Matthew 9

Matthew 9:1

H. Power to Forgive Sins (9:1-8) 9:1 Rejected by the Gergesenes, the Savior recrossed the Sea of Galilee and came to Capernaum, which had become His own city after the people of Nazareth attempted to destroy Him (Luk_4:29-31). It was here that He performed some of His mightiest miracles. 9:2 Four men came to Him, carrying a paralytic on a crude bed or mat. Mark’s account tells us that because of the crowd, they had to tear up the roof and lower the man into Jesus’ presence (2:1-12). When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you. Notice that He saw their faith. Faith prompted the men to bring the invalid to Jesus, and the invalid’s faith went out to Jesus for healing. Our Lord first rewarded this faith by pronouncing his sins forgiven. The Great Physician removed the cause before treating the symptoms; He gave the greater blessing first. This raises the question whether Christ ever healed a person without also imparting salvation. 9:3-5 When some of the scribes heard Jesus declare the man’s sins forgiven, they accused Him of blasphemy within themselves. After all, only God can forgive sinsand they were certainly not about to receive Him as God! The omniscient Lord Jesus read their thoughts, rebuked them for the evil in their hearts of unbelief, then asked them whether it was easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk. Actually it’s as easy to say one as the other, but which is easier to do? Both are humanly impossible, but the results of the first command are not visible whereas the effects of the second are immediately discernible. 9:6, 7 In order to show the scribes that He had authority on earth to forgive sins (and should therefore be honored as God), Jesus condescended to give them a miracle they could see. Turning to the paralytic, He said, Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.9:8 When the multitudes saw him walking home with his pallet, they registered two emotionsfear and wonder. They were afraid in the presence of an obviously supernatural visitation. They glorified God for giving such power to men. But they completely missed the significance of the miracle. The visible healing of the paralytic was designed to confirm that the man’s sins had been forgiven, an invisible miracle.

From this they should have realized that what they had witnessed was not a demonstration of God giving authority to men but of God’s presence among them in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they didn’t understand. As for the scribes, we know from later events that they only became more hardened in their unbelief and hatred.

Matthew 9:9

I. Jesus Calls Matthew the Tax Collector (9:9-13) 9:9 The tense atmosphere building up around the Savior is temporarily relieved by Matthew’s simple and humble account of his own call. A tax-collector or custom house officer, he and his fellow officials were hated intensely by the Jews because of their crookedness, because of the oppressive taxes they exacted, and most of all, because they served the interests of the Roman Empire, Israel’s overlord. As Jesus passed the tax office, He said to Matthew, Follow Me. The response was instantaneous; he arose and followed; leaving a traditionally dishonest job to become an instant disciple of Jesus. As someone has said, He lost a comfortable job, but he found a destiny. He lost a good income but he found honor.

He lost a comfortable security, but he found an adventure the like of which he had never dreamed. Not the least among his rewards were that he became one of the twelve and was honored to write the Gospel which bears his name. 9:10 The meal described here was arranged by Matthew in honor of Jesus (Luk_5:29). It was his way of confessing Christ publicly and of introducing his associates to the Savior. Necessarily, therefore, the guests were tax-collectors and others generally known to be sinners! 9:11 It was the practice in those days to eat reclining on couches and facing the table. When the Pharisees saw Jesus associating in this way with the social riff-raff, they went to His disciples and charged Him with guilt by association; surely no true prophet would eat with sinners! 9:12 Jesus overheard and answered, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. The Pharisees considered themselves healthy and were unwilling to confess their need for Jesus. (Actually they were extremely ill spiritually and desperately needed healing.) The tax collectors and sinners, by contrast, were more willing to acknowledge their true condition and to seek Christ’s saving grace. So the charge was true! Jesus did eat with sinners. If He had eaten with the Pharisees, the charge would still have been trueperhaps even more so! If Jesus hadn’t eaten with sinners in a world like ours, He would always have eaten alone.

But it is important to remember that when He ate with sinners, He never indulged in their evil ways or compromised His testimony. He used the occasion to call men to truth and holiness. 9:13 The Pharisees’ trouble was that although they followed the rituals of Judaism with great precision, their hearts were hard, cold, and merciless. So Jesus dismissed them with a challenge to learn the meaning of Jehovah’s words, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice (quoted from Hos_6:6). Although God had instituted the sacrificial system, He did not want the rituals to become a substitute for inward righteousness. God is not a Ritualist, and He is not pleased with rituals divorced from personal godlinessprecisely what the Pharisees had done. They observed the letter of the law but had no compassion for those who needed spiritual help. They associated only with self-righteous people like themselves. In contrast, the Lord Jesus pointedly told them, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. He perfectly fulfilled God’s desire for mercy as well as sacrifice. In one sense, there are no righteous people in the world, so He came to call all men to repentance. But here the thought is that His call is only effective for those who acknowledge themselves to be sinners. He can dispense no healing to those who are proud, self-righteous, and unrepentantlike the Pharisees.

