Today, we are in part 4 of a multi-part series on the miracles and parables of Jesus.
We are taking a look at the miracles in chronological order, with the purpose of:
Types of miracles
Who was present
Purpose of the miracles
Which gospels recorded unique miracles
Which gospel had most miracle
Which gospel fewest
Which miracle recorded in all 4 gospels
Which gospel had most of each type of miracles
Obviously, these points are being woven in, as the series progresses.
So far, we have looked at 14 miracles.
Today, we will examine 5 more, beginning with the raising of Jairus’ daughter.
This is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
We’ll begin in Matthew’s recording of this miracle beginning in v18 of the 9th chapter.
Matthew 9:18 “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.””
These things- just so you’re not left hanging, the “these things” that Matthew writes, is Jesus explaining a question about fasting.
For me, I love to read all the gospel accounts of any of Jesus’ sayings, or events, because they fill in the blanks. Each writer has his point of emphasis, so it doesn’t do justice to cover only one.
Having said that, I want to encourage you to read all three accounts of this miracle:
Matthew 9:18,23-26 / Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 / Luke 8 40-42, 49-56/
So, when looking at Matthew, there’s this gap this is filled with verses 19-22- it is the healing of the woman with the blood issue.
Then, verse 23 goes back to the miracle at hand.
Matthew 9:23–26 “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.”
Mark 5:35–43 “While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” (ta-LEE-ta que-ME) which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement”.
Mark 5:43 “But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.”
Talitha cumi- I believe, this is one of only 5 times the Aramaic is used instead of the Greek translation.
Let’s look at Luke.
Luke 8:49–54 “While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.””
Luke 8:55–56 “Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.”
You see, it’s difficult to get a robust feel of what happened, without reading all the gospel versions.
In Matthews gospel, we are told the girl has already died.
In Mark and Luke’s gospel, she died while the father went to ask Jesus to come heal her.
Either way, by the time Jesus gets to her, the young girl is dead.
Jesus is on the way to see this girl, and a woman touches His rob, in faith that she will be healed.
Two observations:
#1 Divine intervention:
Jesus made a divine intervention in healing this woman’s disease.
In December of last year, I believe CPC experienced a divine intervention, when God arranged for us to have a “new” church building.
#2 On the way:
Jesus was on-the-way to heal Jairus’ daughter.
Church, what if we established a mindset of an “on-the-way” ministry?
You know, “on-the-way” to the grocery store, we minister to someone.
“On-the-way” to:
work
home
dr’s office
church
How many people do we cross paths with, on a daily basis, that need Jesus, but we are blind to because we are “on the way” to something else?
A couple of other thoughts about this passage:
Jesus told Jairus “only believe”: It was as though Jesus was reminding Jairus to hold on to that faith that brought him to Jesus in the first place!
Again, we see Jesus moving from a miracle witnessed by a large crowd, with the woman who needed healing, to a very private crowd.
Peter, James, John, and the parents of the young girl.
I want to read v.39-40 again:
Mark 5:39–40 “When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.”
Ridiculed Him: This was possibly a foreshadowing of how Jesus was ridiculed during the trial, beating and crucifixion.
I don’t pretend to have an answer for this question, but why didn’t Jesus just speak life into the little girl from afar, as He had done previously with the healings of gov’t official’s son, and the Centurion’s servant.
We know that He could do it, because later on we will see that He does do just that.
Again, we have this small intimate audience, maybe He went there, to help the disciples with their “little faith”, or “underdeveloped faith”, and again witness a miracle.
Mark 5:43 “But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.”
This is at least the 3rd time Jesus commands that no one should know it.
What’s curious here is, that there were people who knew the little girl was dead. So, it’s not like they could hide it from them.
I believe the point is this:
Jesus probably didn’t want to be made known primarily as a miracle worker, thereby having people seek Him for the wrong reasons.
I came to realize a few years back that I would rather live from blessing to blessing rather than miracle to miracle.
Not saying that I have no need for miracles, but Jesus offers so much more!
Let’s move to the next miracle:
Two blind men healed.
This miracle, and the next are found only in Matthew.
Matthew 9:27–31 “When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.”
Comments:
Two blind men followed Him.
As I’m thinking about these two blind men following Jesus, I recalled something from my college days, yes back in the horse and buggy days!
Annually, there was a fundraiser that the restaurant I worked, participated in.
This particular year, there was a race made up of a team of two people.
One person had a rope tied around the waist and was blind-folded, the other held the rope, and lead the blind-folded person around an obstacle course.
We were running.
Actually for me, it was more of a lope. You see, I was the blind-folded person, and for some reason, I didn’t hold much faith in the one leading me… we didn’t win!
These blind men followed Jesus. They had faith.
Matthew 9:29 “Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.””
I can’t help but wonder, if I were put to that test, would I fail? Obviously, I’d like to believe I wouldn’t.
Best I can tell, this is the first time publicly that Jesus is declared Son of David.
Jesus never declared himself Son of David. When I studied this, it may be due to the fact that this was an intense nationalistic viewpoint.
