Gospel of Matthew Chapter 9 -- John Karmelich
1.
In the Gospel of John,
there is a great little sentence in which I’m going to take out of context.
a)
It says, “Sir, we wish
to see Jesus.” (John 12:21b, NKJV)
b)
This little sentence is
often placed on plaques on preacher’s podiums.
i)
It is a reminder to
those preachers that the audience is there to learn about Jesus and not about
the preachers themselves.
c)
Chapter 9 is all about
people seeing Jesus work.
d)
Chapter 9, along with
Chapter 8 focus on “Jesus, the miracle worker”.
i)
Jesus is demonstrating
his power, and the crowds are flocking to him to see him work. That is why I kept thinking of the line
“Sir, we wish to see Jesus”.
e)
The application to you
and I is that Jesus gives us the same power and authority to teach and
yes, perform miracles as we see in Chapter 8 and 9.
i)
There is not a miracle
in this bunch that has not been replicated by the apostles, and missionaries
throughout history.
ii)
Our job, like Jesus
himself, is to point people to Jesus.
God does give people the authority to perform miracles like this in
order to turn people to Jesus.
a)
Let me repeat a thought
I gave in the last lesson:
b)
“I (Jesus) tell you the
truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He
(us!) will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father.
(1)
I believe Jesus gives us
tremendous power as believers if we are willing, by faith to step out
and trust him.
(2)
Jesus is not looking at
ability, as much as he is looking for availability of us to be used by
him.
2.
One of the most
interesting things to note about all of the miracles in Chapters 8 and 9 is the
lack of any sort of pattern or style.
a)
We see all sorts of
different miracles performed in lots of different ways.
b)
It is almost as if Jesus
is thinking, “I did it that way last time, I’ll do this way this time.
i)
Jesus never wants us to
focus on the methodology of the miracle.
It is the person performing the miracle that is the focus, not the
method itself.
c)
Miracles are mostly used
as validation of Jesus as God.
i)
Only God himself has the
power to perform such miracles.
ii)
Jesus uses this power on
people to demonstrate who he is.
d)
In many cases, he often
will use miracles to demonstrate some teaching point he is making at any one
given moment.
e)
It also shows the love
and compassion Jesus has for us now.
It is not just about eternal salvation, but also that He loves us, and
wants the best for us here in this lifetime.
3.
Chapter 9 ends with
Jesus requesting that prayers be made to God for more Christian workers.
a)
We’ll get to the
specifics of the verse near the end of the lesson.
b)
What I want you to think
about is all the miracles of Chapters 8 and 9 leading up to Jesus teaching the
apostles (paraphrasing) “There is so much work to be done. There are so many people out there who need
to know about me and my mission. Pray
to God the father to send out more people to help.”
i)
With that statement,
Jesus is saying in effect, “the miracles I’m performing now, are not enough to
convince the world of who I am. Pray to
God for more workers to help out.
ii)
With that, said, let’s
jump into Chapter 9.
4.
Verse 1: Jesus stepped into a boat,
crossed over and came to his own town.
a)
The
latter part of Chapter 8 had two stories:
i)
First, we had Jesus
calming the storm on a boat with the disciples.
ii)
They sailed to the east
side of the Sea of Galilee, which was “Gentile country”.
iii)
At
that location was the episode of the demon possessed man and the demons were
cast into a swine of pigs. (Yes, the
story of the deviled ham. J)
b)
Now
we have Jesus sailing back to Capernaum, which is on the west side of the Sea
of Galilee, which was Jesus base of operation.
5.
Verse
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."
a)
You
can read this same story in Luke 5:17-26 with more details.
b)
Matthew
gives a more abbreviated story with the emphasis on Jesus forgiving their sins.
i)
Remember
the purpose of Matthew’s gospel is to present Jesus as the promised Messiah to
Israel. It was not Matthew’s purpose to
give a detailed account of every aspect of everything that Jesus did.
ii)
In Luke’s account, we
learn that the friends of the paralytic did some impressive planning
engineering.
a)
Jesus was speaking in a
very crowded house. No one else could
get in.
b)
These friends, figured
out the exact spot where Jesus was teaching from, cut a whole in the roof at
that spot, and lowered the man down via ropes all in his paralytic state.
c)
Notice Jesus
complimented the faith of the men who lowered the paralytic on the rope.
i)
Matthew says, “When
Jesus saw their faith”. Notice
the plural aspect.
ii)
These men, who
understood Jesus had the power, and had enough love and care for the man who
was a paralytic, that they went to all of this trouble.
