Texts in Conversation
Matthew 9:6 connects the healing of a paralytic with the authority to forgive sins, and a similar tradition in tractate Nedarim in the Babylonian Talmud reflects a similar idea by teaching that a sick person does not recover until their sins are forgiven. Both texts likely echo a common Jewish tradition.
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Matthew 9:6
New Testament
4 When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he stood up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Nedarim 41a
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
Abaye said that we have a tradition: A poor person is only one lacking in intelligence, in agreement with the opinion of Rav Naḥman. In the West, Eretz Yisrael, they say: One who has this attribute, intelligence, in him has everything in him. One who does not have this attribute in him, what is in him? If he acquired this, what else is lacking? If he has not acquired this, what has he acquired? § Rabbi Alexandri said that Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: The sick person recovers from his illness only when the heavenly court forgives him for all his sins, as it is stated: “Who forgives all your iniquity; Who heals all your diseases” (Psalms 103:3). Rav Hamnuna said: When he recovers, he returns to the days of his youth, as it is stated in a verse with regard to one recovering from illness: “His flesh is tenderer than a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth” (Job 33:25). Interpreting the verse: “The Lord will support him upon the bed of suffering; You overturned all his lying down in his illness” (Psalms 41:4), Rav Yosef said: That is to say that the sick person forgets his studies, as everything that is organized is overturned.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jesus performs the cure that they may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. His words about forgiveness and healing go together. If he can do the one he can do the other ... [it was frequently] thought that all sickness was due to sin. 'R. Alexandri said in the name of R. Hiyya b. Abba: A sick man does not recover from his sickness until all his sins are forgiven him' (Nedarim 41a) ..."
Morris, Leon
Luke: An Introduction and Commentary
(p. 130) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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