AS JESUS WENT on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
12On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
14Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
15Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
16“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
18While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
22Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.
23When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26News of this spread through all that region.
27As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
28When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they replied.
29Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”; 30and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
32While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
34But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Original Meaning
THE MIRACLE STORIES and sayings on discipleship in 8:1–9:8 have emphasized the messianic authority of Jesus’ person and mission as he demonstrated the power of the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus’ messianic mission has not unfolded as many expected. He did not cater to the religious or social elite; instead, he healed the marginalized, breaking down purity, ethnic, and gender barriers to the kingdom (8:1–17). He disappointed the discipleship expectations of some who wanted to follow him, indicating that his discipleship was not based on economic well-being or cultural expectations (8:18–22). He demonstrated that the authority of his messianic kingdom has not come with military or political might but with a goal to overpower Satan’s strongholds within nature, the demonic world, disease, and most importantly, sin.
The unexpectedness of Jesus’ mission now begins to elicit opposition. People do not like to have their worldview rattled or challenged. As Jesus calls unexpected and unappreciated types of people to follow him, he encounters resistance from the religious establishment (9:9–17). As he heals surprising types of people, the crowds react with amazement, but the religious leaders hint that his mission is really not from God but from Satan (9:18–35). Yet this does not deter Jesus. In fact, his compassion for the crowds is in stark contrast to the religious leaders, who have made life even more cruel for the people. So Jesus expands his mission to Israel by sending out others with his authoritative message and power (9:36–38).
Unexpected Discipleship Revealed (9:9–17)
MATTHEW CALLED (9:9). The form of discipleship that Jesus institutes is unexpected and shocking, because he breaks down barriers between social classes, overturns religious conceptions of well-being, and abolishes slavish adherence to religious cultural traditions. It begins with the calling of a local tax collector, Matthew.
Taxes in ancient Rome were collected by the highest bidders for a collection contract, but in Palestine tax collectors were employed as representatives of the Roman governing authorities, collecting the prescribed duties and generally seeing to public order. They usually came from the native population, so that they knew the local people and local customs. They were required to collect a certain amount of tax money for the Roman authorities, and whatever extra they collected constituted their own commission. A tendency to excessive extortion made them despised and hated by their own people (cf. Luke 19:8), and they became proverbial of a person with a self-seeking outlook (Matt. 5:46).
Matthew’s tax booth probably stood at some place where the Via Maris passed close by the lakeshore on the outskirts of Capernaum.1 He may have collected tolls from the commercial traffic traveling through this area or taxes for the fish caught on the Sea of Galilee, for both of which Herod Antipas was responsible. The expected tax revenue was a heavy toll to extract from the people of Galilee, who already had a hard life. So Matthew is likely not well respected in the region. In fact, the population probably considers him a traitor, selling out his own people to Roman occupation and rule.2
Then Jesus shows up. “ ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” It is possible that this a dramatic first encounter between Jesus and Matthew and that the forcefulness of Jesus’ authoritative person and call demands immediate obedience.3 But more likely this is the culmination of a prior relationship, similar to the call of the two sets of brothers—Peter and Andrew, James and John (see comments on 4:18–22).4 The wording of Matthew’s call is somewhat different from that used of the four,5 but it carries the same connotation, and the wording used to describe his response is identical—he “followed him.”
This leads us to assume that Matthew has probably been under the influence of Jesus for some time. The public healings, exorcisms, preaching, and teaching have been going on in Galilee and are primarily taking place in the Capernaum region. Matthew has likely witnessed them and is now ready to join Jesus. If the prior call of the brothers extends the pattern further, it may mean also that this is not as much of a conversion story as it is a call to join the four in their training to become fishers of men as members of the twelve apostles. The lists of the Twelve each place Matthew in the second group of four. In its list, this Gospel calls him “Matthew the tax collector” (10:3).
For Jesus, Matthew is a notorious convert. For Matthew, discipleship has an immediate cost, for collecting taxes not only filled the coffers of the governor but also meant a lucrative income for the tax collector (cf. Zacchaeus, Luke 19:1–10). A fisherman could always go back to fishing, but it is less likely that a tax collector could return to the booth. But our author doesn’t expand on what that sacrifice entails, perhaps a subtle indication of the identity of the humble Matthew as author of this first Gospel.
In recounting the call of the tax collector, this Gospel refers to him as “Matthew” (9:9), while Mark refers to him as “Levi son of Alphaeus” (Mark 2:14) and Luke simply as “Levi” (Luke 5:27). Some scholars have attempted to show that Levi was not one of the Twelve and therefore different from Matthew, but this is unwarranted speculation, since the circumstances of the calling is the same in Matthew and Mark/Luke.6
Much speculation surrounds the reason for the name variation, but most scholars suggest that this tax collector has two names, Matthew and Levi. Some speculate that “Levi” is his Jewish birth name and “Matthew” a name given to him after conversion, similar to Saul/Paul.7 Others suggest that “Matthew Levi” is a double name given to him from birth, since there is little evidence for “Matthew” being a Christian name.8 The name “Levi” may indicate he is from the tribe of Levi and therefore familiar with Levitical practices.9 Mark refers to him as “son of Alphaeus,” which some have understood to mean that he is the brother of “James son of Alphaeus” (cf. Mark 3:18). But since the other pairs of brothers are specified to be brothers and are linked as such, it is unlikely that Matthew-Levi and James are brothers.
