In this story, Jesus is interrupted in His conversation with John’s disciples about fasting when a synagogue leader comes and kneels before Him to ask that He bring the man’s dead daughter back to life; an unusual request to be sure. Jesus heads for the man’s house, His disciples in tow, when a woman who had suffered from chronic bleeding for many years touched His cloak. She believed that if she could just touch His cloak that she would be healed of her affliction. When she managed to do so, Jesus stopped, telling her that her faith has healed her, and Matthew reports that at that moment, she was healed. Off again Jesus goes… just another day of bringing the Kingdom to earth.
When Jesus reached the man’s house, many people had gathered inside; Jesus told them to go, for the child was merely asleep. They actually laughed at Him, for they knew she was dead. The man managed to get the crowd out of his house and Jesus went to the girl and took her hand; she awakened and rose from her bed, very much alive. Matthew ends the scene by telling us that news of this spread through the region; somehow I suspect this might be a slight understatement.
In this section of Matthew’s Gospel, we see Jesus doing things. Remember that in chapters 5-7, we read His teaching as He proclaimed the Kingdom, teaching about the new way of life that followers of God would lead. In chapters 8-9 we are watching Jesus do the work of the Kingdom, and thus far, we have seen Him do some amazing things, but here for the first time, we see the ultimate victory of the Kingdom of Heaven over death itself, and this dear reader, is our great hope as followers of Jesus Christ and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. What a glorious thing it is to be His follower!
I was a trainer in Scouting, we always taught that the best way for people to learn was: instruct, demonstrate, test. I thought Jesus would have made a great Scouting trainer, because that is what he did with his disciples: instructed them on the Kingdom, demonstrated his authority, then sent them out to use what he taught them.
Yes indeed!
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To God be the glory, great things He has done!
Amen!
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