Forasmuch then as they had evinced so great faith, He also evinces His own power ... He healed first that which is invisible, the soul, by forgiving his sins; ... He, in fact, in His abundance of counsel, made use of their envy for the manifestation of the miracle.
-St. John Chrysostom, Homily 29 on Matthew 9, 1. B#54, pp. 195, 196, 4th Century