TBR Bible Study -- Matthew 9

Matthew 9

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

1Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." ​

3At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

4Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7And the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.



The Calling of Matthew

9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him. ​

10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with Him and His disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."


Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" ​

15Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."


A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

18While He was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before Him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." 19Jesus got up and went with him, and so did His disciples. ​

20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."

22Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," He said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

23When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24He said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at Him. 25After the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26News of this spread through all that region.


Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute

27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" ​

28When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to Him, and He asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" ​

"Yes, Lord," they replied. ​

29Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." 31But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

32While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

34But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."


The Workers Are Few

35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." ​

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 9:13 Hosea 6:6 ​

 

Notice that the priests didn't really take notice of Jesus' healings and exorcisms up to this point. But the s*** hit the fan when He started to forgive sins in public. Why the sudden change?

I don't think the difference isn't all that dissimilar to what it would be today. A miraculous 'healing' or exorcism can be pulled off by anyone with the power (supernatural, or power of suggestion). Forgiving sins, however, is all about authority. In Judaism, only God has the authority to forgive sins, because sins are against Him. So by His action, Jesus is identifying Himself as God.

But just for good measure, Jesus healed the man of paralysis, too.

 

It's important to note here that tax collection in ancient Israel and Judah wasn't like the IRS. They were locals, commissioned by the Roman government to collect a certain amount of money, based on the census count. What made them even more despised, was that Rome basically told them, "after you collect what's ours, anything over and above is yours". As you might imagine, more than a few tax collectors took extreme advantage of those marching orders.

So here we have Matthew, one of the more despised and powerful men in the area doing what he does. Along comes Jesus, and simply says, "Follow me." No admonition, no long-winded speech about who He was, no intimidation. Just "follow me". And he did!

We can only speculate here, but there must have been something compelling, perhaps even charismatic about Jesus that caused Matthew to just get up and leave everything behind -- so much so that he even invited Jesus to his home for dinner. And not only that, Matthew saw something in Him that stirred him to invite his fellow outcasts.

When the Pharisees caught wind of this little dinner party, I think it's interesting that they didn't confront Jesus -- they questioned His disciples instead. My gut feeling is they were trying to unravel His following quietly before it really got going. Of course it backfired when Jesus responded for Himself saying that He had come for the sinners, not the righteous.

Why would He say something like this? The Pharisees, who were rooted in Old Testament Law, were all about enforcing righteousness over God's people. It would seem on the surface that Jesus was going in the opposite direction. But in reality, He wasn't. He was doing the same thing, just with a different tactic -- grace.

To really understand Jesus' motivation to reach out to sinners and outcasts, it's important to have a firm understanding of what "sin" actually is. Sin is a derivative of a Latin word that means "without". In a nutshell, that's what sinning is -- acting, thinking, and/or being without God.

The killing, lying, cheating, and other bad things we usually think of as "sin" are natural outcomes of that initial decision to act on our own desires and impulses, overriding God's will and desire with our own when the two don't line up. It's very much like when children act against what they know to be their parents' will, because they want something else more than they want to be obedient.

This split in wills causes a separation between God and people. Jesus' motivation is to bridge that separation and bring those who have turned away back to Himself. It only makes sense to reach out farther and with more effort to those who are farther away from you.

 

Fasting is an act of faith, as well as a tool of sorts for focusing on and ultimately trying to connect with God. Speaking from personal experience, it can be an intense process, and usually not one filled with a lot of joy and giddiness. It's pretty heavy.

So that's why when asked about His disciples, Jesus responded that now is not the time for fasting. His followers were already with God. And because they were, it was a time of celebration, not serious meditation.

The grace and mercy of Jesus made it possible for anyone to connect with God without having to depend on adherence to Old Testament Law. I believe that is what He was referring to when He talked about trying to put new wine in old wineskins and vice versa.

 

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