Matthewchapter 9
38 verses · Matthew, by tradition · AD 50 to 65 · The Gospels
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Introduction
Matthew, by tradition, The Gospels, Matthew Overview.
This chapter continues the account of what Jesus did in Galilee, and it adds a new note of conflict. Here the Gospel's own writer appears for the first time, called away from his tax booth. Matthew wrote for readers who knew why such a man was despised by his neighbours. Listen for the questions the scribes, the Pharisees and even John's disciples raise, and for the answers Jesus gives about who He came for. Then notice how the chapter ends, with the crowds described as sheep without a shepherd and a call to pray for workers.
Context
- Who
- Jewish readers who knew exactly why a tax collector was despised
- What
- The healing and forgiveness of a paralysed man, the call of Matthew, a question about fasting, the raising of a ruler's daughter, the healing of a woman, two blind men and a mute man, and the call to pray for workers.
- Where
- Capernaum, which Matthew calls His own town, including a house, a tax booth, a meal table and the house of a synagogue ruler.
- When
- About AD 28, during the Galilean ministry.
- Why
- To show that Jesus has authority to forgive sins, that He came to call sinners, and that His compassion reaches every kind of need.
Historical context
Rome did not collect its own tolls. It sold the right to collect them, and the man who bought the contract kept everything he could squeeze above the sum he owed. The collectors were fellow Jews, working for the occupier against their neighbours, and Jewish law treated them as unfit to give testimony in court. Capernaum sat on a trade road at a border between territories, so a booth there was a lucrative posting.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Sharing a meal was not a casual act. Reclining at table with someone declared you his associate. That is the whole scandal of the dinner at Matthew's house: not that Jesus spoke to such men, but that he ate with them.
The wineskin saying is practical chemistry. New wine kept fermenting and gave off gas; a fresh skin could stretch, but an old one had already stretched and gone brittle, and it would split.
The two intertwined healings both involve contact that made a person unclean. A woman with a twelve-year flow of blood was permanently impure and could not worship or be touched; she reaches for the tassel on the corner of his outer garment, the fringe the Law commanded every Jewish man to wear. And a corpse was the strongest impurity of all, yet by the time Jesus reaches the house, the professional mourners and flute players are already there, because even a poor family was expected to hire them.
Significance
The healing of the paralysed man is the turning point of the chapter, because Jesus forgives before he heals. To a Jewish reader that was the claim that mattered, sin was God's to forgive, and forgiveness was sought at the temple.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Matthew, who wrote the book, put his own call in the middle of it. His readers, cut off by respectable people, were meant to see the answer he was given: it is the sick who need a doctor, and the Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The Paralytic Forgiven and Sent Home Walking
Matthew 9:1-2
came to His own town: Jesus returns to Capernaum and men bring Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He spoke first to the deeper need: your sins are forgiven, a word no one had asked for. The man came for his legs and received his standing with God.
Matthew 9:1
“And he entered into a ship ... - Jesus acceded to the request of the people of Gadara Mat 8:34, recrossed the Lake of Gennesareth, and returned to his own city. By “his own city” is meant Capernaum Mar 2:1, the city which was at that time his home, or where he had his dwelling. See the notes at Mat 4:13. This same account, with some additional circumstances, is contained in Mar 2:3-12, and Luk 5:18-26.”
Jerome marks the word son; Jesus gives it to a crippled man whom the priests would not touch. John Chrysostom distinguishes this man from the paralytic of John 5, who lay alone at the pool for thirty-eight years. This one had friends to carry him in Capernaum.
Matthew 9:2
“Sick of the palsy - See Mat 4:24. Lying on a bed - Κλινης, a couch or sofa, such as they reclined on at meals. Seeing their faith - The faith of the paralytic person, and the faith of those who brought him; see on Mar 2:4 (note). Be of good cheer - Θαρσει τεκνον, Son, take courage! Probably he began to despond, and Christ spoke thus to support his faith. Thy sins be forgiven thee - Moral evil has been the cause of all the natural evil in the world.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Matthew 9:2
“And they brought him, as we said before, a paralytic lying on a bed, because he himself was not able to enter. But Jesus, seeing not the faith of the one who was being offered, but of those who were offering, said to the paralyzed man: Have confidence, my son, your sins are forgiven you. Oh, wonderful humility! He calls despised and weak, dissolved in the joints of all his limbs, his son, whom the priests did not consider worthy of touching. Or certainly he calls him son because his sins are forgiven him.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Matthewpatristic
Matthew 9:2
“And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy,.... That is, some of the inhabitants of Capernaum, four men of that city particularly; for Mark says, Mar 2:3 he "was borne of four": these brought him to Jesus, lying on a bed, or couch, he being so enfeebled by the disease upon him, his nerves so weak, and the members of his body in such a tremor, that he was not able to walk himself, nor even to be carried by others in any other way than this.”
Matthew 9:2
“I REMARKED in the reading that the Gospel of Matthew is especially the Gospel of the Kingdom and of the King. All through Matthew's writing, the title of King constantly occurs in connection with Christ, and His kingliness is prominent from the opening chapter to the close. Here we see the King exercising His royal prerogatives. In this passage we have several instances of Christ acting as He could not have acted if He had not possessed a royal and Divine Power. I.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2337: “The Physician Pardons His Palsied Patient” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Matthew 9:3-4
some of the scribes said to themselves: This man is blaspheming, and Jesus answers a thought no one voiced. Only God can forgive sins, so a man who claims to forgive them claims what belongs to God alone. The scribes are right about the theology and wrong about the man.
