And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
Ver. 3. This man blasphemeth] True, had he been but a man, and had taken upon him to forgive sins by his own authority, as Popish priests do, to the subverting of some men's souls. I have known one, saith a reverend divine, who neither by education nor affection was disposed to Popery; who having the ill hap, when his conscience was perplexed, to fall into the hands of a Popish priest, became a Papist upon this reason, because, as the priest suggested, that religion afforded more comfort for the conscience than ours; and therefore more comfort, because it had and exercised a power to pardon sin, which our ministers neither did nor dare to assume unto themselves.