Matthew 9


Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew 9:1-8

Explanation:

Jesus' Authority to Forgive Sins (9:1-8)
Jesus' authority to heal the body testifies to his authority to forgive (9:6-7; compare 9:12). Jesus' authority (vv. 6, 8) is a central focus of the context (7:29; 8:9, 27; compare 28:18). This narrative teaches us a number of lessons.
Jesus Is Moved by Our Faith, Even on Behalf of Others (9:1-2)

The paralytic was not alone in his faith; his friends who brought him believed too. Thus this account teaches us about intercession: we may pray for others, not merely for ourselves. Mark's fuller narrative recounts the character of the friends' faith: they were so persistent and determined to reach Jesus, so confident that their friend would be healed if they reached him, that they dug through the roof (Mk 2:4). Faith is not simply working up a feeling or suppressing doubts, but demonstrated commitment to getting to the One on whose power we stake our trust.

We Need Forgiveness Even More Than Physical Healing (9:2)

Out of his care for us, Jesus places first things first (as in Ps 119:67, 71, 75). Although Jesus' miracles teach us about his power to heal physically, these signs are meant to turn our attention to the kingdom of God (Mt 6:33; 9:12). Thus in Acts signs and wonders constitute the primary method of drawing attention to the claims of the gospel, but it is the gospel itself that is paramount (as in Acts 14:3). In this narrative, physical healing certainly earns the crowd's attention (Mt 9:8), as miracles usually did (for example, 8:27, 34; 9:26, 31, 33).

Speaking for God Usually Invites Opposition (9:3-4)

Jesus' unique authority on earth to forgive sins sets him apart from other people, a claim that disturbed the teachers of the law (v. 3), who wrongly supposed that speaking for God was their own role. Others might pronounce sins forgiven once clear atonement was made, but no atonement was made here (compare E. Sanders 1990:62-63). Thus the theologians decided that Jesus was blaspheming, which in the general sense simply meant "reviling" (in this case, God). Before Jesus is done, however, he will announce that God delegated to him the authority to forgive sins in general (v. 6; compare Dan 7:13)!

Jesus' Authority to Heal Demonstrates His Authority to Forgive (9:5-7)

Because healing as opposed to forgiveness is empirically verifiable, the teachers of the law would conclude that it is easier to say "Your sins are forgiven" (Meier 1980:91). By performing a sign that is empirically verifiable, however, Jesus argues that he is God's authorized agent and therefore has authority . . . to forgive sins. The reasoning runs something like a traditional Jewish qal wahomer ("how much more") argument: if God would authorize Jesus to visibly heal the effects of humanity's fallenness, would he not send him to combat that fallenness itself?


Although physical healing is secondary to forgiveness, such healing is often crucial not only for compassionately meeting some of our most pressing human needs (9:36) and empowering us for greater service to the Lord (20:34) but also for drawing attention to Jesus' power to do other works. People who reason today that Jesus can heal either physically or spiritually but not both are like the radical critics who debate whether Jesus was a wisdom teacher or a prophet, a messiah or a healer. The question is forced-choice logic; why can he not be both, as the text teaches us? Without guaranteeing that God always chooses to perform miracles we might desire, I have personally witnessed how nonbelievers healed in answer to prayer sometimes end up committing their lives to the Lord Jesus.

Jesus' Signs of Authority Bring God Glory (9:8)

Often God will vindicate his work despite opposition if we persevere in doing good (compare 7:28; 8:27; 9:33; 12:23). When God provides clear testimony of his power, expect hostility from those who resist God's testimony; but recognize that God's works will always bring him more glory in the end.

