Matthew 9

Mt 9:1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town.

His own town = Capernaum.

Mt 9:2 Some 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.”

“Your sins are forgiven” – ‘Physical healing is not the most important gift God can give. Among the first words Jesus said to the paralyzed man were “I have forgiven your sins.” Then he healed the man. We must be careful not to concentrate on God’s power to heal physical sickness more than on his power to forgive spiritual sickness in the form of sin. Jesus saw that even more than physical health, this man needed spiritual health. Spiritual health comes only from Jesus’ healing touch.’ (HBA)

Mat 9:3  At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Mat 9:4  Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

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

Mat 9:6  But 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.”

Mat 9:7  And the man got up and went home.

Mat 9:8  When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Mt 9:9 As 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.

‘The custom-house has usually been a place noted for plundering and for unjust exactions, and was at that time particularly infamous. In the choice of Matthew out of that place, not only to be admitted into the family of Christ, but even to be called to the office of Apostle, we have a striking instance of the grace of God. It was the intention of Christ to choose simple and ignorant persons to that rank, in order to cast down the wisdom of the world, {1Co 2:6} But this publican, who followed an occupation little esteemed and involved in many abuses, was selected for additional reasons, that he might be an example of Christ’s undeserved goodness, and might show in his person that the calling of all of us depends, not on the merits of our own righteousness, but on his pure kindness.’ (Barnes)

Mt 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house – ‘The other evangelists tell us, that Matthew made a great feast, which the poor fishermen, when they were called, were not able to do. But when he comes to speak of this himself, he neither tells us that it was his own house, nor that it was a feast, but only that he sat at meat in the house; preserving the remembrance of Christ’s favours to the publicans, rather than of the respect he had paid to Christ. Note, It well becomes us to speak sparingly of our own good deeds.’ (MHC)

Tax collectors and “sinners” – Men who collected taxes for the Romans had a bad reputation for extortion and malpractice. “Sinners” were those whose daily occupations rendered them ceremonially unclean and not, in Pharisaic eyes, to be associated with.

‘They who are effectually brought to Christ themselves, cannot but be desirous that others also may be brought to him, and ambitious of contributing something towards it. True grace will not contentedly eat its morsels alone, but will invite others. When by the conversion of Matthew the fraternity was broken, presently his house was filled with publicans, and surely some of them will follow him, as he followed Christ. Thus did Andrew and Philip, Joh 1:41,45 4:29. See Jud 14:9.’ (MHC)

Mt 9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

Pharisees – ‘A proud generation of men, conceited of themselves, and censorious of others; of the same temper with those in the prophet’s time, who said, Stand by thyself, come not near me; I am holier than thou: they were very strict in avoiding sinners, but not in avoiding sin; none greater zealots than they for the form of godliness, nor greater enemies to the power of it. They were for keeping up the traditions of the elders to a nicety, and so propagating the same spirit that they were themselves governed by.’ (MHC)

‘Christ was quarrelled with. It was not the least of his sufferings, that he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself. None was more quarrelled with by men, than he that came to take up the great quarrel between God and man. Thus he denied himself the honour due to an incarnate Deity, which was to be justified in what he spake, and to have all he said readily subscribed to: for though he never spoke or did anything amiss, every thing he said and did was found fault with. Thus he taught us to expect and prepare for reproach, and to bear it patiently.’ (MHC)

Mt 9:12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

‘Sin is the sickness of the soul; sinners are spiritually sick. Original corruptions are the diseases of the soul, actual transgressions are its wounds, or the eruptions of the disease. It is deforming, weakening, disquieting, wasting, killing, but, blessed be God, not incurable.’ (MHC)

The healthy – ‘There are multitudes who fancy themselves to be sound and whole, who think they have no need of Christ, but that they can shift for themselves well enough without him, as Laodicea, Re 3:17. Thus the Pharisees desired not the knowledge of Christ’s word and ways, not because they had no need of him, but because they thought they had none. See Joh 9:40,41.’ (MHC)

‘I used to bristle when I heard someone accuse Christianity of being a “crutch” religion, a faith that attracted the poor and the crippled and those who could not quite make it on their own. But the more I read the Gospels and the Prophets, the more willingly I admit to a “crutch” faith. Those who make such disdainful comments about Christianity are usually self-confident, successful over-achievers who have made it on their own by looking out for number one, without asking anyone for help.

