Through the Mirror of Christ: Matthew 9:09-17 (Sermon)

 

INTRO

It is an honor to serve you today. Thanks for having me preach. Years back, I preached at your previous site. You have done a fabulous job renovating. On top of that, I admire how you have positively impacted Three Oaks. Rich has given his life to this community. He is a role model. You are blessed to have him as your pastor. I am blessed to call him my friend. Rich and I go way back. Eleven years ago, when I moved here, I met Rich through the area pastors association, RVMA. I have six kids. My second oldest and Rich’s youngest daughter are currently in dance together at Dance Arts. I know it kills him not to be up here preaching. At my church, we are working through the book of Matthew with Pastors Jeff Dryden and Mike Bettig, who both preached here a short time ago. I am going to share a message I was working on this week. 

Write 

Before I begin, I want to show you something I made. Well, I didn’t make it. Instead, I went online and uploaded a picture to a site with AI technology and asked it to create a cartoon drawing of myself in Disney form. 

This is what it came up with. What do you think? Don’t answer that question. I think it shows more hair and nicer eyes. I am blonder. Sometimes I think of myself like this. 

But then I look in the mirror. I have more of the Diary of the Wimpy Kid look. 

How do you view yourself? What do you think of yourself? I brought this mirror here to remind us that a good mirror will show you what you look like. What did people do before mirrors? Mirrors are like scales or financial audits. Sometimes we think we are doing well until we measure ourselves or look at the bank balance. Today’s passage will explore self-image and God’s thoughts about people. For some, we have a far too negative perspective about ourselves. I have been there. Others inflate their worth; they see themselves as better than everyone. I have been there too. And still, others diminish the value of those around them; they look down on people and are quick to judge. Guilty. How do you view yourself? How do you view people? As we look in the mirror or through the lens of Jesus, he, like an optometrist, will make some adjustments so we see one another accurately. Let’s read Matthew chapter 9, starting at verse 9, to see what I am getting at. If you have your Bibles, join me. 

Text 

I am going to have _ come up here and read for us. 

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 

And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:9–17, ESV)

PRAY 

Let’s pray. Dear Father, thank you for your Word. We want to follow you. Help us to hear you, see you, know you, and love you. Help us now. In Jesus’s name, we pray, amen. 

CONTEXT 

Mathew begins with a genealogy like Genesis. Jesus was and is a descendant of Abraham and the second king of Israel, David. In chapter 3, John the Baptist baptized him. In chapter 4, the devil tempted him, angels ministered to him, disciples followed him, and the crowds flocked to him. He taught and healed, and cast out demons. In chapters 5 through 7, we read the Sermon on the Mount, the most fantastic thirteen-minute message ever. It explores what he taught and how to be a follower of Jesus. In chapters 8 through 9, we have three sets of three miracles; each separated by interactions centering on following Jesus. In the last part of chapter 8 and the beginning of 9, Jesus finished three miracles demonstrating his authority over the elements, evil spirits, and evil hearts. He was and is more than a man. He has the authority to heal diseases, give sight to blind people, make the lame walk, seizures stop, pain cease, and demons flee. He was the Messiah, the promised king, leading his people into his kingdom. 

Structure 

In our passage, we see three groups: a man named Matthew, the Pharisees, and the disciples of John the Baptist. Each had a perspective about what it meant to follow God. Jesus addressed their views. He was a mirror of sorts and more than that. The passage can be broken down into three parts:  

9:9 - Following the Master

9:10-13 - Grumbling about the Physician

9:14-17 - Questioning the Groom

That structure guides us this morning and illustrates who we are and who Jesus was and is. 

Main Idea 

Matthew’s central theme is following the promised king into his kingdom. Jesus was and is that king God had promised long ago. The passage’s purpose was to communicate Jesus’s purpose: calling the sick sinner to himself. The transformational intent is correcting how a person views oneself and Jesus. In our passage, we read that Jesus was the Master, the physician, and the groom. He was teaching his disciples what being part of the heavenly kingdom means. He was the doctor healing the spiritually sick. He was the groom on earth preparing people for a wedding between God and his people. Jesus called sick sinners to himself, but following him required seeing him and oneself as one is. Let’s walk back through the passage verse by verse. 

Following the Master 

9:9 - Following the Master

9:10-13 - Grumbling about the Physician

9:14-17 - Questioning the Groom

Look at verse 9. 

“As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he rose and followed him” (Matthew 9:12–13, ESV). 

