I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy bed,.... He bid him, in an authoritative way to arise from his bed, in which he was brought, and on which he lay before him, and take it up upon his shoulders, directly, and in the face of all the people, carry it away:

and go thy way into thine house; to show himself whole to his family and friends, and go about his business; See Gill on Matthew 9:6,

I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

2:2-12 Many were gathered together. For notes on the healing of this paralytic see Mt 9:2-8. Compare Lu 5:17-26. As we learn from Luke, among those gathered were Pharisees and scribes from Judea, Jerusalem, and Galilee (Lu 5:17), evidently by a preconcerted arrangement. The whole incident illustrates: (1) The Divine power of Christ. He could assert that he forgave sins without blasphemy. (2) The difference between Christ and his apostles, none of whom claimed to forgive sins (see Ac 8:22-24). (3) It affords a test for all priests who claim to forgive sin. If they possessed power to forgive sins they would have power also to relieve the body of the physical consequences of sin.

11. I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house-This taking up the portable couch, and walking home with it, was designed to prove the completeness of the cure.

2:1-12 It was this man's misery that he needed to be so carried, and shows the suffering state of human life; it was kind of those who so carried him, and teaches the compassion that should be in men, toward their fellow-creatures in distress. True faith and strong faith may work in various ways; but it shall be accepted and approved by Jesus Christ. Sin is the cause of all our pains and sicknesses. The way to remove the effect, is to take away the cause. Pardon of sin strikes at the root of all diseases. Christ proved his power to forgive sin, by showing his power to cure the man sick of the palsy. And his curing diseases was a figure of his pardoning sin, for sin is the disease of the soul; when it is pardoned, it is healed. When we see what Christ does in healing souls, we must own that we never saw the like. Most men think themselves whole; they feel no need of a physician, therefore despise or neglect Christ and his gospel. But the convinced, humbled sinner, who despairs of all help, excepting from the Saviour, will show his faith by applying to him without delay.