Bible Lover's Blog , Matthew, Chapters 9-16 - 3/6/2026
St. Matthew Gospel Study, Part 2, Chapters 9-16
This blog post is the second in a series, and will touch my continued study of the beautiful gospel, which I have heard described as, “The Gospel of the Church.”
I am amazed at how many allusions and references to Old Testament prophets and prophesies are contained in The Gospel of St. Matthew. Matthew was clearly steeped in Judaism: its laws, customs, and scripture. He paints a picture of Jesus as Messiah in full inheritance of the old covenants that defined Judaism 2,000 years ago, and as having authority to establish His new covenant.
Before I began this study, The Gospel of St. John was always my favorite. I suppose that it still is. But this study has me truly falling in love with this gospel.
I’ll repeat the methodology explanation from the previous installment, as it remains unchanged.
My Methodology:
I have several main areas of focus for my studies:
- To record the sequence of events and teachings across chapters, from Jesus’s birth through His death and resurrection. By no means do I intend to list every event, just the ones that I find help me have a sense of the flow and context of Jesus’s life as offered in the Gospel of St. Matthew. When I say main events that occurred, I include miracles.
- The first appearance of key figures in the story of Jesus. I’m focused on “good guys” here, not the bad guys.
- I’ll catalog Jesus’s parable teachings, including in which chapter each of the 20 parables is found. It may not be anything extraordinary, but perhaps by doing so I’ll gain insight into the evolution of Jesus’s ministry. I won’t try to re-teach the meanings, those are well done in countless books. For the purpose of this study my interest is the location within Matthew’s gospel.
- St. Matthew goes to great lengths in his telling of the gospel to point out, either directly or by allusion, the ways that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophesies, especially those of the prophet Isaiah. In preparation for my own reading and study of Isaiah at some point in the future, I’ll identify instances in the Gospel of St. Matthew where he references or alludes to Isaiah. Because the references and inferences to them are numerous, I’m going to include the Psalms, too.
- I’m interested in instances in which Jesus’s actions institute Sacraments of the Catholic Church.
- I’ll choose one line from each chapter that speaks directly to me about my faith in Jesus. Wherever Jesus is quoted, I’ll use an italicized red font. I like words of Jesus in red in my Bible, so why not in my notes here on my blog, right?
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Chapter 9 - Healings, Jesus Calls Matthew
Key figure(s) First Appearance:
- Matthew the Apostle
Parables
- New cloth on an old garment - Matthew 9:16
- New wine in old wineskins - Matthew 9:17
Main Events or Subjects
- Jesus performs exorcisms and healings
- Heals a paralyzed man
- Heals a woman with bleeding
- Raised a ruler’s daughter from the dead
- Heals two blind men
- Heals a mute, demon possessed man*
- Jesus calls Matthew to follow him - Matthew 9:9
*The Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons, “by the prince of demons.”
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
- Matthew 9:13 - “For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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Chapter 10 - The Twelve are Named, the Mission and Commission of the Twelve
Key Figure(s) First Appearance:
- Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus)
Main Events or Subjects:
- The twelve Apostles are named, five who were named previously, and seven new names
- Jesus commissions the twelve to go out and preach the good news
- Jesus tells them what to expect, foretells of difficulties ahead for the Apostles
Jesus’s Institution of the Sacraments:
Holy Orders 10:1-8
- Jesus instructs the twelve to heal, cast out demons, raise the dead, etc. This passage in Matthew, in addition to Chapter 28:18-20 is cited by the Church as the origin of Apostolic succession and Holy Orders, the Sacrament by which our priests are ordained.
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
- Matthew 10:22 - “So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in Heaven.”
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Chapter 11 - Messengers From John the Baptist, Jesus Prays to His Father
Main Events or Subjects:
- Jesus responds to messengers from John the Baptist. The Jesus’s message indicates fulfillment of prophesy by Isaiah
- Jesus calls John the Baptist “Elijah”, recalling a prophesy by the prophet Malachi
- Jesus prays to his Father, of which there are only three instances: here, at His surrender in Gethsemane, and when He offers His life on the cross
- Jesus’s response to John the Baptist’s messengers Matthew 11:5: “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleaned and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them,” alludes to Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1.
