Matt 9

Date: 14 January 2009

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 9

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Jesus Calls Matthew

9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.
10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

A Question About Fasting

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well." 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about it." 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak

32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." 34 But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Ps 10:4

In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God."
ESV

Sun Tzu:

Everyone has heard of these 5 things (the way, weather, terrain, leadership and discipline). Those who know them prevail, those who do not know them do not prevail.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Socrates (470-399 BC), considered the founder of western philosophy, never wrote a book. What is known of him comes mostly from the writings of his most famous pupil Plato. Throughout his life Socrates did not accept payment for his philosophy as many had because he claimed to have “nothing to teach” Socrates maintained that if he appeared wiser than others, it was only because he knew his own ignorance. Socrates was put on trial and convicted for corrupting the youth of Athens. During his trial he made the comment, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” He was sentenced to death by means of drinking poison Hemlock (very interesting from a toxicology perspective). The Socratic method (likely the most effective teaching method) is based on teaching though a series of questions that enable the student to come to his own conclusions about the subject matter.

Events:

Yesterday, I got up early read and wrote in Temple before coming to work. Drove into Fort Hood (a trip that takes about 45 min) then saw patients threw the morning and afternoon. Weight workout yesterday evening and went to Pluckers on the way back to Temple. While I was a Puckers , eating some awesome wings, I one of the waitresses came over and started talking to me. Turns out she is the daughter of the commander in Iraq. I had seen her in clinic before but had since forgotten her face. We talked about my upcoming deployment. Apparently she goes to all of the deployment ceremonies and described them as real tear jerkers. Marla and I had been kind of hoping that I would be flying out of Dallas on a civilian flight in order to avoid a dramatic ceremony (pretending instead that I was just going on a short vacation or something) but, It looks like I will be Flying out of Fort Hood, send off ceremony included J. Apparently there is a short time for family to hang out around the Brigade before we load up on busses and go a large Gym for accountability. At the Gym we sit with our families for about an hour making what is sure to be painful conversation and say our final goodbyes. We then line up, march out and load the busses. And that’s it for the family. Sounds like one of the hardest things that I will ever do. I’m not dreading 6 months in the desert as much as I am dreading those goodbyes.

Thoughts:

Bible

1. "This man is blaspheming." 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic—"Rise, pick up your bed and go home." It may have been easier to say…”your sin’s are forgiven,” as there is no immediate proof to the observers. The Pharasees, however, would have known immediately that Jesus was claiming to be equal to God. So while it may be easier to “say” your sins are forgiven, the authority to actually forgive sin rested with God alone.

2. "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." Does this mean there are some people who will remain righteous throughout their lives and be justly admitted into heaven without need for Christ? No…it does not, it cannot. There are countless other passages in the bible that profess man’s inability to keep the law (most notably Romans 3). In fact, the entire discourse that just completed (Matthew 5-7) spoke to man’s inability to keep God’s perfect law. So if no one is righteous, then who is Christ speaking to in this passage? Christ is speaking to the heart of pride, the heart of self-righteous that does not realize a need for salvation. Christ is speaking of our American spirit that says, “I’ll do it myself, I’ll get mine.” A spirit that has been extremely successful in producing our great nation, but a spirit that, when brought to salvation, may be the death of us. I can testify to the point that it is impossible to treat someone who does not think he/she needs treatment. The humility that follows a true acknowledgement that we stand condemned as lawbreakers before a holy, just and wrathful God is prerequisite of the felt need for a savior and final acceptance of Christ as that savior. God hates pride so much because pride prevents the person from acknowledging how sinful and pitiful he truly is, hitting his knees and crying out to Christ for help.

3. 16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. John’s disciples (likely prompted by the Pharisees) here confront Jesus disciples with the question of why they are not fasting as often as Johns disciples. First of all it is amazing to make a distinction as John Himself says that He must become less and Christ must become more and I have faith that as soon as John knew the Identity of Christ that he led all of his disciples to leave him and become followers of Christ. That point aside, the heart of the question seems to center around pious external expression of the faith. The fact that this question follows so closely on the heels of the Criticism that Jesus Disciples are a bunch of tax collectors and sinners implies that the a better understanding is not the heart of John’s disciples question, instead they too have become critical of Jesus and his disciples and are attempting to invalidate his ministry. Jesus answers the question with great tact. While Jesus could have taken them head-on by repeating of his sermon on fasting (as I probably would have), Matt 6:16-18
"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
And then hit them with something like Matthew 23:27-28 (again, as I probably would have)
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Jesus, instead, in compassion (realizing that John’s Disciples had simply been used as plants by the Pharisees) softens his blow and speaks the parable above. Outside the text this parable may be talking about the New (or furtherance of the) Covenant. However, inside the text Jesus is speaking of his disciples in the 1 Cor 3:1-3 sense:
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh.”
Jesus realizes that contrary to the Pharisees (and likely most of John’s disciples) who had performed religious rituals for years (incorrectly as they may have been); Jesus disciple’s just days prior were tax collectors and fisherman. Jesus disciples were brand new believers, still “infants in Christ” and were not yet ready for the deeper practices of the faith. Based on this question, I don’t believe the Pharisees or Johns disciples were ready for true fasting either (though they sure thought they were) as they had to be instructed that the purpose of a fast is not while you have all that you need (as Jesus was present), but when you are experiencing hardship (as John was in prison), "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (mat 9:15)”

4. "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." … "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose

5. Jesus does not heal for the physical bodies sake, but for the souls sake. Jesus miricals are not primarly concerned with temporal healing and comfort but with demonstrating the mirical that jesus would ultimately perform in his death. He gives Faith to the spiritually blind, he allows the spiritually deaf to hear his gospel, he heals our hands and legs paralyzed with sin to go out and truly help our neighbor, he opens our mouths that we can proclaim his gospel and he raises our stone, dead hearts that we may believe and live never die.

6. Ps 10:4In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God." I choose this verse out of the psalm because it echoes what I said of pride in Thought #2. I like the saying, “Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one suffering it.” While this is definitely true in the worldly sense, in the eternal sense it is the proud who suffer. Pride says, “your good enough, just look at your neighbor.” It is pride that says, “Look at all the good that I have done in this world, if God still wants to condemn then he’s no god that I want to serve.” Pride looks only at the good that we have done while completely ignoring the bad. The sad fact is that “the healthy have no need of a physician.” Those who feel that they are good enough never seek help. No sin like pride is able to condemn the unbeliever, only pride through its lies of self-worth and self-esteem will prevent the unbeliever from breaking in order to be rebuilt. Hitting bended knee and crying out for God’s Mercy.