Matthew 9

Jesus Forgives Sin

Most commentators look at the flash of the bomb on this section.  They look at a paralytic that has been healed.  When they destroy old buildings in urban areas, it has been effective at times to strategically place bombs inside the building to bring it down.  Then they clear away the rubble so that they can build a new building.  Often those observing will marvel over the pyrotechnic genius that brought the building down and not give a second thought to the purpose for destroying it.  The same is the case here.  When Jesus healed the paralytic, he was sending a powerful message that is still missed today.  Yeshua had the authority to forgive sin.

Matthew 9:1–8 (NASB95)

¹ Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. ² And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” ⁴ And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? ⁵ “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? ⁶ “But 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, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he got up and went home. ⁸ But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

His Hometown: Jesus returned to His hometown.  Up to now, He had been healing, casting out demons, and teaching the people Torah.  His teachings went against the religious attitudes and teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees, and taught that Torah is God’s way of doing things.  If you were raised in a small town, you know that everyone in the town knows or is familiar with everyone else.  They knew that Yeshua was raised in their city, they had watched Him grow up from a small child.  They knew that something was different about Him, since he had come from a far land, Egypt, and that his parents seemed to be on the run when they settled into the community (Matthew 2:14-15).  They may have thought that Jesus was an illegitimate child, according to the rumor of the land.  The attitude of the teachers of the land bear evidence that Yeshua was born of questionable birth (John 8:41). Who would ever buy the story that God the Father had caused a virgin to become pregnant?  They were aware that the carpenter Joseph and his wife Mary had a very large family of which Jesus was the firstborn, (Matthew 12:46-47; 13:55-57; Mark 6:3-4).

His Audience:  To this point in Matthew the Scribes and Pharisees had been referred to as an object lesson.  They were seen periodically in the story but more of background characters that were not involved.  The audience that he is speaking to in this set of verses is the “crowds” that had followed him from the Mount.

In Hebrew thinking it is acceptable to explore different areas of thought.  They recognize that there are many variations of scriptural views.  Hebrew4Christians gives us an excellent article that explains this attitude.  I encourage you to look up and read the following article. Here is an excerpt from it:

“Shiv’im Panim laTorah: “The Torah has 70 faces.” This phrase is sometimes used to indicate different “levels” of interpretation of the Torah. “There are seventy faces to the Torah: Turn it around and around, for everything is in it” (Bamidbar Rabba 13:15).The Torah is a work of literary art, written by the LORD Himself, and therefore shares characteristics with all other works of art.

“The Jewish chaz’l (sages) typically allow inference within four main categories, with several levels of meaning coexisting simultaneously within a given pasuk (verse):

1. P’shat – The plain (historical/grammatical) meaning of the text.
2. Remez – The meaning which is only hinted at by the text.
3. Derash – The implicit meaning of the text.
4. Sod- The esoteric meaning of the text.”[1]

Scribes charge blasphemy: The Scribes and Pharisees had been watching Yeshua to this point.  They were accepting of His teaching of Torah.  Think through this for a moment.  Yeshua came on the scene and was teaching Torah in a marvelous way.  Crowds of people were hanging on his every word.  The Scribes and Pharisees were monitoring what He was saying and we have indication that at least one was considering making Yeshua his Rabbi (teacher).  The Hebrew people considered that there were seventy different ways to look at any verse in Torah.  They had no problem with differences in opinion.  These made for rich discussion as thinkers haggle over the different ideas.  This is one reason that the Talmud is so interesting to read.  It is like a blog from the ancient times where discussions were taking place regarding Torah.

You can be certain that the Messianic references that Yeshua had been making were not falling on deaf ears.  The Scribes and Pharisees were listening intently to see where Yeshua was going with His teaching.  At the healing of the paralytic, we see a landmark change in the text.  They picked up on the simple statement that Jesus made “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven” (Mat 8:2 b). These are the words that God spoke to Joshua prior to his conquest of the Promised Land (Josh 1:6).  Joshua was instructed to be strong and courageous. He was instructed to intimately involve himself in Torah and not to turn to the left or right from it.  Sin according to the Jewish mindset was failing to follow Torah.  This is the way that you miss the mark.  If you are not living life according to Torah, then you are living in sin.  Yeshua forgave that sin.

