Jesus Reverses Death

Call to Worship: Titus 3:4-7 // Prayer

Adoration: Lord God Almighty, all your creation gives glory to you; all your actions bring praise to your name. There is no one and nothing comparable to you. You easily measure all things; your Spirit is immeasurable. You are the fountain of all truth, and no human or angel has ever added one iota to your limitless knowledge. You consult no one, yet all wisdom is from you. All the nations of earth in all their riches and glory and dignity are like a drop of water from a bucket—like specks of dust on a scale. All their riches sacrificed could not be a sufficient offering of worship to you. Why then are you so full of mercy toward sinners like us?

Confession: For we have sinned, and you know it more than we do. We have desired the glories of this world more than the glory of your Son, our Divine Bridegroom. We have walked in the path of the wicked even this past week, failing to live with patient mercy toward those around us. Father, forgive us, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet in your Son, we’ve seen that your goodness and lovingkindness appeared and saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy, which has been applied to us by your Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly, so that being justified by his Grace, we have become heirs with him of eternal life. Your gospel of grace is trustworthy, and we cling to it.

Supp: And because of this great mercy, we approach you confidently also with our requests: in our own congregation, we lift up to you each sister in Christ—may each one be richly blessed, comforted, and sanctified by your Spirit; in this era where your beautiful design of womanhood has been so strongly rejected, may they instead delight in how you’ve made them, and embrace the glory of their design; may those who are married love their husbands and submit to them; may their husbands die to themselves every day in order to lay down their lives for their wives; and may the testimony of our marriages shine as a light in the darkness of this present age // and we ask for Damascus Community Church—we ask that they might be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom so as to walk in a manor worthy of you, fully pleasing to you, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in knowing you // and we ask for the church in Japan: that they would be strengthened by your Spirit to glory in Christ Jesus, to rejoice in your gospel, and to proclaim it to their neighbors // and in our community, we pray for Mayor Beaty of Beaverton and the city counsel there: we ask that you would direct their hearts to govern with justice, and to make no law restricting freedom to proclaim the gospel // and now, please open our eyes to your truth as we look into your Word…

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Benediction

…he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

1 Timothy 6:15b-16

Sermon

Intro

It’s a problem when you’re unclean.

After moving into our house, we soon made a rule that boots stay outside. They get parked near the sliding door on the back porch, or maybe in the garage. But they can’t come inside—not even one step. And I’m sure many of you have similar rules: the shoes you wear for working in the mud are not allowed into the living room!

Why? Because they’re muddy. Wear them on that nice, clean carpet and you’ll have clumps of mud and clay and brown stains everywhere. What is dirty must be kept away from and excluded from what is clean.

And there is a similar dynamic spiritually: what is spiritually polluted is excluded from what is clean and holy. And that’s a problem for us: we are born polluted with sin, and we grow up in that and sin all the more as we grow. Our hearts, our words, our actions… all of these are at best impure and dirty in comparison to the total purity of God and the purity of his Law. And so, because of the ‘uncleanness’ of our hearts, we are excluded from the Life of God and destined for his eternal wrath—at least, that’s the status of natural man.

But our Scripture passage this morning answers this problem: God has made a way for the spiritually dirty to be cleansed and welcomed into his presence, and our passage tells us that Jesus himself is this way. Jesus is the one with the power to cleanse. And we’re going to explore how this works in our passage in three steps:

First, we’re going to look into what the OT has to say about uncleanness, and also the related theme of death—why these things are such a critical problem for us.

Second, we’re going to see Jesus’ gracious power to remove uncleanness.

And third, we’re going to see that this power is so great as even to reverse death itself.

So to sum that up: we’re going to see that Jesus is the one who removes uncleanness and death.

Uncleanness and Death in Redemptive History

In Scripture, the first time death is mentioned is in Genesis 2:17, where God tells Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that if Adam disobeys this command, he will “surely die” on the day he does it. And as that account unfolds, we learn that Adam and Eve did eat from the forbidden tree. And what happened on the day they ate?

First, physical death became their destiny.

But second, they did not die physically right then, on that day. What happened on that day is that they were exiled from the garden—exiled from the place of life and fellowship with God. Excluded from the life of God—a kind of spiritual death.

So then, when Adam broke God’s law, he and all humanity with him were plunged into both physical and spiritual death—ultimately, exclusion from eternal life with God.

And that is the natural state of every person born since that day—all of us, no exclusions. Humanity is in deep trouble.

But how about uncleanness? Where does that come into the picture? Well, it came to the forefront a little later, as God was making Israel into a nation and giving them a code of law to follow. We know this code as the Law of Moses. And in Moses’ Law, there were a number of rules about what was considered clean and unclean. For example, pigs, many birds of prey, bats, ostriches, and some other animals were all considered unclean, and therefore off limits as food.

And you yourself could become ceremonially unclean by touching unclean things. And then you’d have to wash yourself and wait a certain amount of time in order to be considered ceremonially clean again. And if you were ceremonially unclean, then you were excluded from temple worship and from the life of God’s people until you were again clean. You had to be outside the camp or away from touching others.