Matthew 9


The Calling of Matthew

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Matthew 9:9-13

Explanation:

Sinners Need a Physician (9:9-13)
Whereas the preceding narrative introduces the notion that forgiveness is a primary focus of Jesus' mission (v. 9), this narrative carries that point further and uses Jesus' healing ministry as an acted parable of his most important mission: repairing our lives broken by sin (v. 12). Surrounding narratives also demonstrate that it is the broken, such as paralytics, blind people, lepers and those in mourning, who recognize their need for God's help.
Matthew here shows us that the morally and socially reprobate sometimes humble themselves more readily than religious people. Having often witnessed the fruit of sensitive personal evangelism on the streets, I fear that sometimes we spend too much time trying to convert a few resistant sinners in the church while neglecting more sinners afraid to set foot in a church. Sometimes the latter have developed less resistance to the gospel; sometimes they are outside the church precisely because of the words or behavior of some within the church.

Jesus Calls a Collaborator with the Enemy to Be His Disciple (9:9)

Jesus' call to follow was a call to be his disciple-a future teacher in training (4:19; 8:22; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21). But whereas Jesus warned a scribe who was a would-be follower about the cost (8:19-20), here he openly invites a despised tax gatherer to join his circle (compare 18:17)! The common people and non-aristocratic pietists despised tax gatherers as agents of the Romans and their aristocratic pawns (E. Sanders 1985:178), perhaps something like what the Dutch or French felt toward local collaborators with the Nazis or Africans felt toward slatees, African assistants to European slave traders.


The average Jewish person in ancient Palestine had several reasons to dislike tax gatherers. First, Palestine's local Jewish aristocracies undoubtedly arranged for this tax collection (E. Sanders 1990:46-47). Second, the Empire sometimes had to take precautions to keep tax gatherers from overcharging people (Lk 3:12-13; Carmon 1973:105, 226), which suggests that some tax gatherers did just that (Hoehner 1972:78; compare Philo Leg. Gai. 199); some also beat people to get their money (Philo Spec. Leg. 3.30; N. Lewis 1983:161-63). Further, nearly all scholars concur that taxes were exorbitant even without overcharges; in some parts of the Empire taxation was so oppressive that laborers fled their land, at times to the point that entire villages were depopulated (N. Lewis 1983:164-64).

Matthew's office would have made him locally prominent, possibly as a customs official. Customs officers demanded written declarations of travelers' possessions and searched baggage (Casson 1974:290-91). They may have collected some other government revenues as well (M. Stern 1974-1976:333). Some Jewish texts condemn customs officers as well as other tax gatherers (see Edersheim 1993:236), though some such officials appear to have become benefactors to local populations (Jos. War 2.287-88).

In the eyes of these Pharisees (v. 11), eating with sinners connoted approval of them; by contrast, a pious person normally preferred to eat with scholars (compare Jeremias 1966a:236). Some take sinners here to mean the `am ha'ares common people whom the Pharisees despised for their lack of adherence to Pharisaic food laws (as in Jeremias 1972:132; thus the quotation marks in the NIV); more scholars today lean toward the view that it means sinners in a more blatant sense.


Although we make exceptions today for former sinners if they are of prominent status, many churches are embarrassed to embrace a recovering drug addict or prostitute who comes seeking help. Likewise, Christians who struggled with homosexual or lesbian behavior in the past find this one of the few sins they dare confide to no one. Some churches are even reticent to allow an unemployed person or someone who was divorced in the distant past to train for a position of leadership. Even when our churches define sin and forgiveness the Bible's way, we sometimes define status in unbiblical ways.

Sinners Are Ready to Listen and Follow (9:9-10)

People's unpredictability keeps us depending on God's mandate to share the kingdom with all. Jesus, for his part, was ready to eat with people with whom many of his pious contemporaries would not associate. For Matthew to follow Jesus meant leaving behind a well-paying profession, yet even this costly repentance could not satisfy the religious elite. There are many people with whom most Christians today would not eat (for reasons of either spiritual or social incompatibility); the Pharisees went even further in having special rules governing with whom they would eat (as in ARN 31, 68; 32, ÀÀ72B).

