Matthew 9:18-26 Two Healings and No Payment

In both healing stories, people come to Jesus because of something they have been told about Jesus that makes them believe he can help them. Jesus doesn’t push himself on them. He waits for them to come to him. They must have heard something good about Jesus, not a message of obedience to law, but a message of comfort and healing. The church seems to do a bait and switch, by pointing to Jesus as good and kind, but once they are in, it becomes ‘you really can’t have him unless you obey the law.’ Luther points out quite distinctly – pay attention to any other healing story – that Jesus does not demand anything after he heals. Christ gives without expecting payment from us.

The first healing story as Jesus is finishing his statement that you can’t pour new wine into old wineskins. Is this first healing an example of pouring new wine into old wineskins? It is the first example of Jesus raising a person from the dead in Matthew. How would the ruler ever think Jesus had that kind of power? How can a person have so much trust in Jesus that they have no question Jesus can do something no one has ever seen a person do? He even allows Jesus the time to be diverted and heal someone else along the way. If you were trying to get a physician to heal your daughter that you believed was dead, would you let him/her stop to help someone else along the way? That’s a lot of faith.

The woman with the twelve year bleeding problem is an interesting story. Blood was considered ‘life’ itself. To be drained of blood for twelve years is like being drained of life for a long time. Luther thought blood loss is connected to feeling our sin. That’s a theological approach, but I think a death, a divorce, a traumatic and devastating event, an unfair job loss – how many things can drain life from us for a long period of time! When she finally, on her own – not with any church or small group to assist her – reaches for and tries to get close to Jesus, he heals her. To touch his cloak might be to mimic his life, as outer wear can often be understood as the actions one wears on the outside. He rewards her efforts to be like him, and life improves.

Another point to consider might be the fact that the woman, with her bleeding condition, was considered unclean. She wasn’t supposed to be in public, and as a woman even, to approach a man. Maybe that’s why she snuck up to him. In her shame, she only wanted his help, not his condemnation. I supposed that’s what most people expect from a God who expects you to do everything right. How could this rabbi grant her wish, and not expect her to follow the law as some form of payment? Did Jesus forget to tell her that’s what he expected?

Here’s a few comments from Luther on this text: (1 - #6) If we receive Christ without becoming like him in his giving without receiving payment, we are name-only Christians. Christ does the works that come from us. (1 - #8) They are deceivers in the church who preach or teach, occupied with commandments, works, and statutes which accomplish nothing. These pretend Christians burden and torment us with their commands and works. (2 - #18) In spite of what the law and all people said (about the woman considered unclean by the law and rejected), she reached out to lay hold of Christ for herself. #21 – Though she feared condemnation for her illegal actions under the law, Christ began to confirm her faith, to say she had done well in disregarding Moses and the law, that is, her unworthiness as judged by others. We should learn from this interpretation today.


Blessings - PWM

Matthew 9:1-8 Your Sins Are Forgiven

Martin Luther’s first sermon on this text would cause a few Lutheran legalists to close the book quickly on him. He makes many powerful statements and I will highlight them rather than on the text that speaks to him and brings out these ideas.


“The kingdom of Christ is the words: ‘your sins are forgiven.’ "(1 - #2) For Brother Martin, these four words are the heart of the gospel, and he points out that they come without works, without commands, without law.


As long as I’ve been a Lutheran, I’ve never heard the following words attributed to Luther: “If the kingdom of Christ is to grow, we must keep out of it with the law…it is out of the sphere of the kingdom of Christ to urge people with the law.” (1 - #4) Other sermons of his remind us that after Christ has healed anyone of their maladies, he does not ask them to do anything in return. He doesn’t hold his grace over sinners’ heads as in, “Now that I’ve done this for you, you must follow with obedience to God’s commands or I’ll take it back.”


Luther points out that the gospel and the true word of God are blasphemed on many sides, getting from St. Paul that all false spirits are bold and proud in contrast to true spirits that are bashful. This reminds me of all the places in the NT where it says revilers, extortioners, theives, and coveters are in the same category as pedophiles and sodomites. The Greek concordance says 'thieves' is a metaphor for false teachers. Revilers are those who subject others to verbal abuse, and scold in harsh or abusive language. Extortioners are those who obtain what they want by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal power. 1 Cor. 6:10 says they will not inherit the kingdom of God either. This sounds like the pot calling the kettle black in the church today.


The story in Matthew itself shows that you and I, and the church, can bring others to Christ because of our faith, as in the baptism of children, but then Christ gives faith to them so they can believe for themselves. Yet there are so many questions about why some accept the gift and others don’t. Another one of the mysteries.


Blessings - PWM

Matthew 8:23-27 Faith in the midst of storms

It’s so easy to have faith when the seas are calm, and the wind is peaceful and pleasant. These are the wonderful times of life. No problems. Or at least most are pretty manageable and in our control. But when we lose control of life circumstances, the storms blow our faith away like feathers in a hurricane. On the contrary, if we have trust in Jesus, this trust can blow the wind and the waves from our mind as we focus on the grace and power of God. After all, faith sees what cannot be seen. Something Luther pointed out was how Jesus helped calm the storm, but then what did he ask of us? Did he command obedience to his teachings? Did he command that we ‘go and sin no more?’ Did he expect anything in return? No. He helps, not because he wants more from us, but because love helps without expectation of reward. He helps so that his heavenly Father will be praised and glorified. Luther also connected the storm to the world that opposes Christendom. By world, Luther included certain people within the church. He said the world tolerates all kinds of preaching except the preaching of Christ as the way of salvation. People add requirements to salvation that go above Christ. When Christ alone is preached, he said it should be a consolation to preachers if they suffer persecution. It’s even a good sign if the persecution comes from the great, saintly, the learned, and the wise. At least the disciples believed in Jesus enough to run to him for help, even though they didn’t have a clue how he would be able to help them. They’d never seen him calm a storm before. They wouldn’t have woken him if they didn’t think he could help in some way. Luther thinks that God/Jesus appears to sleep so we can learn how to trust, not in handling the situation ourself, but in God. Faith grows through struggle. A final point here, and I’m not sure how Luther tied it in with this story, but he said “The Word has no master or judge or protector besides God, the author. God doesn’t ask the counsel of men to administer and defend his Word. He will defend/protect it himself.” Maybe this is part of the storm we face today in the church. So many men, defending God’s Word. Like they think God can’t do it for himself. O ye of little faith. Blessings - PWM