The Newness of Life in the KingdomMatt. 9:14-26 sermon manuscript

6/24/18

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood,” Jesus said the night before he died.1 In that same conversation, he also said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”2 The apostle Paul later would write, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”3 And, in another place, he writes, “We were buried…with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”4 And, a little further on in the same letter, he explains how “we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”5 A new covenant, a new commandment, a new creation, newness of life, a new way of serving—Jesus has changed everything. He has brought newness into this old world. And, when he comes into your life, he changes everything, too. He brings a deep and lasting newness to your life.

But what does that newness look like? As we began looking at Matthew chapter 9 last week, we read about how Jesus healed a paralytic and even forgave his sins. The Jewish scribes couldn’t handle the newness of a man who claimed the authority to forgive sins. Then, Jesus summoned a despised tax collector to follow him as a disciple, Matthew, the author of this very Gospel. And then Matthew invites Jesus to join him at his home for a party with other tax collectors and other sinners. The Pharisees couldn’t handle the newness of a popular rabbi and known miracle-worker sitting down to eat with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus refuses to fit into their pre-conceived notions.

As we press on in Matthew chapter 9, some time later on,6 after Jesus has been feasting with tax collectors and sinners some disciples of John the Baptist approach with a question for Jesus.

1 Luke 22:20.2 John 13:34.3 2 Cor. 5:17.4 Rom. 6:4.5 Rom. 7:6.6 The chronology here is difficult. The way it reads in Matthew, we would probably assume that John the

Baptist’s followers approach Jesus at Matthew’s house. In fact, that is the way I read it for the past two weeks! However, I ran into trouble connecting this with Mark’s and Luke’s account which both have the restoration to life of Jairus’s daughter and healing of the bleeding woman separate from the question about fasting. Matthew connects the stories with the phrase “while he was saying these things,” referring to his teaching about the new wine, which is his response to their question about fasting. Mark and Luke both have the healings occurring after Jesus returns from the Gadarenes/Gerasenes, across the Sea of Galilee, and I kept trying to tie these stories back to the feast at Matthew’s house, but it just won’t work. Then, I realized that all three Gospel writers connect the fasting question to the feast at Matthew’s house, but none of them explicitly say that the question came while Jesus was at Matthew’s house. I had assumed that. All of them connect the feast with the question about fasting because it puts Jesus’s answer to the question in a clearer context. It seems that the disciples of John catch Jesus to ask him this question after he returns from across the Sea of Galilee, as soon as he lands, and then, while Jesus is answering their question, Jairus approaches. See the comments of William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (New Testament Commentary 9; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1973), pgs. 426-427, which finally straightened me out! See also his Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (New Testament Commentary 11; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1978), pg. 454, where he suggests, “It would seem that when Jesus landed, the disciples of John the Baptist were waiting for him, with their question about fasting….It was while he was still speaking with them that Jairus made his request.”

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Let’s read verses 14 and 15, Matthew chapter 9, verses 14-15: Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Here we learn that the followers of John the Baptist have something in common with the Pharisees, which probably isn’t a good thing. The wording of the question is somewhat humorous; it sounds like they are asking Jesus to explain the reason why they and the Pharisees fast and also the reason why his followers don’t fast. But, of course, what they want to know is why Jesus’s followers don’t fast.7 They’ve been feasting, quite publicly, even in the home of Matthew the tax collector. Perhaps we could say that Jesus and his followers were fasting from fasting.8 Jesus’s response seems to indicate that fasting in general is inappropriate for Jesus and his followers.

Look at the first part of his answer again in verse 15. He asks a rhetorical question: Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The expected answer is, “No, of course not. Fasting as an expression of mourning is not appropriate during a wedding. Weddings should be accompanied by feasting and celebration.” When you go to a wedding, you shouldn’t act like you’re at a funeral! In his answer, he highlights one of the primary purposes for fasting: it was an appropriate expression of grief.9

The reason given for celebration is the presence of the Groom. Now, Jesus is using a metaphor. Jesus did not marry a woman during his lifetime. But, he is also speaking theologically. He is subtly identifying himself as the Groom of Israel from the Old Testament, who was God himself. Many Old Testament passages speak of God as the Groom of Israel or refer to Israel as God’s wife, and some passages look forward to a day when their marriage would be made new.10 Jesus is essentially saying, “I am God, the Groom of Israel, and I have come to take my bride home with me!” In a twist on the imagery, Jesus refers to wedding guests, and it’s clear that these friends refer to his disciples, his followers. The reason I call this a “twist” is because his disciples, his followers will become his bride. Nevertheless, Jesus is viewing the wedding from the vantage point of its preparation, the pre-wedding celebration, if you will. He’s highlighting the joy of anticipation, not only between bride and Groom, but also among friends and family of the bride and Groom. In any case, his point is clear: Jesus is with his disciples; therefore, fasting is inappropriate.11

7 Cf. Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 (Word Biblical Commentary 33A; Dallas, Word, 1993), pgs. 242-243, who writes, “Matthew’s abbreviation of Mark results in the peculiar, almost humorous, ‘Why do we [ἡμεῖς] fast?’ The point, however, is not that they did not know why they fasted but that they wondered why Jesus and his disciples did not fast.”

8 This turn of phrase was inspired by Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth (Preaching the Word series; Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), pg. 250, who writes, “Instead he teaches them that his disciples are taking a fast from fasting because there is a wedding in town—a messianic jubilee!”

9 Cf. Hagner, Matthew, pg. 242, who writes, “In v 15 Matthew has substituted πενθεῖν, ‘grieve,’ for Mark’s νηστεύειν, ‘fast,’ thus calling attention to the essential nature of fasting.”

10 See, for example, Hos. 2:14-23.11 Cf. Piper, Hunger for God, pg. 36, who writes, “Fasting is for times of yearning and aching and longing.

But the bridegroom of Israel is here. After a thousand years of dreaming and longing and hoping and waiting, he is here! The absence of fasting in the band of disciples was a witness to the presence of God in their midst.”

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But then he speaks of something unexpected, the removal of the Groom. Now, if you follow the imagery, you might expect that this “removal” is the joyous removal of the Groom to go be alone with his bride. However, Jesus seems to indicate an ominous removal here, because then it will be time for his disciples to fast as an expression of grief and mourning. So, what’s he talking about? Most students of Scripture conclude that Jesus is referring to his upcoming murder. He will be “taken away” violently by sinful people and executed on a Roman cross.12 So, until Jesus’s death, fasting is not appropriate for his followers, but after his death it will again be appropriate.

Jesus is going to elaborate on this using a couple more metaphors, but before we look at those, I want to take a few minutes to talk about Christian fasting. John Piper regards these verses as the most important in the Bible on the topic of fasting,13 so it’d be good to step back and get the big picture in place from the Scriptures. Fasting is quite simply abstaining from eating or drinking for a period of time. It can be limited to certain kinds of food or drink. Recently, it has become common to “fast” from things besides food, like fasting from Facebook use, or from watching movies. However, this is not in the same category as true fasting, because true fasting is withholding from yourself an essential, something you truly need.14

Did you know that fasting is not a specifically Christian practice? Fasting has been practiced as a feature of religious devotion in almost every religion throughout history. But, it’s not even a distinctly religious practice. Also throughout history, fasting has been used as both a political strategy and a physical health strategy.

Now, I’m going to say something that may shock you. Are you ready? Fasting is not a distinctly biblical practice. That is to say, it is nowhere commanded in all of Scripture. Now, let me qualify that before you all get out your computer concordances and try to prove me mistaken. There are five occasions in the Old Testament where someone in Israel’s leadership “proclaimed a fast.” So, on five occasions in Israel’s history, someone called all the people together to fast for a period of time.15 But there are no commands in the Mosaic Law for Israelites to fast either publicly or privately.16 Now, many folks assume that the command to “afflict yourselves” on the Day of Atonement was intended to include fasting,17 and that is what Jews began to practice at some point in their history. But that “afflict yourselves” means to fast remains unclear and an assumption.18 From verses like Psalm 35:13, which says, “I have afflicted myself with fasting,” it

12 Cf. Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew (The New American Commentary 22; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), pg. 158, who writes, “Apairō (to take from) seems to imply a violent removal, perhaps alluding to Isa 53:8 and probably foreshadowing Jesus’ crucifixion.”

13 John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1997), pg. 34.

14 See the helpful blog post of Tim Challies, “Fast from Food, Not Facebook,” at https://www.challies.com/articles/fast-from-food-not-facebook/.

15 See 1 Kgs. 21:8-14 (Jezebel); 2 Chron. 20:3 (Jehoshaphat); Ezra 8:21 (Ezra); Jer. 36:9 (the people); Joel 1:14; 2:12, 15, though using a different phrase (Joel).

16 Cf. Eugene H. Merrill, “Fast, Fasting,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (edited by Walter A. Elwell; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996), pg. 245, who writes, “Fasting is nowhere commanded in the Torah and, in fact, is never attested earlier than the time of the judges of Israel (cf. Judg. 20:26).” It seems that he is mistaken on his final comment, for we see Moses fasting in Exodus 34:28.

17 See Lev. 16:29, 31; 23:27, 29, 32. Cf. also Num. 29:7; 30:13.18 Cf. Carroll Stuhlmueller, Rebuilding with Hope: A Commentary on the Books of Haggai and Zechariah

(International Theological Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1988), pgs. 104-105, who writes, “Yet in the

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would seem that you have to make it explicit with the actual word “fasting” to see a reference to fasting in the phrase “afflict yourselves.”19 In other words, you can “afflict yourselves” in lots of different ways, and fasting is one of those ways.

Fasting accompanies prayer often throughout the Bible, and there may be some personal value in the practice, but let’s be careful about insisting that, for Christians, it is inherently something that will improve your spiritual life, or it’s something that every Christian ought to do. The Bible never, as far as I can tell, explains a special spiritual significance for fasting. Now, I’m sure that many of you could share experiences of how fasting has helped you personally. And there are tons of books out there that talk about how fasting increases spiritual power (one writer even called it a “spiritual atomic bomb…to destroy the strongholds of evil and usher in a great revival and spiritual harvest around the world”)20, enables spiritual breakthroughs, and guarantees certain answers to prayer, and those books contain story after story as evidence that fasting caused these wonderful things to happen in their lives. I remain skeptical of those stories. Some of them have been examined and shown to be fabricated. But I think most of them are the result of failing to heed a well-known principle from science that should apply in theology and, especially, when we’re evaluating our experiences: Correlation does not necessarily imply causation. You line up two separate things in your life, and you say one caused the other. For example, you might say, “I got a check in the mail that covered a bill I couldn’t pay because I fasted twice last week.” Two things happened: you got a check in the mail and you fasted twice last week. You have chosen to connect those two things as cause and effect. Could it be that God simply worked in someone’s heart that week to send you the exact amount of money you needed completely by his grace, apart from consideration of whether or not you had been fasting? God nowhere in the Bible, as far as I can tell, ever promises any kind of specific benefit to come from fasting. Jesus did say in the Sermon on the Mount that your Father will reward you if you fast properly. When Pastor Barry preached from that passage in Matthew 6, he emphasized how the reward promised seems to be heavenly, eternal rewards, not so much temporary, earthly rewards, like money in the bank. And, the reward is not so much promised for fasting itself but for the attitude and motive while fasting.

In light of this biblical framework for fasting—the facts that fasting is never commanded for God’s people and no spiritual significance is ever specified for fasting—I view fasting as something we could label a cultural practice that, when done with a certain attitude or for a certain purpose, may provide some benefit for the individual who chooses to fast. Fasting was common as an expression of mourning and grief, repentance, or lamenting because of some crisis.21 And you can see those purposes clearly in the Old Testament examples of fasting.

Also, corporate fasting is common in Scripture, with a few examples of Christians fasting together in the book of Acts. I think it’s corporate fasting, in particular, that is in view in our

ritual for Yom Kippur fasting is not explicitly mentioned, only that ‘you shall afflict yourselves, and shall do no work.’”

19 See also Isa. 58:3, 5, where the ESV translates the same phrase “humble(d) ourselves/himself.”20 Bill Bright, “7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer,”

https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/fasting/7-steps-to-fasting.html21 Cf. Merrill, “Fast, Fasting,” pg. 245, who writes, “Without exception it has to do with a sense of need and

dependence, of abject helplessness in the face of actual or anticipated calamity. It is in examining these situations that the theological meaning and value of fasting are to be discovered.”

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passage this morning. The disciples of John the Baptist, as a group, were fasting; the Pharisees, as a group, were fasting. The question is: will the disciples of Jesus, as a group, fast? In Acts, churches might fast, or groups of apostles and other leaders might fast together, and it seems that they did so to prepare themselves spiritually for some anticipated important work.22 Thus, fasting may provide an opportunity for spiritual preparation, like stretching before running a race. It’s not clear to me how group fasting like this fits in with Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 6 about fasting in secret.23

Jesus only fasted once, as far as we know, for forty days prior to the beginning of his public ministry.24 But once he stepped into the limelight as the Groom, celebration time began and fasting time ceased. Jesus taught on the attitude one should have when fasting. Jesus’s fasting and Christian fasting seems to reflect an expression of neediness and dependence on God that is appropriate when praying, but we must not conclude from these passages that fasting makes God more likely to answer our prayers in particular ways, or that there’s some kind of special power that comes from fasting.25 I don’t think that idea is supported in Scripture at all.26

22 See Acts 13:1-3; 14:23.23 A conversation following the sermon helped me understand that we should probably see that the opposite

of the secrecy Jesus talks about in Matthew 6 is not necessarily doing something publicly. Rather, the opposite, what Jesus is actually discouraging, is flaunting and boasting about giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. Thus, a group could publicly agree together to fast for a period of time, while at the same not boasting about it, and not be guilty of going against Jesus’s instructions here.

24 Matt. 4:2.25 Cf. Grant R. Osborne, Matthew (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament 1; Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), pg. 238, who writes, “Fasting is closely connected to prayer and therefore connotes an intense relationship and communion with God. But too many use it almost as magic to get God to answer their prayers, i.e., to so convince God of their sincerity that he will say ‘yes’ to their request. It is good to fast during times of crisis but to center more on God—and not in the mistaken belief that this practice will be more efficacious even than prayer.”

26 Mark 9:29 is often brought into this discussion. After the disciples had failed to cast a demon from a boy while Jesus was being transfigured up on a mountain with Peter, James, and John, they asked Jesus why they were unable to cast this demon out. Jesus responded, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” However, the KJV and NKJV have Jesus referring to “prayer and fasting.” Unfortunately, this is one of those rare occasions where the Greek manuscripts underlying the KJV and NKJV do not reflect what Mark actually wrote. It is pretty clear, as manuscripts closer to the first century are compared, that the words “and fasting” were added by scribes. The early church, after the first century, became increasingly obsessed with fasting as an accompaniment to prayer, especially as asceticism began dominating certain monastic traditions. Now, it’s important to recognize that the scribes who added this reference to fasting were not attempting to change Scripture; rather, they believed that a reference to prayer would naturally imply a reference to fasting, so they were attempting to make explicit what they believed Jesus was implying. References to fasting are known to have been inserted into Greek manuscripts in several places in the New Testament, most of them haven’t made it into any of our English Bibles, even the KJV. However, a few more remain: Matt. 17:21; Acts 10:30; 1 Cor. 7:5. Yet, the combination of fasting and praying does occur in the New Testament, as recognized and reflected by all English translations in Luke 2:37; 5:33; Acts 13:3; 14:23. But, it’s particularly from this story in Mark 9 where the idea that fasting provides some kind of spiritual power, since, according to the KJV and NKJV, it must be employed to cast out “this kind” of demon. However, upon closer reflection on this passage, we can see rather clearly Jesus’s point, and it makes excellent sense without a reference to fasting. The point is not that the disciples needed more power; instead, Jesus is highlighting that they could not engage directly with this particular kind of demon. That should cause us to look back and see what was unique about this demon. As Jesus is casting the demon out, he addresses it and gives us the clue we need; he says, in Mark 9:25, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The demon has made the boy unable to speak and unable to hear. Thus, the demon is using the boy as a human shield. The disciples cast out demons the same way Jesus does, by addressing them verbally; so, if a demon wanted to avoid the disciples’ attack, it needed to be in a position where it couldn’t hear them. This was effective against the disciples,

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Finally, to reiterate this point from another angle, let me just say one more thing about fasting. If you never fast as a Christian, I don’t believe you are being disobedient to Scripture and I don’t believe you are thereby somehow a spiritually anemic or second-class Christian. You may not be missing anything at all, in fact. A lot of weight is often put on the fact that Jesus says “when you fast” in the Sermon on the Mount. People draw the conclusion from this way of stating things that Jesus certainly expected all of his followers to fast at times. And at the end of verse 15 he says, “then they will fast,” again seeming to express an expectation that all of his followers will fast. However, there is reason to reconsider this way of understanding what Jesus says. First, when we see what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6, there is something different about fasting from all of the other things Jesus says. He says, “when you give to the needy,” and “when you pray,” and “when you fast.” Both praying and giving to the needy are commanded elsewhere in Scripture, repeatedly. But, as we’ve noted, fasting is nowhere commanded of God’s people in Scripture. Secondly, if we recognize fasting as a cultural practice, then we can hear Jesus addressing his disciples as Jews. Jesus could expect them to fast because they were Jews, not because they were his followers, and not because they were obeying some command in Scripture, because there isn’t one. So, I don’t think Jesus is laying down an expectation, a veiled command for his followers to fast. Instead, he’s extending the freedom to fast.27 If you want to fast, there is a proper way and a proper time to do so, and there is an improper way and an improper time to do so. After the Groom is taken away, Jesus’s disciples may fast.28

So, even though I don’t think we are expected or commanded to fast as Christians, if you find yourself distracted by food, if you could look at your life and say that food might be an idol for you, you might find some benefit in the fight against your sin by intentionally abstaining for a period of time, maybe even regularly. And, the way I have occasionally experienced fasting is somewhat unintentional. I guess you could say it has worked backwards for me, at least backwards from the ways people usually talk about fasting. Christians often say you should fast if you want to desire more of God and find him more satisfying than food. For me, I have sometimes experienced that I am so engrossed in God’s Word or praying that the time to eat passes away without notice. Ultimately, I concur with William Hendriksen, who writes, “Jesus does not say that his followers must fast, neither does he forbid them to fast if that is what they wish to do. In certain circumstances he seems to regard fasting as entirely proper.”29

but not against Jesus. Why? Because Jesus’s words have inherent power; Jesus’s words have divine power. Jesus can speak so that even the dead respond! So, when the disciples ask why they couldn’t cast the demon out, Jesus essentially says that only God can cast this kind out, because only God’s voice can overcome deafness. Since God is the only one who can reach the demon protected in this way, the disciples must simply pray when they encounter a demon like this. Moreover, in most demonic encounters that we see in Scripture, we don’t find Jesus or the disciples engaged with the demon for a lengthy enough time where fasting makes any sense. And, if I’m understanding Jesus’s teaching on fasting in Matthew 9 correctly, then, if fasting were required to overcome this kind of demon, then during Jesus’s time on earth, the disciples would have no way of ever casting out a demon like this, since they’ve been instructed that fasting is inappropriate while Jesus is still with them.

27 Cf. O’Donnell, Matthew, pg. 253, who writes, “We have the freedom to fast. I word it that way intentionally, for notice that Jesus does not say that Christians must fast. That is important; this is not a command. Nor does Jesus say that Christians ought to fast.”

28 The Greek of this verse can be understood this way; the future tense may imply future permission or ability rather than future certainty, as in the parallel construction in the last clause of Matt. 12:29, where the ESV translates the future tense verb “he may plunder his house.”

29 Hendriksen, Matthew, pg. 342.

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Now, back to Matthew 9. In verses 16-17, Jesus provides two metaphorical illustrations to highlight the newness that he’s inaugurating which makes fasting inappropriate for the time being. Follow along with me as I read verses 16-17: No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. He begins in the mundane realm of laundry repair. If you want to patch the hole in your jeans, you had better not use a patch made from cloth that hasn’t been washed and properly shrunk. If you do that, when you wash your jeans again, the patch will shrink, pull away from your jeans, and rip a bigger hole. What’s Jesus saying about fasting? Fasting while Jesus is still with them would be harmful to the disciples. It would cause spiritual damage. Just as it would cause spiritual damage for them to fast with the wrong motives, wanting other people to notice how spiritual they are, so also to fast at the wrong time, to mourn at a wedding party, would cause spiritual damage.

Then, Jesus piles on another metaphor, this time from the realm of wine storage. This is a picture of a well-used wineskin. Once the wine is emptied from this, it will dry out and become brittle. If you were to then pour in new wine, wine that had just been freshly pressed from the grapes, as the juice fermented and expanded, the dry, brittle wineskin would crack and burst from the pressure, never to be used again.30 The wine would spill out on the ground. No more wine; no more wineskin. Jesus expands on this image and gives the proper and obvious corollary. You put new wine, wine that had just been freshly pressed from the grapes, into a wineskin that had just been prepared, that had just been peeled off the animal and folded up for this purpose while it’s still fresh.31 Sorry, that was a gross image.

What’s Jesus saying about fasting? Just as with the patch, fasting while Jesus is still with them would be harmful to his disciples. It would cause spiritual damage. But the proper picture of wine storage carries Jesus’s argument a bit further and a bit broader, I think. The new wine seems to represent the newness that Jesus has brought into the world, the new age that Jesus is inaugurating in his ministry, the new covenant that he will establish with his death. The fresh wineskins must then represent the new way of living in this world, following this King, living in anticipation of the wedding that is still to come. The Groom is going to be shockingly removed prior to the consummation of the marriage, but he has promised to return for his bride.32 As long

30 Cf. D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (vol. 8; edited by Frank E. Gæbelein; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), pg. 227, who writes, “In time the skin became hard and brittle. If new wine, still fermenting, were put into such an old skin, the buildup of fermenting gases would split the brittle container and ruin both bottle and wine. New wine was placed only in new wineskins still pliable and elastic enough to accommodate the pressure.”

31 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” pg. 227, who summarizes the process thus: “Skin bottles for carrying various fluids were made by killing the chosen animal, cutting off its head and feet, skinning the carcass, and sewing up the skin, fur side out, to seal off all orifices but one (usually the neck). The skin was tanned with special care to minimize disagreeable taste.”

32 Cf. Piper, Hunger for God, pgs. 37-38, who writes, “[T]he only other place in Matthew where Jesus uses this term ‘bridegroom’ is to refer to himself coming back at the end of the church age. In Matthew 25:1–13 Jesus pictures his second coming as the arrival of the bridegroom. ‘At midnight there was a shout, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him”’ ([Matt. 25:6]). So Jesus clearly thinks of himself as a bridegroom who is gone not only for three days between Good Friday and Easter, but for all the time until the second coming. This is the

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as the Groom is with his disciples, they have no need to fast. But when he’s taken away, the period of anticipation begins, and new Christian fasting becomes a means of mourning remaining sin and longing for the Groom to return to take his bride home with him forever.33

But there’s more here as well. What immediately follows is a single story of two miracles that Jesus graciously performs. If Jesus has brought this new wine of the kingdom and calls for these fresh wineskins of a new way of living as subjects of this King, then this newness of life must be characterized by a new, fresh faith.34 Let’s read verses 18-26: 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.” And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 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, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district.

The Gospel of Mark contains a much lengthier version of this story, and Luke’s is also more detailed, but I count Mark’s telling of this story in Mark chapter 5 as my absolute favorite story in the Gospels, perhaps in all of the Bible. But, this is Matthew’s telling, and I want to stick with the way he tells it here, though I may bring in a few details from the parallel accounts here and there.

While Jesus is explaining the newness of what he’s doing in response to the question about fasting, a synagogue ruler with a desperate plea approaches Jesus and drops to his knees, face to the ground. He announces to Jesus that his daughter has just died.35 Then, he asks Jesus to do something truly remarkable; he asks Jesus to come into his home and touch his daughter, and he believes that, if Jesus will do this, his daughter will be restored to life. Neither Matthew nor Jesus uses the word “faith” to describe this ruler, but he clearly is making a statement of his faith.36

time he has in mind when he says, ‘Then they will fast’—until the second coming.”33 Cf. Piper, Hunger for God, pg. 38, who writes, “In other words, in this age there is an ache inside every

Christian that Jesus is not here as fully and intimately and as powerfully and as gloriously as we want him to be. We hunger for so much more. That is why we fast.”

34 Cf. John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew (New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), pg. 394, who writes, “The close link with the preceding unit created by Matthew’s ‘while he was saying these things’ can only be to make the present episode a further instance of what Jesus has just been speaking of.”

35 Both Mark and Luke say that the synagogue ruler, whose name is Jairus, comes to Jesus while his daughter is still alive, “at the point of death.” After Jesus heals the bleeding woman, messengers approach to tell Jairus that his daughter has died. Matthew has compressed the story by not mentioning the messengers, but I don’t think the stories are at odds when considering the details. In their initial conversation, I can imagine that Jairus explained to Jesus the situation in more detail, and in the course of explaining, he could have said something like, “For all I know, my daughter has already died since I left home to come to you,” which Matthew has reflected accurately. Moreover, his faith that Jesus can raise her from the dead is evident in the other Gospels; Matthew helps us see that Jairus had this faith when he first came to Jesus.

36 Cf. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), pg. 362, who writes, “It is therefore surprising that whereas the faith of the

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As we read this, we ought to be impressed by this man’s faith, and we might be a little surprised that we don’t see the commendation of “great faith” for this man, the way Jesus spoke of the centurion back in chapter 8. If you recall, the Gentile, Roman centurion, believed that Jesus could just say the word, and the centurion’s servant back home would be healed from his paralysis. Great faith, indeed! Does this Jewish synagogue ruler have less faith than the centurion because he believes Jesus must come to his home and touch his daughter, rather than just speaking a word? Maybe.37 But, arguably, he believes Jesus can do something even greater than healing a paralytic; he believes that Jesus can restore life to someone who has already died!38

To this point, as far as we know from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus hasn’t done this before, hasn’t restored life to a dead person.39 How can this synagogue ruler believe this about Jesus? Well, I think it’s because he knows his Bible. He’s read how the prophets Elijah and Elisha restored life to a couple of children during their ministries in the Old Testament.40 He may believe nothing more than that Jesus is a prophet like Elijah or Elisha.41 Nevertheless, this synagogue ruler has set himself apart from the scribes and the Pharisees and come to Jesus to meet a desperate need of his.42

The synagogue ruler believes that Jesus has power over death, not just the power to prevent death by healing illness, but the power to reclaim someone who has already succumbed to death’s power. It is his desperation that triggers this in him. Surely, he had turned to doctors to heal his daughter; surely he had tried every remedy available; but now he sees that it’s too late for any conventional method to have any effect. So he comes to Jesus, the miracle-worker he has heard about, the one who has already essentially claimed to be the Messiah, applying Old Testament Scriptures to himself in an unprecedented way in the very synagogue over which he presides.43 The newness Jesus is bringing includes the new reality that death does not get the last

woman is commended in v. 22 and that of the blind men in vv. 28–29, the word is not used of this man’s even more remarkable ability to see beyond a natural impossibility. The facts are left to speak for themselves.”

37 So suggests Carson, “Matthew,” pg. 230, who writes, “The synagogue ruler felt Jesus’ touch had special efficacy, but his faith was not as great as that of the centurion who believed that Jesus could heal by his word (8:5–13). Jesus did not refuse him but responded to faith, small or great.”

38 Cf. Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew (The NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), pg. 370, who writes, “The ruler has the same confident trust in Jesus’ ability to heal as did the leper (8:2–4), the centurion (8:5–13), and the paralytic and his friends (9:2–7), but his trust is profound enough to believe that Jesus can raise his daughter from the dead.”

39 Luke tells the account of Jesus restoring life to the widow’s son from Nain in Luke 7, prior to this story in Luke 8. The chronology of events at this point is unclear to me. In Luke, this restoration of life occurs following Jesus’s healing of the centurion’s servant, and then the next story is about John the Baptist sending messengers to Jesus, which in Matthew’s Gospel isn’t recorded until Matthew 11. Luke had told the story of Matthew’s calling and the question about fasting from John the Baptist’s disciples back in Luke 5. So, it is possible that Jesus had already restored life to the widow’s son from Nain and the report of that very public restoration of life had spread.

40 Read all about it in 1 Kgs. 17:17-24 (Elijah) and 2 Kgs. 4:18-37 (Elisha).41 However, Jesus is going to demonstrate that he is greater than Elijah and Elisha, because both prophets

had to pray to ask God to restore life to these children, while Jesus will merely touch this girl and restore her life, seemingly on his own. For the praying of Elijah and Elisha, see 1 Kgs. 17:20-21 and 2 Kgs. 4:33.

42 Cf. James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2001), pg. 155, who writes, “Besides, he was from among those religious leaders who were jealous of Jesus and very quickly became hostile to him and tried to destroy him. What made Jairus appeal to a man most of his peers rejected? No doubt, it was utter desperation!”

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word. Desperation can result in genuine faith.44 Jesus is the only one who has the power to grant eternal life, the new life that death cannot end. If you’re experiencing desperation because of your circumstances, some illness, some relational breakdown, some crisis, come to Jesus and you will find him to be sufficient for whatever causes your desperation.

On the way to the ruler’s house, the procession is interrupted unintentionally by another desperate person, a woman who was suffering most terribly. She didn’t intend to stop the procession; she hoped to go unnoticed, to get what she needed without anyone, not even Jesus, noticing.

Matthew tells us that this woman “had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years.” She is surely a Jewish woman, and the Mosaic Law has some unpleasant things to say about her situation. I won’t take the time to read it here, but you can go home and read Leviticus 15:25-31 if you want to understand her situation better.45 For twelve years, she has been ceremonially unclean. She couldn’t offer sacrifices at the temple; she couldn’t hear God’s Word taught in the synagogues. She couldn’t touch another human being or be touched by one. If this began before she was married, which seems likely, she had lost her potential to be married. If it began after she was married, it’s likely she had been divorced, because, in her unclean state, she could not experience intimacy with a husband. She would render him unclean. Therefore, she couldn’t have children.46

Anyone she touches would become ceremonially unclean for a time and would have to avoid contact with other people and going near the temple. So, she’s isolated and lonely. Since the condition has gone on for twelve years, she’s most likely been separated from her family, and she would be considered an outcast from society. She’d be treated similarly to a leper. For twelve years.

Mark tells us that she spent all her money on doctors, but only grew worse.47 Can anybody relate to that? But now she’s heard about Jesus, who has been healing people all around. Since she’s not supposed to be out in public, not supposed to be in a place where she could touch someone or could be touched by someone, she plots to sneak among the crowd, fully veiled to conceal her identity, and to creep up behind Jesus and just reach out and touch the edge of Jesus’s cloak,

43 As an example, see Luke 4:16-21. While this event took place in the synagogue of Nazareth and Jairus was probably the synagogue ruler in Capernaum, or somewhere close by, I assume Jesus has done something like this repeatedly in different synagogues.

44 Cf. Boice, Matthew, pg. 155, who writes, “Desperation may not have been the best of motives, but it drove him to Jesus and that was all that really mattered. It has been the case for many people. They may not have come to Jesus for any other reason but that something in their lives made them desperate. So they came to Jesus and discovered that he did not scorn them for their inadequate or poor motives but met their needs instead.”

45 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” pg. 230, who writes, “The nature of the woman’s hemorrhage (v. 20) is uncertain; if, as seems probable, it was chronic bleeding from the womb, then she was perpetually unclean (cf. Lev 15:25–33). The regulation of such a woman’s life was considered so important that the Mishnah devotes an entire tractate to the subject (Zabim) and gives some of the ‘remedies’ for staunching the flow.”

46 Cf. Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), pgs. 303-304, who writes, “Her ailment probably had kept her from marriage if it started at puberty, and almost surely would have led to her divorce if it began after she was married (which would have been within a few years after puberty), since intercourse was prohibited under such circumstances (Lev 18:19) and childlessness normally led to divorce.”

47 Mark 5:26.

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where he was probably wearing the typical Jewish tassels, which would hang loose. He’d never even notice.

But notice what she believes. We get her internal dialogue in verse 21: If I only touch his garment, I will be made well. Now, it might be important to recognize that the Greek word Matthew uses here, that’s translated “I will be made well,” is a salvation word. It could be translated, “I will be saved.” But she means, “I will be saved, delivered, rescued from this bleeding.” Her faith here, which Jesus will commend in just a moment, seems to be mingled with some superstition. She wants relief, she believes Jesus has power to provide relief, but she believes she can get that relief without actually interacting directly with Jesus himself. Rather, she believes that Jesus’s power can be transmitted through his clothing, so that if she just touches his clothing, she’ll be instantly healed.48 And this is, of course, what happens. Sort of. She does sneak up behind Jesus, apparently unnoticed by the crowd around her, and touch the tassels hanging from his cloak.

But, she doesn’t go unnoticed by Jesus. He stops the procession headed toward the ruler’s house, and he addresses the woman, calls her out in front of everybody. Uh-oh. But, it’s what Jesus says that should help the crowd not be upset with her.49 But, really, he says this for her benefit. Surely, she’s terrified. But listen to Jesus’s words again, there in verse 22: Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well. He addresses her gently, the same way he addressed the paralytic back in verse 2. There, he had said, Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven. Here, he speaks to her tenderly, a woman who probably hasn’t had tender, compassionate contact with other people in over a decade.

Moreover, he commends her faith,50 a faith which appears to be deficient in some ways, a faith which seems to be mixed with some measure of superstition.51 Jesus welcomes her approach, but he also requires her to engage with him face to face. Her faith, confused as it may have been, made her well. Again, this is the Greek word for saving; her faith, confused as it may have been, saved her, has made her safe, has rescued her from her bleeding. But her faith was only the instrument that Jesus used to save her. It wasn’t her faith in Jesus’s clothing that saved her; it was her faith in Jesus’s power, and it was actually Jesus himself who had saved her, who had healed her.

I sense a bit of a rebuke here at my own response to people’s expressions of faith sometimes. I know people who profess faith in Jesus, but they also live very superstitiously. I don’t think I’ve looked down on these folks, per se, but I certainly haven’t welcomed them the way Jesus welcomes this woman. I haven’t affirmed what is good and true and right about their faith. Instead, I’ve focused on their shortcomings, on their superstitions, and thus questioned the

48 Cf. Charles Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1893), pg. 61, who writes, “She was ignorant enough to think that healing went from him unconsciously; but yet her faith lived despite her ignorance, and triumphed despite her bashfulness.”

49 Cf. Wilkins, Matthew, pg. 371, who writes, “By making her healing public with his announcement, Jesus removes the public stigma of her physical condition and thus facilitates her reentry into normal social and religious life.”

50 Cf. Spurgeon, Gospel of the Kingdom, pg. 62, who writes, “He did not chide the blundering of her ignorance, but he commended the bravery of her faith, and consoled her trembling heart.”

