Jesus Cares!

¹⁸ As Jesus was saying this, the leader (ruler, rabbi) of a (Jewish) synagogue came and knelt (worshipped) before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but You can bring her back to life again if You just come and lay Your hand on her.” ¹⁹ So Jesus and His disciples got up and went with him. ²⁰ Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind Him. She touched the fringe of His robe, ²¹ for she thought, “If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed.” ²² Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed (restored) at that moment. ²³ When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, He saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music (flute-players). ²⁴ “Get out!” He told them. “The girl is not dead; she is only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at Him. ²⁵ After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! ²⁶ The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.

²⁷ After Jesus left the girl’s home, two blind men followed along behind Him, shouting (crying aloud), “Son of David, have mercy on us!” ²⁸ They went right into the house where He was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told Him, “we do.” ²⁹ Then He touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith (trust and reliance on Jesus’ healing power), it will happen.” ³⁰ Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Do not tell anyone about this.” ³¹ But instead, they went out and spread His fame all over the region. ³² When they left, a demon-possessed man who could not speak (mute) was brought to Jesus. ³³ So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed. ³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because He is empowered by the prince of demons.”

³⁵ Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing (proclaiming) the Good News (the Gospel) about the Kingdom. And He healed (cured) every kind of disease and illness. ³⁶ When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. ³⁸ So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.” Matthew 9:18-38 (NLT)

The final series of Jesus’ ten miracles occur in these Scripture passages. In Matthew 9:18-38, Jesus healed a woman suffering from constant bleeding (Matthew 9:20-22), raised a girl from the dead (Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26), gave sight to two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31), and restored a mute man’s speech (Matthew 9:32-33). After Jesus’ tenth miracle, the crowds were amazed and cried out, “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” (Matthew 9:33). With these ten miracles, Matthew continued to paint a theological portrait of Jesus as the Messiah (Christ), the King of the Jews (Israel), the Son of David, the Son of the living God, the Great Shepherd, and Savior of the world!  

Those who came seeking Jesus’ miraculous healing were a mixed multitude. In these set of miracles, Matthew first presents a ruler of a Jewish synagogue seeking Jesus to restore his daughter’s life (Matthew 9:18-19). From Mark and Luke’s Gospels, we know that the synagogue ruler’s name was Jairus (Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41). Like the previous Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5), the synagogue ruler believed and trusted that Jesus could heal and restore his daughter’s life. However, as Jesus was making His way to the ruler’s home, a woman who had suffered twelve years of bleeding touched Jesus’ garment (Matthew 9:20). This woman was desperate. Matthew tells us that that the woman thought and believed, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well” (Matthew 9:21, NKJV). The woman’s faith was not in vain. Jesus turned to the suffering woman and said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22, NKJV). Instantly, the woman was healed and restored to good health (Matthew 9:22, NKJV). Like this woman, we too can simply reach out in faith to Jesus, and He will respond! Continuing onto the synagogue ruler’s house, Jesus entered the deceased girl’s room and restored the girl to life (Matthew 9:25; see also John 11:38-44). The ruler’s faith in Jesus was also not in vain. Jesus’ healing power knows no limits when we have faith and trust in Him (Matthew 9:22, 29; see also Luke 7:50)! Jesus has the miraculous power to heal not only our physical outward sickness and weakness but also heal our spiritual inward sickness (sin). Sin makes a person sick! The report of Jesus’ wonderful miracles swept the entire countryside (Matthew 9:26, 31; see also Matthew 14:34-36).

Passing on from the girl’s home, Jesus is followed by two blind men. The blind men called out and shouted to Jesus, “O Son of King David, have mercy on us” (Matthew 9:27, TLB; see also Isaiah 35:5-6). Amazingly, these two blind men could see that Jesus was the long-awaited Son of David predicted by the Old Testament prophets (see e.g., 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Jeremiah 30:9; Jeremiah 33:15-16; Zechariah 9:9;  Matthew 1:1). Like many others, Jesus healed and restored the two blind men’s sight because of their faith in Him (Matthew 9:2, 22, 29-30; see also Matthew 8:10, 13; Matthew 15:28). 

In the tenth miracle, Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who could not speak (Matthew 9:32-33). When Jesus casted the demon out of the mute man, the man was instantly healed. Demonic influences manifest itself in various forms; here the demon prevented the man from speaking (see also Matthew 12:22). Upon seeing the healing, the crowd was amazed and shouted, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (Matthew 9:33, NIV). However, not everyone celebrated Jesus’ miraculous healing power. Some watching Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that He drives out demons” (Matthew 9:34, NIV). However, the Pharisees overlooked the genuineness of Jesus’ ministry through His authoritative teaching, moral excellence of His character, and His ministry of doing good (see e.g., Matthew 9:35-36; Matthew 7:16; John 3:2; John 9:31-33; Acts 10:38). The compassion and mercy of Jesus is a repeated theme of the New Testament (see e.g., Matthew 14:14; Matthew 15:32; Mark 6:34). Jesus expects faithful Christians to show compassion, kindness, patience, and mercy towards others in need (e.g., see Colossians 3:12; Hebrews 10:34; James 5:11).

In Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew once again summarizes Jesus’ ministry as going out in “all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News (Gospel) of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness” (Matthew 9:35, NIV; see also Matthew 4:23-25). Jesus was the Good Shepherd, and He cared for the hurting people (John 10:11; see also Jeremiah 3:15; Jeremiah 23:4-6; Ezekiel 34:23; Hebrews 13:20; Revelation 7:17). As in Old Testament times, the shepherds of the people failed to faithfully care for the flock of God (Matthew 9:36; see e.g., Ezekiel 34; Micah 5:4; Zechariah 10:3-4).

In Matthew chapters 8 and 9, Matthew has given readers the ten miracles of Jesus to prove His miraculous healing powers, just as in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, Matthew presents Jesus’ great teaching ministry.

References

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

Ross, Mark E. Let’s Study Matthew (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009).