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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

Hope for the Hopeless

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May 25, 2025
Matthew 9:18-26
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Hope

The Person of Christ

Suffering & Trials

Transcript

0:19Well This summer we're gonna continue our way through the gospel of Matthew with various of our elders preaching each week. If you're gonna be away maybe on vacation or up at the cabin, let me encourage you to continue to attend church, but also to follow along in our series, and you can do that online. This morning we have the first of the final set of three miracles, and our passage reaches this climactic point as Jesus raises a young girl from the dead. So would you join me as we pray? Father in heaven, we wanna see more of your son Jesus this morning we wanna see him as he ought to be seen.

1:07So enliven our hearts by the power of your spirit. Give us eyes to see so that we would behold Jesus in all of his glory and wonder and do that for our joy this morning. Lord, give us hope and joy in Jesus. We pray this in your name. Amen. Grief, remorse and depression swept over me like a thick choking blanket. For the first time since the accident, I wished and prayed that I might die.

1:53Those words were written by Johnny Erickson in her memoir recounting the accident that left her paralyzed after breaking her neck in a diving accident. And she goes on to write, how can a loving God if such exists allow this desperate situation? Joni's. Johnny's words capture the anguish and the hopelessness that she felt after her accident. And for many of us, it's hard to imagine going from a healthy body to being completely paralyzed. And yet we all know the feelings of anguish and perhaps even hopelessness at times. We've all experienced despair over maybe a severe conflict with a friend or with a family member where it just doesn't seem like things will ever get right again.

2:53Or we may experience despair over chronic illness, unexplained fatigue or limited mobility or ongoing treatments and medications and, and just the decreasing capacities of our bodies and even of our minds. Sudden loss can leave us feeling abandoned and alone. We, we lose a spouse, we lose a parent, we lose a family member as believers in Jesus. We are not exempt from hopelessness in this life. But one stunning truth we discover in our passage this morning is that Jesus is not indifferent to our suffering. Jesus is not unmoved by our despair. Jesus doesn't turn away when we're feeling hopeless.

3:48Instead, Jesus reveals his even greater mission to undo all that is broken. Now you may remember, Matthew Chapters eight and nine contain three sets of three miracles each. We're now at the seventh miracle. So this is the first of the final set. And Matthew has been asking and answering the question, who is Jesus? What type of authority does this man have? And in this account we see that Jesus has authority even over death. Jesus has authority over death. But we see something else in this as well. Not only does he have authority over death, but he has compassion for sufferers authority over death and compassion for sufferers.

4:44These two realities are put together in the God man, Jesus Christ. And we see his growing popularity as well as the growing opposition. The main point of our text this morning is that Jesus walks into the ruin of our lives and he brings hope to the hopeless. He walks into ruin and gives hope to the hopeless. He walks into life of this hemorrhaging woman and gives her hope. For the first time in a long time, he walks into the turmoil of death and he raises the dead. And very simply, the aim of this passage is that it would thrust us into the arms of Jesus this morning. Go to Jesus wherever you're experiencing despair or hopelessness in your life, go to Jesus.

5:36He has the authority, but he also has the mercy and compassion to receive sufferers this morning. So we're gonna see this in our passage in three parts. It's kind of broken up into a request there in the beginning. Then we get a healing and then we get a resurrection. So the healing of the hemorrhaging woman is kind of sandwiched between the raising of this young girl. And we'll see in just a moment why that's the case. And in Matthew's account, we see that it's a lot shorter from Mark's account or even Luke's account because Matthew gets right to the point. Jesus is the one who has authority over death.

6:19Jesus has the authority to raise the death. So first we come to the request. Look with me at verse 18. Love for you to follow along, especially if you're one of the kids among us. Follow along. We'd love for you to be looking at your Bible with us. So verse 18, while he was saying these things to them, behold a ruler came and knelt before him saying, my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. So in the previous section, we know that Jesus was teaching about his kingdom, and these people are coming, John's disciples, why aren't you and your disciples fasting?

6:56And Jesus says, we can't fast. They can't fast. The bridegroom has come. This is all about celebration and joy and feasting. And then all of a sudden you kind of get the record scratch and, and this ruler comes and he drops an emotional bomb In the midst of this feast, my daughter is dead, my daughter has just died. Mark's account tells us that she's 12 years old and that this is Jerry, a synagogue ruler. So he would've been a member of the elite. He was part of the leadership of the synagogue. He would've oversaw some of the worship and the finances and the keeping of the building. This is a highly respected man in Jewish culture.

