Matthew 9

Mt 9:1-8.

HEALING OF A

PARALYTIC.

Mr 2:1-12;

Lu 5:17-26).

This incident appears to follow next in order of time to the cure of the

leper

(Mt 8:1-4).

For the exposition, see on

Mr 2:1-12.

Mt 9:9-13.

MATTHEW'S

CALL AND

FEAST.

Mr 2:14-17;

Lu 5:27-32).

The Call of Matthew

(Mt 9:9).

9. And as Jesus passed forth from thence--that is, from the scene of

the paralytic's cure in Capernaum, towards the shore of the Sea of

Galilee, on which that town lay. Mark, as usual, pictures the scene more

in detail, thus

(Mr 2:13):

"And He went forth again by the seaside; and all the multitude resorted

unto Him, and He taught them"--or, "kept teaching them." "And as He

passed by"

he saw a man, named Matthew--the writer of this precious Gospel,

who here, with singular modesty and brevity, relates the story of his

own calling. In Mark and Luke he is called Levi, which seems to

have been his family name. In their lists of the twelve apostles,

however, Mark and Luke give him the name of Matthew, which seems to

have been the name by which he was known as a disciple. While he

himself sinks his family name, he is careful not to sink his

occupation, the obnoxious associations with which he would place over

against the grace that called him from it, and made him an apostle.

(See on

Mt 10:3).

Mark alone tells us

(Mr 2:14)

that he was "the son of Alphæus"--the same, probably, with the

father of James the Less. From this and other considerations it is

pretty certain that he must at least have heard of our Lord before this

meeting. Unnecessary doubts, even from an early period, have been

raised about the identity of Levi and Matthew. No capable jury, with

the evidence before them which we have in the Gospels, would hesitate

in giving a unanimous verdict of identity.

sitting at the receipt of custom--as a publican, which Luke

(Lu 5:27)

calls him. It means the place of receipt, the toll house or booth in

which the collector sat. Being in this case by the seaside, it might be

the ferry tax for the transit of persons and goods across the lake,

which he collected. (See on

Mt 5:46).

and he saith unto him, Follow me--Witching words these, from the lips

of Him who never employed them without giving them resistless efficacy

in the hearts of those they were spoken to.

And he--"left all"

(Lu 5:28),

"arose and followed him."

The Feast

(Mt 9:10-13).

10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house--The

modesty of our Evangelist signally appears here. Luke says

(Lu 5:29)

that "Levi made Him a great feast," or "reception," while

Matthew merely says, "He sat at meat"; and Mark and Luke say that it

was in Levi's "own house," while Matthew merely says, "He sat at meat

in the house." Whether this feast was made now, or not till

afterwards, is a point of some importance in the order of events, and

not agreed among harmonists. The probability is that it did not take

place till a considerable time afterwards. For Matthew, who ought

surely to know what took place while his Lord was speaking at his own

table, tells us that the visit of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue,

occurred at that moment

(Mt 9:18).

But we know from Mark and Luke that this visit of Jairus did not take

place till after our Lord's return, at a later period from the country

of the Gadarenes. (See

Mr 5:21,

&c., and Lu 8:40,

&c.). We conclude, therefore, that the feast was not made in the

novelty of his discipleship, but after Matthew had had time to be

somewhat established in the faith; when returning to Capernaum, his

compassion for old friends, of his own calling and character, led him

to gather them together that they might have an opportunity of hearing

the gracious words which proceeded out of His Master's mouth, if haply

they might experience a like change.

behold, many publicans and sinners--Luke says, "a great company"

(Lu 5:29)

came and sat down with him and his disciples--In all such cases

the word rendered "sat" is "reclined," in allusion to the ancient mode

of lying on couches at meals.

11. And when the Pharisees--"and scribes," add Mark and Luke

(Mr 2:6;

Lu 5:21).

saw it, they said--"murmured" or "muttered," says Luke

(Lu 5:30).

unto his disciples--not venturing to put their question to Jesus

Himself.

Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?--(See on

Lu 15:2).

12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them--to the Pharisees

and scribes; addressing Himself to them, though they had shrunk from

addressing Him.

They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick--that

is, "Ye deem yourselves whole; My mission, therefore, is not to you: The

physician's business is with the sick; therefore eat I with publicans

and sinners." Oh, what myriads of broken hearts, of sin-sick souls, have

been bound up by this matchless saying!

13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth--

(Ho 6:6),

I will have mercy, and not sacrifice--that is, the one rather than

the other. "Sacrifice," the chief part of the ceremonial law, is here

put for a religion of literal adherence to mere rules; while "mercy"

expresses such compassion for the fallen as seeks to lift them up. The

duty of keeping aloof from the polluted, in the sense of "having no

fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness," is obvious enough;

but to understand this as prohibiting such intercourse with them as is

necessary to their recovery, is to abuse it. This was what these

pharisaical religionists did, and this is what our Lord here exposes.

for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners

to repentance--The italicized words are of doubtful authority

here, and more than doubtful authority in

Mr 2:17;

but in

Lu 5:32

they are undisputed. We have here just the former statement stripped of

its figure. "The righteous" are the whole; "sinners," the sick. When

Christ "called" the latter, as He did Matthew, and probably some of

those publicans and sinners whom he had invited to meet Him, it was to

heal them of their spiritual maladies, or save their souls: "The

righteous," like those miserable self-satisfied Pharisees, "He sent

empty away."

Mt 9:14-17.

DISCOURSE ON

FASTING.

See on

Lu 5:33-39.

Mt 9:18-26.

