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Matthew 9

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Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic 1–8

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. ​

The Call of Matthew 9–13

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. ​

On Fasting, New Cloth, and New Wine 14–17

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.

A Ruler’s Daughter and a Sick Woman 18–26

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.

Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute 27–34

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. ​

The Harvest Is Plentiful 35–38

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.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Matthew 9

Verse 1

his own city — Capernaum, where he ‘dwelt’ after leaving Nazareth (4:13); Mark 2:1 places this same healing there. The crossing is back from the country of the Gergesenes (8:28), whose people ‘besought him that he would depart out of their coasts’ (8:34).

Verse 2

thy sins be forgiven thee — These words are said before any healing, to a man brought by others, while Jesus is ‘seeing their faith’. ‘Be of good cheer’ is tharseo, to take courage, the word he uses to the woman in v.22. The forgiveness is what the LORD claims for himself: ‘I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions’ (Isa 43:25).

Verse 3

This man blasphemeth — The scribes spoke ‘within themselves’. Luke gives their reasoning: ‘Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’ (Luke 5:21). Blasphemy against the name of the LORD carried death (Lev 24:16), and the same charge is brought at his trial: ‘He hath spoken blasphemy’ (26:65).

Verse 4

knowing their thoughts — ‘Thoughts’ (enthymesis) and ‘think’ (enthymeomai) share a root: what they reasoned in the heart, he answers aloud. This is the LORD’s own claim, ‘I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins’ (Jer 17:10), which Christ takes for himself: ‘I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts’ (Rev 2:23).

Verse 6

power on earth to forgive sins — Exousia, authority. ‘Son of man’ is the title of Dan 7:13, ‘one like the Son of man’ who came ‘with the clouds of heaven’, to whom ‘was given… dominion, and glory, and a kingdom’ (Dan 7:14). The visible healing, ‘Arise, take up thy bed’, is given as proof of the forgiveness he has spoken.

Verse 8

such power unto men — The word is exousia again (v.6), and ‘given’ is the verb of 28:18: ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.’ The multitudes ‘marvelled, and glorified God’ for what they saw done; Mark records their words, ‘We never saw it on this fashion’ (Mark 2:12).

Verse 9

the receipt of custom — Telonion, the toll-house where duties were collected; its keeper is a ‘publican’, a class set with ‘sinners’ in v.10 and with ‘an heathen man’ in 18:17. Mark and Luke call him Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). Matthew’s own list adds ‘the publican’ (10:3). He ‘arose, and followed him’, as the fishermen ‘left their nets’ (4:20).

Verse 10

publicans and sinners — ‘Sat at meat’ is anakeimai, to recline at table. Luke names the host: ‘Levi made him a great feast in his own house’ (Luke 5:29). The charge made here is the one Christ later reports of himself: ‘a friend of publicans and sinners’ (11:19).

Verse 11

Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? — The Pharisees put the question to the disciples, not to him; Luke says they ‘murmured’ (Luke 5:30). The same complaint, ‘This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them’ (Luke 15:2), is the occasion of three parables there: the sheep, the coin and the two sons.

Verse 12

They that be whole — Ischuo, to be strong; the sick are literally those ‘having it badly’ (kakos echo). The LORD names himself the healer of his people: ‘I am the LORD that healeth thee’ (Ex 15:26), and ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds’ (Ps 147:3). Mark 2:17 and Luke 5:31 give the same answer.

Verse 13

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice — From Hos 6:6: ‘For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’ The Hebrew for mercy is chesed, covenant love. ‘Go ye and learn’ sends the Pharisees to their own Scriptures; Matthew gives the verse again at 12:7.

Verse 15

the bridegroom shall be taken from them — ‘Children of the bridechamber’ are the wedding guests. The LORD is likened to a bridegroom over his people: ‘as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee’ (Isa 62:5); John the Baptist calls himself the bridegroom’s friend (John 3:29). Apairo, ‘taken away’, occurs only here, Mark 2:20 and Luke 5:35.

