Luc 5:23

23 Lequel est le plus aisé, de dire: Tes péchés te sont pardonnés; ou de dire: Lève-toi, et marche?

Luc 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 5:23

Whether is it easier to say
Mark adds, "to the sick of the palsy"; to whom Christ had said that his sins were forgiven him, which had given offence to the Scribes and Pharisees, imagining that he had assumed too much to himself: wherefore he proposes the following case to them, which they thought was most easy for man, or more proper and peculiar to God to say,

thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, rise up and walk?
Neither of them could be said by a mere man, with effect, so as that sins would be really remitted on so saying; or that a man sick of a palsy, by such a word speaking, would be able to stand upon his feet and walk; but both of them were equally easy to him, that is truly God; and he that could say the one effectually, could also say the other: or in other words, he that could cure a man of a palsy with a word speaking, ought not to be charged with blasphemy, for taking upon him to forgive sin: our Lord meant, by putting this question, and acting upon it, to prove himself to be God, and to remove the imputation of blasphemy from him; (See Gill on Matthew 9:5). (See Gill on Mark 2:9).

Luc 5:23 In-Context

21 Alors les scribes et les pharisiens commencèrent à raisonner et à dire: Qui est celui-ci, qui prononce des blasphèmes? Qui peut pardonner les péchés, que Dieu seul?
22 Mais Jésus, connaissant leurs pensées, prit la parole et leur dit: Quel raisonnement faites-vous dans vos cœurs?
23 Lequel est le plus aisé, de dire: Tes péchés te sont pardonnés; ou de dire: Lève-toi, et marche?
24 Or, afin que vous sachiez que le Fils de l'homme a sur la terre le pouvoir de pardonner les péchés: Lève-toi, dit-il au paralytique, je te le dis, emporte ton lit, et t'en va dans ta maison.
25 Et à l'instant il se leva en leur présence; il emporta le lit sur lequel il avait été couché, et s'en alla dans sa maison, donnant gloire à Dieu.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.