January 9, 2008 - The Gospel According to Matthew Chapter 9
General Comment: In the first series of healings presented
in chapter 8, the central characters being healed were marginalized by others
within their communities, a leper, a Roman Gentile's slave and two
demon-possessed Gentile men. Matthew uses these stories to demonstrate an
important feature of the ultimate Reign of God which has begun in Jesus
ministry of teaching and healing: In the Reign of God the human community
will be at peace, all will love their neighbor as themselves, and
that love expressed between persons will break down all the artificial barriers
we have created for it will be of the same character as God's love for all, as
revealed in Jesus' life. This Utopian vision remains but a dream awaiting
the courage and determination of those who believe such an egalitarian
world is possible, be they Christian, Muslim or Jew.
There are more healings in Chapter 9 and while a similar
idea of the healing of community is still present, we begin to see the first
elements of antagonism and rejection of Jesus by the religious
authorities. We also read of what place faith may take in these healings.
Matthew 9:2-8 Jesus' Authority Questioned
There is an old saw which says, "No good deed will go
unpunished." In Jesus' ministry there were those who took exception to
many of Jesus' healings on religious grounds. Not so much for the healing
itself, but because of Jesus' understanding of the implications of his
being able to heal. Such is the case with this confrontation between Jesus and
the Scribes (many of whom were also Pharisees).
The friends bring a paralytic to be healed by Jesus. He
recognizes this as an act of their faith that he can actually heal
the man. In response to that faith Jesus does not ask any questions,
does not say, "Be healed." Rather, he forgives the man's sins;
not exactly what the friends had expected to be sure. In the
fringes of the crowd a group of Scribes are muttering among
themselves at seeing Jesus commit an act, so they believe, of blasphemy, any
act or word which is either disparaging of God's character, or causes another
to think less of God's authority. In this case the assumed blasphemy is that
Jesus has forgiven someone's sins, considered to be the absolute purview of
God. This is not the ordinary forgiveness of one person by
another. When Jesus forgives sins it is always a saving act, a
reconciling of the person with God - a healing of a relationship with Kingdom
implications. This is what the Scribes consider blasphemy.
Jesus perceives the Scribal displeasure and immediately
responds using a typical form of Rabbinical debate: arguing from the
lesser to the greater. We will see this employed by Jesus on many
occasions. In his confrontation with the grumblers, Jesus asks if it is easier
to say "your sins are forgiven" or "stand up and walk;" is
it the words or the result. Obviously it is easier to say something the result
of which cannot be seen than something that would be seen if it occurred. He
will not wait for an answer for he knows that in their minds it is not this
man's return to wholeness and productiveness that matter most, it is
whether Jesus has committed some arcane religious infraction. (We will see this
again in the following story) Jesus tells the man to stand up and walk, and he
walks.
But that is not all he does. He captions this saving act
with the pronouncement that it is as the Son of Man that he has authority
to forgive sins on behalf of God. As the one in whom the reign of God begins,
God's work is Jesus' work. If it is by God's power that he heals, then it
is by God's power that he forgives sin.
Matthew 9:9-13 The Call of Matthew
Matthew uses this setting to accomplish two goals, first the
call of Matthew as a Disciple, and second to demonstrate another example of Jesus'
authority. Matthew, whose name was appended to this Gospel some 90 years after
it was written, is a tax collector, in this case one who, in the employ of
the Herodian government, collects fees, local taxes and duty
charges from those crossing into Galilee from other territories. His tax
station was purchased by him much like a franchise operation. To a degree he
was free to exact as much as he could above and beyond the required levy
for his own profit. He was not a beloved figure among the Jews of Capernaum and
since he would have dealings with Gentiles and assorted animals in shipments,
he was considered by the religious authorities - specifically the Pharisees,
and certainly by the good citizens of Capernaum, to be a sinner, ritually
unclean, to be avoided.
You might have guessed Jesus would find association with
Matthew completely in keeping with his perspective on the intrinsic worth of
every person. So Jesus calls Matthew to follow him and the first stop on
the journey will be at Jesus' home for dinner along with his
Disciples, a collection of tax collectors and other sinners. Houses in villages
were built in groups around a large courtyard open to porch-like areas of each
home. Uninvited guests were welcome to be in the courtyard and partake in the
evening conversation. In this case a number of Pharisees (the "Separated
Ones") are present and objecting. In their circles, Pharisees
formed dinner organizations among themselves to insure they associated
with only the "right" people. Before long they complain to Jesus'
Disciples, asking why Jesus is associating with this scurrilous band of
outcasts. As with other such settings, Matthew uses this one as an
opportunity for Jesus to teach others the nature and object of his
ministry: those who are righteous (in a right relationship with God) do
not need Jesus, but those who are not, do. He concludes his remarks to the
Pharisees with a stunning indictment, that they would do well to learn the
meaning of "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," the textual summation
of Micah 6:6-8 which concludes with the 'oft quoted pearl, "...what does
the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God?" The Pharisees have neglected the weightier matters
of God's requirements and settled for self righteousness.