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
- Matthew 11:27 - “and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
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Chapter 12 - Jesus Cures on the Sabbath, Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
Main Events or Subjects:
- Jesus’s disciples pluck grain to eat on the sabbath
- Jesus cures the man with a withered hand on the sabbath
- The Pharisees plot to destroy Jesus
- The Pharisees allege Jesus performs His acts by Beelzebub.
- Jesus references Jonah and foretells of His death and resurrection.
References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:
- Matthew 12:17-21 quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 directly in describing the Servant of the Lord. “Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will any one hear His voice in the streets; He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick, till he brings justice to victory; and in His name will the Gentiles hope.”
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
- Matthew 12:50 - “For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
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Chapter 13 - Parables, Rejected in Nazareth
Main Events or Subjects
- Parable of the Sower
- Parable of the Weeds
- Parable of the Mustard Seed
- Parable of the Leaven
- Parable of the Hidden Treasure
- Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
- Parable of the Net
- Jesus is rejected by the people in Nazareth and leaves there, performing no mighty works there due to their unbelief
References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:
- Matthew 13:14-15 Directly quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 - “With them indeed is fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah which says: You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.” Jesus quotes Isaiah as part of his explanation why He uses parables.*
- Matthew 13:35 - Directly quotes Psalm 78:2 to point out how Jesus’s use of parables fulfills the Old Testament prophecy: “I will open my mouth in Parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
- Note that in quoting the verse, Jesus changes the last line from “turn and be healed,” to “turn for me to heal them.” There is no doubt, Jesus is asserting his divinity here in terms of the prophesy and His fulfilling it.
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
- Matthew 13:16 - “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.”
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Chapter 14 - The Death of John the Baptist, Jesus Feeds 5,000, Walks on Water
Main Events or Subjects
- John the Baptist is killed by Herod the tetrarch
- Jesus feeds 5,000 people with just 5 loaves and two fish*
- Jesus walks on the water, Peter joins Him and as his faith wavers, Jesus saves him from drowning.
- Jesus heals the sick
- The words Matthew used to describe Jesus feeding the 5,000 foreshadow the words Jesus will use later in the Gospels to institute the Eucharist. Matthew 14:19: “Taking the five loaves…. He looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples.” Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. In Matthew 26:26: Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.”
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
(Matthew 14:31 (As Peter became afraid walking on the water at Jesus’s command and began to sink. Jesus saves him and says): “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
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Chapter 15 - Canaanite Woman Shows Persistent Faith, More Healings, Jesus Feeds 4,000
Main Events or Subjects:
- Jesus calls the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites, quoting Isaiah, saying that Isaiah prophesied about them.
- Jesus talks about defilement coming from inside, not from eating unclean foods.*
- Jesus heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman’s daughter. Her persistence in seeking God’s help is noteworthy.
- Jesus performs many other healings.
- Jesus feeds 4,000.**
*Perhaps the reason Christians don’t require that we comply with Jewish rules re: Kosher foods.
**It is noteworthy that the people he fed in Chapter 14 were Jews, and in Chapter 15, they were Gentiles. Jesus is the Messiah, but not just for the Jews, but for all mankind. Also, Matthew again uses words very similar to those He spoke when He instituted the Holy Eucharist. Matthew 15:36 - “He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”
References from the Prophet Isaiah and Psalms:
- In Matthew 15:7-9 Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 directly: “well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
Matthew 15:28: “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.”
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Chapter 16 - Peter Declares Jesus is the Christ, Jesus Commissions Peter, Foretells of His Death and Resurrection
Main Events or Subjects
- Jesus challenges the Pharisees
- Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ
- Jesus commissions Peter, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”*
- Jesus foretells of his death and resurrection after three days
- Jesus tells his disciples they must take up the cross of self-denial
*Jesus refers to “my Church”, not churches, plural.
Jesus’s Institution of the Sacraments:
Penance (Reconciliation) - Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
References from the prophet Isaiah and Psalms:
- Isaiah 22:22 “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open and none shall shut, and none shall open.” This passage from Isaiah prefigures Matthew 16:19, where Jesus gives the keys to Peter.
One Line That Speaks to My Faith in Jesus:
Matthew 16:18 - “on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
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