- Jesus heals the paralyzed man
- Jesus eats with sinners at Matthew's house
- Religious Leaders ask Jesus about fasting
- Jesus heals a bleeding woman and restores a girl to life
- Jesus heals the blind and mute
- Jesus urges the disciples to pray for workers
Jesus heals the paralyzed man
1 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." 3 And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." 7 And he arose and departed to his house. 8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
We start with a short review of Jesus healing the paralytic. He and his followers were in Capernaum, which is where He was basically living at this point in time. Some men brought a paralyzed man in for healing but in this version of the story Matthew doesn't tell us that the man was lowered through the roof. He does tell us that Jesus arrived there by boat and all three of the Gospels that tell this story repeat that Jesus saw THEIR faith.
Its interesting as well to read that Jesus SAW their faith; how do you see faith? James 2:18 tells us "by what I DO" Their could include the paralyzed man, not just those who brought him. Faith brought them to Jesus, he recognized that and what? He healed the man. But not immediately. Do you see that first, He forgave the man of his sins. This really upset the Jewish leaders as only GOD can forgive sins. So by what he said, Jesus was showing himself to be God. OH and he could read their thoughts too. He THEN showed them that the mans sins were forgiven by healing him. Apparent in this case the mans sickness was the result of sin, and when it was forgiven he could be healed.
The point here is that faith in Jesus should cause you to live differently. If your life doesn't SHOW your faith then it isn't very strong. Its that simple. Live like you meant it. Come to Jesus when you have problems and need his help. The very first thing you need to do when you come, however is ask to be forgiven of your sins. He can read YOUR thoughts and your heart as well. After you have come to him, after hes forgiven you, Hell tell you something you should do. do it, just like the man got up and went home. What do you think he DID when he got home?
Jesus eats with sinners at Matthew's house 9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, "Follow Me." So he arose and followed Him. 10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Matthew 9: 9-17 Matthews personal autobiography
Perhaps the most unlikely choice for one of Jesus' original disciples. Matthew had a unique place in the Jewish society of the time. He was Jew by birth, who contracted with the Roman government to collect its exorbitant taxes from his won people. He was, along with his fellow tax collectors, the most disliked and despised class of individuals in the nation. The Jewish contempt for these individuals is evident by the numerous associations made throughout Scripture to the "tax collectors and sinners" To appreciate the decision Matthew makes to leave everything he knew behind him and follow Jesus, you have to understand the kind of wealth, status and privilege he was giving up as a Roman Tax collector.
The Romans sold a "franchise" for an area to the highest bidder, and allowed that person to collect the area taxes. The tax collector was told how much to pay the roman government but what ever else he could collect beyond that was his to keep. His pay as it were. They over taxed as much as they could getting rich off of their "friends and neighbors" Naturally they were not a popular group of people. Matthew had undoubtedly heard of Jesus and probably had also heard what John the Baptist had said about him, so it was not new information when Jesus called out to him. Notice how he reacted to Jesus' call. Matthew got up and followed him. He ALSO brought his associates and friends to meet Jesus.
The Pharisees and other religious leaders were unhappy that Jesus was hanging out with sinners. This again caused him to speak out to the leaders. he responds that the sinners needed what he had to offer. The Scripture he quoted reminds us again that God is concerned about our HEART attitude, not what we show to the outside world.
Religious Leaders ask Jesus about fasting
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
As John the Baptist observed one almost continual fast, his diet being locusts and wild honey, his disciples naturally had great respect for that rite, and noted the lack of its observance by Jesus as an apparent defect in his character. They were honest inquirers, and Jesus answered them respectfully as such.
15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
Jesus explains to Johns followers that when the "friends of the bridegroom" went to get the bride and bring her to the ceremony for a wedding, it was with great happiness not mourning and sadness. Jesus had not yet left this earth, he was here with his people therefore he did not require any fasting. He also goes on to explain to the people there that while John had lead them to expect a leader who would come to "reform" judism, that was NOT his purpose. He was there to not really put patches on the fabric of time, but to close the holes.
Jesus heals a bleeding woman and restores a girl to life 18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."19 So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. 20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. 21 For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." 22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. 23 When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. 25 But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went out into all that land.
While he was still speaking to John's disciples he was interrupted. One of the elders of the synagogue, (referred to here as ruler) came to ask for help for his daughter. Again, we have parallel accounts in the gospels of this episode. Mark and Luke tell us that the daughter was dying. Matthew may have meant that she was certain to die, but at a rate her father showed his faith by his confidence in Jesus even though he was going against everything his friends and family believed about this guy.
Jesus went with the man to see the daughter.
On the way, he passed a woman who had been sick for 12 years with a disease that made her ceremonially unclean. (Look up Lev. 15:25-27) It seems strange that she wanted to touch his cloak but it was the tassels she touched (numbers 15:38-39) We can read the story in Mark and Luke to see that SHE KNEW she was healed even as Jesus felt that she had drawn on his power. He stopped to speak to speak to her and let her know that it was her faith that enabled her to be healed.
