Matthew 9:19

Friday, 18 April 2025

 

So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. Matthew 9:19

 

“And Jesus, having arisen, He followed him – and His disciples” (CG).

 

In the previous verse, a ruler came to Jesus, prostrated himself before Him, and petitioned Him to come and rouse his daughter from the dead. Matthew next records, “And Jesus, having arisen, He followed him.”

 

The words take the reader back to verse 9:10 –

 

“And it was, He – reclining in the house.”

 

In other words, everything that has been said since then has been while Jesus reclined at the table. Now, with this urgent petition from the ruler, Jesus arose and followed him. With that understood, it next says, “and His disciples.”

 

The intent is “all His disciples.” There is no limiting factor given by Matthew. In fact, Mark notes that a great multitude followed Him. Luke says that multitudes thronged Him. It is for this reason that it can be assumed that even the disciples of John the Baptist came along to see what was going on.

 

It is unlikely that something like this would arise, and the disciples of John would say, “Well, that’s interesting, but you answered our question, and we’ll be heading home now.”

 

Rather, they would have wanted to see what Jesus would do. This then explains Jesus’ words in Matthew 11 about the dead being raised when responding to John the Baptist’s question.

 

Having said that, Luke places the question by John before this account, but after the account of another raising, Jesus will do. Therefore, one of them may be providing details categorically while the other is providing them chronologically.

 

Life application: Little additions to verses that may seem irrelevant are often important details to help us understand greater truths that will be presented later. The note about Jesus’ disciples following Him may have a bearing on several things.

 

First, it tells us that the events that are yet ahead are eyewitness accounts. Second, it tells us that even though the disciples went with Him, some of them were excluded as they arrived at the house of the ruler.

 

In Mark and Luke, Jesus only lets three of the disciples join Him when He raises the girl. Also, we find that it is likely that even though His disciples followed Him, that was not all who followed Him. Only by reading all three of the synoptic gospels are we able to form a greater picture of how the events unfolded.

 

Paying attention to the details will help us resolve questions that may arise. But that will not come through a single reading of the gospels. Reading them many times and making cross-references is needed to figure out what is going on. This is important because the naysayers are out there.

 

Such people will say, “See, this contradicts that.” However, by doing a thorough study of what is presented, one realizes that such is not the case. Pay attention to the little details. They can lead you to check other things that will help you see the greater panorama of information being presented.

 

Lord God, help us to pay attention while reading Your word. The things of this world sometimes cloud out our time of reading so that when we are done, we don’t remember what we just read. Give us focus and clarity to read, contemplate, and remember the things we have read. May our priority be toward Your word when we are reading. Amen.