Jesus Heals
(Matthew 9:9-33)
By Greg, Elder

I'd like us to look at some applications to the scripture contained in Matthew chapter nine.  In verses 9-33, Jesus deals with 6 distinct problems present in the church and society of that day.

Matt 9:9-13 - As we begin reading in chapter 9, verse 9; Jesus has just come from healing a paralytic man; the one whose faithful friends had ripped open a roof so they could lower him into Jesus' presence.

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"  12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'  For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus came to heal the sick; those who are sick of sin.  Now it's true that we're all sick with sin, but not everyone is sick of sin.  There is a definite difference between the two.  Is there a sickness in your soul that you want healed today?  The Pharisees had the disease, but since they felt healthy they weren't looking for the cure.  In fact, they couldn't figure out why the doctor would go out to visit all those filthy, sick people.

Jesus on the other hand looked into the hearts of these most despised of the lower class people and saw their desire to be healed.  He told the Pharisees that these were the folks he came to call.

Are you sick of sin?  Is there something you've fought and struggled with; something that's beat you time and time again until you've almost come to accept that it's too strong, too hard, too big for you to beat?  Jesus wants to heal that sickness.  Jesus said He came to call the sinners.  He came to call me.  He came to call you.  He wants to cleanse us from sin and show us how to continually become more and more like him.

Matt 9:14-17 - The next section of scripture deals with the question of how people allow Jesus access to their lives; on their terms, or on Jesus' terms.  John's disciples wanted Jesus, but they wanted Him on their terms.

14 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"   15 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.  16 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.   17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

The Pharisees just wanted to put in a little patch here and a little patch their; but they didn't want to disturb things from the way they were.  Jesus tried to tell them that He brings new life and that requires a new life style.  You can't take a little of Jesus and patch up your old life.  He wants you to completely replace your old life with a new one. 

Is your view of who and what you are too tight a fit for Jesus to pour new life and spirit into you?  Brothers and sisters we can't keep the old, soft, comfortable self if we want new life.  Trying to put a small patch of Jesus over the wounds in the fabric of our lives is like trying to put a patch of fine silk over a hole in an old dried, cracked, stiff leather shoe.  It's not only ugly, but useless too!

Throw away the old shoe and let Jesus wrap you in the silk of his love.  Let him clothe you in His righteousness.

Some of you are thinking, "But I like the old shoe, it's comfortable and I understand it.  I'm not ready to make that big a change yet.  To that I ask you look at the scripture text again.  Understand what Jesus is saying when he speaks of old and new wine skins.

While you hold onto the old life, there is no room for Jesus to fill you up.  The first problem with old wine skins is they're often full of wine that's gone bad.  But even those that contain a fine wine for a time are soon exhausted.  If you drink from them long enough they will run dry.  You become like an empty container, not much good to yourself or others.  You might say that you just need to be filled up again, but Jesus makes it clear that He cannot pour new wine into your old wineskin, the two are incompatible.  He wants you to become a new wineskin so He can fill you with new wine.  And since you need to be continually refilled, you need to be continually changing to his will.

Are you today open and flexible and ready to receive those things He wants to pour into your life?  Or have you been holding back, saying "Not yet, Lord.  I'm not ready to let go, Lord.  I don't' want to change, Lord".  Won't you let go today and let him make something new of your life?

Matt 9:18-19, 23-26 - Next we get a picture of the difference between life and death.  We see that Jesus sees life where the world sees only death.  Conversely maybe we could also draw the conclusion that God sees death where we see life.

18 While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died.  But come and put your hand on her, and she will live."  19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
.. 21 When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, 24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.  25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.  26 News of this spread through all that region.

There really is no life apart from Jesus.  We can fool ourselves for a time into thinking that sin and life without Jesus is real life.  But eventually the illusion wears thin and begins to unravel.  The result is emptiness, depression, and an ever more frantic grasping for something more.  It often ends in loneliness, misery, shame, depression, or even suicide.  Jesus looks into this spiral of death and sees the walking dead.  He waits for us to give him the opportunity to reach out and bring us back into the light of real life.  He looks at me and at you and he says, you're dead and you don't even know it.  Let me bring you back and show you what real life is like.

The world looks at His offer and laughs at him.  It says "That's not life, its death".  But, deep down, there's a part us that always knows that life with Jesus is true life.  It's time we stop listening to a laughing world and allow Jesus to take us by the hand.

How about it?  Is Jesus holding your hand leading you into life, or are you lying on the table listening to the world laugh?  Jesus wants to fill you with life, life in abundance!