Matthew 9:3
Let us notice, in the first part of this passage, our Lord’s knowledge of men’s thoughts. There were certain of the scribes who found fault with the words which Jesus spoke to a man sick of the palsy: they said secretly among themselves, “This man blasphemeth.”They probably supposed that no one knew what was going on in their minds: they had yet to learn that the Son of God could read hearts, and discern spirits. Their malicious thought was publicly exposed: they were put to open shame. Jesus “ knew their thoughts.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:3
“Christ's pardoning sin is termed blasphemy; nor had it been less, if he had not had commission from God for it. They, therefore, are guilty of blasphemy, that have no such commission, and yet pretend to pardon sin. The conviction which Christ gave them of the unreasonableness of this cavil, before he proceeded.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 9:3
“This man blasphemeth - The word “blaspheme” originally means to speak evil of anyone; to injure by words; to blame unjustly. When applied to God, it means to speak of him unjustly; to ascribe to him acts and attributes which he does not possess; or to speak impiously or profanely. It also means to say or do anything by which his name or honor is insulted, or which conveys an “impression” unfavourable to God. It means. also, to attempt to do, or say a thing, which belongs to him alone, or which he only can do.”
Jesus knew what they were thinking: Adam Clarke joins the two powers that only God holds. The one who can read hearts can also forgive, so the scribes receive proof of the pardon from their unspoken thoughts. Albert Barnes gathers the texts that reserve this knowledge to God, among them 1 Chronicles 28:9 and Jeremiah 17:10.
Matthew 9:4
“And Jesus knowing their thoughts,.... Which was a clear evidence, and full demonstration of his deity; for none knows the thoughts of the heart but God; and since he knew the thoughts of men's hearts, it could be no blasphemy in him to take that to himself which belonged to God, even to forgive sins. And this, one would think, would have been sufficient to have approved himself to them as the true Messiah; since this is one of the ways of knowing the Messiah, according to the Jews, and which they made use of to discover a false one.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:4
“Jesus knowing (ιδων seeing) their thoughts - In telling them what the thoughts of their hearts were, (for they had expressed nothing publicly), he gave them the fullest proof of his power to forgive sins; because God only can forgive sins, and God only can search and know the heart. Jesus pronounced the man’s sins forgiven; and gave the scribes the fullest proof of his power to do so, by telling them what, in the secret of their souls, they thought on the subject.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:5-6
Which is easier: Jesus poses the test Himself, whether it is easier to say Your sins are forgiven or Get up and walk. Both lie beyond human power, and only one can be checked by watching eyes. The healed body is the receipt for a pardon no one could otherwise verify.
Matthew 9:5
“For whether is easier to say,..... Christ proceeds to clear himself of the charge of blasphemy, and to prove his power to forgive sins, by putting a case to them, of which he makes themselves Judges, and is this: which is easiest to be said, thy sins are forgiven thee? or to say, arise and walk?”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:5
“For whether is easier to say - Thy “sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?” The one involves divine “power,” the other divine “authority,” and neither can be done but by God. One is as easy as the other; and to be able to do the one, involves the right and the power to do the other.”
pick up your mat: Adam Clarke counts three miracles: the man's sins are remitted, the scribes' secret thoughts are read, and the body is healed. Hilary of Poitiers observes that Jesus could simply have said rise. He adds the mat and the house so that the reason for each work had to be shown.
Matthew 9:6
“Furthermore, so it could be understood that he was in a body and that he could forgive sins and restore health to bodies, Jesus said, "That you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins," then he said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your pallet." He could have simply said "Arise," but since the reason for doing every work had to be explained, he added, "Take up your pallet and go home." First he granted remission of sins; next he showed his ability to restore health.”
Hilary of Poitiers · written before 367 · Commentary on Matthew 8.7patristic
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Matthew 9:6
“But that ye may know that the son of man,.... That they might have a visible proof, an ocular demonstration, that though he was the son of man, truly and really man, yet not a mere man; but also as truly and properly God, God and man in one person, and so hath power on earth to forgive sins: not only ability as God, but even authority to do it as mediator, even whilst he was on earth, in a state of humiliation, in fashion as a man, in the form of a servant, conversing with sinful mortals.”
Matthew 9:6
“But that ye may know, etc. - External miracles are the proofs of internal ones. Three miracles are wrought in this case. (I mean, by miracle, something produced or known that no power is capable of but that which is omnipotent, and no knowledge adequate to but that which is omniscient). The miracles are these: 1st. The remission of the poor man’s sins. 2d. The discernment of the secret thoughts of the scribes. 3d. The restoring of the paralytic, in an instant, to perfect soundness. Thus one miracle becomes the proof and establishment of another.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:7-8
And the man got up and went home: The man got up and went home, the command obeyed at once as with the centurion's servant, and the crowds glorified God. Matthew's summary, who had given such authority to men, keeps the crowd one step short of full recognition. The distance between marveling and worship runs through the Gospel.
Matthew 9:7
“Then follows the execution of the commands: He rose and went home.”
Thomas Aquinas · written before 1274 · Commentary on Matthewpatristic
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Matthew 9:7
“Admiration and not fear had to accomplish this work, but even now the order of the mystery remains. To add a glimpse of the future to the truth of the present, the crowds fear the Lord's words and actions. It is frightful to face death without having one's sins forgiven by Christ, for no one returns to the eternal home unless forgiveness of sins has been granted. "And they honored God who had given so much power to humans."”
Hilary of Poitiers · written before 367 · Commentary on Matthew 8.8patristic
Matthew 9:7
“And he arose, and departed to his house.”
Matthew 9:7
“This command He added, that it might be seen there was no delusion in the miracle; so it follows to establish the reality of the cure, And he arose, and went away to his own house. But they that stood by yet grovel on the earth, whence it follows, But the multitude seeing it were afraid, and glorified God, who had bestowed such power among men. For had they rightly considered among themselves, they would have acknowledged Him to be the Son of God.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
who had given such authority to men: Adam Clarke notes that several old manuscripts, the Vatican and Beza codices among them, say the crowds feared. The Berean rendering of awe follows that sense. John Chrysostom observes that Jesus let their partial praise stand and went on to raise their thoughts by his works.
