that Jesus saw their faith: for Christ not only looked at those who brought the paralytic, but looked also at his faith.

Your sins are forgiven you. Christ appears here to promise the paralytic something different from what he had requested. However, as he intends to bestow health of body, he begins by removing the cause of the disease, and at the same time reminds the paralytic of the origin of his disease and of the manner in which he ought to arrange his prayers. Since people usually do not consider that the afflictions they endure are God’s chastisements, they desire nothing more than some relief from their physical suffering and, in the meantime, feel no concern about their sins, just as if a sick man were to disregard his disease and seek only relief from present pain.⁵⁰⁹

But the only way of obtaining deliverance from all evils is to have God reconciled to us. It does sometimes happen that wicked people are freed from their distresses while God is still their enemy. However, when they think that they have completely escaped, the same evils immediately return, or more numerous and heavier calamities overwhelm them. This makes it clear that these sufferings will not be lessened or ended until the wrath of God is appeased, as God declares by the Prophet Amos:

If you escape a lion, a bear shall meet you;
if you shut yourself up at home, a serpent shall bite you
(Amos 5:19).

Thus it appears that this is a frequent and ordinary way of speaking in the Scriptures, to promise the pardon of sins when a lessening of punishments is sought. It is proper to attend to this order in our prayers. When the feeling of afflictions reminds us of our sins, let us first of all be careful to obtain pardon so that, when God is reconciled to us, he may withdraw his hand from punishing.

⁵⁰⁹ “Cherchoik seulement remede a la douleur presente, qui n'est qu'un accident particulier de son mal;” — “sought only a remedy for the present pain, which is but a particular accident of his disease.”;” — “sought only a remedy for the present pain, which is but a particular accident of his disease.”