Matthew 9:1 ¶ And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
He has come back to Capernaum where he was staying and was before
He went to the Gergesenes. The faith of these friends of this palsied man is
remarkable and Christ forgives him of his sins and heals him. Notice the
similarity in Luke’s and Mark’s account with this scene. See Luke 5:17-26 and
Mark 2:1-12.
Luke 5:17 ¶ And it came to
pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and
doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee,
and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a
man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to
lay him before him. 19 And when they
could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude,
they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch
into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when
he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to
reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins,
but God alone? 22 But when Jesus
perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your
hearts? 23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy
sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath
power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say
unto
thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
25 And immediately he rose up before
them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house,
glorifying God. 26 And they were all
amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen
strange things to day.
Mark 2:1 ¶ And again he
entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the
house. 2 And straightway many were
gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so
much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of
the palsy, which was borne of four. 4
And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered
the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed
wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy
sins be forgiven thee. 6 But
there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in
their hearts, 7 Why doth this man thus
speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his
spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason
ye these things in your hearts? 9
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be
forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath
power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed,
and go thy way into thine house. 12 And
immediately
he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all;
insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it
on this fashion.
If you want to try to imagine this in your setting I think of
those who love you praying and praying for you, speaking to God directly on
your behalf. I had a mother-in-law who prayed diligently for me and for my
family and I believe part of what changed my heart was God’s response to those
prayers. Mrs. Mock lowered me through the roof tiles, in a manner of speaking.
Notice the people in glorifying God still were not expressing an
understanding of who Jesus was, God in the flesh, walking among them.
Matthew 9:9 ¶ And as Jesus
passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt
of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at
meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with
him and his disciples. 11 And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master
with publicans and sinners? 12 But when
Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick. 13
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew, a hated tax collector in the Jewish social order, is
chosen. In fact, many tax collectors and people of questionable repute sit down
with Jesus and His disciples. He welcomes all which disturbs the Pharisees
greatly. Their social order, like ours used to be, was very exclusionary.
Jesus’ argument here is inspiring. “Why do I associate with people
that you think merit your disgust? Because with regard to sin, like a physical
sickness, it is the sick that need the doctor. So, if you are healthy you
apparently don’t need me.” He teaches two lessons here. The first suggests that
the Pharisees are sicker than they realize. The second is that mercy is of a
higher value to God than ritual worship.
God delights in mercy.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God
like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of
the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he
delighteth in mercy.
And God gives more importance to mercy on our part than to
judgment.
James 2:13 For he shall
have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth
against judgment.
What Christ did in coming to earth, living as one of us, dying as
one of us, paying the penalty for our sins, and rising from the dead was mercy
to the uttermost if you take the context of eternity and keep that in your
mind.
Matthew 9:14 ¶ Then came to
him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but
thy disciples fast not? 15 And Jesus
said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the
bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be
taken from them, and then shall they fast. 16
No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which
is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
17 Neither do men put new wine into old
bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles
perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Before we look at the parable Jesus relates it is important to
understand that at the time the King James Bible was translated a bottle did
not have to be just glass, as it is today, but any container that carried a
liquid, such as a leather bag. This can be confirmed by going to Lexicons of
Early Modern English online and doing a search by which you will find Thomas
Cooper’s 1578 Thesaurus Linguae
Romanae et Britannicae and Thomas Thomas’ 1587 Dictionarium
Linguae Latinae et Anglicanae and several other sources that refer to a
bottle as simply a vessel of some sort with glass bottle being used for that specific
container material. (4)
In the following a bottle
can be rent or torn so common sense tells you these wily Canaanites were not
just carrying around shards of broken glass.
Joshua
9:4 They did work wilily, and went and
made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and
wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;
The question presented of why the Pharisees, with their long list
of traditions, fast a lot and Jesus’ disciples do not was an important note
about the dead religion the Pharisees followed. Christ was present and so His
followers were joyful. He is the bridegroom and they will celebrate now but He
will be taken from them.
One way of looking at this parable is that the joy of those who
receive Christ cannot be contained in the old and decayed vessels of dead
religion. Each of us comes to Christ with a lot of baggage; sins we have
committed, and sins committed against us, and this baggage often hampers our
walk with Christ even after we are saved by the sins that so easily beset us.
