Bible Verses
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Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 27 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (3) Bible Verses: Matthew 9:11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? 9:12 Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill. 9:13 But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. 9:14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast? 9:15 And Jesus said to them, The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. [THE LORD AS THE PHYSICIAN] In 9:9-17 we come to a very fine, sweet, and intimate portion of the Gospel of Matthew. After the King decreed the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens and after He manifested His authority as the King in many situations, in 9:9-13 we see Him feasting with sinners. In 9:9 we have the calling of Matthew. This verse says, “And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the customs office, and says to him, Follow Me. And he rose and followed Him.” Matthew was also called Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). He was a tax collector who became an apostle by God’s grace (Matt. 10:2-3; Acts 1:13, 26). He was the writer of this Gospel. Verse 10 says, “And it came to pass as He was reclining at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined at the table together with Jesus and His disciples.” The house spoken of in this verse was Matthew’s house (Luke 5:29; Mark 2:15). After being saved, Matthew was so grateful to the Lord that he opened his house and prepared a feast for Him and His disciples. Thus, this section of the Word opens in such a sweet, intimate way. While the Lord Jesus was enjoying the feast with all the tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees criticized and condemned Him, and they asked the disciples why their teacher ate with such people. The Lord took the opportunity given Him by the Pharisees’ question to give a very sweet revelation of Himself as the Physician. In verse 12 we see the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees’ question: “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.” The Lord was telling the Pharisees that these tax collectors and sinners were patients, sick ones, and that to them the Lord was not a judge, but a physician, a healer. In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a physician, not as a judge. The judgment of the judge is according to righteousness, whereas the healing of the physician is according to mercy and grace. [THE LORD CALLING NOT THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE SINNERS] The Lord Jesus gave the Pharisees a further word in verse 13: “Now go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The Lord says here that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Actually, there is none righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10). All the righteous are self-righteous like the Pharisees (Luke 18:9). The kingly Savior did not come to call them, but to call sinners. The Lord seemed to be telling the Pharisees, “You Pharisees are self-righteous, and you condemn these people without mercy. But God desires mercy. Now is the time for Me to exercise God’s mercy upon these pitiful people by being a physician to them. I am not here as a judge. I am here as a lovely physician taking care of their problems, and now I am healing them.” Are you righteous? If you say, “No, I am not righteous,” you are blessed. Blessed are those who do not think that they are righteous, but who recognize that they are sinful. The Lord could say to the self- righteous ones, “If you consider yourselves righteous, you are not suitable for My coming, because My coming is for the sinners. Do not consider yourselves to be righteous. Rather, you must realize how sinful you are. If you consider yourselves as sinners, then you are ready for My coming.” Those tax collectors and sinners were not physically sick; they were spiritually sick. While the Lord Jesus was feasting with them, He was healing them. The Lord was telling the Pharisees, “Pharisees, you are the judges, but I am the Physician. As a Physician, I can heal only the sick ones. If you feel that you are not ill, then I have nothing to do with you, and I cannot heal you. I have come here to call the sinners, the sick ones, not the righteous, the whole ones. On which side do you stand—the side of the righteous or the side of the sinners? If you take the side of the sinners, then I am here to be your Physician.” Matthew reveals more than thirty-three aspects of Christ, one of which is Christ as the Physician. He is not only our King, our Savior, and our life; He is also our Physician. If we have this vision, we shall have faith in Him and trust Him whenever we are sick physically, spiritually, or mentally. We need to trust Him as our Physician. The Gospel of Matthew is a book of the kingdom, yet it is also a book full of the riches of the heavenly King. This heavenly King is our Physician. [THE LORD AS THE BRIDEGROOM] As a book of doctrine, Matthew presents us another case in 9:14-17: the case of fasting without the Bridegroom. Verse 14 says, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?” Verses 10 through 13 record the Lord’s dealing with the question of the Pharisees, who were in the old religion. Now in verses 14 through 17 the Lord deals with the problem of John’s disciples who were in the new religion. John the Baptist dropped the old religion and began his ministry in the wilderness outside of religion. However, after a short time, his disciples formed a new religion to frustrate men from enjoying Christ, just as the Pharisees in the old religion did. To be religious means to do something for God without Christ. To do anything without the presence of Christ, even though it is scriptural and fundamental, is religious. Both the disciples of John, the new-timers of religion, and the Pharisees, the old-timers of religion, fasted much, yet without Christ. Meanwhile, they condemned the disciples of Christ who did not fast, but had Christ with them and lived in His presence. Both the Physician and the Bridegroom are pleasant. In the case concerning the Pharisees, He likened Himself to a Physician. Now in the case with the disciples of John, He likens Himself to a bridegroom at a wedding. The Lord asked if the sons of the bridechamber can mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. It is a joyful time with the Bridegroom. But when the Bridegroom is taken away, they may fast. The question of John’s disciples seemed to be one of doctrine. But the Lord did not answer with a doctrine, but with a Person, the most pleasant Person, the Bridegroom. The religious people always care for their doctrine with their doctrinal reasonings. But Christ cares only for Himself. The living and walk of His followers should be regulated and directed only by His Person and His presence, not by any doctrine. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You religious people have missed the mark. Don’t you realize that I am the Bridegroom and that all My disciples around Me are the sons of the bridechamber? They shouldn’t be fasting. They must feast with Me.” Without these two cases, the Lord Jesus could never have been revealed as the Physician and as the Bridegroom. We should thank the Lord for the Pharisees and for the disciples of John. We should even thank the Lord for all the religions, for without the occasions afforded by religion the Lord could not be revealed in so many different aspects. It is the same today. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 28 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (4) Bible Verses: Matthew 9:16 No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 9:17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. [CHRIST AS OUR WEDDING GARMENT] In 9:16 the Lord continues with something even finer, sweeter, and more intimate.