Matthew 9:18-26

While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward,

knelt down before him, and said,

“My daughter has just died.

But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples.

A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him

and touched the tassel on his cloak.

She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”

Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,

“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”

And from that hour the woman was cured.

When Jesus arrived at the official’s house

and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion,

he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”

And they ridiculed him.

When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,

and the little girl arose.

And news of this spread throughout all that land.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you ask me to reach out to you in faith and respond to your generous and merciful love. Unbelief in you and the devastating effects of sin surround me. Do not let me be overcome or fail when I am tempted. If I do fail, bring me back to you and wash away my sorrowful tears.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Message of the Prophet Hosea: During the last few weeks, we have been reading about prophets in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The prophets Elijah and Elisha combated rampant paganism in the Ninth century B.C. and worked many wonders among the people of Israel in an effort to bring them back to the Lord. Israel’s idolatrous worship of Baal, however, brought God’s judgment upon them, and this judgment was communicated to the people through the prophet Amos, who ministered in Israel in 760-750 B.C. After Amos, the prophet Hosea ministered in Israel between 745-730 B.C., demonstrating through word and action Israel’s infidelity to God’s covenant and calling the people back to God. The Book of Hosea has three main parts. It begins with a description of Hosea’s marriage to Gomer and uses this as an analogy for God’s relationship with Israel. Today’s First Reading is taken from this first part (1:1-3:5). The second part of the book (4:1-13:16) speaks about Israel’s infidelity and desolation and illustrates God's love, judgment, and promise for rebellious Israel. The concluding chapter, the third part (14:1-10), invites Israel to return to the Lord in repentance and reconciliation (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 252). Despite Gomer’s infidelity, idolatry, and harlotry, God commands Hosea to enter into, keep, and renew his marriage with her. The marriage thus becomes the symbol of the Lord’s relationship to Israel (Hosea 2:4-25). In the covenant, God binds himself to Israel like a husband to his wife in marriage. Being faithful to the covenant implies not only mutual loyalty but also love expressed in action: God manifests his faithful love in his redeeming work; the people of Israel are called to return God's love in gratitude to the Lord and in service of one another. Like mutual love, mutual knowledge is also essential to the covenant: the Lord, who knows his people in love, desires them to share in a communion of life with him (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 253).

2. The Promise of a New Exodus: Today’s Psalm brings us back to Moses and the Book of Exodus and the renewal of the Sinai Covenant that Israel broke by worshiping the golden calf. Moses ascended the mountain and cut two new tables of stone for the Ten Commandments. When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai in a cloud, he proclaimed his name: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy and faithfulness, keeping merciful love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). After this revelation of his mercy, God renewed the covenant with the people and commanded the people to worship no other foreign god (Exodus 34:10-16). In the Book of Hosea, God responds to Israel’s infidelity by promising a New Exodus and a New Covenant. God will lead Israel once again into the desert and speak to her heart. Israel is called to cast aside the pagan god Baal and espouse her true God, the Lord. God’s promise in the First Reading is fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who leads the New Exodus and establishes the New Covenant. Jesus is gracious and merciful. He comes to the people, who are enslaved by sin and subject to sickness and death, forgives them, and releases them from bondage.

3. Faith vs. Unbelief: In the Gospel, the faith of Jarius and that of the woman suffering hemorrhages contrasts with the unbelief manifested by the flute players and the crowd. Jarius manifests his faith by kneeling down before Jesus, and the woman manifests her faith by reaching out to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak. The professional mourners, on the other hand, laugh at Jesus and ridicule him. Jesus is not defiled by being touched by the woman with a hemorrhage (Leviticus 15:19-23) or by touching the girl’s dead body, rather his divine power cures the woman and restores the girl to life. Like the healing of the leper (Matthew 8:1-4), the physical healing of the woman restores her to society and the community of worship. We are the people of the New Covenant. Our God is gracious and merciful. Through his grace, he elevates us to divine sonship and makes us share in the wisdom of the Son and the love of the Holy Spirit. Through his mercy, he restores us to health and life when we fail to keep the commandment of love. In prayer, we kneel down before him and reach out our hand to touch the tassel of his cloak. These are gestures of humility that move the very heart of God.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you cared for your two daughters in the Gospel. You restored Jairus’ daughter to life and healed the woman of her affliction. Care for me in the same way. Restore me to life when I am dead through sin. Restore me to health when I am sick through sin.

Living the Word of God: Do I trust in Jesus’ healing power? How can I grow in my faith and truly believe that Jesus is the one who can heal me and those I love?