Matthew 9:8
“It is a very fearful thing to be seized by death while the sins are yet unforgiven by Christ; for there is no way to the heavenly house for him whose sins have not been forgiven. But when this fear is removed, honour is rendered to God, who by His word has in this way given power to men, of forgiveness of sins, of resurrection of the body, and of return to Heaven.”
Hilary of Poitiers · written before 367 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
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Matthew 9:8
“When the multitudes saw it, they marveled - Instead of εθαυμασαν, wondered, the Codex Vatic. and Cod. Bezae, with several other MSS. and versions, have εφοβηθησαν, feared. In the Gothic, and one copy of the Itala, both readings are conjoined, thus: And the multitudes seeing it, wondered and feared, and glorified God. Wondered at the miracle; feared to offend against such power and goodness; and glorified God for the works of mercy which he had wrought.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew Called; Dinner With Sinners
a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth: Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax booth and called him, Follow Me. A tax collector was despised as a collaborator, so the authority that forgives sins now claims a man the law-abiding would shun. Matthew followed Him, leaving the booth as Peter and Andrew left their nets.
Matthew 9:9
“This is a little bit of autobiography. Matthew wrote this verse about himself. I can fancy him, with his pen in his hand, writing all the rest of this Gospel, and I can imagine that when he came to this very personal passage, he laid the pen down a minute and wiped his eyes. He was coming to a most memorable and pathetic incident in his own life and he recorded it with tremulous emotion. "As Jesus passed forth from there, He saw a man named Matthew." The Evangelist could not have said much less about himself than this.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2493: “"A Man Named Matthew"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
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Matthew 9:9
“Out of respect and deference, the other Evangelists were unwilling to call him by the common name of Matthew but said Levi. So Matthew went by a double name in accordance with what Solomon noted: "An accuser is righteous at the beginning of his words." And in another place: "Tell your sins, and you will be justified." Matthew also calls himself a publican to show his readers that no one must despair of salvation if he has changed for the better, for he was suddenly changed from a publican to an apostle.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Matthewpatristic
Matthew 9:9
“While he himself sinks his family name, he is careful not to sink his occupation, the obnoxious associations with which he would place over against the grace that called him from it, and made him an apostle. Mark alone tells us (Mr 2:14) that he was "the son of Alphæus"--the same, probably, with the father of James the Less.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 9:10-11
as Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house: Jesus was dining at Matthew’s house, and many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him, the very company the Pharisees would avoid. The Pharisees put their question to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners. In that culture a shared table declared acceptance.
Matthew 9:10
“He invited many publicans and sinners to meet him. This was the chief thing Matthew aimed at in this treat, that he might have an opportunity of bringing his old associates acquainted with Christ. He knew by experience what the grace of Christ could do, and would not despair concerning them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
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Matthew 9:10
“Sat at meat in the house - Viz. of Matthew, who it appears, from Luk 5:29, made a great feast on the occasion, thus testifying his gratitude for the honor done him; and that his friends and acquaintances might profit by the teaching of his new master, he invites them to the entertainment that was honored by the presence of Christ. His companions, it appears, were not of the most creditable kind.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:10
“For they do not come to Jesus while they remain in their original condition of sin, as the Pharisees and Scribes complain, but in penitence, as what follows proves; But Jesus hearing said, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 9:10
“How strangely different was our Lord Jesus Christ from the philosophers of Greece! They were reserved in their demeanor—eclectic, or studiously choice in their tastes and jealous of contact with their fellow creatures. Retiring from the busy haunts of men to encircle themselves with an atmosphere created by their own breath, they wanted none in their society but those who were fit companions for men so exalted in wisdom. Their disciples looked up to them with profound and insincere reverence—and they, themselves, in their various halls and classrooms, talked as men might who were teaching little children.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2889: “Christ Receiving Sinners” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Matthew 9:10
“Luke says (Lu 5:29) that "Levi made Him a great feast," or "reception," while Matthew merely says, "He sat at meat"; and Mark and Luke say that it was in Levi's "own house," while Matthew merely says, "He sat at meat in the house." Whether this feast was made now, or not till afterwards, is a point of some importance in the order of events, and not agreed among harmonists.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Augustine compares Luke, where the question is put to the disciples about their own eating. He concludes that the charge struck master and followers together. Matthew Henry reads envy beneath it, since those who grudge grace to others give cause to suspect they lack it themselves.
Matthew 9:11
“And when the Pharisees--"and scribes," add Mark and Luke (Mr 2:6; Lu 5:21). saw it, they said--"murmured" or "muttered," says Luke (Lu 5:30). unto his disciples--not venturing to put their question to Jesus Himself. Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?--(See on Lu 15:2).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
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Matthew 9:11
The Jews were seething with envy that the Lord was spending time with publicans and sinners. He declared to them that the words of the law were being concealed under a cloak of faithlessness. He gave aid to the sick and medicine to those in need. For those who believed they were healthy, however, no cure was necessary. But in order for them to understand that none of his followers were healthy, he advised them to learn the meaning of "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."
Hilary of Poitiers · written before 367 · Commentary (church-history corpus)patristic
Matthew 9:11
“Why eateth and drinketh ... - To eat and drink with others denotes intimacy and familiarity. The Pharisees, by asking this question, accused him of seeking the society of such people, and of being the companion of the wicked. The inference which they would draw was, that he could not be himself righteous, since he delighted in the company of abandoned people.”
Matthew 9:12-13
On hearing this, Jesus said: Jesus answers the Pharisees: a doctor is for the sick, and so He keeps company with sinners. The words I desire mercy are Hosea 6:6. John Lightfoot notes that go and learn what this means was a rabbinic formula aimed at the untaught, here turned on the teachers.