7:43And, and yet he puts aside his reservations. He goes to Jesus in the midst of this feast with tax collectors and sinners. And he bows down before me, falls before him. And, and so this reveals humility, but it probably reveals even more than that, just desperation. His daughter is dead. Now, if you're familiar with Mark's account, you'll know that Mark's account says his daughter. This girl was at the point of death. And then later as they're making their way there, messengers come and meet them and they say, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? That's Mark five, verse 35.

8:20And so some would say, look, look, the gospels are contradicting themselves. That's not the case. Matthew writes with this condensed writing style, and he kind of puts together several different details. Essentially, this man's daughter was as good as dead, and by the time Jesus arrives, she's actually dead. And what Matthew's account does is it emphasized she's really dead. Jerry says, but come lay your hand on her and she will live. This is remarkable faith In this moment. He expresses hope. Even in death, he has complete confidence in Jesus' touch. And so we're left to wonder, why would this synagogue ruler think that Jesus could do this?

9:06What would make him say such a thing with such remarkable faith? Now, I think Matthew is trying to point at something. It's probably that Jarris believed that Jesus was a great prophet because there was a prophet by the name of Elijah in one King 17 who raised a woman's son from the dead. And then in two kings, chapter four, Elisha also did the same thing. And this man probably thinks, here's Jesus a, a prophet just like these Old Testament prophets. Perhaps he too will have the power to raise my daughter from the dead. And what Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus is a much greater prophet.

9:50But this man in coming with faith teaches us our first lesson. If you have a burden, if you have a need, if you have an impossible situation, bring it to Jesus. Jesus accomplishes what is impossible for man. This ruler has overwhelming confidence in Jesus. And he goes to the right man. Verse 19, Jesus rose followed him with his disciples. The disciples don't do anything, but they're the witnesses of these realities. And there's no hesitation. Jesus goes with him right away. But this story is interrupted by another hopeless sufferer who is seeking healing. So we come now to part two where we get a healing.

10:39This is verses 20 to 22. As Jesus walks along, it says, behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for 12 years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. So this woman probably suffers from a continuous menstrual flow that has persisted for more than a decade. So think about that for a moment. Very few of us do anything for 12 years. You don't work at the same job for 12 years. You don't, you know, live in the same house for 12 years. You don't go to college hopefully for 12 years. Uh, this woman suffers from a deeply debilitating affliction. For 12 long, hopeless years, mark tells us that she spent all her money on physicians and only grew worse.

11:36So now to compound her physical condition, she's now destitute her bleeding, made marriage and intimacy and children unthinkable, but even worse, she's ritually unclean here. Leviticus 1525, I'm gonna read that for us. Leviticus 1525. If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge, she shall continue in uncles as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. So the normal rhythm is for seven days you would be unclean. But this woman has been unclean for 12 unceasing years, she could not go to the temple for worship.

12:29She was cut off from the presence of God. Whoever she touched became unclean. She was isolated from family and community. But even worse than that, she walked around with this deep despairing stigma of shame and guilt. She was like a virtual leper, untouchable, outcast, and unclean with no diagnosis, no treatment, no hope of change. I could imagine she could resonate with Johnny Erickson taught us feeling I wished and prayed I might die. But here she comes to Jesus with great courage, just like the leper back in chapter eight. And she tells us her plan. Matthew tells us her plan, verse 21, for she said to herself, if I only touch his garment, I will be made.

13:27Well again, we get this picture of remarkable faith on displays. She wanted to touch Jesus' robe or just the hem of his robe, or more likely just the little tassels at the end of his robe. Those tassels were commanded in numbers chapter 15, verses 38 to 41. They were commanded. They were to put a little blue thread in those tassels to remind them every time they looked at them, they were to obey God's commandments and not to go in their own way. And I think that Matthew is kind of alluding to this, what did Jesus say is the summary of his law? To love the Lord your God, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

14:10And the immediately preceding passage, he says, what I desire is not sacrifice but mercy. And here Jesus shows mercy That's keeping God's law. Now in Levitical law, defilement is contagious. If someone unclean touches someone who's clean, the clean person becomes unclean. But here, Jesus does not become unclean and rather she receives healing. I, I think what this is pointing to is this healing anticipates the work that Jesus is going to accomplish on the cross where the full transfer will happen. He will take all of our sins and he will give to us his righteousness. His sinlessness verse 22, unfolds the drama.