I want to remind you that in the Greek text there are no verse markings or chapter markings.  The story from Matt 8:28-34 carries on in this chapter.  The demons recognized Jesus as the “Son of God.”  Jesus demonstrated that He is God by forgiving sin.  Nowhere in the Bible will you find a natural man giving forgiveness of sin.  This is because sin or deviating from Torah does not affect natural man.  These are not his instructions.  The instructions of Torah are given by God in order for man to follow God in a perfect manner.  Deviations from Torah can only be forgiven by the lawgiver or instructor.  Only God can forgive sin.  The Scribes are correct.  If Jesus was a natural man and forgave sin; then he would be stepping out of his range of authority.  Yeshua would have been a sinner.

So we have two options here: First, the scribes were correct and Yeshua was a blasphemer.  Second, Jesus was actually God and had authority to forgive deviations from His instructions.  If Yeshua is not God, then we are following a sinner since He stepped in the place of God.  If this is the case, then the salvation that we hold on to is not valid.  If Yeshua is God in the flesh, then it makes perfect sense that He can forgive deviations from Torah.  He can forgive sin.

Another obvious point is that Yeshua knew their thoughts.  It was not a matter of knowing their attitude but rather He knew their actual thoughts. It is one thing to make good guesses based on knowing other people.  This is speaking about knowing what they were thinking.  To my knowledge, this is not possible for anyone to duplicate.  Can you imagine the power that such a person would have?  It boggles the imagination.

I hold and have taught in the past that Yeshua is the YHVH of the Old Testament come in the flesh for the redemption of man.  He gave Torah to Moses.  He has been intimately active in the lives of men through all of biblical history.  During New Testament times, He took on a fleshly body in order to completely fulfill the demands of Torah.  He is our salvation just as He is the Salvation in the Old Testament times.  Verses are too many to list.  In my opinion, if you want to know Yeshua, learn about YHVH of the Old Testament and study His characteristics.

Confrontation through healing: Yeshua confronted the Scribes on this very point.  In order to demonstrate that He is God and had authority to forgive sins, He healed the paralytic.  The Paralytic carries a double meaning.  First we see that a man who was hopelessly disabled was miraculously healed.  He was restored to the point that he was able to pick up his bed and went home.  The second meaning that we can draw from this is by spiritualizing the situation.  Many are paralyzed such as the scribes by refusing to recognize when God is taking action.

Yeshua made a clear statement by healing the paralytic.  He made the statement that He carried the authority of God by being able to both heal and to forgive sin.  Jesus did not waffle on the accusation of blasphemy.  If he was a mortal man, it would have been a no-brainer to declare his innocence.  Yet Jesus stood firmly on the fact that He had the authority to forgive sin.  According to the Hebrew mindset, only God can forgive sin.  It is impossible for the natural man to forgive sin.  Sacrifices from the Old Testament were not done to forgive sin but rather to cover sin and appease God for violating Torah (Heb 9:22).

You can almost hear the announcer make the statement “Let the games begin!”  From this point forward we will observe the Scribes and Pharisees dogging Yeshua.  This is necessary because without their constant dogging, the crucifixion would have never taken place.  If Yeshua was seen only as a great healer who spoke motivational sermons, it would have been foolish to crucify him.  In order for Him to finally be taken to the cross, it was necessary for Him to live a perfect life according to Torah.  Ironically it is through teaching Torah that Jesus will eventually be crucified.  We will look at that as we progress in the study.

People moved to glorify god:  We do not know if the people glorified Yeshua or if they had a worship service to God.  Either way we do not see Jesus rebuking the people for worship.  He did not rebuke people for bowing down to Him when they made requests (Matt 8:2; Mark 5:6; Matt 9:18; 15:25; 20:20).  We know beyond a shadow of doubt that Yeshua receives worship in Revelation (Re 11:15-19.  By the way, worship is translated from a Greek word which means to bow down or to lie prostrate before.  Worship is not standing with your hands held high.  It is falling on your face before the almighty God.  If you take a stroll through the Old Testament, it is clear worship is falling on the face.  There are only two times that this is marked acceptable.  The first time is falling on your face before the Lord.  The second time it is acceptable is falling on your face before the king.  A last note on this, Yeshua claimed to be the “I AM” of the Old Testament (Ex 3:14; John 8:18, 57-59).  We will run into that statement as we study further in the Gospels.

