Gary Eugene Howell uses the Berean Standard Bible. The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. The Text of the Berean Standard Bible was dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023.

Verse 1

Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town.

Commentary

Rather than walking all the way around the Sea of Galilee, which would take about a day, Jesus crossed it by boat. The verse says he came to his own town; however, this is not referring to Bethlehem where he was born, nor is it referring to Nazareth where he grew up. Instead, it’s referring to Capernaum which became his home-base during his ministry years. While in Capernaum he would stay at the home of Peter and his brother Andrew, or at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He may have stayed in other people’s home’s as well, but Jesus himself did not own or rent any dwelling.

Verse 2

Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Commentary

Notice that Jesus saw their faith. Whose faith? The faith of the men who were carrying the paralyzed man. This gives indication to the idea that we can carry the burdens of others and through our own faith, bring to Jesus a request for their healing or for their needs. This is called intercessory prayer. We are bringing to Jesus, the concerns of others.

Jesus then says to the paralyzed man “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. This is huge, because without the forgiveness of sins we are all damned.

Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him, everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39)

Verse 3

On seeing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!”

Commentary

Isn’t it curious that Jesus didn’t immediately heal the man? That is what He normally did. I believe His statement, “Take courage, your sins are forgiven,” was a deliberate attempt to provoke the scribes. In other words, He said it knowing this would upset them.

The Jewish people rightly understood that only God could forgive sins. What the scribes and Pharisees failed to grasp; and what Jesus was then implying; is that He is God and therefore possesses the authority to forgive sins.

However, I want to clarify something. We are instructed by Jesus to forgive those who sin against us; but there is a difference between sins that separate us from God, and that of our letting go of bitterness. We have the ability to “forgive” in the sense that we can choose to no longer hold a grudge. But our guilt before God can only be forgiven by God.

So when Jesus says to the man “Your sins are forgiven”, Jesus is demonstrating that he has the authority to forgive sins, and is indirectly revealing that he is God, in the flesh.

Critics will state that Jesus never claimed to be God. Well, he just did, and just like the Scribes and Pharisees, it goes right over the heads of modern-day critics.

Verses 4-8

But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you harbor evil in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 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, pick up your mat, and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Commentary

When Jesus responds, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?” He is demonstrating, through the healing of the paralyzed man, that he has the authority to forgive sins (i.e. Jesus is God). He is the Messiah.

However, the crowds think God gave authority to a man, and in some sense, they are correct because Jesus is both fully man and fully God, which is what we’re going to see at the transfiguration when we get to Matthew chapter 17.

Verse 9

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.

Commentary

Jesus finds Matthew. Let’s make note of the fact that tax collectors were generally viewed as dishonest people (sinners). In those days tax collectors would frequently charge more than was necessary and would keep the difference for themselves.

Therefore, what we are seeing is that Jesus is calling sinners to follow him. Now in reality, everyone is a sinner, but to call a tax collector to follow him, he is calling a person who is publicly viewed as a sinner. As a matter of fact, let’s look at what happens in the next two verses.

Verses 10-11

Later, as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Commentary

Jesus tends to gather to himself the humble and lowly. The Pharisees are sinners just like everyone else, but they tend to be prideful and arrogant about their position in society and about their self-perceived position with God. As a result, Jesus not only dismisses them, but often scolds and rebukes them.

Pride says, “I’m good enough, my actions make me right with God” or even “I don’t need God”. Humility says, “I can not get there on my own, I need help”. If you want to get to heaven, look to Jesus for help.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. If anyone who was bitten looked at the bronze snake, he would live. (Numbers 21:8-9)

Again, we must look to Jesus for our salvation.

Verses 12-13

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Commentary

Jesus came to heal the sick and save the lost, so logically where does Jesus need to perform his ministry? With those who are sick and lost. The pharisees believe that sinners are beneath them. However, the Pharisees are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Israel, yet, they’re very condescending and judgmental toward the people they’re supposed to be leading. Jesus, however, is right there with the sinners, pointing them to God.