14:59Jesus turned and seeing her, he said to her, take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well and instantly the woman was made well. So here we have our next lesson. Jesus sees sufferers who come to him. Jesus sees the sufferers who come to him. She wanted to remain anonymous. Let me just sneak in, touch him just a little bit and then sneak out and then things will be fine. Jesus doesn't let that happen. He could have let it happen, but he turns around, stops everybody in Mark's gospel, it becomes even more dramatic. Who touched me? He looks at her, fixes his eyes on her, and he calls her daughter.

15:52This nameless outcast is seen by Jesus and he does something perhaps even greater than stopping the affliction she's experienced for 12 long years. He gives her a new identity, he calls her daughter. This is the only time in the gospels that Jesus calls someone by this affectionate phrase. She is now God's daughter. She just wanted healing. And now she's re received salvation and a new identity that will reshape not just her life, but everything about her. Jesus doesn't let her walk away anonymously. He restores her dignity. He makes her ritually clean. She's healed physically. Here we see the perfect combination of authority and compassion.

16:52Matthew is writing this way because everyone who comes in with authority exercises that authority to expand their kingdom, to make themselves greater. And yet here Jesus uses his authority to lift up the outcast, to forgive sins and to minister among the underbelly of society. And I think Matthew's also pointing to the reality that Jesus is this suffering servant from Isaiah 53, who is going to bear our griefs, carry our sorrows by his wounds, we are healed. She is the first fruits of that reality right now.

17:37She puts her uncles on Jesus and Jesus gives her an identity, salvation, and healing. And here we have two daughters, one rich and one poor, the daughter of the synagogue ruler and the other is unknown and unclean. And Jesus allows himself to be interrupted in order to tend to the outcast. While the rich daughter waits, he enacts the very values of his kingdom that he taught in the previous section. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Jesus could have said, I don't have time for this. We have a mission to heal this ruler's daughter. But this is exactly what Jesus came to do, to be interrupted by sinners and suffers in need of his grace.

18:25Jesus slows down in order to love her, heal her, and to speak tenderly to her. This is the upside down kingdom that Jesus has come to usher in. Jesus gives hope and healing to this ruined and hopeless woman, restoring not only her body but her dignity. This leads now to the third section, a resurrection. 23 to 26. The story resumes. Jesus arrives at the house of the ruler and he saw flute players and the crowd making a commotion. And so in those days, Jewish families would hire these reed pipe players or flute players and professional mourners to come and mourn the deceased. And because they, uh, didn't really treat the body, they had to do it right away.

19:18And so the more loud and dramatic of the grieving by these hired mourners, the more significance this death is to the family. It's to honor the dead. And so these details make it clear that she's really dead. These people knew when someone had died. It, it would be a little bit like when the flute players and the mourners are on site. It would be a little bit like if we say, you know, someone's died. And so their body has been, uh, either placed in a body bag or covered with a sheet or the mortuary staff are now waiting to take the body away. That that's the picture that we get. But Jesus says verse 24, go away.

19:59For the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. I love how Jesus says go away. In a sense, he's talking to these bystanders, but he could very well be talking to death itself. Not today, death. This one's not for you. Your days are numbered. The mourners are unnecessary. Just like the previous passage. Uh, the my disciples can't fast because the bridegroom is here. There is no morning in this moment because I'm on site. I'm here mourning must stop because Jesus has arrived. Who is Jesus? He is the way, he is the truth. And he is the life he brings life wherever he goes. You guys remember from last week where we talked about how the fasting, and Jesus says there, there can't be fasting because the bridegroom has come.

20:58And I, I read from Isaiah 25, there is this picture of food with, you know, this rich food and rich feast and, uh, food full of marrow. And what did that verse say? Isaiah 25, 8, and God will swallow up death forever. God will swallow up death forever. I think we see the first fruits of that reality being fulfilled in Jesus right now. He's fulfilling Isaiah 25, 8. Death is banished and tears are wiped away. Now Jesus says she's not dead, but sleeping and sleep is often a euphemism for death. But Jesus uses it metaphorically to say that her death is temporary. She's going to rise again to new life.

21:48And the crowds laugh at him mockingly, they ridicule him because they think he doesn't understand that she's actually physically dead. So this just re enforces and underscores again. She's actually dead. This is not a coma. Uh, she wasn't breathing really slowly. She's actually dead. This is a real resurrection, verse 25. But when the crowds have been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand and the girl arose again. We get this picture. Jesus touches this dead body. Numbers 1911 says, whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. And just like the earlier passage, Jesus does not become unclean by touching this dead body.

