Christ’s Authority Over Death

Matthew 9:18-27

In our study of this book we have seen that Matthew is establishing the authority of Jesus. He wants his readers to know that Jesus has absolute authority over everything.

So far, we have seen:

His authority in doctrine. When Jesus finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount Matthew tells us the people were astonished at His doctrine (7:28-29).

His authority over disease. Jesus healed leprosy (8:1-4), paralysis (8:5-13 &9:1-8), & a fever (8:14-17).

His authority over disturbances (8:23-27). He calmed the storm and stilled the sea.

His authority over demons (8:28-34). He cast demons out of two men.

His authority over His disciples (8:18-22; 9:9-13). He commanded them to leave the world behind & follow Him.

All these things are astonishing. They prove to us that Jesus is not simply a man. But Matthew takes us to a new place now. He’s going to show us that not only does Jesus have authority over:

Doctrine

Disease

Devils

Disturbances

Disciples

Jesus also has authority over death.

Listen to me friend. One day you will be at the hospital with a loved one and the doctor will say “There’s nothing more we can do.”

One day you will likely be in a hospital and the doctor will say, concerning you, “There’s nothing more we can do.”

Every earthly doctor has limitations. The people in Jesus day were used to hearing a doctor say, “There’s nothing more we can do.” In this section Matthew lets us know that the Great Physician has no limitations. I want you to see three things from this text this morning:

1. The invitation (9:18-19).

2. The interruption (9:20-22).

3. The incredible (9:23-26).

1. The Invitation (9:18-19).

A. A great man (18).

As in other messages we are using some information we get about this story from Mark and Luke. They share with us details Matthew doesn’t share. The man who approaches Jesus is Jairus. He is a ruler of the synagogue. What does that mean?

He was likely a Pharisee.

He held an official position in the synagogue.

“Rulers of the Synagogue” organized services, taught sometimes, & presided over the affairs of the local synagogue. He wasn’t a Rabbi, but he was a dedicated layman.

In coming to Jesus, he was breaking with the rank and file of the religious leaders of Judaism. In fact, in Luke 4 Jesus was kicked out of a synagogue. Jairus came to his own conclusion that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world, despite what his peers were preaching.

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon was a part of English Royalty and a devoted Christian (1707-1791). Referencing Paul the Apostle who said “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:”

Once said:

Blessed be God, it does not say “any mighty,” “any noble”; it says “many mighty,” “many noble.”

I owe my salvation to the letter “m.”

If it had been “not any noble,” where would the countess have been?

Not many of the religious leaders were saved but thank God some were!

Matthew says when Jairus saw Jesus he fell at His feet and worshipped Him. Here is a man who is public with his faith. He’s not hiding the fact that he believes Jesus is more than a man. He believes Jesus is the promised Messiah.

Here was a man who was great as the result of his position. Not his position as ruler of a synagogue. He was great because of his current position, bowing at the feet of Jesus.

B. A great burden (18).

Mark tells us when Jairus began his journey to see Jesus his daughter was still alive. She was near death, but she was still alive. Mark 5:35 says as Jairus was encountering Jesus, word was brought that his daughter had passed away.

Luke tells us this was Jairus only daughter and that she was only twelve years old. She was just about to become a woman. Now she was dead.

I don’t know the burden Jairus carried and I hope I never do. It is hard to bury a child when that child is an adult. I can’t imagine the burden of burying a child who has hardly lived.

There are those who lose children and it drives them from God. They blame the Lord. Bitterness and unbelief fill their heart. That wasn’t the case with Jairus. The same desperation that drove him to Jesus when his daughter was sick kept him there after she died.

You say, “Preacher you don’t know what I’ve been through!” You may be right. There is much grief I have not experienced and much I hope I never do. But listen to me friend, there are people in heaven today who buried a child. There are people who have gone through what you have gone through and they did not lose hope in Christ. Trials drive us closer to Christ or further from Him. Thank God Jairus didn’t forsake God when news came that his daughter had died.

Jairus said to Jesus, “Come and lay Thy hand upon her and she shall live.” That’s faith folks!

C. A great response (19).

“And Jesus arose!” It’s always good news when you hear those words!

Remember that Jesus had been at a party in Matthew’s house. They had been celebrating Matthew’s salvation. Then Jesus had to debate John’s disciples and the religious leaders about why Jesus and His disciples were not fasting.

When Jairus comes to Him burdened over the death of His little girl:

Jesus left the party at Matthew’s house.

He left the religious elite behind.

He left the publicans.

He left the disciples of John.

He left the debate.

Thank God Jesus was more interested in the death of this little girl and the broken heart of Jairus than He was the debate over why people were so happy that sinners were getting saved.

An invitation was given to Jesus by a broken-hearted man whose daughter had died. This man invited Jesus to his home to resurrect his daughter from the dead.

2. The Interruption (20-22).

A. A diseased women (20).

She had an issue of blood for twelve years and counting. This was a menstrual problem. She was continually menstruating for twelve years. It wasn’t going to kill her, but it made life very difficult. She had an extremely embarrassing situation. Especially for those days.

She was ceremonially unclean so she couldn’t participate in Temple activities.

According to the Law, anything she sat on was unclean (Lev. 15:25-27). In order to be ceremonially clean, she would have to stop bleeding for seven days. She hadn’t done that in twelve years.

Intimacy was out of the question for her. It’s likely she was not married. She was probably divorced or never married because of this issue.

On top of this would have been the embarrassment that came with the difficulty of personal hygiene. This disease would have been difficult to mask in public in those days.

B. A desperate woman (20-21).

Mark and Luke tell us this woman went from doctor to doctor trying to be cured. They also tell us she spent all her money trying to be healed but nothing worked. There wasn’t enough money to heal her. There wasn’t a doctor who could help her.

Because there was no real help in those days for issues like this, superstitions developed. The Talmud, a highly regarded book in Judaism, offered eleven different cures for women in this situation. Some were more like superstitions:

Carry ashes of ostrich egg in a linen bag.

Carry around a kernel of barley that was found in the dung of a white female donkey.

There were illnesses doctors just couldn’t cure. Today she would likely be diagnosed with menorrhagia and treated. But she lived in a difficult day that offered no hope for women like her.

In her desperation she had gone broke!

In her desperation she had tried everything!

Her desperation drives her to Jesus. Look at verse 21. She said, “If I can just touch His garment, I’ll be healed.”

Jewish men wore tassels on the corners of their garments with a cord of blue (Num. 25:38). One of these could be touched without Jesus even noticing it she thought. It sounds silly that a simple touch would heal her. Why did she believe this?

She believed Jesus was the Messiah. She had faith in Him. This woman had great faith, but it was mixed with doubt. She seemed to think it would bother Jesus if she touched Him. So, her plan was to be sneaky about it.

You can sense an anxiousness in this woman. She just knew if she could get close enough to touch Jesus she would be healed. When I first got saved, I used to go to every church service and every sing I could. In my early days as a Christian I was greatly encouraged by music. I remember hearing this older lady singing the song “If I could touch the Hem of His Garment”. Oh boy, I got excited! She sang:

A woman one day tried many physicians

But daily grew worse, in the Bible we're told

But when she had heard, she came to Jesus

And she found all she needed for her body and soul

If I could just touch the hem of His garment

If I could just touch one part of His clothes

I know I'd be healed, my sins all forgiven

If I could just touch Him, I know I'd be whole!

I heard that song before I ever read that story in the Bible. This woman is an example for us all. What faith she had!

C. A daughter of God (22).

Matthew doesn’t include the part where she touches Jesus. Mark and Luke do. The Bible says she touched Jesus and immediately the blood flow stopped. Mark says she could feel in her body immediately that she had been healed. Twelve years of struggle ceased with that one touch!

Mark and Luke tell us that when she touched Him, Jesus stopped. Remember, He was on His way to Jairus house. His disciples said “Lord, a lot of folks are touching you.” They were surrounded by a crowd of people.

Jesus made it clear that He wasn’t going anywhere until the person who touched Him confessed.

The woman, knowing she had been discovered came to Jesus. Luke said she was trembling. She was scared to death. She probably wondered what Jesus might do to her. She had touched Him. She was unclean. She fell down before Jesus and she told Him everything about herself. She confessed.

Jesus said, “Be of good comfort”. He tells her not to be afraid. Then He calls her daughter. Her faith in Christ had made her whole. She had no reason to think of herself as a second-class citizen. She was a daughter of God because of her faith in Christ. She had just as much freedom to touch the Lord as anyone else did.

Jairus daughter wasn’t the only daughter in need that day. There was another daughter that had been forgotten by the people. But thank God she wasn’t forgotten by Jesus.