Religious People React (9:11)

The Jewish Scriptures clearly stated that one should not fellowship with sinners (Ps 1:1; 119:63; Prov 13:20; 14:7; 28:7), but these references warn against being influenced by sinners. Jesus is eating with sinners, but even though he is the one influencing them (9:9, 13; Lk 15:1), his ministry looks bad. Early Jewish literature indicates that, for all Judaism's emphasis on mercy and repentance, Jesus' act of actively pursuing sinners was virtually unheard of (Ladd 1974b:83); it is thus not surprising that it appeared scandalous.

This is not to play down the emphasis on repentance among Jesus' contemporaries. Jewish tradition already warned not to reproach one who had turned from sin (Sirach 8:5), but we are not always what our doctrine says we should be. I often see vibrant churches attracting young people with whom some older members (or even denominational officials) tend to be uncomfortable. Well-endowed churches reaching out to inner-city projects often encounter children with hygiene and discipline habits different from those to which their members are accustomed. At times some apparently pious members of our churches have the same spiritual depth and commitment of this passage's Pharisees.

Jesus' Mission Is for Those Who Acknowledge Their Sinfulness (9:12-13)

In an honor- and shame-based culture like the ancient Mediterranean, a public complaint such as the one the Pharisees had issued constituted a challenge. Quick repartee in the face of such a challenge would not only silence the challenge but shame the challengers (as in Diog. Laert. 6.2.33). Jesus shames his opponents with some traditional and biblical wisdom. Jewish teachers often exhorted hearers to "go and find," that is, search the Scripture for examples (as in Sipre Num. 76.2.1), or "go and learn," that is, understand the point of a given text (Sipre Num. 115.5.6). But when Jesus introduces his quote from Hosea with go and learn in the context of a response to a challenge, he is insultingly suggesting his interlocutors' ignorance of the point of Scripture; he implies that perhaps they have never even read Hosea (compare Mt 12:5; Ex. Rab. 21:6). Hosea addressed a people satisfied with their ritual but displeasing to God (Hos 8:2-3).

Jesus' response would have been clear enough. Other ancient teachers also used health as a metaphor for spiritual or moral wholeness and disease as a metaphor for vice or folly, seeing themselves as physicians of the soul (for example, Diog. Laert. 2.70; 6.1.4; ARN 23A). Writing after the spread of Christianity, Diogenes Laertius reports a much earlier philosopher who, "when he was censured for keeping company with evil men," responded, "Physicians are in attendance on their patients without getting the fever themselves" (Diog. Laert. 6.1.6, LCL 6-9).

Jesus came to call sinners-to invite them to God's final banquet (Mt 22:3, 14), a foretaste of which the present table fellowship with them may have represented. Jesus' demand for mercy is so critical that it recurs in 12:7 (see also 23:23). Many of Jesus' contemporaries who practiced sacrifice also emphasized the priority of mercy over physical sacrifice (as in Sirach 35:1-7; Prayer of Azariah 16-17). That Jesus' opponents agreed with his principle in theory yet invited his reprimand should force us who acknowledge his doctrine to survey our practice as well (compare Jer 2:35; 1 Jn 1:10).

After my conversion from a non-Christian background in high school, I witnessed to everyone I could, sometimes to drug users who were smoking marijuana in my presence. That kind of fellowship could have landed me in jail! But Jesus' example gave me courage to continue to engage all people with the gospel, regardless of their moral background; and some of them committed their lives to Christ. Yet I have learned that some apparently worshipful and Bible-centered churches do not welcome such persons-suggesting that ultimately Jesus who ate with sinners might not truly be welcome there either.

