Matthew 9:18-26
18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader 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 at that moment.
23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 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.
Questions:
ReplyDelete- Did Jesus heal the woman, or did her faith? What part did her faith play?
- Why did Jesus say the girl was not dead but asleep?
http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/4009.htm says:
ReplyDeleteb. If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well: Because this woman's condition was embarrassing, and because she was ceremonially unclean and would be condemned for touching Jesus or even being in a pressing crowd, she wanted to do this secretly. She would not openly ask Jesus to be healed, but she thought "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."
i. "These fringes were four tassels of hyacinth blue worn by a Jew on the corners of his outer garment…It was meant to identify a Jew as a Jew, and as member of the chosen people, no matter where he was; and it was meant to remind a Jew every time he put on and took off his clothes that he belonged to God." (Barclay)
ii. This also shows us that Jesus dressed like other people of His time. He felt no need to distinguish Himself by the clothes He wore. "In dress Jesus was not noncomformist." (Bruce)
iii. To the best of our knowledge, there was no promise or pattern that touching the garment of Jesus would bring healing. It seems that the woman believed this in a somewhat superstitious way. Yet even though her faith had elements of error and superstition, she believed in the healing power of Jesus and His garment served as a point of contact for that faith. There are many things that we could find wrong with this woman's faith. Yet her faith was in Jesus; and the object of faith is much more important than the quality or even quantity of faith.
iv. "She was ignorant enough to think that healing went from him unconsciously; yet her faith lived despite her ignorance, and triumphed despite her bashfulness." (Spurgeon)
c. And the woman was made well: Her faith, though imperfect, was enough to receive what Jesus wanted to give her. Her 12-year disease was immediately cured.
d. When He saw her, He said: This woman hoped to receive something from Jesus without drawing any attention to herself or her embarrassing problem. Jesus insisted on making public notice of her, and He did this for good reasons.
· He did it so she would know that she was healed, having heard an official declaration of it from Jesus.
· He did it so others would know she was healed, because her ailment was private in nature.
· He did it so she would know why she was healed, that it was by her faith and not because of a superstitious touch in and of itself.
· He did it so that she would not think she had stolen a blessing from Jesus, and so she would never feel that she needed to hide from Him.
· He did it so that the ruler of the synagogue would see the power of Jesus at work and therefore have more faith himself for his ill daughter.
· He did it so that He could bless her in a special way, giving her an honored title that we never see Jesus give to any other: daughter.
My two cents on faith and healing:
ReplyDeleteI looked at articles on this for a week. There are certain topics that really brings the kooks out of the woodwork. Faith and healing is one of them.
In this story, Jesus was the source of healing. The woman had enough faith to push her way through a crowd in her unclean state to just touch the hem (tassel) of Jesus' robe. The Holy Spirit responded to her audaciousness to give her her desire.
We as parent sometimes react this way. When our kids do something so out of the ordinary and good, we take such delight in them. We shower them with praise and sometimes reward them. We may say something like, "You did so good, you have brought this (ice cream cone) on yourself!" And in fact, they did do something so good that we couldn't help but respond to them - because we love them.
God loves us, and loves seeing faith in us. Having faith in this world really delights God. But His response is His power at work in our lives. It's never automatic and always involved a conscience response from God.
But you might say, "But this healing wasn't a conscience response from Jesus." This gets into the question of the nature of Jesus while He was here on earth. There are some who believe that Jesus was omniscient, omnipotent, etc, while He was here on earth.
I believe that Jesus, on His own was a lot like us (except He was sinless, which does make a big difference). Jesus had access to God/the Holy Spirit who came upon Him at His baptism. The Holy Spirit acted through Jesus to heal people (and do other miracles) in much the same way the Holy Spirit acted through the apostles to do these things.
So, in my opinion, God / the Holy Spirit acted through Jesus to heal the woman, Jesus felt something happen and wondered what it was. That's why He was asking around.
The point of this is that miracles are is a response of God to seeing faith in us (among other things). We need to keep in mind that faith does not have any power within itself to do anything. Faith does not unlock hidden power within ourselves. And, I had to explain the Holy Spirit's role (since some may conclude that Jesus didn't have anything to do with it since He didn't even know about it) in the miracle or people would come to the wrong conclusion.
Here's one of my pet peeves - when I hear the phrases
ReplyDeleteFaith changes things or its cousin, prayer changes things.
People often treat faith and prayer like some Harry Potteresque charm to cause something to float in the air. No, faith and prayer are communications with God who is the actual causer of the events.
