October 29, 2023
Matthew 8:28–9:13 (Read As We Go)

Title of the sermon is “Responses To The Call Of Sinners”

Outline:

1. Callused Responses
2. Confident Responses

We have already seen, that Matthew took the greatest care to organize his account of the gospel. Over this next section of Scripture, we will see more of his “careful planning” as we see what Barclay called “the first shadows of the gathering storm.” Namely, the first charges of the religious opposition that will continue to press until they get what they want, Jesus’ death. (Barclay) In this section of Scripture alone, we will see three charges: Jesus will be accused of blasphemy, immorality, and pious neglect. (Barclay) Although they press with their charges, we see Jesus pressing on with His mission. His mission involves not only their charges but His death at their hands. ¶ There are three main themes through this part of Scripture: 1) Jesus power and authority over all aspects of life (physical, natural, and spiritual); 2) The varied responses of the witnesses of Jesus’ ministry; 3) discipleship (the call, the cost, and the need).

1. Callused Responses: READ 8:28-34

8:28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

• Some conclusions we can draw here:
• “We must suppose that demons enjoyed some independent knowledge of Jesus’ identity …” (Carson, “Matthew,” 218)
• There will come a time for demons to be tortured for their choices. “The time” has the article and it seems to be a forgone conclusion that the demons know that there is no escape. Their fate is determined.
• They have degrees of freedom to cause havoc on the earth.
• It seems safe here also from the response of the demons, that they know of Jesus’ preexistence and that He is assigned to carry out justice against them at the prescribed time.

30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

• Imaging, the herdsmen’s job was to care these pigs. The pigs are dead. >>
• But their focus, however, was in the right place: people had been delivered from evil spirits and were now in their right minds. >>
• They told everything to the nearby town, but the focus was –look at it in 33– “especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.”
• Sadly, we see a callused responses from the towns people. >>

Verse 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

• The arrangement of this account with the offer of sacrificial discipleship of last week becomes clear: the disciples leave everything to be under Jesus’ instruction and participate in His ministry is contrasted starkly with the pig-less people. (Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” 219)
• It is doubtful too that all in the city owned the pigs together. There must have been Jews there that would have thought Pigs? Good-riddance! >>
• But Mark’s account of the gospel has a detail: “And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.” (Mark 5:15)
  • Afraid of the unknown if Jesus were to stay?
  • Afraid of the spiritual world and Jesus’ interaction with it?
  • Afraid of more cost?
  • Perhaps all.

APPLICATION

• The city seemed unable to prioritize empathy towards the exorcised men.
• They had an unhealthy fear of God.
• As is often the case, in effect people end up saying, “‘I don’t care what happens to anyone else, if my profits and my comfort and my ease are preserved.’” (Barclay)
• How much good has been stopped because of the known and unknown?
  • The unknown future keeps us from embracing God more.
  • The known costs will keep us from embracing God more.
• We should expect others to have unhealthy fears towards God’s work. >>
• This should not describe us.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic: READ 9:1-8

9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

• His own city was Capernaum.
• We know from Mark 2:1-12 and Luke 5:17-26 that these people couldn’t get into the house where Jesus was teaching so they tore a hole in the roof of someone else’s house to get in.
  • Ministry was costing more money!
  • This is next level commitment from the friends.
• When Jesus saw their faith.
  • This is the second time that others’ faith was involved with the healing process. The Centurion being the first example.
  • Jesus saw the group;'s faith but only spoke to the paralytic.
  • Jesus knew what they wanted. No words were even exchanged.
• Here is the first time we see in the account of the gospels what Carson called a “forgiving function” in the healing process. (“Matthew”, 220).
  • Here we see a “close link between sin and sickness”. (Carson, Matthew", 221)
  • This need of forgiveness would have been the predominate view in Judaism: “You’re sick because you sinned” they would have said. (Cf. Blomberg, Matthew, 153)

APPLICATION

• This man had a physical ailment that was tied to his sin.
  • This man was surely seeking healing from the physical.
  • Was he saying, “Take me to Jesus so He will forgive my sins?”
  • Surely not.
• Only God knows how much of our sickness is due to sinfulness in our lives.
  • This is not Christian mysticism; this is a reality.
  • We have a proof text here, but it is not alone in its witness to this truth.
  • Sometimes we suffer physically because of our sinfulness.
• Often we are only focused on the physical aliment; when we should be focused on the spiritual aliments.
  • What lengths will we go to get healed?
  • This man needed spiritual healing and forgiveness.

