18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” 28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” (Matthew 9:18–34, ESV)

Introduction

• Theme: Jesus collides with a world polluted by death and its many offshoots—shame, blindness, and spiritual captivity—providing his cleansing and kingdom to all who, however feebly, reach for him.

Jesus Can Transfer His Life to Us (9:18-26)

18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.

A ruler humbled himself (knelt) before Jesus with an urgent request.

• Matthew abbreviates this story to make a theological point—Mark and Luke give us many details Matthew does not.
  • Name: Jairus
  • Position: Ruler of synagogue in Capernaum
  • Original request: healing of potentially fatal sickness
  • Daughter’s age and status: 12 years old, and his only daughter.
  • Other details: crowds, the woman’s medical and financial history, the dialogue over who touched Jesus, and that he brought Peter, James, and John into the raising of the girl.
• Q: What was Matthew’s point? Let’s search further for the answer.

20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

As Jesus went with the ruler, a woman privately approached him to receive healing.

• She suffered for twelve long years at the hands of chronic uterine bleeding.
  • Barren: In a culture that placed a premium on childbearing, she had likely never married or had been divorced.
  • Unclean: According to the Law, she was ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:19-33, Num. 19:11-12). Not sinful, but unable to come in for worship with the covenant community until her bleeding stopped—and her uncleanness was transferred to the people and things she touched.
• She was unwilling to go public, but quietly wondered if touching the tassel of Jesus’ garment would trigger a healing.
• Matthew takes the focus off Jesus’ garment and puts it on Jesus—she was made well when he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (9:22).
  • Note: She is the only woman in the gospel Jesus addressed as “daughter.” What was Jesus’ point? Let’s search further for the answer.

23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

Jesus entered the ruler’s house, sent out the professional mourners, and raised the girl back to life.

• Flute players and the crowd: Hired mourners designed to announce that grief had befallen this beloved family.
• Jesus went in like Elijah and Elisha and raised the child (1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:32-37). They both raised sons, but he raised a daughter.
• The kingdom collides with darkness. Matthew included three triads of miracles. In them, Jesus—
  • Triad 1:
    • cleansed a leper
    • healed the centurion’s servant from afar
    • and healed Peter’s mother-in-law
  • Triad 2:
    • calmed the storm
    • delivered the demoniac
    • healed/forgave the paralytic
  • Triad 3 (begins with a two-parter):
    • cleansed the woman and raised from death
    • heals blind men
    • delivers a demon-oppressed man
• In other words, THIS IS ASTOUNDING!
  • The woman’s uncleanness and the girl’s death would have made anyone who touched them unclean—anyone except Jesus!
  • His cleanness and life were transferred to them.

Matthew’s Point: Jesus can transfer his cleanness and life into us.

• Example: Jesus is like an inverted hazmat suit.
• Given what Jesus does, should we really define holiness as merely separation?
  • Eden: The fall doesn’t make God flee—it makes man hide, and the cherubim guard the way back (Gen 3:8–9, 24).
  • Tabernacle: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” (Exod 25:8). Holy God now travels with a sinful people.
  • Temple: The glory settles, but already overflows the walls (1 Kgs 8:11, 27).
  • Prophets: A river flows out bringing life, and “I will put my Spirit within you” (Ezek 47:9; 36:27).
  • Jesus: The Word tabernacled among us (John 1:14). He touches the leper, the bleeding woman, the corpse—and his cleanness flows into them (Matt 8:3; 9:20–25).
  • Now: The veil tears; you are God’s temple (Matt 27:51; 1 Cor 3:16).
  • So: Holiness separates from sin in order to advance toward the sinner—and in Jesus, we catch his cleanness.
    • His holiness is not merely separative—but neither is it merely advancing. It is holiness that advances by bearing the cost of what separates.
• “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
  • What happened physically in Matthew 9 happens legally at Calvary. He takes our uncleanness; we take his cleanness.
  • The bleeding woman reached for a tassel; we reach for the cross. And we receive his imputed righteousness.