Matthew 9:12
“They that be whole need not a physician - A common proverb, which none could either misunderstand or misapply. Of it the reader may make the following use: - 1. Jesus Christ represents himself here as the sovereign Physician of souls. 2. That all stand in need of his healing power. 3. That men must acknowledge their spiritual maladies, and the need they have of his mercy, in order to be healed by him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Matthew 9:12
“Note, [1.] Sin is the sickness of the soul; sinners are spiritually sick. Original corruptions are the diseases of the soul, actual transgressions are its wounds, or the eruptions of the disease. It is deforming, weakening, disquieting, wasting, killing, but, blessed be God, not incurable. [2.] Jesus Christ is the great Physician of souls.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 9:12
“They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick--that is, "Ye deem yourselves whole; My mission, therefore, is not to you: The physician's business is with the sick; therefore eat I with publicans and sinners." Oh, what myriads of broken hearts, of sin-sick souls, have been bound up by this matchless saying!”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 9:12
“THIS was Christ's apology for mingling with publicans and sinners when the Pharisees murmured against Him. He triumphantly cleared Himself by showing that according to the fitness of things He was perfectly in order. He was acting according to His official Character. A physician should be found where there is work for him to do and that it is where healing is required. There was evidently none among the Pharisees—if their own opinion of themselves were to hold good—for they were perfectly whole.”
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the saying as a comparison. Sacrifice stands for religion kept as bare rule, and mercy for the compassion that lifts the fallen. Albert Barnes adds that God had himself commanded the sacrifices, so the verse ranks them below mercy and leaves them in place.
Matthew 9:13
“But go ye and learn ... - To reprove them, and to vindicate his own conduct, he appealed to a passage of Scripture with which they ought to have been acquainted: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,” Hos 6:6. This is not a declaration on the part of God that he was opposed to “sacrifices” or “offerings for sin;” for he had appointed and commanded many, and had therefore expressed his approbation of them.”
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Matthew 9:13
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth,.... צא ולמד, "go and learn", is a phrase used by the Jews (a), when they are about to explain a passage of Scripture, and fetch an argument from the connection of the text. So the phrase τι εστιν, "what that is", or "what that meaneth", is Talmudic, as, מהי, "what is it?" מאי דכתיב, "what is that which is written?" מאי קרא, "what is the Scripture?" that is, what is the meaning of it?”
Matthew 9:13
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth-- (Ho 6:6), I will have mercy, and not sacrifice--that is, the one rather than the other. "Sacrifice," the chief part of the ceremonial law, is here put for a religion of literal adherence to mere rules; while "mercy" expresses such compassion for the fallen as seeks to lift them up.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cross references
Matthew 9:13
- QuotingHosea 6:6“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice' ('go ye and learn what that meaneth')
New Wine and Old Wineskins
Matthew 9:14-15
John’s disciples came to Jesus: John’s disciples ask why they and the Pharisees fast so often, and Jesus answers from a wedding. He names Himself the bridegroom, drawing on Hosea's marriage of Israel and her God. The bridegroom will be taken from them names His death, and fasting becomes mourning for an absence.
Matthew 9:14
“Thy disciples fast not? - Probably meaning that they did not fast so frequently as the others did, or for the same purposes, which is very likely, for the Pharisees had many superstitious fasts. They fasted in order to have lucky dreams, to obtain the interpretation of a dream, or to avert the evil import of a dream. They also fasted often, in order to obtain the things they wished for. The tract, Taanith is full of these fasts, and of the wonders performed thus by the Jewish doctors.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:14
“Then came to him the disciples of John,.... Of John the Baptist, to whom they had addicted themselves, and by whom they abode: though their master was in prison, and the Messiah was known to be come, yet still they were attached to John, and particularly imitated him in the austerities of his life.”
Matthew 9:14
Let us mark, in this passage, the gracious name by which the Lord Jesus speaks of himself. He calls himself “the bridegroom” What the bridegroom is to the bride, the Lord Jesus is to the souls of all who believe in him. He loves them with a deep and everlasting love. He takes them into union with himself: they are “one with Christ and Christ in them.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
the bridegroom will be taken from them: Adam Clarke describes the bridegroom's companions and notes that a Jewish wedding feast lasted seven days. Matthew Henry points to the tact of the reply. It defends the disciples of Jesus without faulting John's disciples, though the Pharisees hoped he would blame one or the other.
Matthew 9:15
“Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church the Bride. Of this spiritual union the Apostles were born; they cannot mourn so long as they see the Bridegroom in the chamber with the Bride. But when the nuptials are past, and the time of passion and resurrection is come, then shall the children of the Bridegroom fast. The days shall come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
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Matthew 9:15
“Can the children of the bride-chamber - Νυμφωνος. Or, νυμφιου, bridegroom, as the Cod. Bezae and several versions have it. These persons were the companions of the bridegroom, who accompanied him to the house of his father-in-law when he went to bring the bride to his own home. The marriage-feast among the Jews lasted seven days; but the new married woman was considered to be a bride for thirty days. Marriage feasts were times of extraordinary festivity, and even of riot, among several people of the east.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:15
“Observe, Christ's answer is so framed, as that it might sufficiently justify the practice of his own disciples, and yet not condemn the institution of John, or the practice of his disciples. When the Pharisees fomented this dispute, they hoped Christ would cast blame, either on his own disciples, or on John's, but he did neither.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 9:16-17
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment: The unshrunk patch and the new wine make the point Jesus has just enacted at the wedding saying. What He brings will tear or burst the old system patched around it. Both prepare the disciples for a kingdom that fulfills the law and needs its own form, new wineskins.
Matthew 9:16
“Otherwise; By the old garment, and old skins, we must understand the Scribes and Pharisees; and by the piece of new cloth, and new wine, the Gospel precepts, which the Jews were not able to bear; so the rent was made worse. Something such the Galatians sought to do, to mix the precepts of the Law with the Gospel, and to put new wine into old skins.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
new wine into new wineskins: Jerome applies the saying to the disciples' fasting. Until a person is made new, stricter demands of fasting and self-denial may break the little faith he has. John Chrysostom notes that the images come from the table under discussion and echo Jeremiah, who speaks of a girdle, bottles and wine.
