Follow Me!PRIVATE 

Matthew 9:1-17

Key Verse 9:9

"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."

In this passage we want to think about the joy of following Jesus, and what obstacles we need to overcome in order to secure this joy.

1. Read vs. 1-2a. Put yourself in the position of the paralytic lying on a mat. What do you think it was like? Yet what did "some men" do for him? What can we learn from these men?

** His life was unfulfilling in that he was living contrary to the way he was created to live, that is, to rule over and conquer himself and the world (cf. Gen. 1:28). But he could not conquer himself or his environment, for he was paralyzed.

In order for us to have a sense of fulfillment, we must be able to fully utilize all the talents the Lord has given us. This is akin to what happens to a fancy sports car, with all sorts of neat gadgets and gizmos, which has never been used: it will inevitably rust and deteriorate, and eventually become thoroughly useless. 

In other words, there may have been a spiritual giant and champion inside of the paralytic, but because his body did not work, the real man inside remained totally frustrated. This is why he complained to many around him. 

** They brought him to Jesus, the divine fixer of all "broken" people. Jesus is the only spiritual mechanic, able to fix any and all people. 

** They showed true friendship to the paralytic by helping their "friend in need" and thus proving themselves "friends indeed." 

2. Read v. 2b. What do the following words teach us about coping with the spiritual paralysis built inside each of us: 1) "When Jesus saw their faith"; 2) "he said to the paralytic"; 3) "son"; 4) "take heart"; and 5) "your sins are forgiven"? 

** The first thing we need in order to fight against and overcome either physical or spiritual paralysis is to have absolute faith in the Lord. In addition, when one man's faith can't quite cut it, then two, three, or even four men's faith will certainly cut it, judging by how Jesus responded in this passage. 

** The second thing that is needed is to listen to Jesus' words. With this faith we need to bring our problems (again, be they physical or spiritual paralysis problems) to Jesus so that he would address our problem(s) through the power of his word.

** The third thing we need to do is to deeply accept his love, that is, the love by which he calls each of us his "son" or his "daughter." Think about the unimaginably glorious blessing of being called a son or a daughter of the Creator God, the Father himself. No son or daughter of God is weak. After all, like Father, like son (of course the same applies to daughters as well)!

** The fourth thing we need to secure is to "take heart." This father-son relationship is too glorious to even think about, that we end up losing heart rather than simply "going for it." But we should not lose heart. Rather, we must take heart. "Take heart" means "take courage" or "to be courageous in going for what Jesus came to bestow upon us." The heart is the center of our being. Proverb 4:23 says that heart is the "wellspring of life." When the heart is wrong, the entire person is likewise wrong. When this heart is clouded with and even dominated by a sense of despair and fatalism, our entire person will remain paralyzed. So we need to rid ourselves of every hint of despair and fatalism by taking heart and going for what Jesus has already given us, that is, a relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

** Lastly, we need to have a firm conviction of Jesus' sin-forgiving love. Before he sinned, Adam was perfect in every sense of the word "perfect." Imagine yourself being like the unfallen, perfect Adam! When Jesus said, "your sins are forgiven" Jesus meant what he said. In other words, in Jesus' eyes this man was as unfallen and as perfect as was Adam. And what difference should there be between the unfallen, perfect Adam and the paralytic whose sins were now declared totally forgiven! Unlike many, Jesus always means what he says and says what he means, nothing more or less! The very second the words "your sins are forgiven" fell from Jesus' lips, an entirely brand new man was created. This is what Jesus saw and did to this man. This is why it is so important for one to bring all broken men to Jesus by "this" kind of faith!

3. Read vs. 3-8. How were the teachers of the law different from "some men" who brought the paralytic to Jesus? Yet what did Jesus do for the teachers of the law? What does the crowd's response to the miracle show us about Jesus?

** They did not come to Jesus because of their faith in the Lord, but with a critical mind that tried to find fault with Jesus. Plus, they did not love a man like the paralytic. Rather, they loved themselves more than poor sheep like the paralytic. Thus, in their selfishness, instead of helping poor sheep to receive God's healing, they made their sheep go from bad to worse.

** Jesus helped them to open their eyes about who he was, that is, the Messiah sent by God. 

** Their faith fell short as far as knowing who Jesus really was. They thought that Jesus was a mere man who happened to have God's authority to heal the sick, such as the paralytic. But one thing is clear: however they chose to interpret it, they nevertheless saw God working in and through Jesus!

In addition, the word "men" (as in "such authority to men") further supports Jesus' humanity. He wore a body like all of us; like all of us he was flesh so that God in Jesus could have genuine fellowship with us.

4. Read v. 9 and put yourself in the position of Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. What do you think it was like? Why do you think no one brought him to Jesus? Yet what did Jesus do for him? 

