Salvation Is Jesus

Matthew 9

In Matthew chapter 9 we are shown four examples of people’s faith in Jesus and two examples of Jesus telling the need for Christians to share the Gospel of Christ. We’ll cover them quickly, one at a time.

• Faith example 1 in verses 1-8:

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some 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.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 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, take your mat and go home.” And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Notice that in this example, Jesus’ first response to the men’s faith was to forgive sin. There is no mention of this man’s past moral life or good deeds that indicate gaining Jesus’ favor. The Pharisees said Jesus was blaspheming because only God has authority to forgive sins. Next we one of the main reasons why Jesus performed so many miracles while he was walking on Earth: so that we may know that he has authority to forgive sins. Notice that the people’s reaction was to praise God.

• Spreading Gospel example 1 in verses 9-13:

As 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. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Here, the author of this book of the Bible, Matthew, introduces himself through this story. The self righteous Pharisees objected to Jesus eating with “sinners”. Since we know that Jesus clearly teaches that all men are truly sinners and need God’s forgiveness, we can see that his response to the Pharisees was delivered with some sarcasm. Salvation awaits anyone who is willing to recognize his sinfulness and need for Christ. But the Pharisees were mostly a self-righteous group of teachers, to whom Jesus would not cater.

• Faith examples 2 and 3 in verses 18-22

In these verses we are told a ruler came to Jesus saying,

My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her and she will live.

Jesus agreed to go to the dead girl, and on his way, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to him while saying to herself,

If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.

Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her. When Jesus arrives at the ruler’s house, there are already mourners for the dead girl. He raises her from the dead.

• Faith example 4 in verses 27-30

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When 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.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you“; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”

This is pretty straight forward. They believed, and Jesus healed them according to their belief. On a side note, he tells them to keep quiet about it because the more popular Jesus became, the more the crowds wanted to force him to be their king and lead a revolt against Rome. However, Jesus did not come to set up his earthy kingdom yet, but to set people free from their sin.

• Sharing Gospel example 2 in verses 35-38

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

Jesus essentially tells his disciples to pray for help in spreading the Gospel to the entire world.