We’ve spent a couple of weeks in Matthew chapter 8 talking about control and authority. Matthew shows us that Jesus has it—over the seen and unseen universe—but that we as humans are loathe to give up control over our own lives and give it to Him. We saw a couple of notable examples in a Gentile Roman Centurion who recognized that Jesus could simply speak a word and healing would go forth—and an unclean Jewish leper who dared approach Jesus and ask for cleansing, which he got. Jesus showed his authority over sickness, and He demonstrated that authority over the creation—calming the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee, and driving out invisible but powerful demons from two guys with one word “Go.”
Through all this, Jesus has not forgotten His mission—to be the King, and the Messiah, the Rescuer—restoring our broken relationship with God by revealing the true nature of God’s holiness and the true nature of man’s uncleanness. Then He Himself would bear the brunt of God’s wrath for our weaknesses and personally make a way back.
So first He tells it like it is, then He backs up those words with actions—by the healings and authority he showed in chapter 8. But now Jesus tweaks the argument just a little bit, like a person with a telescope who uses the little lens on the side to get in the general area of the sky, then focuses the bigger lens on a specific object. The general area is the state of man’s existence, and the specific object here is sin—and our need for healing from it.
In the first 17 verses of this chapter Jesus is saying three things:
1. The real sickness infecting mankind is sin and I have the authority to heal it.
2. The people that receive this healing are those who realize they are sick
3. In order to bring about this healing I am going to tear down one system that is stuck in self-justification in order to create a new one based on life that comes from Me.
1 – 8
Jesus has already healed many people, including the Centurion’s servant, the leper, Peter’s mother-in-law, the crowds at Peter’s house, and the demon possessed men. In none of those instances did the concept of sin come up. So why now?
Jesus is showing that the real sickness isn’t physical, it is in the heart—it is rebellion against God that leads to a break in fellowship and from the life of God. God told Adam and Eve that their rebellion would cause death—and it did—both physical (separation from the body) and spiritual (separation from God).
But Jesus here is proclaiming Himself master over both physical death (disease) and spiritual death (sin). The ability to forgive sins belongs to God alone. When David sinned with Bathsheba he said “against you and you alone have I sinned.” (Psalm 51:4). All sin is against God and only God can forgive those offenses.
It’s no wonder the religious experts who came to check Jesus out were thinking that He was taking the name of Yahweh—and charged Him (in their minds at least) of blaspheme. Even the accusation of blaspheme could lead to death. It was in fact why they ended up killing Jesus.
Notice His response—either saying “your sins are forgiven” or “be healed” are equally impossible for man—but not God. It really should have come as no surprise to people who lived their lives studying the Scriptures.
For instance: Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Also Isaiah 40:2, Joel 2:32, Zech 13:1 – all point to the Messiah forgiving sins—God forgiving sins. The problem was that they could not conceive that this prophet from the sticks, who wasn’t endorsed by anyone important, could be the Messiah—and God!
So now Jesus changes the focus from the source of forgiveness to the need of forgiveness.
9 – 13
Matthew was at the bottom of the Jewish community. Jesus came to him when he was doing that which ostracized him from that community—collecting taxes for the Romans. Matthew undoubtedly knew Jesus—this wasn’t the first time he’d laid eyes on him. Matthew’s tax collecting booth would have been an elevated platform near the sea—as he taxed goods going from land to sea and vice versa.
One day it was time for a decision, and Jesus gives Matthew an imperative command “Follow Me.” Matthew had been kept out of the community and spiritual life of his nation—much in the same way that sin keeps us from fellowship with God. He is a picture in the natural of someone who spiritually needs to be made alive—and that happens by following Jesus.
It wasn’t a popular choice. By bringing such a bad guy into His fold Jesus was making a point and taking a stand. This wasn’t going to be just another elitist group of the rich, beautiful and powerful “in” crowd. It would have incensed many but also intrigued many more.
So back at Matt’s house, he invited over all of his “sinner” friends—others who were kept out of the Jewish community. Now the Pharisees—that lay group of holier than thou men—see this and marvel. So Jesus gives them a huge piece of advice:
These men would have never thought they were sick from sin, but in reality, it is the character of God, not the self-righteous sacrifices of men that God is about. The quotation comes from Hosea 6:6. The Pharisees would not eat with “sinners” because it would make them ceremonially unclean. What they didn’t realize is that the real uncleanness was in the heart—rebellion against God with an attitude that I can make myself good.
Jesus says “I came not to call the righteous” – a category they would have included themselves in. Yet if they had just read the Scriptures they would have seen it is simply not true:
Ps 14:1-4 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. 4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?
People are just going along as if they are not sick when they are desperately ill.
That was in part because the religious system that had sprung up after the Babylonian captivity relied on man making himself righteous before God by following an intricate set of rules. It was that system that Jesus was going to undo to bring real righteousness back.
14 – 17
So now the third group of religious leaders comes to Jesus, chastising Him for his behavior. This time it’s the disciples of John, a group that persisted until the 2nd century. The Law called for a fast only once a year, but the Pharisees fasted as a sign of piety on Mondays and Thursdays. Fasting was a sign of mourning in the Old Testament, and so the disciples of John here sided with the Pharisees in fasting more often to mourn the fact that John had been put in prison.
Jesus tells them first that when the Messiah comes it should be a time of celebration, not fasting. The disciples would fast when He was taken from them in the crucifixion, but that mourning would be turned into a celebration upon His resurrection.
But then He goes on to let them know that the old system of traditions substituted for the true intent of God’s Law cannot survive the coming of this new thing. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. But He did come to do away with the useless traditions of men that had been added to the Law. You can’t put the gospel into legalism – the gospel will burst out of it like new wine in an old goat wineskin that is shrunken and hard.
A new way needs a new structure around it. The sacrifice of Jesus required a new way to approach God—through grace in Jesus, rather than justification through external obedience to a set of rules.
Conclusions
So we have the realization of who can heal the sickness of sin, just who is sick, and how that sickness is treated. So let’s look at it from the perspective of someone who is already a Christian.
Vs 1 – 8 What’s the real problem?
We think that fixing our circumstances will make everything right. But the real problem is not on the outside it is on the inside. Sin is a fatal disease we get when we are conceived. Jesus heals us of that disease, but the symptoms still haunt us. Look more for how God wants to cleanse and transform your character more than the circumstances around you.
Vs 9 Where does the healing come from?
It comes from discipleship. There comes a time when we need to get up, put one foot in front of the other and steadfastly place ourselves into the care of and training program with Jesus.
Vs 10 – 13 Who needs healing?
We may be less aware of our need than we thought. We are truly a lot more evil than we ever considered—and there is a lot more work Jesus needs to do on us disciples than we realize. We should never fall into the false assumption that we have arrived in terms of righteousness.
Vs 14 – 15 How do we get that healing? Part 1
The default position of a human who wants to make themselves a better person is to look at what they can do—the rituals or practices or rules that will either hem in their behavior or deal with bad behavior.
Vs 16 – 17 How do we get that healing? Part 2
The true healing comes from a transformation—it is something new. It is something that is counterintuitive to the human psyche. It is that the Holy Spirit virus comes into our lives through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and starts the process from within. We simply cooperate with it. At times it is painful, but it is always redemptive.
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