Contents:
• Carrying the burdens of others
• Jesus demonstrates that He is God
• Jesus calls sinners to follow him
• What is and is not fasting
• New covenant vs Old covenant (faith vs works)
• Fair weather Christians
• It is a simple thing for Jesus to heal you
• The Pharisees will never be persuaded
• Send out workers into His harvest
Before reading this commentary, I encourage you to first read the text of Matthew chapter nine.
Verse 1
Jesus crossed by boat to the town of Capernaum.
Verse 2
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 faith, pray for their healing.
I give you this challenge…Every human being whose face you see in person (not photographs or videos, but in person), pray a quick silent prayer for that individual’s salvation. For example, when you are at the grocery store, every person in the store, whose face you see, pray “Lord I pray for this person’s salvation, that they would come to know you.” Truly look at their face and try to see them as someone’s mother or father, son or daughter. Know that someone out there loves that person. Then recognize that you might be the first person ever to pray for their salvation. This should not be received as a point of pride, but rather a point of urgency.
Jesus 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!”
The Jewish people rightly believed that only God could forgive sins. What they totally failed to understand, however, and is the point that Jesus is insinuating here, is that Jesus is God. He has the ability to forgive sins.
Verses 4-8
When Jesus responds, “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…”
He is demonstrating, through the healing of the paralyzed man, that he has the authority to forgive sins (i.e. Jesus is God).
However, When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. The crowds think God gave authority to a man. But in fact, Jesus is fully man and fully God, so in that sense, they are correct.
Verse 9
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 the next two verses.
Verses 10-11
Many sinners came and ate with Jesus, but when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Verse 12
Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” 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.
Verse 13
Jesus then gives the Pharisees some advice, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
This is the same phrase he uses when talking to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:7 “If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
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 ones enemies, to the poor, to sinners, etc….By showing mercy to people, we have the opportunity to point them to God.
Verses 14-15
Jesus is the bridegroom and the church is his bride. (See Matthew 25, Revelation 19, Revelation 21)
Jesus equates fasting with mourning and he intends for us to fast after his departure. But again, what is the purpose of fasting? It is to put the flesh under subjection. Sin is bound in the flesh, so we as Christians should want to be ruled by the spirit, not by the flesh.
Fasting is specifically related to food. Let’s say hypothetically that I have a bad habit of wasting time scrolling social media. One day I make the conscious decision that I’m going to give up social media. I can not, however, call this a “fast” because it’s merely time management and self-discipline. It’s an effort on my part to be more productive and to stop wasting time.
Fasting, on the other hand, puts the flesh under subjection to the spirit. The presence or absence of social media from one’s life does not put under subjection the flesh to the spirit. This can only be done by denying the flesh the thing it needs for life, (i.e. food).
Choosing to stop wasting time on social media is in no way denying the flesh something it dearly needs. The satirical 11th commandment is “Thou Shalt Not Kid Thyself”. In other words, don’t fool yourself into thinking your fasting when all your doing is moving the flesh from one indulgence to another. You cease scrolling social media and call it a fast, but in its place you turn on Netflix (it’s the same thing. You’re entertaining the flesh). Perhaps you cease scrolling social media, but then you go into the kitchen and start snacking on junk food. You’re not fasting. You’re feeding the flesh. Fasting is specifically abstaining from food. There is nowhere in the Bible that someone fasted from anything other than food. Fasting is not the practice of time management. It is not the transition from one activity to another. Fasting is from food.
Here are some examples of fasting: eat only two meals per day. Go half a day without eating anything. Go a whole day without eating anything. Make the size of your meal portions such that you do not get full after eating, but are still hungry when the meal is over.
Fasting can also be the giving up of coffee, soda or junk food, etc…
Verses 16-17
Although modern day Bibles introduce these next two verses with a subheading (for easier navigation), these verses were originally not separated from verse 15. By putting in these subheadings, it is as if our modern scholars interrupted Jesus in the middle of what he was saying.
Remember, when trying to understand the meaning of a passage, never take a bible verse as a stand-alone statement. Always consider what was being said immediately before and after the verse(s) in question.
Let’s look at verses 15-17 uninterrupted.
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. 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.”
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. In other words, salvation by faith in Christ is not something being added to the law.
Oh, but wait….I can already hear your objection. The Bible says Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18)
But what advice did I just give a few moments ago? When trying to understand the meaning of a passage, never take a bible verse as a stand-alone statement. Always consider what was being said immediately before and after the verse in question.
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19 So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Recall from my commentary on Matthew chapter 5 that Jesus is giving a rebuke to the Pharisees and a rebuttal to their accusation that he was a law breaker.
So coming back now to verses 16-17 in our present chapter, we see that yes, salvation by faith is incompatible with salvation by works (i.e. the Law). You can not combine the two.
Verses 18-19 & 23-25
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? Verse 26 says, And the news about this spread throughout that region. It’s my opinion that the miracles Jesus performed were mainly for the purpose of establishing the fact that he IS the Messiah. Recall when John the Baptist began questioning 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 from the dead, should that man then curse God? No! We praise God in both good times and bad. Don’t be to God a fair-weather friend.
The Oxford Dictionary describes a fair-weather friend as being a person who stops being a friend in times of difficulty. A young single woman had friends who all proclaimed that every woman has the right to choose. This young woman became pregnant and chose to continue her pregnancy and keep her baby. She announced her choice to all her friends assuming they would celebrate her choice. Instead, they all stopped talking to her. They were fair-weather friends.
Another woman, after 5 years of marriage, left her husband when he fell into financial difficulties. She was a fair-weather wife.
Are you going to be a fair-weather Christian? One who loves God while times are good but suddenly disdains God when times are bad?
Recall the purpose of life: God has placed us temporarily into these less-than-ideal circumstances in order to prove who loves him and who does not.
…for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6b-7)
Verses 20-22
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. 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.
Consider the impossibility of bringing a dead person back to life, and yet Jesus is 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. This commentary author had cancer at age 28. Today he is 53 years old and does not have cancer. Thank you, Jesus.
But again, Jesus answers every prayer with “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
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, Lord,” Then He touched their eyes and said, “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 their faith was not 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. That is false doctrine. You’re not healing yourself through your own strength. You’re looking to Jesus because of his strength. We are weak. He is strong.
So then what is happening in the verses above? Jesus asks them if they believe that he is able, and they said yes. Jesus says that according to their faith they are 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 specifically 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 exits, but it’s not the strength of our inner will power that heals us. 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 32-33
Again, all of these casting out of demons and the healings serve to demonstrate and prove to the Israelites that Jesus is the Messiah.
Verse 34
But no amount of evidence is going to persuade the Pharisees. They have made up their minds that Jesus is their adversary and they intend to stick to that, no matter what they witness. 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 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, 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 atheist responds, “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. (reference Matthew 7:6)
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.
Jesus knew that this was too much work for one man, let alone twelve men.
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.”
Imagine 2,000 years ago what the human population on earth was. Most estimates put it at around 300 million. That is basically the population of the United States today, except spread out across the entire planet.
Today, however, there are 8 billion people on earth. 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 be one of these workers and to share the good news of Jesus with others. Also, pray for opportunities to financially support those who are actively engaged in spreading the gospel, such as missionaries and ministry organizations.