Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well

While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

- Matthew 9:18-26

Yesterday, we read that Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.'  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"  And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.  But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  My study bible has a note that applies to the whole of today's passage.  It tells us that "authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone . . . Being of one essence with the Father, Jesus has this authority.  The healing of the ailing woman is another demonstration of Christ's power to cleanse and make whole.  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, imposing religious and social restrictions, for contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Lev. 15:25).  This suffering woman, accounting herself unclean, approaches Jesus secretly, but with great faith.  In verse 22, Jesus (1) brings her good cheer because of her simple faith; (2) corrects her thinking, for she could not hide her touch from Him; and (3) exhibits her faith to all, that they might imitate her.  Note that Jesus was not so disturbed by the news of the death of the ruler's daughter that He could not also attend to the needs of the suffering woman."

One thing we note about several of the healings so far in Matthew's Gospel is the "forbidden" nature that doesn't stop Jesus from expressing His love and care to those who have faith in Him.  Here, the woman with the bloodflow is clearly in the territory of the "unclean" -- and yet, He singles her out for her faith.  He calls her "daughter."  His love is a bridge, not only to health, but to inclusion.  The young girl in the story is a beloved daughter, with a father (called a ruler here; elsewhere he's named as Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue) who cares for and protects her.  This care in today's setting is so strong that even though the girl has passed, her father has faith that Jesus can restore her to life, and so he comes to Christ.  We can also note who's excluded here in today's story:  the crowds that have no faith, who ridicule Jesus, the professionals who mourn:  the flute players and the noisy crowd that wails her death.  It's as if somehow they are feeding on death, but Jesus is life itself.  They must be put out, in order to bolster faith.  The circle of faith in these stories is the circle of love; it's the circle of care made through Christ, through faith in Christ.  So far in Matthew's gospel, what we have observed is that Christ will go to all lengths, will break through all barriers and taboos and conventions, to act on that love.  He will touch what is untouchable.  He travels to the possessed demoniacs to free them.  He sits at table and celebrates with notorious sinners.  Here in today's reading, an action which could easily have resulted in a strong chastisement is welcomed with "Be of good cheer, daughter."  There is nothing that stops Him from healing the ones He loves, but perhaps even more importantly, nothing that keeps us from Him, from being included in that love.  All barriers are broken by that love.  All bonds are off.  Nothing can hold us back from it because He holds nothing back.  Faith has the power to move mountains because that love bridges everything, because there is nothing that can stop it.  Even more powerfully than the healings, the message of Christ's love and inclusion calls us through each of these stories.  It calls us to imitate and to learn and to trust.  Prayer, we must remember, isn't just about asking for what we want, and hoping for our fondest wishes.  Prayer is about dialogue with Christ, communion, and love and trust.  It is about calling to the One whose love doesn't accept boundaries, and whose family includes the woman with the bloodflow.  Whatever astonishes us in the Gospels, let us remember the power of His love, because in that love is truly where life is.  Let us remember what He will do to shore up and protect that tie of love, as He put the noisy ridiculing and wailing crowd outside, the one that speaks only of death, and take note of that for ourselves as well.