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 into all that land.

- Matthew 9:18-26

Yesterday, we read that as Jesus passed on from healing a paralytic (He is in Capernaum), He 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.  In other Gospels, this ruler is identified as Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum.  We see his faith in the "Teacher."  My study bible says that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39).  Jesus shares this authority as Son (John 5:21).  As Matthew tells it, we see Jesus' immediate positive response.  There's a sort of interesting parallel here to yesterday's reading.  There, Jesus commanded Matthew the tax collector, "Follow Me."  Here, Jesus follows the ruler of the synagogue to His home, and His disciples follow as well.  It seems to tell us something about Jesus' own obedience to the institutions of faith, although this ruler worships Him.

 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.   As He's on His way to the ruler's daughter, another expression of His power takes place -- and this time it comes literally from behind Him.  This is another example of His power to cleanse and to heal.  And it's also another example of His actions which seem to directly violate the Law.  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage would cause ceremonial defilement, imposing religious and social restrictions, because contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  But this woman, while thinking of herself as unclean (and she would have been prohibited from community contact as well), approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Her faith makes contact with His power.  Nothing can really be hidden from Him, but it is faith that makes the connection.  She's not excluded from Him because of her illness, and far from putting her away, He shows her to the whole crowd as an example of faith for everyone.

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 into all that land.   Jesus goes through ridicule from the noisy crowd to heal the girl.  It won't be the last time.  It's another emphasis on faith that everyone is put outside, with the exception of a handful of disciples and the girl's parents (Mark 5:36-43).

Jesus once again exemplifies faith as our highest good.  The unclean woman, officially or legally (according to the Law of Moses) is not supposed to be in community, let alone touching a man -- and particularly this Man, Christ, the Teacher.  But faith makes her bold, even to just touch the hem of His clothing.  Jesus draws her out and praises her, in complete contradiction to her expectations, and most likely those of the crowd.  This is something astonishing.  And all of it is couched, justified, made possible through faith.  He shows her off to the crowds, saying, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  So again, as we have observed so far throughout Matthew's Gospel, it is faith that makes all the difference.  In this case in today's reading, it seems that her faith has somehow "unlocked" His power.  He was prepared to go with the synagogue ruler to his house in order to heal his daughter.  Would we think, possibly, that Christ's power was somehow ready for use?  The story might give us some sort of impression like that.  But in His authority as Son, Christ's power is always present and ready for us.  In Orthodox theology, God's grace and mercy are always active as God's energies.  And again, we note that in this Gospel (and in others) grace and mercy are synonymous with healing.  Just as in yesterday's reading, when we noted that Jesus sits with tax collectors who have become His disciples, and He calls Himself "Physician," while teaching the Pharisees, "Go and learn what this means:  'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' "  The point of the Law was to heal, and He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  Let us understand, then, healing not just as some sort of example of miraculous power and a sign to the world, for it is more than that.  Healing is the whole Way of Christ.  It is the path, the journey.  Our repentance and transformation in God's love, our correction in that faith process, is healing.  It is setting aright.  It is bringing us into right-relatedness with the whole of the creation.  This is the gospel message.  Let us find ways in which it manifests in all of our lives and in all kinds of ways and expressions, and treasure those moments.  And we note what we might need to do to shore up faith.  Jesus puts the noisy crowd outside.  Let us remember to do that when we need to, as well.  

Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick

 As Jesus passed on from there, He 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."

- Matthew 9:9-17

Yesterday, we read that after Jesus' encounter with the demoniacs in the country of the Gergesenes across the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum, He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, "Follow Me."  So he arose and followed Him.  This man is the author of the Gospel we're reading.  Matthew is also named Levi (Mark 2:14).  At this time, Roman overlords assigned Jewish tax collectors to specific areas.  They were free to collect extra revenue for their own profit, making them particularly despised among their fellow Jews.  Not only were they collaborators with Roman occupiers, they also routinely practiced fraud and corruption, so they were considered to be unclean (11:19).  Here, Jesus is actively calling Matthew to discipleship: "Follow Me."  It's not a question, but a command.  And Matthew responds.