And these laws were not random regulations. They existed to symbolize a spiritual reality: the reality is that our sins make us spiritually unclean in the sight of God, and therefore exclude us from the life of God.

And once again, that is the natural state of every person—all of us, no exclusions. Humanity is in deep trouble. Each of us—without God’s saving power—is in deep trouble.

And these two themes—uncleanness and death—are woven together in Scripture.

Now, you may have already noticed the similarity between these themes: an unclean heart is what gets you excluded from the Life of God, and spiritual death is just a description of that exclusion. Or, in other words, sin makes your heart unclean, and the result of that uncleanness is exclusion from the life of God—spiritual death.

But it goes the other direction as well: because death is the result of sin, and because death is a corruption of God’s original design for creation, it also by itself was considered unclean. For example, Numbers 19:11-12 says:

Numbers 19:11–12 ESV

“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean.

So if you touched a dead person, you were temporarily considered unclean and could not participate in any worship activities or be touched by anyone else. You were excluded from the worship of God and the life of his people.

Likewise, spiritual death and spiritual uncleanness are interwoven.

But even as the OT described our problem of uncleanness, it also promised a remedy. For example, in Ezekiel 36:25, God promised his people:

Ezekiel 36:25 ESV

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

God would some day wash away our uncleanness, spiritually speaking.

And even as the OT described the problem of death, it also promised that death would some day be reversed, and that God’s people would dwell with him again. For example, Isaiah 26:19 says:

“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!”

And Isaiah 54:5, describing how God’s people were judged with exile, but then redeemed back to him, says this:

“For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name… For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you...”

So then, to sum it up: death and uncleanness are two problems introduced in the OT, and which plague all humanity up to this day. Death and uncleanness are two problems which plague each of us personally—most ultimately, because they mean exclusion from the Life of God. But the OT also promised that God would one day act to remove our uncleanness and reverse our death. And that is the background we need to grasp the significance of our passage.

Jesus Removes Uncleanness

So what happens in our passage in Matthew? In vs. 18-19, a father comes to Jesus and asks him to bring his daughter back to life, who had just died. And Jesus and his disciples get up and follow the man. Jesus intends to grant his plea.

But on the way, something happens. Vs. 20-21 say:

Matthew 9:20–21 ESV

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”

So what was this woman’s trouble? A constant discharge of blood for twelve years. And this was more than just physical suffering, because this discharge made her unclean by the Law of Moses. Leviticus 15:19 says:

Leviticus 15:25 “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days… all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness.”

So, this woman had suffered a life of ritual uncleanness—exclusion from the life of God’s people and from ceremonial worship—for twelve years.

But notice also her faith: she believed that she just has to touch a fold of his cloths, and she’ll be made well. She firmly believes in his power to heal.

Now, is there superstition mixed into her faith, since she thinks that touching Jesus’ cloths is what will heal her? I’m not sure. But think about it from her perspective:

First, she’s already breaking Moses’ Law here. She’s already entering a very crowded area (Mark and Luke, in their accounts of this, tell us it was an extremely crowded place) and coming up to Jesus and touching his cloths—but if she’s unclean, she shouldn’t be doing those things. Maybe that was a frightening situation for her. But she seemed to understand that someone greater than Moses is here, and that braving the crowds was the right thing to do.

Second, her problem is very personal… can you imagine the shame and the hurt she carried with her? Rather than ask for healing for this problem in front of a whole crowd, maybe she preferred a quiet, unnoticed encounter.

But whatever the case is, here’s this suffering woman, and she’s confident that if she can encounter Jesus in some way, he will remove her uncleanness. And the whole story makes it clear that her faith is in Jesus himself.

And what happens? Verse 22:

Matthew 9:22 ESV

Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

So, she was healed. And the underlying thing here, again, isn’t just illness. It’s uncleanness, and and all the suffering of exclusion that came with it.

But Jesus’ power removed her uncleanness. And so he also removed her exclusion; finally again, she would be able to live as an active member of the covenant community of God’s people, celebrating the feasts and the sacrifices and everything else which was part of worshipping God at that time. She was restored from the exile of her uncleanness back into the life of God’s people by the kindness of Jesus.

[Gospel]

=> Now remember: this ceremonial uncleanness was a symbol of something deeper—of spiritual uncleanness. Ceremonial uncleanness is no longer an issue for us, since the ceremonial laws of the OT do not apply in our day, in the new covenant era.

=> But spiritual uncleanness is the real problem—the uncleanness of our hearts from our sin. In a sense, it’s the problem that has dominated humanity since Adam’s original sin. If you are human, it’s your problem. God is utterly pure and holy, but you are unclean. You are unfit for fellowship with him. You are only fit for his judgement and wrath. And you cannot make yourself clean.

=> But, all those who come to his Son in faith—just like this woman—he will make clean! Have you come to Jesus in faith, to be made clean by him? — and if you’re already a believer, do you make that problem clear when you’re sharing the gospel?

