Matthew 9:17

_THEN CAME TO HIM THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN, SAYING, WHY DO WE AND THE PHARISEES FAST OFT, BUT THY DISCIPLES FAST_ _ NOT?_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

14-17 John was at this time in prison; his circumstances, his character, and the nature of the message he was sent to deliver, led those who were peculiarly attached to him, to keep frequent fasts. Christ referred them to John's testimony of him, John 3:29. Though there is no doubt that Jesus and his disciples lived in a spare and frugal manner, it would be improper for his disciples to fast while they had the comfort of his presence. When he is with them, all is well. The presence of the sun makes day, and its absence produces night. Our Lord further reminded them of common rules of prudence. It was not usual to take a piece of rough woolen cloth, which had never been prepared, to join to an old garment, for it would not join well with the soft, old garment, but would tear it further, and the rent would be made worse. Nor would men put new wine into old leathern bottles, which were goi...

Verse Matthew 9:17. _NEW WINE INTO OLD BOTTLES_] It is still the custom, in the eastern countries, to make their bottles of _goat skins_: if these happened to be old, and new wine were put into them, the violence of the _fermentation_ must necessarily burst them; and therefore newly made bottles were employed for the purpose of putting that wine in which had not yet gone through its state of fermentation. The institutes of Christ, and those of the Pharisees, could never be brought to accord: an attempt to combine the two systems would be as absurd as it would be destructive. The old covenant made way for the _new_, which was its completion and its end; but with that old covenant the new cannot be incorporated. Christian prudence requires that the weak, and newly converted, should be managed with care and tenderness. To impose such duties and mortifica

THEN CAME THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN ... - This narrative is found also in Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33. The reference here is to John the Baptist. It is probable that they had understood that John was the forerunner of the Messiah; and if such was the case, they could not account for the fact that there was such a difference between them and the disciples of Jesus. The Pharisees fasted often - regularly twice a week besides the great national days of fasting, Luke 18:12. See the notes at Matthew 6:16. This was the established custom of the land, and John did not feel himself authorized to make so great a change as to dispense with

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 9:1 _The_ _paralytic forgiven and healed. _Parallel passages: Mark 2:1; Luke 5:17. (For connexion of thought, cf. Matthew 8:18, note.) In the parallel passages this narrative follows our Matthew 8:1. Matthew's account is shorter, as usual. MATTHEW 9:1 AND HE ENTERED INTO A SHIP; _boat _(Revised Version). So completely did he grant the request of the Gadarenes. Obs

NEITHER DO MEN PUT NEW WINE INTO OLD BOTTLES,.... As in the former parable, our Lord exposes the folly of the Scribes and Pharisees, in their zealous attachment to the traditions of the elders; so in this, he gives a reason why he did not call these persons by his Gospel, who were settled upon the old principle of self-righteousness, but sinners, whom he renews by his Spirit and grace: for by "old bottles" are meant, the Scribes and Pharisees. The allusion is to bottles, made of the skins of beasts, which in time decayed, waxed old, and became unfit for use: such were the wine bottles, old and rent, the Gibeonites brought with them, and showed to Joshua, Joshua 9:4 and to which the Psalmist compares himself, Psalms 119:83 and which the Misnic doctors call חמתות, and their commentators o say, were נודת של עור, ...

Matthew 9:1. _And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 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._ Our Lord dealt first with the greater evil, for sin is worse than even such a dreadful disease as the palsy. Forgiveness of sin is an even greater mercy than the healing of sickness. Matthew 9:3. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,

CHAPTER 9 1. A Man Sick of the Palsy Healed. (Matthew 9:1 .) 2. The Call of Matthew (Matthew 9:9 .) 3. With the Publicans and the Sinners. (Matthew 9:10 .) 4. The Question of John's Disciples. (Matthew 9:14 .) 5. The Ruler's Request.(Matthew 9:18 .) 6. The Woman Healed of an Issue of Blood. (Matthew 9:20 .) 7. The Maid Raised from the Dead. (Matthew 9:23 .) 8. The Two Bli

FASTING. THE OLD AND THE NEW (Mark 2:18 *, Luke 5:33). Mt. makes the disciples of John (who were more numerous and important for two or three centuries than is usually recognized; _cf._ p. 797) put the question. Sons of the bride-chamber means, by a common Heb idiom, wedding-guests; John 3:29 has its root here. The old garment is the system deduced from the Law rather than the Law itself; there is no contradiction of Matthew 5:17. Lk. takes the patch from a new garment a double disaster. Note the necessity of new forms (Matthew 9:17) unless the new spirit is to be l

THE GROWTH OF OPPOSITION (Matthew 9:1-34) We have repeatedly seen that in Matthew's gospel there is nothing haphazard. It is carefully planned and carefully designed. In Matthew 9:1-38 we see another example of this careful planning, for here we see the first shadows of the gathering storm. We see the opposition beginning to grow; we hear the first hint of the charges which are going to be levelled against Jesus, and which are finally going to bring about his death. In this chapter four charges are made against Jesus. (i) He is accused of blasphemy. In Matthew 9:1-8 we see Jesus curing the paralytic by forgiving his sins; and we hear the scribes accusing him of blasphemy because he claimed to