The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few

 

 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  

 

- Matthew 9:35—10:4 

 

Yesterday we read that two blind men followed Jesus, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."

 

  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."   This phrase, like sheep having no shepherd, is similar to the language in Mark 6:34, which we read as a description of the crowd of 5,000 which Jesus will feed in the wilderness (see Mark 6:30-44).  Here the words weary and scattered describe the crowd, meaning that they were like those cast aside from the world, exhausted in their struggles.  In a sense, it's a description of those who are figuratively "homeless" -- like sheep having no shepherd, who need His good guidance and love, His compassion.  In yesterday's commentary, we remarked upon Christ's gathering of the outcast, the poor in spirit, the outliers in some sense.  Here the description of these people exemplifies those to whom He has come to extend His care, His church.  His comment,  "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" teaches us that this is indeed how He views these multitudes.

 

 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.   My study Bible comments that disciples and apostles are often used interchangeably for the twelve.  Jesus gave them power to perform miracles, while He performed them by His own power.  It notes that he names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists, because many people had more than one name.  Here the names are given in pairs, which suggests who might have traveled together on their "first missionary journey," as St. Mark tells us that they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).  

 

It's very interesting to note how Jesus fulfills the needs He encounters in the people, as He goes out preaching, teaching and healing.  At this point in His ministry, He's encountering multitudes who are like sheep without a shepherd, weary and scattered.  As commented above, this description gives us a sense of people who are beleaguered by life, in some sense cast off by the society that does not feed them what they need.   They need a true leader, someone to guide them, and clearly that Someone is Jesus, who is our true and good Shepherd (see John 10:1-30).  This description of the multitudes sounds like something that many "multitudes" could relate to today in our world.  Wherever we are, it seems that there are a lot of people feeling like they are in need of a shepherd, who may feel cast off and even without a deep sense of community.  Christ responds in a characteristic way, which is not sad nor diminished in optimism, but rather quite the opposite.  He sees these seemingly lost multitudes as a harvest which is plentiful for His future Church, but that there is simply a need of more laborers to gather them.   These are the people He has come to gather to Himself, to guide as Shepherd.  They are the lost sheep who need Him.  And now is the time not simply to minister to them, but to expand His ministry by extending His power to His disciples who will now become apostles.  After calling the Twelve, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. This is what Christ has come to do, and it is an opportunity for the glory of God and the power of Christ to manifest itself and grow within human beings.  These are the ones He has come for, and this is the way that His Church will be built.  Christ at once gives us many things characteristic of Himself and His work:  if something is sad, or weak, or broken, or in need of healing or care in our sight, it is an opportunity for His work, His power, His energy.  If something is cast off, He can gather it to Himself, and the ones who are scattered He can gather into His community.  And He will do this by extending His power through human beings, the faithful disciples.  This is also, if we look closely, the characteristics of the Cross, for in what appears to us sad or broken or needful, and invites despair, there is God who can work even through all things.  Just as St. Paul was told that God's strength was made perfect in his weakness (1 Corinthians 12:9), so grace works through the things that look "less than" to us, and Christ's greatest power continues to work through the Cross, even defeating death.  Let us look to that grace for all the surprising, uplifting, and beautiful things it can bring into our lives as well.  For we may all be laborers in whatever ways we are called.  

 

 

He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." 

 

- Matthew 9:27–34 

 

Yesterday we read that a ruler of the synagogue came and worshiped Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

  When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  My study Bible comments that, according to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  These healings, it notes, are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith in this truth.  

 

And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."   To cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, my study Bible says, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed  lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works which demons could not perform.

