Matthew 09: Miracles in Motion

Have you ever wondered what it means for your life to become a "miracle in motion"? Matthew chapter 9 shows us exactly that – not just through Jesus performing spectacular healings, but through his revolutionary approach to transformation.

The chapter buzzes with divine activity as Jesus forgives sins (shocking the religious leaders), heals a paralyzed man, calls the despised tax collector Matthew to discipleship, restores a hemorrhaging woman, raises a girl from death, gives sight to the blind, and frees a man from demonic possession. But beyond these supernatural events lies a deeper revelation about who Jesus is. When he refers to himself as the "Son of Man," he's making a profound Messianic claim that would have sent gasps through the crowd – not just giving himself a nickname, but explicitly identifying as the divine figure from Daniel's prophecy.

What stands out most is how Jesus gravitates toward the broken, the outcast, and the suffering. When criticized for dining with "disreputable sinners," his response continues to challenge us today: "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do." He deliberately steps into places of pain and isolation, bringing healing and restoration. The religious leaders were scandalized by this approach, eventually claiming he cast out demons "by the prince of demons" – a tragic misinterpretation of divine compassion in action.

The message for us is clear and powerful: God isn't waiting for us to clean ourselves up before approaching Him. Instead, He's asking, "Are you willing to follow me?" As Pastor Brandon beautifully explains, that first step of commitment may be the hardest you'll ever take, but the second step becomes the easiest. Your miracle in motion begins with a single step of faith. What's holding you back from taking it today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:00 Miracles in Motion Introduction
• 3:01 Healing the Paralyzed Man
• 5:15 Matthew's Call and Pharisees' Criticism
• 6:56 New Wine Requires New Wineskins
• 8:49 Healing Series: Bleeding, Blind, Mute
• 12:29 The First Step Is Hardest

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, matthew, chapter 9, and today's title is Miracles in Motion Miracles in Motion, and I want to tell you one of the greatest things that God does is when we give our lives to Him. He doesn't immediately take us to heaven, and the reason why is because, as he grows us, people are able to see a miracle in motion. As he is growing and he is developing us, he is showing the world what he can do and while that's wonderful, at the same time in this chapter we get to see a bunch of different miracles in motion as he's doing all these amazing works in people's lives, and I love it. These are some of my favorite chapters in all of Matthew. So, if you have your Bibles, you have your popcorn, you have your coffee, you want to get ready to read God's word with me while you're doing that. If you're new around here, I want you to take just a moment like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook. They're doing an amazing job there. And, as always, the more we dig, the more we find.

Speaker 1: 1:38

Well, once again, if you've been with us over the past few days now, we've been talking about this idea of King Jesus, the idea that the overall goal of Matthew is to talk about how Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So he starts with chapter one, kind of you know waving, you know these like receipts around, going I can prove that Jesus is the rightful King to the earthly kingdom. But then he spends chapter two through 28 saying he is so much more than just an earthly kingdom, he's also a heavenly kingdom, and that's what it's all about. And so we got to see the origin story of Jesus. Then we got to see his first major discourse in 5, 6, and 7. And then yesterday, in chapter 8, we got to see Jesus' authority on display. Well, now in chapter 9, we get to see more of these miracles in motion, as he is calling people out, healing people, doing all these amazing things. And so let's just jump in and just enjoy the power of Jesus together. So if you're ready, let's just geek out together on God's word.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Matthew, chapter 9, verse 1, says this Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, jesus said to the paralyzed man Be encouraged, my child, your sins are forgiven. But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves Well, that's blasphemy. Does he think he's God? The answer would be yeah. Verse 4,. Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he asked why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or stand up and walk. So I will prove to you that the son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins. Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said stand up, go to your, pick up your mat. Now pause.

Speaker 1: 3:42

Do you notice how, in verse 6, he called himself son of man? Well, there's a couple different places where Jesus will refer to himself, and if you don't know the old Testament very well, you can look at that and go. Well, that that's weird, you know. And there are some places where, like Ezekiel, will be called by God son of man, and that's fine. But in the book of Daniel, there is a place where a God refers to himself the coming one, the Messiah, as the Son of man. And so the Son of man was actually a title that was given to the Messiah. And so Jesus is saying I'm going to prove to you that I'm the Son of man and I am the Messiah. That's why the Pharisees had such a problem with him is he was calling himself the Messiah. And so if you don't know that and you're reading through this, you're like ah, he just gave himself a nickname. No, no, every time he would say that gasps would go through the crowd because they would say they would be like did he say what? He thought he does it or did he say what? I think he just said? He just he just called himself the Messiah. So every time you see him refer to himself as son of man, just imagine the crowd murmuring like immediately, okay, here we go.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Verse nine as Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me and be my disciple, jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him, and that's the guy inspired of the Holy Spirit who wrote this gospel. Later, matthew his Hebrew name was Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as a dinner guest, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw him, they asked his disciples why does your teacher eat with such scum? And when Jesus heard this, he said well, healthy people don't need a doctor, Sick people do. And then he added well, healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. And then he added Verse 14, do wedding guests mourn while they're celebrating with the groom?

Speaker 1: 5:58

Well, of course not, but someday the groom will be taken away from them and then they will fast. Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the old skin would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in old wineskins, for the old skin would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved. So basically, what Jesus is saying is is they're experiencing something new and they're not going to do it the old ways. There will come a time when they will have to fast and do those different things, but they're in the middle of something new and so let them do what they're doing. Verse 18,.

Speaker 1: 6:41

As Jesus was saying this, a leader of the synagogue came and knelt before him. My daughter has just died, he said. But you can bring her back to life if you just come and lay your hands on her. So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him, and when the woman who had just then, a woman who had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding, came up behind him and she touched the fringe of his robe for she thought, if I can just touch his robe, I will be healed Jesus turned around when he saw her and said daughter, be encouraged, your faith has made you well. And the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he saw a noisy crowd and heard the funeral music and he said get out, the girl is not dead, she's only sleeping. But the crowd laughed at him and after the crowd had been put outside, however, jesus went in and took the girl by the hand and she stood up.