Matthew 9:14

J. Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting (9:14-17) 9:14 By this time John the Baptist was probably in prison. His disciples came to Jesus with a problem. They themselves fasted often, but Jesus’ disciples did not. Why not? 9:15 The Lord answered with an illustration. He was the bridegroom and His disciples the wedding guests. As long as He was with them, there was no reason to fast as a sign of mourning. But He would be taken from them; then His disciples would fast. He was taken from themin death and burial, and since His ascension He has been bodily absent from His disciples. While Jesus’ words do not command fasting, they certainly approve it as an appropriate exercise for those who await the Bridegroom’s return. 9:16 The question raised by John’s disciples further prompted Jesus to point out that John marked the end of one dispensation, announcing the new Age of Grace, and He shows that their respective principles cannot be mixed. To try to mix law and grace would be like using a piece of new, unshrunk cloth to patch an old garment. When washed, the patch would shrink, ripping itself away from the old cloth. The disrepair would be worse than ever. Gaebelein complains rightly: A judaistic Christianity which, with a profession of Grace and the Gospel, attempts to keep the law and fosters legal righteousness is a greater abomination in the eyes of God than professing Israel in the past, worshipping idols. 9:17 Or the mixture would be like putting new wine into old wineskins. The pressure caused by the fermentation of the new wine would burst the old skins because they had lost their elasticity. The life and liberty of the Gospel ruins the wineskins of ritualism. The introduction of the Christian era would inevitably result in tension. The joy which Christ brought could not be contained within the forms and rituals of the OT. There must be an entirely new order of things. Pettingill makes this clear: Thus does the King warn His disciples against the admixture of the old … and the new. … And yet this is what has been done throughout Christendom. Judaism has been patched up and adapted everywhere among the churches and the old garment is labelled Christianity. The result is a confusing mixture, which is neither Judaism nor Christianity, but a ritualistic substitution of dead works for a trust in the living God. The new wine of free salvation has been poured into the old wineskins of legalism, and with what result? Why, the skins are burst and ruined and the wine is spilled and most of the precious life-giving draught is lost. The law has lost its terror, because it is mixed with grace, and grace has lost its beauty and character as grace, for it is mixed with law-works.

Matthew 9:18

K. Power to Heal the Incurable and Raise the Dead (9:18-26) 9:18, 19 Jesus’ discourse on the change of dispensations was interrupted by a distraught ruler of the synagogue whose daughter had just died. He knelt before the Lord, requesting Him to come and restore her to life. It was exceptional that this ruler should seek help from Jesus; most of the Jewish leaders would have feared the scorn and contempt of their associates for doing so. Jesus honored his faith by starting out with His disciples toward the ruler’s home. 9:20 Another interruption! This time it was a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. Jesus was never annoyed by such interruptions; He was always poised, accessible, and approachable. 9:21, 22 Medical science had been unable to help this woman; in fact, her condition was deteriorating (Mar_5:26). In her extremity she met Jesusor at least she saw Him surrounded by a crowd. Believing that He was able and willing to heal her, she edged through the crowd and touched the fringe of His garment. True faith never goes unnoticed by Him. He turned and pronounced her healed; instantly the woman was made well for the first time in twelve years. 9:23, 24 The narrative now returns to the ruler whose daughter had died. When Jesus reached the house, the professional mourners were wailing with what someone has called synthetic grief. He ordered the room cleared of visitors, at the same time announcing that the girl was not dead but sleeping. Most Bible students believe the Lord was using sleep here in a figurative sense for death. Some believe, however, that the girl was in a coma. This interpretation does not deny that Jesus could have raised her had she been dead, but it emphasizes that Jesus was too honest to take credit for raising the dead when actually the girl had not died. Sir Robert Anderson held this view. He pointed out that the father and all the others said she had died, but Jesus said she had not. 9:25, 26 In any case, the Lord took the girl by the hand and the miracle occurredshe got up. It didn’t take long for the news of the miracle to spread throughout the district.

