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According to Your Faith
According to Your Faith Matthew 9:14-34 Key Verse: 9:29 “Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you....’” Last week we thought about the compassion of Jesus who welcomed and healed all types of people. Jesus was willing to welcome and heal the type of people we would most likely avoid. First, Jesus took time to forgive the sins of a helpless paralytic, but when the teachers of the law saw this they claimed that he was blaspheming. Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he rebuked them and demonstrated his power to forgive sins by telling the paralytic to get up, take up his mat and go home. Next Jesus reached out to a truly unlovable man. Jesus called a tax collector, a traitor and a person known as a public sinner, to be his disciples. No one in Israel wanted to be seen with a tax collector, yet Jesus wanted Matthew to be his disciple. More than that, Jesus was willing to sit down and have a feast with all of Matthew’s tax collector friends. Jesus will accept anyone who comes to him. Jesus will heal anyone who comes to him. Jesus not only heals a person physically, he heals us completely, both physically and spiritually. Today we want to think more about Jesus healing ministry, but with a slightly different focus. Today we need to focus on our faith, because it is our faith in Jesus that enables him to work through us. Jesus can do all things, but it is according to our faith that we can experience his life giving power. May God bless our study today and give us the faith we need to experience the life giving power of Jesus. First, Jesus is questioned about his disciples (13-18) As Jesus enjoyed his feast with Matthew and his tax collector friends several people came and questioned him about his actions. First, it was the Pharisees, who couldn’t understand why Jesus would associate with public sinners. The next group of people who came to question him were a rather surprising group. They were disciples of John the Baptist. They wanted to know why Jesus’ disciple didn’t fast like they and the disciples of the Pharisees did. These disciples of John were no doubt very pious young men who really wanted to live a life that was pleasing to God. They fasted and prayed regularly. Probably they were fasting and praying for God to send the Messiah. Even though their teacher, John, was now in jail, they continued to follow the way of life that he had shown them. It was an ascetic life which rejected all of the worldly pleasures in the hope that they would please God and one day see God’s Messiah. Their problem was not the same as the Pharisees, whose concern with their outward appearance made them very self-righteous. John’s disciples’ problem was that they had missed the point of John’s teaching. They did not recognize who Jesus was. They were still following John, while John was trying to point them to Jesus. Jesus gently rebuke them using language that they should have understood. In John 3, when John’s disciples came to him asking why Jesus and his disciples were baptizing and gaining more popularity than John, John explained his role to his disciples using the analogy of a bride and bridegroom. Jesus uses the same language here to tell these disciples that he is the Messiah that they have been waiting for. Instead of fasting, John’s disciples should be following Jesus and rejoicing just like Jesus disciples. A time would come, and is here now, when Jesus is no longer here physically. Jesus says that now is the time that we should be fasting and praying. Jesus also uses one of the best know analogies in all of scripture. He talks about pouring new wine into new wineskins and not into old ones. What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that following him cannot be done in the old traditional Jewish way based strictly on the attempt to follow the law. Jesus way of life is a completely new way of life. It is a life of true freedom and peace knowing that he has forgiven our sins. It is not a life that is bound by tradition and ceremonies. It is a life of mission with endless possibilities. It is a life of following Jesus not a life of following a set of rules. We must be completely new wineskins if we are to lead the life that Jesus calls us to. Second, Jesus is the Life-giver (18-26) Look at verse 18. While Jesus was talking about the new work of God through the forgiveness of sins, a synagogue ruler came and knelt before him, pleading for Jesus to raise his dead daughter to life. According to Mark and Luke, the girl was alive but dying, and Jesus planted resurrection faith in the synagogue ruler. However, Matthew omits this part of the story in order to focus more clearly on Jesus' messianic power to raise the dead. Generally, synagogue rulers were very conservative, adhering to tradition, and were not in favor of Jesus' new wineskin ministry. But this synagogue ruler was different. He had an open mind to Jesus. In fact, he brought the painful problem of his dead daughter to Jesus. When a parent dies, it is very painful for the children, but when a child dies, it is unbearable for the parents. Many parents were so sorrowful in such a time that they became irrational. What did this ruler do? When he heard about Jesus who heals all kinds of diseases and forgives sins, hope arose in his heart. He wanted to come to Jesus. But there was a great challenge. Jesus had not raised anyone from the dead. This ruler must have reasoned that Jesus could raise the dead, based on what he had heard about Jesus. So he could plead with Jesus by faith. He knelt before Jesus and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her and she will live" (18b). He had resurrection faith. Jesus heard his plea, got up, and went with him (19). On the way to the ruler's house, an unexpected thing happened: a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus. We don't know exactly what kind of disease she had, but it was clear that she was bleeding chronically and was helpless to stop it. Mark tells us that she had spent all she had on doctors, but instead of getting better, she got worse (Mk 5:26). This aggravating problem did not last only one month, or even a year, but twelve years. Twelve years is a long time. The book of Leviticus says, such a condition was regarded as unclean (Lev 15:19-27). If she contacted anyone, she would make them unclean, so she must have suffered from guilt and shame, and been deeply withdrawn. She was crying alone in her room every day. She cried over her disease; she cried over her loneliness; she cried because no one understood her. In fact, she was dying without hope. But when she heard about Jesus, a seed of faith was born in her heart. She believed Jesus could heal her and wanted to come to Jesus. However, it was not easy. She was ashamed of her condition. She must have feared rejection. She might have doubted whether Jesus would receive a person like her. But the power of faith within her enabled her to overcome these obstacles. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed" (21). With this faith, she came and touched Jesus. How did Jesus respond? Look at verse 22. "Jesus turned and saw her. 'Take heart, daughter,' he said, 'your faith has healed you.' And the woman was healed at that moment." It is amazing that Jesus accepted her as a daughter. She was unclean and no one wanted to look at her. But Jesus called her "daughter." Jesus accepts anyone who comes to him by faith as his own precious child. Jesus comforted her like a father, saying, "Take heart." She might have felt guilty for touching Jesus without permission, and afraid that he would rebuke her, but Jesus' tender words assuaged her soul and planted God's love in her heart. Fear and anguish disappeared; she felt loved and treasured by Jesus, and protected by Jesus, as his own precious daughter. Then Jesus blessed her, saying, "Your faith has healed you." Jesus acknowledged her touch as the expression of her faith, and her faith as the means of her healing. When Jesus blessed her faith, she felt in her body that the chronic, aggravating bleeding stopped immediately. Healing power surged throughout her body. She did not bring any good works to Jesus; she had no accomplishment to offer him. She was not worthy to receive blessing based on her merit, but when she just believed in Jesus, she was healed. Jesus credited her faith highly. This woman illustrates the power of faith. She said to herself, "If I just touch his cloak I will be healed." The act of touching his cloak sprang from the faith in her heart. This kind of faith worked mightily. Jesus blesses those who truly believe in him from their hearts. However, as the book of Hebrews teaches, this does not mean that all of our problems will be solved. Some heroes of faith did not experience victory in this world; rather they suffered much. Still, the Lord blessed their faith; it was with spiritual blessings which are even more valuable than blessings in this world. Look at verse 23. Jesus entered the synagogue ruler's house. He saw a noisy crowd and people playing pipes, making an environment to mourn the death of the girl. Under the power of death, people could not but sorrow and grieve. Jesus said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep" (24a). Jesus broke up their funeral service and drove out all the mourners. To Jesus, who has divine power to give life and to raise the dead, such people must go away. Jesus told a similar group of people that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Mt 22:32). To the living God, physical death is nothing more than sleep. We all like to sleep, right? How pleasant it is to sleep after working hard, and to wake up refreshed and invigorated. Jesus views death like sleep. Those who do not have faith in Jesus, even though they seem to be vigorous, are nothing but dead men walking. However, those who have faith in Jesus are not under the power of death; rather, they enjoy eternal life even while living in this world. They can praise and thank God in any circumstances and live joyful and powerful lives. Look at verse 24b. "But they laughed at him." To them, raising the dead was ridiculous. They did not believe that Jesus could do it. They were upset that Jesus told them to go away. Jesus paid no attention to the unbelieving people. He put them all outside. Then he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up (25). She began to walk around and asked, "Why is everyone crying? Can I have something to eat?" In this way Jesus revealed his messianic power to raise the dead. News of this spread through all that region (26), bringing great light to those walking in darkness. II. Jesus is the Son of David (27-34) Look at verse 27a. "As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him...." There are so many miserable people in the world, but among them, the blind may be the most miserable. The world God created is so beautiful. There are so many beautiful flowers, each with its own shape, color, and budding pattern. There are seasons of spring with its new life, summer with its bright sunshine, fall with its golden fruit, and winter with its white snow. What a beautiful world! Through the beauty of nature, we can appreciate God our Creator and find refreshment for our souls. However, blind men cannot see any of the visual beauty of this world. To them, everything is darkness all the time. As these blind men were miserable, spiritually blind men are also miserable. They cannot see the spiritual world, the world of faith, or the glorious kingdom of God, where God reigns. They think the visible world is everything, and that there is no more. They live in spiritual darkness and under the power of sin and death. The spiritually blind may be more miserable than the physically blind. The blind men in this passage desired to be healed by Jesus, so they followed him. We don't know how they followed him, but they followed him. They cried out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" They called him “Son of David.” This was not just any ordinary form of address. This was a well-known messianic title. It indicated that they believed Jesus was the promised Messiah and that they believed he could heal them. Jesus seemed to take no notice of them at all. The Bible says Jesus simply went indoors. It seemed that he was avoiding or ignoring them. Needy people are usually very sensitive. When they are ignored, they tend to get discouraged and upset; they may get mad and curse others, but these blind men continued to follow Jesus. They were determined to bring their request to Jesus. They had a never-give-up spirit that comes from faith. Jesus asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (28) They replied, "Yes, Lord." Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you"; and their sight was restored. They could see Jesus' smiling, affectionate face. Jesus warned them sternly not to tell anyone about what had happened. Jesus did not want unnecessary attention that would distract him and his disciples. Yet the men were so overjoyed about their healing that they went out and spread the news about Jesus all over that region (30,31). While the men were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. Jesus drove out the demon and the mute man spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel" (33). However, the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons" (34). When they rejected the obvious truth about Jesus, they became liars--children of the devil (Jn 8:44). Through today's passage we can learn who Jesus is and what Jesus wants us to do. First of all, we saw John’s disciples, who had faith, but they could not see Jesus for who he really is. These disciples were contrasted with people who saw Jesus with the eyes of faith for who he truly is. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is God. In Jesus is life and healing. In order to accept the gifts that Jesus brings we must have faith that he can heal us and give us eternal life. Without faith it is impossible to please God, but with faith we can experience the life-giving work of Jesus in our lives. |
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