Read and Believe in Jesus.
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13b
.
.
REVIEW – As Jesus left the crowd to sail across the Sea, two men ran up and pledged to follow Him. But they were soon found to be all talk and no commitment. On the SE shore of Galilee, Jesus found two more men, desperately consumed by demons who were tearing them apart. Jesus freed them from their possession, and they spread the news of Jesus’ work throughout their land. Two men on opposite ends of Jesus’ journey, so different in their background, current life & possessions, and dedication to Him.
.
.
Matthew 9:1-8.
Back across the Sea, Jesus entered Capernaum again, and immediately some people brought a paralytic to him. When Jesus saw THEIR faith, He turned to the man on the bed. Seeing his deepest need, Jesus spoke aloud, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
How did the paralyzed man react to this inner cleansing? We’ll never know, because right then some religious leaders stepped forward and accused Jesus. ‘This man is blaspheming!”
Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do YOU think evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Rise and walk’? “But that you may know that the Son of Man has AUTHORITY on earth to forgive sins…” And here Jesus turned to the cripple and said, “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
And the no-longer-paralyzed man got up and went home (healed and forgiven!). When the crowds saw this (no mention of the religious leaders’ reactions), they were afraid and GLORIFIED GOD, who had given men such authority
The religious leaders thought they had no sin; they practiced a righteousness far beyond what God asked… at least in their own eyes. Jesus had not come for such men (or women) as these. They were the kind of pompous men who had already “received their reward.”
No, Jesus had come to save those who recognized their sin and helplessness, personified in the paralytic whose sin tormented his mind. Their seeking Him and their faith received a “reward” from Jesus: forgiveness of sin and relief from their body’s pain.
Who went away from this scene rejoicing, do you think?
.
.
Matthew 9:9-18.
Then, just like that, Jesus walked past the Roman tax booth where Matthew sat, stylus and scroll in hand. Had HE witnessed the paralyzed man healed and forgiven? Was his heart also wretched with sin, with betrayal of his people and his God? Did his eyes meet Jesus’ as the Son of God approached? Were Jesus’ words filled with tender compassion?
“Follow me,” Jesus said.
And Matthew rose (left all) and followed Him. (Just like the fishermen before him.)
.
Like another tax collector saved by the Lord Jesus (Zaccheus), Matthew held a dinner party to honor his new Master and invited all his tax-collector friends. “Listen to this man! Hear his healing words! He has come from heaven for men like us! He will forgive!”
What a joyous dinner!
But outside, some grumbled. They were the very ones who griped at the paralytic’s forgiveness. “Why does this man eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (They might have smelled that good lamb roasting and the garlic-onion-lentils … and were a bit jealous.)
Jesus heard and answered them with a couple sayings of the day. “‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, only those who are sick.’ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the “righteous”, but sinners.”
Did they read up on what the ancient Rabbis had said, or did they simply disregard everything but their own disdain of this simple Teacher from Nazareth?
.
.
Matthew 9:14-17.
Another accusatory question, this time from John the Baptist’s disciples. “Why do WE and the Pharisees fast, but YOUR disciples do not fast?” (First of all, why were John’s disciples partnering with the uber-strict Jewish leaders? John had once called these self-righteous men “a nest of vipers!’)
All Jews were required by God to fast ONCE PER YEAR, on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). That’s it, barring a national emergency.
Over the years, tradition and rabbinic law added 5 or 6 more to commemorate tragedies like the destruction of the Temple and exile to Babylon, etc. The Pharisees fasted ONCE OR TWICE PER WEEK to “parade” their piety. God NEVER asked for this.
(Now there is nothing wrong with your fasting and praying for special reasons in your own life. Do this in private and as unto God. Matthew 6:16-18)
.
Jesus answered them with three illustrations they would recognize. (But would they understand?)
1. No guest fasts as long as “the Bridegroom” is with them. (Jesus). But when the Bridegroom is “taken away from them,” then they will fast (and mourn). Jesus is hinting at his own execution.
2. Again, take a favorite old robe with a big rip in it. (The Pharisee’s old way of striving to please God by works.) You don’t stitch a new piece of material to it. Everyone knows that wool shrinks at the first few washes. The old garment is dormant, but the new piece will shrink and tear the robe even more.
The Pharisee’s old way of striving to please God by works must give way to the new, living way of faith that Jesus teaches.
3. The new wine, which expands as it ferments, will not work in an old, stiff wineskin, but will tear it so it cannot hold the precious drink of joy. New wineskins (a new way of faith) are needed to hold the new “saved by faith alone” teachings Jesus brings.
.
Now whether they understood these illustrations is debatable. Some might see that Jesus was showing them a new way, prophesied by the prophets of old … and follow Him. Most will have their thinking confused, and their anger magnified.
.
.
.
.
.
