Matthew 9:14-34: Making a Point

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Introduction

Chapters 8-9 have seen Matthew demonstrating that the Lord Jesus is all-powerful. From mighty miracles, to forgiveness of sins, to finally socializing with the worst parts of society (including Matthew himself), Christ’s identity and authority are being brought into focus. The back half of chapter 9 will see Matthew’s emphasis on Christ’s power reach it’s pinnacle with several prophecy fulfilling miracles, as well as Jesus even raising the dead.

9:14-17: Something new is here

On the heels of the Pharisees asking the disciples why Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, another group approaches. This time it is the disciples of John the Baptist (who was now in prison).

Unlike the Pharisees, they boldly ask Jesus directly their question. There seems to be a hint of bitterness in their question which is, “Why don’t your disciples fast?”

Keep in mind that John was now in prison. Some of his disciples had followed Jesus (Peter’s brother Andrew), but these men apparently hadn’t listened to John.

From their perspective, if they weren’t willing to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, they might have been a little bit bitter that their master was in prison, and here Jesus the supposed Messiah was having a good time.

They might’ve been asking, “John stood up for him, why isn’t he standing for John?” or “Why isn’t he trying to get John set free?” or in this case, “Why isn’t he as upset as we are that John is about to die?”

This last question is probably what led to the question of fasting, which was a mournful act.

They group themselves up with the Pharisees, which is an interesting choice and probably shows that they weren’t all that happy with Jesus.

The question is, “Why do we (and the Pharisees) fast, but you guys don’t?”

The Lord’s answer is surprisingly simple, “How can they?” Fasting is for sadness and mourning. How can you mourn when the Messiah, or the bridegroom, is with you? Seriously, who cries at a wedding?

John the Baptist had declared that Jesus was the bridegroom, and so Jesus is using John’s own words to try and get these people to understand. Times may be tough, but nothing is all that tough when God is around!

But Jesus is also honest, there would come a time when he would be taken from them, and then his disciples would fast. Until then though, there’s no need to be “sad” or “mournful”. If these disciples of John had really believed in Jesus, they wouldn’t have felt the need to be mournful at a time like this either.

I would imagine that this comment probably puzzled these men and caught them off guard. It’s almost like Jesus could see the looks on their faces of, “What does this mean? Celebrating in a time like this??”

Jesus gives two illustrations: one of the unshrunk cloth on an old garment, and one of putting new wine in old wineskins.

Nobody does either of those things, because if you do, it’ll cause bigger problems - the old clothes will tear even worse or the old wineskins will burst.

The bottom line is this: something new is here, and the old way of things isn’t going to cut it. Jesus didn’t come to fix a broken system, he came to finish it, and ultimately create something new altogether.

With that in mind, it makes sense that Jesus and his disciples weren’t just doing the “same old things” anymore. But at the same time, it also meant they couldn’t neatly fit what they were doing into the old paradigm.

This whole fasting thing was just a a good example. In this case, mourning and celebrating just don’t go together. It’s like oil and wine.

At a broader view, I think this illustrates our lives anytime we encounter the Lord Jesus. He isn’t simply trying to patch up our old lives, he’s transforming us into something brand new. And so our old lives just aren’t compatible with the Kingdom. And it should come as no surprise that people might ask us, “Why don’t you do this anymore?” and our answer should probably be, “How can I?”

9:18-26: Healing of two women

The two stories of these women being healed (well, woman and a young girl) are always intertwined in the Gospels. They seem to play off each other well, as we shall see.

Matthew’s version of these two stories is a lot shorter than both Mark and Luke. He tells us that a ruler came and bowed before Jesus to make a request: heal and/or bring his daughter back to life.

Mark tells us that this man was a ruler of the local synagogue. These rulers didn’t seem to like Jesus all that much, but when we’re desperate for a miracle, we’ll often put aside our feelings. This man, to some degree, respected the Lord to come and bow before him.

He obviously knew that Jesus could heal his daughter, but unlike the Roman Centurion before him, he didn’t expect Jesus to simply heal her in that moment. He begged Jesus to come physically touch her. Was this an indictment of the man’s faith, or lack thereof?

Nonetheless, the Lord decided to go and heal this girl, and “his disciples followed”. There needed to be witnesses to this incredible miracle that was about to take place.

The other Gospels tell us that his daughter was 12 years old. This happened to be the same age as the woman Jesus is about to encounter on the way to the house.

The other Gospels tell us that the crowds were swarming Jesus as he went to the ruler’s house when the bleeding woman touched Him. Matthew doesn’t care about any of that. He cares about the interaction between Jesus and this woman more than anything else.

Because of her bleeding, she was ritually unclean. Having lived in a world that shunned her and wanted nothing to do with her, slipping through the crowds quietly to touch the Lord’s cloak made since. Nobody was going to try and stop her if they couldn’t notice her.

It is the woman’s faith that I think is the highlight of the story. Especially in contrast with the ruler, who’s faith in Jesus seems to be not quite as strong.

Jesus doesn’t just let her slip away into the crowd after having received the healing she so desperately wanted. He needed the crowd to see that this new paradigm of the kingdom, had real impacts on real lives.

Matthew doesn’t draw as much attention to the fact that Jesus singles her out (like the other Gospels) do, but he does highlight the Lord’s words: “Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well.”

This woman had been a social outcast for 12 years. Even in seeking healing, she was scared. But no longer. The Lord’s tender love for her is on full display. He encourages her, and beautifully calls her “daughter” (they only time this happens in the Gospels!).

