TEXT
Matthew 9:18-34 NASB
While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”
Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.
When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. This news spread throughout all that land.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.
As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
READ
With dizzying array, Matthew piles the stories one atop another: a dead girl raised, a hemorrhaging woman healed, two blind mine given sight, a mute man speaks. He grants no time to catch our breath; could this Jesus, Son of David, really be like this? Could he meet such needs, do such good, bring about such change?
Of course. That’s the kind of King he is. And he hasn’t stopped. Matthew’s dizzying picture of such grace is not about what Jesus did once but about what he does, then, now, and forever. When his Kingdom community gathers, he is there. When the community of his friends comes together, he is at work. Are you bleeding? dying? disgraced? Have all the doctors failed you? Come near, reach out—touch his sacramental clothes, and find your Savior here…
-Brian Rhea
Sinner with awe draw near,
And find thy Savior here,
In his ordinances still,
Touch His sacramental clothes;
Present in His power to heal,
Virtue from His body flows.
His body is the seat
Where all our blessings meet
Full of unexhausted worth,
Still it makes the sinner whole,
Pours Divine effusions forth,
Life to every dying soul.
Pardon, and power, and peace,
And perfect righteousness
From that sacred Fountain springs;
Washed in His all-cleansing blood
Rise, ye worms, to priests and kings,
Rise in Christ, and reign with God.
—Charles and John Wesley
Hymns on the Lord’s Supper #39