The crowds were amazed and moved to worship.  This is a clear mark of a movement of God.  It is an element of a Hebrew blessing.  Here is an example that we see from Psalm 119 which follows the same tone:

Psalm 119:9–12 (NASB95)

⁹ How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. ¹⁰ With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments. ¹¹ Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. ¹² Blessed are You, O Lord; Teach me Your statutes.

They glorified God and praised Him for teaching men.  A simple blessing of praise to God.  So simple it is easily missed.

Matthew’s testimony of his calling:

This is the Gospel of Matthew.  In the next few verses Matthew recalls his calling and the company that he had kept prior to Messiah.  Tax collectors were not pillars of society.  The Roman Empire demanded that they collect a certain amount of taxes.  It was understood that they could increase taxes in order to support themselves.  Some tax collectors were quite greedy.  This gave them a horrible reputation.  Because of this, tax collectors are used as examples of the most horrendous sinners through the Gospels.  Zaccheus is an excellent example since after becoming noticed he promised to pay half his possessions to the poor and pay back four times as much if he defrauded someone (Luke 19:1-8).  Zaccheus was keeping with the instructions of Torah.  Stern noted: “But a man stealing what is essential and showing no pity was required to pay back fourfold (Exodus 21:37(22:1), 2 Samuel 12:6). Zakkai, fully repentant, not only acknowledged the heartlessness and cruelty of his behavior but voluntarily imposed upon himself the whole restitution required by the Torah for such acts.” ^[2]

Matthew is identified as a tax collector, we have no idea of his rank.  Mark identifies him as “Levi the son of Alphaeus” (Mark 2:14).  There is quite a bit of conjecture in the commentaries on the reasons for the two names.  It could be that he simply preferred the name “Matthew”.  What is important to the story is that he was a popular tax collector.  It is safe to say that since he was so popular among his peers he was probably just like them.  Now let’s get on with the story:

Matthew 9:9–13 (NASB95) ⁹ As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. ¹⁰ Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew responded immediately.  Matthew dropped everything and immediately followed Yeshua.  We are not told how the gathering took place.  Matthew lets the reader assume that the tax collectors and sinners gathered at his house.  Great story, but why is this significant?  Why is it significant that Yeshua spent time with horrendous sinners?  What does this teach us about the nature of God?  The Pharisees could not make a connection as to why Yeshua would dine with sinners.

Jewish tradition makes allowance for entertaining guest in the home.  He and the disciples were obviously invited to the home and they accepted the offer.  This is significant because dining with people demonstrates a bonding of souls as people draw together.  This is based upon the story of Abraham and Sarah where they quickly threw together a meal to entertain the Lord (Gen 18).  Yeshua followed the same manner by accepting invitation to Matthews home.

Another point of interest is that Yeshua is the Messiah.  One of the characteristics of God and of the Messiah is to reach out to the unworthy:

Isaiah 65:1–5 (NASB95) ¹ “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name. ² “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, ³ A people who continually provoke Me to My face, Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks; ⁴ Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots. ⁵ “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.

Isaiah 65:11–12 (NASB95) ¹¹ “But you who forsake the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny, ¹² I will destine you for the sword, And all of you will bow down to the slaughter. Because I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear. And you did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.”

Our God listens when people respond.  The house full of tax collectors and sinners carries the exact essence of Isaiah 65.  God promises that if people call, even if they are a foreign nation, he will answer.  This is the situation with Matthew’s house.  The people that filled the house came to meet Yeshua.  As Messiah and carrying on the nature of God, Yeshua responded by showing up.

Pharisees questions: The Pharisees were questioning Yeshua on why he was dining with sinners.  His response is very interesting since it reflects the argument of Torah and of the Babylonian Talmud.  Here is an excerpt from the Talmud regarding physicians and their responsibility:

“B. Said Abbayye, “A person should not say such a prayer.

“C.“For it has been taught by a Tanna of the house of R. Ishmael, ‘He shall cause him to be thoroughly healed’ (Ex. 21:19).