Matthew 9


Jesus Questioned About Fasting

¹⁴Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
¹⁵Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
¹⁶"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Matthew 9:14-17

Explanation:

A Time for Everything (9:14-17)
Some religious people were disturbed that Jesus would eat with sinners (Mt 9:11); in a manner of speaking, others were disturbed that he ate at all (9:14). For some, holiness meant avoiding eating with ungodly people. For others, holiness meant religious practices of self-discipline like fasting. To both, Jesus undoubtedly appeared self-indulgent (11:19). Thus Jesus responds with three illustrations about appropriateness. When sinners return to God through Jesus' ministry, celebration rather than fasting is appropriate.
Jesus Shows Little Concern for Religious Customs (9:14)

Although the fasts here were not demanded in the law, they were part of current religious tradition. Most Christians today evaluate their traditions in light of the Bible so little that we generally equate the two, as some of Jesus' contemporaries did. Essentially some considered him a "liberal" (Danker 1972:72)!


Jesus Stands Up for His Disciples (9:14-15)

Ancient literature regularly assumes that teachers had to answer for the behavior of their disciples (such as Socrates for Alcibiades). When we face false accusations or opposition for following Jesus, we should always remember that if he is on our side we do not need to worry about what others will say. If David Wilkerson had allowed slander to deter him from his work with New York gangs in the 1960s, we would not have the ministry of Teen Challenge today. The key to persevering in God's call is to genuinely know that we are doing God's will.

There Are Appropriate Times for Everything (9:15-17)

Most of us might have responded, "Look, you want to talk about fasting? I fasted forty days in the wilderness." But Jesus avoids seeking human honor for what he did before God in secret (6:16-18), and makes his point instead by three illustrations.

It was inappropriate for groomsmen to fast until after a wedding banquet had ended. Weddings lasted seven days, and participants-the NIV's guests of the bridegroom means either the groomsmen (compare Jn 3:29) or the guests-were expected to participate joyfully. Sages even interrupted their schools to hail passing bridal processions (ARN 4A).

New cloth had not yet shrunk, and when it began to shrink after being patched onto a garment that had finished its shrinking, the patch would tear loose from the garment, making the tear worse (Mt 9:16). In the same way, old wineskins had been stretched to the limit as wine fermented and expanded in them. Because old wineskins had already been stretched to the limit, if they were filled with new wine it would ultimately burst them when it expanded. Traditional rituals must never become a straitjacket that hinder us from celebrating sinners' embrace of the good news of God's kingdom.

Matthew 9


A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

¹⁸While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." ¹⁹Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
²⁰Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
²²Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
²³When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, ²⁴he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. ²⁵After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶News of this spread through all that region.

Matthew 9:18-26

Explanation:

Jesus' Authority over Disabilities and Disciples (9:18-38)
As in the previous two sections (8:1-22; 8:23-9:17), Matthew begins with three accounts of Jesus' authority in nature (9:18-34) and then articulates Jesus' authority over disciples (9:35-38).


Embracing Our Brokenness (9:18-26)
When Jesus allows an impure woman to touch him and touches the hand of a corpse, he contracts ritual impurity under the law (Lev 15:19-33; Num 19:11-12). Of course we might argue that Jesus contracted no uncleanness in actuality; as in the case of his contact with sinners, the influence went from him to them rather than the reverse (Mt 9:11-13). Yet in the eyes of those present, he has assumed the status of uncleanness (see the fuller account in Mk 5:33, where Jesus even invites public attestation of the touch). He is willing to touch us in our brokenness that we might be made whole.
In a world where women were nearly always second-class citizens and where male authors who cited women as examples of heroism treated them as exceptions (as in Plut. Bravery of Women), the Gospels' greater balance is intriguing. Yet this balance fits the rest of Jesus' ministry and teaching: it was the socially powerless who most readily embraced him. Socially accepted Christians who are disturbed by something missing in their zeal should take note; we should humble ourselves and listen to Christians from socially marginalized groups. The point is not to insult those who are not marginalized, but that the broken and marginalized have much to teach us about humble and often desperate dependence on the grace of God.

Jesus Is Willing to Heal and Even Restore to Life (9:18-19)

Matthew wrote his Gospel to tell Christians more about the Lord they worshiped. We can show devotion to the Lord about whom we read by getting to know what he is like through these accounts and acknowledging his character as we praise him.