Little else is known of Matthew-Levi except for the widely attested tradition from the second century on that he wrote the Gospel that now bears his name. As a tax collector he would have been trained in secular scribal techniques, and as a Galilean Jewish Christian he would have been able to interpret the life of Jesus from the perspective of the Old Testament expectations.10 Eusebius said that Matthew first preached to “Hebrews” and then to “others,” including places such as Persia, Parthia, and Syria.11 The traditions are mixed regarding Matthew’s death, with some saying that he died a martyr’s death and others that he died a natural death.12
Tax collectors and sinners (9:10–13). Matthew immediately follows Jesus and arranges a banquet for him and his other disciples at his own home (cf. Luke 5:29–30). Since tax collectors were generally better off financially and yet despised by the local populace because of their extortion practices, Matthew’s calling and response are completely out of the ordinary and require nothing short of a miraculous turnaround in his life. To the banquet are invited “many tax collectors and ‘sinners,’ ” most likely Matthew’s closest companions up to this point.
Table fellowship was an important social and religious convention among many groups in the ancient world. Boundaries were established that designated who were included and excluded from a meal, and that also served to delineate religious and ethical obligations toward the participants. Within Judaism the Therapeutae, Essenes, and Pharisees were especially known for the role that table fellowship played in defining their group identities.13 The shared meal was a formal occasion when group members consumed food made sacred through various ritual practices such as ceremonial washings or tithing. Participants were often marked out by a prior required initiation, such as circumcision or immersion.14
The derision that many felt generally for tax collectors was aggravated because they were regarded as ceremonially unclean through their continual contact with Gentiles and because they worked on the Sabbath.15 Therefore, the Pharisees are aghast that Jesus is eating with them and with “sinners,” so they ask, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
The term “sinner” (hamartōlos) is often used by the Pharisees to point to an identifiable segment of the people opposed to God’s will as reflected in their understanding of obedience to the law and their interpretations (e.g., Luke 7:36–50; cf. Matt. 26:45).16 These are people who willfully ignore rightful boundaries of appropriate Jewish behavior. Matthew’s cohorts are not only traitorous tax collectors but also other Jews who live outside of the law. In the minds of the Pharisees, for Jesus to share a meal with these types of persons indicates that he includes them within his own fellowship; it also suggests to them that he condones their behavior.17
Jesus must now clarify who he is and what his mission entails by using the metaphor of a doctor: “On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’ ” One of the most distinctive features of Jesus’ message and ministry is the promise of salvation to “sinners.”18 But in an incisive play on words, Jesus shows the Pharisees that he has a different view of what it means to be a sinner than they do. To the Pharisees, a sinner is a person who has violated the law according to their interpretations. But to Jesus, a sinner is any person who remains opposed to God’s will. The Pharisees consider themselves to be righteously healthy before God because they define righteousness by their observance of the law—their “sacrifice.” But they are blind to their real sinfulness before God.
Therefore Jesus continues: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The motley crew assembled with Jesus cannot avoid their own sinfulness. Matthew has been one of them, but he has experienced Jesus’ merciful call to salvation, so now he brings his sinful companions to Jesus. He wants his friends to find the same healing for their souls. It is to these that Jesus has come19 to bring his message of mercy. His offer of salvation to sinners apart from factional observances threatens the way of life of the Pharisees, yet is at the heart of the gospel Jesus announces.20
The calling of Matthew and the following feast shows us Jesus’ great mercy. He reaches out to blatant sinners and social outcasts, and he even takes one of them and calls him to be an apostle, one of the foundational leaders of the church to come (10:1–4; Acts 1:13). The Pharisees are so engrossed with their religious self-righteousness that they cannot see their own hardhearted sinfulness. Jesus’ merciful outreach demonstrates for us our own calling, to seek out those who are sinfully sick and to invite them to experience healing of their souls and come into the fellowship of our discipleship to Jesus.
Discipleship and religious traditions (9:14–17). Jesus’ banquet with tax collectors and sinners is offensive to the Pharisees, but it also is offensive to the disciples of Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist. They come to Jesus and ask: “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” These people gathered around John as the prophet who would usher in the messianic age. They assisted him in baptizing those who came to him and engaged in strict religious practices such as fasting and prayer (Luke 5:33; 11:1). The “disciples of the Pharisees” (see Mark 2:18; cf. Matt. 22:16) are most likely those in training to become full initiates to their brotherhood. They have been immersed in the oral law and rigorous practice of their traditions.
