Matthew 9: Authority Expanded

Jesus’ authority reaches where religion can’t: He forgives sins (shocking the scribes), calls tax collectors (offending the pious), raises the dead (silencing the mourners). The religious leaders see law-breaking; Jesus sees harvest. Old wineskins can’t hold new wine. The chapter ends with sheep without a shepherd—harassed, helpless, waiting for workers. The authority is real; the question is who will carry it.

The Nine Encounters
Conceptual Flow
The Logical Chain
Section Analysis
Unified Framework
Diagnostic Summary
Chapter in One Sentence
Cross-References

The Nine Encounters

Encounter	Need	Jesus’ Authority Over
Paralytic	Sin + paralysis	Sin (most controversial)
Matthew	Tax collector life	Social boundaries
John’s disciples	Religious confusion	Religious tradition
Jairus’ daughter	Death	Death itself
Bleeding woman	12-year illness	Chronic disease
Two blind men	Blindness	Blindness
Mute demoniac	Demon possession	Demons
Crowds	Harassed, helpless	Lostness (calls for workers)

Conceptual Flow

MATTHEW 9 STRUCTURE
    │
    ├─ vv. 1-8     PARALYTIC      → Authority to forgive sins
    │
    ├─ vv. 9-13    MATTHEW        → Authority to call outcasts
    │   └─► "I desire mercy, not sacrifice"
    │
    ├─ vv. 14-17   FASTING        → Authority to bring the NEW
    │   └─► New wine, new wineskins
    │
    ├─ vv. 18-26   TWO DAUGHTERS  → Authority over death & disease
    │   ├─ Jairus' daughter (dead)
    │   └─ Bleeding woman (12 years)
    │
    ├─ vv. 27-31   BLIND MEN      → Authority over blindness
    │   └─► "According to your faith"
    │
    ├─ vv. 32-34   MUTE DEMONIAC  → Authority over demons
    │   └─► Pharisees: "By the prince of demons"
    │
    └─ vv. 35-38   HARVEST        → Compassion drives mission
        └─► "Workers are few" → Ch. 10 commission

The Logical Chain

AUTHORITY DEMONSTRATED
    │
    ├─► Ch. 8: Authority over NATURE (storm, demons, disease)
    │
    └─► Ch. 9: Authority over SIN, DEATH, TRADITION
            │
            └─► This is harder to prove
                │
                ├─ Sin forgiveness is INVISIBLE
                │   └─► So Jesus heals to PROVE He can forgive
                │
                ├─ Death is FINAL
                │   └─► So Jesus raises to PROVE He conquered it
                │
                └─ Tradition is SACRED
                    └─► So Jesus reframes to PROVE He's the source

THE THREAD: Not just power, but PURPOSE
    │
    └─► "I desire MERCY, not sacrifice" (v. 13)
        │
        └─► Jesus didn't come to impress
            He came to HEAL the sick
            He came to CALL sinners
            He came to SEEK the lost

Section Analysis

1. Paralytic (vv. 1-8) — FORGIVENESS

THE SCENE
    │
    ├─ Paralyzed man on a mat
    ├─ Friends carry him to Jesus
    │
    └─► "When Jesus saw THEIR faith..."
        │
        └─► Not his faith alone
            Community faith matters

THE SHOCK
    │
    ├─ Expected: "Get up and walk"
    │
    └─► Actual: "Your SINS are forgiven"
            │
            └─► Wait - he came for HEALING
                Why start with FORGIVENESS?
                │
                └─► Because sin is the deeper problem
                    Paralysis is the symptom
                    Sin is the root

THE LOGIC
    │
    ├─ Teachers of law: "Blasphemy!"
    │   └─► Only GOD can forgive sins
    │       They're right about this
    │
    └─► Jesus' response:
        │
        ├─ "Which is EASIER to say?"
        │   ├─ "Your sins are forgiven" (can't verify)
        │   └─ "Get up and walk" (immediately testable)
        │
        └─► "So that you may KNOW the Son of Man
             has authority on earth to forgive sins..."
            │
            └─► The healing PROVES the forgiveness
                The visible validates the invisible

What They Saw	What It Proved
Man gets up	Jesus can heal
Man walks home	Jesus has authority
→ Therefore	He CAN forgive sins

Diagnostic: Do I bring my whole self to Jesus—not just symptoms but the root?

One-line: The healing you can see proves the forgiveness you can’t.