Arriving now at the house of the ruler, they encountered crowds of hired mourners. These people were hired and had no real connection to the family so Jesus put them out. He then went to raise the girl up. And the news once again spread.
Jewish mourning customs were not at all similar to the quiet reserved funeral service of today's society. Loud wailing (often by professional and hired mourners-individuals paid to induce and sustain loud wailing among the mourners) tearing their garments and flute-playing ( the flute's sound was associated with death) were characteristic of the Jewish tradition.
Again, Jesus not only wants us to have faith in him, but he wants us to act on that faith He wants us to come to him as confidently and reverently as the synagogue ruler did. He wants us to reach out to touch him with the same confidence the woman had. We also have to realize that the attitudes of those around us can have an affect on us. The hired mourners had laughed an t Jesus and he made them leave. If the people you hang out with cause you to stumble in your walk with Jesus or are a distraction to you in trying to walk beside him, you need to find new friends. Is that drastic? Yes but its part of acting on your faith. Evaluating yourself and your surroundings and adjusting to see where God wants us to be.
We DON'T have Jesus standing here eating, drinking and walking with us so today, this week, we need to consider prayer and fasting to see where we are to be going in our walk with Him. We need to bring our questions, our concerns and most of all our sins to him on a daily basis. Then we need to spread the news.
Jesus heals the blind and the mute:
27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it." 31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country. 32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. 33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!" 34 But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." 35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Lets take a side bar here for just a moment and look at a question. Why does Jesus tell some people NOT to share about their healing? Through out the Gospels, we find Jesus warned people on numerous occasions to certain people NOT to tell anyone about their healings. (see Matt. 8:4, 9:30, 12:16, Mark 5:43, 7:3) If you read Luke 4:41 and Mark 1:34) Jesus was so concerned for this that he would not even allow the ,demons to address him as the Christ. We wonder why he was so secretive.
Jesus never really gives us a clear reason but several possibilities exist, if we look at his concern for 1) The persons being healed.
Jesus understood that while the Jewish people as a whole thought highly of him, there were individuals in the Jewish community who certainly did Not accept his message, miracles or ministry. These were primarily the religious leadership. Jesus may have been telling these people not to tell where their miracles came from to protect their own reputations by remaining silent.
2) The timing of his ministry
Remember that the Jewish expectation of the Christ was so strong that Jesus realized that he needed to pace his ministry or the anticipation and excitement of the people will move events too fast for what needs to happen.
3) the political climate of Palestine. In the minds of many Jews of that day the coming of the Messiah would be in terms of earthly power and might, a military or political leader who would lead the nation out from under the domination of the Roman empire. If the supernatural deeds Jesus was performing along with what the people "thought" should happen in their inaccurate understanding, if this were allowed to happen unrestrained the national frenzy that could have been created might well have resulted in a revolution and then further and increased domination by Rome.
So this also brings us to the question, will Jesus always heal us if we believe enough that he can? No but he DOES demand that we believe in him as the starting point. remember that the first thing He looks at is oru faith when we come to him. But unlike the Pharisees, we need to be careful of our motivations when we judge things. They were so caught up in their traditions and rules that they couldn't see Jesus for WHO HE WAS. We know him, but it s easy for us to not understand when we see different customs and ways of worship. Be careful not to immediately condemn something Check the Bible to be sure its wrong and not just different.
Jesus urges the disciples to pray for workers
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Jesus went everywhere teaching and preaching and healing. he reached out to everyone he could. Why? Because he was "moved with compassion for them" He saw the lost condition of everyone around him and it broke his heart.
He made the statement to his disciples that still applies today, The harvest it plentiful. but the workers are few. There are many more people out there who need Jesus than there are people reaching out for them to lead them to Christ. We still need to be praying that God will help each of us, help each of them.
If we go back to Ezekiel 34, God spoke to Ezekiel about his people, saying bad things about the "shepherds" he had sent to them. They had left the flock and it was "scattered" and "plundered" He said he would hold the shepherds accountable and remove them from tending the flock. In verse 11 he says, "I myself will search for my sheep and look after them" Now in Matthew, he has great compassion on the people because they were like lost sheep.
We must have hearts filled with compassion for the lost. We are told in Mark 16:15 Luke 24:27 and Acts 1:8 that our job is to go out and minister to the lost and dying and bring them to Christ all over the world, and in our own back door.
If you want deeper study here look up these verses that show Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah would have such powers:
1 Samuel 10:10 and 11:6
2 Chronicles 32:7
Isaiah 29:18-19
Isaiah 35:5-6
Isaiah 40:10
Isaiah 61:1
Isaiah 63:12
Jeremiah 10:6
Hosea 13:14
What kind of "power" were these references speaking about? How does Jesus the Messiah either contradict, redefine or fulfill these?
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