Fasting was only prescribed in the Old Testament for the Day of Atonement (cf. Lev. 16:29, 31; 23:27, 32), though other occasions for voluntary fasting arose (for more on fasting see comments on Matt. 6:16–18). John’s disciples do not understand why Jesus’ disciples do not regularly fast as a sign of repentance or as an indication of their spiritual discipline. In his response, Jesus alludes to himself as the “bridegroom,” who in the Old Testament is Yahweh (cf. Isa. 62:5; Hos. 2:19–20): “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?” The arrival of the kingdom of heaven has brought to fulfillment the promises of Israel, which is cause for a time of rejoicing, such as what would be experienced during marriage ceremonies (cf. Matt. 25:12–13). It is not an appropriate time to fast. However, fasting will be appropriate when Jesus is “taken away,” perhaps suggesting violence to the suffering Servant (Isa. 53:8b; Matt. 8:17) that Jesus will experience at the crucifixion.21
Jesus’ response is an important guideline for a proper perspective on spiritual growth and traditional practices. Spiritual growth is not automatically assured through ritual observance of certain spiritual disciplines. In the SM, Jesus said that disciplines such as fasting, prayer, or giving to the needy are worthless unless they express a heart that humbly desires to grow into the Father’s likeness (5:48–6:18). Moreover, such practices must be carried out appropriately, not legalistically. Traditions are what humans have designed to apply biblical principles to everyday life, but they are not commands from God. They can be helpful if practiced appropriately, but they can be stifling if they become more important than scriptural revelation itself.
Jesus illustrates these perspectives on spiritual growth and traditional practices by using two examples from everyday life, which today have become proverbial. He has not come simply to shore up the traditional practices of the Jews. Rather, he has come to offer an entirely new approach to God. Jesus’ kingdom life is an entirely new garment and entirely new wine, which must have appropriate traditional practices.
(1) Jesus uses an example from clothing. “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.” If a person puts an unshrunk new patch on an old, washed, shrunk garment, the new patch will shrink when washed and will tear away from the old cloth, leaving a larger hole. Jesus has not come just to patch up the old religious traditions; rather, he offers a new garment. He does not specify the garment, but if his key statement about entrance to the kingdom in 5:20 is linked with the required wedding garment in the parable of the wedding feast (22:11–13), we can conclude that Jesus is pointing to the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus has not come to patch up the traditional acts of righteousness within religious Judaism; he offers real growth in true righteousness through discipleship in the kingdom of heaven.
(2) Next Jesus uses an example from common wineskins: “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins.” Wineskins were made from tanned and sometimes skinned animal hides. Over time they stretched to their limit and eventually became brittle. New wine that is still fermenting expands and will cause old skins to burst if new wine is poured into them. The new wine and old skins will both be lost. New wine requires new wineskins. In other words, Jesus has not come to fill the old Jewish system of traditions with new life. They are inadequate to the new life of the kingdom. Rather, new forms are needed for his kingdom, and new practices must accommodate the new life of discipleship to Jesus. This does not supercede or abolish the Old Testament, which Jesus has come to fulfill (5:17); instead, it indicates that discipleship to Jesus supercedes rigid legalistic adherence to traditional practices of Judaism.
Unexpected Miracles Demonstrate Extraordinary Compassion (9:18–34)
MATTHEW’S COLLECTION OF miracle stories and discipleship sayings in chapters 8–9 authenticates Jesus’ authority as the Messiah at work. But the unexpected nature of his messianic mission continues to astound the crowds (e.g., 7:28; 8:8; 9:33) and provoke opposition from the religious establishment (9:3–4, 11, 14). In the first cycle of three miracles Jesus demonstrated that he has not come to cater to the religious or social elite but instead to heal the marginalized (see comments on 8:1–17). In the second cycle of three miracles he showed that the authority of the messianic kingdom is not military or political might but instead spiritual might to overpower Satan’s strongholds in nature, the demonic world, and disease/sin (see comments on 8:23–9:8). In this third and final cycle of three miracle stories, Jesus demonstrates extraordinary compassion as he performs unexpected miracles, so that the dead have life (9:18–26), the blind have sight (9:27–31), and the mute have voice (9:32–34).
The response of the crowds becomes increasingly vocal as Jesus’ fame spreads throughout the region (9:31), which contributes to further hostility in the religious leaders as they connect Jesus’ miraculous power with the prince of demons (9:34). Nevertheless, Jesus will model for his disciples how compassion for the harassed and helpless should compel them to minister to the crowds with the gospel and power of the kingdom of heaven (9:35–38).
The dead have life (9:18–26). The first miracle story of this cycle includes a healing of a hemorrhaging woman but climaxes with the raising of a ruler’s daughter (9:18–25). It results in a positive response throughout the region (9:26).
After the encounters with the religious leaders over Jesus’ practices, one of the leaders of the Jewish community comes forward with a pressing need. Matthew’s reference to him as a “ruler” (archon), which denotes either a community leader or the head of a synagogue board (Mark 5:22 and Luke 8:41 specify the latter). Perhaps in a smaller community this man (named Jairus in Mark and Luke) functions as both a community and a synagogue leader.22 By kneeling before Jesus he indicates the extreme honor he gives to him, because kneeling is the appropriate position one takes before God (e.g., Gen. 22:5; Ex. 4:31; Deut. 26:10; Ps. 5:7) or a king or superior (e.g., 1 Sam. 24:9; 1 Kings 1:16, 23).
