Trinity
24
Mt
9:18-26
11/19/23
In
our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is approached by two people who have a very
different social status. We learn that a
ruler came to Jesus. From Mark and Luke
we understand that this man was a ruler of the synagogue. He was a respected leader in his community
and a person of significance.
On
the other hand, a woman came to Jesus.
We learn that she had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve
years. This condition made her ritually
unclean. Anyone who touched her would
become unclean, and then would have to go through the process of removing the
uncleanness. Her affliction meant that
she was a social outcast.
Yet
while these individuals have a very different social status, they are united in
two ways. First, they both have afflictions for which they desperately need
help. And second, they both have faith in Jesus Christ. Both have heard about the Lord Jesus and come
in the faith that Jesus can help them.
Our
text this morning is found in the section of Matthew’s Gospel that encompasses
chapters 8 and 9. Here Matthew shows us
that Jesus carried out powerful deeds of healing. Chapters 5 through 7 have just presented the
Sermon on the Mount. The reader learns
that Jesus was active in word – in preaching.
Now Matthew presents Jesus as powerful in miracles. The section contains ten miracles as Jesus
heals and casts out demons. Our Gospel lesson is actually a two for one because
it contains two miracles that are intertwined with each other.
We
learn that a ruler came in
and knelt before Jesus, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and
lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
The man had experienced a terrible tragedy. His daughter had just died. However, Jesus
was in the area so he approached Jesus in humility as he knelt before him. His
request was simple. He said that if
Jesus would come and lay his hand on the girl, then she would live. The man was confident that Jesus’ power could
overcome death itself. He believed that
Jesus’ touch could restore life. Death
was present, but because of Jesus there was hope. And so the man came to Jesus
in faith.
Jesus rose and
followed the man. But there was someone
else who had come in faith. She believed
that Jesus could heal her. The woman with the flow of blood had come because Jesus was present. In humility, she didn’t even try to speak to
Jesus. Instead, she came up behind him
and touched the fringe of his garment.
She had such great faith in Jesus’ power that she said to herself, “If I
only touch his garment, I will be made well.”
Our Lord knew what she had done. He turned to her and said, “Take heart,
daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was healed. The woman had approached Jesus in faith –
trust in his power to heal. And she
received deliverance from her affliction.
After healing the woman, Jesus continued on with the ruler
to his house. There he saw the flute
players and the crowd making a commotion.
This was a scene of mourning after a death as it was done
Palestine. But Jesus had not come to
mourn. He said, “Go away, for the
girl is not dead but sleeping.” The
people laughed at Jesus because the girl had most certainly died.
However, when the mourners had been put outside, Jesus did
as the father had asked. He touched her
as he took the girl by the hand and raised her from the dead. Jesus’ touch overcame death and restored the
girl to life.
In our text, Jesus says to the woman, “Take heart,
daughter; your faith has made you well.” This is an entirely correct
translation. However, the notable thing
is that the Greek word that Jesus uses is actually “saved.” Literally, our Lord says, “your faith has
saved you.” This word encourages us to
recognize that Jesus’ healing miracle is part of something bigger. Jesus brings physical healing, but this is
only one part of something even greater.
In the previous chapter we read, “That evening they brought
to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the
spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what
was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our
diseases.’”
These
words are from Isaiah chapter 53.
Matthew teaches us that Jesus’ healing ministry is part of his greater
work to remove sin. In that chapter
Isaiah says about the suffering Servant, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But
he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we
are healed.”
Jesus Christ was Immanuel. He was God with us. He was God with us in order to provide the
answer to sin. Sin is the root cause of
all that is wrong in the world. It is
the source of the strife and jealousy in our life. It is the source of pain and sickness that we
experience. Ultimately, it is the source
of death that afflicts all people.
God sent forth his Son into the world
to provide the answer to sin. Conceived
by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, Jesus Christ had come to offer
himself in our place. At his baptism Jesus
was designated as the Servant of the Lord.
Though he had no sin he submitted to a baptism of repentance because he
was taking our place. He took on the
role of the suffering Servant who would be crushed for our iniquities.
Jesus’ baptism set him on the course
that led to the cross. There he received
the judgment against sin that we deserved.
He cried out, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me” as he received
the judgment of God that should have been ours.
Jesus Christ suffered and died in our place in order to give us the
forgiveness of all our sins.
Dead and buried in the tomb, it looked
like that was the end. The One who had
raised the dead had been defeated by death.
But on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead on Easter. He appeared to Peter and the twelve. He appeared to more than five hundred people
at one time. He appeared to James and
all the apostles. Finally, he appeared
to Paul. He demonstrated in unmistakable
ways that he was alive as he ate and drank his followers, and as he taught them
during the course of forty days.
In his resurrection Jesus has
conquered death itself. He has given us
salvation that encompasses body and soul.
The miracles in the Gospels show us this. They show Jesus bringing the reign of God
that overcomes sin in all of the ways that it afflicts people.
The ruler and the woman came to Jesus
in faith. They trusted and believed that
he was able to provide healing and rescue from death. This faith in the Lord is the same way that
we come to Jesus. We come believing and
trusting in Jesus Christ as the One who gives forgiveness and rescues from
death.
We don’t always trust as we
should. When faced with sickness and
suffering we are tempted to doubt. When
we experience hardships and difficulties our faith can waiver. We are tempted to question whether God really
does love and care for us.
When we experience this, we need to
look again to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the cross we have received the forgiveness
of all our sin. In the resurrection of
Jesus we find the guarantee of God’s love and care for us. There we have God’s
great “Yes!” that overcomes all that would lead us to doubt. The crucified and
risen Lord calls us to believe and trust in him because he has already won the
victory for us.
He has won the victory for us, and
that shapes the way we look at the present.
In our text we see Jesus heal the woman and raise the girl from the
dead. We live with physical ailments and
face the threat of death. We pray for
healing and for deliverance. We ask knowing that according to his will God does
grant these things. At other times his answer is that his grace is sufficient
for us as he sustains us in the midst of suffering.
But the guarantee that we have in Jesus is that we
will receive complete healing and deliverance from death. In Jesus’ resurrection we see the final
fulfillment of his healing ministry.
Jesus Christ has risen with a body that is perfect and will never die
again. This is the existence that awaits
us when our Lord returns in glory and raises us from the dead. We will be rescued from all that sin has
caused as we live with our Lord forever.
In our Gospel lesson the ruler asks Jesus to touch
his daughter, and the woman seeks to touch Jesus’ clothing. To sustain us in faith, our Lord continues to
touch us. This he does in the Sacrament
of the Altar. He gives us his true body
and true blood into our mouth.
Through this gift our Lord delivers forgiveness to
us. He applies the saving work of the
cross and leaves no doubt that it is for us.
Through this gift our Lord assures us that we will share in the
blessings of his resurrection. We
receive the body and blood of the risen Lord into our body. Our Lord has promised, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Bodies that receive the Sacrament will be
raised and transformed to be like Christ when he returns.
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