 

 We note that the Pharisees, by now no doubt somewhat challenged and alarmed by the fact that the multitudes marveled over Christ's works, call His works evil, saying that He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.  Already we can see Jesus is growing in fame and renown for the great works He is doing, so that the people marvel, and thus He is becoming something of a rival in the eyes of the Pharisees, the ones who seek to regulate the faith and wield power within the religious institutions of the Jews, especially in interpreting the Scriptures and hence, the Law.  Jesus is not a member of the establishment, not among their number, not a scribe.  Neither is He a part of the Levitical priesthood.  He is an outsider, and His ministry -- as we read when He took on Matthew the tax collector as a disciple (in this reading) -- is a also a ministry that includes outsiders.  In fact in many ways we see Christ's calling not only to those left out, in some sense, who could not be included according to the Law, but also to those excluded for violations of the Law, such as lepers and the woman with the years-long blood flow in yesterday's reading (see above).  In His preaching and teaching to His disciples, and the use of their power and authority in His Church to come, He will also emphasize the care of the outliers, the ones on the edge, the ones with little to no power or social stature.  These He will call "little ones" and His constant call will be to avoid misleading them, offenses in the use of power toward them, and the greatest of care to see in them not only Himself, but also the One who sent Him (see, for example, Matthew 18:1-14).  The parable of the lost sheep found in the last few verses of that passage emphasizes the same.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus open His sermon with the first Beatitude:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).  The "poor in spirit" are those with the attitude of the poor, those who in their humility are dependent upon God.  They are the outliers, the ones whose heart comes not from social position but the love of God, regardless of outward status.  But for the Pharisees, this "outside" status of Jesus reflects for them only opposition, and so they label all that He does the power of the devil, the evil one, regardless of the goodness of outcomes.  In today's reading, the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the time of the Messiah is fulfilled, and yet the Pharisees still see Him this way, and openly label His works those of the ruler of the demons.  As we know, evil seeks to destroy, but Christ's works fulfill the blessed potentials of human beings, enabling the blind to see, and the mute to speak, restoring humanity as Creator to creature.  It's easy to label our seeming opponents as evil, if we see them as rivals for something, and in so doing, these Pharisees are not only slandering Jesus, they're committing blasphemy.  This same accusation by the Pharisees will come again, even more explicitly, in chapter 12 (notably in the case of a demon-possessed man who is both blind and mute), and Jesus will make it very clear what kind of sin it is to label the works of God evil (see Matthew 12:22-32).  Perhaps there is a great lesson for us in the types of healing in today's reading, in how one sees and how one speaks, for while Christ heals, it is the Pharisees who do not see clearly, and who speak untruths, even blasphemies against the work of God.  It is Christ who heals us in every way, in how we see, and teaches us how to speak, and for this reason we seek Him for our own healing in all ways.  He Himself is the antidote to the blindness of the Pharisees, and their reckless ways of using their power.  We seek Him so that He can do His good work in us.  As St. John says, "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  

 

 

If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

- Matthew 9:18–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed on, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  My study Bible comments on today's passage that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).   As He is of one essence with the Father, Christ has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the flow of blood demonstrates His power to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, we must understand, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement.  This imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This suffering woman counts herself unclean, my study Bible says, but she nevertheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith.  He also corrects her thinking, because she could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, Christ even exhibits her faith as an example to all, that they might imitate her.  

 

One interesting thing about today's passage is that the healing of this woman with the flow of blood is always placed "in between" the story of the healing of Jairus' daughter (the ruler of the synagogue is identified as Jairus in the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke).  It's interesting to juxtapose the stories of the woman and the girl.  Here we're told that the woman's flow of blood had lasted for twelve years.  Again, in the other Synoptic Gospels, we're told that the girl is twelve years old.  So there are some interesting contrasts and comparisons in this story.  The woman, an outcast because of her illness, comes to Jesus in secret and yet with great faith.  Contrast her actions with the ruler of the synagogue, who boldly comes to Jesus himself and tells Him that his daughter has just died, and asks for Christ's touch to heal her.  The woman with the blood flow has such great faith that her healing is effected through the touching of Christ's hem.  In the ruler's household, Jesus is ridiculed for saying that the child is not dead, but sleeping.  (The flute players and the noisy crowd wailing are mourning her.)  But of course, we notice that Christ's healing happens in both circumstances by touch:  in the first, she touched the hem of His garment; in the second He took her by the hand.  Perhaps the pattern in this story is suggesting to us that there is no "right" way that Christ can heal, no right person Christ can heal.  In some sense, we can say that everything in one story is inversed in the other, for Christ inhabits all dimensions. There is nothing and no place where He is not.  There is nothing in creation that is separate from His rule (John 3:31-36).  And His rule is supreme:  He is the Giver of the Law, and His mercy declares healing and love and responds to faith.  This reminds us of the righteousness of Abraham, accounted to him by his faith (Genesis 15:6,Romans 4:1-22, Galatians 3:6-9, Hebrews 11:8-10, Hebrews 11:17-19).   This woman comes to Christ in great faith.  In the other stories of the Synoptic Gospels, Jairus must be encouraged by Christ to have faith, and we see in today's reading that Jesus must put the people out of the house who ridicule.  In the Jewish culture of the time, public relations between men and women could make touch scandalous, but here in both cases, touch is the means by which God's healing comes.  