The ruler’s request is urgent: “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” The ruler has the same confident trust in Jesus’ ability to heal as did the leper (8:2–4), the centurion (8:5–13), and the paralytic and his friends (9:2–7), but his trust is profound enough to believe that Jesus can raise his daughter from the dead. Jesus has not yet raised anyone from the dead, but Old Testament emissaries of God like Elijah (1 Kings 17:17–24) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32–37) were known to have done so. Matthew again condenses the narrative. In his account the daughter is already dead (9:18), while in Mark 5:23 and Luke 8:42 she is at the point of death. Jesus’ compassion is immediate, because he “got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.”
Jesus’ emergency trip to Jairus’s home is interrupted briefly by another dire need—“a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.” Most likely this woman’s condition is menorrhagia, a disease in which the menstrual flow is abnormally prolonged, which usually produces anemia as well.23 This condition is all the more difficult because she would be considered ritually unclean and excluded from normal social and religious relations, since others making contact with her would also become unclean (Lev. 15:25–30).
She has suffered with her condition for twelve years and has sought help from all known medical care (cf. Mark 5:26; Luke 8:43). Nothing has brought healing, so she approaches Jesus and touches “the edge [kraspedon] of his cloak.” The term kraspedon is rendered “tassel” in 23:5, which may be the meaning here as well. On the four corners of a garment worn by men were “tassels” attached with a blue cord, conforming to Numbers 15:37–41 and Deuteronomy 22:12. These tassels reminded the wearer to obey God’s commands and to be holy to God.
Like Jairus and others who have heard of Jesus’ healing powers, this woman has unwavering trust in his ability to heal her: “She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ ” Matthew once more has an abbreviated account. In Mark’s and Luke’s account her healing causes Jesus to recognize that power has gone out from him and he stops to investigate who has touched him (Mark 5:29–30; Luke 8:44–45). Matthew simply records Jesus’ final statement: “Take heart, daughter . . . your faith has healed you.”
Jesus’ expression “Take heart, daughter” again underscores his compassion, while his declaration “your faith has healed you” points to the source of healing. Faith itself does not heal; God does. The woman has faith in Jesus’ ability to heal her, which has brought her into this precarious public arena to seek out his healing. The centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant without being present, and this woman believes that any kind of contact with Jesus, even without him knowing it, will bring healing. So her faith brings her to the place where God can heal her. By making her healing pubic with his announcement, Jesus removes the public stigma of her physical condition and thus facilitates her reentry into normal social and religious life
But Jesus also wants her and any others observing, such as his disciples, to be clear that it is not a magical coat that has healed her; it is God. The flow of healing power comes through the sovereignty of God and the exercise of her faith. Healing power does not just flow continually from Jesus; this is God’s activity. Matthew may indicate that an even more profound event has transpired in this woman’s life because both Jesus’ statement (“has healed)” and Matthew’s narrative (“was healed”) use the verb sozo, which normally is used in the sense of “saved.” It may well be that her act of faith in coming to Jesus for healing is also the moment in which she exercises faith in Jesus as the One who can save her from her sins (cf. 1:21).
Jesus now continues on to Jairus’s home, where he encounters a typical Jewish mourning scene—“flute players and the noisy crowd.”In the family of a prominent person like the ruler, many professional mourners would have joined the family and friends in expressing their grief. Jesus, however, indicates that the death of the little girl is merely “sleep,” at which the mourners laugh. So he clears the house of the skeptics. With the same compassionate touch that healed Peter’s mother-in-law (8:15), Jesus takes the girl by the hand and brings her out of her sleep of death. This scene confirms for all believers that death is merely a state of sleep of one’s body while awaiting the final resurrection (1 Cor. 11:30; 15:20–23, 51–55; 1 Thess. 4:13–18).
This first account of raising someone from the dead fuels the furor about Jesus as “news of this spread through all that region.” Jesus will later emphasize to John that Baptist that the dead being raised is another sign that he is the Messiah (11:2–5).
The blind have sight (9:27–31). The second miracle story records the healing of two blind men. Blindness was one of the grimmest maladies in the ancient world and was considered to be only a little less serious than being dead.24 Nonetheless, it was quite common. Here the two blind men “follow” (akoloutheo) Jesus. This verb sometimes simply indicates spatial movement (e.g., 4:25), but it can also indicate the following of discipleship to Jesus (4:20, 22; 9:9). The context in each case determines the usage.25 The blind men’s understanding of Jesus’ true identity may indicate the latter. They call out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” They understand Jesus to be the “Son of David,” the first time Jesus is called by this title (cf. 1:1).