d)
The next thing to notice
is that Jesus says to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”.
i)
Personally, I don’t
think that is what the paralytic wanted to hear.
ii)
I think he wanted to
hear, “You are healed.” Or, “Get up and
walk”.
iii)
The earliest Christian
commentators and historians believed this man had some sort of venereal disease
that causes this man to be a paralytic.
a)
This is a strong
possibility as Jesus said to him, “Your sins are forgiven”.
b)
If the guy was born a
paralytic, or became one out of an accident, then Jesus statement of “Your sins
are forgiven” may not be an issue.
c)
This guy was looking to
be healed of his physical condition, not his sins.
d)
Personally, if
this theory is true, the man may have felt guilt ridden and somehow felt he “deserved”
to be in his paralytic state.
iv)
If this is not true and
the man became a paralytic “by accident”, then he was as puzzled as everyone
else in the room why Jesus would make that statement.
a)
It would be to say, “Why
should I be forgiven by you, we as Jews already have this religious
methodology (in Leviticus) for the forgiveness of sins”.
b)
Jesus’ healing of this
man in a few verses was all about demonstrating Jesus’ power to forgive
sins.
6.
Verse 3: At this, some of the teachers of the law said to
themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
a)
Luke’s
account of this story says, “Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come
from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting
there.” (5:17, NIV)
i)
Chuck Missler likes to
point out that the ““Pharisees and teachers of the law” have a very important
Christian ministry:
a)
Every time Jesus says
something really important, they either try to kill him or accuse Jesus of
blasphemy.
b)
Therefore, when you read
of these guys cursing Jesus or trying to kill him, look back and see what Jesus
just said. It was important.” J
ii)
In Luke’s account, these
same guys also said, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Luke 5:21b, NIV).
a)
They are right. Only God can forgive sins. They didn’t comprehend who Jesus was or what
was his mission.
7.
Verse 4: Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you
entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?
a)
The key word in this
verse is the word “evil”.
b)
Jesus didn’t say, “you
are wrong about me” or “you are incorrect”.
c)
He called their thoughts
“evil” to not think that Jesus was God.
i)
That is an example of
“blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”. (Mark
3:29, Luke 12:10)
ii)
The only unforgivable
sin in the bible is to continually deny Jesus as God.
8.
Verse 5: Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, `Get up and walk'? 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." 7 And the man got up and went
home.
a)
Jesus asks the question
to the audience (paraphrasing) “Is it easier to say “your sins are forgiven?”
when there is no way I can prove it to be so, or is it easier to say “get up
and walk” if you see the guy actually get up and walk”.
b)
The important thing to
understand about this whole story is that Jesus healed this man to demonstrate
that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.
i)
Remember that the paralytic is going to die
again one day.
ii)
The
forgiveness of sins, assuming he became a follower of Jesus lasts for eternity.
c)
Many
preachers use this story as an illustration of our sins.
i)
Sin,
if not dealt with, eventually grows and leads to death.
a)
“But
each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and
enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and
sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James (1:14-15, NIV)
ii)
Sin,
which is the willful disobedience of what God commands us to do, grows like a
cancer. If not dealt with, it
eventually consumes a person and kills them.
a)
Examples
include those who die from alcoholism or drug addiction.
b)
Other
examples include those who are so stressed out and worry about things; they die
at a young age of a heart attack.
iii)
Here
was this paralytic. He probably got
this way via some sin in his life. This
is why Jesus’ first words to him are “Your sins are forgiven”.
a)
Jesus,
first of all forgave his sins, so he could have eternal life.
b)
Jesus
then healed him of his disease so that he could live the rest of his
natural life as a living witness for Jesus.
iv)
We
are the same way. God has forgiven our
sins and given us new life.
a)
We
now have the free choice to go back and live the way we were living, or now
live in gratitude to God for forgiving our sins.
v)
Let’s
also give the paralytic a little credit.
He could have said, “I don’t believe you have the power to heal me. I’m just going to lie here”. He got up.
a)
That
is an example of how we are to react to Jesus.
b)
When
God forgives us, out of gratitude we are to get up and respond.
9.
