Authority to Restore

Well good morning

It is great to be back with all of you again after being out of the pulpit the last two weeks

Anytime I step away from the pulpit for any amount of time and return, I am always reminded how grateful I am to be your pastor

And what a privilege it is to Shepherd you with the word of God

And so I am so thankful to be back with you this morning

If you are a guest, my name is Stefan… I am the pastor of preaching at Harvest

We are continuing our series in Matthew and specifically continuing in part three of that series where we encounter the authority of Jesus

So let’s take out our Bibles and turn to Matthew 9.

Perhaps you have a Matthew Scripture journal… go ahead and take that out.

If you don’t have a Matthew Journal and would like one, just stop by our welcome tables in the lobby and we would be happy to give you one for free.

And as you turn to Matthew… I have been reminding us that the way that chapters 8 and 9 are structured is that you have sets of three miracles and then a teaching that follows

And each set of miracles, when taken together, is meant to teach you one thing about Jesus

And so the way that we are walking through this series is to preach each set of miracles as one sermon

And focus in on the one point that the set of miracles highlights

The first set of miracles in chapter 8 showed us that Jesus has the authority to heal

The second set of miracles showed us that Jesus has authority over fear

And in this third set of miracles, we will see that Jesus has the authority to restore.

So that is our title for this morning’s message, “Authority to Restore” and we will be in Matthew 9:18-34.

Now, before we get started, we need to be confronted with an error that is all too common…

When it comes to the miracles of Jesus, it is very easy to get fixated on his power, as if that were all that the miracle were meant to display

But it would be tragic if we were so fixated on the power of Jesus in his miracles that we missed the heart of Jesus that desires to do the miracles in the first place

It is not just that Jesus has the power to calm storms and to heal the sick

But that he has the heart to overcome that which causes us fear and to care for us in the midst of our pain

In all of the miracles in Matthew 8-9, Jesus draws near to the people where they are

And in doing so what he is putting on display is that when we are in the most desperate places, he is not distant

But if we will just come to him in our desperation, he will meet us there.

Too often, we have the idea of God that we need to measure up first before he will draw near to us

As if God’s nearness is dependent on us being worthy.

And when that is my view of God and I find myself in desperate moments in life, I will run to other places and other people to get what I think I need

But these miracles in Matthew 8-9 have shown us that the heart of Jesus is to meet us where we are and give us what we need.

And so… what we need most, in the most desperate times of our lives, is to run straight to Jesus and nothing else.

Because only Jesus has the authority to restore

And Matthew is gonna show us what it looks like run to Jesus when we are desperate

So we need to give these words our full attention

Matthew 9:18–34 “While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler 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 rose and followed him, with his disciples. 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.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 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. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district. And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.””

These are God’s words for us as his people - May we have ears to hear them and hearts to obey them.

Big Idea: Jesus meets desperation with divine restoration. [6:30]

We experience desperation when we experience brokenness that we are unable to fix… broken homes, broken hearts, broken relationships, broken bodies…

But all of those broken things are highlighting the reality of the brokenness of the world that we are powerless to fix.

And if you and I fixate on the brokenness of our circumstances, we will neglect the underlying reality of the source of that brokenness

And that source is sin

All of creation bears the effects of sin.

Sin is our rebellion against God - it’s the natural disposition of the human heart to run from him rather than to him.

What you and I need more than anything is not for our circumstances to change,

but to be restored to a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

And from that restored relationship, we then see every circumstance through a new lens:

With the hope that Jesus has the authority to restore all things, in his way and in his time.

[Bridge] So we need to have a picture of what it looks like to have that kind of faith in Jesus

One that runs to him in desperation and one that is met by him with his divine restoration…

And we are going to see three markers of desperate faith in these three miracles, as all three miracles show us how Jesus meets desperation with divine restoration.

So here is what we will do - We will say… “Desperate faith…”

And we will see the markers of desperately depending on Jesus and how he meets that desperation with divine restoration.

Desperate faith…

Reaches for Jesus to make whole (18–26) [10:00]

Matthew gives us two very different portraits of desperation in this first section

In v. 18 we read, “A ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’”

Now, that word ruler indicates that he was specifically a leader in the Jewish synagogue.

He’s a man of influence and reputation.

He is respected by all of the people

And yet here he is on his knees before Jesus, pleading for help.

He just lost his daughter and in desperation is falling at the feet of the only one who he believes can do anything.

And in this we can see that desperate faith doesn’t give up just because the situation seems hopeless… It runs to Jesus and reaches for him with hope that it might possibly be different.

And Jesus responds by going with him

Then in verse 20, Matthew interrupts the story by offering a stark contrast…

“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.”

