9:1 And he 1 entered into a ship, and passed over, and came
into his a own city.
(1) Sins are the cause of our afflictions, and Christ only
forgives them if we believe.
(a) Into Capernaum, for as Theophylact says, Bethlehem brought
him forth, Nazareth brought him up, and Capernaum was
his dwelling place.
9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy,
lying on a bed: and Jesus b seeing their faith said unto
the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be
forgiven thee.
(b) Knowing by a manifest sign.
9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
This [man] c blasphemeth.
(c) To blaspheme, signifies among the divines, to speak
wickedly: and among the more eloquent Greeks, to
slander.
9:92 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man,
named Matthew, sitting at the d receipt of custom: and he
saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
(2) Christ calls the humble sinners unto him, but he condemns
the proud hypocrites.
(d) At the table where the tax was received.
9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and e sinners came and sat down
with him and his disciples.
(e) The publicans who were placed by the Romans, after
that time Judea was brought into the form of a
province, to gather the taxes, and therefore by the
rest of the Jews they were called sinners, that is to
say, very vile men.
9:143 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do
we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
(3) That is, wicked rivalry in matters of small importance.
9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the f 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.
(f) A Hebrew idiom, for they that are admitted into the
marriage chamber are as the bridegroom's closest
friends.
9:16 No man putteth a piece of g new cloth unto an old
garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from
the garment, and the rent is made worse.
(g) Raw, which was never processed by the fuller.
9:184 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there
came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My
daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon
her, and she shall live.
(4) There is no evil so old, and incurable, which Christ cannot
heal by and by, if he is touched with true faith, but lightly
as it were with the hand.
9:235 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the
h minstrels and the people making a noise,
(5) Even death itself gives place to the power of Christ.
(h) It appears that they used minstrels at their mournings.
9:276 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed
him, crying, and saying, [Thou] Son of David, have mercy on
us.
(6) By healing these two blind men Christ shows that he is the
light of the world.
9:327 As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb
man possessed with a devil.
(7) An example of that power that Christ has over the devil.
9:368 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were
scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
(8) Although the ordinary pastors cease, yet Christ has not
cast off the care of his Church.
9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will i
send forth labourers into his harvest.
(i) Literally, "cast them out": for men are very slow in
a work so holy.
