All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others

How Jesus acted when he was interrupted.

Matthew 9.18-26

This Morning Briefing could be entitled:

~Jesus, interrupted.

~Healing on a whole new level.

~Jesus’ priorities.

~Women were important to Jesus!

~No atheists in a foxhole, no arrogant religiosity when

your child is sick unto death!

~Just one touch.

Jesus was in the middle of his explanation about putting new wine into old wineskins—newly-given truths which do not fit in firm ideological constructs—when a Jewish synagogue leader, perhaps one who had previously plied Jesus with scrutinizing questions, interrupted Jesus almost in mid sentence. Consider with me Matthew’s description of the scene in Matthew 9:

“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.” 9.18-26

I remember a day in my Long Beach street ministry, when I was teaching a great lesson, and was interrupted by a belligerent fellow who came through the door, made a bee-line for me, and thrust his court-ordered AA1 signature card in my face. (He wanted my signature to prove he had been to a ‘meeting’) Yeah, I was teaching about the lessons to be learned from Jehoshaphat, from 2 Chronicles 20 … you know when J’s men were about to be annihilated, but he turned the people to God to fast and pray, saying, ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.’2 How I love that story about the power of prayer and God’s powerful answers to it!

Interruptions – how do you and I feel about them? Depends on the importance we place on what we are saying or doing, and the intention of the interrupter, right?

When the desperate father came begging Jesus to come and touch his deceased daughter, we are given no indication that Jesus was bothered by his interruption; in fact, Jesus got up (remember, first-century rabbis sat down when they were teaching), and went with the fellow. But Jesus and his disciples did not get too far when there was yet another interruption. Oh, you and I would probably not even have slowed our pace, but Jesus stopped when he was aware someone had touched his garment. Why? Why did he turn to ask who had touched him? Because Jesus had compassion on the desperation of this woman as well. When no one else could make her well, Jesus could … Jesus did.

Besides the compassion and brilliant power Jesus exhibited, this passage has such meaning to me because in just a few verses, Jesus shows his great and daring love for women, which flies in the face of what so many in today’s culture want to say about Christianity putting women down. Women had less value than livestock in first century Palestine—no right to vote in a quorum, no rights at all. And yet … Jesus allowed himself to be interrupted to radically heal two women he did not know.

Every time Jesus does the miraculous, it points to something greater than the act itself. It demonstrates something we are to learn about our great God … stop and think: what do you think Jesus would have us learn from these two miracles?

Christine DiGiacomo
www.pastorwoman.com ;

1 – Alchoholics Anonymous

2 – 2 Chornicles 20.1-30