Verse
8: When the crowd saw this, they were
filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
a)
Matthew’s
point of Verse 8 is that the crowd still didn’t’ get who Jesus was.
i)
They
thought at this point, is Jesus was just “some guy” who God had given special
powers to perform miracles.
ii)
They
were so awe-struck by the paralytic getting up and walking they forgot about
the part where Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven”.
b)
This
leads back to my argument that “miracles are not enough to change people”.
i)
In order to become a
Christian, one has to realize that their own lifestyle is wrong and want to depend
upon Jesus moment by moment to live their life.
ii)
Some people, even after
seeing a miracle, give a quick “praise God” and go on their merry way, not
changing their lifestyle.
iii)
Grant it, many do see or
receive a miracle and change their life.
iv)
My point is that a
miracle is no guarantee that someone will become born-again.
a)
“‘No, father Abraham,’
he (condemned man) said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they (his
brothers) will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and
the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:30-31, NIV)
10.
Verse 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.
a)
Here
we have the story of Matthew’s own conversion.
b)
This
same story is told in Mark’s Gospel (2:14-17) and Luke’s Gospel (5:27-31).
i)
In
both Mark and Luke’s Gospel Matthew is known as Levi.
ii)
It
was not uncommon for a Jew to have more than one name, just as many people
today have more than one name or a common nickname.
iii)
“Levi”
may have been his birth name, or he may have been of the tribe of Levi.
iv)
To
summarize, don’t worry about the fact that he has two names. J
c)
My
personal view is that Jesus renames “Levi” to Matthew. I can’t prove it from the text.
i)
Tax collectors were the
most hated people in Israel.
ii)
They were seen as Jews
who were traitors to their own people.
iii)
The tax collectors
commonly cheated the people and grew in wealth, and it was encouraged and
enforced by the Roman army.
iv)
In the “pecking order”
of status for a religious Jew was as follows:
1st was a religious Jew, 2nd was a non-religious
Jew, below that was a non-Jew (Gentile) and much lower than that was a tax
collector, because he was a traitor.
v)
Matthew
means, “Gift from God”. I believe Jesus renamed him “gift from God”.
a)
The lesson is Jesus
doesn’t look at somebody as the “scum of the earth”.
b)
He sees people for the
potential, not as who they currently are.
c)
When we see someone who
we consider corrupt or beyond help, we need to see them as somebody who
needs Jesus.
d)
Most adults can tell
stories of people who society has “written off”, who has become born-again, and
has done great things in Jesus’ name.
d)
When you read Luke and
Mark’s account, you read that Matthew gave up his livelihood, and all his
income to follow Jesus. That is
something most are not willing to do.
i)
Matthew himself doesn’t
record that fact.
ii)
He may have done this
out of humility. He let others “brag”
about his repentance.
a)
“Let another praise you,
and not your own mouth;
someone else, and not your own lips.
(Proverbs 27:2, NIV)
e)
I further speculate that
there is much more to this story than Matthew just sitting in his tax collector
booth, Jesus saying “follow me” and he does so on the spot.
i)
For Matthew to give up
his livelihood must have been some real soul searching.
ii)
My personal view is that
Matthew attended the Sermon on the Mount, and wrote it down. He was following and listening to Jesus in
the background.
iii)
Further, he was feeling
guilty about his own lifestyle. All the
riches of his job didn’t satisfy his soul.
Therefore, when Jesus said “follow me”, I suspect from Matthew’s perspective,
it was like being released from a mental prison.
a)
He was already outcast
from Jewish society by being a tax collector.
He now realized there is more to life than making a good income. He left all and in exchange, received eternal
life.
11.
Verse 10: While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,
many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his
disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw
this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and `sinners'?" 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
a)
One
of the first things that Matthew does is invite his tax collecting buddies over
to his house to meet Jesus.
i)
That
is a great testimony on living the Christian life.
ii)
It is the opposite of
“I’m saved now, I can do whatever I want”.
iii)
Out of gratitude, he
beings to life live in service to Jesus.
He leads other people to Jesus to receive the Gospel message.
iv)
Matthew does not mention
if anyone else gets converted.
a)
In a sense, that is not
our job to worry about that. Our job is
to point the way to Jesus. The Holy
Spirit’s job is the actual conversion, not ours.
b)
The religious leaders of
that community are “outraged” that Jesus would eat with these people. They didn’t mind Jesus preaching to them,
but to actually eat with them is to become “one” with them. Eating is to dip your bread in the same
sauces.
i)
The same way the
Christian ritual of communion is the sharing of bread is the idea of us
becoming “one with each other”.
ii)
This scenario has
repeated itself thousands if not millions of times through Christian history.
a)
Think of all the
“religious” Christians who shun and turn away from sinners thinking they are
better people.
b)
There are many churches
that wont allow someone to join or even come into service if they didn’t dress
a certain way, or if they didn’t abide by some set of rules.
