Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ¹  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 12:33

Trees and Their Fruit

12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad ²  and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

Matius 26:75

26:75 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. ³ 

[9:5]  ¹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[12:33]  ² tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “tree” and “fruit,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).

[26:75]  ³ sn When Peter went out and wept bitterly it shows he really did not want to fail here and was deeply grieved that he had.