3. The Incredible (23-26).

A. The mourning.

When Jesus arrived at Jairus home it was quite a scene. The mourning process had already begun for the little girl. Jewish people mourned in a few different ways at death:

They tore their clothing in a symbolic act.

They played instruments, usually flutes.

They hired professional mourners.

The Talmud taught that no less than 2 flutes should be played, and 1 wailing woman used when a man’s wife died.

Both Matthew and Mark are sure to let us know that there was a lot of noise and commotion at Jairus home. Jairus was a man of authority and respect. The poorest of Jews had at least one wailing woman when a death occurred. We can assume Jairus had many mourners at his home.

It’s difficult for us to understand this. In America we are normally reserved in our expression of grief. That’s not the case everywhere. I remember witnessing my first funeral in Haiti. It was extremely loud. It was uncomfortably loud to me. The weeping could be heard from a block away.

If we had seen what was occurring at Jairus house it would have seemed like chaos to us. But it was customary in that culture.

B. The maiden.

At this point I think it’s important that we compare the females in this story. They aren’t just randomly put together. There is a reason the two are together.

Both were females.

Both could not be helped by the religious or medical establishment. That’s why they went to Jesus.

Both had people that had given up on them. They told Jairus not to bother Jesus because his daughter was no longer sick, she had died. The doctors had given up on this woman.

Now let’s contrast them:

One had been sick for 12 years the other had a full life for 12 years.

One came from a prominent family, the other was an outcast.

One was alone, the other had a family.

No matter how different we are we all have a couple of things in common. We are going to get sick and we are going to die. These two ladies remind us of the world we live in.

Sickness and death are realities. Sometimes death comes swiftly, as it did with Jairus daughter. Sometimes death comes slowly and painfully as it was with the woman with the issue of blood.

This little girl had the same problem that adults have. The entire world has the same problem. Sin has brought sickness and death into our world and we need to be delivered from it.

C. The miracle (24-26).

Jesus went in the house. The parents of the child, the disciples and some of the mourners were there. The cold lifeless body of the little girl was lying on a bed. It was a very solemn moment.

Jesus told many of the people to leave the room. He said, “The maid is not dead, she is asleep”. What did He mean? She was dead (Luke 8:55). In Scripture death is often referred to as sleep. The point Jesus was making is He was about to resurrect the little girl.

There were people in the room who heard what Jesus said and began to laugh in a very derogatory way at Jesus. Christians need to remember this. An unbelieving world will laugh at the teachings of Jesus. If they laughed at Him, they will certainly laugh at us. And by the way, notice how they switch from mourning to laughing so easily. It’s clear even their grief over the little girl is hypocritical.

Jesus makes everyone leave the room except the parents, Peter, James and John (Luke 8:51). Jesus walks up to the bed and takes the little girl by the hand. Mark tells us He said, “Damsel arise.”

Notice the tenderness of Jesus. He went into this girl’s home. He took her by the hand. He said, “Damsel arise.” We serve a tender Jesus!

That dead little girl opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the face of Jesus!

Both Mark and Luke tell us Jesus told them to feed her. Evidently being dead makes you hungry!

I know those parents were indebted to Jesus. They were astonished at what they saw. More than that, I am sure they were thankful. The fame of Jesus began to spread as a result of this miracle. But to these parents it was personal. Jesus had resurrected their child.

What a wonderful thing it is when we see the Lord do for our children! I’m thankful for all God has done for my children. But what I am most thankful for is the fact that the Lord has resurrected my children from their spiritual grave.

I am so thankful to the Lord that He has saved my children. Parents, grandparents, hear me. We ought to be like Jairus when it comes to our children’s salvation. We ought to come to the Lord begging Him to save our children. The salvation of a soul is greater than the resurrection of a dead body.

This morning we see that Jesus has authority over death. He can wake us from death more easily than we can wake our child from sleep. Thank God for that! What an incredible truth! Christ has authority over death.

How can we be sure that Christ will resurrect us from death? The gospel. We must be born again. We are sinners in need of forgiveness. Christ endured our punishment on the cross. He was beaten and killed for our sins. He resurrected Himself from the dead. If we will turn from our sins and place our faith in Christ calling on His name for salvation, He will forgive our sins and give us eternal life.

Just as He said “Get up” to this little girl, He will say the same to us one day.