An Example of Scandalous Faith (9:20-21)

Because of this woman's continual flow of blood, she was not permitted to move about in crowds; anyone she touched or whose cloak she touched became unclean. Abbreviating as he often does, Matthew omits Mark's crowds (Mk 5:27) but retains the woman's intention: she is so desperate that she will touch the teacher, knowing full well that this will make him unclean under the law (Lev 15:25-27; m. Toharot 5:8).

Her condition is desperate both for medical reasons and because of its social consequences; her ostracism would extend even to her private life. Her ailment probably had kept her from marriage if it started at puberty, and almost surely would have led to divorce if it began after she was married (which would have been within a few years after puberty), since intercourse was prohibited under such circumstances (Lev 18:19) and childlessness normally led to divorce (Keener 1991a:75). Singleness is difficult for many people in Western society, but to be a unmarriageable woman in first-century Jewish Palestine must have often been terrifying. The stigma of childlessness (compare Lk 1:24-25; 1 Enoch 98:5), the pain of feeling "left over" and the dilemma of being unable to earn an income yet having neither husband nor children for long-term support would have made this woman's condition seem almost unbearable.


Yet her desperation also begets confidence that Jesus is an absolutely certain source of her healing. Desperation has driven many of us to a faith that refuses to be deterred. This woman was undoubtedly more desperate than most of us have been, and she pressed her way to Jesus with the determination of faith, regardless of the consequences.

Jesus Embraces Her Need (9:22)

Jesus acknowledged her act as an act of faith. By failing to offer a rebuke, he demonstrated both that the healing came by God's power and not automatic magic (Hooker 1983:61) and that he was unashamed to be identified with her uncleanness. In the times of our deepest pain, the assurance of God's presence can provide comfort commensurate with the pain. This is true because the One we claim as Lord embraced our ultimate humiliation and shame on the cross, refusing even a simple narcotic to deaden the pain (27:34).

Jesus Has Authority over Death Itself (9:23-26)

Death in childhood was a quite frequent occurrence. Because bodies decomposed rapidly, mourners had to gather quickly (for example, b. Sanhedrin 47a). Later texts probably reflect the earlier view of many religious people in regarding at least two or three mourners (two flutists and one professional mourning woman) as mandatory for the funeral of the poorest person (m. Ketubot 4:4), but a prominent local person like this ruler (v. 18) would probably be able to afford more. (His wealth and status set him in stark contrast to the ailing woman earlier in the story, but his grief has reduced him to the same position of dependence on Jesus.)

"Sleep" was a common euphemism for death in antiquity (like our "passed away"), but Jesus' contrast between sleep and death here suggests that he wished his hearers to understand that the child was not truly dead. If Jesus intended his assertion that the girl was merely asleep (v. 24) to keep word about her resuscitation from spreading, however, the tactic did not work (v. 26). Long-term professional mourners would recognize the difference (Harris 1986:309), so they seem not to have believed him.


Corpse-uncleanness was the most serious uncleanness anyone could contract, rendering a person unclean for seven days (Num 19:11). Because others could have thought that touching the girl would render him unclean, Jesus showed his exceptional kindness and willingness to get involved by taking the girl's hand when he raised her up.

Matthew 9


Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
²⁸When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; ³⁰and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." ³¹But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.
³²While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."
³⁴But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

Matthew 9:27-34

Explanation:

Astonishing Cures for Disabilities (9:27-34)
Matthew here reports some more incidents reflecting Jesus' authority to heal.
Jesus Responds to Faith (9:27-29)

See further comment on 20:29-34. The blind men's initial act of faith is approaching Jesus with a plea for mercy (5:7; 20:31; Mk 10:47), recognizing that they are dependent on his kindness rather than on any merit of their own (contrast Greek prayer-comment on Mt 6:7). Their initial faith also includes a recognition of Jesus' identity. Here two blind beggars confess Jesus' messianic identity (Son of David) before Peter does (16:16; compare Jn 4:25-26). Yet despite their initial acts of faith, Jesus forces them to clarify that they not only seek his help and recognize his identity but also acknowledge his ability to heal this otherwise irreversible disability (Mt 9:28). Jesus refuses to heal without faith; he is not a magician, but one who seeks to glorify his Father (compare 13:58).