Verse 16

new cloth unto an old garment — Agnaphos, cloth not yet fulled, which shrinks when wetted and pulls the old garment apart; the word occurs only here and in Mark 2:21. The ‘rent’ is schisma, the word rendered ‘division’ in John 7:43. This saying and the one in v.17 answer the question about fasting in v.14.

Verse 18

a certain ruler — Named Jairus, ‘a ruler of the synagogue’, in Mark 5:22 and Luke 8:41; Matthew gives only the request: ‘My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.’ He ‘worshipped him’, the verb (proskuneo) used of the leper in 8:2.

Verse 20

the hem of his garment — Kraspedon, the fringe or tassel Israel was told to wear on the borders of their garments (Num 15:38–39; Deut 22:12). Her ‘issue of blood’ placed her under the law of Lev 15:25, ‘she shall be unclean’. Luke adds that she ‘had spent all her living upon physicians’ (Luke 8:43); 14:36 has others touching the same hem.

Verse 22

thy faith hath made thee whole — Sozo, which means both to heal and to save: it occurs twice in this verse and is rendered ‘saved’ in Luke 7:50, ‘Thy faith hath saved thee’. ‘Be of good comfort’ is tharseo, the word of v.2. Luke adds the words ‘go in peace’ (Luke 8:48).

Verse 24

not dead, but sleepeth — The verb is katheudo. Of Lazarus Christ says, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep’ (John 11:11), and John explains that ‘Jesus spake of his death’ (John 11:13). The laughter is accounted for in Luke 8:53: ‘knowing that she was dead’.

Verse 25

took her by the hand, and the maid arose — Egeiro, the verb of ‘Arise’ in v.6 and of ‘he is risen’ in 28:6. Mark 5:41 gives his words, ‘Talitha cumi’, ‘Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.’ Elisha had to stretch himself upon the dead child (2 Kings 4:34); Peter kneeled to pray before ‘Tabitha, arise’ (Acts 9:40).

Verse 27

Thou Son of David — This is the first time in Matthew that anyone addresses him by the title (it opens the book, 1:1). It looks back to the promise to David: ‘I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever’ (2 Sam 7:13). Healing the blind is the sign of Isa 35:5, ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened’; two blind men cry the same words at Jericho (20:30).

Verse 29

According to your faith — This is the answer to his question in v.28, ‘Believe ye that I am able to do this?’, and their ‘Yea, Lord.’ The healing is by his touch and word: he ‘touched their eyes’, as at 20:34. Matthew sets it beside the centurion’s: ‘as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee’ (8:13).

Verse 30

straitly charged — Embrimaomai, to rebuke with strong feeling; it occurs five times: here, Mark 1:43, Mark 14:5 and John 11:33, 38. The same silence is asked of the leper (8:4) and of the multitudes (12:16), where Matthew cites Isaiah’s servant who ‘shall not strive, nor cry’ (12:19). They ‘spread abroad his fame’ regardless (v.31).

Verse 34

the prince of the devils — This is the Pharisees’ answer to the multitudes’ ‘It was never so seen in Israel’ (v.33). The charge returns with the name added, ‘Beelzebub the prince of the devils’ (12:24), and is answered at 12:28: ‘if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.’ He had foretold it to the twelve (10:25).

Verse 35

every sickness and every disease — The sentence nearly repeats 4:23 and so closes the section it opened: teaching (chs.5–7) and healing (chs.8–9). Nosos is a malady and malakia a debility; the twelve are given power over ‘all manner of sickness and all manner of disease’ (10:1). Peter later says he ‘went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38).

Verse 36

moved with compassion — Splanchnizomai, from splanchnon, the inward parts, the seat of feeling. ‘Sheep having no shepherd’ is the figure Moses used when asking for a man to lead Israel (Num 27:17), and of the flock in Ezek 34:5: ‘they were scattered, because there is no shepherd’. Christ is that shepherd (John 10:11).

Verse 37

The harvest truly is plenteous — Therismos, the reaping: from sheep the figure turns to a field. Verse 38 asks prayer to ‘the Lord of the harvest’ that he send labourers, and ch.10 opens with the twelve called and sent. Luke records the saying again for the seventy (Luke 10:2).