“D.“ ‘On the basis of this verse of Scripture we learn that the right is given to a physician to heal [patients].’ [So the sentiment of the foregoing prayer, that physicians do not heal, is wrong.]”^[3]

The physician’s responsibility is to heal the sick.  Yeshua drew a parallel to this responsibility by inferring that since He is the Messiah, it is His responsibility to reach out to the spiritually sick.  The second part of his response to the Pharisees sends them back to the Scripture for study:

Hosea 6:6 (NASB95) ⁶ For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

1 Samuel 15:22 (NASB95) ²² Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Jeremiah 7:22–24 (NASB95) ²² “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ ²⁴ “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

Yeshua as the Messiah gave the Pharisees some homework.  If they were interested in knowing the answer to His dining with sinners, all they had to do was to check the scriptures to investigate the nature of God.  He did not give them a hard lesson.  Anyone who studied the fall of King Saul or the prophets would have been familiar with this concept.

Application:  I believe all of us are relieved that Yeshua came to those who are sinners.  We are also relieved that He will respond to anyone who calls on His name.  The quote from Isaiah 65 above is referring to both Gentiles and compromising Jews.  The accusation of eating swine’s flesh gives the picture of the most horrendous of people.  God will respond to anyone who calls.  If we make our god money and success rather than God, judgment will come (Isa 65:11-12 above).  However, if we turn toward Yeshua and make Him our God, then we will be accepted by Him.  The nature of our Messiah is to respond to those who call.  All of us are spiritually sick, it is time to seek our Physician, Yeshua.

New Wineskins

We covered fasting in Matthew 6:16-18.  The question that is posed is why the disciples are not fasting.  Yeshua brings out two illustrations to answer this question.  Let’s look at the passage first:

Matthew 9:14–17 (NASB95) ¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ¹⁷ “Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

It is important to note that the disciples of John the Baptist are asking the question.  This question is not a challenge, it is an honest question pointed at getting to the bottom of the truth.

Bridegroom: John the Baptist and the Pharisees taught their disciples how to draw near to God.  Fasting is one of the tools that effectively enables one to draw very near to God and to hear His voice.  Jesus did not teach the disciples to draw near to God since He is God!  The Bridegroom of the Hebrew people is the Messiah Yeshua.  He was also sending a message back to John that He indeed is the bridegroom that was prophesied:

Isaiah 61:10–11 (NASB95) ¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 49:18 (NASB95) ¹⁸ “Lift up your eyes and look around; All of them gather together, they come to you. As I live,” declares the Lord, “You will surely put on all of them as jewels and bind them on as a bride.

Jeremiah 2:31–33 (NASB95) ³¹ “O generation, heed the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’? ³² “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number. ³³ “How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways.

The idea behind a bride and bridegroom looks forward to the Messiah.  This illustration was a clear reference to that trend of prophecies that are scattered through the scriptures.  Many teach that the church is the Bride of Messiah.  If that is true, why is it that God refers to the Hebrew people as His bride?  The Gentiles did not forget the Lord, the Hebrew people did (Jer 2:32 above).

Unshrunk cloth: Replacement theologians have taught that this verse means that the Old Testament Tanakh has become like an old cloth.  It is worthless and cannot be repaired by Yeshua’s teaching.  Nothing can be further from the truth!  Yeshua did not come to do away with Torah (Mat 5:17; Ro 3:4-6; 4:31; 8:4).  Stern makes a good remark to this problem:

The implication is that one must shrink the new cloth—adapt Messianic faith to Judaism—for Yeshua does not imply that there is anything wrong with patching an old coat! The early Messianic Jews did adapt Messianic faith to Judaism, but the later Gentile Church did not. Instead, some forms of Gentile Christianity became paganized precisely because the Tanakh was forgotten or underemphasized. Messianic Jews today are once again trying to bring New Testament faith back to its Jewish roots. ^[4]

New wineskins:  Elihu was flabbergasted with the argument between the three men who came to comfort Job.  He replied to them that passion filled his soul.  Look at his statement:

Job 32:18–22 (NASB95) ¹⁸ “For I am full of words; The spirit within me constrains me. ¹⁹ “Behold, my belly is like unvented wine, Like new wineskins it is about to burst. ²⁰ “Let me speak that I may get relief; Let me open my lips and answer. ²¹ “Let me now be partial to no one, Nor flatter any man. ²² “For I do not know how to flatter, Else my Maker would soon take me away.

The discussion of the Wineskins is greatly misunderstood due to Replacement theology… Yep, the commentators have duped us by playing on our ignorance of the Greek language.  I am going to plead my case from two sources.  First we will look at the scriptures to see what is actually there, then we will look at the Talmud to see how wineskins were cared for.  After that we will draw a conclusion.