I want to be very careful here, but I believe as Christians, we need to be cautious of a nationalistic Christianity.
We don’t need to put our nation above Christ.
This is not a dig against patriotism, because I’m as patriotic as they come, especially as a 7th generation Texan.
We can’t allow our nation to become our idol.
I believe these men, were truly grateful to Jesus and recognized Him as the Messiah. Something that the Pharisees refused to do.
If you read 2 Samuel 7:11-16 you may gain a better understanding of the basis of their belief.
Next, we see the follow up to this miracle. It is found in:
Matthew 9:32–34 “As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.””
A few observations about this miracle:
One of the few times, Jesus defends His authority. We see a few times, that Jesus knows what is in the hearts of the religious leaders, and He addresses that from time to time to some degree, but here He gets a little riled up in my estimation.
Here’s the DelRay translation: Listen you idiots, this is simple, but let me spoon feed you.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I love how we see in Matthew, so many references to math. A guess the tax collector in him comes out.
We see references of coins as well.
One one occasion, he references multiplication:
Jesus said “Forgive your brother, 70 x 7”.
Here, we see a math equation using division.
A house divided against itself, cannot stand.
Again, in this miracle, we see the Pharisees casting doubt about Jesus’ authority and power.
Here’s what I believe:
Illegitimately gained power, is always threatened.
Jesus’ legitimate power, threatened their illegitimate power!
Two more miracles and we are done for the day!
Jesus heals an invalid in Bethesda.
This is found only in John’s gospel.
Turn with me to:
John 5:1–5 “After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.”
John 5:6–10 “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.””
John 5:11–15 “He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ” Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
For me, this is one of the most curious, yet powerful of Jesus miracles.
There is a human, spiritual and salvation message.
Have you ever known someone, whose misery was their identity?
Have you ever known someone, who blamed everyone else on their situation or circumstance.
Years ago, an acquaintance remarked “the commonality of all your problems is you”.
She wasn’t saying that directly to me...or at least I don’t think she was. But rather, she was in a teachable moment.
John 5:3 “In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.”
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
A multitude of needy people were there, yet none of them looked to Jesus. A blindness had cover over these people at the pool; there they were, and there was Christ, who could heal them, but not a single one of them sought Him. Their eyes were fixed on the water, expecting it to be troubled (stirred by the angel) they were so taken up with their own chosen way, that the TRUE way was neglected.
John 5:6 “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?””
At this point, He is letting this man, choose his destiny, but he didn’t answer Jesus.
Instead, he placed blame, made excuses.
John 5:7 “The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.””
A few years back, as I was having a moment during worship music, I heard “quit making excuses”. Now, I knew exactly what the Holy Spirit was telling me, and I decided to quit making excuses.
Jesus, guided this man by way of the Holy Spirit, towards a response in faith.
Faith: 3 areas where faith is active in healing:
Faith of the one in need
Faith of those standing in need for the one in need
Faith of one given the gift of healing
Some day, I may do an expository sermon on these 15 verses, but I’ll close with the last two.
John 5:14–15 “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
We see that Jesus showed concern for this man’s spiritual healing!
He has it for you and me as well!
This last one for today, is the only miracle of Jesus that was recorded in all 4 gospels.
The feeding of the 5000+
Matthew 14:13-21 / Mark 6:30-44/Luke 9:10-17 / John 6:1-15 /
I’ll read Matthew’s account.
Matthew 14:13–17 “When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.””
Matthew 14:18–21 “He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
When Jesus heard IT...:
That it is the news of John the baptizer, his cousin having been beheaded.
Jesus departed to have time to grieve, but (depending on which gospel) the multitudes followed Him, or arrived before Him.
He continued healing and teaching...
Late in the day, and the disciples were tired (funny to me). Scripture says “the disciples said, we are in a deserted playc and the hour is late”. Translated: we’re tired!
YOU give them something to eat.
I believe this was Jesus’ way of attempting to pass the torch of power to His disciples.
In a recent bible study, titled “Dream to Destiny” we learned there are 10 tests we must pass in order to step into our destiny.
One of the tests was the power test. Although it was presented differently because it was based on the OT Joseph passing these tests, it still is relevant to us today, and it was to the disciples in Jesus’ day.
When you take into consideration all 4 accounts, the disciples failed miserably.
When it comes to blessing people, we can’t wait for someone else to do it.
Recently, Lisa received a call inquiring about blessing a family with a meal train.
Had that person not called, CPC may have missed a chance to bless someone.
Jesus said “YOU give them something to eat”.
Jesus said “go and see what food there is”. The disciples came back with an answer “2 fish and 5 loaves of bread”.
They fed 5k men, uncounted women and children.
When we present our limited resources to Jesus, He blesses and multiplies, even to the point of over-abundance with leftovers!
In these miracles, we see Jesus having compassion. He chose not to leave them in the condition He found them.
His miracles cross all ethnicities. No discrimination, against gender, age or ailment. An complete command of the universe and everything in it!
I hope you are learning something new in God’s word through these studies. I know I am!