2. Matthew’s Call (vv. 9-13) — CALLING

Key Greek: ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlos) — “sinner” (one who misses the mark)

THE CALL
    │
    ├─ "Follow me"
    │   └─► Two words
    │       No argument
    │       No negotiation
    │
    └─► "Matthew got up and followed"
        │
        └─► Tax collectors = traitors
            Working for Rome
            Ritually unclean
            Socially outcast

THE DINNER
    │
    ├─ At Matthew's house
    ├─ Many tax collectors and sinners
    ├─ Eating WITH Jesus
    │
    └─► Table fellowship = acceptance
        You don't eat with people you reject
        │
        └─► Pharisees: "Why does your teacher
             eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

THE ANSWER
    │
    └─► "It is not the HEALTHY who need a doctor,
         but the SICK."
            │
            ├─ Not: "They're not really that bad"
            ├─ IS: "They're sick. I'm the doctor."
            │
            └─► "I desire MERCY, not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6)
                │
                └─► God wants HEART over RITUAL
                    Compassion over correctness
                    │
                    └─► "I came to call SINNERS"
                        Not the self-righteous
                        Those who know they're sick

Diagnostic: Do I see myself as the sick one needing the doctor, or the healthy one judging others?

One-line: Doctors go to the sick; Jesus goes to sinners.

3. Fasting Question (vv. 14-17) — NEWNESS

Key insight: John’s disciples and Pharisees both fasted. Jesus’ disciples didn’t. Why?

THE QUESTION
    │
    └─► "Why do we and the Pharisees fast,
         but YOUR disciples do not?"
            │
            └─► Fair question
                Fasting = piety
                Jesus' followers seem... casual?

THE BRIDEGROOM ANSWER
    │
    └─► "Can wedding guests MOURN
         while the bridegroom is WITH them?"
            │
            ├─ Bridegroom = Jesus
            ├─ Wedding = NOW (His presence)
            │
            └─► "The time will come when the bridegroom
                 will be TAKEN from them;
                 THEN they will fast."
                    │
                    └─► Fasting has its place
                        But presence changes everything
                        You don't mourn at a wedding

THE NEW WINE ANSWER
    │
    ├─ OLD GARMENT + NEW PATCH = Tear worse
    │
    ├─ OLD WINESKINS + NEW WINE = Burst
    │
    └─► Jesus isn't patching the old system
        He's bringing something ENTIRELY NEW
            │
            └─► New covenant
                New relationship
                New wineskins required

Old System	New Reality
Fast to earn favor	Feast because He’s here
Sacrifice for merit	Mercy already given
Rules to follow	Relationship to enjoy

Diagnostic: Am I trying to fit Jesus into my old religious framework, or letting Him create something new?

One-line: You can’t patch the new onto the old—Jesus requires new wineskins.

4. Jairus’ Daughter (vv. 18-19, 23-26) — DEATH

THE REQUEST
    │
    ├─ Synagogue leader (respectable, named Jairus in Mark/Luke)
    ├─ Daughter "has just DIED"
    │
    └─► "Come put your hand on her,
         and she will LIVE"
            │
            └─► Extraordinary faith
                He believes Jesus can reverse death

THE SCENE
    │
    ├─ Noisy crowd, mourners, flute players
    │   └─► Professional grief
    │
    ├─ Jesus: "The girl is not dead but ASLEEP"
    │
    └─► They LAUGHED at him
        │
        └─► They knew death when they saw it
            Jesus redefines what they're seeing

THE MIRACLE
    │
    ├─ Crowd put outside
    ├─ Jesus took her by the HAND
    │
    └─► She got up
        │
        └─► News spread through all the region
            Death is not final for Jesus

One-line: What looks like death to everyone else is sleep to Jesus.

5. Bleeding Woman (vv. 20-22) — FAITH

Key insight: 12 years of bleeding = 12 years of ritual uncleanness, isolation, shame.

THE DESPERATION
    │
    ├─ 12 years of bleeding
    │   ├─ Ritually unclean (Lev 15)
    │   ├─ Everything she touched = unclean
    │   ├─ Excluded from temple, community
    │   └─ Doctors had failed (Mark 5:26)
    │
    └─► She came up BEHIND him
        │
        └─► She's not supposed to be in crowds
            She makes everyone she touches unclean
            But she reaches anyway

THE TOUCH
    │
    ├─ "If I only touch his CLOAK,
    │    I will be healed"
    │
    └─► Her logic: His holiness > my uncleanness
        │
        └─► Usually: uncleanness contaminates
            With Jesus: holiness overwhelms

THE HEALING
    │
    ├─ Jesus turns and SEES her
    │   └─► She's not hidden from Him
    │
    ├─ "Take heart, DAUGHTER"
    │   └─► Same word as to the paralytic: "son"
    │       Relational language
    │
    └─► "Your FAITH has healed you"
        │
        └─► Not: "My cloak healed you"
            IS: "Your faith—reaching for me—healed you"

Diagnostic: Am I reaching for Jesus even when I feel disqualified?

One-line: Her uncleanness didn’t contaminate Jesus; His holiness cleansed her.