This expression refers to the promise of the messianic deliverer from the line of David whose kingdom will have no end (2 Sam. 7:12–16; cf. Pss. Sol. 17:23). The messianic age promised to bring healing to the blind (Isa. 29:18; 35:5; 42:7), which Jesus told John the Baptist was one of the signs that he indeed was the expected Coming One (Matt. 11:2–6). The Old Testament records no healing of blindness,26 and none of Jesus’ followers is ever recorded to have given sight to the blind.27 But Jesus’ healing of the blind is one of his most frequent miracles (9:27–31; 12:22–23; 15:30–31; 20:30–34; 21:14–15). These men have profoundly connected Jesus with the prophecies of the Son of David who will heal blindness (cf. 12:22–23; 21:14–15), and they ask for that gift of messianic mercy.
They follow Jesus indoors, where Jesus elicits from them a statement of their faith: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They reply, “Yes, Lord.”Like each of those in the preceding healing scenes, they trust in Jesus’ ability to heal them. Linked with their affirmation that Jesus is the “Son of David,” calling him “Lord” (kyrios) may indicate that they see in Jesus more than any mere prophet. Once again (cf. 8:15; 9:25) Jesus’ compassionate touch accompanies his word of command to bring healing: “Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’ ” As he indicated to the hemorrhaging woman (9:22), Jesus emphasizes to the blind men that their faith in his ability and desire to heal them has prompted them to come to where they can receive his miraculous gift.
As their sight is restored, Jesus warns them, “See that no one knows about this.” The demand for secrecy is a regular aspect of Jesus’ ministry (see comments on 8:4; cf. 12:16; 16:20; 17:9) and may be a reason why he waits to heal them until they are indoors. He carefully avoids stirring up in the crowds a misunderstanding of his messianic identity. Although miracles will attest the authenticity of his gospel message about the arrival of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus does not want crowds to clamor for the miracles alone or to think of him simply as a messianic wonder-worker; he is the Savior, who has come to bring salvation from sin.
At the same time, the public celebration of Jesus’ miracle-working ministry soon leads to further opposition from the religious leaders (cf. 9:34). But the blind men’s enthusiasm over their healing cannot restrain them, because contrary to Jesus’ warning, “they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.” Obedience to Jesus is not yet an established characteristic of their faith in him. Little do they know that their celebration of healing will contribute to even more opposition to Jesus being aroused in the religious leaders.
The mute have voice (9:32–34). The final miracle in this collection of miracle stories involves both healing and exorcism. “While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.” Demon-possession takes a variety of external forms. In the case of the two demoniacs in the area of the Gadarenes, the manifestation produced violent behavior that threatened people (8:28). Here the phenomenon in some way prohibits the man from speaking (see also 12:22). The exorcism of the demon and the concurrent healing of muteness is a most powerful demonstration that the kingdom of heaven has finally arrived.
At the conclusion of the miracle stories the crowd is amazed and exclaim, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, but a Messiah quite unlike what many were expecting. He did not come with militaristic power or regal fanfare. Rather, he came with a powerful message and a unique ministry that amazed the crowds (cf. 7:28–29).
But if the uniqueness of the miracles is a sign to the crowds of God’s activity in Jesus’ ministry, it also confirms to the religious establishment that God does not work in this way. And if God is not the source of Jesus’ miraculous exorcism powers, it must be “by the prince of demons that he drives out demons” (9:34; cf. 9:3).28 Without eyes of faith the Pharisees cannot see beyond their parochial experience that God is doing something unique in Israel in the word and work of Jesus. So they gather their opposition to Jesus, both protecting their religious domain and thinking they are protecting the people from Jesus. This is an ominous tone, which tragically sets a trajectory for the cross that will inevitably come.
The Messiah at Work Enlists Workers (9:35–38)
MATTHEW CONCLUDES HIS collection of miracle stories and discipleship sayings with the same narrative expression that he used to mark the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee: “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness” (9:35; cf. 4:23). These verses form an inclusio, creating a “bookends” effect that sets off the material in the chapters between them. In chapters 5–7 Jesus is the authoritative Messiah in word in the Sermon on the Mount, and in chapters 8–9 he is the Messiah at work in the miracle stories.
The crowds continue to be the object of Jesus’ ministry, and the motivating force is his compassion. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.” The verb “have compassion” is splanchnizomai (“to be moved in the inward parts”), which usually indicates deep feelings in the heart and affections. Elsewhere this word describes Jesus’ motivation to heal and feed the crowd (14:14; 15:32) and heal the blind (20:34; cf. 18:27).29
In this instance, the need Jesus sees is that the crowds are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The metaphor of sheep and shepherd was well known in Israel’s history, ranging from the sacrificial lamb of the Day of Atonement and the Passover (Ex. 12:1–4; 29:35–42) to the relationship that God as shepherd has with Israel his sheep (Isa. 40:10–11) and the psalmist’s utter dependence on God as his shepherd (Ps. 23). The Davidic Messiah will establish the everlasting covenant with Israel as a shepherd (Ezek. 37:24).