 

 

 

 

For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 

 

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9–17 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the encounter and exorcism of the Gergesene demoniacs, Jesus got into a boat, crossed over, and came back to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in that house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice."  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.   My study Bible tells us that Matthew is also called Levi (Mark 2:14).  It explains that Roman overlords would assign specific areas to Jewish tax collectors.  These Jewish tax collectors were then free to collect extra revenues for their own profit, using the power of the Roman state.  Because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, other Jews hated them and considered them to be unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Here Jesus is dining with them and has accepted a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), and so the Pharisees are offended.  But Jesus' defense is quite simple:  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6.  This is not a rejection of sacrifice per se, my study Bible explains, but it teaches that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51).

 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  The Jews would typically fast twice a week, my study Bible explains (Luke 18:12), on Monday and on Thursday.  In addition, public fasts were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), especially on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).  But the Jews saw the day of the Messiah as a wedding feast -- a time of joy and gladness.  Here, Jesus is proclaiming that day, and He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  For Christians, my study Bible notes, fasting is not gloomy but desirable; it's a "bright sadness."  This is because, by fasting, we gain self-control and prepare ourselves for the Wedding Feast.  The old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, which are viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit who dwells in renewed people; who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

 

 Jesus makes a seemingly radical choice in today's reading: He calls a tax collector to become His disciple.  We're told that He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This might seem almost like a random event in terms of the way that you or I might read these words, but with Jesus, nothing is random.  He knows the hearts of people and He knows the ones He calls.  Matthew's response is an indication of how ready He was to follow and to become a disciple.  But Jesus' calling of the disciple Matthew (the author of our Gospel) is indeed a radical act, because Matthew is a kind of outlier.  He is, moreover, scorned and shunned by the community because he's a tax collector.  The next thing we read is that Jesus is sitting at table with a whole houseful of tax collectors and sinners, no doubt St. Matthew's friends.  This is yet another radical step, for He's openly among a community known widely as sinners, and unclean in the eyes of others.  In a sense, it's Jesus openly declaring His gospel by this physical act of attending a dinner.  He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  Note that, yet again, everything is not quite what it might seem to us as we read this Scripture.  For Jesus is not sitting at dinner to simply approve of and enjoy this company.  Matthew has become a disciple, has decided to follow Jesus, and Jesus is calling this table to repentance as well.  The fact that He is eating with them is yet another radical act, for He has no concern that in so doing, He is sharing whatever sinful or imperfect behavior tax collectors and sinners might practice.  Just as He touched a leper when it was forbidden to touch the "unclean" (in this reading) in order to heal him, so Christ's sitting among these people is also an act of healing.  Christ has nothing to fear from closeness to those who are either physically or spiritually unwell in any sense.  This is because He is the divine Physician; He has come to heal, to set us on the right path and give us the right medicine we need for our ailments.  This invites us to understand ourselves as those who might also sit at that table, and the particular perspective that engenders in us.  Jesus doesn't come to Matthew's table to celebrate and laud Matthew or the other tax collectors and sinners, He comes as honored teacher, while Matthew is pleased to tell the world that he has become a disciple, and to share this with his friends.  So even if one is not a notorious sinner, nor hated as unclean or despised in community for some reason, we think of ourselves at this table as one of those who are imperfect, and who need Christ's guidance and healing prescriptions for our lives.  It invites us to think of ourselves as part of a community, in which there may be all kinds of sins and their effects present, and so therefore whoever we are, we are a part of a community that needs Christ and what Christ has to offer.  He, Jesus, has come into the world to be part of this community, to do His healing and preach His gospel within this community, and to call us out of that community to be His followers and practice His gospel as He teaches.  St. Matthew will go on to become an apostle, and author of this first Gospel that appears in our New Testament, and so he continues to call people to Christ from the midst of our communities all over the world.  Let us understand ourselves also as those who need Christ in our lives and our communities, and be grateful as Matthew who invites all to sit at His table with joy and thanks for His Teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise and walk?"

