Let’s continue our journey in the book of Matthew.
Mat 9:18-21, “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."”
I am just fascinated by these two characters. Let’s consider the ruler first. Jesus had not performed any miracle of resurrection as yet; and the only miracle of the kind known to the Jews was the resurrection of the Shunammite’s son by Elisha, the prophet (2Ki 4). Therefore, how on earth was he able to think and believe that this Jesus, whom he barely knew, could raise his daughter from the dead? What was his thinking process? Two things could have happened.
1) First, he must have seen beyond what the rest of the crowd saw and heard. He perceived that this man without accreditation who was making his debut in the ministry was somehow divine. Perhaps he did not ye know that He was the Son of God, but he certainly recognized him as a son of God, and bowed before Him (the KJV says, he ‘worshipped Him’). However, “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19). And since what is impossible with men is possible with God (Lk 18.27), he must have decided to put God to the test by allowing the revealing, the manifestation of one of His sons.
2) Then, there was no doubt in his mind that Jesus could perform the miracle. Indeed, see the assurance and the conviction with which he told him: ‘Come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ This is faith. Indeed, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mk 11:23-24). It is not surprising that this ruler saw his desire fulfilled; for he prayerfully (bowing down is a posture of worship and supplication) asked with faith (without doubting). Unfortunately, very often we give our requests to God doubting. We ask, but somewhere deep inside us, we are not quite sure that He will do it; so, we prepare a series of explanations in advance to justify any non-fulfillment. For instance, you live in Africa and you dream of marrying a white guy, because you've always wanted to have mixed-race children. Then, time passes; age increases; you can’t get a visa into Europe; you don’t see many westerners around you; and you begin to think: ‘It is certainly not the Lord's will that I marry a white man.’ And you start praying: ‘Lord, I do not want to remain single. Just give me a husband; no matter whether he is white, black or yellow, young or old, I just want to be Mrs. Somebody.’ You are fully qualified for a certain job; but the job market is not very conducive. So, after a few months unemployed, you begin to think that you may be wrong to insist, that the world has changed and to absolutely wish to work in your chosen field is pride. So, you change your prayer: ‘Lord, the situation at home is now desperate. Forgive me for my pride. I'm ready to do any job. Just give me some work.’ These are examples of doubt and inconsistency, yet it is written that he who asks, should ask “in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (Ja 1:6-8).
In the same vein, the bleeding woman dared to do something for which there was absolutely no precedent. God alone knows how she came up with the idea. Anyway, here's what I learn from these two characters.
1) We must have a clear and just vision of the Lord and of His power and love for us; a clear realization that He really and only wishes us good and He is willing to please us. Remember the leper who also approached Jesus and bowed before Him saying: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean?" Jesus replied: "I will; be clean" (Mat 8:2-3). He hasn’t changed and still today, when we ask that what troubles us should no longer be, He wills it as well, so that our joy may be full (Jn 15:11).
2) We must learn to think outside the box. It is not because something has never been done that it cannot be done. The route of the miracle passes through the ability to envision the unthinkable; in any case, we do not lose anything by trying. If that ruler had not dared to ask the Lord to come and resurrect his daughter; and if the bleeding lady had not dared to implement the strange idea that had gone through her head, none of them would have received their miracle. It is even worth noting that the three of them, the leper, the ruler and the woman, did or asked the Lord to do something which was putting Him in a situation of uncleanliness according to the Law of Moses. A man of his stature could not touch (or be touched by) a leper, or a bleeding woman, or a dead. Let’s think outside the box. We should not leave any social, religious, scientific or otherwise barrier, restrict us. Impossible does not exist in the divine language and if we are true children and sons/daughters of God, it should not be part of our vocabulary either.
3) Doubt kills. It kills dreams, aspirations, and all the wonderful ideas that the Holy Spirit lays in our hearts in order to help us breakthrough. We must have faith in God.
God bless you; and for those living in the United Kingdom, I hope and pray you have a wonderful diamond jubilee break!
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