Matthew 9 Bible Commentary

9:1 And he ¹ entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his ^a own city.

(1) Sins are the cause of our afflictions, and Christ only forgives them if we believe.
(a) Into Capernaum, for as Theophylact says, Bethlehem brought him forth, Nazareth brought him up, and Capernaum was his dwelling place.

9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus ^b seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

(b) Knowing by a manifest sign.

9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This [man] ^c blasphemeth.

(c) To blaspheme, signifies among the divines, to speak wickedly: and among the more eloquent Greeks, to slander.

9:9 ² And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the ^d receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

(2) Christ calls the humble sinners unto him, but he condemns the proud hypocrites.
(d) At the table where the tax was received.

9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and ^e sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

(e) The publicans who were placed by the Romans, after that time Judea was brought into the form of a province, to gather the taxes, and therefore by the rest of the Jews they were called sinners, that is to say, very vile men.

9:14 ³ Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

(3) That is, wicked rivalry in matters of small importance.

9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the ^f children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

(f) A Hebrew idiom, for they that are admitted into the marriage chamber are as the bridegroom's closest friends.

9:16 No man putteth a piece of ^g new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

(g) Raw, which was never processed by the fuller.

9:18 ⁴ While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

(4) There is no evil so old, and incurable, which Christ cannot heal by and by, if he is touched with true faith, but lightly as it were with the hand.

9:23 ⁵ And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the ^h minstrels and the people making a noise,

(5) Even death itself gives place to the power of Christ.
(h) It appears that they used minstrels at their mournings.

9:27 ⁶ And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on us.

(6) By healing these two blind men Christ shows that he is the light of the world.

9:32 ⁷ As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.

(7) An example of that power that Christ has over the devil.

9:36 ⁸ But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

(8) Although the ordinary pastors cease, yet Christ has not cast off the care of his Church.

9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will ⁱ send forth labourers into his harvest.

(i) Literally, "cast them out": for men are very slow in a work so holy.