NT: The Book of Matthew, Chapter 9

Matthew: 9:1-38

(9:1) Jesus continues preaching, teaching, correcting and healing in His precise and ever-progressing manner. He continues to travel and fulfill His purpose. 

(9:2) Jesus meets a paralyzed man, but the main issue at hand are His sins. Our illnesses, physical and mental impairments do not change or diminish His love for us. Correcting our sins should be our main concern. Sin can be a scary word - frightened enough, even, to scare a person away from God. Each of us are capable of doing things which are unpleasant to others and ourselves and these things, regardless of their place in the range of severity, grouped together to be called sins. God loves you even if you do make bad choices, you are His main concern: He wants to save you from them.

Jesus immediately forgives this man of His sins. This means several things:

1. The man was genuinely repentant for the wrong he had done. You cannot be forgiven  by God if you are insincere. You have to be apologetic for the wrong you have done and that comes naturally when you find compassion in yourself and feel sorry for the victims of your bad actions. 
2. The man genuinely believed in God. He had faith and trust in God and traded his old ways for the way of God.
3. You can be forgiven for your sins! You do not have to plead or beg. Just pray for it, desire it from your heart and it will be given to you.
4. Jesus and God can see inside of your soul. They can see your true thoughts. Jesus and this man exchange no words prior to his forgiveness. Jesus read him, knew him, and loved him as you reads, knows and loves you.

(9:3) Wicked people will find any excuse to discredit Jesus. They think it is blasphemous that Jesus would associate with a sinner and therefore associate Jesus with sin. Forgiveness of sin is not an evil act, it is a merciful one. But these wicked men are supporters of Satan's ways and they try to confuse others with their twisted logic just as Satan tries to do. Be perceptive, do not be duped by negative people and their darkness.

They also don't think he has the power or authority to forgive a man of his sins. They these wicked men, Jesus' words appear to be empty. They go against Him thinking that Jesus cannot prove that His forgiveness is real and meaningful. They think, or at least want others to think, that Jesus goes around as a powerless pretender. They will be proven wrong.

(9:4) Note in this verse: the wicked men did not speak directly to Jesus but still Jesus knew what their thoughts were. He knows your true self too, your true thoughts, no matter what you pretend to be. Jesus asks them why they immediately look for a negative interpretation of a situation. Why insist on injecting evil into a good and merciful situation?

(9:5) Jesus basically says this to the wicked men: Do you think I say "your sins are forgiven" because it is an easy way to pretend I have authority? Do you think I forgive His sins because healing Him is not a power of mine and I was hoping nobody would catch on?

(9:6) Jesus humors them, he is humble and doesn't mind proving to them that he is of God and all-powerful - He heals the paralyzed man immediately and without struggle or hesitancy! 

(9:7) And just like that, the man walks. God has power over EVERYTHING.

(9:8) And the people with their hearts open to the truth are awed by Jesus.

(9:9-10) Jesus chooses another disciple. He is ready to teach one of the most important lessons of the Bible. Sinners join Him and the disciples at the table. Jesus is not too good to sit with sinners. He loves everyone, welcomes everyone, wants to teach and guide us all.

(9:11) These wicked men, the Pharisees, taunt the disciples. If you're teacher is so high and mighty, they ask, why does he sit around with evil people? They try to make Jesus seems like a hypocrite. 

(9:12) Jesus tells them truthfully and bluntly that He spends His time with those who NEED Him. People who are without sin have already found God and Jesus. The people who are still lost and wayward and the people who need Jesus' company. And Jesus is more than happy and willing to sit with them and try to help them. He is not ever a hypocrite. He is merciful and humble. He does not favor the good over the bad, He loves us all the same... He wants all of us to join Him and He works to make it happen.

(9:13) Jesus tells them that He didn't come to Earth to eat and be merry with the people who already love God (there will be time for that in Heaven) Jesus came to Earth to WORK. He came to correct and direct the people who needed it. The people who already love God do not need Jesus' presence as much as these sinners do. Their time with Him is precious, He wastes no time in instructing them.

This is a beautiful and difficult lesson for us to learn. It is not easy to converse and interact with our adversaries. It is not difficult to keep sinners out of our lives. But we corrupt ourselves when we become too haughty to welcome them into our hearts and our lives. We are lazy hypocrites if we cannot be kind when it requires effort. Our kindness with enemies or people we find disfavor with is when we can do our most powerful work! It is a great lesson for others (and for ourselves) to see us remain humble and compassionate to people who are not compassionate with us in return. (Matthew 5:43-47) The kind do not need our kindness, the people who do not know or understand kindness are the ones who need to be taught about it.

