“For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?”
Matthew 9:5 — Greek Interlinear
Church Fathers on Matthew 9:5
Christ had above shewn His excellent power by teaching, when 'he taught them as one having authority;' in the leper, when He said, 'I will, be thou clean;' by the centurion, who said to Him, 'Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed;' by the sea which He calmed by a word; by the daemons who confessed Him; now again, in another and greater way, He compels His enemies to confess the equality of His honour with the Father; to this end it proceeds, 'And Jesus entered into a…
That Matthew here speaks of 'his own city,' and Mark calls it Capharnaum, would be more difficult to be reconciled if Matthew had expressed it Nazareth. But as it is, all Galilee might be called Christ’s city, because Nazareth was in Galilee; just as all the Roman empire, divided into many states, was still called the Roman city. [margin note: civitas] Who can doubt then that the Lord in coming to Galilee is rightly said to come into 'his own city,' whatever was the town in…
Or; This city may be no other than Nazareth, whence He was called a Nazarene.