Matthew 9:17
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles,.... As in the former parable, our Lord exposes the folly of the Scribes and Pharisees, in their zealous attachment to the traditions of the elders; so in this, he gives a reason why he did not call these persons by his Gospel, who were settled upon the old principle of self-righteousness, but sinners, whom he renews by his Spirit and grace: for by "old bottles" are meant, the Scribes and Pharisees.”
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Matthew 9:17
“New wine into old bottles - It is still the custom, in the eastern countries, to make their bottles of goat skins: if these happened to be old, and new wine were put into them, the violence of the fermentation must necessarily burst them; and therefore newly made bottles were employed for the purpose of putting that wine in which had not yet gone through its state of fermentation. The institutes of Christ, and those of the Pharisees, could never be brought to accord: an attempt to combine the two systems would be as absurd as it would be destructive.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:17
“What he means is this: Until someone is born again and the old self is removed through my suffering, and he puts on a new self, he cannot bear the stricter commands of fasting and continence, lest through excessive severity he lose even the faith that he seems to possess now. But he set forth two examples, both of the old and the new, and of clothing. By the old wineskins we must understand the scribes and Pharisees.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Matthewpatristic
Jairus' Daughter and the Woman Who Touched His Garment
Matthew 9:18-19
a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him: A synagogue leader, named Jairus in Mark and Luke, knelt with a plea Matthew compresses to its bluntest form, My daughter has just died. His words come and place Your hand on her, and she will live trust touch itself as enough. Jesus went with him at once.
Matthew 9:18
“While he spake these things unto them,.... To the Scribes and Pharisees, and to John's disciples, concerning, and in vindication of his, and his disciples, eating and drinking with publicans and sinners, and their not fasting as others did; and while he spake these parables, to expose the folly of self-righteous persons, and justify his own conduct, in calling sinners to repentance, behold, there came a certain ruler and worshipped him.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:18
“Note, In trouble we should visit God: the death of our relations should drive us to Christ, who is our life; it is well if any thing will do it. When affliction is in our families, we must not sit down astonished, but, as Job, fall down and worship. His humility in this address to Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
went with him, along with His disciples: Mark and Luke say Jesus took only three disciples into the house. John Chrysostom thinks Matthew was left out to deepen his longing. Adam Clarke notes that Jesus could have healed from a distance and chose to go in person, a lesson for ministers to visit the sick.
Matthew 9:19
“We ought to admire and at the same time to imitate the humility and mercifulness of the Lord; as soon as ever He was asked, He rose to follow him that asked; And Jesus rose, and followed him. Here is instruction both for such as are in command, and such as are in subjection.”
Remigius of Rheims · written before 533 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:19
“Jesus arose, and followed him - Our blessed Lord could have acted as well at a distance as present; but he goes to the place, to teach his ministers not to spare either their steps or their pains when the salvation of a soul is in question. Let them not think it sufficient to pray for the sick in their closets; but let them go to their bed-sides, that they may instruct and comfort them. He can have little unction in private, who does not also give himself up to public duties.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:19
“The variety of methods which Christ took in working his miracles is perhaps to be attributed to the different frame and temper of mind which they were in who applied to him, which he who searcheth the heart perfectly knew, and accommodated himself to. He knows what is in man, and what course to take with him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 9:20-22
a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years: Unclean by Leviticus 15 for twelve years, the woman came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak. Jesus calls her daughter and says your faith has healed you. As with the leper of chapter 8, contact that should have defiled Him cleansed her.
Matthew 9:20
“And behold a woman which was diseased..... This affair happened in the streets of Capernaum, as Christ was going from the house of Matthew the publican, to the house of Jairus the ruler of the synagogue, which were both in this city.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:20
“A woman which was diseased with an issue of blood - Γυνη αἱμοῤῥουσα. Mulier sanguinis profluvio laborans. Significatur hoc loco, fluxus muliebris, in Sanis, menstruus; in Hac perpetuus. It would be easy to explain the nature and properties of the disease here mentioned; but, when it is said that prudence forbids it, the intimation itself may be thought sufficiently explanatory of the disorder in question. There are some remarkable circumstances relative to this case mentioned by St. Mark, Mar 5:25, etc., which shall be properly noticed in the notes on that place.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:20
“But what weakness of understanding there was in it, Christ was pleased to overlook, and to accept the sincerity and strength of her faith; for he eateth the honey-comb with the honey, Cant. iv. She believed she should be healed if she did but touch the very hem of his garment, the very extremity of it. Note, There is virtue in every thing that belongs to Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Adam Clarke explains the secrecy. Her illness was one that modesty kept private, and the law counted her touch unclean. John Gill thinks she had heard of others healed by touching Jesus, as Luke 6:19 reports, and reasoned her way to this resolve.
Matthew 9:21
“For she said within herself,.... That is, she thought within herself, she reasoned the matter in her mind, she concluded upon it, and firmly believed it; being strongly impressed and influenced by the Spirit of God, and encouraged by instances of cures she had heard were performed by persons only touching him; see Luk 6:19 if I may but touch his garment.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:21
“She said within herself, If I may but touch his garment - Her disorder was of that delicate nature that modesty forbade her to make any public acknowledgment of it; and therefore she endeavored to transact the whole business in private. Besides, the touch of such a person was by the law reputed unclean. By faith in Christ Jesus, little things are often rendered efficacious to our salvation. What more simple than a morsel of bread, and a few drops of wine, in the Lord’s Supper!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:21
“THE woman in the narrative was fully persuaded that if she did but touch our Lord's garment, she would be made whole. What she had heard and seen concerning Jesus made her sure of His superabundant power to heal the sick. A touch would do it. Yes, even a touch of His clothes. Her one and only question was, might she touch Him? Could she touch Him? She would surely be healed if she could touch, but was this allowable? Was this possible? I know that multitudes of sin-sick men and women are vexed with this same question.”