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

- Matthew 9:1-8 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus and the disciples had come to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. 

 

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.   Jesus returns to Capernaum, the city of His ministry headquarters.   

 

 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.  My study Bible comments that, as shown by the healing of the paralytic, faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith is collective as well as personal, my study Bible points out, for here the paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  There are three signs of Christ's divinity shown in this healing miracle.  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Christ also forgives sins, which is a power that belongs to God only.  And finally, He heals by the power of His word.

 

 What is the power of Christ's word?  This commentary in my study Bible is quite interesting, because it invites us to understand why that reveals Christ's divinity.  We think first of all of the story of Genesis, in which the world is created.  All is done by the power of God's word.  God both speaks things into existence, and gives them names by which they are called.  For example, we read, "Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day" (Genesis 1:3-5).  God does the same for the land and the sea, the plants and vegetation and fruit of all kinds, the stars, the moon and the sun, all the fish and every creature that populates the sea, and all the winged birds of the air of all types.  Then God created all the animals of the land, and finally we're told that God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth" (Genesis 1:26).  We notice that God does not say to Himself only, "Let Me make man in My image..." but rather, "Let Us make man in Our image."  This invites us to consider the plural "Us" involved in that creation.  And there we remember the Gospel of John, which also begins by paraphrasing Genesis.  St. John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).  And who is this Word, and what was this Word that co-created within the plural "Us" of God?  That word is the Son, whom we know as Christ who came into the world as a human being called Jesus.  Jesus is the Word, the Logos in Greek, and in today's reading He reveals the power of His spoken word.  Moreover, as we have just recently finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, let us note that Christ also admonishes us about the power of our own spoken words, and does not discount nor minimize this power either.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire" (Matthew 5:21-22).  Moreover, also in this sermon, He teaches us about swearing oaths:  "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one" (Matthew 5:33-37).  He teaches us about the power to harm, about a futile use of words in swearing, and about a proper use of our words as well ("Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'").  How many of us take our own words this seriously?  In the context of today's passage, we read that the paralytics friends are necessary to facilitate his healing.  This is often interpreted to pertain to our prayers, and how our praying for others helps others (in addition to ourselves).  Through prayer we help to bring people to healing of many kinds.  But let us consider the words of the friends of the paralytic.  We imagine them to be encouraging, faithful, giving confidence, and kindness.  For without these, in addition to their heroic act of help, could they really have helped persuade the paralytic to allow them to pursue the help Jesus for him in this way?  And if, on the contrary, they had spoken words of discouragement to him, can we imagine what that outcome would be?  Therefore, let us consider the power of our words, for we are made in God's image, as Genesis tells us.  There is quite an interesting article on a blog written by Father Stephen Freeman about this topic of words, in which he writes of words as a type of icons (see Truth, Lies, and Icons).  Just as Jesus advocates about our "Yes" and "No," Father Stephen encourages us to recognize the power of truth, and the destructive emptiness of lies.  For just as we remember that Christ is the Truth, so we also remember that it is the devil who is the father of lies.  Therefore, although we are not ourselves divine, let us endeavor to be like Him in the power of our own words, and follow His teachings on this subject.  We note here that Christ even knows the false words in the hearts of others, the false judgment that "This Man blasphemes!"  Even the concept of blasphemy itself teaches us something about the power of words, the destructiveness of lies.  As Jesus says to them, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?"  Let us follow His example, and choose our words wisely, and truthfully, with meaning and integrity, and our power to choose.  For we also create something with our words.

 

 

 

Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

 

- Matthew 9:18-26 

 

Yesterday we read that, passing on from healing a paralytic, Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  

 

  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  My study Bible comments here that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Christ is of one essence with the Father, He has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the blood flow is an expression of Christ's power to cleanse and to heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, my study Bible explains, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  Even though this woman, having suffered so long, accounts herself as unclean, she nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith, and also corrects her thinking.  She could neither hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, He exhibits her faith to all, so that they might imitate her.  