Jesus then insults and challenges the Pharisees. He says to them, “go and learn what this means”. Think about this, Jesus is talking to the foremost experts in the law. They’ve spent their whole lives studying scripture and now Jesus is shooing them away saying “why don’t you go learn something.”

Jesus is quoting the book of Hosea. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”. What does this mean? In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus says it again,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:23-24)

The scribes and Pharisees made a habit of neglecting the more important things of the law like having mercy toward others. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” means that to make a sacrifice for sins committed is much less desirable to God than to have done what was right in the first place. To show mercy to people in need, to the poor, to sinners, to one’s enemies, etc…. By showing mercy to people, we have the opportunity to point them to God. And that’s what the Pharisees were not doing.

Verses 14-15

Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast so often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Commentary

It seems odd that John still has disciples. The bible says that John’s purpose was to declare Jesus’s arrival. Therefore, one would assume that all of John’s disciples would have become Jesus’s disciples, but it appears that is not the case.

John’s disciples tell Jesus that they often fast and Jesus relates fasting to mourning. Remember that at this time, John is in prison so John’s disciples have reason to mourn.

Meanwhile Jesus describes himself as a bridegroom, and indeed Matthew 25, Ephesians 5:25-27, Revelation 19, and Revelation 21 refer to the church as being Jesus’s bride. The wedding of which is an event still to come.

Jesus states that while he is with his disciples, they are not fasting, but a time will come when he is taken away from them. This of course is referring to the crucifixion and later his ascension into heaven.

Jesus equates fasting with mourning and he intended for us to fast after his departure.

Verses 16-17

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.

Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Commentary

For those who don’t know what a wineskin is, this is what they look like. You can still buy these today. They sell them on Amazon.

Jesus is specifically talking about the soon-to-come new covenant. When Jesus is taken away, the Holy Spirit will be given to believers. That in turn, will introduce the new covenant spoken about in great detail in the book of Hebrews.

By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. (Hebrews 8:13)

Therefore, in verse 16 the unshrunk cloth represents this new covenant of salvation by faith through Jesus Christ, while the old garment represents the Mosaic Law. Likewise, New wine represents faith in Jesus Christ, while the old wineskin represents the Law.

No one sews a patch of “faith in Jesus Christ” onto the law of Moses. And no one pours “Faith in Jesus Christ” into the law. In other words, salvation by faith in Christ is not something being added to the law.

Salvation by faith is incompatible with salvation by works (i.e. the Law). You can not combine the two.

Remember: The Law is meant to show us that we are sinners. Faith in Christ is meant to save us from our sins. The Law and faith serve two different functions. Therefore, when Jesus said in Matthew 5, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law,” His words were entirely accurate, because the Law still serves its intended purpose; to reveal sin. For example, “You shall not steal” identifies theft as sin. If you have ever stolen anything, the Law declares you a sinner.

But faith in Christ brings about the forgiveness of sins. The Law and faith are not compatible because they serve two different functions. This is why you cannot sew a patch of faith onto the Law. Salvation is not accomplished through the Law. The Law is meant only to inform us that we have sinned, and having recognized our sin, we then see our need for a Savior.

Verses 18-19 & 23-25

While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.” So Jesus got up and went with him, along with His disciples.

When Jesus entered the house of the synagogue leader, He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd. “Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him. After the crowd had been put outside, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.

Commentary

First of all, let’s acknowledge the faith of this synagogue leader. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.” That’s an amount of faith that is worthy of pointing out as a good example.

Jesus then goes to his home and raises her from the dead. Why? Let’s look at verse 26 to find out.

Verse 26

And the news about this spread throughout that region.

