Read: Matthew 9
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: Chapter 9 continues the theme of Jesus' authority, which was introduced at the conclusion of chapter 7 and examined in detail in chapter 8. In today's reading we see Jesus' authority and power to heal 1) a paralytic, 2) a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, 3) two blind men, and 4) a man who could not talk due to demon possession. Matthew also reveals Jesus' authority and power over the issue of life and death itself: Jesus brings a little girl who had just died back to life.
Matthew introduces himself in this chapter, letting us know that he was a tax collector who Jesus called to be one of His disciples. Tax collectors were despised by the Jews of Jesus' day, since they worked for the Roman authorities who were in control of their country (and, indeed, in control of most of the known world due to their military power). They were considered traitors by their fellow Jews as a result, and they were also regarded as thieve and robbers (since they often overcharged in order to make a profit for themselves). Jesus not only called Matthew to follow Him, but He had dinner at Matthew's house with many other tax collectors and people commonly labeled as "sinners." Sin was considered "contagious" in Jesus' day (much like a virus), so the "righteous" were to have nothing to do with "sinners." Jesus defends His interaction with Matthew and his friends by taking this medical theme and making an altogether different and relevant point: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...for I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners" (verses 12-13).
Chapter 9 also reveals the beginning of conflict between Jesus and the religious establishment of His day. Before Jesus physically healed the paralytic, He declared the man's sins forgiven; we're not told why Jesus did this at this point, but it is clear that Jesus sensed the need to extend God's forgiveness to him and to let the paralytic know in a personal way that he was forgiven of his sins. Some teachers of the law labeled Jesus' words of forgiveness as blasphemy (assuming for yourself the qualities or rights that belong only to God, or denying those qualities or rights to God altogether). But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," and His healing of the paralytic gave evidence of proof of this authority (verses 4-6). The Pharisees, a group closely aligned with the teachers of the law, were outraged over Jesus' dinner at Matthew's house with Matthew's friends (verse 11). Even the disciples of John the Baptist (who were supportive of Jesus) didn't understand why Jesus' disciples did not fast publicly or frequently like they did (and like the Pharisees). Jesus had already addressed the issue of public fasting (see Matthew 6.16-18), so He instead focuses on His coming into the world (like a bridegroom arriving for a wedding) as a time of celebration rather than fasting. Jesus emphasizes that something new is taking place in their midst, and He encourages them to be receptive to this new initiative of God's Kingdom (verses 16-17).
By the end of chapter 9, the Pharisee had already decided that Jesus presented a danger: "It is by the prince of demons that he casts out demons" (verse 34). Thus begins a conflict that will continue throughout the rest of Jesus' ministry.
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