A Ministry of Healing—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 2A (Proper 5) (Matthew 9)

The Raising of Jairus' Daughter by Vasilij Dmitrievich Polenov 

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁹ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

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

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                It is well understood that Jesus engaged in a ministry of healing. Even scholars who would reject the miraculous recognize that this was part of his ministry. Here in Matthew 9, we encounter several healing stories, including one that appears to involve raising a girl from the dead. As we can see from this account that sickness and healing can be both spiritual and physical. Thus, we see the connection between the call of Matthew, the tax collector, and the two healing stories that follow, one of which involves raising a little girl from the dead. As for the omitted verses, they focus on fasting and thus do not fit the overall conversation about Jesus’ healing ministry.

                Taken in its much larger context, these verses not only speak of healing but the authority Jesus possesses. This authority is expressed in a variety of ways, including through acts of healing and forgiveness of sins. This is where Matthew the tax collector comes into the story. The Pharisees, a group of Jewish believers who are concerned about holiness, express concern about Jesus’ decision to share a meal with Matthew and his friends, who according to the passage are tax collectors and sinners, after calling Matthew to join his band of disciples. By eating with this group of folks, who would have been seen as unclean due to their profession (tax collectors then and now are not well received), Jesus responds to their critique by suggesting that it is the sick who need a physician. Thus, Jesus spends his time among those who need spiritual healing (forgiveness). For, as Jesus, quoting from Hosea 6:6, God desires mercy not sacrifice.

                While this passage doesn’t speak directly to Christian eucharistic fellowship, I find it illuminating. If we understand Jesus’ practice of Table fellowship to be the foundation for our Table fellowship, then shouldn’t the church’s Table include both sinner and saint? Might the eucharist be a medicine of the soul, bringing healing to lives estranged from God? Early in the life of the church, at least by the second century, the Table was fenced. Only those in good standing were invited to share the bread of life and the cup of salvation. But is that in keeping with what Jesus intended? For as we see here, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, people who needed healing of their souls, not just with saints who have it together.

                Sara Miles has written a powerful book that illustrates the healing power of the Table, as she shares a word about her own conversion that took her from being an atheist to a follower of Jesus. This conversion happened when she responded to an invitation to come to the Table for communion at St. Gregory of Nyssa Church. She recounts how the presider at the table invited everyone to come. When she went forward, she found that “someone was putting a piece of fresh, crumbly bread in my hands, saying ‘the body of Christ,’ and handing me the goblet of sweet wine, saying ‘the blood of Christ,’ and then something outrageous and terrifying happened. Jesus happened to me.” [Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion (p. 58). Kindle Edition]. Yes, and Jesus happened to Matthew as well.

                After a word about fasting and why Jesus’s disciples didn’t fast, a passage in which Jesu speaks of wedding banquets and new wine (Mt. 9:14-17), we come to the first of two healing stories. Actually, the first act of healing in this passage takes place as Jesus responds to the request of the leader of the synagogue, whose daughter has just died. He wants Jesus to come to lay hands on her to restore her to life. Jesus agrees to go with him. As they walked toward the synagogue leader’s home, a woman comes up to him, and quietly, so as not to draw attention to herself, reaches out and touches the fringe of Jesus’ cloak. This woman has been experiencing hemorrhaging for twelve long years. Everything she’s tried, all the money spent on doctors, has failed to heal her body. This constant bleeding not only affects her health but makes her unclean. That is, because of this bodily affliction, she has been excluded from the community. She’s desperate to experience healing, and she believes that Jesus is her last best hope. If only she can touch the fringe of the cloak of this holy man, then perhaps she’ll experience healing. So, she approaches Jesus quietly and stealthily, hoping that no one, including Jesus, would see her move toward him. Hopefully, no one would recognize her. So, if she can reach out and touch the fringe of his cloak, she might experience healing, and no one would know the difference. We should note that the reference to the fringe on Jesus’ cloak reveals him to be a pious Jew.

                Despite her stealth, Jesus saw her. Instead of rebuking her for touching his clothing, essentially making him unclean, he spoke gently to her. Jesus said to her: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” At that moment she was cured. The flow of blood that had afflicted her for twelve years and drained her bank account stopped. She was free. She was clean. She could rejoin the community. As for Jesus, Anna Case-Winters, notes that when it comes to healing, Jesus is not afraid of touching or being touched by those in need of healing. He puts himself out there. So, contextually, Case-Winters writes: “It is not because ritual purity is unimportant but because ritual purity is secondary to the demands of mercy and compassion” [Matthew: Belief, p. 135].

                The woman essentially interrupted Jesus’ response to the synagogue leader’s request. This was an unexpected healing. It came as a result, according to Matthew, the woman’s faith.  But Jesus is not done for the day. He still needs to go to the home of the synagogue leader, where his beloved daughter lies dead. Even before Jesus arrives at the house, people are gathering to prepare for the funeral. It’s clear that the girl is dead, so when Jesus arrives and shoos the crowd away by telling them that the girl is not dead but sleeping they laugh. They know the difference between sleeping and death, and the girl is dead (to quote Scrooge, she’s as “dead as a door knell). Surely Jesus must be joking. Nevertheless, he pushes the crowd outside the home and goes into where the girl was lying in preparation for her burial. According to Matthew, Jesus took her hand and the girl got up. In this account, Jesus doesn’t say anything. He just touches the girl and she wakes up. As you might expect word quickly spread about this apparent miracle. This is, in one sense, a resurrection story. However, like the story of Lazarus, restoration to life is not a final act. At some point, this girl will die, just not yet.

                In both healing stories here in Matthew, the focus is on the faith of the father and the woman. It is their belief that Jesus can make a difference that leads to their healing. In Mark’s version of the story, the little girl isn’t yet dead, and the father, named here Jairus, repeatedly begs Jesus to come and heal his daughter. There is no begging in Matthew’s account. As for the woman, in Mark, Jesus notices that power has gone out from him and demands to know who touched his clothes. It’s only then that the woman confesses, and Jesus blesses her healing. When it comes to the girl, it is on the way to the house that they learn of her death. When he hears this, he tells Jairus not to fear but to believe. Then Jesus goes in and raises the girl to life (Mk 5:21-43). Faith functions differently in Mark than in Matthew, but in both cases, Jesus acts out of compassion.

                From the stories we find in Matthew 9, it’s clear that healing is part of Jesus’ ministry. Healing is complex and involves not just the body but the soul as well. Healing can involve cures, but not always. Sometimes it’s a restoration of the spirit. It’s still healing, it just might not be physical. But’s not just a story of healing. Perhaps more importantly, it is a story of inclusion. Yes, healing often includes restoring people to the community, for that we can give thanks.  For, “there is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.” Amen.