To appreciate the contrast that Matthew is giving here, we need to understand what Matthew is really saying about this woman.

According to Leviticus 15, her ongoing bleeding made her ceremonially unclean. That means she couldn’t worship in the temple, couldn’t participate in community life, couldn’t even be touched without passing on her uncleanness.

And this had been going on for twelve years

For 12 years she has lived in isolation and shame.

For 12 years she has been cut off from relationships, from the community worship, from the feasts, from everything.

She is not just physically broken… She is living in spiritual and relational brokenness as well.

Her spiritual life is being negatively affected because she cant participate in worship

Her relational life is non-existent because she is isolated from everyone else…

So we have these two desperate people

One is respected; the other isn’t

One is powerful; the other has no power at all.

One comes to Jesus publicly; the other comes secretly because of her shame

But they both have one thing in common: they are both desperate.

And they both come by faith, knowing that only Jesus can help them in their desperation.

But I want you to notice, they both come differently:

The ruler asks Jesus to lay his hand on his daughter - look at v. 18 - “…but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

The woman reaches out to lay her hand on Jesus - Look at v. 21 - “…If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”

Two different actions that display one truth - They were desperate and they knew only Jesus could restore what was broken.

And in these two different actions by these two different people coming from two different places…

We see that Jesus’ response is not about who comes to him or how they come to him, but that they come to him

In our desperation we reach for so many things, but desperate faith reaches for Jesus

It’s not whether you come boldly like the ruler or quietly like the woman.

It’s whether you come to Jesus at all.

And Matthew is showing us that if we are to be made whole, it will only happen if we reach out to Jesus with desperate faith

And when we do, he will respond…

First, look at v. 22

Matthew 9:22 “Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.”

That word “well” is the Greek word for “salvation.”

Jesus isn’t just saying, “You’ve been healed of this physical issue.”

He is saying, “You have been made whole.”

You have been restored

Salvation in Scripture is never strictly spiritual - it’s a whole-person reality.

It affects every part of who we are.

When Jesus saves you, he changes your standing before God, yes…

but he also begins to change the way you live in this body, and the way you relate to other people, and the way you see yourself in his presence.

This woman has spent twelve years being told she doesn’t belong, that she’s unclean, that she contaminates everything she touches.

And in one sentence, Jesus reverses all of that.

Her life will look totally different now.

Her relationships will look totally different now.

And her identity is no longer “the unclean woman,” but “daughter” because by faith she is a part of the family of God.

And church family, the same is true for you and I:

When you reach for Jesus, he welcomes you in, gives you a new identity, transforms your life.

Because reaching for Jesus changes everything…

And if you are living in the shame and brokenness of your sin, do what this woman did and you will hear what this woman heard.

Reach for Jesus and hear his words, “Take heart… your faith has made you whole.”

But it isn’t just the woman who experiences the divine restoration of Jesus.

Look at what happens next in verse 23:

“When Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion…”

Just a real quick background, when someone died they would hire professional grievers and mourners to make a big commotion to show that the people in that home were grieving

So Matthew is letting us know very subtly everyone knows this girl is dead…

When Jesus sees this… he said, ‘Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him.”

The fame of Jesus’ ability to heal was apparently not enough for people to believe he could overcome death.

These are religious people who believe in the power of God and are aware of the authority of Jesus, and yet they don't believe that Jesus can overcome the death of this young girl.

And this is instructive for us in how we think about Jesus’ ability to restore someone.

It is far too common for religious people to think, “Jesus saved me, but I wasn’t as bad as you - and I don’t think he can save you.”

Too often we look at someone’s life and think they are beyond saving, forgetting that every single one of us is just as desperate before God as anyone else

But the truth is that no one is beyond the divine restoration of Jesus

If God can save and restore and transform me… He can do it for anyone…

The girl’s father knew this… that is why he desperately reached out to Jesus.

And look what happened in v. 25

Matthew 9:25 “But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.”

Desperate faith meets divine power, and the dead are brought to life.

Church family, Jesus Christ has authority over death and the grave - he has authority to make a dead heart alive again.

Some of you have children who seem beyond saving because they’ve lived in rebellion against God for decades

Reach for Jesus as you pray for them, and trust that a day may come when they reach for Jesus and he makes them alive.

No one is beyond Jesus’ authority to restore…

Some of you look at your own life and think you’re beyond saving - because you know the things no one else knows.

Reach for Jesus.

Not even you are beyond Jesus’ authority to restore

Only he can make you whole.

Only he can transform your life

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve come from, or what you’ve done

When you reach for Jesus, desperately aware of your need for him, he will make you whole.

