When He entered the house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Matthew 9:28-29 ESV1
Read Matthew 9: 9-13 & 27-31; Mark 2:13-17; and Luke 5:27-32
Matthew, also known by his Hebrew name, Levi the son of Alphaeus, is the writer of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew wrote his Gospel with a Jewish audience in mind. Matthew knew the Jewish Scriptures “very well. His Gospel quotes the Old Testament ninety-nine times. That is more times than Mark, Luke, and John combined.”2 Matthew was also a man of great faith. “When Jesus showed up and called him to follow Him, [Matthew] had enough faith to drop everything and follow; [he] instantly and without hesitation ‘arose and followed Him’ … He left … his … profession forever. The decision was irreversible as soon as he made it”2 Matthew was also concerned about others. “Matthew’s first impulse after following Jesus was to bring his closest friends and introduce them to the Savior.”2 One would think Matthew was always a righteous and well-liked guy, but that is not his story.
After Jesus’ encounter with all the hypocritical religious people at the home of Peter, and after He healed the paralytic, “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 9:9).
“In all likelihood, none of the Twelve was more notorious as a sinner than Matthew … Matthew was a tax collector … Tax collectors were the most despised people in Israel … [They] were men who had bought tax franchises from the Roman emperor and then extorted money from the people of Israel to feed the Roman coffers and to pad their own pockets … [When Matthew] chose to be a tax collector, he had effectively cut himself off not only from his own people, but also from his God … He was banned from the synagogue and forbidden to sacrifice and worship in the temple, he was in essence worse off religiously than a Gentile. Therefore, it must have been a stunning reality when Jesus chose him”2
The paradox was not missed by a grateful Matthew. In appreciation and in honor of Jesus, Matthew “made Him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them” (Luke 5:29). “He invited a large number of his fellow tax collectors and various other kinds of scoundrels and social outcasts to meet Jesus … [Basically,] he had an evangelistic banquet at his home.”2
And the presumed absurdity of such a call was not missed by those who hated Jesus. “The Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:30-31). “‘Go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13a). “‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance’” (Luke 5:32).
“[Jesus] had not come to call the self-righteous, but sinners to repentance. In other words, there was nothing He could do for the religious elite as long as they insisted on keeping up their pious, hypocritical veneer. But people like Matthew who were prepared to confess their sin could be forgiven and redeemed … Forgiveness is the thread that runs through [the Gospel of] Matthew.”2
Matthew was deeply appreciative of what Jesus had done for him. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of Jesus. Besides focusing on the words of God in the Jewish Scriptures, throughout his Gospel, Matthew focused on the words of Jesus. He recorded in detail the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse. It seems he hung on Jesus’ every word.
Matthew was a walking miracle. His Gospel also focused on the miracles of Jesus. In fact, he included as many references to specific miracles as Luke did, and Luke was a doctor. So, I guess we can say, Matthew was as interested in the healing ministry of Jesus as a doctor would be. Three of the miracles are distinctive to Matthew’s book. We will look at one of those miracles now.
One of the reasons only Matthew recorded this miracle of Jesus is that it most likely took place at Matthew’s home. Matthew explained that while Jesus was eating at his dinner party, Jairus, the “ruler [of the synagogue] came in and knelt before Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come lay your hand on her, and she will live’” (Matthew 9:18). Side note: I find it ironic that, though Matthew would not be allowed to go into the synagogue, the ruler of the synagogue was welcome in his home and was allowed to take Matthew’s guest of honor away from his party. That was either humility on Jairus’ part, or grace on Matthew’s, or some of both.
Anyway, after Jesus went with Jairus and performed the miracle of raising his daughter, as He was returning, presumably to Matthew’s home, “two blind men followed Him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’ When He entered the house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:27-30a).
Jesus’ comment, “‘According to your faith be it done to you’” (Matthew 9:29) makes it seem like the full effect of this miracle was dependent on the amount of faith the recipients displayed. I wonder, how much faith did these men have? Did they have enough faith to receive 20/20 vision, or did they, because lack of faith, settle for something less? Did they get everything Jesus could offer them or did their partial unbelief leave them partially blind? If so, were they ok with that? The obvious next question: Is the quality of our faith related to how much we receive from Jesus? Do we settle for something less than all that Jesus has for us? A. W. Tozer thinks we can.
“Those spiritual blessings in heavenly places which are ours in Christ may be divided into three classes:
The first is those which come to us immediately upon our believing unto salvation, such as forgiveness, justification, regeneration, sonship to God, and baptism into the Body of Christ. In Christ, we possess these even before we know that they are ours!
The second class is those riches which are ours by inheritance but which we cannot enjoy in actuality until our Lord returns. These include ultimate mental and moral perfection, the glorification of our bodies, the completion of the restoration of the divine image in our redeemed personalities, and the admission into the very presence of God to experience forever the Beatific Vision. These treasures are as surely ours as if we possessed them now!
The third class consists of spiritual treasures which are ours by blood atonement but which will not come to us unless we make a determined effort to possess them. These are deliverance from the sins of the flesh, victory over self, the constant flow of the Holy Spirit through our personalities, fruitfulness in Christian service, awareness of the Presence of God, growth in grace, an increasing consciousness of union with God, and an unbroken spirit of worship. These are to us what the Promised Land was to Israel, to be entered into as our faith and courage mount.”3
Most Christians understand and believe that when they received Jesus, they automatically received the blessings Mr. Tozer puts in the first class. Those are the reasons we came to Jesus in the first place. We realized these could not be grasped without the blood of Christ. And most Christians look forward with much anticipation to receiving someday in Heaven the treasures Mr. Tozer puts in the second class. Dreaming of the day these become a reality has gotten many a Christian through the pain and drudgery that so often accompanies life on Earth. But this is where we stop short.
Sadly, most Christians miss out on much of what Mr. Tozer mentions in the third class. Maybe it is because we have not been taught that we can actually, on this Earth, get to a point where sin and selfishness no longer have control over us, where we no longer feel the need to worry about ourselves, where we are constantly filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit enabling us to display His power and His fruit, where we are joyfully finding God-honoring success in ministry, where our very lives are worship to God, and where we feel God’s presence, hear His voice, and walk unhindered in His will. Maybe it is because it takes some work, which we are not willing to do, to realize these treasures. Or maybe it is because we flat out don’t believe it is possible to here and now receive these gifts. If it is “‘according to [our] faith [that these] be…done to [us]’” (Matthew 9:29), we will only experience as much of Jesus’ blessings as we have the faith to claim. What is the character of your faith?
Matthew is an example for all of us. I believe his faith was of high quality. Because of that, he took advantage of all Jesus had to give him. He was literally transformed from a sinner into a saint. He was changed from one who stole from the Jews into one who ministered to the Jews. He was altered from one who disobeyed the word of God into one who loved it. He was restored from one banned from places of worship into one who walked with Jesus. He was reformed from someone whose unrighteous tax gathering filled his pocket for a time into one whose inspired writing ministered for an eternity. A similar metamorphosis is possible for all of us who, according to our faith, take up Jesus on all He has for us!
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2 MacArthur, John. Twelve Ordinary Men. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2002., pages 151-157.
3https://dailytozer.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/many-spiritual-blessings-in-christ-go-unclaimed/