Matthew 9 Part 1

Matthew 9:1–13 ESV

1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 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,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. 9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Why did Jesus leave Gadara and go to Capernaum? Because the Gadarenes asked Him to leave after He cast out the demons from two men!

Matthew 8:34 ESV

34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

One commentary makes the point “There is no record of His ever entering their coasts again. He obeyed their wish.” This enforces a harsh reality - He will never force Himself on anyone or any society. Have we all heard the description of times today as “the great falling away”? It begs us to think, who fell away? Who moved? Who turned from the other? Why are we not as close to God as we once were as individuals or as a nation? Maybe it’s because we have told God we do not need Him, and do not want Him.

But in these first 8 verses we see something different. We see some people (plural) bringing a paralytic to Jesus. Why? Because they had faith He would heal their friend. They not only cared deeply for their friend, they cared deeply about his healing, and his restoration. And, they knew someone who could help.

A Paralytic Healed

Matthew 9:1–8 ESV

1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 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,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

This man was disabled - he was helpless on his own as a paralytic. He could do nothing on his own to get himself to Jesus. But his friends saw his need, and cared enough about him that they set out on a mission to get him to Jesus. Not only did they make a bed to carry him in comfort, but Mark chapter 2 says there was no room for them to carry their friend into Jesus and they took him to the roof, removed a portion of the roof, and lowered him down to Jesus.

Wouldn’t you want friends like these! Friends that could not be stopped until they got their friend to the feet of Jesus? Do we know anyone as sick as this paralytic? Would we go to these efforts to get them to Jesus? Honestly all humans are disabled and sick spiritually! And we (like these friends) must have the same mission of getting them to Jesus! *NOTE* WE CANNOT SAVE THEM, but we can point them to the one who can!

Notice what Jesus said about their task of bringing their friend to Him - He saw their faith. Shew, it is only through FAITH that we can do anything, even bringing a person to Christ so that they can see the need for salvation and deliverance. It was their FAITH of both the man and his friends that caused Jesus to recognize something different and it was by FAITH that he was healed. Jesus will never fail to acknowledge a faith like this. He couldn’t miss it! A faith that had bore the weight of their friends needs. A faith that had labored over carrying him to Jesus. A faith that would not stop when the world blocked their way. A faith that made sure their friend knew Jesus. The actions spoke louder than their words. As a matter of fact, we do not see anywhere where these friends spoke, or their words were of no significance. But their actions, by faith, sure got the attention of Jesus.

Jesus said to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven. That caught the attention of the scribes. Jesus’ power to forgive sins was questioned. He was silently accused of blasphemy. Note: it was the religionists who thought that Jesus could not forgive sins, and the thought was whispered among themselves. The most devoted of biblical scholars questioned Jesus’s authority. But notice what Jesus did - knowing their thoughts - He called them out. The Scribes’ evil was their thinking that Jesus, the Son of God, was not of God, and that He did not have the power to forgive sins. The crowd at least recognized His power as being the power of God, but not the Scribes and religionists. In their pride and hardness of heart, they rejected Him, refusing to ascribe any authority to Him. He knew exactly what they were thinking.

Oh, you might be able to fool the preacher… You might be able to talk behind others backs. You might think unChristian like thoughts of others. But you won’t hide it from Jesus. Jesus suggested something: a test. It is much easier to say something than to do something. Therefore, Jesus suggested that He be put to the test, that He prove His deity by act and not just by word. Jesus was acknowledging that profession only was inadequate evidence for a claim. Action is also needed. Jesus’ purpose was to demonstrate that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins. God has committed all judgment into the hands of Jesus, a judgment that either forgives or condemns a person. It is much easier to say something than to do something. Jesus proved that He was not just speaking words, not just professing to have the power of God to forgive sins. He forcefully spoke, and the man arose. He proved His power. He healed the man. He proved His deity and that He was the true Messiah, the son of the living God. As such, He did have the power to forgive sins. But it also proves that God does care: He cared enough to send His only Son into the world to heal and to save the needy and the hopeless.

And the most wonderful part of it all… The man rose and went home. Not only was he physically healed, but spiritually healed also.