“New wine” is the Greek word “neon” which means new.  The idea carried behind this is “new, fresh, young, younger or youngest”.  No doubt we are talking about brand new wine that is freshly made.  This is what Elihu was referring to in the above passage.  It works as the yeast ferments to make wine causing gasses and constant pressure on the skin.

“Fresh wineskins” is from the Greek word that actually bends toward being made like new, or fresh, or something new in kind.  It carries the idea of an item that has been reworked or renewed to be just like new.  Something old made fresh.

To this point many try to say that we are looking at an old wineskin versus a brand new one.  Let’s look at the text again.  The new wine is poured into wineskins that have become fresh.  They were old wineskins, but now they have been made fresh.  Let’s look at the Talmud now to see how the wineskins were preserved.  Note, the argument is whether to take care of wineskins that were donated versus wineskins that they owned.  They are going to take good care of the ones that they own:

“X.2 A. A Tai-Arab, Bar Adi, seized wineskins from R. Isaac bar Joseph, poured out the wine, and returned the skins to him. He came and consulted the house of study.

“B. Said to him R. Jeremiah, “The law in practice is this: one fills them with water for three days and pours it out [and the skins are then acceptable].”

“C. Said Raba, “One has to empty out the water every twenty-four hours.”

“D. The conclusion drawn from that case was that that is the requirement when the skins belong to us, but if the skins belong to them, that is not the rule. However, when Rabin came, he said R. Simeon b. Laqish said, “All the same is the rule for ours and for theirs.”^[5]

The Hebrew people knew how to refresh wineskins.  They filled the old skins with water for three days to test the skin, then the water was changed every day.  This renewed the wineskins so that they were ready for service.  You would not pour out the old wine and immediately refill the skin with new wine.  The leather had become hard and would certainly burst if this happened.  Rather, you poured out the old wine, then conditioned the old wineskin so that it became a fresh or renewed wineskin.  The Jewish people knew how to preserve wineskins.

Yeshua taught that the Old Covenant had to be refreshed so that the New Covenant could work with it.  The Old Covenant was good, it contained the word of the Lord.  The New Covenant is good because it holds both the word of the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord who teaches it.   Stern sums it up nicely:

“As rendered here the point is that the only vessel which can hold the new wine of Messianic life in a Jewish setting is a properly renewed, restored, reconditioned and refreshed Judaism, such as Messianic Judaism was in the first century and aims to be now. Taken together, verses 16 and 17 imply that both Messianic faith and Judaism should adjust to each other.”^[6]

What we as Christians forget is that Jesus was not speaking to a bunch of Gentile believers.  He was speaking to Jewish people who knew Torah.  He was not abolishing Torah, He was making it better.

Yeshua raised the dead and healed to avoid becoming unclean.

This section covers quite a few stories.  Yeshua demonstrated that He is the Messiah by carrying on the prophesied work of the Messiah.  Healing the sick was one of the prophecies.  Here we see a man who has a dead daughter.  Many are familiar with Lazarus being raised from the dead.  There were others who were raised that are of less importance.

Synagogue officials daughter: Matt 9:18-19, 23-27.  This story is recorded in Luke 8:41-56 and Mark 5:22-43.  A synagogue official came to Jesus asking Him to revive his dead daughter.   Luke tells us that she is 12 years old.  Mary was around this age when she bore the Messiah. This official understood the nature of the Messiah.  We have evidence from the Tanakh (Old Testament) that God can and does raise the dead.

Elijah lived with a widow during a time of famine.  Shortly after the woman’s child died.  She appealed to him asking him if he saved them from the famine so that her child would die.  Elijah prayed, stretched out on the child and brought him back to life (1 Ki 17:17-23).  Elisha did the same thing for the Shunammite woman’s child (2 Ki 4:32-37).  Later a dead man was thrown on the bones of Elisha and he came back to life (2 Ki 13:21).

Lastly, Abraham was going to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord as the Lord had commanded him.  He fully believed that if he did this God would raise Isaac from the dead (Gen 22:5).  When Isaac carried the wood for a sacrifice, Abraham informed Isaac that the Lord will provide a sacrifice.  Isaac willingly allowed Abraham to place him on the altar.  God honored Abraham’s faith.

