Matthew

9 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. ² Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."

³ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"

⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"-then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." ⁷ And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸ Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Jesus had been asked to leave the country of the Gergesenes.  Jesus doesn't hang around where He's not wanted very long.  He had arrived there to deal with a legion of demons.  Jesus went back to His own city, Capernaum.  This had become home base to the ministry of Jesus. 

Upon Jesus arrival He once again finds Himself before a crowd ministering to the people.  Mark and Luke tells us Jesus was a in a house that was full.  The friends of this paralytic were determined to deliver their friend to Jesus.  But how could they possibly fight their way through an impossible crowd bearing this man on a stretcher.  So these men, solving the problem, put a hole in the roof and lowered the man before Jesus.  Jesus saw their faith and declared this mans sins forgiven.  It was the faith of the friends that brought forgiveness to this man.  This man was helpless, unable to do anything for himself.  He would have been unclean and unable to worship in the temple.  Religion had nothing to offer him; the world had nothing for him.  These were great friends.  They didn't just often empty platitudes and encouragement, "We'll pray for you!" or "God works in mysterious ways."  These men took action.  They had nothing to offer but a belief that they knew someone who could change his life.

We must note that Jesus didn't declare this man healed, He declared him forgiven.  This wasn't a promise of something to come or some encouragement to hang in there.  This was present tense, right then and there.  His sins were forgiven.  Forgiveness is not visible, so the physical healing is a picture of the spiritual healing that took place.  Jesus dealt with the sin first.  This is important because freedom and new life and real healing come after sin is dealt with. 

The Scribes think to themselves that this man was blaspheming.  Jesus sees their inner thoughts and calls them on it.  Which is harder, forgiving sin or healing?  Both are impossible with man; as well as seeing the innermost thoughts of men.   

I'm fairly certain this man didn't need to be encouraged to 'be of good cheer'.

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him.

This is no coincidence; its Matthew appointment to meet the Son of God.  Matthew had likely seen Jesus around and heard much about him.  He may have even talked to Jesus previously.  But this day, was the day of decision.   The Son of God called one of the most hated men in Israel.

Matthew tucks this short report of him self right here in between miracles.  For Matthew, this is one of the biggest miracles.  As a tax collector, Matthew had plenty of money, but he was despised by his own people.  He collected taxes for Rome and anything extra he collected he was able to keep.  The Jews looked at Matthew as a traitor and he was considered one of the lowest forms of life, classified among murderers and robbers.  A tax gatherer was barred from the synagogue.  There was no respect for a tax collector and most Jews would have believed God had no use for them either. 

We don't know what God did in Matthews's life to prepare him for this moment.  It may have been the loneliness of not having any friends.  It may have been Matthew wanting more than just being considered the lowest form of life.  Maybe he came to realize that money couldn't buy joy and happiness.  Whatever it was, Matthew saw the answer in Jesus; a new life, a new start. 

Matthew stood and walked away from his income, from his job and from all he knew.  He sacrificed it all, even at the risk of Rome coming after him.  I'm sure Matthew remembered that day for the rest of his life because that was the day he stepped into the light and love of Jesus; a day when real life started; a day when life eternal began. 

¹⁰ Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Those that see themselves as righteous have no need of a savior.  They were concerned about preserving their own holiness, outward orthodoxy, as well as criticism and condemnation.  It's as if Jesus said, 'When you have feasts, you invite the pious and self righteous.  When I throw a feast I invite those conscious of their sin and know of their need for a savior.'  The Pharisees wouldn't be caught in the same house as a tax-collector. 

These, among others, people like you and I, were the folks that Jesus invited.  People who knew they needed a physician for their soul because they were sick to eternal death.    To the Pharisees, Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6.

Jesus points them to this passage of Hosea that speaks of Israel and the failings of the leaders.

⁴ "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?

O Judah, what shall I do to you?

For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,

And like the early dew it goes away.

⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,

I have slain them by the words of My mouth;

And your judgments are like light that goes forth.

⁶ For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷ "But like men they transgressed the covenant;

There they dealt treacherously with Me.

⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers

And defiled with blood.

⁹ As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man,

So the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem;

Surely they commit lewdness.

¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:

There is the harlotry of Ephraim;

Israel is defiled.

¹¹ Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,

When I return the captives of My people. (Hosea 6:4-11)

Jesus encouraged these leaders to go figure out what this saying meant.  We don't know they ever pondered the thought or the scripture ever again.  These men had forsaken mercy and piously offered sacrifices.  As a group, they were essentially un-teachable because they thought they already knew everything.

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"

The disciples of John fasted in humility and repentance.  The Pharisees fasted twice a week, mostly for show (Luke 18:12; Matthew 6:16-18).  The disciples of Jesus apparently didn't fast at that time and it was noticeable to others.  This is interesting that anyone would care to notice or pay that much attention.  It goes to show, the world is watching you whether you know it or not. 

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Jesus likens himself to a bridegroom several times in the scriptures.  A Jewish wedding at the time was a week long celebration.  That week was a like a week long open house where the bride and bridegroom were treated like a King and Queen by the friends that came to wish them well.  It was a time of joy and celebration and feasting, not fasting and affliction of your soul.  Jesus notes that there is a time coming when the bridegroom will be taken, then would be the time for fasting.

Jesus isn't a patch to be applied to the Jewish religious system.  He didn't come to fill up the old wineskins of Pharisaical religion.  Jesus didn't come to upgrade the Law of Moses, He came to fulfill it; completely!! 