The other biographers tell us that Matthew was known as Levi, the son of Alpheus and a tax collector. Tax agents made a living for Rome. Rome needed money to keep their empire. One scholar wrote about this type of tax collector. They called them the “mokhes,”  who

Collected a wide variety of use taxes—taxes similar to our import duties, tollway fees, boat docking fees, business license fees, and the like. The mokhes had almost unlimited latitude in their taxing powers and could attach a tax to virtually any article or activity. They could, for instance, levy a tax on a person’s boat, on the fish he caught with it, and on the dock where he unloaded it. They could tax a traveler’s donkey, his slaves and servants, and his goods. They had authority to open private letters to see if a taxable business of some sort might be related to the correspondence. (https://www.preceptaustin.org/matthew-9-commentary#9:9)

These “mokhes” were on the enemy’s side, skimming a cut for themselves and serving Rome. They were like corrupt building inspectors, a representative of the Don Corleone family, or payday loan sharks. The overall perspective of the day was that the “mokhes” were scum, parasites, sucking the blood of the masses for personal gain. They were compromisers and traitors. People hated them. 

JESUS’S PERSPECTIVE

Jesus didn’t see Matthew that way. Instead, he called Matthew to himself. This was probably not the first time they had met. We know from the previous chapters that Jesus was well-known by people all over the land. He was a great teacher and healer in a world of subsistence farming, high mortality, and minimal leisure.   

MATHEW’S RESPONSE

So, how did Matthew respond to Jesus’s invitation to follow him? He responded as a few fishermen did in chapter 4: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Just as they left their nets and followed Jesus, Matthew left money on the table to follow him. After Chapter 9, Matthew continued to follow Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead in chapter 28 and ascended into heaven, as we read in Luke and Acts, Matthew followed him. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs recorded that he went on to minister in Asia and Africa. That book states,

“The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60.”

We recognize Ethiopia as being in the North Eastern part of Africa. Parthia is what we know as Iran. A halberd is a long spear-like ax thing. Matthew died for his faith. Before he died, he wrote Matthew, the first book in the New Testament. He finished well and loved Jesus. 

WOULD YOU FOLLOW? 

Would you give up your life to follow Jesus? How does a person follow him? He is not here physically, like 2000 years ago. He wouldn’t ask us to leave our jobs, families, and friends. Would he? He wouldn’t ask us to sell our homes and things to live a life of sacrifice. Would he? What does following Jesus look like? For missionaries and pastors, they may make sacrifices like Matthew. I bet if you asked Rich, he has. He would say it is worth it and would do it again. How are we to follow Jesus in our day? Consider that. Jesus gave us a blueprint in the Sermon on the Mount. He wants us to become humble, merciful people, seeking to live for God in just and right ways. We are to love others and pursue knowing Jesus. How can you pursue following Jesus this week? When Jesus made his invitation, Matthew got the message. He rose and followed him. Not everyone would. 

Grumbling about the Physician 

Look at verses 10. Jesus didn’t ask the Pharisees to follow, nor would they if asked. They didn’t like what they saw. 

9:9 - Following the Master

9:10-13 - Grumbling about the Physician

9:14-17 - Questioning the Groom

According to other parallel accounts, these events occurred in Matthew’s home. He was having a feast. In verse 10 we read: 

“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples” (Matthew 9:10, ESV).

The room was large, and the guests were diverse. Sidenote: Why did it say they were reclining? What did that mean? We read they did this in the Upper Room at the Last Supper. Jesus talked about reclining in Luke chapter 22. People ate their food not sitting but lying on the ground. They still do that in the Middle East. That is the background. Then we get to verse 11.    

COMPLAINT 

“And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ ” (Matthew 9:11, ESV).

The Pharisees were miffed. They were those who thought they didn’t need a teacher. They were leaders, not followers. They looked down at who was at the table that day. Notice that they lumped Matthew in with sinners. In Jesus’s culture, you don’t associate with the likes of those. You separate yourself. The Pharisees took the Old Testament and tradition seriously. They found that the religion they liked best was a checklist of do’s and don’ts. They were good at checking boxes. In this case, the box was the one of dissociation. They had a metaphorical scale, and Matthew and the “sinners” didn’t measure up. So they made a point about their perspective to Jesus’s followers. 

JESUS’S RESPONSE

Jesus overheard them and gave the Pharisees a proverbial response and a quote. Look at verse 12. 

But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12–13, ESV)

The ancient historian Plutarch made a similar observation, quoting a king, 

“It is not the custom of doctors to spend time among people who are healthy, but where people are ill.” The philosopher Diogenes [Some 400 years before Jesus]…[said] that as a doctor must go among the sick so a wise man must mix with fools. The point is obvious: any effective “healer” must expect to get his hands dirty. (R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 354.) 

The Pharisees didn’t see this. They saw that their job was for those who behaved and fit the proper religious mold. They didn’t realize their problem. Jesus’s words echoed his great sermon. Matthew chapter 7: 

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:1–3. ESV)

The Pharisees didn’t think the religious Jesus should be so friendly with Matthew. He was way below him. Are there people you feel are below you? Do you judge others? How do you view other people? What if Jesus wanted to spend time with them? What if he wanted you to spend time with them? 

