Matthew 9

1 And Jesus went up into a boat, and passed over the water, and came into his city.

2 And lo! they brought to him a man sick in palsy, lying in a bed. And Jesus saw the faith of them, and said to the man sick in palsy, Son, have thou trust; thy sins be forgiven to thee [Forsooth Jesus, seeing the faith of them, said to the man sick in palsy, Son, have trust; thy sins be forgiven to thee].

3 And lo! some of the scribes said within themselves, This blasphemeth.

4 And when Jesus had seen their thoughts, he said, Whereto think ye evil things in your hearts?

5 What is lighter to say, Thy sins be forgiven to thee, either to say [or to say], Rise thou, and walk?

6 But that ye know that man's Son hath power to forgive sins in earth, then he said to the sick man in palsy [then he said to the man sick in palsy], Rise up; take thy bed, and go into thine house.

7 And he rose, and went into his house.

8 And the people seeing dreaded [Soothly the companies seeing dreaded], and glorified God, that gave such power to men.

9 And when Jesus passed from thence, he saw a man, Matthew by name, sitting in a tollbooth. And he said to him, Follow thou me. And he rose, and followed him.

10 And it was done, while he sat at the meat in the house, lo! many publicans and sinful men came, and sat at the meat with Jesus and his disciples. [And it was done, him sitting at the meat in the house, lo! many publicans and sinful men coming sat at the meat with Jesus and his disciples.]

11 And the Pharisees saw, and said to his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinful men?

12 And Jesus heard, and said, A physician is not needful to men that fare well, but to men that be evil-at-ease. [And Jesus hearing said, A leech is not needful to men that fare well, but to men having evil.]

13 But go ye, and learn what it is, I will mercy, and not sacrifice; for I came, not to call rightful men [forsooth I came, not to call rightwise men], but sinful men to penance.

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, and said [Then the disciples of John came nigh to him, saying], Why we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

15 And Jesus said to them, Whether the sons of the spouse be able to mourn [Whether the sons of the spouse, or husband, may wail, or mourn], as long as the spouse is with them? But days shall come, when the spouse shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.

16 And no man putteth a patch of rough cloth [of rude, or new, cloth] into an old clothing [into an old cloth]; for it doeth away the fullness of the cloak [soothly it taketh away the plenty of it from the cloth], and a worse breaking is made.

17 Neither men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles be broken, and destroyed, and the wine shed out. But men put new wine into new bottles, and both be kept. [+Neither men put new wine into old bottles, or wine vessels, else the wine vessels be broken, and the wine is shed out, and the wine vessels perish. But men send new wine into new wine vessels, and both be kept.]

18 Whiles that Jesus spake these things to them, lo! a prince came, and worshipped him, and said [saying], Lord, my daughter is now dead; but come thou, and put thine hand on her, and she shall live [but come thou, and put thine hand upon her, and she shall live].

19 And Jesus rose, and his disciples, and followed him. [And Jesus rising followed him, and his disciples.]

20 And lo! a woman, that had a bloody flux twelve years, approached behind, and touched the hem of his cloak. [+And lo! a woman that suffered the flux, or running, of blood twelve years, nighed/came to behind, and touched the hem of his cloth.]

21 For she said within herself, If I touch only the cloak of him [+If I shall touch only the cloth of him/If I shall touch only the clothes of him], I shall be safe.

22 And Jesus turned, and saw her, and said, Daughter, have thou trust [Daughter, have trust]; thy faith hath made thee safe. And the woman was whole from that hour.

23 And when Jesus came into the house of the prince, and saw minstrels, and the people making noise,

24 he said, Go ye away [Go away], for the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they scorned him.

25 And when the folk was put out, he went in, and held her hand; and the damsel rose [up].

26 And this fame went out into all that land.

27 And when Jesus passed from thence, two blind men crying followed him, and said, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. [And Jesus passing thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.]

28 And when he came into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them [Soothly when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus saith to them], What will ye, that I do to you? And they said, Lord, that our eyes be opened. And Jesus said, Believe ye, that I may do this thing to you [And Jesus said, Believe ye, that I may do this thing]? They said to him, Yea, Lord.