A unshrunk cloth patching an old garment would end up making matters worse.  New gases released from the fermentation of new wine would destroy the old wineskin that was dry and rigid.  Dry and rigid wineskins along with an old garment are certainly interesting pictures of the Pharisees. 

We shouldn't think that anything old is useless and new is good and tolerant.  Jesus ushered in a new era that didn't replace or upgrade the old law but fulfilled it.  It was a new work and new revelation of the same God that is unchanging across the ages.  The gospel is old, but never fading message of hope and salvation.  The Old Rugged Cross is just as valuable today as it's ever been.  But we can't live in the past.  We live in this time and this culture with the ageless truth offered by our eternal God.

¹⁸ While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live." ¹⁹ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.

This was a man whose life was steeped in Judaism.  This gives us some sense of the hopelessness he felt regarding his daughter.  He was a brokenhearted father, willing to come to the man known as a healer among the people.  So desperate that it likely cost him his job and reputation among Jewish leadership. 

This man came to Jesus and worshiped Him.  This is to fall prostrate acknowledging Jesus as God and himself as the servant.  This is the only place to run with this kind of pain and sorrow.  He knew Jesus had the power and authority raise up his daughter.  This is a declaration of his faith of the power of Jesus over death.  It's quite a statement.  We can only imagine this man's excitement when Jesus rose and followed him.  Hope was found in Jesus.

²⁰ And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." ²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.

On the way to Jairus's house Jesus has an encounter with this woman.  The flow of blood was somewhat common at that time and presented quite a problem for these women.  The Talmud had a eleven different cures for this.  They ranged from the bizarre to the ridiculous.  One of the cures was to carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen bag in summer and in a cotton bag in winter.  Another cure gave direction to carry about a barleycorn that had been harvested from the dung of a white she-ass.  We can only wonder if this woman did any or all of these goofy cures.

This flow of blood made her unclean and therefore unable to worship. It also meant anyone who touched her was unclean.  She knew that simply touching the garment would make her well.  This was faith in the power of Jesus.  Touching the garment was her respect for Jesus; she didn't want him to become unclean because of her. 

The word 'hem' is a reference to the tassels on his garment:

³⁷ Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. ³⁹ And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, ⁴⁰ and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God." (Numbers 15:37-41)

The hem of the garment was also known to have design detailing the authority, stature, and family lineage.  The tassels themselves pointed to the authority, stature and heritage of Jesus.

The twelve year affliction came to an end that very moment, not by her faith but by the object of her faith.  She didn't heal herself by faith but was healed because she believed Jesus could do it with a simple touch of His robe.  We might look at this faith and view it as weak and inadequate.  It might appear more like a childish superstition than mature faith.  But we should consider that real faith is as that of a child.

While this is happening, the disciples and Jairus are watching.  Every moment is one more moment of death for Jairus's daughter.  I wonder if there was a moment when Jairus felt that Jesus was wasting time?

²³ When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the report of this went out into all that land.

This noisy crowd was the professional mourners.  Even mourning had become a defined system and tradition.  Even the poorest family hired mourners; two flutes and a wailing woman were the minimum.  Jairus, a man of means, must have had many.  There was nothing sincere about this mourning, it was simply a show.  It makes you wonder why a heartbroken man would hold to this tradition while given up on all he knew to run to Jesus.  Jarirus may have simply said about hiring mourners, "That's the way its done; always has been, always will be," with no real understanding as to why. 

Jesus parts the crowd to make his way to the girl.  The insincere mourners stop mourning long enough to ridicule Jesus' assessment that the girl is asleep.  They were literally laughing at Jesus.  Imagine how quickly the laughing ceased when this girl rose up.  I wonder if Jesus laughed a little at the looks on their faces when Jesus took the hand of the girl and the girl sat up. 

²⁷ When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"

How did these men know to call this man Son of David, a title associated with the expected messiah?  How were they able to follow Him?  It's as if Jesus tested their sincerity and desire by continuing to walk, forcing them to press on in seeking Him.

²⁸ And when He had come into 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."

²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." ³¹ But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

Again, who could blame these men for telling anyone and everyone?  They could see!!!  That's big news, life changing news.  These men simply believed that Jesus was able to heal them.  That faith brought them healing from the power of the object of their faith.   

It's worth noting that eyesight isn't necessary for faith.  Seeing the physical Jesus wasn't what allowed them to believe.

³² As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³ And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"

This man couldn't even ask for help.  He couldn't say the name of Jesus.  This too is worth noting; words aren't necessary. 

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."

The opposition to Jesus had previously been subtle.  But that opposition is beginning to solidify.   Jesus had become quite a disruption to those that were comfortable with the status quo.  But the blind, possessed and afflicted were comfortable.  They were seeking hope and they found it in Jesus.

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. ³⁶ But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

Matthew zooms out from these specific healings to give us a more broad view that this was just a sampling of the many things Jesus did all over the countryside.  He was moved among the people, the effects of sin had ravaged the people; so much need, so weary and lost. 

It is here that we see Jesus looks to the disciples to begin to minister to the multitude on His behalf; so much to do, so few to do it.  The power of Jesus over disease, nature, Satan, sin, death, darkness and demons has all been established.  This was a powerful message welcomed in this cold, dark and dying world.

©2015 Doug Ford