John Wesley explains the word of comfort. She feared she had offended by touching him in secret while unclean under the law. Jerome notes the tense, since Jesus says her faith has healed her, and so she was already whole in believing.
Matthew 9:22
“Daughter, be of good comfort - Θαρσει θυγατερ, Take courage, daughter. See on Mat 9:2 (note). The reason of this kind speech was - Jesus, finding that virtue had proceeded from him; made inquiry who had touched him. The woman, finding that she could not be hid, came fearing and trembling, (Mar 5:33), and confessed the truth: to dispel these fears and to comfort her mind, Jesus said, Daughter, take courage.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:22
“Take courage - Probably she was struck with fear, when he turned and looked upon her, Mark v, 33; Luke viii, 47; lest she should have offended him, by touching his garment privately; and the more so, because she was unclean according to the law, Lev. xv, 25.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 9:22
“If he has power to give eternal life, as he certainly has ( John xvii. 2 ), he must have power to forgive sin; for guilt is a bar that must be removed, or we can never get to heaven. What an encouragement is this to poor sinners to repent, that the power of pardoning sin is put into the hands of the Son of man, who is bone of our bone!”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 9:23-26
He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd: , the hired mourning of the culture already underway. He calls her asleep, His word for death's temporary hold where resurrection is at hand. With the crowd put outside, Jesus took the girl by the hand, and she got up.
Matthew 9:23
“To this day the damsel lays dead in the ruler's house; and they that seem to be teachers are but minstrels singing funeral dirges. The Jews also are not the crowd of believers, but of people making a noise. But when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, then all Israel shall be saved.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:23
“Saw the minstrels and the people making a noise - Αυλητας, pipers; Anglo-Saxon the whistlers; Gothic, haurngans haurngandans, the horn-blowers blowing with their horns. Nearly the same as the pipublasara, pipe-blowers of the Islandic: for among all those nations funeral lamentations accompanied with such rude instruments, were made at the death of relatives. That pipes were in use among the Jews, in times of calamity or death, is evident from Jer 48:36. And among the Greeks, and Romans, as well as among the Jews, persons were hired on purpose to follow the funeral processions with lamentations.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jerome gives the reason in one line. In God, all things live. Adam Clarke reads the word sleep as a promise that death would release her, as a sleeper is woken.
Matthew 9:24
“The maid is not dead, but sleepeth - That is, she is not dead so as to continue under the power of death; but shall be raised from it as a, person is from natural sleep. They laughed him to scorn - Κατεγελων αυτον, they ridiculed him; from κατα, intensive, and γελαω, I laugh: - they grinned a ghastly smile, expressive of the contempt they felt for his person and knowledge.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:24
“And he said unto them, give place,.... Depart, be gone; for he put them out of the room, and suffered none to be with him, when he raised her from the dead, but Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the child, who were witnesses enough of this miracle.”
Matthew 9:24
“Withdraw - There is no need of you now; for the maid is not dead - Her life is not at an end; but sleepeth - This is only a temporary suspension of sense and motion, which should rather be termed sleep than death.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
took the girl by the hand: John Wesley sets this raising beside two others. The girl had just died, the widow's son lay on his bier, and Lazarus was already in the grave. John Chrysostom notes that the father asked for a laid hand, and Jesus took hold of her and raised her.
Matthew 9:25
“They that had mocked the Reviver were not worthy to behold the mystery of the revival; and therefore it follows, And when the multitude was put forth, he entered, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. He took her by the hand, and the maid arose; because if the hands of the Jews which are defiled with blood be not first cleansed, their synagogue which is dead shall not revive.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:25
“He - took her by the hand, and the maid arose - The fountain of life thus communicating its vital energy to the dead body. Where death has already taken place, no power but that of the great God can restore to life; in such a case, vain is the help of man.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 9:25
“The maid arose - Christ raised three dead persons to life; this child, the widow's son, and Lazarus: one newly departed, another on the bier, the third smelling in the grave: to show us that no degree of death is so desperate as to be past his help.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
the news about this spread: Adam Clarke notes how little Jesus himself appears in the report. What spreads is the work done by his power. Clarke draws a lesson for preachers, who should keep themselves out of sight so that God receives the glory of his grace.
Matthew 9:26
“And the fame hereof went abroad - In this business Jesus himself scarcely appears, but the work effected by his sovereign power is fully manifested; to teach us that it is the business of a successful preacher of the Gospel to conceal himself as much as possible, that God alone may have the glory of his own grace. This is a proper miracle, and a full exemplification of the unlimited power of Christ.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Two Blind Men See, a Mute Man Speaks
Matthew 9:27-28
two blind men followed Him: Two blind men cry Have mercy on us, Son of David, the title's first use as a direct address. Jesus asks Do you believe that I am able to do this, making confession the condition before He acts. Their answer, Yes, Lord, is the shortest creed in the chapter.
Matthew 9:27
“And when Jesus departed thence,.... From the house of Jairus, to another in the same city; two blind men followed him: very closely, by the direction of others, having heard of the miracle just now performed by him; and from thence concluded he was able to restore them to their sight; crying and saying, with great faith and fervour, with much importunity, and frequently repeating the following words, thou son of David, have mercy on us.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:27
“There are four lessons in this passage which deserve close attention. Let us mark them each in succession. Let us mark in the first place, that strong faith in Christ may sometimes be found where it might least have been expected. Who would have thought that two blind men would have called our Lord the “Son of David?”They could not, of course, have seen the miracles that he did: they could only know him by common report. But the eyes of their understanding were enlightened, if their bodily eyes were dark.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
Matthew 9:27
“Can there be a doubt that their faith fastened on such great Messianic promises as this, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened," &c. (Isa 35:5)? and if so, this appeal to Him, as the Consolation of Israel, to do His predicted office, would fall with great weight upon the ears of Jesus.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
John Gill and Albert Barnes think Jesus passed the blind men by on the road to test their faith. Gill adds that he wished to avoid the crowd. John Chrysostom explains the question: Jesus often healed on request so that no one could charge him with seeking display.
