Chapter BY Chapter

Matthew 9 – A Day In The Life Of Jesus (continued)

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“And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.  And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”  And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”  And he rose and went home.  When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

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“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

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“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”  And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.  Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

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“While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”  And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.  And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”  Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.  And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.  But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went through all that district.”

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“And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”  When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”  Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”  And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”  But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.”

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“As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”  But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

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“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

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In the last chapter, we noticed that the text was expounding on a day in the life of Jesus.  This day actually began in chapter 5.  From there, each paragraph starts off with phrases such as “as they were going away,” or “as Jesus passed on from there.”  This puts these events in exact immediate sequence.  So far, Jesus has done the following:

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1. He went up to a mountain and preached the beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.3 chapters are devoted to this.

2. Came down from the mountain.

3. Healed a leper.

4. Healed a centurion’s servant.

5. Healed Peter’s mother-in-law.

6. Healed many people that were brought to him at Peter’s house.At this point it was evening.

7. Dealt with more disciples that wanted to follow him.

8. Got into a boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

9. Tried to take a nap in the boat.

10. Calmed the wind and the waves when a storm came up.

11. Arrived at Gadarenes country.This would have been about a 5 hour trip.

12. Cast thousands of demons out of 2 men.

13. Listened to all the people of the nearby town beg him to leave.By this time, the sun is rising.

This first thing that happens in chapter 9 is that Jesus gets into a boat and goes to his own city.  We know from Matthew 4:13 that this is Capernaum.  So this is about another 5 hour trip. 

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Let’s see what happens next.  Verses 2-7,

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“And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”  And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”  And he rose and went home.  When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

Now why does Jesus immediately tell the paralytic that his sins are forgiven instead of healing him?

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1. Which is more important?

   • Forgiveness of sins is more important.

2. What did Jesus really come for?

   • Jesus came to pay a ransom for sins as we will see later in the gospel.

3. Did Jesus know that the scribes would say that he is blaspheming?

   • Apparently he must have anticipated this.

4. Did Jesus use this opportunity as an object lesson”

   • Yes, he did.

5. Why did Jesus use this as an object lesson?

   • To show that forgiveness of sins was more important and that he had the authority to forgive sins.This was his whole purpose.

Did the crowd get it right in their thinking that God gave the authority to men (plural)?

The crowd does not determine doctrine here, Jesus does.  Jesus said that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, that’s Jesus. 

Was the crowd thinking about authority to forgive sins, or authority to heal?

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         Most likely, both.

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Now Jesus just arrived to his own city and he is probably trying to get to his own house.  Let’s see what happens next. Verse 9,

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“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

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Now this is the Matthew that wrote the gospel of Matthew.  He first appears in chapter 9, verse 9.  How did Matthew write all that comes before this verse if he wasn’t called to be a disciple yet?

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Matthew was most likely one of the disciples in the crowd up to this point.  He could have been filled in with some details by the other disciples.  This is in Capernaum where Jesus calls him, so Matthew probably lived in Capernaum as well.  Peter also lived in Capernaum, so Matthew could have heard about Jesus the Messiah from Peter.  Matthew writes the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount with more detail than any other gospel, so it is likely that he witnessed it and even prepared to take notes beforehand.  Jesus had already preached several times before that, so these teachings were probably repeated and it was at this time that Matthew wanted to capture as much of Jesus’ teachings as possible. 

So, when Jesus tells Matthew to follow him, does Matthew at that point magically realize that Jesus is the Messiah as he gets up to follow him?

No, Matthew already is following Jesus as part of the crowd.  Matthew is taking notes.  Matthew heard from Peter that Jesus is the Messiah.  Matthew is anticipating the opportunity to be close to Jesus.  If you were Matthew, would you be anticipating to be close to Jesus?

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Let’s see if Jesus gets to his house.  Verses 10-13,

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“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Finally! Jesus get to his house!  Whew!  To recline at table means that you are eating.  The tables that had at that time were short and one typically lay down on their side on a pillow to eat.  The scene would have looked more like this wood carving: