Sermon Tone Analysis

Date: 2022-04-17

Audience: Grass Valley Corps ONLINE

Title: The King Offers Life

Text: Matthew 9:18-38

Proposition: Faith in Jesus is rewarded

Purpose: Trust him with your life

It’s Resurrection Sunday!

He is RISEN!

Jesus is alive, or so I believe.

If you come join our in-person gathering Sunday morning at 11, I’m going to share some of the reasons I believe Jesus is alive and what I think that means, and we’ll have opportunity for others to share what they think and what it means to them.

We may even eat some jelly beans, but no promises.

Grace and peace

Studying Matthew’s story of Jesus

He’s giving evidence for who he believes Jesus to be by laying out stories of things Jesus did and the people who saw those things.

He was – at the time – giving us a list of witnesses who could speak to the truth of what he was saying.

First he gave three examples of Jesus dealing with sickness and how people responded.

He linked that to prophecies in Hebrew scripture to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

Next, he told stories of Jesus’ power over the natural, the supernatural, and even over the idea of sin.

People responded to that by flocking to him on their own and when he called them.

And while some questioned the quality and behavior of these people and of Jesus himself, Jesus told them that he wasn’t trying to change them, but that new people needed new ways and that allowing this brought more people to God.

Now we’re going into a third set of three witnesses.

In fact, Matthew’s going to sneak an extra one in for us.

All three of these also talk about the authority of Jesus to change lives, or, in these cases, his authority to GIVE life and restore those who accept that authority.

Matthew 9:18-19

18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died.

But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”

19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

[1]

Leader

Faith

Response: No words, just goes

Luke tells same story but has some different elements.

Why? Making a different point.

Matthew is trying to focus on people’s response to Jesus here.

In case of synagogue leader, his faith in Jesus.

To keep anyone from missing that, he uses this example because it includes a bonus story inside of it.

20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.

21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

22 Jesus turned and saw her.

“Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”

And the woman was healed at that moment.

[2]

Bleeding for 12 years – now might call it an inter-uterine disorder.

Essentially menstruating continually.

In their culture, under the rules of the Mosaic Covenant, that made her ritually unclean.

She didn’t belong in a crowd of people, because she would have been seen as contaminating them with her presence and any touch.

Matthew doesn’t call this out – NOT HIS POINT.

He wants us to hear what she thought and what Jesus said.

She thought: If I can touch him, I will be healed.

Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you.”

Faith is shown as having two parts: Belief and action.

Woman’s belief/action

Synagogue leader’s belief/action

23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away.

The girl is not dead but asleep.”

But they laughed at him.[3]

Noisy/pipes – mourning.

Respected family – everyone turns out.

Laugh.

Faithless.

Easy to criticize, but she’s DEAD.

Jesus has them sent out of house.

25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.

26 News of this spread through all that region.

[4]

Both stories have layers people may not usually think about.

Not just healing physical – meeting the father in the sharp, immediate pain of his loss.

Meeting woman in the constant pain and isolation of chronic disease.

Physical healing may not have been as important as his being there to hear about their pain and to respond with compassion instead of rejection, false sympathy, or recoiling from their grief as if their individual problems could leap out to infect those around them.

Not that the healings weren’t awesome.

Especially bringing the dead girl back to life!

Miracle beyond healing!

What would you think?

How do you think those skeptics who had been ushered out responded to the news or the walking, talking, breathing presence of the girl they had seen dead?

News spread, but did faith spread with it?

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” [5]

Son of David?

Messianic title.

They have made the leap!

But what Jesus does next is pretty great too.

28 When he had gone indoors, (Don’t miss this!

He went into a private home, out of the public eye!) the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored.

Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”[6]

Not in it for publicity.

Isaiah 42:1-4 God talks about the coming Messiah.

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen one in whom I delight;

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will bring justice to the nations.

2 He will not shout or cry out,

or raise his voice in the streets.

3 A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

4 he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth.

In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

[7]

Justice – not redemptive violence, as we tend to believe in our culture.

Not hurting someone because they hurt someone.

Biblical justice is about RESTORATION.

Wholeness!