Refuse to be defined by what isolates you. Instead be defined by who has transferred his life into you.

• Let him call you “daughter” or “son.”
• For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15, ESV)

Jesus Can Include Us in His Good Kingdom (9:27-31)

27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”

Two blind men cry out to Jesus.

• They refer to him as the Son of David.
  • Matthew opened his gospel this way—The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (1:1).
  • But no one else has spoken of Jesus this way.
    • Not John the Baptist, the disciples, or the demonic realm.
• Matthew seems amazed—it took blind men to see that this is the promised Son of David who would sit on the throne forever.

28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” 31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

Jesus healed the two blind men.

• Jesus entered the house with them—the healing would be private.
• He interviewed them about their belief—do you believe that I am able? (9:28).
• He healed them—their eyes were opened (9:30).
• But he gave them a stern warning—see that no one knows about it (9:30).
  • They had noted him as the Messiah, a term filled with political-revolutionary baggage at that time. He needed time to show what being the Son of David truly looked like, otherwise people would import their preinstalled definitions onto him.
• But they disobeyed him.
  • On one hand, it is hard to blame them.
  • On the other hand, Matthew shows us that discipleship is more than faith. Faith in Jesus also means trusting his commands, not just his power.

Jesus included these men in his kingdom.

• Bold appeal: blind men hail Jesus as “Son of David”—staking everything on Davidic mercy.
• The Davidic backstory: besieging Jerusalem, the Jebusites mocked David by parading the blind and lame on the walls, claiming even cripples could repel him. David conquered the city and shunned “the lame and the blind, whom David’s soul hates” (2 Samuel 5:6–8).
  • Stunning reversal: those David’s soul “hated”, David’s Son welcomes and heals.
• Kingdom redefined: spiritual sight belongs to the outcast.
  • Jesus’ kingdom welcomes them in: “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14). The very ones barred from David’s house are received into the Son of David’s house.
  • The blind men knew this instinctively: They didn’t appeal to a generic miracle-worker; they appealed to David’s Son—trusting that this King’s mercy would overturn his father’s exclusion.
• A good kingdom is measured by whom it welcomes: Earthly kingdoms gather the strong and discard the weak. Jesus’ kingdom is good because it does the opposite—the weak, the outcast, the unseeing are precisely those he draws near, touches, and heals (Matthew 11:5; Isaiah 35:5).
  • Mercy required!

Jesus can include us in his good kingdom.

• The gospel logic: We come to this King not by parading our strength on the walls, but by crying from the roadside, “Son of David, have mercy.” His kingdom is good news because his mercy reaches where David’s sword would not.

Jesus Can Work With Our Little Faith (9:32-34)

32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

Various responses:

• Some were amazed.
• Some made excuses.
• And some had faith—an obvious emphasis of this section.
  • Jesus in our passage:
    • Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well. (9:22)
    • Do you believe I am able to do this? (9:28)
    • According to your faith let it be done to you. (9:29)
      • Note: This does not mean “in proportion to your faith” but “in response to your faith.” In other words, it wasn’t about how much faith they had or how impressive their faith was. It was simply that they had faith at all.
    • Even his statement to the mourners and the family seem geared towards stirring faith and putting out unbelief: Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping. (9:24)
  • Jesus in the broader passage:
    • Paralyzed man: Jesus saw their faith (9:2)
    • During the storm: Why are you afraid, O you of little faith? (8:26)
    • Of the centurion: Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (8:10)

Note the varied acts of faith in only this passage.

• The ruler’s faith: desperate confidence in Jesus, but only if Jesus went in person.
  • My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live (9:18).
  • My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live. (Mark 5:23)
  • He was not like the centurion who believed Jesus could heal with a word.
• The woman’s faith: semi-superstitious, apprehensive, quiet faith.
  • If I only touch his garment, I will be made well. (Matt. 9:21)
• The blind men’s faith: loud, pursuant, and disobedient.
  • And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. (9:30-31)
• The demoniac’s faith: proxy faith on loan from others.