We are raised in a culture that, even if conservative and acknowledging of
Christ, often carries with it false doctrine and incorrect assumptions about
what God wants. Our walk with Christ, our very understanding and interpretation
of Scripture is colored by those things. We see the Bible through a lense
formed by our own personality, preferences, bigotry, prejudices, and opinions,
and, yes, experiences. In order to see Christ clearly we must put our faith in
new bottle, without cracks and tears and fissures, coming to the Bible without
the weight and the chains of our false beliefs, expectations, and assumptions.
For instance, many Christians will tell you that God would never
do anything that would hurt you, so if you are hurt or sick or harmed in any
way it must be the work of the Devil opposing God.
But, the book of Job teaches us that the Devil can do nothing to
us which God does not permit. And see;
Job 2:10 But he said unto
her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive
good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job
sin with his lips.
And Jeremiah will write;
Lamentations
3:38 Out of the mouth of the most High
proceedeth not evil and good?
We bring the false doctrine that we cannot receive anything
hurtful at the hand of God and our faith and understanding is colored by that
in opposition to the Bible. Old skins, rotten and torn, keep us from holding
the doctrine of new wine.
Matthew 9:18 ¶ While he
spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and
worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand
upon her, and she shall live. 19 And
Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with
an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of
his garment: 21 For she said within
herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw
her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And
the woman was made whole from that hour. 23
And when Jesus came into the ruler’s
house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
24 He said unto them, Give place: for
the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25 But when the people were put forth, he went
in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that
land.
The comparable passage in Luke makes it clear that the little girl
is dead and not just in a coma as her spirit is said to return to her. It is
important to note that it is not the power of prayer or the power of our faith
but the power of the one we pray to and have faith in that is vitally important
in these circumstances.
First, let’s remember Abraham’s faith. He was told to offer his
son as a sacrifice, the son of promise from God.
Genesis 22:1 ¶ And it came
to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him,
Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Hebrews tells us why Abraham was willing to obey such a command
which seemed to counter the promise made to him by God earlier in Genesis.
Hebrews 11:17 By faith
Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, 18
Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up,
even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
And Genesis itself tells us of Abraham’s confidence in God.
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham
said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they
went both of them together.
The ruler, as well, has the faith of Abraham in believing that
Christ could raise his daughter from the dead. The woman with the issue of blood
believes that just by touching Christ’s clothing she can be healed. This is the
essence of faith, trusting that God can do what you need, and even just being
in His presence is sufficient. What it would have been like to shake Christ’s
hand or have Him pat you on the back when He walked the earth in flesh.
This incident added to His fame.
Matthew 9:27 ¶ And when
Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou
Son of David, have mercy on us. 28 And
when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith
unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith be it unto you. 30
And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See
that no man know it. 31
But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that
country. 32 As they went out, behold,
they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. 33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb
spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth
out devils through the prince of the devils.
Again, Jesus’ fame as a healer spreads abroad. However, the
religious elite claim that He is working under the authority of Satan. Casting
out devils by the devil sounds like an absurdity. This is not the last time
they will make this outrageous claim and Jesus will deal with this in chapter
12 so we’ll save His response until then.
By the way, although we’ve read the word before dumb refers
to not being able to speak. This is defined in the Bible itself. Just do a word
search on dumb.
Matthew 9:35 ¶ And Jesus
went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and
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 on them, because they fainted,
and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest
truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Christ’s compassion on humanity is clear here but there are a
couple of things I want to bring out. One, the phrase scattered abroad
is here used to define the condition of the masses of Jews without a leader.
That phrase is used again in other contexts referring to the Jews
in Exodus, Esther, later on in Matthew, John, Acts, and in James. They are
sheep in need of a shepherd, whom Jesus is the rightful person in that role.
But, so many of them don’t know that and cannot receive it of themselves.
Here is another part of this passage that is used often by
preachers when they try to guilt you because you didn’t come out for Tuesday
night “soul-winning.” However the specific and immediate situation to which
Christ is referring is resolved in the next chapter, which we will see. So keep
verses 37 and 38 in your mind as you begin to read chapter 10.
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