Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 9:18 - 9:19
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_9:18-19
18While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." 19Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.
Mat_9:18 "a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him" A much more detailed account is found in Mar_5:22-43 and Luk_8:41-56. The person was literally a "synagogue ruler" (cf. Mar_5:22; Joh_3:1). This was a man who was responsible for the physical condition of the synagogue as well as its regular activities. He acted in an uncharacteristic way by publicly running up to a controversial, unofficial rabbi such as Jesus and by falling at His feet. However, he was greatly concerned about the condition of his daughter, whom he loved. When one compares this passage with Mar_5:21 and Luk_8:42, there is some discrepancy as to whether the daughter was at the point of death or was already dead.
Mat_9:19 "Jesus got up and began to follow him" Apparently this man's faith was connected to (1) the physical presence of Jesus, (2) the act of laying on of hands, and (3) prayer. In Mat_11:5 the raising of the dead was one of the signs mentioned to John the Baptist to validate the Messianic ministry of Jesus. Whether this was truly an act of resuscitation or an act of healing from a coma is uncertain from the context.