** Two things come to mind: a man with the "wrong purpose" stuck in the "wrong place." God created him to be truly great and to do that which was great, even as great as all the great men of God in God's redemptive history like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many more. But this great man who was cut out to do that which was great was instead doing something which was far less than that and in fact inferior to the greatness of the purpose for which he was originally created by God to serve. 

Further, the job description "tax collector" indicated that he was living for "money," which goes against what Matthew 6:33 teaches, that is, to seek God's righteousness and God's kingdom first. The tax collector's "booth" indicated that he was stuck in a place of shame and dishonor. This is like a man cut out to be a great missionary instead living as a pimp, sitting in the sleazy corner of an alley in the red light district of a metropolitan city. 

** People did not like him. After all, he was a selfish person. Fallen men are selfish. See, those who are selfish do not like those who are selfish. So they hated themselves as well as those who were like them.

** Jesus did three things for this man: 1) Although no one visited him at his place, Jesus visited him at his place.

2) Although no one invited him to Jesus, Jesus invited him to himself. 

3) This shows us that Jesus is truly our best friend, for Jesus became a friend to the friendless. In a sense, Levi was more miserable than the paralytic in that, while the paralytic had one, two, three, and even four friends, Levi did not even have one. Later, Levi was changed, and invited many tax collectors and sinners, and he thus made many friends. But I do not think he had many friends before he met Jesus.

5. Read v. 9 again. To the paralytic Jesus said, "Get up, take your mat and go home." But to Matthew Jesus said, "Follow me!" Why? Think about the way Matthew responded to Jesus' call. What does this tell us about him?

** This is not because Jesus did not want to ask the paralytic to follow him, but because Jesus wanted to teach the paralytic a lesson that he had not yet learned. That is, Jesus wanted to teach the paralytic the blessedness of taking up the cross of going back home and serving those who had long suffered for him, and then, after this was all done, the paralytic could follow Jesus. However, for Levi, Jesus did not see this as necessary. Why not? Perhaps at his home, Levi was not a burden to anyone. Most likely, he might even have bought a lot of good stuff like Mercedes Benz's for all of his siblings. It is entirely possible that he even paid all of his brothers' and sisters' school expenses. So all he needed to do was to stop chasing after money, or his selfish dreams, and instead start chasing after Jesus, the sum total of all the noble themes of life!

** He was sick and tired of living his life for money. He probably did not even like what he was doing. But he was doing what he was doing because, in his fallen thinking, he thought that there were no other alternatives!

6. Read vs. 9-13. Why did Jesus "eat" with tax collectors and sinners? What can we learn from Jesus (1Jo 1:1-11)?

** In order to give them the opportunity to overcome their sense of guilt, their lowly character, to instead learn of Jesus, be inspired by his nobility, and grow up to his level. It is like when the sun comes out and shines upon some plants so that, by being exposed to the sun's rays, the plants would have the opportunity to grow strong, become greener and greener, and eventually bear good fruit!

7. Read vs. 14-17. There are three analogies: 1) the bridegroom; 2) the unshrunk cloth; and 3) new wine. How are they related to one another? What do they refer to? What do they indicate about the purpose of Jesus' calling? What do they teach us about the obstacles we need to overcome in order to follow Jesus? 

** The bridegroom refers to a man's relationship(s), the cloth refers to what goes on a man's body, and the wine refers to the spiritual component of a man. So three things are seen: relationship, body, and soul/spirit.

** Ultimately they all refer to Jesus himself. 

** The bridegroom indicates that Jesus came to make us fruitful, i.e., to live a life that bears good fruit that lasts forever.

The unshrunk cloth refers to the resurrection of our mortal bodies. Jesus came to give us a new body in the new order. 

The new wine refers to the new spirit Jesus came to bestow upon us. 

Overall, these three talk about the purpose of Jesus' calling, that is, to get us into a relationship with him so that we would be a new creation with a new spirit, and have the vision to have resurrected bodies!

** The obstacles include: 

1) Any relationship(s) that is inconsistent and incompatible to our relationship (as a bride) with Jesus Christ, our bridegroom. Jesus is called our bridegroom for his name is love. In love he even came to give his life as a ransom for many. Paul says that we must love others as Jesus does us, that is, by giving his life for us. Many hurt others with their words and/or point their fingers at others in blame. But Jesus is different. We sinned, but he took our sins, and took the punishment for our sins upon himself, in order to set us free from the coming judgment and beautify us as his bride. 

2) We need to take off our "old clothes" like our old ways of thinking, habits, lifestyle, preoccupations, etc. and so forth, and put on Jesus, our new clothing. 

Galatians 3:27 "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

Romans 13:11-14, "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

3) We need to ask God to fill us with his Holy Spirit. 

Ezekiel 11:19 "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."

Ephesians 5:18 "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."

The end. 

 

 

page \* arabic1

---