(1)
We make the mistake that
people have to “clean up their act” before coming to church. That is never taught anywhere in the
bible.
c)
When you read through
all four Gospel accounts, the only people Jesus ever argued with are the
religious leaders.
(1)
People get so hung up on
rules and regulations, we forget that it is God’s job to change people’s lives,
not ours. Our job is simply to preach
the gospel message and point people to Jesus.
God takes over from there.
c)
All of this can be
summed up by Jesus saying, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
i)
This is a quote from
Hosea 6:6
ii)
Jesus is speaking to the
religious leaders, who knew their Old Testament well.
iii)
“Sacrifice” refers to
our self-disciplined acts as believers.
This is where we do things like daily prayer, daily time in God’s word,
fasting etc. None of these things are
wrong. But all of them have to be kept in perspective that we are not better
than others because we do them.
iv)
Jesus wants us to have
compassion on those who don’t know Jesus.
We are to see people not as being inferior to us, but of those who also
need Jesus.
a)
“There But For The Grace
Of God Go I” – “On seeing several criminals being led to the scaffold in the
16th century, English Protestant martyr John Bradford remarked, ‘There but for
the grace of God, goes John Bradford.’ ("Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase
Origins" by Robert Hendrickson, Facts on File, New York, 1997.)
12.
Verse 14: Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How
is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
a)
In
order to understand this verse, one needs to see it in context of the previous
verse.
b)
Jesus
just condemned the Jewish religious leaders for being “holier than thou” and
not seeing Jesus compassion for those who are spiritually “lost”.
c)
Now
come some followers of John the Baptist.
i)
They
understood that Jesus was the Messiah.
ii)
John
the Baptist stated it as so. (See John 1:29, 1:36)
d)
So
here are these guys, hung up on their fasting rituals, asking Jesus, “Why don’t
you guys do what we do? “ With that,
let’s move on to Jesus’ answer:
13.
Verse
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.
a)
First
of all, Jesus does not condemn the practice of fasting.
b)
Notice
Verse 15 says, “Then they will fast.”
i)
Jesus says when the
“bridegroom” is taken away, then they will fast”.
ii)
We, collectively as
believers are referred to as the “bride of Christ”
(Revelation 21:2, 21:9 and 22:17).
Jesus is our bridegroom.
iii)
Therefore, when the
“groom is taken away” refers to the 2,000 year plus Christian era when Jesus was no longer “bodily”
form.
c)
Fasting
is a form of discipline where you deny yourself food or some delicacy so you
can better focus on prayer and/or God’s word.
i)
It
is about not letting your stomach rule your life.
ii)
Fasting
is not a Christian requirement, only a recommendation.
iii)
The
topic is covered in more detail back in Matthew Chapter 6.
14.
Verse
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. 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."
a)
There
are two illustrations here. The first
indicates that if you sew a new piece of cloth on an old garment, the garment
will be ruined by mixing the old and the new cloth. When the new material shrinks, it tears the garment. The same application applies to wine in old
wineskins. The fermenting of the new
wine will cause the wineskin to burst.
b)
Again,
in order to understand what Jesus meant, we have to read these verses in
context.
c)
Jesus
is still speaking to the disciples of John the Baptist.
d)
They
were wondering why Jesus’ disciples were not fasting while they fasted and the
Pharisee’s fasted.
e)
Jesus
gives these two illustrations of, “You don’t put unshrunk cloth on an old
garment” and “You don’t put new wine into old wineskins”.
i)
In
both cases, the illustration leads to the same point. If you put “something new” on/in “something old”, you will cause
tears and it ruins the original.
f)
When
you read Luke’s account of the same story, Jesus adds another sentence:
i)
“And
no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is
better.’” (Luke 5:39, NIV).
ii)
Jesus
is saying in Luke is that people prefer the “old way” to the “new way”.
iii)
What
all of this means is that you can’t fix the old system, you have to
start fresh.
a)
Christianity
cannot survive by being a branch of Judaism.
b)
People
get set in their ways. This is the idea
behind Luke 5:39.
c)
People
would be looking for the “Jewish way” of doing things by fasting, rules and
rituals.
iv)
I
have be very careful with this statement.
The God of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament. There were some rules given in the Old
Testament that were specifically for the Jewish people. The key to read the Old Testament is to
understand it is interpreted by the New Testament.
a)
This
is about habits and rituals. Jesus was
starting a new religion. While the Old
Testament pointed the way to Jesus, the New Testament teaches how we are to live
as followers as Jesus. In a “sense” the
Old Testament is abandoned by the New Testament.
v)
This
is a tough concept to grasp, so let me give you another illustration.
a)
In
the history of Christianity, there has never been a major new
growth within any Christian denomination.
b)
Whenever
a revival happens, and many new people become believers, it is always outside
of an existing denomination.
