Matthew 9: Notes

This evening during our study we worked our way through the last section of Matthew, chapter 9. Jesus heals a young girl and an older woman. The blind and mute are restored. Jesus travels through all the towns to heal and teach, and he sends out the twelve.

Awhile back, this was our first insight the significance of understanding the Jewish roots of Jesus in grasping the depth of the text. There are many discussions on this. Here are two of them: RVL and 528. A strength of this story comes from the words of Malachi, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall." According to RVL, this verse has messianic connotations. You can see this reflected earlier in the last words of David,

When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of
morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth

Next, we noted the similarities between the end Matthew 9 and the end of Matthew 4. Jesus travels, teaches, and heals. Then in 10, he sends out his talmidim to do the exact same thing. In 3-4, the way is prepared, Jesus receives his smicha (authority), and he calls disciples. He teaches in 5-7, and puts it into practice in 8-9. His mission is captured again at the end of 9, and then he commissions his talmidim to do the same thing.

There also seem to be reflections again of Moses and the exodus. Moses sends out 12 (and 72), so does Jesus. It's also interesting to note that Moses renamed one of the spies just as Jesus renamed one of his talmidim. Moses talks about no sickness in the land if things go well (Exodus 23:25). Are the disciples "spying" out the land again, and bringing the healing and restoration to Israel and the world? Is Jesus ushering in the lasting promise land? The real kingdom of heaven?