But desperate faith doesn’t just reach when we are aware of our need…

It also trusts when we can’t see what is going on… which leads us to the next marker of desperate faith.

Point #2: Desperate faith…

Trusts Jesus to reveal (27–31) [22:00]

Hebrews chapter 11 defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

So often we are desperate in life because we don’t know what is going on and we can’t see how it’s gonna work out

And Matthew helps us to see that Jesus will reveal the truth that you and I need when we need it

Matthew 9:27 “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David.’”

That term, “Son of David” is from 2 Samuel 7 in which God told David that he would give him a son who would reign forever.

A descendent of King David would be king for all eternity.

And Matthew has already showed us in chapter 1 that Jesus is that descendent from David

And now these men call him “Son of David,” confessing that he is the promised King who will save the people of God.

And then they plead for mercy, pleading for him to heal them.

Notice - They rightly identify who Jesus is and what Jesus can do

And they don’t separate those two things

They come to him for Mercy because he is the son of David who reigns over all

They come to him for help because he is the one with the authority to heal them

They come to him because who he is and what he can do go together…

It is far too easy today to want the healing and mercy and help from Jesus but want nothing to do with the authority of Jesus

Listen: You cannot be restored by Jesus while simultaneously rejecting the authority of Jesus

Because his ability to restore is derived from his authority to restore.

Are you with me?

If you want the benefits that comes with Jesus, you must take the authority that comes with Jesus as well.

And these two men know that and they run to him because of it.

But I want you to see how it is that they know who he is and what he can do… because remember… they are blind

Matthew 9:28 “…Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’”

They don't say, yes teacher

The don’t say, yes Rabbi

They don't say, yes prophet

They say yes Lord.

Now, why would they say that?

Is. 11 and Is. 35 both say the coming messiah, who would reign on David throne, would give sight to the blind

And Psalm 110 says that the Son of David would be Lord

We cannot miss this: Their confession of Jesus’ identity, their plea for mercy, and their acknowledgement of his lordship are all based in what God’s word revealed about who Jesus would be.

And they believed his Word before they ever saw his Work

Desperate faith doesn’t start with by seeing the work of God - Desperate first believes the word of God and then looks for the work that the Word says will come.

It is all too common today for us to start with our own thoughts and then expect God to do what we think he should do

But a Jesus who conforms to my thoughts is not a Jesus who can restore anything in my life

No, I need Jesus to reveal to me who he is in his word and then my thoughts need to conform to what his word says

And then he will bring the divine restoration that his word says he will bring

What does this mean for us as a church?

It means that if we are to have desperate faith, if will be because we know who God is from his word and we know that he is worthy of us trusting him, even when we can’t see.

It will require us to read God’s word and to let it be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path

It will require us to invest in our knowledge of God, that we might understand his character more

It will require us to put down the brain-rotting, doom-scrolling devices that consume our time, and pick up books and resources that will help us to know the God of the word

And as we come to know him as he is revealed in Scripture, we will come to trust him in our desperation… even when we cannot see.

And look at what happens next.

Verse 29 says, “Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ And their eyes were opened.”

Notice the order: Faith came first—sight came second.

They believed his Word before they saw his Work.

They trusted what God had revealed before they experienced what God could do.

Listen, too often we say, "God I will believe if you do this thing that I am asking”

And Jesus says, “Believe what I have already said and let me do for you in accordance with what I have said.”

You see: You must believe the word of God before you can appreciate the work of God.

So let me ask you: Are you prone to ask God to do the work first before you believe his word?

Or do you ask God to do the work that agrees with the word that you have already believed?

These two men show us that it is precisely what his word reveals about who he is that can cause us to trust whatever he will do

Now v. 30 might seem odd, so we need to talk about it for a moment

Matthew 9:30 “And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.””

At first that sounds strange - why would Jesus tell them not to tell anyone?

If social media has taught us anything it is that when people spread news, the truth gets lost and sensationalism takes over

And everyone will co-op the truth to fit whatever agenda they have

And Jesus is not interested in shallow crowds chasing miracles, or political movements trying to use him for their agenda.

He’s not building a fan base; he’s revealing his kingdom.

So when he warns them not to tell, it is a reminder that he doesn’t operate according to human plans or cultural expectations

He operates according to his divine mission.

And this is where the text presses on us again.

How often do people today try to make Jesus the spokesperson for their political movement?

Assuming that Jesus would definitely join my cause and be about my thing.

And Jesus admonition here is a warning to us as well… If we want to know him rightly, we will see him rightly through his word and we will receive him on his terms, not ours.