Frankly, the gospel has little offer people who refuse to admit need. Blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus said, and those who mourn, and the persecuted. Basic repentance requires me to come prostrate before God and admit that God, not I, is best qualified to tell me how to live. (Perhaps for this reason Jesus singled out the wealthy as the group least likely to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (Yancy, Church Why Bother?, p56)

Mt 9:13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

“I have not come to call the righteous” – Of course, no person is righteous by nature, Ps 14:3 Ro 1:18-32 3:10-18. The Pharisees, however, were righteous in their own eyes.

Mt 9:14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

The Pharisees fasted twice a week-conspicuous piety. John’s followers were probably fasting in mourning for him. The required public fasts were only three in number: the Day of Atonement; the day before Purim; and the ninth of Ab, commemorating the fall of Jerusalem.

Mat 9:15  Jesus 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.

Mat 9:16  “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.

Mat 9:17  Neither 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.”

Mt 9:18 While 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.”

‘The variety of methods which Christ took in working his miracles is perhaps to be attributed to the different frame and temper of mind which they were in who applied to him, which he who searcheth the heart perfectly knew, and accommodated himself to. He knows what is in man, and what course to take with him.’ (M. Henry)

Sometimes, in the Gospels, ‘a passage may be so abbreviated that it seems to contradict a fuller parallel. Mark has Jairus and his companions come to Jesus twice, once to tell him of his daughter’s illness and once to say that she has died. {Mr 5:21-43} Matthew so compresses the account that Jairus comes only once and tells Jesus right at the outset of the story that his daughter is dead. {Mt 9:18-26} This type of literary abridgment was common in antiquity and not perceived as misleading or in error (cf. Lucian, How to Write History, 56). Similar telescoping appears in Matthew’s account of the withered fig tree (Mt 21:18-22; cf. Mr 11:12-14,20-21) and in Luke’s account of Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, if Luke is not in fact using a different tradition altogether, rather than Mark (Lu 22:66-71; cf. Mr 14:53-15:1).’ (Blomberg, DJG)

Mt 9:19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

‘Observe, when Jesus followed him, so did his disciples, whom he had chosen for his constant companions; it was not for state, or that he might come with observation, that he took his attendants with him, but that they might be the witnesses of his miracles, who were hereafter to be the preachers of his doctrine.’ (M. Henry)

Mt 9:20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.

The edge of his cloak – Probably the fringes or tassels at the corners of Christ’s mantle. These were religious reminders to the wearer to observe the commandments. {Nu 15:37-39}

Mat 9:21  She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Mat 9:22  Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Mt 9:23 When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd,

Flute players – It was customary, even among the very poor, to hire two or more flute players at times of mourning.

Mt 9:24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

“The girl is not dead but asleep” – Cf. Joh 11:11.