Matthew 9:14-17 Fasting and the Reign of God
The Disciples of John the Baptist ask Jesus why his
Disciples do not fast while they and the Pharisees fast often. Torah requires
only one fast day a year, The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), a day on which
fasting was a symbol of mourning over one's sins. In Jesus' time the custom of
the Pharisees and others was to fast two days a week, a practice carried over
into the Matthean Church. Jesus answers using the setting of
the wedding feast - a representation of the messianic age to come and
which has already begun in Jesus' presence. Matthew sees this as an
allegory referring to Jesus as the bridegroom and his followers as
guests. In an actual wedding all participants were exempt from the need to
fast, thus there is to be no mourning while the wedding festivities
go on (usually 7 days). When the Bridegroom is gone (for Matthew,
when Jesus has died and risen) then is the time to fast (the time of the
Church). But as long as Jesus is with them the glad celebration
continues.
Jesus closes his answer to John's Disciples with two
proverbs about mixing the new with the old. Matthew has taken these verses from
Mark's Gospel (as he has about 80% of Mark) and changed Mark's use of them. It
is not necessary to conclude, as have some writers, that Jesus or Matthew
is declaring that a new movement is rejecting Judaism. That will become a
reality soon enough, planting the seeds of anti-Judaism and its more
virulent form, anti-Semitism. In the development of the early Church, many
Jewish practices were abandoned, e.g. Paul's writings (Galatians, etc.) which
reject Torah on clean and unclean foods, circumcision, special days for
festivals and worship. The minimalist interpretation - which I find to be more
appropriate, would relate these two sayings to that process begun by Paul, who
by any stretch of the imagination had not rejected his heritage as a Jew.
When Coke and Asbury were forming the Methodist Episcopal
Church after the Revolutionary War, they would often receive
"instructions" from "Old Jack" as they called John Wesley.
Francis Asbury is said to have quipped that - and I paraphrase, "Old
Jack is our spiritual father but in all else we are Americans." Tradition
is important but it must remain relevant to the time in which we live. The
early Church felt the same and on occasions would not "...sew a
piece of "old" cloth on a
"new" garment."
Matthew 9:18-34 Health, Life, Light and Sound
In these four miracle stories we see the familiar pattern of
retuning a person to a state of wholeness, restoring relationship with
community and family. The woman suffering for 12 years with a hemorrhage
exhibits her faith that she can be healed by touching Jesus' robe, and Jesus
calls her "daughter" in recognition that she, too, is
recognized as a child of Abraham, worthy of being made whole, telling her that
her faith has made her well. The little girl, already surrounded by the funeral
party of flutes and mourning neighbors gathered for the burial, is, Jesus
says, "sleeping," the usual euphemism for death, but Jesus, the
giver of life, returns her to her family. Two blind men following Jesus ask for
mercy, addressing Jesus with the Messianic title, Son of David, affirm
their faith that Jesus can heal their blindness and he returns their
sight, then admonishes them to tell no one of the healing. The man whom a demon
had made unable to speak was brought to Jesus,and the demon is cast out, to the
amazement of the crowds while the Pharisees attribute the exorcism to the work
of Satan through Jesus.
Whatever we understand about such stories, accepting them
literally, as parables harboring a deeper truth or as unfathomable
mystery beyond our understanding or interpretation, they are presented to us by
Matthew, and in other Gospels, to say something about what Jesus meant to these
communities. Our understandings will differ, but there may be a common
thread for us all: As persons of faith struggling to make sense out of our
relationship with God, and of God's role acting within humanity, we
have as our best source the revelation of God that was and continues to be
present in this man Jesus. That, it seems to me, to be our starting point along
our personal journey of spiritual awareness.
The chapter ends with a summary of Jesus' ministry. He
traveled the roads of Galilee, teaching, proclaiming the good news of the Reign
of God, healing, having compassion on the gathering crowds, harassed,
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (9:35-38)
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