But then he commends her faith. Just like he did with the centurion. In contrast, this is something he won’t say to the ruler.

I think that at a higher level, these two stories also symbolize the response of the Jews and the Gentiles to Christ. The ruler symbolizes the Jews, and the the bleeding woman symbolizes the Gentiles (the church historian tells us that she was from Caesarea Philippi, which may indicate that she was a Gentile).

Jesus came first to the Israelites (just as he was coming to the ruler’s house), but their faith was severely lacking. On the other hand, it’s the faith and healing of this unclean woman who came to him that is commended (just as the unclean Gentiles came to the Lord for healing and were brought into His Church)

The church historian Eusebius says that for many years there was some bronze statues depicting this woman’s healing (it was a statue of her on her knees touching the Lord’s cloak), and it sat outside of her house for centuries

Other early church historians testify to this, too. One historian claimed that the statue stood until Julian the Apostate became Emperor in the late 300s. Julian, having abandoned Christianity, ordered most Christian relics and statues torn down.

In this case, he had these bronze statues torn down and replaced with one of Julian himself. The historian notes that not long after, lightning (“heavenly fire”) struck the statue and destroyed it.

Having healed this woman and commending her for her faith, the Lord continues on to the ruler’s house. I would imagine that at this point, the ruler is probably frustrated that Jesus even stopped in the first place.

When they arrive, the funeral plans are already under way. Professional mourners and flute players had been brought in (yes, that was a thing). It was a tragic and sad event. But Jesus is undeterred.

He tells everyone to get out. Whereas the healing of the bleeding woman had been very public, this one will be very private. In fact, Luke tells us that only Peter, James, and John were allowed to go in with Jesus.

The Lord very matter of factly tells everyone to leave because, “the girl is not dead but sleeping”. For anyone who wants to attribute this as something “normal” it very much was not! The people knew she was dead, and the Lord’s comment was laughable. Is this guy crazy?

I think it is funny, in light of the Lord’s comments earlier to John’s disciples about how it is impossible to mourn during celebration, that here Jesus quite literally makes the mourners laugh.

The other Gospels tell us that Jesus spoke to the girl and told her to get up. But Matthew is the only one that tells us that Jesus touched her (took her by the hand), and she rose up.

Maybe you’ve noticed this theme - Matthew is emphasizing how much touching takes place in these miracles. That’s because all of these touchings would theoretically make Jesus unclean. It’s why nobody else would touch these people. But Jesus did. He eats with them, he touches them, he heals them, and he forgives them.

On it’s face, this miracle also demonstrates the Lord’s own power over even death itself. Healings and calming storms were impressive. But death? That truly is incredible. It’s not surprise that “the report of this went through all that district”. This is an important piece of historical testimony. Lots of people saw these miracles happening, and they told other people about it.

9:27-34: Fulfilling Prophecy

The next two healing stories, the final ones of this section, I think are important to Matthew because they demonstrate the Lord’s fulfilment of Messianic Prophecy. Remember, Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

Fun fact: there are no stories of the healing of blind people in the Old Testament. Nor are there any stories of it outside of the Gospels either in the New Testament. And yet, Jesus healed many blind people (We’ll see another similar story in Matthew 20).

Neither are there any stories of the mute speaking. Which is what makes these two particular stories significant. And it’s probably why at the end of them the people declare, “Never anything like this seen in Israel.”

That’s probably the key that Matthew wants us to know that Jesus is fulfilling prophecy.

Only God was said to be able to cure the blind and the mute

Exodus 4:11 “Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

Psalm 146:8 “the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.”

Isaiah declared these specific healings to be Messianic

Isaiah 29:18 “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.”

Isaiah 35:5 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;”

Isaiah 42:7 “to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

In the case of the two blind men, again their faith is on full display. They declare Jesus to be the “Son of David”, a significant title that alludes to Jesus as King.

They believed Jesus could heal them, and so they persisted in getting his attention, shouting, and following him wherever he went.

The Lord genuinely wants to know if they trust Him or not. Which they do. And as in the case of the bleeding woman (and the centurion before her), their faith pays off. Jesus heals them, “according to your faith”.

Now, Jesus strictly warned them to not tell anyone (similar to the healed leper earlier). And he does so very sternly. But in their joy, they disobeyed and told everyone they met - making Jesus famous.

This was a common habit of those who experienced Jesus. In His humility, the Lord never wanted a spotlight on himself. He often remained hidden as well as he could and told those he healed to keep a low profile. But they simply couldn’t. Once we’ve encountered the saving power of Christ, how can we stay silent?

After this, a demon-possessed man who was mute was brought to Jesus for healing, which he does. Again this amazed the crowds - they were experiencing something that had never been experienced before! New wine was in fact being poured into new wineskins.

But in an ominous ending to the story, Matthew highlights how the religious leaders were far more cynical, even accusing Jesus of being in league with the demons themselves!

The other Gospels tell us about how Jesus shows them how illogical that statement was, and how it was bordering on blasphemy.

May our hearts never be so hardened to the works of God that we blasphemously attribute them to the demonic.

Conclusion

Power and prophesy are the themes of this section. Over the last several weeks we have seen that Jesus Christ is truly Lord over everything - even death itself. But he wasn’t just a magician or miracle worker, He was the prophesied Messiah and he demonstrated it clearly. He brought something radically new into the world: his Kingdom. To access it, we merely need faith. May our trust in Him grow more and more every day. Amen.

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