Speaker 1: 7:34

The miracle, or the report of his miracle, swept through the entire countryside. After Jesus left the girl's home, two blind men followed along behind him shouting Son of David, have mercy on us. They went right into the house where he was staying and Jesus asked them Do you believe I can make you see? Yes, lord. They told him we do. And he touched their eyes. Because of your faith, it will happen. And then their eyes were were open and they could see. And jesus sternly warned them don't tell anyone about this. But instead they went out and spread his fame all over the region and when they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn't speak was brought to jesus. So jesus cast out the demon and then the man began to speak and the crowds were amazed. Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel. They exclaimed. But the Pharisees said well, he cast out demons because he's empowered by the prince of demons.

Speaker 1: 8:27

So pause, two things demon possession again, and then Jesus telling people not to tell what's happening now. First of all, don't forget every single time that you see where Matthew makes a point because Jesus healed all kinds of people, of all kinds of different things, but he makes a point to pause and say, hey, he healed this person of being demon possessed. Remember every time is because he is proclaiming that this is a sign that he's a Messiah, because they said the Messiah will have authority over evil spirits. Second thing is is why in the world Think about that for a moment why in the world would Jesus tell these people hey, listen, keep it on the down low, don't tell anybody I healed you. Well, a lot of scholars believe the reason why he did this was because he was trying not to gain too much attention for what he was doing, because if he gained too much attention he was going to really kind of cause this feud he was starting to have, because at this point it's not entirely clear up until this verse that the Pharisees have completely turned against him. At this point they're saying negative things but he hasn't completely become their enemy. But he's getting there quickly and he is possibly trying to halt some of that so that his ministry can go until the appointed time. Many scholars believe that would have been the point is he was just trying not to become too popular too fast. All right.

Speaker 1: 9:49

Verse 35, jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom, and he healed many kinds of diseases and illnesses, and when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. And he said to his disciples the harvest is great, but the workers are few, so pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now, what we're going to see over the next couple of chapters is he pivots now, when Jesus has been doing all of this work and the disciples have been following him, and the next step is going to be now you go and do what I have been doing and spread the message of the gospel to more people. And that's how the kingdom of God works. God works in our life and then he wants us to spread what he's doing into the lives of others, and that's a powerful thing that God would give us the opportunity to be his hands and feet into the world around him. But I want you to notice something as we get ready to come to a close here.

Speaker 1: 10:57

There were a couple of different times in this passage where Jesus is going to people who are hurting, going to people who need him, and he is working a miracle in their life. One of the things I love about that is that reminds us that it doesn't matter what's going on in your life, jesus wants you. There was a place where Matthew was sitting in his tax collecting booth and Jesus said if you want to, you can follow me. Your whole life can be changed if you'll just follow me. There was a place where there was a guy who was in a bed. He was paralyzed. Jesus raised him up. There were people who were blind and he said do you believe I can do this? So it's. If you're willing to follow me, great things will happen. Can I tell you, no matter what's going on in your life, no matter what situations you're dealing with, I think Jesus' words are the same to us If you are willing to follow me, I can do whatever you need done. But you got to be willing to follow me.

Speaker 1: 11:59

And here's the question I think God would ask us what is the biggest need in your life, and are you willing to follow him? Now? I don't know what that means in your life. That may be trusting him in a situation where you don't understand. That might be that you know exactly what God wants you to do, but you don't want to take the next step. Maybe it's time to stop an unhealthy relationship. Maybe it's time to start saying no to an addiction in your life. Maybe it's time to start saying yes to obeying him in a situation. I don't know what that is, but I wonder if God is saying you're not waiting on me, I'm waiting on you, I've got all the power and the authority to do anything that you need done. I'm waiting on you to follow me. Is that what God's asking you to do? If so, that's not easy, and so maybe the first step is God, help me to have the courage to take one step, just one step.

Speaker 1: 12:53

I remember when I gave my life to Jesus, I was in a church service and all around me was my family and they thought I was already a Christian. But I knew in my heart I did not understand the gospel until that day. I knew I wasn't where I needed to be with God. But I knew today was my day. But when I tell you, the hardest thing I could ever do was not respond to the call of God, respond to salvation. It was the fear of those around me, of letting those people down, of the embarrassment of they thought I was a Christian. I look at it now and go. My goodness, that doesn't matter, but at the time that's all that mattered. And when I tell you that that first step of stepping toward God was the hardest step I'd ever taken in my life, the second step was the easiest.

Speaker 1: 13:40

Once I stepped out and decided I am going to follow Jesus. As soon as I made that commitment, the next step was so easy. And I'm gonna tell you, once you go all in with God and say I'm gonna follow you wherever you lead, that first step is gonna feel like the hardest step in the world. But I tell you, the second step be the easiest. So what? What is it? What is it gonna look like for you if you just pray and say, god, help me to take that first step with you and watch what happens with the rest? Let's pray together right now.

Speaker 1: 14:09

God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you're with us and that you're for us. I'm so thankful, god, that in this moment, even as we've been walking through this chapter together, I bet that you've been talking to some people about what that next step needs to be, and maybe the enemy wants to then cloud their mind with. Well, how are you going to do with the next three steps and 10 steps. I pray, god, that you will help them to not focus on that, but say what is the next step of faithfulness that I can take and realize that every step after that, you're going to be with them. I'm thankful for that today. In Jesus name, we pray Amen, Amen. What God's Word says in Matthew 28, verse 19,. It says All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Matthew 10.