# Matthew 09 📖: Authority to Forgive and Heal [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Matthew Overview]] | [[Matthew 08]] | [[Matthew 10]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic **Title**: **Principle**: Jesus Reigns over all things. [[#Verse 01]] After getting into a boat he crossed to the other side and came to his own town.  [[#Verse 02]] Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.”  [[#Verse 03]] Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!”  [[#Verse 04]] When Jesus perceived their thoughts he said, “Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?  [[#Verse 05]] Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?  [[#Verse 06]] But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he said to the paralytic—“Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.”  [[#Verse 07]] So he stood up and went home.  [[#Verse 08]] When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men. ### The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners **Title**: **Principle**: Jesus includes the outcasts [[#Verse 09]] As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. So he got up and followed him.  [[#Verse 10]] AsJesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.  [[#Verse 11]] When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  [[#Verse 12]] When Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do.  [[#Verse 13]] Go and learn what this saying means: ‘**_I want mercy and not sacrifice_**.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” ### The Superiority of the New **Title**: **Principle**: There are times and seasons for all things. [[#Verse 14]] Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”  [[#Verse 15]] Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them,and then they will fast.  [[#Verse 16]] No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse.  [[#Verse 17]]And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.” ### Restoration and Healing **Title**: **Principle**: Big and Little, All are important to the King. [[#Verse 18]] As he was saying these things, a leader came, bowed low before him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.”  [[#Verse 19]] Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.  [[#Verse 20]] But a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  [[#Verse 21]] For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  [[#Verse 22]] But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed from that hour.  [[#Verse 23]] When Jesus entered the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the disorderly crowd,  [[#Verse 24]] he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep!” And they began making fun of him.  [[#Verse 25]] But when the crowd had been forced outside, he went in and gently took her by the hand, and the girl got up.  [[#Verse 26]] And the news of this spread throughout that region. ### Healing the Blind and Mute **Title**: **Principle**: God works with your faith. [[#Verse 27]] As Jesus went on from there, two blind men began to follow him, shouting,“Have mercy on us, Son of David!”  [[#Verse 28]] When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”  [[#Verse 29]] Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”  [[#Verse 30]] And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this!”  [[#Verse 31]] But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region. [[#Verse 32]] As they were going away, a man who was demon-possessed and unable to speak was brought to him.  [[#Verse 33]] After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!”  [[#Verse 34]] But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons!” ### Workers for the Harvest **Title**: **Principle**: Jesus Cares for All [[#Verse 35]] Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness.  [[#Verse 36]] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  [[#Verse 37]] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  [[#Verse 38]] Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.” # ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ##### Verse 01 ##### Verse 02 ##### Verse 03 ##### Verse 04 ##### Verse 05 ##### Verse 06 ##### Verse 07 ##### Verse 08 ##### Verse 09 ##### Verse 10 ##### Verse 11 ##### Verse 12 ##### Verse 13 ##### Verse 14 ##### Verse 15 ##### Verse 16 ##### Verse 17 ##### Verse 18 ##### Verse 19 ##### Verse 20 ##### Verse 21 ##### Verse 22 ##### Verse 23 ##### Verse 24 ##### Verse 25 ##### Verse 26 ##### Verse 27 ##### Verse 28 ##### Verse 29 ##### Verse 30 ##### Verse 31 ##### Verse 32 ##### Verse 33 ##### Verse 34 ##### Verse 35 ##### Verse 36 ##### Verse 37 ##### Verse 38 ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Matthew, the author of this Gospel, records his own call in 9:9. Mark and Luke call him Levi. 2. Tax collectors worked for Rome or for Herod Antipas and often overcharged, so many saw them as traitors and cheats. 3. In Jewish thinking, only God could forgive sins, which is why the experts in the law accused Jesus of blasphemy (9:3). 4. Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, "I want mercy and not sacrifice," here (9:13) and again in 12:7. 5. New wine expands as it ferments, so it would burst old, brittle wineskins (9:17). 6. The woman had been bleeding for twelve years (9:20), a condition that made her ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:25). 7. She touched the edge of His cloak (9:20), likely the tassels God commanded Israelites to wear (Numbers 15:38-39). 8. Flute players and mourners were a normal part of Jewish funerals, even for poor families (9:23). 9. "Son of David" (9:27) was a messianic title. The blind men were confessing Jesus as the promised King. 10. Matthew 9:35 nearly repeats 4:23, framing a section that shows Jesus' teaching (chapters 5 to 7) and His mighty works (chapters 8 and 9). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Son of Man with authority on earth to forgive sins (9:6), the Physician who came for sinners (9:12), and the Bridegroom whose presence brings joy (9:15; John 3:29). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Jesus forgave the paralyzed man before He healed him (9:2-6). Why is forgiveness the greater need? 2. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners and said He came to call sinners (9:10-13). How should that shape the way we treat people far from God? 3. Jesus saw the crowds as sheep without a shepherd and told His disciples to pray for workers (9:36-38). How can you pray and act on that today? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 6: Jesus heals the paralyzed man to show that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins. - 📖 verses 12-13: Jesus came to call sinners, and God desires mercy, not sacrifice. - 📖 verse 36: Jesus has compassion on the crowds because they are like sheep without a shepherd. - 📖 verses 37-38: The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, so pray to the Lord of the harvest. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Mark 02#Verse 01.|Mark 2:1-12]] - The paralyzed man lowered through the roof. - 🔗 [[Daniel 07#Verse 13.|Daniel 7:13-14]] - The Son of Man given authority and dominion. - 🔗 [[Hosea 06#Verse 06.|Hosea 6:6]] - I desire mercy, not sacrifice. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 62#Verse 05.|Isaiah 62:5]] and [[John 03#Verse 29.|John 3:29]] - The bridegroom and the bride. - 🔗 [[Numbers 15#Verse 38.|Numbers 15:38-39]] - Tassels on the corners of garments. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 35#Verse 05.|Isaiah 35:5]] - The eyes of the blind will be opened. - 🔗 [[Numbers 27#Verse 17.|Numbers 27:17]] and [[Ezekiel 34#Verse 05.|Ezekiel 34:5]] - Sheep without a shepherd. - 🔗 [[Luke 10#Verse 02.|Luke 10:2]] and [[John 04#Verse 35.|John 4:35]] - The fields are ripe for harvest. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Matthew 09 - SOAP|The Greatest Miracle]] ## 📂 Internal Notes