(9:14) The students following and learning from John have a question for Jesus. They ask Jesus why His disciples have not been fasting to show their love of God (a common practice in those times). The students of John are confused, they believe that Jesus' students are not behaving in a respectful manner.

(9:15-17) Jesus is clear with them and provides examples of His answer so that they will better understand. 

Here is an explanation of a metaphor that will help you understand much of the Bible: God uses the concept of marriage to explain His relationship with us on a individual level. He symbolizes the husband, you symbolize the wife. The metaphor is used to describe a faithful (platonic) relationship. 

So Jesus tells the disciples of John that His students (his spouses in the metaphor) are currently living with their husband (Jesus). There time with Him is short and precious, they have Him in this time to study and learn from His teachings. They must remain alert and focused and after He leaves them, then that is the time for them to fast. For now, the students have work to do! 

The second two examples about the cloth and the wine are examples of wasting time. Jesus does not want the disciples to miss out on any time of the teaching otherwise His teachings would go unlearned and would be useless!

(9:18-22) Jesus sets out on a journey to heal a man's (a prominent ruler) daughter. This man is faithful as he states that He knows Jesus' touch can save his daughter. He worships Jesus. While Jesus is on His way to the man's house, a woman (presumably not of any hierarchical status in the community) reaches out to touch Jesus' clothes. She does not speak aloud her faith but Jesus knows her thoughts without her needing to vocalize them. He heals her because he knows that she is faithful and good. Your status on Earth does not determine your worth in Heaven! You are loved as a ruler is loved, even if you feel small and without authority. 

(9:23) Jesus arrives at the home and walks into a funeral. People are mourning and playing music because to them, the girl has died and is gone forever.

(9:24) Jesus tells the mourners that the girl is not dead. They mock Him. They think that he is not intelligent enough to see that the girl is in the bed and not alive. 

(9:25-26) He waits until this mourning crowd has left, their unbelief causes them to miss the message. Jesus takes the hand of the girl and she awakens - immediately, totally. And word spreads.

The metaphors we can infer from these verses are these:

1. When a person has "died" they have really only left their life on Earth as we understand it. The person is still very much alive and with God. (2 Corinthians 5:8) When we leave our flesh body, we are then automatically, instantly present with the Lord in our spiritual body(1 Corinthians 15:53).
2. Dead is sometimes used in the Bible as a metaphor for spiritual deadness - for not understanding or living in the way the word of God teaches us we should to be good and just. So, even if we interpret that this girl was mean or evil or wicked, we can see that Jesus can still save her by "taking her hand" or by leading her to a better path.

(9:27-29) First we will examine these verse in their literal interpretation: 2 men without sight have true, established faith in Jesus and their faith heals their eyes. Jesus sees that their faith is true and rewards the promises He preaches: healing and protection.

But let's interpret it more deeply than that, as we a learning, there are many messages often in even just one verse of the Bible. This metaphor we are about to learn is repeated over and over again in the Bible and I will direct you to some of those verses.

The senses of "sight" and "hearing" are symbols in the Bible used for explaining a person with the capacity to see the bigger, deeper picture of God and humanity. People with "eyes to see" and "ears to hear" are people who naturally have an appetite for the word of God and for understanding it in it's truest, purest nature. These people do not confuse and confound themselves and others with corrupt or incorrect interpretations of the Bible because they study it and because the goodness of it is naturally apparent to them. "Eyes to see and ears to hear can be read of in these verses (among others): Proverbs 20:12, Matthew 13:16, Mark 8:18, Jeremiah 5:21, Isaiah 6:10.

And so, the men who believed faithfully in living in this just manner, believed in following Jesus, could already see even when they were blind. Our faith is our vision. Even blind, they could see truth therefore: they had eyes to see.

(9:30-31) Jesus heals the men and commands that they go out and make a spectacle of their miracle performed by Him. This is especially beautiful and not to be overlooked: Jesus is humble. He has a plan and method for how He wishes to spread His message and His plan does not include making Himself liken to a circus act. 

An arrogant man would be loud and proud of his ability to something amazing like this. An arrogant man would want everyone to know what he did. But Jesus does not need that validation. He wants to win people over with love... for if you love God, your healing and your blessings follow.

(9:32) In this verse, we encounter another man considered "demon-possessed" and also he is without the ability to speak. It is doubtful to me that he actually had a demon inside of him and is more likely that his illness was interpreted as demonic because it was scientifically misunderstood.