Jesus warns them not to talk about it because he knows it will get distorted to fit the desires of the people

And the take-away for us is that we must heed the same warning

We don’t change Jesus to fit our agenda - We change our agenda to fit what God’s word says about Jesus.

And in all of this, the point is the same - Desperate faith starts by trusting what God’s word reveals and then looks for God’s work according to what his word says.

But this isn’t just a truth for our private lives, because the work of Jesus in our lives is very public, which leads to the third point

Desperate faith…

Clings to Jesus to overcome (32–34) [33:00]

In v. 32-34, we see multiple forms of opposition, and Jesus is able to overcome them all.

First, look at v. 32–33 “As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.””

Matthew paints this scene very “matter-of-fact”

Demon-possessed man brought to Jesus, demon is cast out… and a man who couldn’t speak, can now speak.

Okay - We need to stop for a moment - I say all the time: The authors of the New Testament were first readers of the Old Testament

Before Matthew penned this gospel he was very steep in the Old Testament

And in Exodus 4, when Moses says he can’t go before Pharaoh because he doesn’t speak well, what does God say?

Exodus 4:11 ESV

“Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

God says, “The ability to speak is in my hands, not yours.”

Then, in Ezekiel 3, God makes Ezekiel mute and later in Ez. 33, God restores his ability to speak.

And so Matthew places this account here to show at the pinnacle of the healing miracles of ch. 8-9, Jesus has the same authority

He is doing what only God can do

And the crowds marvel because they’ve never seen anything like this

They have seen healings and they have seen demons cast out… But this is something new

And it is undeniable.

The man couldn’t speak and now he can.

And everyone sees it.

So, Jesus does something undeniable that only God can do… and that is why the Pharisees response in v. 34 is so shocking…

Matthew 9:34 “But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the prince of demons.’”

Right after the two blind guys sees Jesus clearly and right after Jesus displays his divine authority undeniably, the Pharisees reject him desperately.

You see, there is a desperation that causes you to run to Jesus… but there is another kind of desperation that makes you run from Jesus

And the pharisees show that they want nothing to do with Jesus, by attributing his works to Satan, rather than God.

There is a desperation to hold on to what you want and hold on to what you think so strongly that you will deny the undeniable, just so that you don’t have to believe.

They are desperate to resist Jesus, no matter what, because that is what unbelief does.

When the evidence becomes undeniable, unbelief doesn’t become persuaded - it becomes more hostile.

And what Matthew is showing us is that there are two kinds of desperation in this world:

There’s a desperation that clings for Jesus… and there’s a desperation that rejects him.

One leads to restoration.

The other leads to rebellion.

But listen: No matter how strong the disbelief is and not matter how desperate the doubters are… It cannot take away the very obvious work of God that is undeniable.

No matter how much people doubt your belief in Jesus, it does not detract from the very real saving work of God in your life.

There are people who see what Jesus has done in your life and will try to explain it away.

But their doubt doesn’t change the reality of what Jesus has done.

And their unbelief cannot undo his work.

Jesus has authority over darkness and doubt

And so when you and I are faced with either one, all we need to do is cling to Jesus

Here is what I guarantee did not happen… I guarantee that the man who can now speak from v. 32-33 didn’t stop speaking because of v. 34…

You get what I am saying?

The disbelief of the pharisees in truth of Jesus didn’t make the man who was just healed say, “I guess I shouldn’t talk about this…”

No, He lived in the reality of Jesus work, regardless of the Pharisees desperate attempt to detract from that work

The man who couldn’t speak… now speaks.

Jesus casts out darkness, restores his voice, and now that man has an undeniable testimony.

And church family, that’s what Jesus does for every one of us who has been redeemed by his grace.

If he has transformed you by overcoming the darkness in your life, then no amount of doubt or disbelief will ever be able to silence the truth of the divine restoration that Jesus brings.

When your family or friends doubt your faith, cling to Jesus

When the world tells you that you’re foolish to follow Jesus, cling to Jesus

The work of Jesus in your life is not dependent on the approval of people who have rejected him

Their unbelief can’t detract from the work that he has done

Their doubts cannot diminish his power

And when you have doubts of your own… Cling to Jesus

He isn’t afraid of your doubts… He will overcome them too.

[Anything more???]

[CONCLUSION]

There lots of things that leave us feeling desperate. Whatever it is for you today, run to Jesus in desperation…

When you’re desperate in your brokenness, reach for Jesus to make you whole.

When you’re desperate because you can’t see what he’s doing, trust Jesus what Jesus reveals in his word

When you’re desperate as you encounter darkness and doubt all around you, cling to Jesus to overcome

Because Jesus meets desperation with divine restoration.

Amen.

[40:00]