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."   Jesus dining with tax collectors and other sinners, and also accepting a tax collector as a disciple, offends the Pharisees.  But Jesus' answer makes perfect sense, and also places His ministry into a category that characterizes everything He does, so that we understand Him more deeply.  He goes where the need of the physician is the greatest; He is ultimately the supreme Healer.  "I desire mercy and not sacrifice" is a quotation from Hosea 6:6, but its expression is found elsewhere in the Old Testament as well.  My study bible says that it's not a rejection of sacrifice per se (Jesus Himself will make His own great sacrifice), but shows that mercy is a higher priority (see Psalm 51, the great psalm of 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 garent; 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."  My study bible says that the Jews typically fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12), on Monday and Thursday.  There were also public fasts that were regularly observed or occasionally proclaimed (see for example Esther 4:16, Joel 2:15).   Fasts were important particularly on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:31-34) and in times of mourning (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19).   But the day of the Messiah isn't a time for fasting; on the contrary, it was seen as a wedding feast.  That is, a time of joy and gladness, great blessings and thankfulness.  Jesus declares He is Messiah by calling Himself the bridegroom.  Fasting, in Christian tradition, is a way of preparation for the wedding feast of the Bridegroom's return, meant to help us to understand the practice of self-mastery, abstention from sin.  My study bible says that the old garment and old wineskins stand for the Old Covenant and the Law, viewed as imperfect and temporary.  The new wineskins are the New Covenant and those in Christ.  It says, "The new wine is the Holy Spirit dwelling within renewed people, who cannot be constrained by the old precepts of the Law."

Jesus' ministry seems to be qualified and characterized overall by healing.  He is the Physician for all ailments, whether they be physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, philosophical.  He works to heal on a personal and a community level.  As such, He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, as He has said.  Just as the Law and the Prophets worked to establish a people to God, to draw a people back to relationship with God, Christ fulfills this mission and thereby is of Himself primarily a healing influence.  What was lost through sin is found again, regained through Christ.  The Law worked to create a conscious awareness of loyalty to God, an understanding of sin.  Christ fulfills the aim and goal of the Law through healing and restoration.  We often fail to see correction as healing.  Many people regard "law" as something that is essentially oppressive or restrictive.  But we have to understand its aim and its goal; the aim is restoration of people to God, in covenant.  And that is where the notion of healing as the ultimate aim and goal comes in.  To be restored to God is to be healed.  John 3:16, so often quoted, tells us that Christ, the Son, has come in human form "for God so loved the world."  And we really have to understand that this healing power is for the whole world.  It's not about some people, nor even only people.  It's for the whole creation, as Jesus' command to the disciples in His last appearance tells us, from the Gospel of Mark, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."  It's restoration of right-relatedness in all ways.  Healing becomes the centerpiece of the expression of God's love.   You really couldn't get a more despised person than Matthew sitting in the tax office.  He's a collaborator, taking money from his own people (backed by Roman force) for their enemies and extra for his personal profit.   But Jesus gives the command, "Follow Me."  Nobody and nothing is left out of this healing ministry.  Discipleship means just that, we "follow Him."  Healing means correction and change.     Can we understand that even a rebuke from Christ is an act of love and mercy?  This is the new wineskin, for new wine.   God's love is active, at work in us.   This gospel is for the love of the world and everything in it, for all the creation.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you"

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.  Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

- Matthew 9:1-8

Yesterday, we read that after Jesus and the disciples had crossed a stormy Sea of Galilee, and He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

 So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.   Jesus' own city is Capernaum, His ministry "headquarters" and home to several of His disciples.  Peter's family has a house there (Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39).

Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you."  And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  And he arose and departed to his house.  Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.  This may be a parallel to the story of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof of the house (Mark 2:4-12, Luke 5:19-26).  My study bible says that this story shows that faith is an indispensable condition for salvation.  Faith is also collective as well as personal -- the faith of this paralytic's friends helped in his healing.  It draws us back to ancient Israel, drawn and shaped as community to be a people of God.  My study bible tells us there are three signs shown here of Jesus' divinity:  First, He knows the secrets of hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7, 2 Chronicles 6:30).  Second, He forgives sins, which is a power belonging to God alone, as the scribes know.  Finally, He heals by the power of His word, as we have already seen in several readings in Matthew.

We really need to ask ourselves, "What is faith?"  Is it just an expressed belief?  I think faith is more than just belief or assent to something.  It means that our actions bear out this faith.  The heart of who we are is made in faith, created and constructed into the shape of something, and reflective of that faith.   That means we act accordingly.  In the Greek, the word for faith is reflective of the word "trust."  It means we trust in something (and in this case, Someone), or we trust that something is so.  Faith is indispensable to Jesus' healing miracles.  (In the story of the healing of the demoniac(s) in yesterday's reading, the Gospels of Mark and Luke tell us he fell at Jesus' feet, in a position of worship.)   Here, faith is of a community, in the body of the friends of the man who was brought to Jesus.  It tells us that faith can be shared.  The paralytic cannot come on his own, but the faith of his friends who bring him is evident here as Jesus remarks upon it.  We can pray for others, we can share faith between us that way.  Ultimately, faith is also about relationship.  Christ comes to the world incarnate in human form.  We worship God as a Person, or Three Persons -- Father, Son, and Spirit.  The faith we know isn't just in principles or morals or even values, it begins with Persons.  Why do we follow Jesus' word?  Why do we trust in it?  Because it is the word of the Person in whom we trust.   It is the connection with the divine Person in which we have our faith, it is Jesus who gives us the word, the Son who is the Word.  We worship, and have faith in, the Person who is truth ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).  It is within this relationship that we start to really understand the meanings and ramifications of faith.  And we have to look at these stories and ask ourselves why faith creates such a strong bond that there are no miracles or healings without it.  We have to think about why there are places where Jesus can do none of His great works, because of the lack of faith in that place, one of which was His hometown of Nazareth (Matthew 13:58, Mark 6:5-6).  And He condemns places where He finds a lack of faith.  So we begin by understanding faith as relationship, and from there we see how Jesus responds to faith and what faith means exactly.  Faith is something we live, and it is something that forms and shapes our lives, both within the heart and the acts that come from the heart.   This is an active kind of reality, that necessitates prayer as dialogue, an active relationship to God.  It is an internal seeking that always actively desires discernment and direction, in which God's word becomes a "lamp unto my feet" as it says in the Psalms.   Faith goes even deeper within ourselves, creating persona in us, giving us an image of our own capability and even identity, revealing more as we travel deeper into relationship.  It is like a marriage, in which what we become is also reflective of this deep relationship of trust.  Within such faith God operates and lives.  As we're told in today's story, this depth of relationship comes from the One who already knows our hearts; in faith, we participate in that depth of relationship with God.  We come to know Jesus' word that "the kingdom of God is within you" and "in the midst of you"  (the Greek implies both).   This quality of relationship teaches us that faith isn't about a philosophy or a set of values or rules, or merely an intellectual construct.  It's not an abstract.  It's an active reality that shapes who we are and what we do, what we choose.   And, just as the people in today's reading marvel and glorify God, who had given such power to men, it means that we're not just a product of the material life around ourselves.   It isn't something predictable on our terms, like some sort of political platform.  Faith is something we live; it builds, shapes, transforms who we are.  Are we ready for that challenge?

