Matthew Chapter 9

Jesus Heals & More
As chapter 9 opens up we see Jesus again at the head of a controversy. He not only tells a paralyzed man that he is healed but also that his sins are forgiven! To the religious leaders of the day that was blasphemy. Only God could forgive sins. Well, that was Jesus’ point exactly!! As God He has the authority to forgive sins. Jesus proves to the religious teachers that He has not only the power to forgive sins but also to heal and He kind of throws it in their faces and says ‘Take that!’

For those of us that think of Jesus as the kind shepherd smiling while holding a baby lamb this goes against our view of Him. He is challenging and powerful and you can almost here a little anger in His voice towards the religious leaders. All you have to do is look at the exclamation point when Jesus says to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

Jesus hangs out with bad people
As Christians we have to be careful and guard our thoughts and minds when we hang out with unbelievers. We have to practice focusing on the presence of God at all times when we are surrounded by unbelievers. It can be taxing. Some of us may even avoid hanging out in certain places or talking with certain people altogether. Believe me if being in a certain place is going to cause you to sin than avoid it. The Bible says flee from the devil and if you are tempted then by all means flee!! That being said I think we should look carefully at the example that Jesus is giving us here.

After calling Matthew, a tax collector, to be His disciple Jesus comes under fire from the Pharisees. I find it humorous that in verse 10 it says that Jesus was having dinner with “tax collectors and other disreputable sinners”. Even back them we looked at the IRS with disdain!! Anyway, the Pharisees criticize Jesus for hanging out with ‘scum’ and he replies by saying that healthy people don’t need a doctor-sick people do. He tells them point blank to go and learn the meaning of Hosea 6:6 in which is says to show mercy not offer legalistic sacrifices. Jesus closes this section by stating He came for people who realize they are sinners not for those that are self-righteous. Jesus is pointing to the condition of ones heart not to outward shows of righteousness.

Fasting
In this section Jesus is saying that there is a time and place for everything. When we as sinners come to be children of God through the ministry of Jesus, celebration is appropriate rather than fasting. However there is a time to fast but Jesus us letting us know that traditional rules and legalistic regulations should never hinder us from celebrating or embracing the good news of God’s Kingdom.

Faith is all it takes to be healed
In verses 18-34 we see again that all it takes for Jesus to heal is faith and belief in Him alone. The people in this section believed that Jesus could and would heal them from their various maladies...... even death!! Some people initially scoffed at Jesus but He proved them wrong and the miracles swept through the countryside. As his fame spread the religious leaders accused Him of being empowered by the evil one. They did everything they could think of to discredit Jesus, just as the world does today. But Jesus will not be discredited. He has overcome the world. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!! (Isaiah 45:23)

The Need for Workers
When Jesus saw that so many people were confused and helpless He was filled with sadness. He told His disciples that the harvest is great but the workers are few and that we should pray that more workers would be sent out. We should be praying this even today!! There are so many people that need Jesus. There is a great song by Casting Crowns called “What this world needs”. The lyrics explain the need for God that is so prevalent in this world. It goes on to say that Jesus is going to save the world but maybe what we need to do is just get out of the way. Too many times we try to do too much when the best thing we can do for any situation is to get on our knees and bring it before our Creator.

Have a great day.

God bless.