The Exposition of Matthew (Matthew 9:23-26)

December 15, 2020

(Miracles of Jesus)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. When everything seems lost, and beyond hope, what is the one thing that makes all things new once again?
2. There is a well-known verse of Scripture: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul;”What are the two applications for that verse?
3. What makes the emphasis of the last three miracles recorded by Matthew different from the other seven miracles?
4. What was the two-fold purpose of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood?
5. What is the relationship of the two intertwined miracles, Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood, and what is the practical lesson?
6.  What was the practical example of the woman with the issue of blood? What did it picture?
7. What are the three tenses of salvation?
8. In Matthew’s account of these two intertwined miracles, what are the three practical steps of faith:
9. Since heaven is a place God prepared for human believers, what can we expect it to be like?

Introduction

After several weeks of studying the ten miracles of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, we come to the final group of three. What is the objective of today’s study? As we begin, I want you to know that it is for each of us to grow stronger in faith than we have ever been before. That is Jesus’ desire of for each of us, but the big question is, is that our desire?

The healing ministry of Jesus is the objective of these last three miracles. When everything seems lost, and beyond hope, faith in Jesus makes all things new once again. He is the great restorer of all good things. We live in a world where people have lost hope. Some have dedicated their life to worldly things in hopes of gaining some measure of meaning, only to become more frustrated. I read an article last week about a famous, present-day movie star who seems to have the whole world, good looks, money, fame, a fine home, and a beautiful wife. Yet to my knowledge, he has missed the essential thing in life, finding God. The Bible says, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul,” Mark 8:36-37 (KJV). There are two applications for that Scripture: For the unbeliever, it means eternal separation from God. For the believer, it means losing the real purpose of life while struggling to gain the world.

America has lost a lot in recent years. We have become a materialistic and immoral nation. We are no longer the Christian nation we were in the beginning of this great nation. Therefore, I believe this nation is in danger of the judgment of God. Our churches are also in danger of judgment. There has been a compromise of values with the world under the guise of reaching the lost, especially the younger lost. Churches sometimes take on the appearance of a nightclub with religious rock and roll music for entertainment. We need to return to worship that honors God. We need pastors who will preach the word without reservation or apology and stand firm in faith against the church and this nation’s movement into liberality. A country that accepts same-sex marriage, homosexuality, and abortion, is an abomination before God and cannot expect His continued blessing. This nation and the church need a return to the faith demonstrated by the founding fathers and those first pilgrims who came to America to free themselves to worship God without state interference. We need a strong nation under the protection of God and an unshakable church based on an unmovable faith in God.

Faith is the emphasis of these last three miracles and what makes them different from the other seven. Jesus requires faith in Him as a prerequisite to receiving His blessings and healing. Only in Him can we ever hope to find purpose in life and a life of peace and joy. Today one of the questions we will try and answer is why Matthew ends his treatment of the miracles of Jesus with a focus on faith? In the last study, we saw two miracles entwined, kind of a miracle within a miracle. One was about Jairus’ request to heal his dying daughter and before Jesus could walk to Jairus’ house, another miracle took place, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. In today’s study, we find Jesus continuing His journey to the home of Jairus. Because the miracle of our last study was entwined with the one we are looking at today, we will go back and read the text beginning with Matthew 9:18:

Matthew 9:18-22, “While he spoke these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, my daughter is even now [Dying or] dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 19And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

Jairus was a ruler whose responsibility was overseeing the services of the local synagogue to keep things in order. Perhaps that would also be a good idea in today’s church. According to the Pharisees, he comes before Jesus and kneels and worships Him, a gesture that was reserved for God only. Therefore, the ruler puts himself in danger of being arrested and executed for defying Jewish Law. The demonstrating of his faith in Jesus includes an appeal to heal his dying daughter. When Jesus sets out to the house of Jairus, a woman, believing she might be cured by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, comes up behind Him secretly. She had heard of Jesus and His healing everyone who came to Him, and she believed He was the Messiah who could heal because of Malachi 4:2 (KJV), which tells of the “healing in the wings of the Messiah.”

