In this Chapter Jesus encountered
Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees who opposed him.
In Matthew 9 Jesus is said to have come back to his own town, the town
of Nazareth. Here he will meet the first challenges to his authority from the
Pharisees and Sadducees
Jesus stepped
into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a
paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man,
“Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This
fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you
entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say,
‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man,
“Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went
home. 8 When the crowd saw
this, they were filled with awe; and they
praised God, who had given such authority to man.
[This is the
first time he showed them that thou he is truly a man, he can forgive the sins
of man as God]
Jesus called his fifth Disciple Matthew to follow him and have dinner
with him in the company of fellow Tax Collectors for Matthew was a tax
collector and sinners. The Pharisees saw them and ask the diciples in verse 11 “Why
does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But Jesus heard them
and answered back in verse 12 “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.’[ Hosea 6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Some followers of John questioned
the Disciples why they are not fasting to which Jesus answered: 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.
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 people 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.”
Here again Jesus healed those who are sick and this is the first time he
raised a dead girl back to life:
A woman bleeding for 12 years 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 at that moment.
2. A dead girl
given back to life verse daughter of a synagogue leader
23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw
the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not
dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.
3. He healed two
blind men calling out to him for mercy.
A man possessed by the demon who could not talk was able to
speak again and the people said in verse 33 “Nothing like this has ever been
seen in Israel.” 34 34 But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons
that he drives out demons.”
The Workers Are Few
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, proclaiming 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. 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.”
NOTES:
9:1 His own town: Capernaum; see Mt 4:13.
9:3 Scribes: see note on Mk 2:6. Matthew omits the reason
given in the Marcan story for the charge of blasphemy: “Who but God alone can
forgive sins?” (Mk 2:7).
9:6 It is not clear whether But that you may know…to forgive
sins is intended to be a continuation of the words of Jesus or a parenthetical
comment of the evangelist to those who would hear or read this gospel. In any
case, Matthew here follows the Marcan text.
9:8 Who had given such authority to human beings: a
significant difference from Mk 2:12 (“They…glorified God, saying, ‘We have
never seen anything like this’”). Matthew’s extension to human beings of the
authority to forgive sins points to the belief that such authority was being
claimed by Matthew’s church.
9:9–17 In this section the order is the same as that of Mk
2:13–22.
9:9 A man named Matthew: Mark names this tax collector Levi
(Mk 2:14). No such name appears in the four lists of the twelve who were the
closest companions of Jesus (Mt 10:2–4; Mk 3:16–19; Lk 6:14–16; Acts 1:13
[eleven, because of the defection of Judas Iscariot]), whereas all four list a
Matthew, designated in Mt 10:3 as “the tax collector.” The evangelist may have
changed the “Levi” of his source to Matthew so that this man, whose call is
given special notice, like that of the first four disciples (Mt 4:18–22), might
be included among the twelve. Another reason for the change may be that the
disciple Matthew was the source of traditions peculiar to the church for which
the evangelist was writing.
9:10 His house: it is not clear whether his refers to Jesus
or Matthew. Tax collectors: see note on Mt 5:46. Table association with such
persons would cause ritual impurity.
9:11 Teacher: see note on Mt 8:19.
9:12 See note on Mk 2:17.
9:13 Go and learn…not sacrifice: Matthew adds the prophetic
statement of Hos 6:6 to the Marcan account (see also Mt 12:7). If mercy is superior
to the temple sacrifices, how much more to the laws of ritual impurity.
9:15 Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as
inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it
would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when
Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew’s
church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1.
9:16–17 Each of these parables speaks of the unsuitability
of attempting to combine the old and the new. Jesus’ teaching is not a patching
up of Judaism, nor can the gospel be contained within the limits of Mosaic law.
9:18–34 In this third group of miracles, the first (Mt
9:18–26) is clearly dependent on Mark (Mk 5:21–43). Though it tells of two
miracles, the cure of the woman had already been included within the story of
the raising of the official’s daughter, so that the two were probably regarded
as a single unit. The other miracles seem to have been derived from Mark and Q,
respectively, though there Matthew’s own editing is much more evident.
9:18 Official: literally, “ruler.” Mark calls him “one of
the synagogue officials” (Mk 5:22). My daughter has just died: Matthew
heightens the Marcan “my daughter is at the point of death” (Mk 5:23).
9:20 Tassel: possibly “fringe.” The Mosaic law prescribed
that tassels be worn on the corners of one’s garment as a reminder to keep the
commandments (see Nm 15:37–39; Dt 22:12).
9:24 Sleeping: sleep is a biblical metaphor for death (see
Ps 87:6 LXX; Dn 12:2; 1 Thes 5:10). Jesus’ statement is not a denial of the
child’s real death, but an assurance that she will be roused from her sleep of
death.
9:27–31 This story was probably composed by Matthew out of
Mark’s story of the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46–52). Mark
places the event late in Jesus’ ministry, just before his entrance into
Jerusalem, and Matthew has followed his Marcan source at that point in his
gospel also (see Mt 20:29–34). In each of the Matthean stories the single blind
man of Mark becomes two. The reason why Matthew would have given a double
version of the Marcan story and placed the earlier one here may be that he
wished to add a story of Jesus’ curing the blind at this point in order to
prepare for Jesus’ answer to the emissaries of the Baptist (Mt 11:4–6) in which
Jesus, recounting his works, begins with his giving sight to the blind.
9:27 Son of David: this messianic title is connected once
with the healing power of Jesus in Mark (Mk 10:47–48) and Luke (Lk 18:38–39)
but more frequently in Matthew (see also Mt 12:23; 15:22; 20:30–31).
9:32–34 The source of this story seems to be Q (see Lk
11:14–15). As in the preceding healing of the blind, Matthew has two versions
of this healing, the later in Mt 12:22–24 and the earlier here.
9:34 This spiteful accusation foreshadows the growing
opposition to Jesus in Mt 11 and 12.
9:35 See notes on Mt 4:23–25; Mt 8:1–9:38.
9:36 See Mk 6:34; Nm 27:17; 1 Kgs 22:17.
9:37–38 This Q saying (see Lk 10:2) is only imperfectly
related to this context. It presupposes that only God (the master of the
harvest) can take the initiative in sending out preachers of the gospel, whereas
in Matthew’s setting it leads into Mt 10 where Jesus does so.
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