(a)
That
new group eventually becomes a new denomination.
c)
This
is not to say the new group is “Christian correct” and the old group is
“Christian wrong”. There are many
wonderful followers of Jesus in all denominations and independent churches. All of us simply disagree on minor issues.
d)
This
is about “style” in worship and worship habits. The gospel message itself does not change with the times. The gospel message and the whole Word of God
should be preached systematically and consistently.
(1)
What
changes “with the times” is the style of dress, the style of music, the way we
worship God. God cares about our
hearts, not our fashion statements or musical taste.
vi)
One
of my favorite applications on this passage comes from a prayer given by Chuck
Smith of Calvary Chapel. When he prays
with his pastoral staff, one of his regular prayers is to “help us not put new
wine into old wineskins”. What he means
by that is to not trust in yesterday’s success and yesterday’s method
for what will work today and tomorrow.
15.
Verse
1 8: 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." 19 Jesus got up and went with
him, and so did his disciples.
a)
There
is an old rabbinical saying that goes, “Coincidence” is not a kosher word.”
i)
A
similar expression is “Coincidence” is just God working in the background”.
ii)
The
reason I mention this is so you notice the first part of Verse 18 says, “While
he was saying this”. Also notice Verse
20 opens with “Just then”.
iii)
There
is a story of a new miracle beginning in Verse 18.
iv)
There
is a story of another miracle beginning in Verse 20.
v)
The
first thing to notice is that all three stories are meant to be tied
together.
a)
The
first is about Jesus teaching a new way of thinking (“new wine…”)
b)
The
second will be Jesus raising from the dead the daughter of a synagogue
leader. This is the story beginning in
Verse 18.
c)
The
third is Jesus healing a young woman who had a constant menstrual flow of blood
for 12 years! This is the story
beginning in Verse 20.
d)
The
two miracles intertwine and that is not a coincidence, from God’s eye.
vi)
Jesus
just finished discussing the fact that “you can’t put new wine into old
wineskins”. That whole illustration has
to do with the way people misunderstood Jesus’ ministry and purpose. Jesus was “starting something new” in that
his purpose was not understood by the religious Jews of that day.
a)
These
two miracles are examples of “working something new” as we’ll see.
b)
Let’s
get to the story itself. In this verse
a Jewish “ruler” states that his daughter died. He begs Jesus to come touch her and she will live.
i)
Mark
and Luke also tell this story (Mark 5:35-42, Luke 8:41-42)
a)
In
both Mark & Luke’s account, we learn that the man’s name is Jairus and that
he is a ruler of a synagogue.
b)
We
also learn that this was his “only daughter”.
It may be his only child.
c)
We
also learn that this girl was about 12 years old.
d)
A
synagogue leader was usually an administrative position as opposed to a
rabbi-teacher.
ii)
It
may have been dangerous for him to bow down to Jesus. He knew that the leading religious leaders
were anti-Jesus at this point. It was
“technically” a violation of the 1st Commandment that you worship no
one but God alone.
a)
When
one is in pain, one does desperate things.
b)
There
is nothing more painful in life to lose one’s child, especially if it is your
only child.
c)
Jesus
didn’t argue with this guy, or give him any teachings. He simply agreed to go with him to heal his
daughter.
iii)
Notice
Jesus didn’t say. “It’s not
necessary for me to go to your house.
Tell you what, I’ll just snap my fingers and she will be fine”.
a)
He
could have done that. Jesus is
God. Jesus purposely agreed to
go to his house to perform the miracle 1) to grant the man’s request and 2) to
give a visual demonstration of Jesus’ power to others.
c)
Why
would this “ruler” think Jesus has this power?
i)
I
suspect because there was an Old Testament prophet named Elisha (not to be
confused with Elijah, a separate person) who once performed a miracle by laying
upon a dead boy and bringing him back to life.
(2nd Kings 4:32-37).
ii)
This
ruler assumed Jesus had the same power as Elisha.
iii)
I
doubt he comprehended Jesus as Messiah.
He just thought Jesus was a prophet given this great power to heal
people.
iv)
A
point to notice is that Jesus didn’t spend time arguing with this man’s
theology.
a)
The
man is in pain. When your only child is
dead, who cares about religious theology at that moment?
b)
Jesus
often performs miracles so then one can hear the gospel message.
c)
That
same principal applies today. I don’t
even know if the religious leader ended up becoming a Christian. The text doesn’t say. The text simply says (coming up) that Jesus
heals this girl as an opportunity to demonstrate His power.
d)
It
is also interesting to compare this ruler’s “faith” with the Roman soldier’s
faith.
i)
The
Roman soldier said (paraphrasing).
