March 14, 2021
Matthew 9: 18-26
While 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.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, 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. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.
This week marked the one-year anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID19 a pandemic; starting a series of events that has profoundly interrupted our lives. I think we can say it has been a yearlong interruption. I am grateful that we are getting vaccinated and that soon the interruption will end. We had our first meeting about when and how we will get back to worshipping in person. It is months away, but even thinking about it, gives hope!
Our passage today is one of interruptions. Jesus was discussing fasting, noting the folly of placing new wine in old wineskins. How the wineskin will burst, and the wine pours out, and how it is better to put fresh wine in new wine skins. Suddenly a synagogue leader kneels before Jesus asking him to restore his daughter who has recently died. Jesus willingly follows this leader, only to be interrupted by an infirmed woman. Both the leader and the woman have great faith in Jesus and his ability to save and heal. But as soon as the woman is made whole, the funeral for the little girl is interrupted by Jesus. The flute players and mourners are sent away, because Jesus declares, “the girl is not dead but sleeping.” Interruption after interruption and we might think that nothing is getting done. But the ministry of Jesus happens right alongside the interruptions. Jesus sees these two women and honors them with wholeness. One commentator writes, “In God’s eyes, as revealed through Jesus, women were fully deserving of God’s healing attention” (Feasting on the Gospels, Matthew pg. 241). If we missed that point, Jesus restores a young girl to life and heals a grown woman. Jesus speaks to her, touches her and heals her. The story about resurrection is interrupted by and interpreted through, this story of being save.
These two stories are intertwined and must be, to understand them fully. The woman’s health is destroyed, and the young girl has died. Walter Wilson shares three key points, “The logic informing Matthew’s narrative theology dictates that the two kinds of imagery must be held together, indeed, intertwined: new life is only possible through death.” (Healing in the Gospel of Matthew p. 224) Secondly, “The images of destruction and death do not have the last word but give way to new life” (p. 222). Finally, “In the light of this reality, death is properly understood as “sleep” (9:24), that is, as an interim state that ultimately gives way to new life (214-215). This point helps to address what Jesus meant by, “she is only asleep,” which I have often wondered about.
In prepping for this sermon, I had an epiphany. I think I have always looked at Mark’s account of this story where the girl is twelve years old, the woman hemorrhaging for twelve years. But Matthew tells it differently. Remember the wine skins, and the wine being poured out when placed in old skins? It reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, his blood being poured out to take away our sins. It is followed by the woman being saved and the girl being raised, both alluding to Jesus rising from the dead and his salvation of our sins. In Matthew’s gospel, the hemorrhaging woman is the ONLY person said to participate in salvation. Think about that. She is the only person to participate in salvation. One commentator writes, “While the initial conditions of both females in our story can be understood as signifying death, the fact that the woman’s body is hemorrhaging blood makes her uniquely suitable to signify what it means to be “saved” by Jesus, inasmuch as it is only through his blood shed on the cross that he saves people from their sins (1:21; 26:28) (Wilson, Healing in the Gospel of Matthew, p. 224). Given that, her twelve years of bleeding may allude to the twelve tribes of Israel, the people Jesus came to save.
Jesus shows his compassion by touching both these women. Doing so would make him ritually unclean, yet touching is vital to what Jesus is doing, saving and raising. It reminds us that Jesus touches us spiritually and heals us in profound ways.
These two miracles tell of two women being made whole but do so reflecting on the way that Jesus makes us whole on the cross. As we move through the season of Lent, it is good to be reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for us and the gifts we have received, both salvation and eternal life. Being saved and being raised.
These two healings also offer immediate lessons for us today. First, we may want to put new wine into old wineskins when it comes to re-entering the world post COVID. I know we are still taking all the precautions, but my clergy group noted how hard it might be to get back into the swing of everything – re-enter- once we start moving more freely in the world. Have you been pondering that? How it will feel? What do you want to do first? Maybe we need to think of new ways of being in the world rather than trying to make the old ways fit now. New wine in new wine skins. Be OK with wearing masks for as long as you feel like it, rather than casting them aside to get back to the way things were. Safety is the watchword here. Let us engage in life with new enthusiasm as we start to move about more, respecting yourself and those around you.
Jesus spoke of the girl being asleep rather than dead. This reminds us that we can be awakened to so many things. Things that might need to change, things that we have been unaware of. So as we are seeking new life in Christ, part of that comes from discovering the ways we are asleep in our lives. In this season of recovery, what is being re-awakened in you and in your family? Maybe you have a spark to do something new, or simply to hug your family for the first time in a year. As shared earlier Albert Schweitzer wrote, “The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.” In our lesson, the woman was more than her hemorrhaging and so when she was healed she had to create a new life. She had to unbecome being a woman who hemorrhaged, in order to become a person living in Christ. We get to unbecome being a person who worried about everyone we love. We each get to unbecome being a person who has spent the last year isolated in our homes, afraid of being with people in order to become people who create a new way of being out in the world. I am not saying to do this over night. And I think it will be trickier than we think. A year of interruption will take some time to re-adjust to. So let us be gentle with ourselves as we slowly try new things. This week I had a cup of tea at a friend’s house- inside! The first time in a year. We have both been vaccinated and it felt strange to take off my mask. Gradually we will need to unbecome the people who are locked up in our homes and become people who socialize responsibly again.
Jesus healing the woman and raising the girl declare the new life we have in Christ. In what ways is Jesus calling you, calling us, to new life? In this season of recovery, what is being re-awakened in you and in our church? What is being saved? And for what purpose? What will we do with our newfound healing? May we each have a touch of inspiration to awaken us from our sleep. Amen.
