1. When a leper is cleansed in a good place, a specific location is not expressed, in order to show that it was not just one people of a particular city, but all peoples who were healed. This is also well according to Luke in the fourth sign, from when the Lord came to Capernaum, he was healed; for if He illuminated the fourth day with the sun (Gen. I, 14), and made it brighter than the other days, when the elements of the world were shining forth: and we ought to consider this work as clearer. And according to Matthew, this is the first person healed by the Lord after the blessings (Matt. 8:3); so that because the Lord had said: I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17); he who was excluded from the Law (Lev. 13:3), presuming to be cleansed by the power of the Lord, would judge that grace is not from the Law, but above the Law, which could wash away the leper's blemish.
But just as in the Lord the authority of power is declared, so in him the constancy of faith is declared. He falls on his face, which is an act of humility and modesty; so that each one may be ashamed of the stains on his life: but modesty did not suppress his confession. He showed the wound and demanded a remedy: and the confession itself is full of religion and faith. If you wish, he said, you can make me clean. He attributed the power to the will of the Lord: but he did not doubt the will of the Lord as one who is incredulous of piety, but as one who is conscious of his own depravity, he did not presume. To a certain morally upright person, the Lord responded with holiness: I want you to be cleansed.
(Vers. 13.)
(Verse 13) And immediately his leprosy departed from him.
For there is no middle ground between the work of God and the commandment; for in the commandment is the work. Indeed, he spoke and they were made (Psalm 32:9). You see, therefore, that it cannot be doubted that the will of God is power. Therefore, if his will is power, those who affirm the Trinity of one will also affirm the unity of power. Thus, immediately the leprosy departed, so that you may understand the compassion of the healer, who added truth to the work.
4. Finally, the Lord had pity on him according to Mark (Mark 1:41): which is beautifully put. And the evangelists have put many such things, who wanted to establish us in both faith, describing signs of virtue for faith, and expressing the works of virtue for imitation. Therefore, He touches without disdain, and commands without hesitation; for this is an indication of power, because as if having the power to heal, and the authority to command, He does not reject the testimony of His works. I wish, therefore he speaks because of Photinus, he commands because of Arius, he touches because of Manichaeus.
5. And not only the leprosy of one person is cured, but of all to whom it is said: 'Now you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you' (John 15:3). Therefore, if the remedy for leprosy is the word, certainly the leprosy of the mind is contempt for the word. But so that leprosy cannot pass on to the physician, each person should avoid boasting by following the example of the humility of the Lord. For why is it commanded that no one should speak, except to teach not our public benefits, but our hardships; so that we not only abstain from the reward of money, but also of gratitude? Perhaps also the reason for that silence is the command, because he believed that those who had faith based on spontaneity were better than those who believed in expected benefits.
However, according to the Law, it is commanded for one to offer oneself to the priest, not to bring another person; but to offer oneself as a spiritual sacrifice to God, so that through the knowledge of faith and the discipline of wisdom, the offering may be pleasing to God, with the stains of past actions cleansed away. For every victim will be seasoned with salt (Mark 9:49). Therefore, Paul also says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).
7. At the same time the wonderful deed which he worked by the mere fact that he was besought to do it. If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. I will, he said, be thou made clean. Thou hast the will, thou hast also the effect of piety. And stretching forth his hand, he touched him. (Leviticus 13:3). The law forbids the touching of lepers: but he who is the Lord of the law does not obey the law, but makes the law. He did not, therefore, touch, because without touch he could not make him clean: but to show that he was not subject to the law, nor feared the contagion, like men: but because he could not be contaminated, who cleansed others: so, on the other hand, the leprosy was driven away by the touch of the Lord, which used to defile the toucher.
8. (Verse 14.) However, he is commanded to show himself to the priest and offer for his cleansing, so that while he offers himself to the priest, the priest may understand that he, being cured, was cared for not by the order of the Law, but by the grace of God above the Law; and while he commands the cleansed person to offer the sacrifice according to the precept of Moses, the Lord shows that he does not abolish the Law, but fulfills it; for in walking according to the Law, he seems to heal those whom the remedies of the Law were not able to heal. And he added: As Moses commanded; for the Law is spiritual (Rom. VII, 14); and therefore it seems that he commanded a spiritual sacrifice.
9. Finally he added: In order to be a testimony to you, that is, if you believe in God, if the leprosy of impiety departs, if the priest is knowledgeable about hidden things, if he is a pure and faithful witness: from this, that priest can be seen more clearly to whom secrets do not escape, to whom it is said: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 109:4).
(Vers. 18, 19.)
(Verse 18, 19.) And behold, some men carrying a man on a bed who was paralyzed, and seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; and not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his bed into the middle, in front of Jesus.