6. Two Blind Men (vv. 27-31) — SIGHT

Key phrase: “Son of David” — Messianic title

THE CRY
    │
    └─► "Have mercy on us, SON OF DAVID!"
            │
            └─► They can't SEE
                But they RECOGNIZE who He is
                │
                └─► Physical blindness ≠ spiritual blindness
                    Often the opposite

THE TEST
    │
    ├─ Jesus doesn't heal immediately
    ├─ Waits until they come INDOORS
    │
    └─► "Do you BELIEVE that I am able to do this?"
            │
            └─► He wants their faith declared
                Not just assumed
                │
                └─► "Yes, Lord"

THE HEALING
    │
    ├─ Touched their eyes
    │
    └─► "According to your FAITH
         let it be done to you"
            │
            └─► Faith is the conduit
                Not the cause (Jesus is)
                But the channel

THE COMMAND IGNORED
    │
    ├─ "See that NO ONE knows about this"
    │   └─► Messianic secret (why?)
    │       - Timing not yet right
    │       - Political expectations wrong
    │
    └─► They spread the news EVERYWHERE
        │
        └─► Understandable but disobedient

One-line: The blind saw what the sighted missed: the Son of David.

7. Mute Demoniac (vv. 32-34) — SPEECH

THE SCENE
    │
    ├─ Demon-possessed
    ├─ Could not TALK
    │
    └─► Brought to Jesus (pattern: others bring the broken)

THE RESULT
    │
    ├─ Demon driven out
    ├─ Man SPOKE
    │
    └─► Crowd: "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel"

THE OPPOSITION
    │
    └─► Pharisees: "It is by the PRINCE OF DEMONS
         that he drives out demons"
            │
            └─► Same evidence, opposite conclusion
                │
                ├─ Crowd: "This is from God!"
                └─ Pharisees: "This is from Satan!"
                    │
                    └─► They cannot deny the miracle
                        So they attack the SOURCE
                        │
                        └─► This escalates in Ch. 12

One-line: Same miracle, two verdicts—the heart determines what the eyes see.

8. Harvest Prayer (vv. 35-38) — COMPASSION

Key Greek: σπλαγχνίζομαι (splanchnizomai) — “to be moved in the bowels” (gut-level compassion)

JESUS' RHYTHM
    │
    ├─ Teaching in synagogues
    ├─ Proclaiming good news of the kingdom
    ├─ Healing every disease and sickness
    │
    └─► All three together
        Word + deed
        Proclamation + demonstration

JESUS' VISION
    │
    └─► "When he saw the crowds..."
            │
            └─► What did He see?
                │
                ├─ "HARASSED" (ἐσκυλμένοι) = troubled, distressed
                ├─ "HELPLESS" (ἐρριμμένοι) = thrown down, abandoned
                │
                └─► "Like SHEEP without a SHEPHERD"
                    │
                    └─► Not their fault
                        Their leaders failed them
                        They're wandering
                        They're vulnerable

JESUS' RESPONSE
    │
    ├─ COMPASSION (gut-level moved)
    │
    └─► "The HARVEST is plentiful
         but the WORKERS are few."
            │
            ├─ Not: "The problem is too big"
            ├─ IS: "The opportunity is huge"
            │
            └─► "ASK the Lord of the harvest
                 to SEND OUT workers
                 into his harvest field."
                    │
                    └─► Ch. 10: He sends the Twelve
                        The answer to the prayer

Diagnostic: Do I see crowds as problems or harvest? Do I pray for workers?

One-line: Jesus saw lost people and felt it in His gut—then mobilized workers.

Unified Framework

MATTHEW 9: AUTHORITY FOR THE BROKEN
    │
    ├─ FORGIVENESS: For the paralyzed by sin
    │
    ├─ CALLING: For the outcast by society
    │
    ├─ NEWNESS: For the trapped in old religion
    │
    ├─ LIFE: For the dead (literally)
    │
    ├─ HEALING: For the chronically suffering
    │
    ├─ SIGHT: For the physically blind
    │
    ├─ SPEECH: For the demonically silenced
    │
    └─► COMPASSION: For the shepherdless sheep
        │
        └─► "I desire MERCY, not sacrifice"
            The heartbeat of the chapter

Diagnostic Summary

Section	Core Question
Paralytic	Do I bring my sin, not just my symptoms?
Matthew	Do I see myself as sick needing the doctor?
Fasting	Am I trying to patch new onto old?
Jairus	Do I believe Jesus can reverse the irreversible?
Bleeding woman	Am I reaching even when disqualified?
Blind men	Do I recognize Jesus even when I can’t see?
Mute demoniac	What does my heart conclude from evidence?
Harvest	Do I see lost people with compassion?

Chapter in One Sentence

Matthew 9: Jesus demonstrates authority over sin, death, demons, and disease—not to impress but to heal, because He came for the sick, not the self-righteous.

Cross-References

Mark 2:1-22, Luke 5:17-39 — Parallel accounts (paralytic, Matthew, fasting)
Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56 — Jairus’ daughter and bleeding woman
Hosea 6:6 — “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (quoted in v. 13)
Ezekiel 34:1-16 — Shepherdless sheep, God as true Shepherd
Isaiah 53:4 — “He took up our infirmities” (fulfilled in Ch. 8)
Numbers 27:17 — “Sheep without a shepherd” (Moses’ prayer)
Luke 10:2 — Parallel harvest saying

Ch 8 - Authority Ch 10 - Mission