May 1, 2011

Most of you are probably not familiar with the name Pavel Datsyuk. He’s a forward, playing center for the Detroit Red Wings. Datsyuk is known for his ability to be a two-way player. In other words he plays both offense and defense. He is known for his Datsukian dekes. Not only is he an excellent skater, but he can do things with his hockey stick that are astounding. When you watch him play you ask yourself, “Is there anything this guy can’t do on the ice?” That’s how good he is. Datsyuk is a master hockey player on the ice.

 Now that’s wonderful, but Datsyuk’s wonderment is one dimensional. He plays hockey. This morning we are looking at Jesus who is more than wonderful. Jesus is multidimensional or maybe we should say Jesus is omnidimensional. There is nothing Jesus cannot do.

 We are in Matthew 9 this morning. So far we have seen how Jesus is the most amazing teacher who has ever lived and we have seen how Jesus has authority over all sickness, nature, and demons. It’s like, there is nothing Jesus cannot do. But what about the realm of death? Does Jesus have authority over death?

In chapters four through nine, Matthew is showing how the teachings and miracles of Jesus validate the fact that he is the Son of God. I would like to suggest that another purpose of these chapters is to show how Jesus prepared his followers for outreach. In chapter ten Jesus is going to send his disciples out to do evangelism. Because Jesus has all authority they can go with confidence. And today we see that even death is not too powerful for Jesus to overcome.

I. GOT A PROBLEM? Mt.9:18-21

 In Jb.5:7 we are reminded of a truth we’d rather forget. It says, “...man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” This is one of those realities that in some ways has nothing to do with whether or not you believe in God. Christians and atheists alike have problems throughout all of life. I’m not sure what atheists believe about the origins of evil and suffering, but Christians believe that evil and suffering are a result of sin entering into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Sickness and death, violence and wickedness flows out of the sinful condition of mankind. We don’t just have a problem, we have many problems.

Now in this passage we find two people with problems. We don’t usually speak of death as a “problem”, and I don’t mean to trivialize death by referring to it as “problem”. Death is a tragic reality of life. It is a problem in the sense that throughout the years people have tried to overcome death or find a solution to death. For thousands of years there were stories of a fountain of youth. It was thought that Juan Ponce de Leon found the fountain of youth in Florida, but given the number of elderly people in Florida, that is obviously not the case. Then there is the idea of cryogenics in which a body is frozen immediately following death in the hope that one day in the future technology will be so developed that scientists will be able to bring the frozen body back to life and cure it of its illnesses.

The man in the text was a synagogue ruler. He was a prominent and important man in the Jewish community. His twelve year old daughter had died. There are few things sadder than the death of a child. This man was broken hearted, and yet for whatever reason, he wasn’t willing to concede the obvious. He somehow had a glimmer of hope in his heart that his daughter would live. We also read about a woman who had a problem with bleeding for twelve years. One New Testament scholar suggests that this was probably a chronic bleeding from the womb. Now that’s a huge medical problem for a woman, but in Israel the problem was compounded by the fact that she would have been ritually unclean, barring her from public worship and society. According to Lev.15:25-33, anything the woman touched would also become unclean. Leviticus 15:31 says, “You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.” Well this woman was unclean. According to Mark, she had gone to numerous doctors and had spent all she had trying to get better, but to no avail. And yet we see that this woman also had hope.

Now what problems are you facing today? I realize that many of our problems are not of a serious nature. I mean, the copier breaks down or the cell phone coverage drops out. These are problems and they can cause stress, but in the scope of things these are minor problems. It’s the serious problems I’m talking about; the illnesses, the tragic accidents, the earthquakes and floods, financial loss, divorce, family dissension and death. These are the problems that devastate our lives. What do we do when we have such problems?

But while I’m on it, let me suggest that the most serious problem we have, the problem behind all other problems is the reality of sin. I’ve been reading a book called, The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800, by Jay Winik. The book focuses on America, France and Russia. I must tell you that I am appalled at the brutality of the French revolution and the war between Russia and the Ottoman Sultan in Constantinople. But brutality isn’t the only thing. I’ve also been astounded at the depth of immorality practiced by rulers and kings. In fact, to be candid, I continue to realize that no matter how nice people may be when you meet them, the depravity of sin runs deep in us all. The Bible calls sin for what it is; rebellion and disobedience against God. Sinners do not desire to go God’s way unless God’s way happens to coincide with their own desires. Sinners want to go their own way regardless of what God desires. This is a problem, for the wages of sin is death, eternal death in an eternal hell. What do we do when we have such problems? Well, I’m going to suggest that we do what these two people did.

II. GO TO JESUS! Mt.9:22-26

With Jesus there is always reason for hope. The man went to Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her and she will live.” How could he say this? So far in Matthew’s gospel we have not read of Jesus raising anyone from the dead. We’ve seen some amazing miracles but not raising someone from the dead. The woman also went to Jesus. She thought to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Why would she think that? Surely many people touched Jesus’ cloak. Could she have thought that Jesus had a magic cloak? But look what happened. She touched the cloak and she was healed.

Now it is important to observe the faith these two people had in Jesus. Obviously the man figured that if Jesus could heal all these sicknesses, he could raise the dead. Somehow the woman figured that there was healing power in Jesus and that this power would be transferred even through his clothes. It’s worth a try. And it worked! But also notice that Jesus did not allow her healing to remain impersonal and private. He turned to the woman and pointed out her faith. He wanted the woman to understand that his power is not impersonal, raw power. Jesus’ power is personal power. In other words, when you come to Jesus, you don’t just encounter power. You encounter Jesus, God in the flesh. When you reach out to touch Jesus, He touches you. Let me make an observation: the work of God in a person’s life is, of course, highly personal. Salvation is a transaction between God, his Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the believer. But salvation is a work that cannot remain private. God’s intent is that his work in our life become very public as we take on the life and character of Jesus. Faith is the prerequisite or heart condition necessary for experiencing the work of God in one’s life.

The man also had faith. When Jesus went to the little girl’s house, the professional mourners were already in full swing, wailing and playing their flutes. Jesus made a comment that the little girl wasn’t dead but merely sleeping. The professional mourners laughed because they knew a thing or two about dead people.  Dead people are dead.  They are not sleeping. What did Jesus do? He took the little girl’s hand and she got up; raised from the dead!

So here I am saying that if you’ve got a problem go to Jesus. But I dare say that many of us who have problems have come to Jesus and the problems remained. What gives? Why did Jesus heal so many people then and not now? I went through the Gospels to see the various statements Jesus made concerning the reasons for his coming to earth. I also looked for statements that he made about his healings and other miracles.

For example, do you remember when John the Baptist was in jail and he sent two of his followers to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” In Jn.5:36 Jesus says, “But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” In Jn.14:11 Jesus says, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” In other words, the miracles of Jesus served to validate his claims to be God in the flesh.

Another observation along these lines has to do with the presence of the Kingdom of God. When Jesus cast out demons he said, “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. The miracles of Jesus revealed the powerful presence of the Kingdom of God. Sometimes a composer will inject the closing theme of the symphony early in the piece. He’s giving a preview of the end. In many ways, the coming of Jesus to earth gave us a preview of the power and goodness of the Kingdom of God.

It’s interesting to note that never do we read Jesus saying to someone who is ill, “Hey why don’t you drop over to the house tonight and let me take care of your blindness. We have no verses in which Jesus invites people to come to him for physical healing. He just heals people, showing the power of God. But we do have a number of verses in which Jesus extends an invitation for people to come to him. Perhaps the best known is in Mt.11:28-30. There Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus said that he did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He called out for anyone who is hungry or thirsty to come to him and drink. Then he added, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” He spoke often about giving eternal life. He said, “I am the bread of life. I could cite more references. My point is that whenever Jesus extended an invitation it had to do with repentance of sin and the receiving of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

The long and short of this is that when we have a problem of any kind, going to Jesus is the right thing to do, for Jesus can and will help us. But we have no guarantee from Jesus that he will heal us in this life. Can he heal? Of course! Has he healed? Yes! But do not expect Jesus to do something that he never promised to do. What he did promise to do is to grant salvation to all who repent of their sins and believe in him. We all need a healing touch from Jesus. And the first area that needs to be healed is the sinful condition of our heart. Jesus is a miracle worker who wants to work a miracle in you by saving you from the guilt and punishment of your sins. Jesus has overcome physical death, as we have just seen, and as we just celebrated at Easter, and he has overcome spiritual death. You and I are spiritual dead because of sin. Physical death and spiritual death are not too powerful for Jesus to overcome.

This morning as we observe the Lord’s supper, this table reminds us that the biggest problem for each of us is sin. Jesus came to die for sinners. Eating the bread and drinking the cup is a graphic depiction of putting one’s faith in Christ for salvation. Jesus is the only who can give us spiritual life. He gave his body and shed his blood for you and me. Have you received Jesus and his eternal life? Amen