Calling of Matthew

Matthew 9:9–13 ESV

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is one of the most heart-warming and touching scenes in all the Bible. It is Matthew’s personal testimony.

Imagine his sitting and writing about the experiences of so many others that we have just read about in Chapters 1–8. Now he comes to his own personal experience. He was a man bitterly opposed, talked and gossiped about and hated, not by just a few, but by everyone. He was so detested that he was classified with the worst of sinners. He was a tax collector for a conquering nation. He had become wealthy by extortion, so wealthy that he was able to own a house large enough to handle a huge crowd and a large feast. He was immoral, unjust, money-hungry, and worldly-minded. He cared more for possessions and wealth than for people. Through the years he had become unloving, hard, difficult, bitter—and worst of all, without love, purpose, meaning, and significance in life. There is, of course, so much more; yet he covers all in these few simple verses.

What is so heart-warming and touching is that he shares his own personal conversion in one simple verse, and then he moves on to share how Jesus came to save sinners such as himself. He does not talk about himself nor about the details of his sin and shame, but He lifts up Jesus and the glorious salvation Jesus came to bring. He emphasizes not his own conversion, but the fact that Jesus came to save all tax collectors and sinners such as himself.

Jesus “saw a man,” a sinner who needed a cause. The people saw not a man, but Matthew, a tax collector for the Romans. They hated him and all other tax collectors. (They served the Romans, they were dishonest, and they were assuming rights the Jews thought belonged only to God by requiring taxes).

Jesus called this man - Follow me. There were no questions, there was no mistaking His command. It was direct and to the point. Oh, isn’t this the way Jesus is with salvation? He is direct, to the point, and then we must decide to follow Him. Just like Matthew. An immediate and total commitment…or nothing.

Matthew responded: he arose and followed Jesus. He got up and left all to follow Jesus. Of course sometime after this immediate encounter, he acted responsibly and took care of his business affairs by resigning his position in a responsible manner. But when the call came, he immediately began to follow Christ. He left all and committed himself totally to Christ.

Matthew entertained Jesus and his sinful friends. The very first thing Matthew did was witness to his friends. He arranged a “great feast” for Jesus to share with his sinful friends (Lu. 5:29).

Luke 5:29 ESV

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

The witnessing session was apparently very fruitful: “there were many, and they followed Him” (Mk. 2:15).

Mark 2:15 ESV

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Again, the religionists questioned Jesus’ fellowship with sinners. They (the Pharisees) saw it; that is, they saw Jesus’ sitting and eating with sinners. It is almost like they were watching, looking for wrong-doing so they could pounce on Him.

The religionists did not speak to Jesus Himself, but to His disciples. They would not dare approach Him personally, but they readily attacked Him through those closest to Him. Perhaps there was an attempt to turn His followers away from Him as is often the case in day-to-day life.

Do we see a theme here? Doesn’t it seem that the more Jesus did to further the Gospel, the more the religious people questioned and condemned Him? Big question - is this happening in our churches today? Do we have those that continue to question those in leadership positions who are simply trying to point others to Christ?

How should we respond?

In the same manner Jesus did.

this point can be entitled “the Savior who saved the sinner” or “the mission of the Savior.” Two things are being said in these two verses.

First, Matthew was testifying that he, the sinner, and his sinful friends were spiritually sick and needed the mercy of God. They needed a Savior, and they believed that Jesus was that Savior. They believed that Jesus had come to save them.

Second, Jesus was warning the religionist and those who think they are more acceptable to God than others …even they were spiritually sick - fatally sick - with a disease only He could heal. Sin.

The threefold purpose of Jesus is given here:

Jesus came to heal the spiritually sick.

Jesus came to have mercy, not to secure the sacrifices of people.

Jesus came to call sinners to repentance

Jesus does not call the self-righteous and the self-satisfied. They feel that they are good enough to be acceptable to God. Jesus calls the sinners to repentance, the ones who are deeply aware of their need for a Savior.

And that He would continue doing just that.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2004). The Gospel according to Matthew: Chapters 1:1–16:12 (Vol. 1, p. 211). Leadership Ministries Worldwide.