Jesus, I understand chain-of-command.
Just say so, and I know my servant will be healed”.
ii)
Compare
that with this synagogue ruler who begged Jesus to “come touch her” so
that she can live again.
iii)
In
comparison the “Gentile Roman” who probably didn’t believe in the God of the
Bible had more faith in Jesus’ power than a Synagogue ruler who probably knew
his Old Testament very well.
16.
Verse
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. 21 She said to herself,
"If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." 22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart,
daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman
was healed from that moment.
a)
The
first thing to notice is the phrase “Just then”.
i)
As
Jesus was on the way to the home of the synagogue ruler, this woman touched
Jesus and was healed.
ii)
Reading
this story in Mark’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel, we learn that there were
multitudes of people touching and trying to touch Jesus. Jesus “stopped dead in his tracks” to tell
his disciples that He “sensed” power going out of Him in order to heal this
woman.
a)
Jesus
wanted to make sure his disciples understood that this particular woman was
healed. It was as if He wanted it
recorded in the Gospels.
b)
Let’s
talk about why this women thought, “If I only touch his cloak”.
i)
Notice
in Verse 20, that she touched the edge of his cloak.
ii)
I
can help explain this with an illustration.
When we see an American general, we know his rank by the number of stars
on his shoulder. An American military
uniform puts their ranks as emblems on one’s shoulder (or close to it).
iii)
For
Jewish rabbis and Jewish families in general, they would often decorate the
bottom edge of their cloak with family emblems. It may be a reference to which tribe they descended from.
a)
The
point is that one looks at the edge of a Jewish’ persons cloth as their
“signature” of who they were, the same way we look at a general’s stars.
b)
There
is an Old Testament story of King Saul trying to kill David. David found King Saul “reliving himself” in
a cave. David cut off the edge of
Saul’s garment at that time as a sign to him.
(1st Samuel 24:4).
(1)
This
is the same symbolic picture of focuses on the garment’s hem.
iv)
Now
let’s get back to the girl with the flow of blood. She thought, “If I can just touch Jesus garment hem, I know I can
be healed.”
a)
The
question to ponder is was it necessary?
Could she have touched Jesus elsewhere?
Could she just ask Jesus?
v)
My
point is Jesus didn’t correct her methology of healing.
a)
Jesus
said, “Your faith has made you well”.
b)
I
find that Jesus does the same with us, especially with less-mature
believers. Jesus doesn’t question if
your methods are correct when you are hurting, Jesus just deals with the hurt.
c)
We
as Christians get overly obsessed with our methodology in prayer and forget
that Jesus understands our needs and wants to help our needs!
17.
Verse
23: When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the
flute players and the noisy crowd, 24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but
asleep." But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in
and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through
all that region.
a)
Now
that the episode of healing the woman with the flow of blood is over, Matthew
now takes us to the location where Jesus enters the house of the dead girl.
b)
Notice
that before Jesus heals this girl, he kicks out the “scoffers”.
i)
I
have to wonder who these people are. I
assume some are friends and relatives.
It was also common in Jewish custom to hire “professional mourners” at a
funeral.
ii)
Personally,
I like the synagogue leader, the father of the girl at this point.
iii)
This
guy really had faith in Jesus. His
daughter was dead. He refused to give
up. He even helped (assumed) kick out
the mourners so Jesus could work.
c)
I
also think there is a principal here for us in church.
i)
Anytime
you want to accomplish a great action, Christian or otherwise, there will always
be scoffers. There will always be the
pessimists who say, “You can’t do that” or “It’s impossible”.
ii)
When
you encounter those types, remember Jesus famous words:
a)
“Jesus
looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things
are possible.” (Matthew 19:26, NIV)
iii)
There
are times we have to “kick out the scoffers” in order to work.
a)
If
there is a loud scoffer at a church service, I don’t have a problem with an
usher taking the guy out. There are
times to witness to people and there are times when Christians need to separate
themselves from the world.
b)
The
purpose of “church” is for Christians to “recharge their spiritual batteries”
so we can be a witness to the world.