Matthew 9:28
“When he was come unto the house - That is, the house of Peter at Capernaum, where he ordinarily lodged. Believe ye that I am able to do this? - Without faith Jesus does nothing to men’s souls now, no more than he did to their bodies in the days of his flesh. They said unto him, Yea, Lord - Under a sense of our spiritual blindness we should have, 1st. A lively faith in the almighty grace of Christ. 2dly. A fervent, incessant cry for the communication of this grace. 3dly.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:28
“And when he was come into the house,.... In which he dwelt, whilst at Capernaum: for he took no notice of them by the way; but though they followed him close, and cried vehemently, he did not stop to speak to them, or give them a cure: according to their request, but went on his way; which he did, partly to avoid the populace, and that he might not be seen by men, in what he did, and partly to try their faith, and the constancy of it.”
Matthew 9:29-31
Then He touched their eyes: According to your faith will it be done to you ties the healing to the faith just confessed. Jesus warned them sternly, one of several charges to silence in this stretch. The charge restrains the crowd's messianic excitement, wary of a following built on wonders more than on repentance.
Matthew 9:29
“Then touched he their eyes - Simply to indicate that the power proceeded from him. Compare Mat 8:3. According to your faith ... - That is, you have “believed” that you could be healed, be healed accordingly. Your faith covered the whole extent of the work respecting my power and the absolute restoration to sight, and that power is exerted accordingly, and your sight is restored. So with the sinner.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:29
“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you--not, Receive a cure proportioned to your faith, but, Receive this cure as granted to your faith. Thus would they carry about with them, in their restored vision, a gracious seal of the faith which drew it from their compassionate Lord.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The verb for the warning is strong. Adam Clarke traces it to a word for roaring or storming with anger, so the charge carried the weight of his displeasure. Albert Barnes limits its scope to a public campaign, since there were witnesses and the fact would become known.
Matthew 9:30
“And their eyes were opened,.... Some copies read, "immediately"; and so do the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions: and this was certainly the true and real matter of fact, that as soon as Christ had touched their eyes, and said the above words, their sight was perfectly restored to them; and they had a clear, full, and true sight of objects, as men have, whose vision faculty is in its full strength and rigour, and their eyes open: and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:30
“Straitly charged them - He charged them severely, from ενεβριμησατο, from εν, and βριμαομαι, to roar or storm with anger; he charged them, on pain of his displeasure, not to make it as yet public. See the reasons, Mat 8:4.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
spread the news about Him throughout the land: Albert Barnes calls the report natural, as the men were too full of joy to hold it in, though they broke an express command. Adam Clarke says plainly they should have kept silent. He also observes that honour pursues those who flee from it.
Matthew 9:31
“But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame - The report of what he had done. This was not unnatural for them. They were so filled with joy that they could not repress their feelings. In this, however, they violated the express command of the Saviour; but he was not responsible for that.”
Matthew 9:32-34
a demon-possessed man who was mute: A demon-possessed man is brought, and when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The Pharisees answer with the charge Jesus confronts at 12:24, It is by the prince of demons. The charge calls the Spirit's work the devil's, the darkest response the chapter records.
Matthew 9:32
“A dumb man possessed with a devil - Some demons rendered the persons they possessed paralytic, some blind, others dumb, etc. It was the interest of Satan to hide his influences under the appearance of natural disorders. A man who does not acknowledge his sin to God, who prays not for salvation, who returns no praises for the mercies he is continually receiving, may well be said to be possessed with a dumb demon.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:32
“What is called in Greek kophos is more commonly known as deaf rather than dumb, but the Scriptures indiscriminately use kophos to mean dumb or deaf. Spiritually, just as the blind men receive light, so too the dumb man's tongue is loosened that he may speak and give glory to him whom he once rejected.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Commentary on Matthewpatristic
Matthew 9:32
“As we read the chapter we noticed the rapidity with which the cures worked by the Savior followed each other, how much of mercy was compressed into a short space of time. He has no sooner healed the paralytic than, straightway, we find Him curing the woman who had an issue of blood, then raising to life the ruler's dead daughter and next giving sight to two blind men, then quickly after that, healing this poor man who was deaf and dumb—and possessed with a devil.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2482: “An Unparalleled Cure” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Adam Clarke connects the cure with Isaiah 35:5 and 6, and calls it proof that the Messiah had come in the flesh. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear the crowd hinting at that conclusion as far as they dared. This comparison stung the Pharisees most, says John Chrysostom.
Matthew 9:33
“And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake - The miracle is narrated in the briefest terms; but the effect was immediate and the restoration was complete. It was never so seen in Israel - Never was there in our land - among the Jews - such a succession of wonders, so striking, so marvelous, so full of the power of God. This was literally true.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:33
“As the blind receive light, so the tongue of the dumb is loosed, that he may confess Him whom before he denied. The wonder of the multitude is the confession of the nations. The scoff of the Pharisees is the unbelief of the Jews, which is to this day.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 9:33
“Probably they meant by this language to indicate, as far as they thought it safe to do so, their inclination to regard Him as the promised Messiah.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
by the prince of demons: Adam Clarke notes that this verse is missing from Codex Bezae and the text used by Hilary and Juvencus. John Chrysostom answers the charge from the whole chapter. The devil repairs his own house, and this power cleansed lepers, raised the dead, calmed the sea and forgave sins.
