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Bible Study Matthew

Matthew: More Miracles

Jesus performed many miracles himself.He was not trying to show off or how great he was. His reason was love.

When you fully trust in Jesus wonderful things happen! Israel was a country where God had done many miracles. Jesus performed many miracles himself. He was not trying to show off or how great He was. His reason was love.

Matthew 9:27–38

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

34 But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

The Workers Are Few

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The miracles in Matthew:

•           8:1–17. They showed God’s truths. They were living lessons.

•           8:23–9:8. They showed who Jesus really was.

•           9:18–26. They showed that Jesus defeated illness and death.

•           9:27–34. Here we learn that Jesus was David’s greater son’.

Two blind men (verses 27–34)

In 2 Samuel 7, God promised to send a great king. He would rule for ever. This king was called the ‘son of David’. The Jews believed that this would happen. These two blind men were sure that Jesus was this king. Yet they had not seen any of His miracles.

Jesus tested the two blind men’s Faith. First, He ignored them. Then, He helped them not to put their faith in just anything. He showed them that it was important to put their faith in Him. They showed Jesus that they did have faith in Him. Then He healed them by His word (verse 29–30a). Jesus warned them ‘very strongly’ not to tell anyone about it. The men did not obey Him. This was wrong. But, it is easy to understand why they did not obey Him. They wanted everyone to know.

There is a final miracle. We have a brief account of it in 9:32–34. There was a man who had a demon (evil spirit) that made him dumb. (This means that he could not speak.) Jesus completely healed him.

The reaction from the crowd was all wonderful. ‘We have never seen anything like this in Israel’, they said. The Old Testament does not record a blind person who was able to see again. It is not in the New Testament either, except for Jesus’ miracles. (Paul’s experience was different. Read Acts 9:1–19.) The Jews were expecting things like this to happen. It would be when the Messiah came. They had been waiting and hoping for so long. Now, the time seemed to have come!

The religious leaders could not deny the facts. But they did not want to believe the real meaning of the facts. They knew Isaiah 35:3–5. They could see these events happening now. But they refused to believe. They thought that God ought to act in a certain way. They knew what they wanted Him to do. What was happening just did not fit with their ideas.

Kind Jesus (verses 35–38)

This section of Matthew is about how to be a disciple. There were three parts to Jesus’ special work. He taught every day. He preached. (This means that he declared God’s word in public.) He healed the people. (Read verse 35. Read 4:23 too.)

Jesus saw the needs of those who came to Him. He had a lot of pity and sympathy for them. The crowds of people were ‘worried and helpless’ (verse 36). There is a Greek word for this state. It has several meanings. It can mean an animal that is without its skin. It could be when someone is extremely tired. That person could be lying down and alone with nobody to help them. These words all give an idea about how Jesus saw the crowd. Jesus knew that those who should look after them were neglecting them. He saw the spiritual needs of the people who were in the crowds too.

Jesus had great pity for them. He saw how urgent and how great their needs were. He also saw the lack of resources (verse 37). Jesus described a field of corn that is ripe. It required immediate action. Otherwise, it would spoil. The harvest also needed many workers. Jesus felt very sad as He looked at the crowd. They were like the field. There were very few people to work among them.

So He gave His disciples an important task. He told them to pray (verse 38).

•           There are no excuses for not praying.

•           Only God can give people the desire to help with the ‘harvest’ of men and women.

•           Prayer is the best way to make us feel pity and sympathy. This prepares us for God’s call.

Questions

1. What lessons can we learn from the accounts of Jesus’ miracles?

2. How can you learn more about the ‘harvest’ of men and women? How can you pray more successfully?

3. Do non-Christians think that people in the church are kind? What could we do to make this happen?