When Jesus immediately felt the power leaving Him, He turned and asked who touched Him. He sees her and confirms that her faith made her whole. She was healed before Jesus even knew her through the power of the Holy Spirit that resided within Him. I believe as I said last week, that this miracle had a dual purpose. First, to show that faith in Jesus also requires a public confession, and second, to strengthen the faith of Jairus. When they learned later that his daughter had died, it would require great faith to believe that Jesus could bring her back to life. Will he have the faith that Jesus can raise her from the dead? He has seen with his eye’s the faith of the woman in action.

The gospel of Mark adds a little more action to the account: Mark 5:34-35 (KJV), “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. 35While he spoke, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?”

This woman was able to go in peace, which only comes with a relationship with God. She went away as a believer. The ruler has been a witness to all of this, perhaps in awe, but as Jesus was still talking with the woman calling her daughter, a messenger comes up and says to Jairus, “Thy daughter is dead: why troublest the Master any further.” Not since the Old Testament times had a person been raised from the dead. People at that time had never known of anyone raised from the dead. And who would have the faith to ask Jesus for a resurrection? 

Nevertheless, the man considered what he had witnessed with the woman and decided to press on and ask Jesus to resurrect his daughter. Jesus overhears the news brought to the ruler: Mark 5:36 (KJV), “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Be not afraid, only believe.’” The ruler demonstrates his faith in Jesus and invites Him to his house. As they arrive, they experience a strange scene:

Matthew 9:23-26, “And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 24He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 26And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.”

They find flute players and a noisy, disorderly crowd as they arrive at the ruler’s house. Today this would be bizarre, but in those days, the Jewish custom would be a loud public display of lamenting by family and friends in honor of the diseased. Families sometimes even paid professional mourners. Today, they were like ambulance chasers; they hung around families who had a loved one close to death to drum up business. Some were playing musical instruments.

All this hula boo could dishearten the ruler and cause him to give up without hope. The Apostle Paul addressed this custom: Thessalonians 4:13 (KJV), “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

Today the death of a believer is a time of celebration as God ushers them into heaven where a welcoming celebration is in progress: Psalms 116:15 (KJV), “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Because of our faith in Jesus, we know we will see our loved ones again and very soon; death is just a temporary parting. One day there will be a great family reunion for those in Christ.

Jesus informed the crowd they’re not needed anymore, saying the girl isn’t dead; she’s just asleep. Mark 5:39 (KJV) puts it this way, “And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” Jesus uses a metaphor here. We don’t sleep when we die, but it is a good reminder that death is not the end of life for a believer because we will rise again to a new life just as we arise to a new day after sleep.

The mourners laugh at His comment because they don’t understand the euphemism; they don’t have the hope of resurrection. They had never witnessed a resurrection, so naturally, they were amused that Jesus might have thought that they had mistaken a sleeping girl for a dead girl.

Jesus did not invite the extra notoriety that raising a dead girl would bring, so He dismissed the crowd following Him (Mark 5:37) along with the mourners and took only Peter, James and John, to join Him in the ruler’s home to witness this miracle. According to Mark, Jesus instructs the family not to tell anyone about what happened. We will learn more about secrecy in Chapter 12.

The father passes his final test of faith as he stands quietly by, while Jesus takes the child’s hand to help her out of bed. Mark informs us that Jesus spoke to the girl, telling her to get up. Instantly, she awakens and gets out of bed, and walks about the room. The people in the room were so astonished at the miracle, according to Mark, they had to be reminded to feed the girl. This response is an insight into what to expect after the resurrection. We were created as human beings to enjoy food and other blessings that come from God. Heaven will be a place where we shall continue to enjoy those things. I think we will still be able to walk along a county road and hear the birds singing on our way to go fishing.

Now that the two intertwined miracles are complete, let us consider their relationship and the practical lessons we can gain. First, we have a father who comes to the Messiah in faith, seeking to have his daughter of 12 years restored from sickness and even death. Secondly, a woman comes to the Messiah in faith, seeking to be restored from 12 years of sickness and after 12 years of being unclean and estranged from family and friends.