Commentary

It’s my opinion that the miracles Jesus performed were mainly for the purpose of establishing that he is the Messiah. Recall when John the Baptist began doubting himself. He sent people to ask Jesus “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.” (Matthew 11:3-6)

When John asks, “are you the messiah?” Jesus replies, “look at my miracles”.
Today, if a man’s daughter dies, should he pray for her to be raised from the dead? Yes, because nothing is impossible for God. If she is raised from the dead, give praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. But, if she is not raised, understand that Christ has already done the work of establishing that he is the Messiah. Should that man then curse God because of his daughter’s death? No! We praise God in both good times and bad. Don’t be to God a fair-weather friend.

Verses 20-22

Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take courage, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that very hour.

Commentary

In the midst of the synagogue leader’s plea for Jesus to raise his daughter from death to life, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak.

Consider the impossibility of bringing a dead person back to life, and yet Jesus was able to take a person’s departed soul and put it back into their body. How much easier is it, therefore, for Jesus to heal a living person who merely has some bleeding?

Always remember this: whatever ailment you may have, it is a simple thing for Jesus to heal you. You should pray often and repeatedly, while having the attitude that your illness is a simple task for God to heal.

God answers every prayer with either “Yes”, “No” or “Not yet”. Believe that you can be healed. Give praise to the Lord even if you are not.

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)

Verses 27-29

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” He asked. “Yes, Lord,” they answered. Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you.”

Commentary

Two blind men come to Jesus begging to be healed. Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They answered “Yes”. Jesus then says “According to your faith will it be done to you.”

Hypothetical scenario: A person today has a serious illness; they pray for healing. Healing does not come. Should they conclude that their faith wasn’t strong enough? No, because when you begin down that path, you are moving away from believing that God heals, and into the error of believing that you somehow magically heal yourself through the strength of your own faith.

“If only my faith were stronger, I would be healed.” That in essence would be having faith in your faith. Like having faith in yourself. That is false doctrine. You’re not healing yourself through the strength of your own faith. You’re looking to Jesus because of his strength. We are weak, but He is strong.

So then what is happening in the verses we just read? Jesus asks them if they believe that HE is able, and they said yes. Then according to their faith in Jesus, they were healed.

Jesus is the healer. These two men believed that Jesus could heal them. They didn’t believe that they could heal themselves. They came to Jesus because they whole heartedly believed that he could do it.

Take notice that in verse 28 Jesus directly asks “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” It is the strength of Jesus that is able to heal, not the inner-magnitude of your own belief. Granted, faith is a requirement, we can’t expect to receive anything if we doubt that God exists, but it’s not the strength of our inner will power that heals. If we believe in Jesus, we can ask for healing and it is he who can heal us.

But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8)

Verses 30-31

And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one finds out about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout the land.

Commentary

After Jesus heals the blind men, he tells them not to tell anyone. Why did Jesus say that? Why shouldn’t they tell everyone?

This is a difficult verse to interpret. In researching it, I reviewed what four different pastors had to say about this verse and each of them had a different interpretation. And I didn’t care for any of their interpretations.

So, I’m going to tell you what I think these verses might mean. But understand that my interpretation is just one of many.

First, I take notice of the fact that they came calling out to him as “Son of David”. My suspicion is that these two blind men rightly knew that He was the Messiah. The second thing that I notice here is that because these two men did not keep quiet, news about Jesus spread throughout the land.

Remember the last time Jesus told a man not to tell anyone? It was a man with leprosy which Jesus healed. Jesus then told him to go and show himself to the priest, but to not tell anyone else along the way. I had interpreted that as meaning that the leper went out and told many other lepers what had happened, and that contagious lepers began following Jesus everywhere. Therefore, people in cities and towns would likely not want those types of people coming into their living spaces. Thus, Jesus had to remain in solitary places.

In this scenario I believe this is about his timing and timeline. Because his time had not yet come. Jesus appears to consistently control the pace at which His identity was revealed. If His miracles were broadcast too widely, opposition from religious leaders would intensify prematurely and his ministry could be cut short before its intended completion.

Jesus is working a timetable. News that he is the Messiah, spreading throughout the land might disrupt his time line, perhaps forcing him to make adjustments to his coming and goings in order to get himself back on schedule.