THE

WOMAN WITH THE

ISSUE OF

BLOOD

HEALED.--THE

DAUGHTER OF

JAIRUS

RAISED TO

LIFE.

Lu 8:40-56;

Mr 5:21-43).

For the exposition, see on

Mr 5:21-43.

Mt 9:27-34.

TWO

BLIND

MEN AND A

DUMB

DEMONIAC

HEALED.

These two miracles are recorded by Matthew alone.

Two Blind Men Healed

(Mt 9:27-31).

27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed

him--hearing, doubtless, as in a later case is expressed, "that

Jesus passed by"

(Mt 20:30).

crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us--It is

remarkable that in the only other recorded case in which the blind

applied to Jesus for their sight, and obtained it, they addressed Him,

over and over again, by this one Messianic title, so well known--"Son of

David"

(Mt 20:30).

Can there be a doubt that their faith fastened on such great Messianic

promises as this, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c.

(Isa 35:5)?

and if so, this appeal to Him, as the Consolation of Israel, to do His

predicted office, would fall with great weight upon the ears of

Jesus.

28. And when he was come into the house--To try their faith and

patience, He seems to have made them no answer. But

the blind men came to Him--which, no doubt, was what He desired.

and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? they

said unto him, Yea, Lord--Doubtless our Lord's design was not only to

put their faith to the test by this question, but to deepen it, to raise

their expectation of a cure, and so prepare them to receive it; and the

cordial acknowledgment, so touchingly simple, which they immediately

made to Him of His power to heal them, shows how entirely that object

was gained.

29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it

unto you--not, Receive a cure proportioned to your faith, but,

Receive this cure as granted to your faith. Thus would they carry

about with them, in their restored vision, a gracious seal of the faith

which drew it from their compassionate Lord.

30. And their eyes were opened: and Jesus straitly charged them--The

expression is very strong, denoting great earnestness.

31. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all

that country--(See on

Mt 8:4).

A Dumb Demoniac Healed

(Mt 9:32-34).

32. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed

with a devil--"demonized." The dumbness was not natural, but was the

effect of the possession.

33. And when the devil--demon.

was cast out, the dumb spake--The particulars in this case are not

given; the object being simply to record the instantaneous restoration

of the natural faculties on the removal of the malignant oppression of

them, the form which the popular astonishment took, and the very

different effect of it upon another class.

and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in

Israel--referring, probably, not to this case only, but to

all those miraculous

displays of healing power which seemed to promise a new era in the

history of Israel. Probably they meant by this language to indicate, as

far as they thought it safe to do so, their inclination to regard Him as

the promised Messiah.

34. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince

of the devils--"the demons through the prince of the demons." This

seems to be the first muttering of a theory of such miracles which soon

became a fixed mode of calumniating them--a theory which would be

ridiculous if it were not melancholy as an outburst of the darkest

malignity. (See on

Mt 12:24,

&c.).

Mt 9:35-10:5.

THIRD

GALILEAN

CIRCUIT--MISSION OF THE

TWELVE

APOSTLES.

As the Mission of the Twelve supposes the previous choice of them--of

which our Evangelist gives no account, and which did not take place till

a later stage of our Lord's public life--it is introduced here out of

its proper place, which is after what is recorded in

Lu 6:12-19.

Third Galilean Circuit

(Mt 9:35)

--and probably the last.

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--The italicized words

are of more than doubtful authority here, and were probably introduced

here from

Mt 4:23.

The language here is so identical with that used in describing the

first circuit

(Mt 4:23),

that we may presume the work done on both occasions was much the same.

It was just a further preparation of the soil, and a fresh sowing of

the precious seed. (See on

Mt 4:23).

To these fruitful journeyings of the Redeemer, "with healing in His

wings," Peter no doubt alludes, when, in his address to the household

of Cornelius, he spoke of "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the

Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all

that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with Him"

(Ac 10:38).

Jesus Compassionating the Multitudes, Asks Prayer for Help

(Mt 9:36-38).

He had now returned from His preaching and healing circuit, and the

result, as at the close of the first one, was the gathering of a vast

and motley multitude around Him. After a whole night spent in prayer,

He had called His more immediate disciples, and from them had solemnly

chosen the twelve; then, coming down from the mountain, on which this

was transacted, to the multitudes that waited for Him below, He had

addressed to them--as we take it--that discourse which bears so strong

a resemblance to the Sermon on the Mount that many critics take it to

be the same. (See on

Lu 6:12-49;

and

Mt 5:1,

Introductory Remarks). Soon after this, it should seem, the multitudes

still hanging on Him, Jesus is touched with their wretched and helpless

condition, and acts as is now to be described.

36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on

them, because they fainted--This reading, however, has hardly any

authority at all. The true reading doubtless is, "were harassed."

and were scattered abroad--rather, "lying about," "abandoned," or

"neglected."

as sheep, having no shepherd--their pitiable condition as wearied

under bodily fatigue, a vast disorganized mass, being but a faint

picture of their wretchedness as the victims of pharisaic guidance;

their souls uncared for, yet drawn after and hanging upon Him. This

moved the Redeemer's compassion.

37. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is

plenteous--His eye doubtless rested immediately on the Jewish

field, but this he saw widening into the vast field of "the world"

(Mt 13:38),

teeming with souls having to be gathered to Him.

but the labourers--men divinely qualified and called to

gather them in--"are few."

38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest--the great Lord and

Proprietor of all. Compare

Joh 15:1,

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman."

that he will send forth labourers into his harvest--The word properly

means "thrust forth"; but this emphatic sense disappears in some places,

as in

Mt 9:25,

and Joh 10:4

--"When He putteth forth His own sheep." (See on

Mt 4:1).