What are we to make of this woman who has suffered so long (twelve years) with a flow of blood, a hemorrhage?  Twelve is a significant number in the Bible; there are twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the sons and grandsons of Jacob, also named Israel.  There are twelve disciples named by Jesus who will go on to found His Church and its bishops who descend from them.  Twelve is a type of building block of time, as there are twelve months to the year.  So this number of the years of her suffering defines her in a way, in this sense of her shame and uncleanness, and her lack of healing.  But encountering Christ does something entirely different for her than anything she has known.  In St. Luke's Gospel, she has "spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any" (Luke 8:43).  Everything she knows or understands has in some sense sentenced her to this life as one who is unclean and cannot be helped, her suffering and isolated status unalleviated by anything she knows.  But here is Jesus in Capernaum in the crowd, approached by Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, who seeks help for his daughter (in St. Luke's version, she is also twelve years old), and although the woman according to the law is unclean because of her flow of blood, nevertheless she approaches Christ with great faith.  What we notice is that her faith enabled her even to run the risk of being caught in this crowd, also forbidden to her in the law as she would have been excluded from community.  But let us observe that there is a sense in which Christ's healing power works seemingly despite Himself; He does not see this woman, but power goes out of Him to heal nonetheless in response to her faithful touch.  That faith of hers connects with Christ as Son, with the power of the divine to heal, and makes the connection.  Again, in St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus asks, "Who touched Me?"  (Luke 8:45).  Thus far in St. Matthew's Gospel we have had several occasions to ponder the Lord's ultimately healing aim in all things, whether we speak of the Law or the many teachings and healings of Jesus in the New Testament.  But here He affirms, and exhibits before the whole world, the faith that heals, that is here an essential component to healing.  We have had occasion to read of friends' faith helping to heal the paralytic, we have heard Christ referring to Himself as Physician (in yesterday's reading, above), we have seen His healing of two demon-possessed men among those without faith (see this reading), we have read of His healing of the Gentile centurion's servant, and the healing of a leper by touch (also forbidden in the Law).  All of this followed upon His teaching of the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7 of St. Matthew's Gospel), showing us that in Christ there is a new birth, a renewal of all things, a New Covenant.  And all of this is true in His healing of this woman, no longer sentenced to her twelve-year identity as unclean, with an unremitting affliction casting her out of the society.  She is, instead, put on display by Christ for her exemplary faith, which He says has made her well.  Moreover, He proclaims her "daughter" in so doing.   In the Revelation, the Lord on the throne says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).  In the Greek, we should understand that it effectively means, "I am always making all things new."  And then He adds to St. John, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."  True and faithful; these must be the themes we seek and know for today, for they are exemplified in this woman's healing, in her transformation to one returned to community and healed, in her faith to which Jesus testifies to the whole community for all of us.  Let us remember that faith is trust, and where better shall we put that trust than in Him, the faithful and true?

But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved

 

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

- Matthew 9:9-17 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing two demon-possessed men who dwelt across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus got into a boat, crossed back over the sea, and returned to His own city of Capernaum.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

  As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   Matthew is also named Levi (see Mark 2:14).  My study Bible explains that Roman overlords assigned specific areas to Jewish tax collectors, who in turn were free to collect extra revenues for their own profit.  Let us keep in mind that this implied using the power of the Roman state, including its soldiers, to do so and extort their own people.  My study Bible says that because of their collaboration with the occupying Romans, their fraud, and their corruption, among fellow Jews they became objects of hatred and were considered  unclean (Matthew 11:19).  Since Jesus dines with them here, and accepts a tax collector as a disciple ("Follow Me"), this is offensive to the Pharisees.  But, returning to themes we have already observed in St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus goes back to God's root purpose in terms of divine activity in the world:  healing.  He goes where the need of the physician is greatest.   "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)  is not a rejection of sacrifice per se.  It is instead a statement that mercy is the higher priority (see Psalm 51).

Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."  Here my study Bible points out for us that the Jews would typically fast twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  Additionally, there were fasts that were regularly observed or proclaimed on occasion (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21; Esther 4:16; Joel 2:15), particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and also in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5, 8:19).  But in contrast to those times of fasting, the day of the Messiah was seen as a wedding feast; a time of joy and gladness.  What Jesus is doing here is proclaiming that day, as He declares Himself to be the Messiah/Bridegroom.  

 

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  For Christians, my study Bible says, fasting is not gloomy, but is instead desirable, a "bright sadness."  This is because, in fasting, we see ourselves as gaining self-control and thereby preparing ourselves for the Wedding Feast toward which we look.  The old garment and old wineskins, it notes, refer to the Old Covenant and the Law, seen as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who can't be constrained by the old precepts of the Law.

My study Bible describes Christ's reference to the new wine as the Holy Spirit, which lives within renewed people.  How beautiful is this understanding, which gives us a sense that we are here for a purpose, that Christ came for a purpose, to give us this indwelling new wine, the Holy Spirit, so that we also may look forward to the time of the Bridegroom, Christ's return.  We should notice how in the passage on fasting, my study Bible's notes ask us to focus on how Christ's Incarnation and ministry asks us to turn toward that time of the Bridegroom, always keeping this in mind, so that everything is seen in this light.  If we fast, it is because we look forward to that time, and we prepare for it.  Don't we know already that we're not quite prepared to dwell in that heavenly Kingdom as one capable of dwelling in perfect harmony with God?  So we practice prayer, and we practice fasting, we learn to be a disciple, and hopefully grow in discipleship -- not because we need to sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, but because we look toward Christ and His plans for us.  We hope for that indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that we might be transfigured like the wine that through mysterious enzymatic action grows into the good wine.  We worship so that we participate in that communion of saints that is meant to take us somewhere, to transfigure who we are and even who we think we are.  St. Matthew the repentant tax collector, so grateful to be taken on as disciple by Christ, is not presented as immediately perfect, completed, even if our Physician has forgiven him and called him to join Him.  On the contrary, St. Matthew the tax collector is brought into a new place where He has something toward which He now goes forward, a bright light to guide His life and whatever things will be changed in Him.  He has a cherished hope, and an indwelling of light, just as we all do who are on this path toward the place to which He calls us forward, to His light, to the wedding feast.  If Christ is our Bridegroom, we clearly also need always remember that He is our Physician.  He is here to heal us, and that indwelling of the Holy Spirit is meant to take us on the road to healing, where perfect health in this sense is our own capacity to live in the Kingdom, to dwell with God in that heavenly Kingdom Christ has promised.  The Kingdom is here among us and within us (Luke 17:21), but it is working in us to make us more fit for its dwelling and the return of the Bridegroom.  When we struggle with our journey in His light, let us consider the help we have to find the way, to make the changes we need to (as will Matthew), so that we may receive the light in its fullness that shines on us, even when we can't fully see it.  For this new wine must be preserved in the eternal day of the Kingdom which is always at hand, in which we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). 

 

 

 

Arise, take up your bed and go to your house

 

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 

- Matthew 9:1-8 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus and the disciples had come to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (after crossing through a frightening storm), to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.   

 

  So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Jesus is returning from the encounter with the demon-possessed men, and so has crossed back over the Sea of Galilee.  Christ's own city is Capernaum.

Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  for which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But 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 bed and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.  My study Bible comments on this reading that, as shown by the healing of the paralytic, faith is indispensable as a condition for salvation.  It notes also here that faith is collective as well as personal, because the faith of the paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  There are three signs of Christ's divinity on display in this passage.  First, that He knows the secrets of hearts (He is the "heart-knower" -- see 1 Samuel 16:7; 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, Jesus forgives sins here, and this is a power which belongs only to God.  Finally, Jesus heals with the power of His word.