What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

- Matthew 8:28-34

On Saturday, we read that when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  This story -- or a very similar one -- appears also in the other Synoptic Gospels (Mark and Luke).  One big difference is that in Matthew's Gospel there are two demoniacs, and in the others there is only one.  (There's also a difference in the location; here it is the country of the Gergesenes, elsewhere it is the country of the Gadarenes.   Either way, many commentators note that both were names, respectively, of a little town and a city near one another in the Decapolis, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.)   Of note is the fact that these demon-possessed men come out of the tombs.  They are also exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.   Jesus and the disciples have come to the "other side" of the Sea of Galilee.  The Decapolis was a "mixed" territory, so-called as it was constituted by ten cities of  Greco-Roman influence, containing both Gentile and Jews.  So it's a kind of foreign territory, and this story reads like an epic in the ancient Greek tradition, with these two exceedingly fierce men who are so beyond civilized norms that they live among the tombs.   The disciples were already terrified as they crossed the Sea in a ferocious storm, although among then are well-seasoned fishermen by profession.  The strangeness of their situation as Jesus leads them to this place is only amplified by the story.

And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  The demons know who Jesus is.  This is yet another new "strange" element in the story, as the disciples are brought into this place, following Jesus' directions.  We're given a clue about the spiritual reality that surrounds every biblical narrative.  Jesus comes representing a Kingdom, that is not just of this world.  His opponents are a part of a spiritual battle.  These demons ask Him if He's come before the time of the Judgment.  They are perplexed, says my study bible, that their power is being terminated before that time.

Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.   This frightening event increases in its dramatic and vivid images.  We note the power of Christ over the demons; although their malice and destructive power is great, they still need permission from Christ to enter the swine.  My study bible says that the immediate destruction of the herd shows that the men had been protected by God's care; otherwise, they would have perished under the demonic influence.  It reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for the Jews, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice.

Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.   Some commentators believe that since these people keep swine, they are not Jews.  But still others say that indeed, these are Jews who are apostate, raising swine unlawfully.  And we see their rejection of Christ -- they are much more deeply concerned about their loss of swine than the restoration of the demoniacs to health and freedom from their oppression.  All of it adds to the strangeness of the place and the experience for the disciples.

This is a story that is really a rarity and a mystery.  Why this place?  Why these men, so isolated from the world that they live among the tombs?  Why has Jesus come here?  In Mark and Luke's versions, there is a single man, and there is more to the story.   He begs to come with Christ and the disciples, but Jesus tells him to go to his home, and tell all the things the Lord has done for him.  So, why two demoniacs here?  There are other occasions in which a story found in other Gospels involving one character is "doubled" in Matthew.  Some speculate that Matthew's Gospel was written primarily for a Jewish audience, and this "doubling" is meant to show that Christ as Messiah is here for both Jew and Gentile.  Some comment that it's not of real importance.  But each version of this particular story has some basic elements that are far more important than any differences:  Jesus has come to this extremely strange and forlorn place, and led His disciples here through a storm in which they were afraid for their lives.  We're invited to ask why, due to the dramatic nature of this story.  Has Jesus come here for these demoniacs?  Well, on one level, we'd have to answer "yes" to that question.  From the other stories, we know the healed man became a type of evangelist in the Decapolis.  On another level, it's a story that teaches all of us about our Lord, and about discipleship.  Nothing stops Jesus from coming to the most hopeless and afflicted and isolated.  There is no obstacle that will stop the healing power of Jesus to change affliction, to restore, and to bring back those dead to life and community for their uncontrollable problem, or the destructive influence by which they are oppressed and rendered far from community or "civilized" life.   This story teaches us that the same is true and expected of His disciples, wherever He leads then in true faith.  There is no problem too tough for Christ, too strange, too outside the box.  This is the message of this story.  There is nothing so far outside of experience that Christ's essential healing power can't come into play and influence.  We note carefully that there is a vested financial influence also at work here in this story, in the people who beg Jesus to leave because they're lost their swine.  Brilliantly, we must also add that as one more obstacle that will not stop Christ from bringing His healing power -- on any level of what that means -- to those who love Him and need Him in faith.  With all the vivid images in this story, we may be tempted to think that it's so strange it couldn't possibly apply to our lives or to situations with which we're familiar, but really we'd be wrong.  All of it applies.  When we think we're in a hopelessly strange situation, when we know of others who are somehow forlorn, when we wonder if anyone has been in so strange a mess as someone or something we've heard about, let us dwell on this story.  It teaches us that there is no surrounding too strange, no situation too tough, no odds so great that Christ can't be there with us.  No oppression is too harmful, nor material interest too strong.  And He will command His disciples to follow.

