This morning we are going to consider the 9th chapter of Matthew. In this chapter we see Jesus moving about from cities and villages, teaching in the Synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdoms and healing the people of diseases and sickness. We see the opposition against the ministry of Jesus by the scribes and Pharisees progressing to advance states of hostility. Pharisees now openly voiced their disapproval on four occasions recorded in Mat. Chapter 9. Let us turn to our bibles and let us first read Mat 9:2-3
“And behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold certain of the scribes said within themselves this man blasphemeth.”

The Pharisees considered this blasphemy because of the prerogative of forgins sins which belongs to God only. Jesus' open demonstration of God’s authority over sin and over disease by the immediate healing of the man’s incurable disease.

The second occasion is found in Matthew Chapter 9:11-13
“And when the Pharisees saw it they said unto his disciples why eateth your master with Publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sic. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

1 Timothy 1:15-16 “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all exceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinner; of whom I am Chief. Howbeit, for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”

The answer to Jesus is very significant showing as it does the true reason for his coming into the world which we have read in Matt 9:12; stating that he came into the world for people who are not good but sinners. This also includes outwardly moral people who are full of selfishness, pettiness, ill temper, and who are conscious of their sin and who are willing to examine themselves in the light of Chris’s sacrifice.

Let us turn our Bibles to Isaiah 64:6-9
“But we are all as unclean an unclean thing, and all our rightousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stireth up himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face fr4om us, and hast consumed us, because of out iniquities. But now, Oh Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou are a potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, oh Lord, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech thee we are all thy people.”

Here again the Pharisees opposed Christ in an attempt to smear his reputation. Christ rebuked them in the words of the 13th verse of Mathew 9.
“I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The third occasion is found in Mat 9 14-17, regarding feasting instead of fasting. The scribes accused Jesus of a lack of Piety. Let us read Matt 9:14-17
“Then came to him the disciples of John saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth onto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. But they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

There is a good possibility at this time, not only the Pharisees but also the disciples of John the Baptist were confused but the answer that Christ gave them. The Pious Jews of Jesus’ Day had strong traditions concerning fasting, At specific times in their history, God had commanded them to fast in order to be free form daily duties, for communion with him. For instance, Israel fasted at the time of Ezra as he set aside to seek God in prayer for national deliverance. Let us turn our Bibles to Ezra Chapter 8, and read verses 21-23.
“Then I proclaimed a fast there,, at the river of Ahavah, that we might affect ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. So we fasted and we sought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.”

Deuteronomy 4 29-31
“But if from thence thou shall seek the Lord, thy God, they shalt find Him, If thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord, thy God and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, not forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”

Fasting was also a sign of grief over sin and a determination to set aside time to seek God in Prayer. We find this in Nehemiah, a solemn fast, and repentance of the people. Let us turn our Bibles to Nehemiah 9:1-3
“Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloths and earth upon them. And the seat of Israel separated themselves from all strangers., and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the Law of the Lord their God one-fourth part of the day; and another fourth part, they confessed and worshipped the Lord their god.”

God had set aside one day in the year, Israelites should fast namely, the Day of Atonement. As usual the Pharisees added burdensome traditions and pious customs to God’s command to fast just one day in the year. Fasting was also a sign of piety therefore, it soon became also a sign of self-righteousness and spiritual pride. Let us turn our bibles to Leviticus 16:29-34
“And this shall be a statue forever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger that sojourneth among you: for on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls by a statute forever. And the Priest whom he shall anoint and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priests’ office in his Father’s stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the Holy garments: And he shall make an atonement for the Holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the alter, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the lord commanded Moses”

It was interesting what the Smith’s Bible dictionary said concerning the word Fast. There is no word in the Pentateuch which means to fast. It was a voluntary not a legal act. Once a year, at the yearly atonement, the people were called to do what became after a while, a fast in common terms. But there is no rule against eating or drinking, while there is against working. It was to be “a Sabbath of rest”. Isaiah notices that when the spiritual element declined, the ceremonial increased. And fast became popular as an easy means of Atonement. Let us turn our Bibles to the Chapter of Isaiah 58:1-9
“Cry out, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: They ask of me the ordinances of Justice; they take to light in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our souls, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labor.”

The Smith’s Bible Dictionary defines a true fast to have a serious and heartfelt sorrow for sin, with earnest striving to be delivered form it, as Isaiah. Holiness and mourning are always in the Hebrew mind, contrast, opposite states of feeling. Jesus did not institute a fast. The mere fast is no essential part of the Gospel plan although, it was practiced by the Apostles. The real fast is the sacrifice of the personal will, which we have read in Isaiah 58:5
“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?”

The parable of the bridegroom shows to them it was not a time of mourning because the bridegroom who is Jesus Christ is with them to help them understand the Gospel of the Kingdom and to support them in their work of preaching the word. To understand his illustration of the children of the bridechamber, one needs to research on Jewish wedding customs of their day. In a Jewish wedding, the Married couple did not go away, but stayed at home to enjoy it. I can see for one reason we have more resources such as the automobile and there is usually money put away just for the expenses of the honeymoon. So for a whole week the newly married couple kept an open house and were treated as royalty by their friends. During this week, their closest friends shared all their joy, and festivities; these friends were called “the children of the Bridechamber”. Jesus compared the disciples’ great work of satisfaction, which he gave them to do, and shared with them. But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
The parable of the patched garment of Matthew 9:16-17 is closely connected with this answer of Jesus to his critics concerning his non-fasting. The religion of the Pharisees included fasting, however, the gospel of Jesus was a new gospel, utterly diverse from the worn out traditions of the Pharisees. Where as Jesus scrupulously fulfilled all the law of God, He did not adhere to the old traditions and practices added on to the law. His gospel was new wine and new cloth.

The fourth occasion of the Pharisee’s’ opposition to Christ was in Matthew chapter 9:34, where they accused him of being in league with the devil.

The miracles recorded in this 9th chapter of Matthew stress faith as the human means of cooperation with God for the fulfillment of his blessed purpose in the life of each individual.

An Exhortation Given by:
Bro Dave Bennett
08/05/2001
Westville Christadelphian Ecclesia