Jesus Can Cure Anything (9:30)

His ability to cure includes both natural ailments (vv. 27-30) and demonically induced ailments (vv. 32-33), even though we may not always be able to discern the difference apart from divine guidance. Matthew relates these narratives in large measure to encourage us concerning the character and power of the One we serve.

Jesus Avoids Publicity, but Word Spreads Anyway (9:30-33)

In regard to the messianic secret, see comment on 8:1-4. Despite Jesus' attempt to preserve some measure of the secret (9:30), perhaps to delay unnecessary hostility (v. 34), word spread and his popularity increased (vv. 31, 33).


Ridicule Is the Only Tactic Left to Jesus' Opponents (9:34)

Matthew writes not only to encourage his community that Jesus can meet their needs but also to remind them that the opposition they face is not new; Jesus himself had to face it. Jesus' most religious contemporaries were so sure they were right that they were by now sure that he was wrong, preferring to explain his works as emanating from a source other than God (12:24; Mk 3:22; Jn 7:20; 8:48, 52; 10:20).

When enemies of the Christian message cannot win a debate according to traditional rules of evidence, some of them change the rules, and those who follow them blindly usually assume that they are correct. When the academy became largely anti-Christian, many Christians reacted against academics; meanwhile those who learned of Christianity only from secular academic sources were often misinformed about its character. When possible, a better response than withdrawal would be for Christians to respond reasonably to opposing arguments and maintain that posture despite the opposition, recognizing that many other hearers will listen to the truth (Mt 9:33; Acts 17:32-34).

The Pharisees were hardly anti-supernaturalists; they believed miracles could happen. The consensus seems to have been, however, that though some might seek to adduce miracles in support of their claims, scholarly tradition took precedence over miracles (as in t. Yebamot 14:6). We ourselves recognize that charlatans and false prophets can work signs and wonders (Mt 24:24). But it is too easy, even for Christians, to use charlatans as an excuse to ignore the real workings of God. One can understand the sentiments of religious people in Jesus' day; after all, they may have reasoned, if God were still doing miracles like those he had done through Elijah and Elisha, surely he would have been doing it through them. They, after all, were sure that they were the ones with correct doctrine. When we become so sure of our theological system that we cannot listen to anyone else no matter how cogent their evidence, we may risk repeating the kind of mistake many of Jesus' contemporaries made.

Matthew 9


The Workers Are Few

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Matthew 9:35-38

Explanation:

More Laborers for the Harvest (9:35-38)
Matthew adds a summary statement similar to 4:23-25, making clear that the incidents he has reported are merely some prominent examples of Jesus' many works and teachings. At this strategic point, however, we learn that Jesus' mission is not his alone. This section, which introduces Jesus' mission discourse in chapter 10, parallels Jesus with the disciples who must carry on his works (see also, for example, Davies and Allison 1991:411-12; Allison 1993b:138-39). As Jesus perpetuated John's message concerning the kingdom (3:2; 4:17; compare chaps. 5-7), his followers will do the same (10:7). As Jesus demonstrated the kingdom by compassionately healing (9:35; compare chaps. 8-9), his disciples must do the same (10:8). In short, at this point in the Gospel Matthew clarifies the suggestion of 3:11, 16 that much of Jesus' mission is likewise the church's mission. Matthew rearranges material from various sections of his sources in chapter 10 to emphasize not a past, historical mission with little current significance but a historical model for his community, hence for us who recognize all Scripture as relevant (2 Tim 3:16-17; compare S. Brown 1978).

