Matthew 9
Bible Passage: Matthew 9
Did you know ten great miracles have taken place
In this chapter and the last?
Did you know Jesus revealed His authority
Through these miracles that have past?
One verse had caught my eye today,
Lingered in my head while some thought was given.
“Take heart, my son;
Your sins are forgiven.”
Forgiveness is something Jesus has so freely given,
And at times I despise it or take it for granted.
We are sinners without status or power.
Without Jesus, we are nothing nobody ever wanted.
But through Jesus’ coming here into this world,
our sins can be forgiven if we have faith.
And that was what He was trying to tell everyone,
That He isn’t here to just heal and perform miracles on earth.
He is the King,
Almighty is He.
He has the power to forgive,
To heal and to do much more than what we can see.
A paralytic was forgiven,
a tax collector too.
And a woman in the crowd
Was healed and forgiven as if her life had been renewed.
Can you imagine how guilty the paralytic felt
For being such a burden to those around?
The tax collector would have stolen money on his job.
Can you imagine the shame, that by it he would be bound?
In the midst of few or a crowd,
It would be hard to imagine
How to face times of embarrassment,
Uncleaniness, shame and guilt of the woman.
In those days a woman who had a “flow of blood”
Would be deemed unclean (Lev 15:25).
So the woman hid her flow of blood for twelve years,
And each day it would have reminded her of her pain and suffering.
And each day she would have to be aware
that she was harming others for they would be unholy,
for anything she touched would become unclean.
But she knew great things about Jesus, the one and only.
She knew that if she could just touch His robe,
She would be healed of her illness.
If only she could get close enough to touch His robe,
She had this faith and hopefulness.
And when Jesus turned around to see who touched Him,
She could have chosen not respond or tell.
But she stepped out, and so Jesus openly proclaimed,
“Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
She may not have had the courage before,
To tell of her illness because she was afraid for
Fear of judgement or alienation maybe,
But Jesus did not want her to hide anymore.
Something so little that the woman had to live with
can be liken to sin,
As a little leaven leavens the whole lump (Gal 5:9),
Sin can grow, continuously reminding us of past things.
Jesus may have appeared cruel to declare her sin
In front of an open crowd of her own people.
But if Jesus accepts her, who dare not accept her?
Remember we can bend the knee and tell Jesus, rather than remain feeble.
And what’s more is that this is what the church is about…
A place where we can be our true self,
A place where we can feel safe and be set free,
Free of our past, shame, or guilt warring within our self.
A church is liken to a spiritual home,
A place where we go to unmask ourselves,
A place where we can find true peace,
Where our spiritual family makes us feel comfortable to show our true selves.
Before we go back to our b-u-s-y lives,
Take a look within our hearts and ask forgiveness from Him
for a little thing might still be bothering or hindering us.
Take a look around and remember Jesus accepts all who come before Him.
What can we ask God to forgive us of our debts today as we forgive our debtors?
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biblereadingcompanion
The last question raised leads nicely into what I feel when I read Matthew 9 today….
“What can we ask God to forgive us of our debts today as we forgive our debtors?”
What indeed?
How forgiving are we?
When I read Matt 9:36,
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
I could not help but think… how much we need the compassion of Jesus today!
The Bible tells us that in the last days, the hearts of man will grow cold. There seems no place for mercy and forgiveness. There seems to be no place for compassion. There seems to be no place for turning the other cheek. There seems to be no place for embracing the social outcasts. There seems to be no place for love.
I was just reading the papers just now and I read of 2 incidents which frightens me….
The first was a teenage girl beating up another girl just because of some facebook spat. The other was a fight between 2 boys – just 5 or 6 years old – which had one boy stomping the head of the other. All because of some petty quarrel.
We desperately need compassion today. Not just from Jesus. But also to show compassion to others today.
What goes through the heart of God when He looks at the multitudes? Anger? Judgment?
Matthew here describes that when Jesus saw the crowds, He had a heart of compassion.
This is what separates us from God.
We see the same thing – God’s creation – and we feel anger, jealousy, irritation, etc… e
As followers of Christ He is looking to us to display His compassion on the earth.
Showing compassion and love may not necessarily mean big displays of acts of kindness. We all know this… a cup of water, a visit to the sick, a smile, a text of encouragement, just a call to say I remember you….
Just a thought to consider today…. what moves you toward compassion and how can you display that compassion?
You know, we often read the verses that follow Matt 9:36 to refer to evangelism…
“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” ” ~ Matt 9:37-38
While it is true, I also look at it anew today. These words of Jesus followed the statement that Jesus was moved with compassion for the people as they were scattered and lost like sheep without the shepherd.
Jesus was also telling us to pray for more people to have the heart of compassion like Him…. to not only evangelise, but to also lead, encourage, comfort, support, pray, love, be concerned over etc brethren who are scattered and lost in this life.
Yesterday, we were reminded of the touch of Jesus. In today’s chapter, we continue to see the touch of Jesus continued because of His great compassion for the people.
This brings to mind an old hymn that still moves me very much when I sing it. May the touch of Jesus move us to touch others in their lives also.
He Touched Me
Shackled by a heavy burden,
‘Neath a load of guilt and shame.
Then the hand of Jesus touched me,
And now I am no longer the same.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know,
He touched me and made me whole.
Since I met this blessed Savior,
Since He cleansed and made me whole,
I will never cease to praise Him,
I’ll shout it while eternity rolls.
He touched me, Oh He touched me,
And oh the joy that floods my soul!
Something happened and now I know
He touched me and made me whole.
PS
In Matthew 9:2 Lord Jesus said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
Lord Jesus said in Matthew 9:6 “But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.”
Matthew 9:8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
Lord Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people (Matthew 9:35)
Yes, those who are sick need the doctor.
Lord Jesus wants to be more than a physician. Lord Jesus wants to call sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:13)
There are normally two baptisms every year.
At baptism, the baptism candidates receive forgiveness of sins. We have the chance to glorify God who has given such power to men to conduct baptism in His name with the efficacy to wash away sins.
Are we as happy as the multitudes in Matthew 9:8 on the day of baptism?
Do we glorify God with as much reverence as they did?