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head

 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

- Matthew 8:18-27

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has just finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7, beginning with the Beatitudes).  In yesterday's reading, we were told that when He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourselves to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

  And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  We note Jesus' traveling ministry, indicated in His command to depart for the other side -- that is, the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  Furthermore, He's going away from the crowds who follow Him and throng Him at this point in His ministry.  That actually gives us some great clues about Him.  He's not seeking fame; in fact many times in the Gospels we find Jesus is trying to take rest with His disciples, but He's always found by people seeking Him out.

Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."   My study bible says that the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), and it expresses both Jesus' humanity and His divinity.  Here, Jesus uses it referring to His human condition:  He doesn't own a home nor property, His ministry means He is continually traveling, there is not a permanent place for Him -- and this is the nature of His ministry.    If the scribe is expecting anything different, it's best he be prepared for discipleship appropriately.

 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."    My study bible says that Jesus isn't negating the command to honor parents.  But He is teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Again, right after the Sermon on the Mount, as in yesterday's reading, we get instances in which it seems that Jesus is contradicting or contravening the Law of Moses.  But the whole point of the Law, its whole aim and goal, is to create a people of God (the meaning of "Israel").  He has said He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and here is our direction.  My study bible says that those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"    Jesus' mastery over creation is another sign of the Messiah, that He is divine.  My study bible says that commands to the sea and waves can only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalms 65:5-6, 106:9).   As man, however, Jesus sleeps because He needs rest.  This is another one of those signs that it's not all about preaching to crowds!  In His Incarnation, He is fully human, and assumes all the natural actions of the flesh -- needing sleep is one of those!  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is a classic "icon" of the Church.  My study bible says, "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of the storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul."

For most of us, from the strictly human point of view, Jesus' mastery over the elements, and His great power of healing, are what impress and awe.  But if we look at Jesus' own emphasis in His words and action, He's really looking and pointing us toward something else as the highest good here, and that is faith.  When He rebukes the disciples for their fear in the boat, before He commands the sea, the wind, and the waves, He first says, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"   His statement to the scribe who would be a disciple, that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head, is a statement about faith and discipleship.  Does the scribe really have enough faith to be that kind of disciple who would follow One who has no home, no fixed place of abode?  And do we really have the kind of faith so that we can do as He says, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead?"  Of everything He teaches, and everything He does, it's really faith that is the tough crux of everything, the center and highest goal, the apex of His teachings and works.  Faith is the place where human and Divine meet.  In that sense, He Himself is the icon of our highest good.  In Himself, He manifests what we seek in faith, a union or perhaps (in the words of the theologians throughout the centuries of the Church) a synergy between ourselves and God.  He is God with us ("Immanuel")  and He preaches of the kingdom of God that is within us.  He is our wandering minister and has no place to lay His head, appropriately to the One who teaches that we should not believe those who say He is to be found in this place or that  (see Luke 17:2-21).   He reminds us of Israel being born as sojourner, a wandering people in search of a home, a people who were commanded to always remember the time of sojourn, and to be good to those who are strangers in their midst.  But most of all, He is the manifestation or fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, He's the One who teaches us that faith is the highest good we have, the greatest goal:  we put the Kingdom first, we live the reality of the Kingdom.  We can take heart when we understand this as something greater than all the miracles and signs He produces (for they don't come without faith), the one thing He puts above all else, when our faith is imperfect and as we live our lives learning what it means to "hear the word of God and do it."    He has taught in the Sermon on the Mount that even those who produce signs are liable to be told, "I never knew you."   The real struggle for faith is just that, our own struggle to learn and to do, to live out our faith, to come to know Him and be like Him in the ways we're called to do so.   This is our road with Him, His highest good, His greatest praise, our constant goal before us.   It's how we're called to worship in spirit and in truth.