The little 12-year-old girl was also considered unclean when she died because dead bodies under the Law were deemed to be unclean. Up until now, there was no hope for either of these daughters. The woman had tried everything without success, and the girl had died. Then came Jesus the restorer, and where there was no other hope, He healed the woman with the issue of blood and raised the little girl from the dead. It was the woman’s faith in the Messiah and the ruler growing faith when he saw the workings of the Messiah that resulted in the healings.

In the example of the woman with the issue of blood, we see a picture of salvation. We all come to Jesus as unclean, a condition we cannot change. We come to Jesus with faith that He can make us clean and forgive us our sins. By God’s grace and through faith, we become a citizen of the future Kingdom, of Christ; in time when He returns, He will rule the earth in peace. We as believers will participate in the kingdom Jesus sets up: so, we can look forward to that with great anticipation.

That brings us to the father’s story; the story follows immediately that of the woman. Salvation is in three tenses: Past, Present, and Future. Past is Justification; the present is sanctification; future is glorification. Justification is when God makes us just in His sight by the shed blood of His Son, Jesus. Sanctification is God’s work in us through the indwelling Holy Spirit to transform us into the person He created us to be. Glorification is when we receive the new glorified body in heaven.

The ruler’s circumstances are a picture of the second part or present tense of our salvation experience; it is our walk of sanctification. Like the ruler’s daughter, when we receive Jesus, we go from death to a new life in Christ. There will be many tests and trials along the way that God will use to perfect our faith and maturity. We have a choice: We can continue in the world’s way, giving in to the world, traveling by sight alone, or we can live in faith trusting in God even when we can’t see the way, looking beyond the present, with all its difficulty and keeping our eyes on eternity. It is a matter of trusting God and His Word or becoming distracted, dismayed, and discouraged by the evil world.

Let us be like the Apostle Paul who said, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 (KJV). Jesus said to the ruler, “do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” We don’t have to be anxious, worried, or fearful, and longer, we can rely entirely on Jesus.

The ruler’s story ends as he watches Jesus take hold of his daughter’s hand and resurrect her to life. One day, God will resurrect each of us who believe we should die before the rapture into the newness of eternal life. What a glorious day that will be.

What is the finality of it all? Paul sums it up best in Philippians 1:21(KJV), “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And in Romans 3:23 (KJV) he says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD.” Now we have been freed from sin and death, and God is our Master, and the outcome is the gift of eternal life. Let our lives, as Paul, be a reflection of Jesus and His righteousness, realizing all the time that our death is our gain.

In Matthew’s account of these two miracles, we see the three practical steps of faith:

1. By our faith, we are freed from sin and death.
2. We are restored from our separation from Holy God.
3. We are separated from our uncleanness under Law.

Now we are free to walk with Jesus through life, submitting to His work of sanctification to make us into the person He created us to be. We are marching forward to eternal life, to one day receive our resurrection afer death. Just as the little girl was resurrected, so shall we who have placed our faith in Jesus.

Whatever you imagine heaven to be, it is where we will live as humans that we were created to be. It is interesting to note that the first thing Jesus asked was that the girl is fed. Yes, heaven is a place to enjoy to the fullest the things God has blessed us with while here on earth. The very first event of the Kingdom, when Christ returns for all the resurrected saints and those caught up alive, will be the marriage supper of the Lamb. There will be a great feast which ushers in the Kingdom. Luke 13:29 (KJV), “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.”

Here is a little test for you:

1. How are you dealing with your journey here on earth with Jesus at your side? Are you filled with anxiety, worry and fear, and the cares of the world?
2. Are you trusting Jesus daily in all things, like the woman with the issue of blood or Jairus whose daughter was raised from the dead?
3. Are you enjoying the peace of God even during the trials of life, like the ruler who came to Jesus for help in the time of trouble?
4. Are your eyes on eternity or on this life and the cares of the world?
5. Are you anticipating your future resurrection and eternal life instead of the dread of death? We have the Biblical evidence of our resurrection in this example of the little girl who rose to a new life in Jesus.

What we have been talking about today are examples of faith. Can we learn from these examples? If so, our faith will be stronger than ever before, and our life here on earth will have purpose and meaning.