29 Then he touched their eyes, and said [saying], After your faith be it done to you.

30 And the eyes of them were opened. And Jesus threatened them, and said [saying], See ye, that no man know.

31 But they went out, and famed him through all that land.

32 And when they were gone out, lo! they brought to him a dumb man, having a devil.

33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spake. And the people wondered, and said, It hath not been seen thus in Israel [And the companies wondered, saying, It appeared never so in Israel].

34 But the Pharisees said, In the prince of devils he casteth out devils.

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and castles, teaching in the synagogues of them, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every languor and every sickness [and healing all languishing, or ache, and all sickness].

36 And he saw the people, and had ruth on them [Forsooth Jesus, seeing companies, had ruth on them]; for they were travailed, and lying as sheep not having a shepherd.

37 Then he said to his disciples, Soothly there is much ripe corn, but few workmen.

38 Therefore pray ye the Lord of the ripe corn, that he send workmen into his ripe corn.

Matthew 9 Commentary

Chapter 9

Jesus returns to Capernaum, and heals a paralytic. (1-8) Matthew called. (9) Matthew, or Levi's feast. (10-13) Objections of John's disciples. (14-17) Christ raises the daughter of Jairus, He heals the issue of blood. (18-26) He heals two blind men. (27-31) Christ casts out a dumb spirit. (32-34) He sends forth the apostles. (35-38)

Verses 1-8 The faith of the friends of the paralytic in bringing him to Christ, was a strong faith; they firmly believed that Jesus Christ both could and would heal him. A strong faith regards no obstacles in pressing after Christ. It was a humble faith; they brought him to attend on Christ. It was an active faith. Sin may be pardoned, yet the sickness not be removed; the sickness may be removed, yet the sin not pardoned: but if we have the comfort of peace with God, with the comfort of recovery from sickness, this makes the healing a mercy indeed. This is no encouragement to sin. If thou bring thy sins to Jesus Christ, as thy malady and misery to be cured of, and delivered from, it is well; but to come with them, as thy darlings and delight, thinking still to retain them and receive him, is a gross mistake, a miserable delusion. The great intention of the blessed Jesus in the redemption he wrought, is to separate our hearts from sin. Our Lord Jesus has perfect knowledge of all that we say within ourselves. There is a great deal of evil in sinful thoughts, which is very offensive to the Lord Jesus. Christ designed to show that his great errand to the world was, to save his people from their sins. He turned from disputing with the scribes, and spake healing to the sick man. Not only he had no more need to be carried upon his bed, but he had strength to carry it. God must be glorified in all the power that is given to do good.

Verse 9 Matthew was in his calling, as the rest of those whom Christ called. As Satan comes with his temptations to the idle, so Christ comes with his calls to those who are employed. We are all naturally averse from thee, O God; do thou bid us to follow thee; draw us by thy powerful word, and we shall run after thee. Speak by the word of the Spirit to our hearts, the world cannot hold us down, Satan cannot stop our way, we shall arise and follow thee. A saving change is wrought in the soul, by Christ as the author, and his word as the means. Neither Matthew's place, nor his gains by it, could detain him, when Christ called him. He left it, and though we find the disciples, who were fishers, occasionally fishing again afterwards, we never more find Matthew at his sinful gain.

Verses 10-13 Some time after his call, Matthew sought to bring his old associates to hear Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and would not despair concerning them. Those who are effectually brought to Christ, cannot but desire that others also may be brought to him. Those who suppose their souls to be without disease will not welcome the spiritual Physician. This was the case with the Pharisees; they despised Christ, because they thought themselves whole; but the poor publicans and sinners felt that they wanted instruction and amendment. It is easy, and too common, to put the worst constructions upon the best words and actions. It may justly be suspected that those have not the grace of God themselves, who are not pleased with others' obtaining it. Christ's conversing with sinners is here called mercy; for to promote the conversion of souls is the greatest act of mercy. The gospel call is a call to repentance; a call to us to change our minds, and to change our ways. If the children of men had not been sinners, there had been no need for Christ to come among them. Let us examine whether we have found out our sickness, and have learned to follow the directions of our great Physician.