He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses

 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourselves to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.

Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses."

- Matthew 8:1-17

 We have just finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapters 5 - 7.  We began with the Beatitudes, then we read You are the salt of the earth, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill, Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, Let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, Our Father in heaven, You cannot serve God and mammon, Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things,  Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets, and Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  In yesterday's reading, which is the final reading in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'  Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourselves to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  The biblical law concerning leprosy was given by Moses in Leviticus 13 and 14.   Deuteronomy 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses which was a duty of the priests.  My study bible says that leprosy was considered a direct punishment for sins, and that as lepers were unclean, they couldn't live in community or to worship in synagogues or the temple.  We have to understand leprosy as an infectious disease, and these laws worked in ways to prevent or contain infection, at least to the extent possible given the time and abilities.  Touching the unclean was forbidden (Leviticus 7:21), but in today's reading Jesus touched the leper.  My study bible says this shows His compassion, and it shows that He is not subject to the Law but over it.  It says, "To the clean, nothing is unclean."  Jesus has just taught that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, so what are we to make of this?

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  A centurion was a Roman commander over 100 men in a legion.  He is a Gentile, an outsider, one who rules with despised authority among the Jews.  Many Greek scholars read Jesus' statement, "I will come and heal him," as a question:   "Shall I come?"  But Jesus' willingness to enter into this Gentile's house is yet another act that would make Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews.   And there is more "unusual" to come -- this Gentile centurion calls Jesus Lord.    "Lord, I am not worthy that You should cone under my roof," is traditionally quoted in liturgical texts as an ideal expression of humility.  Jesus marvels twice in the Gospels -- one time is here, at the belief of the centurion.  The other is in Mark 6:6, when He marvels at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth.

"And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.   My study bible says that here Jesus nullifies any ideas of ethnic superiority.  The rejected sons of the kingdom are both the Jews who deny Christ and those raised in the Church who do not live their faith; outer darkness and weeping and gnashing are descriptions of the state of the unrighteous dead in Sheol (or Hades) in the Jewish tradition (see Enoch 103:8).  And they are common expressions in Matthew's gospel (13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and are also found in Luke (Luke 13:28).

Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."   This passage and another from 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:5, where Peter is called Cephas), tell us that Peter was married.    My study bible points out that Christ's healing miracles are diverse.  Here He heals by touch, in verse 13, above ("so let it be done for you") Jesus healed with a word.  This healing is immediate and complete, and others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or they require cooperation from the healed person or their loved ones (Luke 8:54-55, Mark 2:4).   As the quotation in our final verse (from Isaiah 53:4) tells us, each miracle manifests His redemption of ailing  humanity.