The point of all of this is that if Messiah was going to be representing YHVH of the Old Testament, He needed to demonstrate power that was greater than the power of the prophets of old.  He did not have to go through all the gymnastics of the prophets, Yeshua simply took the girl by the hand and she rose as if from sleep.  This is significant because if Yeshua had touched a dead body, it would have made him unclean.  It gets even more interesting when we look at Torah:

Numbers 19:14 (NASB95) ¹⁴ ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days.

If Yeshua came into the house and the girl was dead in the house, that simple fact alone would have made him unclean for seven days.  Notice in the passage that Yeshua stated that the girl was not dead, she was asleep.  Prior to even entering the house Yeshua had raised her from the dead.  When he entered and took her hand, he really did wake her up from sleep.  I believe that the YHVH that gave the law to Moses was Yeshua.  He raised the girl from the dead before even entering the house, that is spectacular.

The noise that was going on in the house to mourn her death validated that the girl was indeed dead.  There is no doubt that the girl was dead.  The mourners would not have assembled at a moment’s notice.

Tzitzit and a woman with a hemorrage

Matt 9:20-22  This is a second example of a situation which would have made Yeshua unclean according to Torah.  If a man touched a woman who was on a menstrual period he became unclean.  If the blood continued beyond that menstrual period, Torah taught that uncleanness was still in effect:

Leviticus 15:25–28 (NASB95) ²⁵ ‘Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. ²⁶ ‘Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness at that time. ²⁷ ‘Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²⁸ ‘When she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean.

I have seen paintings of this woman reaching out to touch the hem of Yeshua’s robe.  This is not accurate.  According to a footnote in the New American Standard Bible, it is quite clear that the fringe that is spoken of is a tassel with a blue thread.  This is tassel that God commands all the sons of Israel to wear on their garments.  The purpose of the tassel is to be a constant reminder of Torah:

Numbers 15:37–41 (NASB95) ³⁷ The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. ³⁹ “It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, ⁴⁰ so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ “I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord your God.”

In effect, by touching the tassel (Hebrew: Tzitzit), this woman was unwittingly touching Torah.  If Yeshua was touched by a woman with a discharge, He would become unclean.  Yeshua healed her both to protect her from defiling the Tzitzit and also was keep from becoming unclean by being touched by her.

On the Tzitzit:  Today many Jewish and Messianic believers wear the tzitzit.  It is still a constant reminder of Torah.  One way of wearing it is to wear a “small tallit” or tallit katan.  This is worn under the garments.  It is a four cornered garment with tassels on each corner.  The second type is a tallit gadol or large tallit.  This is a ceremonial garment that is worn over the clothes.  Depending on its make, it can be very decorative.  When in prayer this is drawn over the head to create a private chamber or prayer closet.  When praying and wearing the tallit, it is customary to hold the four tzitzit in the hands to symbolize praying according to Torah.  It is believed that Yeshua was wearing a tallit gadol over his outer garments.

Perhaps you have seen the 1971 classic movie Fiddler on the Roof or have seen it as a play.  Trevye seems puzzled as to why he wears a “prayer shawl” except that it is tradition!  Trevye stated “We always keep our head covered and wear a prayer shawl, this shows our constant devotion to God.  You may ask, how did this tradition get started? I’ll tell you, I don’t know. But it’s a tradition! And because of our traditions every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do.”  Watch the movie or watch the play.  All the Jewish men in the cast wear tallit’s.  I have seen the play many times and thoroughly enjoy the movie. I encourage you to go on Youtube and search for the song “tradition”.

Remember, Yeshua taught Torah!  The command to wear the tzitzit is a biblical command that was given to all men.  This command has been ignored by Christians almost entirely.  It is interesting that many liturgical garments worn by ministers contain a robe very similar to the Tallit Gadol.  Modern Jewish people are all over the board on wearing the Tzitzit. Orthodox Jews wear the tallit katan daily and use the tallit gadol for worship.  Messianic Christians are adopting the practice because of the constant reminder that our faith is based upon Torah.  Yeshua did not come to eliminate Torah, He came to put it in full force.

Women are not commanded to wear the Tzitzit.  It is not prohibited for women to wear it either.  Some women from the Orthodox Jews and from Messianic Christians wear the tzitzit.  This is most often done during worship services where they use the Tallit Gadol.

