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| Matthew 9:18-22 |
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Lesson # Matt. 9:18-22 Study Material - Matt. 9:18-22 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Matt. 9:18-22 18 While He was saying these things to them, behold, there came a synagogue official, and bowed down 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 began to follow him, and so did His disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; 21 for she was saying to herself, 'If I only touch His garment, I shall get well.' 22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, 'Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.' And at once the woman was made well. Two events are described here. First the senior synagogue elder whose daughter, only 12 years old, was dying and actually did die during the conversation between the elder and Jesus. The parallel passages are in Luke 8 and Mark 5. More details are given in those passages. The second event is the woman whose monthly cycle has been perpetually ongoing for 12 years. The same length of time as the age of the daughter. Notably there are events in the world which run concurrent with our individual lives and then some common event might by chance bring us together. These events occur and over them we have absolutely no control. Generally we have no knowledge of the other events until we come face to face with them. The synagogue official is the senior elder in the synagogue. The hand of the Pharisees did not reach out to control all Jewish peoples. As senior elder he would determine which passages would be read and by whom, each Sabbath. He certainly would have had some pressures regarding the rituals and philosophies of the current popular thought, and perhaps even complied with some of them so as not to raise objections within his own synagogue. Nevertheless, he was brought face to face with the severe illness of his daughter. One so young, 12 years of age, and most probably was not yet at the point of beginning her monthly cycle, therefore innocent. In contrast we have the older woman who has had to bear with a cycle which simply would not stop. She has spent all her estate on physicians and has received no cure for their efforts. She has had to live in a continual state of uncleanness, Lev. 15:19+, and the associated embarrassment, socially shut out, the weariness from the continual loss of blood, the discouragement, the emotional swings that would accompany the problem, the stress, the anxiety and so forth. These would be difficult to bear for just a few weeks let alone 12 years. No doubt the elder sought help from physicians as well as consulted with the various pious types in the synagogue, but to no avail. He turned to the only one whose reputation was now so predominant in the public conversation. The sequence of events requires the reading of all three passages, but we will merely summarize here because Matthew summarized. Matthew summarized for a reason, whereas the other books covered more detail for other reasons. We'll cover them in due course. Faith is the issue in both of these miracles. The woman had a greater faith. The synagogue elder had a lessor faith. How do we know that? Faith comes not just from being born but from learning Bible doctrine. The woman sought to merely touch Jesus' clothing. She knew via 2 Kg. 13:21 that when the dead man was dropped into the grave and his body touched the bones of Elisha, the dead man came back to life. She knew that the oil which was used to anoint Aaron, flowed down off his head and onto his robes even to the bottom fringes. Not only was Aaron sanctified (set apart and made holy), but all that was associated with him was so sanctified, Psa. 133:2. This woman who was ceremonially unclean for 12 years and therefore refused access to the 'holy' places like the synagogue, knew a great deal of Bible doctrine. So much so that she did not blame God for her predicament. She did not blame others, family, neighbors, strangers, Romans, etc. She blamed no one. Though we can probably presume that there were times during those 12 years where she was very discouraged and depressed. Many folks have handicaps. Some blind, some deaf, some missing limbs, some with weak or defective internal organs. Some have had these or other kinds of problems for many years if not all their life. Do we blame God for the bad luck, for the short straw that life dealt us? No. This is not just an easy thing to say. Don't presume that there are those of us that are without difficulties in our lives and therefore don't know what we are talking about. So that excuse is not available, like typical statements - 'You have not lived the way that I have lived. You have not seen the things that I have seen. You have not suffered the things that I have suffered', and so forth. These are 'poor me' whining. Nothing more. Not that our sufferings are not real and painful. Life can be very tough. But the solution is easier than we all can imagine. Will our hurts go away immediately like in the stories of the miracles? No. But the promise of a better life, the promise of a better life while we endure, are very real. The woman touch His clothing and Jesus turned to her and gave her request for healing. He also reminded her that her touching of His clothing was not the cure, but her faith (faith which is formulated through years of Bible study) is what caused the cure. There is no magic clothing, no magic cup, no magic articles of the temple, no magic water, no magic shroud, no magic necklace with that little cross, no string of beads, no lucky rabbits foot, which if you just look at them, if you just touch them, if you just close your eyes really tight and click your heels three times 'There's no place like home', then they will grant you your genie wish. These do not exist. Never have Never will. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