The leaders in Israel’s history had also been likened to shepherds. Joshua was appointed leader after Moses, so that “the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd” (Num. 27:17).30 But that is what Israel is like in Jesus’ day. The leaders have not fulfilled their responsibility to guide and protect the people, and therefore the people are “harassed” and “helpless.” These crowds are experiencing distressing difficulties and are unable to care for themselves. The job of the shepherd is to make sure that the sheep are led peacefully beside still waters and that they lack for nothing, but these leaders are harassing the helpless crowds. They are suffering under the oppression of the occupying Roman forces, plus they have all of the daily concerns, heartbreaks, and difficulties of life beating down on them.
In the preceding miracle stories (chs. 8–9), Jesus has healed the diseased and sick, raised the dead, calmed the stormy sea, and exorcised demons. Those needs are hugely important, but woven throughout the scenes is Jesus’ recognition of an underlying destitution that is far worse. In a word, the problem is “sin.” Jesus is the promised Suffering Servant, who will take on himself not only the infirmities of his people but also their sins (8:17; cf. Isa. 53:4–5). The deeper illness of the paralytic and the spiritual sickness of tax collectors and Pharisees alike is their sin (9:2, 13). So the real downfall of the leaders of Israel is that they are not giving proper care to the spiritual needs of the people. Jesus sees deeply into the need of the crowds and has been bringing healing to both body and soul.
The metaphor changes from sheep that are harassed and helpless to a bountiful harvest in need of harvesters (9:37–38). Although the metaphor changes, the meaning remains the same. The “harvest” is the crowds within Israel who have such tremendous needs, as the following mission discourse makes clear (see esp. 10:5–23). The theme of harvest was common in Judaism. A rabbi from around A.D. 130 said, “The day is short and the task is great and the labourers are idle and the wage is abundant and the master of the house is urgent” (m. ʾAbot 2.15). Even as Jesus’ mission is to bring the gospel of the kingdom to the needy, he wants his disciples to join him, because “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
While Matthew normally emphasizes a small group of disciples around Jesus, it need not be restricted to the Twelve here. The disciples are all those who have responded to his summons to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus will send out the Twelve on a special mission within Israel (10:1–15), but as long as there are needy crowds, he calls disciples throughout the ages to become harvest workers (10:16–23). Jesus will later expand on this harvest metaphor and use it to denote a time of judgment (13:30, 39; cf. Isa. 17:11; Joel 3:13; Rev. 14:14–20).
The disciples are to “ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers into his harvest field.” The “Lord of the harvest” is God, who will respond to their prayer for harvest workers. But dramatically it is Jesus who steps forward in answer to their prayers to commission the Twelve to go out and minister. The harvest mission includes the immediate assignment of the Twelve to take the gospel message only to Israel (10:1–15), but also the long-range mission of the disciples throughout the world until the Son of Man returns (10:16–23).
Bridging Contexts
CHRISTOLOGY AND DISCIPLESHIP are two of the most important themes of Matthew’s Gospel. The alternating miracle and teaching scenes throughout chapters 8 and 9 have accentuated those themes. They draw us into the heart of Jesus’ ministry by revealing his identity and mission, which in turn lead us to understand much more clearly the implications for our discipleship to him. Underlying the phenomenal external displays of power are issues that reveal his kingdom mission. Jesus’ miracle-working ministry astounds the crowds and threatens the religious establishment, but those with eyes of faith see that the miraculous power has implications for daily discipleship.
Healing for sinners. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the arrival of the kingdom indicates that the greatest miracle is often the one least noticed. It is the miracle of forgiveness. When Jesus called Matthew, one of the notorious tax collectors, he made a momentous announcement of his kingdom mission—to bring healing to a sin-sick world. His compassion extends to unexpected individuals that were often despised or neglected by the religious elite.
Sin is not cured by religion. In the encounter of Jesus with the Pharisees, who question his practice of dining with the dregs of society, we see that sin is an inner spiritual sickness that must be honestly acknowledged to be incurable by one’s own attempts at religious righteousness. Sin is cured only by the Great Physician. Moreover, sin is the real culprit of humanity’s distress. The physical suffering of the hemorrhaging woman and the blind men was real, and Jesus attended to their needs, but in pointing to their faith in him, he indicates that there are deeper spiritual issues at stake. The crowds seem to want healing without attending to their deeper needs of salvation from sin. And to compound the problem, the crowds are harassed and helpless by religious leaders, who were oppressing them with religious activity that masked the sin problem.
The concerns that we often think are our greatest needs may not be. As we put ourselves into God’s hands, he understands our lives better than we do, and at times he is more concerned with the development of our hearts than he is with the comfort of our lives. There is no question that God enjoys giving good gifts to his children (7:11) and has compassion on our suffering (9:18–34). But sometimes what we think is the greatest gift does not always address the deepest needs in our lives. Our hearts have been tainted severely by the effects of sin, and sin hits the center of our affections and our ability to have a relationship with God. God is always concerned with what is best for us, but what is best may not always be what we think or pursue for our own well-being. The healing of physical suffering is only cosmetic if a sinful heart is not given into the care of the Great Physician.