Matt 9:20-22 - Lets go back to the three verses we skipped, because there is another story within this story.

  20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."  22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you."  And the woman was healed from that moment. 

Too many of us go through each day with our life bleeding away.  We fritter away our days wondering what life is all about.  We let our lives ebb away into jobs and sports, into hobbies and TV, into parties and social gatherings.  We vaguely know that God wants to use us for something..but what? 

When our life is over, so is our job.  Someone else will fill our spot and the company will go on without us.  Our teams will go on with one less player or fan.  Our hobbies will get boxed up and sent to the garage or to a garage sale.  Someone else will watch the TV shows we were so fond of, and the parties and gatherings will go on without us.  So what do we leave behind?  And what can we take with us?

God wants so much more for us than this.  Jesus wants to heal us from this bleeding out of our life days.  God the father has our days numbered from before birth.  He has meaningful things for us to accomplish during each of those days; things that will mean something not only here, but in the next life too!  And like the woman in the scripture we have only to reach out to him in faith to see Him turn and heal us.

Jesus wants to heal you, to end the slow meaningless flow of days without purpose and to put a sense of belonging and of being needed and useful back into your life.  He wants to accomplish things through you today that will matter tomorrow and in the next life.  Will you let him take you by the hand and show you real meaning in your life?

Matt 9:27-31 - Next in Matthew we come to the report given us of two blind men.

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"  28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  "Yes, Lord," they replied.  29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this."   31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Notice that the blind men followed him, calling out to him, even following him inside the building where he was going.  They really, really must have wanted to be healed of their blindness.

These men were physically blind, but so often it's spiritual blindness that sets in on us.  We like the Pharisees are blind and don't even know it!  We must keep asking God, "Have I been blinded by the world"?  "Is my vision of You so clouded that I can't see Your will for my life?"  "Have I become spiritually numb to the events around me?"

Jesus wants to give us back our sight!  We must continue to follow after Him, calling out to him, following Him into the house of worship.  When we do, we will find Him eager to give us a clear vision of what he wants to do through us!

Are you ready for your eyes to be opened?  Are you ready to see where you're needed?  Are you ready to ask him for the kind of sight that lets you see things the way He does?

Matt 9:32-33 - Finally we come to the example we think couldn't possibly apply to us personally.  It's the example of the demon possessed man.

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.   33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

There was a demon preventing this man from talking.  Now some of you may not believe in demons, but let me assure you that they did and do exist.  Some of you, who do believe they exist, don't believe that they exert any power over you.  Yet you know there have been times when God presented you with an opportunity to be a witness for him and you were too afraid to speak up.  You probably passed it off by saying "someone else could do a better job" or "I don't know enough scriptures" or "I'm not really sure God wanted me to intervene".  If you're honest it was fear that kept you from speaking up or doing what you knew you should do.

The bible clearly says..

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

..so that fear did not come from God, it came from Satan or one of his demons.  Fear is one of their most powerful weapons.  It can freeze you in your tracks.

Do we have any fears trying to hold us down?  What has you so tongue tied and uptight that you can't do what you know the Spirit is prompting you to do?  Jesus wants to free you to serve.

Are you finally ready to be free from the fear?  Are you ready for some boldness in your life?  Are you ready to wade into the warfare going on around you?  Are you ready to ask Jesus to free you from your fears?

Conclusion
Each of the people in these scriptures needed some kind of physical healing that was different from the healing needed by the others.  Each of us needs some special spiritual healing from Jesus.  My need may be quite different from yours and your need may be quite different from the need of the people sitting close to you.  But the good, good news is that whatever our need is; Jesus is the great healer.

Does sin have you trapped or tied down?  Are you in a downward spiral as you seek relentlessly to find a reason for being here?  Do you keep going from one pursuit to the next seeking excitement and fulfillment, but never being satisfied? Do you need your eyes opened to the things of God and what he wants for your life?  Do you want to be free from fear?  Do you want to accomplish things that will matter not only here but in the next life?

Matt 9:9 Let's go back to the beginning of our scripture text for today and see how easy it is to begin.

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Jesus is calling you today, just as he called a sin ridden, publicly despised and humiliated, enemy collaborator named Levi (Joined).  Jesus not only called him, but called him by a new name; Matthew (a gift of Jehovah).  I don't know what He's calling you to today, but I believe He's calling your name.  Only you and the Holy Spirit know what you're being called to.  Won't you answer his call?