MATTHEW
9:18-21
18
While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain
ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but
come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 19
And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20
And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood
twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21
For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall
be whole. 22
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter,
be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was
made whole from that hour.
Here
we have a “certain ruler” of a synagogue, who worshiped Jesus;
again we see no objection from the LORD, Who if He were not God,
would object to such an action, declaring that God alone is to be
worshiped and no other. We hear the ruler declare that his daughter
is dead, not merely sick or seriously ill (like the Centurion's
servant) but dead. This ruler perhaps had seen enough of the LORD's
ministry to express such a confidence, that with but a touch of His
hand, He could restore her to life.
May
we likewise express such confidence in our prayers to the LORD, that
with but a touch of His nail-pierced hand, He may bring spiritual
life to those now spiritually dead; those dear family members and
friends that we have shared the gospel with, but with little or no
success.
The
LORD alone is the giver of life, no one can bring such life to
another; we can only bring the message of life, and lead them to the
Author of life Who may impart eternal life to the repentant soul who
sees their own sin for what it is.
En
route to this certain ruler's home, to heal his daughter, we now see
an ailing woman who has this infirmity for twelve years (in a
different Gospel account it states that she had spent all her living
on physicians and was “none the better” (LK. 8:43).) She has
stated that all she needed to do to find healing was to touch the hem
of His garment; not that there was anything in particular about that
hem, but rather the One to whom that garment belonged to. The LORD
grants the “garment of salvation” to lost souls, and Jesus is
Himself our salvation; He is adept at saving in any and all
capacities: physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, etc.
In
both cases (the certain ruler and this poor ailing woman), “touch”
is mentioned as something that is necessary for healing and
restoration. We must always seek the touch of the Master in our
lives. To seek that contact and fellowship and communion is for us,
life and peace.
The
LORD of the Law, the LORD of Righteousness is being approached by
this ailing woman, and from the LORD, she receives healing grace
(“virtue” MARK 5:30); here is a beautiful picture of Israel who
will receive from their King, Who imparted to His people the Holy Law
of God, Who is their “righteousness” and will visit His people
with salvation and healing!
MATTHEW
9:23-26
23
And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and
the people making a noise, 24 He said unto
them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn. 25 But when the
people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the
maid arose. 26 And the fame
hereof went abroad into all that land.
I
have often wondered how the LORD must have felt when He told those
minstrels that the young girl (“maid”) wasn't really dead, and
“they laughed Him to scorn”. Was He offended? Hurt? Frustrated at
their lack of faith? Surely, they didn't realize that this was God
Himself in their midst that they were scorning!
Yet today, people
have the same disregard for the Holy Bible; not realizing that it is
truly God's blessed Word to us and scorning it, laughing at those who
count it as precious! And just as we are admonished to not “cast
our pearls before swine” (MATT. 7:6), the LORD escorted those
scorners out, for He would not privilege them with the sight of this
miracle. He allowed only the maid's parents, along with Peter, James
and John (MARK 5:37-42). It's interesting to note that no one stays
dead in any of the Gospel accounts when they are in the presence of
Jesus and this young girl was joyously restored to her parents as
well! It is no wonder that the LORD's fame spread abroad for such
things were never seen in Israel!
MATTHEW
9:27-31
27
And
when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and
saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. 28 And
when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus
saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto
him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then
touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto
you. 30 And
their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See
that no man know it. 31 But
they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that
country.
Though
these two men were blind, they certainly had insight enough that they
could address Jesus by His proper title: “Son of David” which was
a Messianic term, for the Messiah would not be any ordinary man of
the lineage of David (of the tribe of Judah), but THE Son of David,
the Messiah-King of Israel! Notice the simplicity of this exchange.
The LORD simply asked them if they believed He was able to heal them
of their blindness and they affirmed that He did; He then simply
touched them, healed them and said “According to your faith be it
done unto you.”
Simple, uncomplicated and without any sort of
religious trappings or regalia. How very different from today's
televangelists with their prayer handkerchiefs, anointed prayer
shawls, blessed holy water or oil 'from the Holy Land' etc. etc. for
a “love gift” of ONLY – some exorbitant amount of money! By
declaring that people can receive healing and answers to prayer by
their 'anointed' whatever, they establish themselves as a kind of
exclusive priesthood; an unbiblical idea and one that brings
oppression to God's people.
This
sort of thing brings shame on the name of Christ and His church, and
yet the ministry of such televangelists seems to flourish despite
this kind of nonsense! We children of God, if we are in fact true
children of God (JOHN 1:12-13) need no such intermediary for healing
and answered prayers. We only have to approach our LORD Who may ask
if we believe that He “is able to do” what we are praying for.
Let us express with the fullness of our hearts that utter abandon to
the LORD and His Almighty power and Holy will and affirm boldly that
HE IS ABLE! And we may receive from His hand the answer to our
prayers!
MATTHEW
9:32-35
32
As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed
with a devil. 33 And when the
devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled,
saying, It was never so seen in Israel. 34 But the
Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the
devils. 35 And Jesus went
about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and
every disease among the people.
Now
up until this point, we have witnessed the LORD bringing healing and
deliverance to many, many people; at this present juncture however,
something quite significant happens that brings a revelation about
this Man from Nazareth to people; the same sort of revelation that
was perceived by those two blind men just previously mentioned. This
happens when the LORD brings deliverance to another man possessed of
a demonic spirit (in Ch. 12:22-32). We'll get to all that later; for
now let's examine these few verses:
Remember
the Messianic prophecy of ISAIAH 35:6? In particular the part about
how “the dumb will sing”? The word for “dumb” can refer to
“binding” as in 'tongue-tied'. When taken in connection with vs.
32 of our text that refers to demonic possession, such a mute
condition could be a result.
It was common for Jewish exorcists to
inquire of the demon's name when performing an exorcism; yet this was
impossible if the demon had bound the victim so that they were unable
to speak. It was believed (because of ISAIAH 35 and other passages)
that the Messiah would be able to cast such demons out, without the
knowledge of its name. So, we have Jesus of Nazareth casting out the
demon of a mute man and the people marveled because nothing like this
was ever seen in Israel before!
In
light of such a miracle that would prove a Messianic claim as valid,
the Pharisees were intent to discredit the LORD Jesus, claiming that
He is merely casting them out by the power of Satan himself. And the
LORD's response to that accusation? There is none; He makes no such
reply to these religious leaders. Once we get to Chapter 12, we shall
re-examine this event and the similar event of that chapter.
In
the mean time, the LORD busies Himself with teaching in synagogues,
healing and preaching “the Gospel of the Kingdom (of Israel)” as
the Messiah King. No doubt the disciples were harboring exuberant
hope that this Man, Jesus of Nazareth – the son of Mary, herself a
daughter of the tribe of Judah (the royal line) would restore
Israel's kingdom and her glory.
It
was one of the first questions that they asked of Him after the
resurrection in ACTS 1:6! The LORD's answer: the time of the Kingdom
is in the Father's keeping; He didn't say, the Kingdom of Israel is
finished; there is now only the church. Israel's future glory and
kingdom are in the Father's keeping and will be manifest when He
gives the green light and sends His Son to inaugurate that reign!
MATTHEW
9:36-38
36
But
when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no
shepherd. 37 Then
saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few; 38 Pray
ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
labourers into his harvest.
Compassion
is action anticipated and motivated by love. The LORD saw the people
scattered, fainting, and lost. He sees people in the same way today,
the world over: we are fainting and weak because of the burdens and
ruinous influences in life – financial disasters, life-threatening
ailments, destructive divorces, and other woes for which there seems
no remedy. As a result people turn to alcohol, drugs, sex to try to
find satisfaction and fulfillment, or at the least, to take an edge
of the agony that they are unwilling or unable to face.
How
the LORD longs with aching heart to bring healing, rest, relief,
restoration and wholeness of spirit, soul and body to the blind
citizens of this world of sin. How He rejoices when a soul surrenders
to Him and allows Him free reign to work in their life, bringing
salvation, order and peace. He desires to do such through His people,
the church and with the Gospel granted to them by Commission. Even
here in this passage He instructs His disciples to pray that the LORD
of the harvest will send forth laborers into His harvest, and so we
must likewise pray. Let us also be ready when the LORD answers that
prayer and sends YOU and I as those laborers!
ROMANS 10:13-1513 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
As
we are armed with the G.O.S.P.E.L. (G.ods O.mnipotent S.alvation
P.roclaiming E.ternal L.ife) let us likewise be ready for warfare,
because the enemy isn't about to passively allow slaves of his
kingdom of darkness be rescued from his lair and delivered to the
Kingdom of God! This is an essential element of spiritual warfare:
the deliverance of sinners from Satan! For this we indeed need the
“shoes shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace (EPH.
6:15).
Thus
concludes Chapter 9 of this Gospel account according to Matthew!
Chapter 10 is forthcoming! Until then, remember: JESUS RETURNS SOON!
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