Spiritual warfare. The second issue that underlies Jesus’ supernatural displays of power is that they are indicators of the cosmic spiritual warfare in which he is engaged. The people of Israel heard for centuries that God was in control and that he would someday send a Messiah to deliver them from evil, hatred, and hurts. But they are now more oppressed than ever. Where is God’s promise of relief? Where is God?
Into that hurt and despair Jesus comes with his authority over evil spirits, with his message, and with his ministry of healing. His casting out of evil spirits and healing of disease and sickness are external validation of the reality of the presence of the kingdom of heaven, and people should now turn to Jesus as the messianic deliverer. His authoritative mission is an invasion of Satan’s realm. No longer is Satan the uncontested ruler of this world. He has met his match, and more, in the arrival of Jesus. And Satan’s evil forces will continue to be confronted, as Jesus’ emissaries go out with his authority to bring release to the harassed and helpless.
But spiritual warfare is deceptive. It does not necessarily make people more “religious.” Because Jesus does not conform to the religious expectations of the Pharisees and does not lead those being exorcised into the religious life advocated by the Pharisees, he is considered to be a demonic fraud (9:34). Jesus’ spiritual liberation intends to lead people into the righteousness of kingdom life that he has promoted in the SM, not the expectations of the religious establishment. The Pharisees are so consumed with scrupulous adherence to external acts of righteousness such as table fellowship and fasting that they are unaware of the spiritual warfare battling for their own hearts.
Contemporary Significance
WHEN I WAS a boy growing up in the 1950s, there were certain words or expressions that evoked powerful images. One was “Pearl Harbor,” which immediately brought to mind not only the surprise attack on the U.S. naval force in Hawaii but also symbolized the U.S. entrance into four years of worldwide bloody warfare. Another expression was “cold war,” which elicited the near hysterical fear of nuclear annihilation as well as the insidious threat of worldwide communism. As the years went by, these expressions lost their emotional impact, either because the memories had faded or the threat had gone away.
But in the last few years other terms have taken on powerful significance. “Columbine” is a name that evokes powerful images, not of the flower by that name but of the horror of mass, cold-blooded murder carried out by two young high school students that many of us watched unfold on live television. “9/11” is a number that used to bring to mind the emergency telephone number but now evokes the horror of mass, cold-blooded murder carried out by terrorists who flew passenger airplanes into occupied buildings, also scenes that many of us watched unfold on live television. Both of these new expressions have brought a tragic awareness that something is terribly wrong, that there is real evil in this world. For all of our modern advancement technologically, it seems only to have given opportunity for more widespread evil and terror.
Ancient Israel also had terms with evocative images. “Egypt” called to mind images of slavery and national suffering. “Nebuchadnezzar” evoked painful memories of later national suffering in the Babylonian deportation and the destruction of the holy temple in Jerusalem. On an individual level, expressions like “Unclean!” evoked the horror of disease for which there was no physical cure and which meant the emotional dreadfulness of ceremonial and social isolation.
But Israel also had other expressions that brought hope. “Passover” brought to mind the annual ceremony that celebrated Israel’s deliverance by God from Egyptian slavery. “Day of the Lord” was an expression that offered hope that Israel’s enemies would one day be vanquished and Israel would be reestablished in Jerusalem (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14–21). “Son of David” expressed hope of the Anointed One of the line of David who would usher in the messianic age that promised healing and cleansing (2 Sam. 7:11–16; Isa. 35:1–10; 42:1–7). These powerfully evocative expressions of hope also have significance for us as we look at this passage.
Evil is real. Columbine and 9/11 are painful reminders that evil is real. This world lies in the grip of sin, and the evil one has not yet been fully vanquished. Death too is a real phenomenon that stares each of us in the face. Whether one ever sees or experiences personally an encounter with a demon (and I don’t suggest that you go looking for them!), this world is a spiritual battleground.
But there is evil of less dramatic sorts as well. In our passage, there was the evil of religious elitism that the Pharisees demonstrated toward the tax collectors and sinners (9:10–13). There was the evil of disease that kept a woman locked up in physical suffering and social and religious impurity (9:20). There was the evil of physical handicaps like blindness and of demon possession that locked a man up in his muteness (9:27, 32). There was the evil of oppression of common people from military and religious powers (9:36). And with ironic tragedy, there was the evil of religious opposition to God’s liberating plan of deliverance (9:34).
These are scenes of evil that you and I see on a daily basis. Whether it is going through suffering with loved ones who are experiencing disease and death, watching the tragedy of an unwitting young idealist entrapped by a religious cult, or observing the incredible cruelty of city gangs, evil is real in this world. We must live with that as a reality. In spite of the blind confidence of some political and religious optimists, the world is not getting better spiritually, ethically, or morally through modern progress.