Yes we can bring non-believers to church, and should. I’m simply talking about disruptive scoffers
in service.
c)
OK,
I’m drifting off topic here. J Back to the text.
d)
Again,
we get more details of this story in Mark and Luke’s account.
i)
They
mention that Jesus was alone in the room with the mother and father.
ii)
Jesus
specifically said “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to
you, get up! (Mark 5:38b, NIV)
iii)
Jesus
specifically commanded the parents not to tell anyone and to give the girl
something to eat.
iv)
Verse
26 here in Matthew says that the news spread around the region, which means the
parents disobeyed that order.
a)
As
I stated earlier, Jesus discouraged telling others about miracles.
(1)
I
believe he primarily did this so he could teach without being thronged for the
purposes of healing.
e)
I
heard a sermon giving an interesting perspective from the point of view of the
“dad”.
i)
Here
was this synagogue ruler begging Jesus to come to his house, and he did.
ii)
Jesus
stopped along the way to point out how the other girl, with the
menstrual blood flow was healed.
iii)
Imagine
if you were that father during the time of the other miracle:
a)
“Yes
yes, that’s wonderful, you healed the other girl with the blood flow. Whoopee!
At least she was and still alive.
My girl happens to be dead.
Can you speed it up a little Jesus?!”
(1)
Yes
I am speculating here. There is no
indication that the father was bothered by the other miracle.
(2)
You
have to suspect, that this desperate father, wanted Jesus to run full
speed to his home, and not heal someone else in the meantime.
iv)
The
application for us is to realize that when God tells us to wait, he
often has a reason for us to wait.
God’s timing is always perfect.
We may want God to rush and hurry up, but God often has a reason for his
delay (from our perspective).
v)
Further,
we need to be grateful for others receiving miracles.
a)
It
is easy to get jealous and think, “Why did God choose to heal that person when
I’m here suffering from the same thing”.
It is not fair!”
b)
God
is in charge and we’re not. One has to
accept that. If God chooses to perform
a miracle on someone else and not you or me, that is His prerogative. He makes the rules, we don’t.
c)
Our
job is to give God the glory despite our trials. We get to spend eternity in heaven. Everything else is just a “bonus”.
d)
It
may not make your pain go away. God
does love us and does care about our pain.
If God is allowing that pain to continue, it may be for a reason or for
a proper time for that healing to occur.
Again, God’s in charge, and we’re not.
18.
Verse
27: As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed
him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 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. 29 Then he touched their eyes
and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was
restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about
this." 31 But they went out and
spread the news about him all over that region.
a)
Here
we have the story of two blind men receiving their site.
b)
I’ve
always wondered about this story from the perspective of the “blind men”:
i)
The
two blind men “followed” Jesus (Verse 27).
ii)
They
came into the house where Jesus was (Verse 28).
iii)
If
they were “blind” how did they do this?
How did they know where Jesus was?
iv)
Obviously
they followed the sound of the crowd and inquired where Jesus was.
v)
The
point here is to notice the persistence of the two blind men.
vi)
God
encourages us to persistently bring our prayer requests to God.
a)
Often,
for whatever reason, God tests our faith and often wants to us to pray
consistently over a matter before God chooses to act on our faith.
b)
It
is not about “pray exactly 36 times, and on the 36th occasion
(or whatever number) I’ll answer that prayer.”
c)
We
have to wait for God’s timing. God may
specifically wait to answer a prayer until a specific time. It may be so that the answer to our prayer
can be as a witness to others around us.
It may be so that we have given up all other possibilities therefore God
and God alone gets credit. We don’t
know the reason, but God does. God just
calls us to be persistent. (For more on
this, see Luke 11:5-13)
c)
It
is important to see this miracle in context of the surrounding miracles.
i)
Jesus
just raised a girl from the dead.
ii)
Now
we read of Jesus healing blind men.
iii)
Next
we read of Jesus healing a deaf and mute.
iv)
Remember
that Matthew is trying to teach people who Jesus was.
a)
We
have in Chapters 8 and 9 a good number of miracles.
b)
In
my introduction to Chapter 8 I mentioned that one needs to consider who
is being “cured” in each miracle and why that it is included.
d)
Onto
the miracle itself. I talk the view
that even though these two men were physically “blind” they saw a lot more than
the crowd around them.
i)
These
two men called Jesus “Son of David”.
That is a title of the Messiah.
ii)
Despite
their blindness, they knew enough about Judaism and enough about Jesus that
they believed Jesus was the promised Messiah.
iii)
I
believe these two men are saved by that declaration.
a)
They
acted on their faith by following Jesus.
b)
The
curing of their blindness “was just a bonus”.
J
19.