=> But if you’ve already come to Christ, do you trust that he’s made you clean?

Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

=> If you’ve trusted in Christ, he has made you clean! You can rest in his power to save. His words are also for you: “Take heart, daughter/take heart child; your faith has saved you.”

[Application]

And by the way… there’s a common accusation out there that the Bible is anti-woman. Well that’s a complex topic, and there’s a lot to be said in answer to that accusation. But just look at this passage here. Look at the words Jesus speaks to this suffering woman: “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”

Do you see the kindness of those words? The gentleness? The dignifying and honoring title he gives her—daughter? And Jesus consistently treated women like this: with kindness, honor, and dignity.

Our society talks big talk about treating women right… and again, this is a complex subject. But I have a keen interest in it as the father of four girls. And to me, it looks like our society is failing badly. And sometimes, we mess it up in the church also.

So I would reverse the script: actually, it’s our society that fails badly to honor women. And even in the church, we often fail. But Jesus’ character—the way he treated of women—that is the example for us to start with.

But so, we’ve seen how Jesus healed and restored this woman: he removed her uncleanness.

Jesus Reverses Death

But remember, he was originally headed for the house of a father whose daughter had just died.

You can see, back in vs. 18, how this father came to Jesus in desperation, but with real faith.

He believed that if Jesus touched his daughter, she would come alive again.

Then, down in verses 23-24, we find out what happened when he arrived at the house:

Matthew 9:23–24 ESV

And when Jesus came to the ruler’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.

Now, what are these flute players and this crowd? Back then, it was normal to hire flute players and professional mourners to help with mourning right after someone had died. And perhaps family and friends were also there in the crowd.

But why did Jesus send all of them away? Why wouldn’t he want them to see this miracle? And the girl was dead. So why did he tell them, “the girl is not dead but sleeping”? Well, I think there are two things going on here:

First, the crowds Jesus encountered during his ministry were fickle and untrustworthy. When they got excited about him, it was often for the wrong reasons: they loved his miracles, but didn’t get his deeper mission of redemption. So, just as he told the leper in chapter 8 to say nothing to anyone about Jesus healing him, so also he sends the crowd away here to minimize how many folks witness the miracle.

But second, his words give a hint of what’s about to happen: she’s just sleeping, meaning, her death is not permanent, because it’s about to be confronted by Jesus’ power. And, in fact, death is never the end of life for those who belong to Jesus—if you belong to him, you are destined to be raised to life on the last day.

And so, verse 25 tells us:

Matthew 9:25 ESV

But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

So then, just like the woman with the flow of blood, she was healed. Her death was reversed.

But there’s something further we need to see here as well. On the one hand, the woman Jesus had just healed was unclean because of her flow of blood. But how about this little girl? Remember what we heard about the connection between death and uncleanness at the beginning of the sermon?

Numbers 19:11 ESV

“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days.

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did in verse 25? He touched the dead body of the girl.

And what’s the biblical rule on when something clean touches something unclean? Now both are unclean. What happens when you walk on a clean carpet with a muddy boot? Now, both the boot and the carpet are muddy.

But with both miracles, this principle is reversed. Instead of Jesus becoming unclean from the uncleanness the woman and the girl when they touch him—instead of that, they became clean. His power first removed the uncleanness of the woman by healing her, and then removed the uncleanness of the dead girl by bringing her to life. And in the process, Jesus himself did not become unclean.

It is the same for all who come to him in faith: the power of his death cleanses us from the unclean stain of our sin, and thus defeats not just our sin, but our death as well. All who belong to Jesus are declared clean in God’s sight and receive the guarantee of eternal life. Why?

Because Jesus is the one who removes uncleanness and death

Synthesis and Conclusion: Jesus Restores to God

Death, and uncleanness—two different ways the Bible talks about exclusion from the Life of God and from the life of God’s people. By our sin, we become spiritually unclean, and the end result is death. But in Jesus, both of these things are reversed. In Jesus, all the promises of the OT to to remove our spiritual uncleanness and rescue us from death have been fulfilled.

Brothers and sisters, do you believe this?

Do you hate your own sin because you see that is unclean in God’s sight, the product of spiritual corruption and rot? That’s what sin is. Not some minor problem, but an unclean spiritual infestation in your heart. Lust, pride, greed, gossip… it doesn’t matter the sin.

But at the same time, do you believe in the power of Jesus—do you believe that he’s really made you clean in the Father’s sight? As Jesus said to his disciples in John 15: “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” He had spoken the gospel to them and they had received it. And so in spite of ongoing sin, their spiritual status was, ‘clean’. If you’ve turned from sin to Christ for forgiveness—if you belong to Christ—you also are clean by virtue of the power of Jesus to save—the limitless power of his mercy and the merit of his blood.

Do you approach the Father boldly in prayer, with confidence that you’ve been brought near to him by the blood of Christ? It’s your birthright to do so.

So let us remember this: Jesus is the one who removes uncleanness and death. And if you belong to him, he’s already done this for you. You are not unclean, but you are clean in Christ.