Why use the tzitzit?  The utilization of the tallit gadol during prayer time enhances prayer because focus is centered on God’s word.  During Bible study it seems that the study time is richer.  I have no way of knowing if it is because of a placebo effect or simply that God blesses the time more.  All I know is that wearing the tzitzit either with the large tallit or small tallit is effective in increasing spiritual awareness.  Wearing them during prayer times increases the intensity of the prayer.  This is not from research; I know this from personal experience.

Summary of Matthew 9:18-26: Yeshua taught and put into practice Torah.  This meant that He was subject to becoming unclean if He touched a dead person or a woman who was bleeding from menstruation.  He was either protected by the Father from unintentional uncleanness or as God knew and healed the two in this story before they made Him unclean.  As Messiah Yeshua wore the Tzitzit as commanded by Torah.

Son of David

The Son of David is a messianic term that is drawn from the whole of the Old Testament.  It is clear from the genealogy that Yeshua was certainly from the tribe of David in both accounts (Luke 3:31, Matt 1:1).  This  did not make him unique at the time since many people had the same claim.  The tribe of David was marked to reign on the throne as an everlasting covenant (2 Sam 7:14-16).  We understand that the Messiah will reign because of the reference to a son of David ruling on the throne.  The Jewish Rabbi’s took this to be fact (Mark 12:35).  They were looking for a Messiah that was the Son of David.  This is one of the reasons that the genealogies were so careful to establish that He is indeed the son of David.  Of the three synoptic gospels the term “Son of David” only appears sixteen times, and only eleven if you eliminate the repeat versions.

Two blind men:

Matthew 9:27–31 (NASB95) ²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” ²⁸ When He entered the house, the blind men came up 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, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

It appears that Yeshua had just arrived at the synagogue officials house when these blind men approached Him.  The house had to be a three-ring circus!  The story appears to be happening all at once with four separate events taking place.  Matthew told them as different stories so that it would not confuse the reader.  Why would Yeshua allow this?

The synagogue official knew that Yeshua had the power to raise the dead.  Yeshua demonstrated to him the power to heal as well.  He demonstrates in this story the power to heal blindness.  Finally, in the last story that we will look at, the power to cast out demons.  Yeshua was sending a powerful message to the official that He is the Son of David, the prophesied King of Israel, the Messiah.

Human nature is a constant mystery.  Yeshua warned them sternly not to tell anyone about the healing.    They did not keep silent.  You can only imagine how excited that they were to be able to see. Jesus asking people to remain silent about their healing was common during his earthly ministry.  In other places we see that once people tell others about the healing it hinders His ministry.  The priority of healing was to demonstrate that He is the Messiah.  It was not to bring in all the sick for healing.

These blind men understood that Messiah Yeshua was able to heal blind eyes (Exodus 4:11; Proverbs 20:12; 2 Kings 6:18-20).  They most likely heard stories about how Jesus had healed the sick, raised the dead, and put two and two together.  The only person in scripture that was able to heal blindness was YHVH the LORD of the Old Testament (2 Ki 6:18-20).

Demon possessed mute man:

Matthew 9:32–34 (NASB95) ³² As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. ³³ After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” ³⁴ But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”  

The man was brought to Jesus, it is not indicated that he came willingly.  He doesn’t seem to exercise his own faith to be healed and delivered.  Jesus seems to be responding to the faith of the ones who brought him.  This man may have been a test by someone to see if Jesus was real.  Regardless the reason behind him being brought to Jesus, this man walked away restored in his speech, and having been delivered from demons.  We do not know if the demons caused the muteness.

The Pharisees tried to justify what they were seeing by saying that Yeshua cast out demons by the ruler of the demons.  This is a seed of doubt that is sown in the minds of the people.  We will see this accusation rise again later (John 7:20).  The Pharisees had two choices, they could accept Him as Messiah according to His works or they had to find fault.

Truth has to be dealt with.  Even today when people are faced with the Messiah they have to find a reason not to believe in Him.  Since I have been involved in looking at the Jewish side of our faith, I have come to realize that many Christians echo the attitude of the Pharisees.  They refuse to listen or consider that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah because it goes against church doctrine.  The road each person takes is according to their decision to take Yeshua seriously or to fall back on tradition.  When the decision is made to fall back on tradition, any excuse is a good one.  With the Pharisees, it was the accusation of demon possession.