I like your last paragraph Bruce. "Faith does not unlock hidden power within ourselves" as I think thats what I am saying.
I understand that language can't always be taken quite so literally (even Jesus seems to use it as he says your faith has healed you) but misunderstanding this can push us to some very bad theology.
I agree with what you are saying Von. I used to have almost the opposite view, in that faith accomplished nothing at all (except that it believed in what God wanted to do anyway).
DeleteA long time ago going through Matthew. When I got to the first examples of Jesus saying to someone something like, "Your faith has healed you," I remember thinking it was an anomaly. At the time, I thought that it was all God, and God decided when to heal someone or not (and that it was all for His glory). But when I kept reading example after example in Matthew of Jesus talking about what faith does, I had to back off my position.
I hope my current position on faith comes closer to reflecting reality. My position is that God takes such delight when we have faith in Him that He will move things as a result of it. I might go so far as to say that our faith is a driver of God's ultimate plan. While I used to view God's plan as something solid and immovable that He made before the beginning of time, I now have the view that our faith is something that is woven into God's plan. So am I saying that God's plan is fluid and depends on us? Yes and no. God's plan is solid and our faith-actions were predetermined, and went into His plan from the beginning. (Whew, my time has run out and I really dropped a theological bomb). Bye.
On why Jesus said the girl was sleeping, http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/28482/she-is-only-sleeping says:
ReplyDeleteThe Bible often uses the word sleep to refer to those who are dead, especially those who are going to be resurrected to life. So I think Jesus meant that the girl was not dead forever, without hope.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning (Psalm 90:5)
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,” (John 11:11-14)
Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36)
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6)
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)
http://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.sr/CT/BS/k/1491/Miracles-Jesus-Christ-Resurrecting-Jarius-Daughter.htm says:
ReplyDeleteWhy does Jesus say that she is "but sleeping"? Matthew 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52.
Comment: In that culture, crowds of relatives and neighbors commonly showed up at the dwelling of the deceased to mourn. In the midst of this confusion and noise, Jesus declares, "The child is not dead but sleeping." Being ignorant of His use of "sleep" for death, the mourners deride Him.
Christ says the same of His dead friend, Lazarus, in John 11:11. Death as sleep is a euphemism common to many nations. It intimates that, even more sure than morning comes to a sleeper in bed, an everlasting morning will be provided for the righteous dead waiting in the grave for the resurrection. Jesus views death as a temporary sleep because His Father has the power to resurrect anyone from death. God can resurrect whom He wants when He wants, but He has an organized plan, purpose, and schedule for resurrections (I Corinthians 15:20-24; Revelation 20:5-6).
3. Why does Christ exclude the mourners from observing Him heal the girl? Matthew 9:25; Mark 5:40; Luke 8:54.
Comment: Not wanting to cast His pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6) or to make a spectacle in front of unbelievers (Matthew 13:58), Jesus expels all but the girl's parents. By clearing the room of an excessively noisy, grieving crowd, He brings privacy, peace, quiet, and stillness to the situation.
In addition, these neighbors and curiosity seekers had already seen His mighty works, and He does not want God's gift to be considered entertainment. He never meant His miracles to coerce belief or amaze humanity. Nevertheless, He is quick to intervene when misery and suffering need to be relieved and people need to be exposed to God's glory.
Jesus resurrects Jairus' daughter in the presence of five appropriate witnesses: the father, mother, and only three of His disciples, Peter, James, and John. To establish the miracle's veracity, He uses two unconverted people and three who were being converted (Deuteronomy 19:15; II Corinthians 13:1).
4. Why does Jesus command the girl's parents to feed her when she has just been healed? Mark 5:43; Luke 8:55.
Comment: His attention to such detail reveals His characteristic kindness and sympathy. That He orders nourishment suggests that her body was still weak and needed to be strengthened, showing that she was resurrected to physical existence. Those who saw her did not see a spirit but a human. Her body, still dependent on natural laws, needed to be nourished.
Christ finishes by requesting that the parents "tell no one what had happened" (Mark 5:43; Luke 8:56), partly to save the little girl from rude gawkers, but most probably so that fame would not hinder her future spiritual life. The world scorns the reality of resurrection because sin separates them from God, but the day is not far off when the "dead in Christ" will respond to His simple but powerful command, "Arise!" (John 5:28-29; I Thessalonians 4:16).
my 2 cents: What is the nature of death? Does a part of us (our souls) not really die, but just sleep until Jesus wakes us up? Or is death a complete unmaking of everything that we were, and Jesus remakes us on the last Day?
