St. Matthew 9:18–26
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit –
In today’s Gospel there are two daughters. One
daughter has just died. The other one has been dying for twelve years. The
young daughter has a grieving father, but he still has hope in Jesus who can
raise the dead. The other daughter knows she has a loving Father in heaven and
so she has hope for healing through the Father’s beloved Son who has come in
the flesh.
That older daughter, who had suffered from a discharge of blood
for twelve years came up behind Jesus 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. Now, please be sure to realize that faith in
general or faith on its own has no power to make you well or save you. Your faith is only as strong
as the God (or idol) you put your faith in. But her faith, this woman’s faith made her
well, and even saved her from everlasting death, because her faith was in
Jesus. Her
faith was in the promised Messiah – God in the flesh – of whom it was
prophesied by Malachi: The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.
(Mal. 4:2) She had a certain, confident hope that the Messiah would bring
healing for her, and she had faith that this man, Jesus, was that very Messiah,
her Lord.
Her
faith in Jesus is why He calls her a daughter. She is a faithful
representative of the Church: God the Father’s daughter and Christ’s bride.
She is given
the royal title that the prophets had given to Israel, the Church of the Old
Testament: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.” (Zech. 9:9) Now, finally, her King had come, and He saved her, this beloved
daughter of Zion.
But the other daughter had just died.
And when Jesus
came to the ruler's house [He] saw
the flute players and the crowd making a commotion. Now some people will
try to tell you that Christians should not cry. That Christians should be happy
all the time, have joy down in the heart, and never mourn. Some will say (or at
least imply) that if you are sad, you don’t have enough faith. But remember,
faith is weak, no matter “how much” you have, if your faith is in an idol. And
faith is strong, even the tiniest bit of faith is strong, if you trust in the
Lord Jesus who conquered death.
What’s
more, it is OK for Christians to cry at the death of a loved one or even at the
death of strangers on the other side of an ocean. It is even right for us to
mourn, because death is wrong. Let me say that again, death is wrong. We
realize this easily when a child dies or when hundreds are killed by bombs. But
death is always wrong. It’s not a natural part of life. Death is quite
obviously the exact opposite of life. Death was not part of God’s plan for us. He
created us to have life. Death is God’s punishment for sin. The only reason
death even exists in the world is our sin, our rebellion against God. We
deserve nothing but the end of this earthly life and eternal death in hell. So
when death takes someone, we cry. We mourn because a sinner has died and one
day we will die also.
And
yet, Jesus came with a word of hope. He said to the mourners, “Go
away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” This sounds strange. It sounds like a lie.
But Jesus only
speaks the Truth. And
He gives hope – confident, certain hope – just as St. Paul also says in 1 Thessalonians,
chapter 4: We do not want you to be
uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as
others do who have no hope. For
since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God
will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thess. 4:13–14) So we grieve but not without hope. Even through our
tears, despite our tears now, we have a confident hope for the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.
Our
hope will not be disappointed because Jesus lives. The Messiah, our
Lord, died to take away our sin, and so He has also taken away our punishment
for sin. His death destroyed death. He rose and
lives forever. So we who have faith in Him will also rise
and live forever. Saying that the Christian who has died is
asleep is not a lie. Death is the lie – it has already lost.
And
the Truth that has victory over that lie is the Truth that Jesus lives. Christ has been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20) All who die in Christ, who die in the faith, are merely asleep
in Him. Death
cannot have them. They live, even while their bodies slumber.
And
Christ will raise them from death as easily as waking them up from sleep.
This
is the foundation for our hope in the face of death. It’s the hope that
the dead daughter’s father had in Jesus. Hope that we have
for our loved ones who have died. This is why we have hope for ourselves even
in the face of our own deaths. Even in the midst of this vale of tears,
surrounded by cancer and terrorist attacks and car accidents, we have hope
because Jesus lives. And death is just a slumber. Our Lord will take
us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven. For a little while
our bodies will sleep in their little beds under the ground. But they sleep in
hope. And
whether we are awake or asleep we live with Christ. (1 Thess. 5:10)
At
last, the Day of the Lord will come. Your faith will be fulfilled. It’s the same
faith that the woman had who was healed and called God’s daughter. Your hope will
not be disappointed. It’s the same hope that the father had who
received his daughter back from the dead. That Last Day
will dawn and your Lord will return. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
Your
King comes to you. He heals you with the touch of His holy
Body. He
forgives your sin and gives life with the pouring out of His holy Blood.
On
that Day He will come with perfect healing. Do not grieve
without hope. The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and
sighing shall flee away. (Is. 51:11) Hope in the Lord, O Daughter of Zion. Your Lord who died
is the Lord who lives and is coming again. He will take you
by the hand and awaken you from sleep. Your eyes will open and You will see His
glorious face.
Come quickly + Lord
Jesus –
Immanuel Lutheran
Church, Charlotte, IA
November 15, 2015