So what's going on here?  Jesus has just finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount, and these actions take place after He has come down from the mountain and resumed His wandering ministry.  He said He'd not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill -- but here He seems to be violating direct Law.  He touches a leper, He's the one who says He'll come into the centurion's home and it's the centurion who clearly says He doesn't have to.  He touches Peter's mother, which really isn't exactly the right form for a Jewish man who's not a member of the family.  So what's the point of all this?  That seems to be the question we're meant to ask, and in so doing what we find is that Jesus is not just the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, but He's the manifestation of their aim.  The law regarding leprosy was not intended to prolong leprosy or contain it, but to cope best in hopes of eradication.  Healing is the real goal and fulfillment of that Law.  And in each of these episodes, healing is taking place both as the obvious point of the story but also in a deeper and more complete way as spiritual balm for the world.  The point of the Law was to keep a people to God, and to keep those people loyal to covenant with God, to faith.  But Jesus expands this to the faithful people from all the world.  This is the point and aim of Old Testament Law, to have a "people of God."  And the good news is that this includes all people, including the mother-in-law of Peter, someone who would not normally have been considered so important as both a woman and one who was older and lives dependent on him.  And everybody is brought to Jesus, not just the sick but also the demon-possessed.  This healing is a much broader and greater reality than anybody could imagine.  He is the healing reality present in the world, and He is that fulfillment and aim of the Law and the Prophets, made manifest to us in the world.  He sets things aright, He heals a woman who is an essential part of a home, a household that supports the healing work of the world, a place where all can gather to be healed of all kinds of problems.  Again, with just a word, the Word made flesh casts out spirits, He heals all who come to Him who are sick.  He heals what ails us, and our union with Him is faith -- and therein is the sum of the purpose of the Old Testament, to heal and keep a people to God, to set right and in good order.  As John's gospel teaches us, He's given "because God so loved the world," and this Kingdom is for all the world -- and the people of God are to be drawn from all the world.  Let us close with the words of the Prophet Isaiah:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."    This will be true in so many ways, and remains true for the faithful today.

Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

"But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

- Matthew 7:22-29

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapters 5 - 7.  We began with the Beatitudes, then we read You are the salt of the earth, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill, Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, Let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, Our Father in heaven, You cannot serve God and mammon, Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things, and Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus preached, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"   Again, as Jesus is coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, He is clearly speaking as Judge, and we are to understand it that way.  He is speaking here of the time of Judgment, the end of the age initiated by His Incarnation in this world.  Even those who perform marvelous works aren't immune from this emphasis on the real inner life of a person, Jesus' words warning us against hypocrisy.    He likens it to lawlessness.  Just as the Law of Moses meant to include the whole of the commandments, so Jesus speaks of His commandments and teachings in their entirety.

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."    The church has been likened to a rock, and Christ Himself, after Simon's confession of faith, will name him Peter, meaning "rock," as this faith is the rock upon which He will build His church.    Here, obedience to Jesus' teachings in faith becomes the great rock upon which each of us may build our own lives.  We note the formula (also given throughout Deuteronomy in the words given to Moses) of hearing and doing.  We hear His sayings, keep them in our hearts, and we are to live them, to do them.

"But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  Salvation isn't based only on hearing, but also on doing.  Faith is about both.  Just as Jesus teaches about false prophets (in yesterday's reading, above) that "by their fruits you shall know them," so we will all be known by how faithfully we live His commands.  (See James 2:24.)

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Jesus doesn't quote from others, but speaks from His own authority.  A scribe would study with a famous rabbi, following a school of a famous teacher.

Jesus' words on the mountain are clearly meant to give us an understanding that He speaks as one with His own authority.  John's Gospel teaches us that He is the Word incarnate.  He is the authority who gave the "word" to Moses on the mountain.  He has taught in this Sermon that He has come not to destroy, but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17).  But His life as Incarnate God will shake up the world in this fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  Everything will change, centering upon the ultimate sacrifice of His life as our Passover.  His command is not that we only hear, but that we live out what He teaches.  I don't think faith and works can be separated.  True faith, real belief, will necessitate living out what is in our hearts.  It's a question, as Christ has put it, of what we love most, what we put first.  When He taught in the Sermon on the Mount that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve God and mammon, this hearing and doing is part of what He was talking about.  His teachings against hypocrisy -- and, in particular, His warnings about Judgment -- teach us this.  It all comes down to a choice of what we really love, what we put first, and then we make the choice to live out our faith.  Both go hand in hand.  Let us take His authority seriously.  Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are reflected and repeated all throughout the Gospels, in different settings and in different contexts.  Let us understand that all of these teachings apply to our lives in all kinds of ways and circumstances, and none are really separate from the others.   Matthew's Gospel has given us the fullness of this Sermon, but there is no doubt Jesus taught the same teachings in many places and throughout His ministry.