‘He gives a good reason why they should not thus disquiet themselves and one another; The maid is not dead but sleepeth. 1. This was eminently true of this maid, that was immediately to be raised to life; she was really dead, but not so to Christ, who knew within himself what he would do, and could do, and who had determined to make her death but as a sleep. There is little more difference between sleep and death, but in continuance; whatever other difference there is, it is but a dream. This death must be but of short continuance, and therefore is but a sleep, like one nights rest. He that quickens the dead, may well call the things which be not as though they were, Ro 4:17. 2. It is in a sense true of all that die, chiefly of them that die in the Lord. Note, (1.) Death is a sleep. All nations and languages, for the softening of that which is so dreadful, and withal so unavoidable, and the reconciling of themselves to it, have agreed to call it so. It is said, even of the wicked kings, that they slept with their fathers; and of those that shall arise to everlasting contempt, that they sleep in the dust, Da 12:2. It is not the sleep of the soul; its activity ceases not; but the sleep of the body, which lies down in the grave, still and silent, regardless and disregarded, wrapt up in darkness and obscurity. Sleep is a short death, and death a long sleep. But the death of the righteous is in a special manner to be looked upon as a sleep, Isa 57:2. They sleep in Jesus; {1Th 4:14} they not only rest from the toils and labours of the day, but rest in hope of a joyful waking again in the morning of the resurrection, when they shall wake refreshed, wake to a new life, wake to be richly dressed and crowned, and wake to sleep no more. (2.) The consideration of this should moderate our grief at the death of our dear relations: “say not, They are lost; no, they are but gone before: say not, They are slain; no, they are but fallen asleep; and the apostle speaks of it as an absurd thing to imagine that they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished; {1Co 15:18} give place, therefore, to those comforts which the covenant of grace ministers, fetched from the future state, and the glory to be revealed.’ (M. Henry)

They laughed at him – ‘Now could it be thought that such a comfortable word as this, from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, should be ridiculed as it was? They laughed him to scorn. These people lived in Capernaum, knew Christs character, that he never spake a rash or foolish word; they knew how many mighty works he had done; so that if they did not understand what he meant by this, they might at least have been silent in expectation of the issue. Note, The words and works of Christ which cannot be understood, yet are not therefore to be despised. We must adore the mystery of divine sayings, even when they seem to contradict what we think ourselves most confident of. Yet even this tended to the confirmation of the miracle: for it seems she was so apparently dead, that it was thought a very ridiculous thing to say otherwise.’ (M. Henry)

Mt 9:25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.

After the crowd had been put outside – ‘Scorners that laugh at what they see and hear that is above their capacity, are not proper witnesses of the wonderful works of Christ, the glory of which lies not in pomp, but in power. The widows slon at Nain, and Lazarus, were raised from the dead openly, but this damsel privately; for Capernaum, that had slighted the lesser miracles of restoring health, was unworthy to see the greater, of restoring life; these pearls were not to be cast before those that would trample them under their feet.’ (M. Henry)

She got up – ‘How wonderful that sight must have been! Who that has ever seen the dead can forget the stillness, the silence, the coldness, when the breath has left the body? Who can forget the awful feeling that a mighty change has taken place, and a mighty gulf been placed between ourselves and the departed? But behold! our Lord goes to the chamber where the dead lies, and calls the spirit back to its earthly tabernacle. The pulse once more beats; the eyes onces more see; the breath once more comes and goes. The ruler’s daughter is once more alive, and restored to her father and mother.’ (Ryle)

Mat 9:26  News of this spread through all that region.

Mat 9:27  As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Mat 9:28  When 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.

Mat 9:29  Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;

Mat 9:30  and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”

Mat 9:31  But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Mt 9:32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.

Mat 9:33  And 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.”

Mat 9:34  But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

Mt 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Their synagogues – This expression, occurring three times in Matthew, and paralelled once each in Mark and Luke, hints that the early Christians (or at least, the ‘Matthean community’) was no longer meeting in the synagogues but had been expelled from them. ‘The best model is seeing Matthew’s community meeting across the street from the synagogue (separated) but contending that they are the rightful members of that synagogue from which they have been expelled. They did not leave; they were forced out. But in being forced out, they continued to think of themselves as Jews, as true Jews, as the fulfilled Judaism, the Judaism that brought into reality the dreams of their prophets.’ (DLNT)

Mt 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

‘Some of us preachers, quite frankly, are short ocompassion, of Christ-like love. We see the evils, and we denoucne them – quite rightly; but we lack the response of Jesus, who, looking on crowd sof men and women, sees sheep without a shepherd, and is moved with compassion. Jesus denounces, but he weeps over the city.’ Carson, in When God’s Voice is Heard (eds Green & Jackman), 155.

Mat 9:37  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Mat 9:38  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”