"Haters Gonna Hate" (Matthew 9:23-34)

Mocking Him (v.23-26)

The Hopelessness of the Room (v.23)

Professional mourners as it were.

They would sing songs of loss/ Wail and cry aloud the name of the deceased

Was an ordinary thing to have at a funeral service during that time. (2 Chronicles 35:25 when Jeremiah chants a Lament for Josiah, king of Judah)

This is where the “noisy disorder” comes from. Everyone crying and mourning quite loudly so that others would know that the house was in mourning.

They were professional at mourning death, there is nothing quite as hopeless as death.

The fact that they were there shows the hopeless condition of Jairus’s daughter. They did not come to mourn for free.

Hopelessness is contagious, though not nearly as contagious as hope itself.

The Faith of Christ (v.24)

Jesus, being the divine Son of God knew that He had the power to raise this young girl back from the dead.

He was not saying that she was actually sleeping but pointing to the reality that she would live again.

He said the same thing about Lazarus, that he was asleep and that He would go and wake him up.

And we know that Jesus knew Lazarus was dead for He said it very plainly to His disciples in John 11:14.

John 10:18 Christ points to the fact that He has the power to lay down His own life and take it back up again from the dead, how much more is His power to raise to life while alive?

We see how Christ truly was able to raise her back from the dead (v.25)

The Doubt of the Crowd (v.24)

They knew a dead girl when they saw one and laughed at Christ when He implied that He could raise her back to life.

Understandable for those who did not know Him. Unheard of.

And to say it with such confidence as He did might have even been seen as offensive and insulting to them.

Within a moment their “mourning” turned into mocking. Their depression into derision.

They did not believe that Christ was able to do this, so Christ had them removed for their lack of faith.

Certainly they were in disbelief when they saw the young girl come out of the room.

They began telling everyone what they had just witnessed. Jesus’s fame continued to grow.

Glorifying Him (v.27-31)

The Faith of the Blind Men (v.27-28)

They call Him, “Son of David”

This was a title given within prophecy of the Messiah alone. (Messianic Title)

2 Samuel 7:12-16 & Isaiah 11:1-10 & Jeremiah 33:14-18

Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

These blind men knew that He was the promised Christ, the Son of David.

“Yes, Lord”

Gr. Kyrie; meaning in a direct sense, Lord and Master, more personal sense.

Kyrios is Gr. meaning Lord and Master but of a more broad sense. Like as a title or position.

They saw Jesus, not just as A Lord but rather, THEIR Lord. (King of England in not OUR king)

Jesus, never fooled, saw to their hearts and recognized their sincerity and their humility and moved according to their faith.

The Faithfulness of Christ (v.29-30a)

He did not deny them according to their faith but on the contrary, reached out, touched them and healed them.

How significant a simple touch can be. (Especially in our modern germophobic world)

We are reminded of the shock on the disciples when our Lord reached out and touched to leper. (Matthew 8:1-3 & Mark 1:40-42 & Luke 5:12-13)

They showed their faith and Christ showed His faithfulness.

Again, God keeping the promises He has made through His Son

Their eyes were indeed opened.

Do we remember when the Lord touched our hearts and opened the eyes of our hearts that we would see Him in all things?

Though we were faithless, He remained faithful, and thanks be to God.

The Difficulty of Silence (v.30b-31)

The mystery of the Messianic Secret

Believe it was to keep attention off of Himself until the fulness of time had come for Him.

Believe it was to keep crowds down so Jesus could focus of His mission.

Believe it was to keep people from focusing on the miracles and not the message.

It did not stop these men from telling the world all that Christ had done for them.

They could not keep it in. Everything they saw with their restored vision was a reminder of the darkness they were just rescued from.

Have we become too used to the Light? Has the darkness been so far removed from us that our restored vision into the things of God all around us become common to us? Why do we hesitate to tell others all of what Christ has done for us?

Silence has never been a part of the Gospel.

We hide under courtesy for others.

We hide behind respect for others beliefs.

Charles Spurgeon Quote:

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”

Demonizing Him (v.32-34)

The Love of His Friends (v.32)

They brought their demon-possessed friend to Jesus.

They knew that he needed Christ.

They recognized the evil that was in him.

Certainly wasn’t easy to do so with him being possessed by a demon.

We know people who need to be brought to Jesus.

We don’t because of how difficult it is.

We don’t want to get something wrong.

We don’t want to offend.

They constantly refuse.

But we know that Jesus is the one who could turn their lives around.

They are depressed, He can bring joy/ They are hopeless, He can bring purpose/ They are dead in sin and He can bring life

The Restoring Power of Christ (v.33)

The demon WAS cast out and the man spoke once more.

That which afflicted him was far removed from him.

We could image him using his newly restored voice to proclaim the wonders and the power of Christ over the evil in his life.

Christ brought completion to the hope of his friends.

The rejoicing of the friends.

Their friend/loved one was fully restored to them. It was marvelous to them.

They rejoiced in his rejoicing. (Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice;...)

Christ’s parable in Luke 15 of the woman who invited her friends to rejoice with her over her found lost coin.”

Friends rejoice with friends/ Enemies do not rejoice.

The Hatred of the Pharisees (v.34)

They cannot deny His power

They obviously saw that the man was restored and the demon was subject to His command.

They said, “He casts out demons...”

All of those present marveled at what they just witnessed. “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (Or anywhere for that matter)

In their willful unbelief they refuse to acknowledge it for what it is.

He wants to distort the intentions and the root of His power in the good that He has done.

In our culture today, if somebody we do not like does something good we immediately attack the motive behind why they did it.

They would not give Christ credit according to the power of God but rather tried to deceive those present by saying it was from the power of Satan.

The miracle of other languages at Pentecost; “They are filled with new wine.” Acts 2:13

There is another story told in the Gospels where the Pharisees used the same attack on our Lord.

Matthew 12 & Mark 3 & Luke 11

Saying His power comes from Beelzebul (Baal-Zebub, the name of a Philistine god “Lord of the flies”/ Later changed to Beelzebul in Gr. meaning “Lord of Dung” and then was used by the Jews as an insult to the foreign deity and later used to address Satan.)

They hated the influence that Jesus had/ They envied it and desired to discredit it by associating it with evil. (Common practice even to this day)

Haters gonna hate; Lovers gonna love.

Do not let the hatred others have for Christ stop you from loving Christ and telling others about what He has done for you.