1 And again be entered into Caper- naum after some days ; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were ga- thered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door : and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they came unto him, bring- ing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they un- covered the roof where he was : and when they had broken it up, they Jet down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the Scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak
blasphemies ? who can forgive sina but God only ?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts ?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be for- given thee ; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk ?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all ; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, say- ing, We never saw it on this fash- ion.
This passage shows our Lord once more at Capernaum. Once more we find Him doing His accustomed work, preaching the word, and healing those that were sick.
We see, in these verses, what great spiritual privileges some persons enjoy, and yet make no use of them.
This is a truth which is strikingly illustrated by the history of Capernaum. No city in Palestine appears to have enjoyed so much of our Lord's presence, during His earthly ministry, as did this city. It was the place where He dwelt, after He left Nazareth. (Matt. iv. 13.) It was the place where many of His miracles were worked, and many of His sermons delivered. But nothing that Jesus said or did seems to have had any effect on the hearts of the inhabitants. They crowded to hear Him, as we read in this passage, " till there was no room about the door." They were amazed. They