What are we to make of the helpful faith of this paralytic man's friends?  We don't always have friends around to help us or to pray for us when we need it, but this fact of a cooperative, or collective faith remains a great gift to us, and a revelation as well.  For, in the communion of saints we also believe there is a kind of web of prayer.  This place of communion of the faithful, which transcends time and place, is put into words by St. Paul as "the great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1).  In the Body of Christ in this sense, we are not alone, but we are connected to the faithful who have come before us.  This is particularly true of the martyrs and confessors for our faith, those who have sacrificed for the love of God and lived their faith in this sense.  In the ancient tradition of the Church, we may pray with such saints and witnesses.  It is for this purpose that we have iconography.  In the Eastern traditions, it remains a vital part of Orthodoxy, and icons are stylized in particular ways to make it clear that we enter a particular dimension of communion when we interact through prayer or ask for prayers and help.  They are not literal renderings merely for memory's sake or for teaching alone, but rather invite communion and participation in that place where "all live to Him" (Luke 20:38).   Christ on the Cross spoke of His own seeming abandonment in a worldly sense, and the communion in prayer which sustained Him, when He spoke to the disciples at the Last Supper:  "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me" (John 16:32).  He sets the example for all of us, that we may be sustained in prayer, and the testimony for such effective communion and prayer is on display in today's reading.  We should never forget that we are sustained not simply of ourselves alone, and, like Christ, we have others with us even when we are seemingly alone.  We have the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and Christ, and the Father (for where one of the Trinity is, all are present) -- and we have the entire communion of saints, which includes angelic help.  Tremendous help and testimony has been made throughout the centuries by such prayer.  Let us have the faith and trust Christ asks of us. 

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd

 

 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

 

- Matthew 9:35—10:4 

 

Yesterday we read that two blind men followed Jesus, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."

 

  Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.  But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  My study Bible asks us to note that here Jesus doesn't condemn sinners, instead seeing them like lost sheep, to be found and brought home.  Compassion, it notes, means "suffering with."  This quality is characteristic of our Lord.  The illustration of sheep having no shepherd is drawn from the Old Testament (Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezekiel 34:5), and it is an accusation against the Jewish leaders.  For they are charged with the duty of shepherds, and have acted as wolves.  The same would apply to leaders of our time who forget they are shepherds of the Church.

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."  The harvest, according to my study Bible, suggests an abundance of people who are ready to accept the Kingdom.  Jesus is both the Sower and also the Lord of the harvest.  His disciples are not sent to sow, but to reap what the Lord had sown by the prophets (John 4:36-38).  How many are sent to harvest is less important than with what power they go into the harvest, which we will read about in the following verse, as Christ sends out the apostles.

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:  first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.  My study Bible comments that disciples and apostles are often used interchangeably for the twelve.  Disciple means "learner" (in Greek, μαθητής/mathetes), and apostle means "one sent out" (ἀπόστολος/apostolos).  We note that Jesus gave them power to perform miracles, but He performed them by His own power.  The names of the Twelve are not the same in all lists; many people had more than one name.  These names in Matthew are given in pairs.  My study Bible comments that this list suggests who may have traveled together on this "first missionary journey," as Mark tells us they were sent out two by two (Mark 6:7).  

The theme of sheep and shepherds runs through the Bible.  Jesus, of course, is the good shepherd:  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11).  Here in today's reading, He expresses His role as the Good Shepherd in His compassion and concern for those who are like sheep. He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.  The people aren't just like sheep, they are "like sheep having no shepherd."  They are weary and scattered, and they need a Good Shepherd who can unify them and give them strength.  This is part of the role of our Good Shepherd.  It's a good clue about what constitutes real leadership that the text offers to us this insight regarding Jesus' understanding of this need of the people, and His own capacity to fill it.  What do we want from a good leader?  What inspires us to follow a good leader?  Jesus often gives courage to His followers, telling the disciples to take heart at times of fear.  He inspires with His willingness to give of Himself first.  Everything He does is for His sheep.  And He gives direction, teaching us how to live, how to go forward in life, how we must shape our lives.  He responds with teaching for those who are like sheep with no shepherd (Mark 6:34).   Christ's next action that exemplifies leadership is to take charge and send out His messengers of the Kingdom.  In tomorrow's reading we'll find His instructions for the mission.  But let us note that on this first apostolic mission He prepares them for it by giving them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.  This is a power that works for the kingdom of God, and against the unclean spirits, the ones who create ailments, problems, and troubles for human beings, the forces opposed to Christ.  Like a good leader, Christ chooses those whom He will send out, His soldiers, His representatives, those whom He has trained to be like Him, and entrusted with mission to the sheep.

 

 

Son of David, have mercy on us!

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."

