PREVIOUS CHAPTER - NEXT CHAPTER - HELP - GR VIDEOS - GR YOUTUBE - TWITTER - SD1 YOUTUBE CHAPTER 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"
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.
11. And when the Pharisees--"and scribes," add Mark and Luke
(Mr 2:6;
Lu 5:21).
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.
13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth--
(Ho 6:6),
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).
28. And when he was come into the house--To try their faith and
patience, He seems to have made them no answer. But
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.
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."
37. Then saith he unto his GOTO NEXT CHAPTER - D. J-F-B INDEX & SEARCH
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