How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself in need, like Matthew? Matthew saw the value of Jesus, the Master. Jesus was worth more than the money he could procure from his lucrative career. Do you tend to view yourself as self-sufficient like the Pharisees and good? Or, do you see your need for a Savior? The reality is that we all are in desperate need of Jesus. 

The Pharisees had an inflated view of self and didn’t know it. They thought they had 20/20 vision but were blind. They were sick with sin. They needed Jesus like Matthew needed Jesus. They had no idea who they were or who was in the room. Jesus was and is the physician their souls need most. 

Another perspective you might have is like the Pharisees. You see Matthew and the sinners as unworthy of Jesus’s attention, but you are a “Matthew.” You struggle with condemnation and self-hatred. Friends, Jesus is the friend of sinners. He came to heal them of their most significant sickness, sin. His power is greater than ours. I think some of us need to see the strength of his love. He conquered death and defeated sin for us so we don’t have to pay the punishment of Hell. He is great.  

Do you believe that? Then follow him, like Matthew. Jesus is here, in Spirit, and he is taking followers. Let him lead. 

JOHN’S DISCIPLES 

This brings us to the last group we meet in these verses, John the Baptist’s disciples. They were questioning Jesus. They didn’t understand. 

9:9 - Following the Master

9:10-13 - Grumbling about the Physician

9:14-17 - Questioning the Groom

Look at verse 14. 

“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ ” (Matthew 9:14, ESV). 

According to Luke 18:12, some Pharisees fasted twice a week. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, eating only grasshoppers and honey for a time. His asceticism must have included fasting. Fasting sounds like an excellent alternative to honey-roasted Jiminy Cricket. Question: How many of you would skip lunch if all I offered you was grasshoppers and honey? I thought so. But seriously, religions all over the world value fasting. Fasting is something we do for blood work for a doctor’s visit. It can have health benefits. Spiritually, it can sharpen the mind, body, and soul. However, Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that people also fast for the wrong reasons. The Pharisees did. They did it to show off. John, the Baptist’s disciples, wanted to know why Jesus’s disciples didn’t fast. It reminds me of the kid who looks over to his older brother and asks why he gets to go to bed later. 

How did Jesus respond? Look at verse 15. 

And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:15–17, ESV)

What was Jesus getting at? He was a groom, and his disciples were guests at the wedding. Imagine going to a wedding party, and instead of dinner or cake, there was a prolonged fast. I have heard these wedding parties can be a week long. How does a week-long fast sound? Is that a good way of preparing for marriage? It does not sound enjoyable. 

In the Old Testament, God was the groom, and the people of Israel were the bride. Jesus told John’s disciples that God had come to dwell with his people again, like in Genesis 1 and 2. Jesus was the Son of God in their midst, but John’s disciples didn’t understand. 

Jesus was telling them that he would leave and die. He would rise and ascend into heaven. Now, we, his followers, can fast as we look forward to the day of his reappearing. Jesus wasn’t prohibiting fasting. He expected it. However, not now. A new thing was happening. A new one has come. The new wine, a new wine container, was on the scene. These things were happening according to the plan of God for the preservation of many. This was a time of celebration. 

Jesus was more than a man. He was more than a religious teacher and prophet. More than a healer. More than a miracle worker. He was and is the Son of God and Son of Man. He is the Master, the physician, and the groom. And the people at this party had no idea. It was like before the mirror ever existed. It didn’t register that they were eating and drinking with the one whom all the Old Testament was looking forward to. 

As we seek to follow Jesus, how do you view yourself? Do you have a distorted view of yourself? Do you see yourself as condemned and unworthy? Jesus came for the guilty and broken sinner. He came to save. He calls you to himself. 

How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as better than those around you? Do you think of yourself as fine without God? Turn from self-righteousness. You need Jesus. Today can be the day of your salvation. 

How do you view others? Are you overly critical of other people and lenient on yourself? Turn from being judgmental. Look in the mirror for a moment. Then, turn to Jesus for forgiveness for this. If we confess our sins, God is trustworthy to forgive and purify us from all of sin’s dirtiness. 

How do you view Jesus? Jesus is the one calling you into a relationship. Let him be the Master of your day. He is the doctor; come to heal your soul. Let him heal your sin. He is the groom, seeking people to long for his reappearance. Let him be the object of your attention and affection. 

Let us ask God to search our hearts and help us respond.  

PRAYER 

Let’s pray. God, as we go into our week, help us to follow you wherever you lead. You are our Master. Please help us to see ourselves rightly. We are needy people. We don’t have all the answers. We are not gods. We are fallible, fallen people. We make mistakes. We sin. We need your help to follow you. We don’t even see you correctly. We need to know you. Help us now, in Jesus’s name, amen. 

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