ReplyDeleteI started to conclude the former from the verses two articles back. But, taking a closer look, I am unsure again which way it is. I'm not sure if the Bible is clear about this.
Except there is the story of the Saul and the Medium (Witch of Endor) speaking to Samuel's spirit. If it was actually Samuel's spirit, then it must be true that "souls" sleep while we are dead. If it was not Samuel, but a counterfeit, then you can't conclude that.
Regarding why Jesus used the word sleep in particular I think its a good exercise to imagine what Jesus' hearers would have envisioned when they heard Him. Sleep is something common to everyone. Its temporary. We wake up in the morning. While asleep we are not conscious. When we add that Jesus demonstrated that He could wake the girl I think the hearers could learn several things
Delete- Everyone dies
- Everyone who dies will live again
- While dead we are unconscious
- Jesus has power over death
The way the Bible uses the language which is often interpreted soul and spirit is rather hazy. Genesis says God breathed into man and he became a living soul. Became, not was given. The body made alive is nephesh (Hebrew for soul). But previously animals are described as nephesh. Sometimes the nephesh is described as dead. The word use doesn't really clear up in the NT either. We are told that God can destroy both body and soul however.
ReplyDeletePersonally I tend to think of the soul not existing as apart from the body. It is not the body but without a living body it doesn't really exist except in memory or some miraculous event. When the body is given life the soul is alive. I think of it more as the personality or mind. My best analogy is the magnetic waves an electro-magnet gives off. The waves are not the electro-magent but exist as long as the electro-magent is powered. When the power is pulled the waves disappear.
Regarding the story of Samuel and the Witch I would hesitate to take it very far to devise a doctrine of the soul. If we assume this is Samuel's soul and that a medium can really call the soul we'd also need to surmise
- souls live in the earth - vs 13
- souls are visible - vs 13
- souls look in appearance like the body they are associated with. - vs 14 Well, at least until the body decays in the grave. Does a baby's soul look like the baby?
- souls wear clothes - vs 14
- souls get annoyed - vs 15
- souls predict the future and/or are talked to by God - vs 16
Given those items I am not persuaded this is a normal turn of events. I rather think this is either demonic activity or that God has done a miracle in bringing Samuel's soul\spirit\personality\?? to some type of material existence for this specific occasion.
But we have all been taught that the devil wears a red suit and carries a pitchfork, and that souls are the eternal part of us wrapped in a temporary body.
DeleteSeriously, it's funny that someone from a different background comes along and suggests a different understanding of something that I have already known and never really thought about. But, I can't off-the-top-of-my-head support the original teaching from the Bible. I realize now that I really don't know what a soul is, what parts man is made up of, or what happens between death and resurrection. Not without a lot more study of the Bible.
Of course these things are all just curiosities. I don't expect that the Bible will explain all of these things very clearly, because it doesn't really matter to the message of the gospel. What is very interesting is the process of separating man's teachings on things from what the Bible actually says. Those of us who have been going to church all our lives need to be separating what we have learned from man from what we know is in the Bible. And we need to be open to the fact that we have a lot of man's teaching in us, and not be shocked when someone challenges what has always been "gospel" to us.
I agree that we should be willing to question our beliefs. And be willing to allow grace for differing beliefs where the Bible is not always clear. And where scripture is clear we should be willing to adjust our beliefs even if our culture is not telling the same story.
DeleteOn one point I disagree. Sometimes when we don't question there are things that arise to be more than just curiosities. Bad theology can happen when things are not searched out and queried. And then that can lead to something else again. For example,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatory
leads to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence
And I believe these are not just historical issues but questions for today. Even good theology spoken unclearly can morph into bad.
I think there's a range of reactions to differing beliefs. One wrong reaction is to accept something without consideration, saying, "I believe this, you believe that - who cares?" (like you said, this leads down the road to bad theology). On the other end of the spectrum, we can stubbornly hold onto our beliefs (once again without consideration) and just assume that anyone who disagrees with us is a heretic. That leads to our being stuck in beliefs that lead to bad theology.
DeleteThe middle road is to consider someone else's differing beliefs against what the Bible says. That's always leads to good things - those being: 1. We reconfirm our correct beliefs against someone else's non-Biblical beliefs. 2. We identify areas in which the Bible is not clear, and we back off of beliefs that we had on questionable areas. 3. We find that what we believed is not based on what the Bible says and we change our belief because of it.
However, to do this, we cannot only use our intellect - we must also be open to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.