Matthew 9:34
“Thus the Scribes and Pharisees denied such of the Lord's miracles as they could deny; and such as they could not they explained by an evil interpretation, according to that, In the multitude of thy excellency thy enemies shall lie unto thee. (Ps. 66:3.)”
Remigius of Rheims · written before 533 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:34
“He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils - This verse is wanting in both the Greek and Latin of the C. Bezae, in another copy of the Itala, and in Hilary and Juvencus. But see on Mat 12:24 (note). It is a consummate piece of malice to attribute the works of God to the devil. Envy cannot suffer the approbation which is given to the excellencies of others. Those whose hearts are possessed by this vice speak the very language of the devil. Calumny is but a little distance from envy.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few
Matthew 9:35-36
Jesus went through all the towns and villages: This summary of teaching, preaching and healing repeats 4:23 almost word for word, framing the miracles of chapters 8 and 9 as one unit. The words like sheep without a shepherd draw on Numbers 27:17 and the failed shepherds of Ezekiel 34. He was moved with compassion for them.
Matthew 9:35
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages,.... He did not confine himself, and his acts of kindness and compassion, to his own city, Capernaum, but he took a circuit throughout all Galilee; and not only visited their larger and more principal cities and towns, but their villages also; doing good to the bodies and souls of men in every place, and of whatever state and condition.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:35
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages ... - That is, in all parts of Galilee, for his labors were, as yet, confined to that part of Palestine. Compare the notes at Mat 4:24-25.”
ConnectionsMatthew 4:23
moved with compassion for them: Adam Clarke explains that the verb comes from the word for the inward parts, which the Jews took as the seat of pity. Albert Barnes reads harassed as the weariness of people burdened by the teaching of the Pharisees. Jerome lays the flock's distress at the door of its shepherds.
Matthew 9:36
“Moved with compassion - Εσπλαγχνισθη, from σπλαγχνον, a bowel. The Jews esteemed the bowels to be the seat of sympathy and the tender passions, and so applied the organ to the sense. Επλαγχνιζομαι signifies, says Mintert, “to be moved with pity from the very inmost bowels.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 9:36
“THIS is said of Christ Jesus several times in the New Testament. The original word is a very remarkable one. It is not found in classic Greek. It is not found in the Septuagint. The fact is, it was a word coined by the Evangelists, themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose and, therefore, they had to make one. It is expressive of the deepest emotion—a striving of the heart—a yearning of the innermost nature with pity. As the dictionaries tell us—Ex intimis visceribus misericordia commoveor.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3438: “The Compassion of Jesus” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Matthew 9:37-38
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few turns the image of scattered sheep into a field ready and unattended. In chapter 10 He commissions the very twelve He tells to pray here, so the men who pray become the answer to their own prayer.
Matthew 9:37
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous--His eye doubtless rested immediately on the Jewish field, but this he saw widening into the vast field of "the world" (Mt 13:38), teeming with souls having to be gathered to Him. but the labourers--men divinely qualified and called to gather them in--"are few."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:37
“The harvest truly is great - When Christ came into the world, it was properly the time of harvest; till then it was the seed time only. But the labourers are few - Those whom God sends; who are holy, and convert sinners.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 9:37
“The harvest truly is plenteous ... - Another beautiful image. A waving field of golden grain invites many reapers and demands haste. By the reference to the harvest here, he meant that the multitude of people that flocked to his ministry was great. The people expected the Messiah. They were prepared to receive the gospel; but the laborers were few. He directed them, therefore, to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth reapers. God is the proprietor of the great harvest of the world, and he only can send people to gather it in.”
Matthew 9:37
“THE circumstances under which our Lord uttered these words are instructive. He saw the people thronging Him whenever He stood up to preach and He perceived that the regular instructors of the people, those who thought that they were commissioned to teach the nation, were, many of them, leading them into error. And the rest were either shamefully neglecting their duty, or were performing it without heart, zeal, or even sincerity. The poor people fainted and were scattered abroad like sheep without a shepherd, harassed by different fears and cast down by many anxieties.”
Ask the Lord of the harvest: The verb for send out properly means to thrust out, as Adam Clarke and John Wesley both note. Wesley gives the reason: the work is so full of reproach, labour and danger that nature shrinks from it. Clarke adds that the fittest workers are often the most reluctant.
Matthew 9:38
“But consider, dearest brothers, consider what is said: "Pray the Lord of the harvest, that he send laborers into his harvest." Petition on our behalf, that we may be able to work worthily for you, lest our tongue grow sluggish from exhortation, lest after we have taken up the place of preaching, our silence condemn us before the just judge. For often the tongue of preachers is restrained because of their own wickedness; but often indeed it happens through the fault of those subject to them that the word of preaching is withdrawn from those who are in charge.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 17patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 9:38
“Compare Joh 15:1, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman." that he will send forth labourers into his harvest--The word properly means "thrust forth"; but this emphatic sense disappears in some places, as in Mt 9:25, and Joh 10:4 --"When He putteth forth His own sheep." (See on Mt 4:1).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Matthew 9:38
“The Lord of the harvest - Whose peculiar work and office it is, and who alone is able to do it: that he would thrust forth - for it is an employ not pleasing to flesh and blood; so full of reproach, labour, danger, temptation of every kind, that nature may well be averse to it. Those who never felt this, never yet knew what it is to be labourers in Christ's harvest.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Matthew 9:38
“That he will send forth laborers - Οπως εκβαλλη εργατας, that he would thrust forth laborers. Those who are fittest for the work are generally most backward to the employment. The man who is forward to become a preacher knows little of God, of human nature, or of his own heart. It is, God’s province to thrust out such preachers as shall labor; and it is our duty to entreat him to do so.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
Studies14
People and groups1
Words12
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 8.7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on Matthew; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.