Matthew 9:15
15: It was customary for Jews to refrain from certain duties, fasting included, when in the midst of a marriage celebration. In other words, Jesus is here paralleling the joy surrounding the wedding occasion with the disciples’ joy in having their Lord with them. There was no purpose for fasting with their Lord physically there with them. […]
Matthew 9:14
14: Fasting is a discipline of the Christian life. It was a regular practice for religious Jews in Jesus’ day. It is not a strange thing, but a normal part of spiritual maturity. Jesus’ disciples, however, did not do it. This provides an opportunity for Jesus to explain more about fasting and why it is […]
Matthew 9:12-13
12: Just as those who are physicians of the physical maladies with which we are faced, Jesus was to be the Great Physician for the spiritual needs of mankind. As a physician, he would, naturally, have to find himself among the sick. By implication, the Pharisees, who would think themselves the spiritual physicians of the […]
Matthew 9:11
11: The religious leaders in Jesus’ day had lost touch with the true face of ministry. They had no means by which to reach those who needed Almighty God the most. They had cut themselves off from ministry to the sinner. They had created an elite of hypocrisy. Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 21:1-22:46 Daily Memory […]
Matthew 9:10
10: In this verse, two things must be remembered in order to maintain a balanced view of the situation. First, Jesus did not have any problem at all with eating a meal with those who were obviously sinners. Jesus, of course, would have been eating with sinners if he ate with only his disciples. However, […]
Matthew 9:9
9: In all likelihood, Matthew and Jesus had seen each other before. Indeed, Matthew may have taken a toll from Christ on several occasions since Jesus lived in that area with Peter. Matthew was not acting as a tax collector in the regular sense of the word.He was at a toll booth, likely taking tolls from those […]
Matthew 9:7-8
7: It is likely that this man lived nearby and that he was fairly well known to the people assembled about Jesus. Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 14:1-15:39 Daily Memory Verse: 1 John 1:2 “(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was […]
Matthew 9:6
6: There have been many who have made the claim that Jesus never claimed to be God, or even the Messiah. This is, of course, a great error. This verse is one of the most obvious cases of Jesus’ assertion of his identity not only as Messiah, but as Almighty God incarnate. He purposely forgave […]
Matthew 9:5
5: Jesus reveals the true nature of their evil thoughts by simple logic. If Jesus had the power to heal the man, would he not also have the power to forgive sins? Jesus is bringing attention to his authority as the Messiah. He was not simply a prophet. Jeremiah or Isaiah would not have presumed […]
Matthew 9:4
4: It is much easier for many to believe that the gospel writers got this little verse wrong. This is one of the chief reasons that we are given four gospels. No one man alone heard and saw these events. They were well-known facts shared by a whole group of witnesses. They knew that Jesus […]