Jesus Devotes Himself to Reaching People Everywhere (9:35)

Jesus' ministry required much mobility on his part (see comment on 4:23-25).

Jesus' Motivation Is Compassion (9:36)

Jesus knew that people needed what he brought them, both the message of the kingdom and physical healing; he came for our good, not his own (Jn 3:16-7). It is to our own hurt when we do not serve the Lord (Jer 2:13; Hos 7:1, 13; 13:9), and it hurts him because it hurts us. We can approach him with our needs precisely because we know how much he cares for us.

When lacking God-appointed leaders, God's people in the Hebrew Bible often appear as sheep without a shepherd (Num 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chron 18:16), inviting the compassionate Lord to shepherd his people himself (Ezek 34:11-16), including feeding them (Ezek 34:2-3; Mt 14:19-20), healing them (Ezek 34:4; Mt 9:35; compare harassed in 9:36, literally "torn") and bringing the lost sheep back (Ezek 34:4-6; Mt 18:12-14). This implies that the religious leaders of Israel who purported to be their shepherds had failed to obey God's commission (Ezek 34:2-10; Mt 23). The disciples will carry on Jesus' mission to these sheep (10:6).

We Need More Workers to Complete the Task (9:37)

Jewish teachers understood that each of them could handle only so many students, even if the students were still minors (Safrai 1974-1976a:957). The term Jesus uses for workers here recurs in 10:10, indicating that the workers Jesus wished to send forth into the harvest were his own disciples. He trains us in our life with him so we can reach the world for him, making other disciples who in turn can carry on the work (28:19). The urgency of harvest was a potent image that sparked similar analogies among other Jewish teachers (compare m. 'Abot 2:15, probably concerning study and teaching of Torah).


Those of us involved with evangelism in cities have often seen the harvest falling to the ground and rotting for lack of laborers. For instance, on one evening in two hours of street ministry in the Bronx, New York, sixty-three people provided names and addresses for follow-up after praying to accept Christ as Lord and Savior; on other occasions we sometimes saw forty-four or forty-five people make a similar commitment in two hours in Brooklyn. In other parts of the city, where we were breaking new ground among other cultural groups, we might go for weeks without seeing a conversion. We nevertheless witnessed the work of the Spirit prying open the hearts of elderly people who had never before had a conversation with a Christian about the gospel. In the years following such ministry in traditionally closed groups, the gospel has begun to spread significantly as well. Yet even if we led a hundred people to Christ a day, at the end of a year the new Christians would have numbered fewer than forty thousand-not one-half of one percent of the city itself, and only about one-fifth of one percent of the whole metropolitan area.


The only hope for taking Jesus' message to all people is in Christians' multiplying their labors by training disciples to continue and expand the work (see Coleman 1963). If just one of us could win to Christ a few people a year and train them to do the same, all other factors being equal (which they are not), the results of that seed over two or three decades would be billions of people won to Christ. We each have different gifts and callings, but to the extent that we share our Lord's values and commitment to his cause, we will devote our time, energy, wealth and other resources to the task of reaching this world with the message of the kingdom and practical demonstrations of its power.

Jesus Summons His Laborers to Pray for More Laborers (9:38)

Not all Christians will cross major cultural boundaries or become full-time missionaries, but all of us must be mobilized to pray for the world vision he has summoned us to share with him. An excellent resource in this respect is Patrick Johnstone's Operation World, which lists every nation of the world, aims to depict accurately the state of the church there, and provides important points for prayer; it ranks among those classic resources of which all missions-minded Christians should avail themselves. After praying through it, Christians may find themselves burdened for specific peoples and parts of the world and perhaps may seek ways to minister to representatives of those peoples in our own land. And who knows-in the end God may call some of us who pray to go, just as in chapter 10 Jesus sends those who shared his burden in prayer in 9:38.