June 11, 2023 Sermon

Sermon title:  "Jesus Raises the Dead"

Scripture:  Matthew 9:9-13 and 18-26

(Other lectionary suggestions include Genesis 12:1-9, Psalm 33:1-12, and Romans 4:13-25.)

Matthew 9:9-13 and 18-26

The Call of Matthew 

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.

          Today's Scripture reading is full of sermon topics. I could have said something about the calling of Matthew to be a disciple. Or how about the lowlifes Jesus associates with at dinner? I love it that Jesus says, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." That's from the prophet Hosea, by the way. There's the whole point of religion, in my book, anyway:  BE MERCIFUL! Don't sacrifice animals in the Temple! BE MERCIFUL!

          And then we have the story-within-a-story:  a synagogue leader says his daughter has died, but if Jesus would stop by, she would live. That's an amazing declaration of faith right there - but whoever wrote Matthew's Gospel has a woman with a 12-year blood flow come up and touch Jesus's garment, and he stops on the way to the dead girl's house to heal her. Finally, he goes to the dead girl's house and raises her up.

          What all these stories say to me is, Have Faith. Trust God. The Genesis suggestion for today has God telling Abraham to leave his homeland and family and "Go....to the land that I will show you." And he DOES IT! Drops everything and heads outa Dodge! The same for Matthew:  drops his IRS calculator and decides to follow Jesus on the spot! (I think Matthew said something like, "This business is TAXING!" Ha, ha!)

          Okay. I should apologize for the bad jokes, but I won't! But look at all these illustrations:  aren't they saying, Trust God? Have Faith? I think so.

          The question may arise that why would Matthew the tax collector, who supposedly wrote the Gospel that bears his name, put in his own account of his deciding to follow Jesus. And why HERE? The answer may be in the words used to describe Matthew's actions:  "he got up and followed him", or he AROSE and followed him! Get it? Jesus means NEW LIFE. Jesus AROSE from the tomb on that first Easter day, but before that, he gave NEW LIFE to all with whom he came in contact, including Matthew! He gave NEW LIFE to the woman with the bleeding problem, and he gave NEW LIFE to that little girl who had died. How about those lowlifes with whom he was eating? By eating with them he was ACCEPTING them, so he was giving them NEW LIFE, too! Great storyteller, this Matthew! New life may come in different ways for different people, but Jesus means NEW LIFE, and in today's passage, Jesus gives NEW LIFE in all sorts of ways!

          Back to Matthew.....being a tax collector was not an easy job back then. First of all, you were considered a traitor because you were working for the occupying Romans. And also, tax collectors were often accused - rightly! - of taxing more than they should. The Romans knew their collectors would be tempted to add a little for themselves, and many of them did! So, when Jesus asks Matthew to join his followers, we can only imagine that Matthew said YES, because ANYTHING had to be better than what his job was! And I like to think Jesus saw something in Matthew that he liked.

          As far as "eating with sinners" is concerned, one Lutheran commentator I read, Glenn Nielsen, a seminary professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, asks the question, "Who should be eating with Jesus?" The answer:  We shouldn't be! Isn't that good insight? We hear the Scripture and think, "Those Pharisee hypocrites!" But have YOU ever looked down your nose at someone you thought was UNworthy of something? The answer is probably yes. How about homeless people you see begging on the street? Do you ever think, "why doesn't that guy get a job?" Me, too! But, you see, there can be some unfair judgement in looking down on others. You've heard it said, and I'll say it again:  "There but for the grace of God go I." Not everybody gets dealt the same hand in this life, so - as Jesus said earlier - show a little mercy. What's that song? "Try a little tenderness." But really - what is needed is more mercy and less judgement. It's the same today as it was then.

          Something else Professor Nielsen says: "Everyone has equal status before him (meaning Jesus). It is not our worthiness that counts, but a repentant faith that receives his salvation." Something else:  Jesus invites sinners to the table, yes. But is the meal we read about today signaling something else? What about the Last Supper? "Even though he knew Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him, and the rest would run away, he still welcomed them to the table. He ate with them."

          One more quote from Professor Nielsen:  "Who is eating with Jesus? Sinners. Sinners like you and me.....All of us are included. All of us are welcome. All of us are forgiven."

          I could end this right here, but I have a little more to say.

          Matthew's Gospel is thought to have been written from the Jewish point of view, and maybe that's why it's first in the New Testament. The Old Testament ends, and the New Testament begins, trying to tell the story of Jesus in a manner that the Jewish people could understand. Maybe yes, maybe no.

          But look what happens. Jesus twice flouts Jewish practice of avoiding "uncleanness". He actually touches a dead body - that's a real "No-No" - but he takes the little dead girl by the hand and raises her up. On the way to that dead girl's house, a woman with a blood flow of many years touches Jesus. He doesn't touch her:  SHE touches HIM. And what happens? Does Jesus get contaminated? NO! Actually, HE "infects" HER with good health! What is Matthew saying? Maybe he is saying that a NEW day is here - or, as it says in the book of Revelation, "Behold! I make all things new."

          Says the Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright, "Here is the mystery:  Jesus has the power to heal, but those who receive it are those with faith. And the word Matthew uses for healing is "save" or "rescue". No early Christian would miss the point. What Jesus was doing was the beginning of his whole work of rescuing the world, saving the world, from everything that polluted, defaced, and destroyed it. And those who would benefit would be those who would believe."

          Oh, I almost forgot......When the little girl got up, the Scripture says she AROSE! Matthew is already telling us what is going to happen later on in his book. JESUS AROSE! Amen.

Pastor Skip