10. The remedy of this paralytic is neither useless nor limited, when the Lord is said to have prayed not for the sake of assistance, but as an example; for he gave an example to be imitated, not sought after for the sake of obtaining a favor. And the remedy of this paralytic is described as gathering together doctors of the Law from all Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem, among the other remedies for the weak. First of all, as we have said before, each sick person must use those who are to be prayed for the preservation of salvation, through whom the broken bonds of our life and the crippled steps of our actions may be restored by the medicine of the heavenly word. Therefore, there are some monitors of the mind who raise the soul of man, even when it is numbed by the weakness of the external body, towards higher things. By the support of these monitors, it is easy to both raise oneself up and humble oneself, before Jesus, worthy of the sight of the Lord. For the Lord looks upon humility: ’For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden’ (Luke 1:48).
(Vers. 20.)
(Verse 20) He said that he saw the faith of those people.
The Lord is great, who forgives some by merit and forgives others by testing others. Why does a man not have worth as a colleague with you, since a servant has both the right to intervene and the right to request from the Lord? Learn to forgive, you who judge: learn to obtain, you who are sick. If you doubt the forgiveness of serious sins, call upon the intercessors, call upon the Church which prays for you, by whose intercession the Lord may forgive that which He could deny you.
And although we should not overlook the credibility of the history, so that we believe that the body of that paralytic was truly healed, nevertheless let us consider the health of the inner man, to whom sins are forgiven, which, as the Jews assert, can only be granted by the Lord alone. They confess that he is God and reveal their own unfaithfulness in their judgment, so that they deny the work and reject the person. Therefore, the Son of God receives testimony from both his works and his voice does not need verification; for unfaithfulness can confess but cannot believe. Therefore, the testimony is not lacking for divinity, faith is lacking for salvation. For it is stronger evidence of faith when it is confessed unwillingly; and it is more harmful to sin when it is denied and those who deny it are refuted by their own assertions. So great is the foolishness of the unbelieving crowd that, even though it confesses that only God can forgive sins, it does not believe that God forgives sins. But the Lord, desiring to save sinners, reveals himself to be God through his knowledge of hidden things and adds wonder to his deeds.
(Vers. 23.)
(Verse 23.) Which is easier to say: 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say: 'Rise up and walk'?
13. In this place He shows the full appearance of resurrection, who heals the wounds of the mind and body, forgives the sins of the souls, and excludes the weakness of the flesh; for this is to have the whole man cured. Although, therefore, it is great to forgive sins unto men (for who can forgive sins except God only, who also grants the power of forgiving to those to whom He grants the power of forgiving); yet it is much more divine to give resurrection to bodies; since the Lord Himself is resurrection.
14. (Verse 24.) This bed which is commanded to be lifted up, what else is it, if not that the human body is commanded to be lifted up? He himself is the one who is washed by David every night, as we read: I will wash my bed every night; with my tears I will water my couch (Psalm 6:7). This is the bed of sorrow, on which our soul lay in heavy anguish of conscience. But if anyone behaves according to Christ's commandments, it is no longer a bed of sorrow, but of rest. For indeed by the mercy of the Lord, what was once death has begun to be rest: he who for us turned the sleep of death into the favor of pleasure. Not only to relieve the bed, but also to return to his own home, that is, to go back to paradise; for that is the true home, which first received mankind: not lost by right, but by deceit. Therefore, the home is rightly restored, since he came who would abolish the bond of deceit, restore righteousness.
15. (Verse 25.) And without any delay, a moment of healing arrives: it is the moment of the words and remedies. The unbelievers watch in astonishment as he rises, and marvel as he departs, choosing to fear the miracles of the divine work rather than believe. For if they had believed, they would surely not have feared, but rather loved; for perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). And so, because they did not love, they slandered. But to those who slandered, he says: Why do you think evil in your hearts? (Luke 5:22). Who says this? The high priest. He saw leprosy in the hearts of the Jews and showed them to be worse than the leper. He commanded himself to be cleansed to the priest: he rejects them; lest their leprosy also contaminate others.
16. (Verse 27.) The mystical calling of the tax collector follows, whom he commands to follow not with the steps of the body, but with the affection of the mind. Therefore, he, first turning from greedy earnings, harsh labors, and the profits of sailors' dangers, being called by the word, abandoned his own things, which he was seizing from others: and leaving that cheap seat, he walks in the whole footsteps of the Lord in his mind. He also presents the display of a great feast; for whoever receives Christ in their inner dwelling, is nourished with the greatest delights of overflowing pleasures. Therefore the Lord willingly enters and reclines with affection in the one who believes.
17. But again the envy of the treacherous is kindled, and the future punishment is foreshadowed. For while the faithful feast and recline in the kingdom of heaven, empty malice torments them. At the same time, it is shown how great is the difference between the adversaries of Law and grace, for those who follow the Law suffer eternal hunger of the mind; but those who receive the word in the depths of their soul, nourished by the abundance of heavenly food and the richness of the source, cannot hunger or thirst. And so those who were fasting in their spirit murmured, saying: