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You Are Healed (Matthew 8:1-9:34) Part 7

 A DECEASED GIRL

  
Infirmity: Death
Patient: A girl
Initiation: Verse 18: “…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.’”
Response: 1) …Jesus and his disciples went with the man, arrived at the house, threw out the mourners saying, Verse 24, “Go away, the girl is not dead but asleep.” 2) The crowd laughed at him. They were put outside then Jesus raised her from the dead
Directive: None.

Here we have two stories intertwined about healing bleeding and resurrecting the dead. We don’t really have time to address the full significance of the juxtaposition here;[4] so first we will look at the girl. After the religious teachers have just provoked Jesus, a religious synagogue leader is shown as coming to Jesus in desperation as his own daughter has just passed away. Here the leader is faithful in beseeching Jesus upon his knees - even as his relatives seemingly mock him as they laugh at Jesus. The synagogue leader puts his friends, relatives, and the mourners out of his house as he invites Jesus in. Jesus then raises the girl from the dead. No one other than the man apparently believe that Jesus will do this but when those present see it with their own eyes, they all believe and tell everyone that they know. The same is available to us. If we are bold in our faith and faithfulness, even as people mock us or laugh at us, they will see the power of God in our lives and so we should not be afraid to put those out who would drag us down into unbelief but rather we should boldly and faithfully proclaim our faith in their midst so that they too may believe.

Matthew 9:18-26: 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.”  Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
          Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
         Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
          When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.  After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.

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