But into these overwhelming scenes of evil, Jesus’ messianic mission comes to offer hope. The liberation from slavery to sin that the Passover symbolized for Israel is now fully realized in Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and as the Great Physician who has “not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13). He healed the sick, exorcised the demons, and confronted religious hypocrisy in the first century, and he brings the same salvation to our sin-sick world. Today that includes sinners like you, me, and the raucous neighbor down the block. He has come with mercy and grace to save us from our own helpless state.
Only a couple of days after the Columbine tragedy, I was in the grocery store where my eye was caught by the bold letters on the cover of a national magazine. “MY GOD, MY GOD!” with pictures below of the parents of the high school kids. Those words were both an exclamation of horror and a cry for help from the people of Littleton, Colorado. They are no different than the people of our communities who need to know and hear from us that only in Jesus will we find deliverance from the evil.
Opposition will come. It’s a well-known phenomenon of Christian experience that when we are doing a good work for the Lord, we can expect opposition. But it’s most heartbreaking when we find that the opposition comes from within. Israel was often Israel’s worst enemy. The nation’s history was checkered by a number of occasions when the people suffered oppression, usually because of their own penchant for engaging in adulterous relationships with the idols of surrounding nations (e.g., Jer. 3:6–10). Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion and destruction of Jerusalem were a painful judgment by God for Israel’s own faithlessness (cf. Jer. 21–22).
As Jesus came with his plan of deliverance, he almost immediately encountered opposition, but the heartbreak is that it came primarily from his own people, especially the religious leaders of Israel. They objected to his associations with sinful people as he reached out with his call to kingdom repentance (9:11). They objected to his disciples’ supposed lack of commitment to spiritual disciplines (9:14). They objected to Jesus’ form of spiritual liberation, because it did not fit their religious parochialism (9:34). These religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, had elevated their traditions to the point where they could not hear or see the truth of Jesus’ gospel message. Their human traditions and interpretations supplanted God’s Word and distorted Jesus’ message. He will warn the Pharisees of this dangerous tendency in their “traditions of the elders” (15:1–9). A day of judgment awaits those who continue down this path (e.g., ch. 23).
We too will face opposition if we are doing God’s work in God’s way. We will not be popular with the current secular culture and will often find opposition if we speak the truth about sin or give a biblical evaluation of current trends in film or entertainment or even in educational philosophies. We should expect opposition, but the heartbreak will be when it is from within. It may be when one of your extended family members opposes your decision to go on the mission field. Opposition might come when the pastor tries to take the church in a direction that will mean asking a popular music leader to resign because of a difference of vision for worship.
The listing could be endless, but it also should be added that it may not be easily determined in each situation who is in the right. A bit of tension in relationships should encourage us to open up lines of communication so that we listen to one another and try to ascertain clearly the Lord’s principles and leading in each different scenario. I am certain that the Pharisees thought that they were right in opposing Jesus. They felt that Jesus was unjustly opposing their leadership among the people. Their hard-heartedness prevented them from hearing Jesus’ message and from allowing the Spirit to guide them to the truth. We should expect opposition if we are doing something right, but our own humility must cause us to admit also that we may be wrong.
Jesus is compassionate. We may think that the evil and opposition Jesus encountered would harden him, but one of the most striking pictures in these scenes is his compassion. Compassion is an emotion that Jesus feels for the crowds throughout his ministry. But in Jesus it is not simply “emotional.” He gathers with sinners so that they can hear his message (9:10). He reaches out and touches those who are dead and diseased (9:25, 29). He continually goes to the crowds with his salvation mission of preaching and healing (9:36). As the “Son of David” he compassionately touches the eyes of the blind as a sign that the messianic mission brings healing and cleansing. Jesus’ empathy is guided by a deep understanding of the real needs of people.
That compassion provides us with an important object lesson. As we see the needs of people all around us, we must allow our hearts to feel deeply with them. But we cannot stop there. We must get close enough to them to see how we can bring the healing touch of the gospel of the kingdom to their deepest needs. For Jesus, the message of the kingdom’s saving power was primarily a ministry of spiritual healing.
But this is not license for the church to neglect the role of ministering to the whole person. We should do all we can to alleviate suffering. Caring for the physical, emotional, or psychological needs of an individual can be vital to displaying Jesus’ compassion for individuals and is often instrumental in creating a responsive attitude to the message of the gospel. This is the approach of a mission that reaches out to the inner city homeless. The message of the gospel will likely fall on deaf ears if the immediate physical needs are not addressed. It is hard to convince an individual that God cares if he is dying of AIDS or if she is suffering emotional and physical abuse from an alcoholic husband.
A proper sense of balance comes from keeping an eternal perspective on our compassion. Our responsibility for being salt and light among the evil of this world will not result in the eradication of evil. Regardless of how much healing of physical, emotional, or psychological problems we provide, each individual will someday have an eternal reckoning. Our compassion for the world is insincere unless we keep this eternal perspective. Humanity is dying without the Great Physician, and we are the ones who must go next door or around the world carrying his healing touch, because they will either be gathered in this harvest of grace or face the next harvest of judgment. It is a weighty and marvelous charge that Jesus gives to disciples of all ages.