Matthew 9, John 5
Matthew 9
Matthew 9:1-8
After the incident in Gadara, Jesus and his disciples travel back across
the lake to Capernaum. It is then that
the incident with the paralyzed man takes place (compare Mark 2:3-12 and Luke
5:18-26).
Matthew 9:9-13
Matthew calls it a dinner party.
But to the rest of the disciples it was a banquet. Matthew adds a reference to Hosea 6:6 here,
about God’s desire for mercy and compassion rather than empty ritual and
sacrifice. The irony is that Matthew
lived an unholy life up until he met Jesus.
So I suspect those words from Hosea really struck a chord in Mathew’s
heart. And it makes me wonder if part of
the reason the church is failing to attract the “sick” is because the church is
presenting ritual and customs instead of Jesus.
Matthew 9:14-17
This repeats the story found in Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39.
Matthew 9:18-26
When comparing this section with both Mark and Luke (see Mark 5:22-43
and Luke 8:41-56), we learn that this man was named Jarius, a Synagogue
official (Mark 5:22), and that his 12 year old daughter was dying (Luke
8:42). Matthew gives little detail as
compared to the other accounts, which is why he says that she had
died. And truthfully the girl did die
before Jesus got there. So there is no
discrepancy. Jesus was delayed because
of a woman who had a bleeding problem.
It’s interesting that her bleeding problem was the same amount of time
the girl had been alive (12 years).
According to Leviticus 15:19-30, the woman was unclean and should not be
seen in public nor touch anyone in public. By touching Jesus she should have defiled Him,
but instead His cleanliness transferred to her.
Stopping to inquire who touched Him (see Luke 8:45-47), I can imagine
that Jarius has become quite agitated by all the delays. As a matter of fact it is right after this
interruption that messengers deliver the news of the girl’s death (Luke
8:49). Not stopping, Jesus and His
disciples continue to the house, and Jesus restores the girl to physical
life. His statement that she was just
sleeping does not mean that she was still alive. It means that Jesus understood death in a way
many did not. Death, for most of us,
means the end of something. But in
reality death is a time of transitioning from one existence to another. So in effect Jesus merely states that the
girl has not ceased to be, she is merely transitioning, and He will step in and
call her back to this form of living. In
light of what people have said about their death experiences, I wonder what
this girl said when she came back to life.
Matthew 9:27-31
I like the fact that Jesus touched people to heal them. There’s something warming about the touch of
the Master’s hand.
Matthew 9:32-34
Here we see the beginning of the Satan Excuse; where the experts say
that Jesus can work these signs and wonders because He is empowered by the
Devil. What a stupid statement! And Jesus will point this out in a little
while. So, can Satan perform counterfeit
miracles and give counterfeit gifts? It
appears so. We see the Egyptian
magicians performing parlor tricks in opposition to Moses. But those tricks work against God and for
Satan. Jesus has been working against
Satan and for God. So there is a huge difference,
which Jesus will point out quite soon.
Matthew 9:35-28
Isn’t it sad that the Jewish people were like sheep without a
shepherd? The shepherds were not caring,
protecting, instructing, and leading the sheep.
Sounds a bit like God’s rebuke in Jeremiah 23:1-2. And once again Jesus looks at His disciples
and points to the harvest, and wonders where all the workers are. I suppose He would say the same thing
today. There is so much work to be done
for the Kingdom of God, but many of the workers are just keeping a pew warm.
John 5
John 5:1 This
might have been another Passover celebration.
John 5:2-12
Early manuscripts of John’s Gospel do not contain the words in verses 3b
and 4. And truthfully they sound more
like superstition than anything else.
However, there must have been a reason the people gathered at that
place. Maybe there truly was a healing
at one point in time. The sad part about
this narrative is the lack of care and compassion for a fellow human
being. Listen to the man’s words; “I
have no one to help me”; “others get there first”. It seems this man was left to fend for
himself. For 38 years he found no relief
and no help. Perhaps now the disciples
will learn what Jesus meant when He said the harvest is plentiful. Maybe they will understand why He had
compassion on those who were like lost sheep.
Contrast the compassion of Jesus with the cold-hearted traditionalism of
the some Jews. “You can’t carry that
mat, it’s the Sabbath”.
John 5:14 Sin
did not create this man’s sickness. What
Jesus meant was that the misery he endured for the past 38 years was nothing
compared to what he might face in hell.
John 5:18
Jesus had been doing a lot of things on the Sabbath that irritated the
Religious Leaders. Jesus healed this man
by the pool, He and His disciples were picking grain (Mark 2:23-28), he healed
a man with a shriveled hand (Mark 3:1-5), and he healed a demon possessed man
in the synagogue (Luke 4:31-35). They
also were plotting to kill Jesus because He was calling God His Father, making
Himself to be equal with God. You know,
I’ve actually heard people say that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah or
the Son of God. I’m pretty sure these
individuals have never read their Bible.
That’s part of the reason the Religious Leaders wanted to kill Him, and
here is the verse that proves it!
John 5:19-24
Jesus does not work independent of the Father. His work does not contradict the work of the
Father. Jesus does not present a
different God to the world, as some have claimed. Jesus and the Father work together as
One. Their message and ministry are in
harmony, and this is important. Christ
reveals to us what God the father is like; how He feels, or the depth of His
love and grace. Now you would think that
these Religious leaders would be aware of this.
If anyone had a clear understanding of God it should have been those who
studied His word and followed His commands.
But for some odd reason they got in their minds that the Promised One
would not look like one of them.
John 5:25-32
This emphasizes what Jesus was trying to say about Jarius’
daughter. She may have died in this life
but she was not dead. She continued to
exist. This is what Jesus is trying to
teach the Religious Leaders in this section.
Everyone who has died is not dead.
A time is coming when those who have died will be called to stand before
the Son. And the Father has given the
Son the authority to judge everyone.
This is how things will unfold in End Times. The Son will call everyone to judgment. But judgment is not necessarily a bad
thing. By our faith, we will be judged
as righteous. Without faith we will be
judged condemned. This is nothing new,
and these Jewish leaders should have known this. But what they didn’t like was that someone
standing before them appearing like a Son of Man was placing Himself on par
with the Father and indicating that He will be the one to judge.
John 5:33-47
John gives the Religious Leaders what they have asked for; other
witnesses to testify that what He says is faithful and true. He points to what John the Baptist
confessed. He pointed to His
miracles. He pointed to the Father
(which these men obviously did not know).
And lastly He pointed to the Word.
Throughout the Old Testament the Words of God had been speaking about
the Messiah. The people were told what
the Messiah would do, how He would lead, and what He would say. Yet these leaders apparently ignored all of
this. Either that or they were unable to
make the connection because of Spiritual Blindness.
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