Miracles of Christ

Miracles of Christ February 16, 2012

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman – Matthew 9: 18-26

¹⁸ While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."

²² Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

²³ When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, ²⁴ he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

Jesus Heals the Blind and Dumb – Matthew 9:27-34

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

²⁸ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

³² While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³ And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

The faith of the ruler to know that Jesus could heal her is one thing. The faith of the ruler knowing that He could heal her by just placing His hand on her is another. The ruler knew that when Jesus placed His hand on his daughter, “she will live.” So where did this ruler hear about Jesus? What was the ruler’s faith like? Was he a Christian? These are all just questions that surround this verse as I read it. Now we know from scholars that the ruler was actually a ruler in the synagogue. He was one of the men that hated Jesus. There is no doubt that Jesus was maybe a last resort. That being said, how many of us go to Jesus only as a “last resort?” Even knowing our motives, Jesus still welcomes us with open arms and heals us. Now imagine if we knew what Jesus was capable of and we didn’t use Him as a last resort, rather our first resort. So from this we know that the ruler came to Jesus with a very inadequate motive.

It says that “Jesus got up and went with him. I am sure that Jesus had plenty of other things going on that day that He didn’t have time to go and be with this dead woman. Yet, at the faith of the man, Jesus gets up and goes. So is this the precedent that Jesus wants us to set with our faith? Is Jesus more apt to respond to our desires if we just know that He will take care of whatever we ask? So as Jesus is walking away a woman who “has been bleeding for 12 years.” This is obviously no small cut. I am assuming it is some sort of menstrual discharge that this woman has been dealing with. But the injury is not what is important in this verse, no, what is important is the woman’s thought to herself. Her large amount of faith with such a simple task. She thinks to herself, “If only I could touch His cloak I know I would be healed.” Now this sounds like not a problem at all right? But think about it. If Jesus Christ was standing right in front of you right at this very moment, you would be terrified to even touch Him. I can imagine that His ambiance that He gives off is amazing and just His Lordship is noticeable. We would look at this woman though and may think that she is being a bit superstitious if anything. You know it’s like those people who think that there is a well somewhere that will make you younger if you go in it. While some may view this woman as being superstitious, others may say that her faith was overflowing with abundance. To be able to know that if you just touched Jesus’ clothes, you would be healed. How amazing is that. She didn’t even want to touch flesh or have Him put His hand on her, no; she just wanted to touch a string from His robe it says, so some may say that this woman came to Jesus with a very inadequate faith.

Now we come to the two blind men who follow Jesus around and yell at Him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Is this some sort of mockery that they are taunting Jesus with? Surely they know that Jesus must have some sort of “supernatural” power, because they wouldn’t be following Him if He didn’t. However, they plead to “have mercy on us, Son of David.” So Jesus in all of His sarcasticness says back to the men, “Do you believe that I can do this?” BOOM! Throws the situation right back into the lap of the harassers! Snooty religious people say that sarcasm is bad, and I agree in large amounts it gets annoying, but Jesus is being very sarcastic here when He says, “Do you believe I can do this?” Imagine if you will, looking at someone who claims to be GOD, and you are mocking Him and at the very moment of your laughter inside sets in, He says, “What, don’t you think if I touch your eyes that I can make you see? I am God you know that right?” So, as they tremble in fear, their response is amazing… “Yes, Lord.” HA! So they begin by mocking Him and just the forcefulness of His voice or how He controlled the situation makes them tremble and admit that Jesus is indeed the Lord of all Lord’s. So then He heals them and leaves them by putting the smack down. Probably knowing full well that they would go and tell all their friends, the NIV bible says that Jesus “warned them sternly.” “See to it that nobody hears about this.” So He sends them off with a warning to kind of scare them I assume, but it says in the next verse that they went and told everyone anyways. So He is Jesus, He must have known they were going to tell, so did He tell them not to just to throw His weight around a little? I mean He just healed their blindness, now He is like “Don’t tell people about this.” Come on, He is God; He knows they are going to tell. Yet He warns them anyways. So it is fair to say that the blind men came to Jesus with an inadequate conception of who He was.

So here’s the kicker, the ruler came to Jesus with an inadequate motive; the woman came to Jesus with an inadequate faith; the blind men came to Jesus with an inadequate conception of who He was. They all came to Jesus broken and inadequate; and He met them all right where they were at and met their needs. You see, it doesn’t matter how we come to Christ, it only matters that we come. No matter how inadequate or how imperfect we come to Him, His arms are always open waiting for us to jump in and be held tight.

So there are two lessons here. 1: Do not wait to ask Christ for help in life until our motives, our faith, and our theology are perfect. Just come to Him exactly as you are! #2: We have no right to criticize others whose motives we suspect, whose faith we question, and whose theology we believe to be wrong. Just as you went to the cross, broken and torn. All your baggage surrounding you and looking like a wet dog in the summer time, Jesus looked down to you and took you in. He opened His arms and held you close. Be sure to do the same to others. You know, you never know how you might impact someone’s life if you just take a moment to stop and listen.