One Year Journey Through the New Testament
Matthew 9
Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!
The Paralytic is Forgiven
Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26 (Parallel)
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.
Points to Ponder:
- After the experience in the Gergesenes, Jesus had the disciples take the boat back to Capernaum.
- They were waiting for Him. They brought a paralytic to Him for healing.
- Shockingly, instead of addressing his paralysis, Jesus forgave him of his sins.
- The religious people present were aghast at what they considered blasphemy.
- Jesus knew their thoughts and told them basically that it was time for them to know He had power to forgive sins.
- Then he told the man to get up, roll up his bed, and go home, which he did.
- The people were even more in awe of Jesus after this exchange.
- Don’t limit the power of God to your conceptions. God blows conceptions away and does more than we can comprehend. He is that much greater than anything we have ever seen.
Centurion’s Servant Healed
Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27, 28 (Parallel)
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.
Points to Ponder:
- This brief calling story says a lot in its few words. Matthew was a publican, a tax collector. He was a Jew that did the bidding of the Roman government. He had a lavish life and was a “made man.” He was likely hated, but did not seem to mind.
- But when Jesus called him, his entire value system changed. He left the tax booth behind and followed Jesus, no questions asked.
- This radical conversion is exemplary of the effect Jesus had on sinful men and women.
The Disciples Eat with Sinners
Mark 2:15–17; Luke 5:29–32 (Parallel)
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.”
Points to Ponder:
- Jesus continued to draw crowds wherever He went. At Peter’s house, a crowd of rough characters, possibly many of them friends of Matthew, fellow tax collectors. But all of them were sinners in need of the Savior.
- Jesus welcomed them all and reasoned with them about righteousness and truth, and many were being saved.
- Again, the religious leaders felt that Jesus was not operating in a fashion of which they approved, and criticized Jesus.
- Jesus proceeds to tell them that only the sick need doctors, not the well.
- He then taught the leaders a lesson from one of the prophets, Hosea, that mercy was more valuable to God than sacrifice. He called sinners to repentance. Therefore, He was to be near them so that He could call them.
The Disciples Do Not Fast
Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”
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.”
Points to Ponder:
- John’s disciples, it appears, often fasted. He taught them this spiritual discipline. They fasted for the coming of the Messiah. They fasted for the nation, etc.
- When Jesus came, His disciples did not fast. They did not understand the distinction.
- Jesus told them that His disciples were not in a time of fasting, for He was with them, just like the bridegrooms friends would not fast while he was present. But when He was gone, they would fast for His return, for strength to fight the battle before them, and for anointing to carry out the mission.
- Jesus then speaks about unshrunk cloth not to patch old cloth and old wineskins not to hold new wine. While this may seem out of context, it really is not. Jesus was teaching that the new way of conducting faith will not necessarily fit within the established system of ages before. Jesus was bringing a new way that could not be judged by the old way. To try to superimpose the old way on the new spirit would destroy both the old systems and the new wine.
Life is Restored
Mark 5:21–43; Luke 8:40–56
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.
Points to Ponder:
- This is such a great story. A ruler in Capernaum had just lost his child to death, just at this moment. He came to Jesus, desperate and frantic, asking for Him to come touch her so she would live. Jesus headed that way immediately.
- Along the way, though, Jesus was followed by a crowd. A woman who had dealt with either hemorrhaging or uncontrolled menstrual periods for a period of twelve years followed in the crowd. She would have been considered unclean and untouchable. She fought her way through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, believing she would be healed.
- The hem of the garment of a rabbi or a a priest had tassels that represented his spiritual authority. Her faith and her reaching out to him at a point of contact that represented spiritual power was rewarded with a healing touch, again making the unclean clean.
- After the delay, Jesus continued to the house of the ruler. The death rituals had already begun, with musicians playing and mourners crying.
- Jesus asked for space and sent them out of the room where the girl was laid.
- They were offended and made fun of Jesus. But after the faithless crowd was removed, Jesus touched her, raised her, and she lived again. The news spread like wildfire.
Sight is Restored
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.
Points to Ponder:
- As He left their house, two blind men began to cry out. They begged for mercy.
- Jesus asked them if they believed He could heal them. They passionately responded that they did.
- He touched their eyes, rewarding their faith, and they could see again.
- He told them to be quiet about it, but they did not. In their excitement, they told everyone they saw.
Speech is Restored
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.”
Points to Ponder:
- Then someone brought Jesus a man unable to speak, who was demon-possessed.
- Jesus cast out the demon, and the man spoke.
- The crowds were again in awe. They had never seen ministry quite like this!
- The religious leaders accused Jesus of using the power of the ruler of the demons to cast them out. How wrong they were!
The Need for Delegation of Power
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. 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 the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Points to Ponder:
- After all the powerful ministry Jesus had done (teaching, preaching, healing, delivering, raising the dead, calming the storms), He saw the immensity of the task ahead.
- He wanted to reach everyone, but knew the limitations of His earthly body and felt that they needed more than just Him to do this ministry.
- Jesus challenged the disciples to pray to the Lord for laborers to reap this generational harvest.
- Jesus showed His power to heal the body, to raise the body from the dead, to deliver body and soul from the control of the devil, basically to do what no one else could do. He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He was Jesus, the Savior of the World. He was the Lord with power over all the earth. He was different, and did not mind making it known.
All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page.
Devoted To You 