Verses 14-17 John was at this time in prison; his circumstances, his character, and the nature of the message he was sent to deliver, led those who were peculiarly attached to him, to keep frequent fasts. Christ referred them to John's testimony of him, Joh. 3:29 . Though there is no doubt that Jesus and his disciples lived in a spare and frugal manner, it would be improper for his disciples to fast while they had the comfort of his presence. When he is with them, all is well. The presence of the sun makes day, and its absence produces night. Our Lord further reminded them of common rules of prudence. It was not usual to take a piece of rough woolen cloth, which had never been prepared, to join to an old garment, for it would not join well with the soft, old garment, but would tear it further, and the rent would be made worse. Nor would men put new wine into old leathern bottles, which were going to decay, and would be liable to burst from the fermenting of the wine; but putting the new wine into strong, new, skin bottles, both would be preserved. Great caution and prudence are necessary, that young converts may not receive gloomy and forbidding ideas of the service of our Lord; but duties are to be urged as they are able to bear them.

Verses 18-26 The death of our relations should drive us to Christ, who is our life. And it is high honour to the greatest rulers to attend on the Lord Jesus; and those who would receive mercy from Christ, must honour him. The variety of methods Christ took in working his miracles, perhaps was because of the different frames and tempers of mind, which those were in who came to him, and which He who searches the heart perfectly knew. A poor woman applied herself to Christ, and received mercy from him by the way. If we do but touch, as it were, the hem of Christ's garment by living faith, our worst evils will be healed; there is no other real cure, nor need we fear his knowing things which are a grief and burden to us, but which we would not tell to any earthly friend. When Christ entered the ruler's house, he said, Give place. Sometimes, when the sorrow of the world prevails, it is difficult for Christ and his comforts to enter. The ruler's daughter was really dead, but not so to Christ. The death of the righteous is in a special manner to be looked on as only a sleep. The words and works of Christ may not at first be understood, yet they are not therefore to be despised. The people were put forth. Scorners who laugh at what they do not understand, are not proper witnesses of the wonderful works of Christ. Dead souls are not raised to spiritual life, unless Christ take them by the hand: it is done in the day of his power. If this single instance of Christ's raising one newly dead so increased his fame, what will be his glory when all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth; those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation!

Verses 27-31 At this time the Jews expected Messiah would appear; these blind men knew and proclaimed in the streets of Capernaum that he was come, and that Jesus was he. Those who, by the providence of God, have lost their bodily sight, may, by the grace of God, have the eyes of their understanding fully enlightened. And whatever our wants and burdens are, we need no more for supply and support, than to share in the mercy of our Lord Jesus. In Christ is enough for all. They followed him crying aloud. He would try their faith, and would teach us always to pray, and not to faint, though the answer does not come at once. They followed Christ, and followed him crying; but the great question is, Do ye believe? Nature may make us earnest, but it is only grace that can work faith. Christ touched their eyes. He gives sight to blind souls by the power of his grace going with his word, and he puts the cure upon their faith. Those who apply to Jesus Christ, shall be dealt with, not according to their fancies, nor according to their profession, but according to their faith. Christ sometimes concealed his miracles, because he would not indulge the conceit which prevailed among the Jews, that their Messiah should be a temporal prince, and so give occasion to the people to attempt tumults and seditions.

Verses 32-34 Of the two, better a dumb devil than a blaspheming one. Christ's cures strike at the root, and remove the effect by taking away the cause; they open the lips, by breaking Satan's power in the soul. Nothing can convince those who are under the power of pride. They will believe anything, however false or absurd, rather than the Holy Scriptures; thus they show the enmity of their hearts against a holy God.

Verses 35-38 Jesus visited not only the great and wealthy cities, but the poor, obscure villages; and there he preached, there he healed. The souls of the meanest in the world are as precious to Christ, and should be so to us, as the souls of those who make the greatest figure. There were priests, Levites, and scribes, all over the land; but they were idol shepherds, ( Zechariah 11:17 ) ; therefore Christ had compassion on the people as sheep scattered, as men perishing for lack of knowledge. To this day vast multitudes are as sheep not having a shepherd, and we should have compassion and do all we can to help them. The multitudes desirous of spiritual instruction formed a plenteous harvest, needing many active labourers; but few deserved that character. Christ is the Lord of the harvest. Let us pray that many may be raised up and sent forth, who will labour in bringing souls to Christ. It is a sign that God is about to bestow some special mercy upon a people, when he stirs them up to pray for it. And commissions given to labourers in answer to prayer, are most likely to be successful.