Matthew 9

Following the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5–7 of the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 8–9 gather accounts of Jesus' healings and miracles. Matthew 9:35 repeats nearly the same wording as Matthew 4:23, closing this section and leading into the sending of the twelve disciples in Matthew 10.

Outline

• Verses 1–8 Jesus crosses by boat and returns to his own city, where he forgives the sins of a paralytic brought to him and raises him up. Some of the scribes say within themselves, "This man blasphemeth."
• Verses 9–13 Jesus calls Matthew, who is sitting at the receipt of custom, and eats in his house with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees object.
• Verses 14–17 When the disciples of John ask about fasting, Jesus answers with the figures of the bridegroom, a piece of new cloth, and new wine in new bottles.
• Verses 18–26 A ruler asks Jesus to restore his dead daughter to life. On the way, a woman who has suffered from an issue of blood for twelve years touches the hem of his garment and is healed. Jesus then takes the girl by the hand and raises her.
• Verses 27–31 Two blind men follow Jesus, crying, "Thou son of David," and he opens their eyes.
• Verses 32–34 Jesus heals a mute man possessed by a demon. The Pharisees say he casts out demons through the prince of the devils.
• Verses 35–38 Jesus goes about all the cities and villages, teaching and healing. Moved with compassion for the multitudes, who are like sheep having no shepherd, he tells his disciples to pray for laborers for the harvest.

Key Verses

• Matthew 9:13: "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Explaining why he keeps company with tax collectors, Jesus quotes Hosea 6: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice."
• Matthew 9:17: "They put new wine into new bottles." This figure illustrates the relationship between the new thing Jesus brings and older customs.
• Matthew 9:37: "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few." This saying leads into the sending of the disciples in chapter 10.

People and Places

• Jesus Christ: Calls himself the Son of Man and speaks of his authority to forgive sins.
• The paralytic: Brought by friends on his bed. This event is treated in the article Healing of the Paralytic.
• Scribes and Pharisees: Criticize Jesus' declaration of forgiveness and his table fellowship.
• Matthew: A tax collector working at the tax booth, who follows Jesus immediately upon being called.
• The disciples of John: Followers of John the Baptist.
• The ruler: A leader who asks Jesus to restore his daughter to life. Mark and Luke identify him as Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue.
• The woman with the issue of blood: A woman who had suffered from unceasing bleeding for twelve years.
• Jesus' "own city": The place where Jesus was staying, commonly identified as Capernaum in light of Matthew 4:13 and Mark 2:1.

Points for Reflection

• The same events appear in Mark 2 and 5 and in Luke 5 and 8. Mark and Luke give the name "Levi" to the tax collector whom Jesus calls. Identifying this tax collector with Matthew the Gospel writer reflects church tradition; the text itself does not state it.
• Matthew records that the girl "is even now dead." Mark and Luke record that she was still dying when her father first came to Jesus.
• The word "whole" (literally "saved") in verse 22 can be read as referring to physical healing or as also including the salvation of the soul. The Pentecostal tradition, which emphasizes divine healing, frequently cites this chapter as a basis for healing today. Cessationists, by contrast, place greater weight on reading these healings as signs of the Messiah.
• The phrase "the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them" in verse 15 is read as an allusion to Jesus' death and is cited in connection with the church's practice of fasting.

In the Korean Church

"New wine into new bottles" is frequently used in sermons on the new year or on church renewal. Verses 37–38 are widely used as texts for missions and evangelism rallies and for sermons urging believers to commit themselves as laborers.