Verse
32: While they were going out, a man who was
demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 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."
a)
The
Jewish religion had a method of dealing with demons. Jewish Rabbi’s performed a ritual to exorcise demons. This is not in the bible itself, but comes
from Jewish tradition.
i)
The
method is to find out the name of the demon, and then pray to God to
cast out that demon.
ii)
Here
was the problem. This man, here in
Matthew was mute.
iii)
How
could a rabbi cast out the demon, when we can’t find out his name?
iv)
That
is why Verse 33 says: “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
b)
This
is simply another demonstration of Jesus power.
i)
It
is greater than the power of the Jewish rabbi’s of that day.
ii)
No
miracle like this is recorded anywhere in the Old Testament.
iii)
It
also should open our mind to realize that nothing is beyond Jesus’ help.
c)
I
also wonder how they knew this man was demon-possessed if he couldn’t talk.
i)
There
must have been something about his actions that gave that away.
ii)
I’ll
have to ask somebody that question one day in heaven. J
20.
Verse
34: But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of
demons that he drives out demons."
a)
It
is interesting that Matthew mentions this sentence, but no others.
i)
In
Mark and Luke’s gospel, Jesus goes on to rebuke that statement.
ii)
Matthew’s
point is simply that the Pharisees refused to believe in Jesus even after the
miracles.
iii)
It
is simply another proof that miracles are not enough to change people.
b)
A
purpose of casting out demons is to show that Jesus power is greater than the
demons.
c)
It
is easy to refute the Pharisees’ argument.
i)
If
Jesus is using demonic power to cast out demons, that would weaken demon
power. If you “worship” Satan, you
would want to encourage demons to possess people and not cast them out. That is why Jesus responded to this argument
in the other gospels by saying, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. (Mark 3:23b-24, NIV)
21.
Verse
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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
a)
Did
all of these people who Jesus perform miracles upon him “believe” in Him?
b)
I
suspect that there are many in this crowd who also yelled out “crucify”.
c)
Jews
wanted a Messiah to overthrow Rome.
They accepted the miracles as a sign.
The fact that he didn’t lead a revolt to overthrow Rome caused Jesus
rejection despite the miracles being performed. It is another example of “miracles are not enough”.
d)
It
also shows Jesus compassion for everyone not just those who are going to
be saved.
e)
God
the Father desires that everyone turn and accept Jesus. He has compassion on all people, not
just the ones who were saved.
i)
“This
is good, and pleases God our Savior, who
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1st Timothy 2:3b-4, NIV)
22.
Verse
37: Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field."
a)
Verse
37 indicates that the last set of miracles had a purpose.
b)
That
purpose is stated in Verse 38. Jesus
wants the disciples to pray to the “Lord of the Harvest” to send out
more workers.
c)
So
why did Jesus make this statement?
i)
Possibly
to get the disciples to consider the fact that converting people is a bigger
job than his audience can handle.
ii)
There
was probably a large crowd approaching Jesus at this point. Jesus, talking to his disciples is saying,
“Look at all of these people. They all
need help. I love every single one of
them and want to minister to them.
Christianity is not a solo job.
Ask God the Father (called here “Lord of the Harvest”) for help to send
out more people.
d)
Don’t
get too obsessed with the title “Lord of The Harvest”. When one reads through the entire bible,
there are lots of titles for God the Father and God the Son. The title simply refers to God’s purpose as
described in that section of the text.
e)
Missionaries
use this verse. Many read this, and see
God calling them into the mission fields.
f)
This
section is a nice-ending to our two-chapter section on miracles.
i)
We
read of Jesus over the last two chapters starting his public ministry.
ii)
It
is full of miraculous stories, showing Jesus power.
iii)
Mixed
in with those miracles are wonderful lessons about Jesus himself, what he
teaches his disciples, and some applications for our lives.
iv)
Finally,
it ends with a calling for “more help” to with the missionary work of preaching
the Gospel message.
a)
Out
of gratitude for what Jesus has done for us, he expects us to “get busy” and
help out, in some way in the church.
(1)
For
some, it is being a missionary to lead new people to Christ.
(2)
For
others, it is working with other Christians to help them in their needs or to
help lead them into maturity as believers.
v)
With
that said, I’ve written way too much this week, and I’ll end in prayer. J
23.
Let’s
pray: Heavenly Father, Lord of the
Harvest, we ask that you send more workers into the harvest field. You have done so much for our lives. Each of us is a walking miracle, who you
have saved for eternity. Help us and
guide us to now live for You in gratitude of what you have done for
us. Help us to understand our
individual and collective role within the church and have the boldness to go
forth for what have called us to do.
For we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.