(9:33) Jesus takes care of it. He enables the man to speak. Notice the verse says, "When the demon was cast out, the mute spoke" therefore I do believe the interpretation can be that his illness was considered to be the demon and not an actual demon itself. 

Those with "eyes to see" can understand that Jesus is performing miracles through the ultimate, loving power of God. 

(9:34) This verse informs us that not everyone involved in this situation has "eyes to see". The pharisees are still against Jesus. They will say any ridiculous thing that pops into their mind to try to sway people to leave His side. (Such is life! Our goodness is always tested... our truth always requires strength against turbulence).

Although Jesus has done this amazing and kind thing (healing!) the wicked men decide to suggest that Jesus gets his powers against demons because he is of demons! Hmm, this is false logic. Why would a bad man do a good act and require no reward or attention for it? Jesus does not deceive, ever. He is always honest and open and giving. The Pharisees are the wicked - they search for and pretend there is darkness in a beautiful act when the actual darkness is inside of themselves.

(9:35) The insults of the Pharisees have no effect on Jesus. He moves swiftly along and does not waste even a second of His time on nonsense. Jesus has a message to preach to the world. He wants to save everybody... He moves on, continuing His journey.

It is important for us to remember to be the same way. Do not let negativity restrain you from your purpose. Do not let evil cloud your clear truths. Know what you believe in and stand by it. Be unwavering in your faith. Trust God, trust yourself and do not entangle yourself with senseless hatred. It is a waste of time! Be productive, be happy... spread the good word.

(9:36) Soak in the moment, the meaning of this verse. It is grand. Do not overlook its importance; let it still your mind in thought. Jesus looks out at the multitudes of people who crave Him and His message. People respond to happiness, to freedom, to love and truth. They need it. Jesus is overwhelmed with compassion for this multitude of people (the entire Earth) is starving for safety and for love. Life is difficult, prone to sadness and impossible to understand without the true and perfect guidance of God. These people, and people especially today, are weary and weak from the violence and injustice of the world. People are lost and confused. Jesus sees this and it troubles Him deeply that so many people need teachers but have so few or even none.

(9:37) Jesus speaks such an important message to His disciples. He tells them that there are so many people worth saving, so many people who want to be saved... but that there are so few teachers that none of them have the opportunity to be helped, guided or loved. The laborers, the workers, are few. Join God's mission - you do not have to preach to be a teacher, you can be a living example through your strength and goodness throughout life. Working for God is a humbling privilege. There is no better feeling than helping another person crawl out of a corner of suffering and darkness. 

Jesus does not want to waste the love people are capable of giving if only they are taught the way. He is always willing to recruit and help His laborers. 

(9:38) Jesus asks them to pray to God that laborers with come and teach and save through God. I really must emphasis that by "being saved" I mean that people need a purpose of truth and kindness. I truly believe that even a person who has never opened the Bible, but has lived an honest and kind life has a warm and secure spot in Heaven. Scripture can help heal your suffering and lead you to happiness... it is a gift, not a rigid, fear-mongering tool. A good heart, a clear mind, an honest man or woman can teach every lesson in the Bible without even the ability to read. Our actions, our works earn our place in Heaven. (James 2:14-26)

People call Jesus our savior because He died. No. Jesus is our savior because He LIVED. He is our savior because he taught us the way of life which saves us. Jesus is our savior because He lived despite knowing that He would die by the hand of the wicked for it. His message and YOU are that important to Him. How strong is love that you be willing to die for in order to tell a person that you loved them?

Be a laborer of bringing that love. Do not force-feed strangers the Bible. People who need the Bible will find it. People who crave the Bible will be given its message. But there are other, just as profound and effective ways of teaching:

Live your life in accordance with the truth and love that God teaches and you will have become a powerful, beloved teacher.

Before we finish, let's learn two other important, recurring metaphors used throughout the Bible:

1. Harvest: symbolizes people who would choose to become good people if only they were led to that path that gets them there. Many of us are not bad people but our daily actions can be selfish or unproductive... so, even though we aren't evil, we could use some help. We could use a teacher to help us find a clearer more enlightening path. But if we need that, and no teachers are around to teach us, we must become the teacher or pray for one to come our way so that we can be a student. 
2. Laborers: People who work in service of bringing forth the word of God.
3. Sheep: Represents people of God. Innocent but lost without a shepherd.
4. Shepherd: A teacher, someone who gathers the sheep (people) and protects them, gives them life and love.