Matthew 9:27

L. Power to Give Sight (9:27-31) 9:27, 28 As Jesus departed from the ruler’s neighborhood, two blind men followed Him, pleading for sight. Though dispossessed of natural vision, these men had acute spiritual discernment. In addressing Jesus as Son of David, they recognized Him as the long-awaited Messiah and rightful King of Israel. And they knew that when the Messiah came, one of His credentials would be that He would give sight to the blind (Isa_61:1, RSV margin). When Jesus tested their faith by asking if they believed He was able to do this (give them sight), they unhesitatingly responded, Yes, Lord.9:29, 30 Then the Great Physician touched their eyes and assured them that because they believed, they would see. Immediately their eyes became completely normal. Man says, Seeing is believing. God says, Believing is seeing. Jesus said to Martha, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see? (Joh_11:40). The writer to the Hebrews noted, By faith we understand … (Heb_11:3). The Apostle John wrote, I have written to you who believe … that you may know … (1Jo_5:13). God is not pleased with the kind of faith that demands a prior miracle. He wants us to believe Him simply because He is God. Why did Jesus sternly warn the healed men to tell no one? In the notes on Mat_8:4, we suggested that probably He did not want to foment a premature movement to enthrone Him as King. The people were as yet unrepentant; He could not reign over them until they were born again. Also, a revolutionary uprising in favor of Jesus would bring terrible reprisals from the Roman government on the Jews. Besides all this, the Lord Jesus had to go to the cross before He could reign as King; anything that blocked His pathway to Calvary was at variance with the predetermined plan of God. 9:31 In their delirious gratitude for eyesight, the two men spread the news of their miraculous cure. While we might be tempted to sympathize, and even to admire their exuberant testimony, the hard fact is that they were crassly disobedient and inevitably did more harm than good, probably by stirring up shallow curiosity rather than Spirit-inspired interest. Not even gratitude is a valid excuse for disobedience.

Matthew 9:32

M. Power to Give Speech (9:32-34) 9:32 First Jesus gave life to the dead; then sight to the blind; now speech to the dumb. There seems to be a spiritual sequence in the miracles herelife first, then understanding, and then testimony. An evil spirit had stricken this man with dumbness. Someone was concerned enough to bring the demoniac to Jesus. God bless the noble band of the anonymous who have been His instruments in bringing others to Jesus! 9:33 As soon as the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. Surely we may assume that he used his restored power of speech in worship and witness for the One who had so graciously healed him. The common people acknowledged that Israel was witnessing unprecedented miracles. 9:34 But the Pharisees answered by saying that Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of demons. This is what Jesus later labeled the unpardonable sin (Mat_12:32). To attribute the miracles which He performed by the Holy Spirit to the power of Satan was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. While others were being blessed by the healing touch of Christ, the Pharisees remained spiritually dead, blind, and dumb.

Matthew 9:35

VI. APOSTLES OF THE MESSIAH-KING SENT FORTH TO ISRAEL (9:35-10:42) A. The Need for Harvest Workers (9:35-38) 9:35 This verse begins what is known as the Third Galilean Circuit. Jesus traveled throughout the cities and villages, preaching the good news of the kingdom, namely, that He was the King of Israel, and that if the nation repented and acknowledged Him, He would reign over them. A bona fide offer of the kingdom was made to Israel at this time. What would have happened if Israel had responded? The Bible does not answer the question. We do know that Christ would still have had to die to provide a righteous basis by which God could justify sinners of all ages. As Christ taught and preached, He healed all kinds of sicknesses. Just as miracles characterized the First Advent of the Messiah, in lowly grace, so they will mark His Second Advent, in power and great glory (cf. Heb_6:5 : the powers of the age to come). 9:36 As He gazed on Israel’s multitudes, harassed and helpless, He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. His great heart of compassion went out to them. Oh, that we might know more of that yearning for the spiritual welfare of the lost and dying. How we need to pray constantly: Let me look on the crowd, as my Savior did, Till my eyes with tears grow dim; Let me view with pity the wandering sheep, And love them for love of Him. 9:37 A great work of spiritual harvest needed to be done, but the laborers were few. The problem has persisted to this day, it seems; the need is always greater than the work-force. 9:38 The Lord Jesus told the disciples to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Notice here that the need does not constitute a call. Workers should not go until they are sent. Christ, the Son of God has sent me To the midnight lands; Mine the mighty ordination Of the pierced hands. Frances Bevan Jesus did not identify the Lord of the harvest. Some think it is the Holy Spirit. In Mat_10:5, Jesus Himself sends out the disciples, so it seems clear that He Himself is the One to whom we should pray in this matter of world evangelization.