Who Is This Man, Jesus? / Matthew 9:14-26
The Perennial Question of Identity
In 1860, the Scottish theologian John Duncan formulated an apologetic dilemma regarding the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, a formulation later popularized by C. S. Lewis as the famous “trilemma.” The argument asserts that given Christ’s explicit claims to divinity, one is left with only three logical possibilities: He was either a lunatic suffering from profound delusion, a deceptive liar leading humanity astray, or precisely who He claimed to be—the Sovereign Lord of the universe. This analytical framework addresses the fundamental question that has echoed through the centuries: What kind of man is this?
Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, this question resurfaces continually. Witnesses repeatedly find their categories dismantled by Jesus’ words and deeds. He is the man who commands the winds and the sea with absolute authority.
Matthew 8:27 (NASB)
The men were amazed, and said, ‘What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’
He is the one who crosses cultural boundaries into the Decapolis to liberate the severely oppressed, who forgives sins while healing paralysis, and who scandalizes the religious elite by dining with outcasts and declaring that God desires mercy rather than ritual sacrifice. In every encounter, Jesus reveals Himself not merely as a moral teacher, but as the perfect embodiment of the heart and power of God.
The New Wine of the Kingdom
In Matthew chapter 9, the inquiry into Jesus’ identity intensifies as distinct religious factions confront His ministry. Following confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees, the disciples of John the Baptist approach Jesus with a pressing theological dilemma. Recognizing John as the prophetic forerunner prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures, his followers adhered strictly to ascetic practices and ceremonial devotions, likely influenced by the rigorous disciplines of wilderness communities like Qumran.
Matthew 3:3 (NASB)
For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ’THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’’
Perplexed by the apparent contrast between their austere lifestyle and the feasting of Jesus’ followers, John’s disciples ask why His disciples do not observe the customary fasts. Jesus responds by reframing their understanding of redemptive history around His own presence, identifying Himself as the long-awaited Bridegroom.
Matthew 9:14-15 (NASB)
Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ’The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
In Jewish tradition, a wedding feast represents a time of supreme joy; mourning and fasting are utterly incompatible with the presence of the bridegroom. Jesus explains that His presence inaugurates a season of celebration. While a day of departure would come when fasting would indeed be fitting, the current moment demanded joyous reception of the Messiah.
To further clarify this radical transition, Jesus provides two parabolic illustrations: an unshrunk patch on an old garment and new wine poured into old wineskins.
Matthew 9:16-17 (NASB)
’But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. ‘Nor do [people] put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.’
An unyielding, brittle wineskin cannot contain the dynamic fermentation of new wine without bursting. Through these metaphors, Christ makes clear that His gospel is not a mere accessory to be patched onto existing legalistic frameworks or ceremonial systems. He did not come to modify external religiosity, but to inaugurate the New Covenant. The kingdom of God requires an entirely new framework centered entirely on His divine authority.
The Interruption of Mercy
While Jesus is articulating the radical nature of the New Covenant, the narrative is dramatically interrupted by a Capernaum synagogue official, identified in parallel Gospel accounts as Jairus. Capernaum was a prominent center of religious life, making the official’s public posture extraordinary: he falls prostrate before Jesus, casting aside social standing and religious prestige in the wake of impending tragedy. His young daughter has reached the point of death, yet his faith leads him to declare that Christ’s touch will restore her life.
Matthew 9:18 (NASB)
While 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.’
Moved by compassion, Jesus immediately sets out toward the official’s home. As the pressing crowd surrounds Him, another desperate individual enters the scene. A woman who had suffered from a debilitating hemorrhage for twelve years approaches Jesus from behind. Under the Mosaic Law, chronic bleeding rendered an individual ceremonially unclean, cutting her off from corporate worship, family life, and societal fellowship. Having exhausted her resources on medical treatments that yielded no relief, she represents the pinnacle of isolation and desperation.
Her action in reaching out to touch the fringe of Christ’s garment is deeply theological. The prophet Malachi had foretold that the Sun of Righteousness would arise with healing in His wings—a term associated with the hem, edge, or tassels of a garment.
Malachi 4:2 (NASB)
’But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
Reaching through the crowd, she touches the border of His cloak, believing that the Messiah’s authority was sufficient to heal her. Immediately, the flow of blood ceases, and Jesus turns to address her directly.
Matthew 9:20-22 (NASB)
And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His garment, I will get well.’ But Jesus turning and seeing her said, ‘Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.’
Rather than rebuking her for defiling Him according to ceremonial law, Jesus speaks tenderly, saying, “Take courage, daughter; your faith has made you well.” In this single act, Christ demonstrates that His holiness does not contract uncleanness; instead, His purity and life-giving power overcome defilement, bringing immediate physical healing and social restoration.
Authority Over the Grave
The delay caused by this encounter appears catastrophic from a human perspective. As Jesus arrives at the official’s house, professional mourners and flute players have already gathered, signaling that the child has died. The atmosphere is filled with lamentation and tumult. Jesus dismisses the crowd with an astonishing declaration: “Leave, for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” The crowd responds with mocking laughter, convinced of death’s finality.
Matthew 9:23-24 (NASB)
When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, ‘Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.’ And they [began] laughing at Him.
Jesus puts the mockers outside, enters the room, and takes the maiden by the hand. At His touch, life returns, and the young girl rises. News of this unprecedented miracle spreads rapidly throughout the entire region.
Matthew 9:25-26 (NASB)
But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. This news spread throughout all that land.
By commanding life to return to a deceased child, Jesus demonstrates absolute sovereignty over the ultimate enemy: physical death itself.
The True Identity of Christ
These interconnected events in Matthew 9 compel every observer to confront the central question: What kind of man is this? A madman could not command the forces of sickness and death; a deceiver could not fulfill ancient prophecy and bring undeniable restoration to the broken. The evidence of His ministry leaves only the third conclusion of the trilemma: Jesus is the Lord of glory, the promised Messiah who brings the kingdom of God into human history.
Christ’s miracles are not merely historical marvels, but signs pointing to the deeper spiritual reality of the gospel. Humanity, separated from God by sin, exists in a state of spiritual alienation and death. Just as Christ reached out to touch the unclean woman and the lifeless child, He continues to extend grace to those who are spiritually destitute. Through faith in His finished work, the Lord of life still transforms brokenness, forgives iniquity, and raises the dead to everlasting life.