In an attempt to explain the unexplainable, the Pharisees came up with the reason for Jesus being able to cast out demons, being that he was working with Satan.  This shows that these men were grasping at straws in an attempt to regain lost ground.  Jesus hit the scene and took the world by storm; His demonstration that He was Messiah was contagious.  Faith spread to all those around him, and the traditional religion of the Jews was challenged.  Conventional teaching on Torah was challenged for the first time, and found to be lacking.  Yeshua was teaching Torah with power and infusing the Holy Spirit to bring about the full truth of God’s instruction.  He demonstrated this truth by miracles which validated all that he was saying. However, the leaders of the people were frightened of losing their status quo.  All four gospels record similar statements (Mark 3:23-27; Luke 11:15-22; John 7:20).  As with many today the religious leaders were afraid of reaching out to the more complete truth of the Gospel.  Yeshua taught Torah with the power of the original author.

Summary:  Let’s look at the healings for a moment.  In other accounts we often see Yeshua healing people who are unable to ask for healing or have been used to try to trap Him.  It seems that often there are dual reasons for healing.  First and foremost, Yeshua heals for the sake of the sick person.  Second, He healed for the sake of the audience.  Take the woman with the hemorrhage, she was healed privately, the second purpose was to prevent Messiah from becoming unclean. She did not ask for the healing; she effectively took the healing. The girl that was raised from the dead was raised prior to his entering the house, she was unable to ask for it.  A second purpose was for her father and the crowd.  The third reason was to prevent Messiah from becoming unclean.  The mute man that follows this story was unable to ask, and apparently was brought to the Messiah.  He did not come willingly.  Yeshua healed the muteness and cast out the demon.  First purpose was for the man.  Second purpose was for a witness to the synagogue official and the crowds.  These were strong witnesses that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Matthew 9:35–38 (NASB95) ³⁵ Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. ³⁶ Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus was teaching in the synagogues of Galilee at the time, healing people of every kind of disease.  The seed planted by the Pharisees had not yet began to grow.  You can see the heartbreak of the Messiah as he worked His way through healing the sick and returning people to Torah.  The good news of the kingdom was not that He was crucified and died for sin.  The good news was His teaching of Torah, His demonstration that He was the prophesied Messiah.  The crucifixion had not taken place yet.  The healing of all kinds of diseases was one of the earmarks of the Messiah.  Although the synagogues were great places of religion, they fell short in taking care of the needs of the people.  We know this because Matthew indicates that the people were “sheep without a shepherd”.  Their religious leaders were not filling their roles.

Try to imagine the frustration that Jesus had felt, the people had been locked into a religious relationship with God.  They had the synagogue which was ran by corrupt individuals who sought to pad their own pockets more than promoting the God of Torah.  This left the people virtually leaderless since the leaders were not so much interested in leading and guiding but more in tradition.

The words of Jesus in these verses are still true today.  In churches and synagogues today we have a greater need for teachers than there has ever been before.  In many churches, the pulpits are not filled, and some of the ones that are filled are mirror images of the Pharisees of old.  They are teaching dead traditions and empty doctrines.  People are seeing through this and exercising the right to stay home.  They are sheep without a shepherd.

The harvest is even more plentiful than before; people are waking up spiritually.  They intuitively know that the doctrines they hear are empty and that there is more to be had.  Those who know the truth of Messiah are hiding because they feel the message will be rejected just as our Messiah was rejected. Many of us have turned into couch potatoes, sitting in service, absorbing the message and doing absolutely nothing about it.

The time is now, and we are the ones available to work.  The question is, are we willing to follow His leading?  Are we willing to risk rejection?  Are we willing to risk people thinking that we are of the devil for preaching a Gospel that is based on Torah? Are we willing to open our mouths and speak the truth that we have secretly hidden in our hearts?

Father, we have studied about the tremendous healings of the New Testament, and we ask that You will use each one of us to bring in the harvest, open our eyes to the ways that we can help out.  Lord, teach us to be harvesters and workers to build Your Kingdom.

On Yeshua’s journey,

Joe Turner.

[1] http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Seventy_Faces/seventy_faces.html

^[2] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary : A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament, electronic ed. (Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996), Lk 19:8.

^[3] Jacob Neusner, The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary, vol. 1 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), 410.

^[4] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary : A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament, electronic ed. (Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996), Mt 9:16.

^[5] Jacob Neusner, The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary, vol. 17b (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), 125.

^[6] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary : A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament, electronic ed. (Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996), Mt 9:17.