 

- Matthew 9:27–34 

 

Yesterday we read that, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.   

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.   My study Bible comments on these events of today's reading that, according to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  These healings are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith indeed He is.

 

But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."  My study Bible says that to cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not destroy it.  Further, Jesus cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works demons could not perform.

 

Today's reading teaches us about the fulfillment of the prophesied signs of the Messiah, a clear indication that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the One who was awaited in Israel.  He heals the blind, and makes the mute speak, signs of the time of the Messiah.  One may begin to wonder why Christ was not more widely accepted as the Messiah, but then again we don't really know how many of His contemporaries were believers and how many were not.  We can think back to the time of Christ and ponder the different political tides of the time, the dangerous and violent times of warfare and conflicts between big powers, as well as the various forces within Israel trying to retain their power.  That would include the leadership in the temple, the Council, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Romans and their various "kings" who ruled for them.  All of these factions exist still yet in new forms, including those of the type who would seek to make their own revolution to throw off the Roman rule, like Barabbas.   All of these struggles with expectations and hopes and demands still clash, and yet how many could have understood or prophesied the effects of history to come?  We can look now at the same region and think about the conflicting struggles and powers and hopes, all magnified through new technologies, vast wealth, and great power of the type of this century, and think to ourselves, where we can find Christ in the story today?  Who awaits the Christ?  Who seeks His way?  Is there a place for Him in the hearts of people?  Can we see Him playing a role in the midst of the turmoil of our time?  If nothing less, let us ask ourselves where He is in today's picture, or if amidst so many demands, desires, conflicts, mercenary fights and retaliations, does anyone seek Him?  Perhaps we should say that He is the one thing that is truly needed, the one place to find our peace, the only way to find and an answer to the growing problems that plague us.  He is, after all, the way.  Let us, who suffer from so much blindness, say with the blind men, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"

 

If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well

 

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land. 

 

- Matthew 9:18–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus passed on from healing a paralytic, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 

  While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  On today's reading, my study Bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As He is of one essence with the Father, Christ has this authority (John 5:21).  The healing of the woman with the flow of blood is a demonstration of Christ's power to cleanse and heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement.  It imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This woman, having suffered so long, and accounting herself unclean, nonetheless approaches Jesus in secrecy but with great faith.  In verse 22, Jesus brings her good cheer because of her faith; He corrects her thinking -- as she could not hide her touch from Him, nor is she excluded from Him because of her illness; and He exhibits her faith to everyone, so they might imitate her. 

This woman's suffering is exemplary, and important to know.  It's an essential part of the story.  She's been suffering with a flow of blood, a hemorrhage, for twelve years.   Luke's Gospel tells us that she "had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any" (Luke 8:43).  One can only imagine what it would be to deal with an ongoing medical problem for twelve years, and still seek hope despite losing one's livelihood in the process.  But the presence of Christ is one that inspires, and in this case even the hem of His garment becomes a source of inspiration.  Her sense is that if she might just touch His hem, she might be healed, and it is so.  Again, Luke's Gospel reports the response to this connection of touch.  Jesus turns and says, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me" (Luke 8:46).  The story gives us once more a sense of how faith makes connections which enable Christ's holy power to work.  Although Jesus does not consciously know who touched Him, He nonetheless understood power going out from Himself, as if the power of God works in a way that seeks out faith and makes a connection to it.  Her desire to touch Him becomes as much of the "work" or "energy" in the story as Christ's power is.  This is significant, because it speaks to us of communion, of this divine power working to build communion upon faith, to make connection, and to create wholeness.  For this reason, Jesus praises her faith, and encourages all to be like her.  Note how, in the case of the ruler of the synagogue's daughter, Jesus is asked to come and touch her in order to heal her, to lay His hand upon her.  In order to heal the girl, He must put the ridiculing crowd outside so as to protect faith.  He gives her His touch by taking her by the hand and raising her up.  The story of the woman with the blood flow teaches us how significant faith itself is, for in that case it isn't Jesus who actively seeks to heal her first; it is her faith which seeks Him out and to which His divine power responded in order to heal.  We do not need to wait for an invitation from Christ to seek Him and to seek His healing for us in our lives, but we do need faith and humility.  For this is the price of entry into community.