Verses 32-33

As they were leaving, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus. And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

Commentary

I believe that all of these casting out of demons and the healings of various people, and the performing of miracles, serve to demonstrate and prove that Jesus is the Messiah. It may sound like I just contradicted what I said a moment ago about Jesus not wanting the news that he is the Messiah to spread too quickly throughout the land. Now, I’m suggesting that Jesus is seeking to prove that he is the Messiah.

Jesus doesn’t want all of Israel declaring Him the Messiah too soon. He doesn’t want that to happen until the day he enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey.

In the meantime, however, he does want those who put their faith in him to know that He is the Messiah. Remember what happened when John the Baptist was in prison and he began to doubt himself? He sent some friends to Jesus to ask “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?” In other words, John is saying, “Hey, I wasn’t expecting to end up in prison. So I just want to double check; “Are you the Messiah?”

And look at how Jesus responds. He doesn’t simply say “Yes I am”. Rather he says,

“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

To those that believe in him, Jesus wants to demonstrate that he is the Messiah. That is the reason he is performing all these miracles, so that his disciples and John the Baptist, and everyone that puts their faith in him will believe that he is the Messiah. And guess what, that also includes you and I today. Jesus performed all those miracles back then, knowing that today you and I would read the Bible and conclude that Jesus was the Messiah. So, Him proving that he is the Messiah is as much for our benefit today as it was for the benefit of his disciples and John the Baptist back then. But the same was not true for his adversaries. Remember Jesus said,
“The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ (Matthew 13:11-13)

Verses 34

But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons.”

Commentary

But no amount of evidence is going to persuade the Pharisees. They have made up their minds that Jesus is their enemy and they intend to stick to that, no matter what they witness or what evidence is presented. Even when people are raised from the dead, it will not change their minds.

This is still true today in many different scenarios. People can decide, before viewing the evidence, what they are and are not going to believe. For example, a scientist who, in his youth, decided in his heart that there is no God, will, throughout his career, dismiss all the obvious evidence that points to creation, no matter how strong that evidence may be. He will instead only consider and accept evidence that points to evolution over millions of years, no matter how flimsy that evidence may be.

Frank Turek will sometimes ask the atheists he speaks with, “If Christianity were true, would you accept it?” and the atheists sometimes respond, “No”. And so we see that still today, there are people who will reject Jesus Christ no matter what is presented to them. They are the pigs before whom pearls are cast.

Verses 35-37

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with 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 workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest.”

Commentary

Jesus knew that this was too much work for one man, let alone twelve men.

Imagine 2,000 years ago what the human population on earth was. Most estimates put it at around 300 million. That’s basically the population of the United States today, except imagine that population spread out across the entire earth.

Today, however, there are 8 billion people on earth. Way more than in Jesus’s time. 68% of the human population today lives in non-Christian countries. Therefore, how much more relevant and applicable is Jesus’s prayer request today for more workers than it was during his own time?
Pray for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with others in your own community. The whole reason why you live where you do is because God has called you to be a light to that location.

Don’t you think it’s strange how a person ends up living where they do? For example, I have never been to Kenton Oklahoma,

but it has a population of 31 people. It’s in the middle of nowhere. How does a person end up living there?

How does any person end up living where they do? Of all the places where you could live, how did you end up living in the town where you currently live? It’s because God wants you to be a light to that town. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray that God would make you a worker that brings light to your town. Pray for opportunities to share good news with other people. Get plugged into a good church that teaches the truth of God’s word and then, once you have vetted that it is, in fact, a good church, volunteer there so that the worship experience of the other people visiting the church is optimal. Remember that not everyone sitting in the pews at church is saved. Tithe to your church so that they have the resources to maintain the building and to invite more people to attend.

Also, pray for opportunities to financially support those who are actively engaged in spreading the gospel, such as missionaries. Almost every church supports at least one missionary. Go to your church and find out who the missionaries are that your church is supporting and then add to that support.