We see even harsher, callused responses and charges from the scribes: Chapter 9 v. 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

• The Jewish leaders’ mindset was that only God forgives sins. >>
• And they drew this theology in part from David’s confession after sinning with Bathsheba and murdering her husband. David said and wrote, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight …” (Psalm 51:4a)
• Matthew is using compares and contrasts as the tool of choice here in this section of Scripture.
• The Jewish leaders focused on Jesus’ phrase “your sins are forgiving”, but really what was happening was they were already rejecting Him as Messiah.
• For there was already people saying two things: His teaching is beyond what was being taught in their day, and nothing like what Jesus was doing had ever happened in Israel before. These scribes said, “Nah.”
• Jesus was being rejected early as Messiah by some of the leaders as they refused to make the connections between what Jesus was doing and what He was claiming.
  • And one could bet that these naysayers were working against Jesus ministry early in their peer groups to discredit Jesus in the face of the overwhelming evidence.

4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

• Which is easier to say? Neither are difficult.
• “Probably to all intelligent men who watched Him that day there was a clear consciousness of the connection between the man’s physical disability and his sin; and that instead of touching the surface, Jesus went right to the root of the matter, when He pronounced forgiveness.”[834, Morgan, The Gospel …, p. 90]

6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home.

• Jesus accomplished three things here:
  1. Jesus healed the paralytic.
  2. Jesus assured the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
  3. Jesus “refuted the scribes’ charge of blasphemy.” >> (Constable)
• This, from Matthew’s presentation, must have been the start of the Pharisees’ frustration. From their perspective, “since Jesus had blasphemed God, He could not heal the paralytic, since God does not respond to sinners (John 9:31). By healing the paralytic, Jesus showed that He had not blasphemed God [and] He could indeed forgive sins.” (Constable)
• “This is one of the most significant signs Jesus performs relative to the kingdom program. It shows that He is capable of forgiving sins on earth.”[837, Toussaint, Behold the …, p. 129 ]

APPLICATION

1. We should expect harsh responses from unbelievers.
2. We should also know that we too could have false misconceptions about the Father, Son , and the Holy Spirit, as the scribes did.
   • Our lives are filled with incorrect assumptions about God.
   • ILLUSTRATION: when I was first saved.
   • We should be on a lifelong commitment to straighten out our theological deficiencies as we move through this life.

2) Confident Responses

8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

• “When the crowds saw it they were afraid.” Wait what?
  • Fear follows Jesus’ ministry.
  • Two types: Here is the second type.
  • Their fear was different
  • Their fear resulted in them wanted to get closer to God not distance themselves from Him.
  • See it in verse 8: “… they glorified God …”
• They were amazed that authority had been given to humans.
  • What was the authority given to men that the crowd was amazed at?
  • They had heard of miracles, but the ability to forgive sins was the new thing.
  • John 20:19-23, On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

APPLICATION

• “The reason the reader is provided with inside views of characters is to shape his or her attitude toward them.”[832, Kingsbury, Matthew as …, p. 37]
• We have seen the herdsmen contrasted with the townspeople.
  • There is a fear that runs and a fear that is reverent.
  • We claim that we don’t have a fear of God that runs.
  • We will find out when we see what God asks us to give up.
• Now we have seen the paralytic and his friends contrasted with the scribes.
  • Their is lack of faith and faith strengthened. COMMENT
• Jesus draws lines. He divides people.
  • Believers and unbelievers.
• Jesus draws other lines too.
  • Do you want more of Me?

Notes

^{Notes from above may not be in numerical order.}

¹ Carson, “Matthew”, 225. Carson confered with M. Vökel, “‘Freund der Zöllner and Sünder,’” ZNW 69 [1978]: 1-10; see note on 5:46.

² “Asceticism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asceticism. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023.

³ Constable cited, “Dennis C. Duling, “The Therapeutic Son of David: An Element in Matthew’s Christological Apologetic,” New Testament Studies 24 (1978):392-410.”

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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