51 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” pg. 230, who observes, “Moved in part by a superstitious view of Jesus, she struggled through the crowd, which, because of her ‘unclean’ condition, she should have avoided.”

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validity of their faith. I’m probably too critical at times. I want to be more welcoming, to give people the benefit of the doubt more often, and to help people see Jesus more clearly and trust him more completely.

This woman’s faith was placed properly and fully in Jesus and his power to rescue her from her misery. It wasn’t her touch of Jesus that healed her;52 it was her faith in him.53 What doctors couldn’t do, Jesus did. She had come to the end of herself, the end of her resources, and the end of her hope, and there she found Jesus, and he was enough. Coming into contact with Jesus changes you!54 Meeting Jesus changes your life forever! He makes your life new. This woman had a new lease on life, as the saying goes. No more bleeding; no more uncleanness; no more isolation; no more being ostracized. She could live a brand new life because of Jesus. That’s what following Jesus does for us, too. We can live a brand new life because of what Jesus has done.

But the story’s not over here. The procession toward the ruler’s house continues. When Jesus arrives at the house, he is met by the sound of wailing and mournful dirges. In Jewish culture, as in many other cultures, more so than our culture, the value of mourning is recognized. So, to help a family grieve fully and properly, they would often hire “professional mourners,” who would sing sad songs and perform sad music. They seem to have arrived very quickly at the ruler’s house, since the girl had only died earlier that same day. Typically, burial occurred within 24 hours, so this ruler probably hired these “professional mourners” days earlier, as his daughter’s illness took a turn toward certain death.

Jesus doesn’t mince words with these musicians; he tells them to go away! And Matthew says in verse 25 that they “had been put outside,” but the Greek word there is the word normally used for what Jesus does to demons. He cast them out! But Jesus gives them an explanation; Jesus says that “the girl is not dead but only sleeping.” This seems outrageous. Jesus has just arrived at the house; how could he possibly know? So, they mocked him. They break from their sad singing to engage in a little ridicule and mockery.

He ignores their laughter and presses on with kicking them out of the house. Then, he tenderly took her by the hand, and at his touch, just as the ruler had believed, she lived again! I hope the ruler got a refund from those musicians!

So, when Jesus said that the girl was not dead but only sleeping, was he lying, to put the question bluntly? The mourners couldn’t believe what Jesus was saying; they’re professionals; they know when someone has died. And the family certainly knew that the little girl had died. Jesus wasn’t

52 Cf. Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew (The Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992), pg. 230, who writes, “Then he speaks of your faith; it is important that the woman understand that she had not been cured by magic of a kind that meant that anyone who touched Jesus would be healed. Her cure had been the result of a mighty power in Jesus, indeed, but it came to her because of her faith, not because of magic in a touch.”

53 Cf. Carson, “Matthew,” who states simply, “He said that it was her faith that was effective, not the superstition mingled with it.”

54 Cf. Nolland, Matthew, pg. 397, who writes, “The woman is allowed to disappear from sight once the point has been powerfully made that contact with Jesus is transformatory for those who approach him with believing receptiveness.”

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lying; instead, he was speaking cryptically. He was highlighting the impermanence of her current state.55 Death can be viewed as sleeping, when you know you’re going to rise again.56

I wonder what the report exactly was that went through all that district. Jesus told the mourners that the girl was only sleeping, and then he sent them out of the house. They didn’t actually see him raise her from death. Don’t you think they would’ve assumed, against their earlier confidence, that they were actually wrong about the girl being dead? In the other Gospel accounts, we learn that Jesus told the family not to tell anyone what had happened.57 We don’t know whether they were obedient to that command. Jesus will restore life to two other dead people during his ministry that we are told about in the Gospels. Later, in Matthew 11, Jesus will have another encounter with disciples of John the Baptist, and they will ask him “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Jesus gives them a summary of his ministry as evidence from which John can draw his own conclusion, and among the evidence he lists is “the dead are raised up.”

Who is this man, Jesus? What is this new thing that he is doing? His kingdom is a kingdom of life; his kingdom is one where death has been vanquished. He appeared in a vision to his disciple, John, and said, in Revelation 1:17-18, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. This is the same man who said to mourners Mary and Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then he asked them, Do you believe this? That is the question I put to you today. Do you believe this? Do you have this new faith for the new life that Jesus provides? Do you believe Jesus can meet your most desperate needs? Do you believe that Jesus can give you a life that never ends? Jesus can change your life permanently. He’s actually really good at it. If you do believe in this man, are you walking in the new way of the Spirit? Are you living in a way that’s fitting for the new creation? Pray with me for the strength to do so.

55 Cf. O’Donnell, Matthew, pg. 261, who writes, “Jesus is not denying her death; he is redefining it. Her death is not the end. It is not the grim reality it seems. It is nothing worse than deep sleep.”

56 Cf. Nolland, Matthew, pg. 398, who writes, “They hear diagnosis, Jesus offers prognosis; they know for a fact that she was dead, Jesus knows for a fact that by restoring her to life he will make this period of death into nothing more than a period of sleep.”

57 See Mark 5:43 and Luke 8:56.

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