22:33But instead she is raised to new life. And what this shows us is that Jesus has authority not only to fulfill the Old Testament scriptures, but out of his body flows, resurrection power. This is how great Jesus authority is. He heals. He calms the wind and the waves. He brings forgiveness of sins and he's banishing death itself. Verse 26. And the report of this went through all that district. It means that as much as they were trying to keep it quiet, and in Mark it talks about this, he told them to keep it quiet. Jesus fame continue to spread it, it spread all the way and it would increase the opposition that we'll see in future weeks.

23:26But what we see in this account is that we are to turn to Jesus when all hope runs dry. And and I imagine that in a group this large, there are some of us who are experiencing despair or we've been tempted to go there hopelessness. Our our lives feel so overwhelming that the grief comes back in. Waves go to Jesus who has authority and who possesses compassion for his people. Jesus raised this girl from the dead while she had no faith. Uh, the Father came with faith, but she had no faith. She was completely dead. And I think this is a picture of our salvation this morning. Ephesians two says, even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ by grace, we have been saved.

24:30This is a picture of salvation for each and every single one of us. This morning we were dead in our sins, dead in our trespasses. We didn't even have an inkling of faith to come to Jesus to say, if you touch me, I'll be healed. We were just dead. And yet God in his great kindness goes forth and exercises his resurrection power to make dead sinners alive. Praise be to God this miracle foreshadows the greater miracle that Jesus is going to accomplish. The power of death is numbered. Death will not be the end for those who are in Christ. This young girl rises from the dead to live again. Jesus, after he's crucified, will rise again to live again.

25:18And all those who are in Christ, we will die in the flesh, but we too will rise again to live forever with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Paul in one Corinthians 15 can say, oh, death, where is your sting? Death? Where is your victory? None of it, no more victory for death for all those who are in Christ. And this is what Matthew wants us to see this morning. Behold, the wonder and the majesty of the one who has come to banish death, death becomes a doorway to be reunited with Christ forever. So how do we go about applying this text this morning? I have three applications for us that I wanna draw out.

26:10The first is that Jesus sees you and your suffering. Jesus sees you and your suffering. The hemorrhaging woman, uh, just imagine she probably thought she was cursed from one year to two years, to five years, to seven years and eight years. And, and she's long been at the end of her rope like no hope I've spent all my money. She had years of hopelessness and despair. She saw no improvement. Yet in her suffering, Jesus sees her. It doesn't just see her like he really sees her, sees into the depths of her soul. And that's true for each one of us this morning. Whatever you are facing, whatever is your struggle, whatever you think is your greatest need, whatever struggles that you have, whatever family issues are taking place, whatever financial things are going on, Jesus is never too busy for needy people.

27:18We don't wear down his compassion or his patience right now. This morning, Jesus sees you doesn't just see you. He sees into the very depths of your soul, sees the questions you're asking. And he's saying, trust me. Trust me. I know I see it. I know what you feel. I I know the despair and the hopelessness that you have. And he says, I see you. He has not abandoned you in your troubles. He knows your burdens, your pains, anxieties, and anger. I know sometimes in a church this big, we have people who pick this church because they would like to be anonymous. Like this is the right place to be because then I can slip in and slip out.

28:08No one needs to know my name. I can sit in the back or wherever I want sit. And no one needs to know my past, the things I struggle with. No one needs to learn my name. As long as I steer clear of that pastor who likes to walk around the building, I'll be okay. And the reality is, this is not a place for you to be anonymous. Jesus sees you and we see you and we want to see you even more. We want to know you. So don't remain anonymous. Go through our membership process, meet others. Sit up front. We want you to be known and loved. Yes. In all of your messiness, even in your hopelessness and despair that you bring to the table, this is not a place for you to remain anonymous.

29:01And if you're watching online, 'cause then you think I'm really anonymous. We want you to come in person. Some of you this morning though are just like this hemorrhaging woman. You're, you're at the end of your rope and you're thinking, uh, I don't have anything more. Uh, I don't even have the mustard seed size of faith to come to Jesus. You, you're tempted by the words of job's wife curse God and die. And, and let me just read for you the words of Paul who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword will hemorrhaging or disability or cognitive decline or financial disaster or depression, insults.

29:56Uncertainties, chronic illness, wayward children or the death of a child or parent. Will these things separate us from the love of Christ? No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor things to come, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Nothing. No despair, no hopelessness, no trouble or trial in your life can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus sees you this morning.

30:43Second. Second application. Come to Jesus by faith. Come to Jesus by faith. Our, our passage and chapters eight and nine have been emphasizing coming to Jesus with faith like the leper here in nine chapter nine, verse 18. It says, come and lay your hand on her and she will live. So here we get remarkable faith or chapter nine, verse 22, your faith has made you well in the next passage, chapter nine, verse 29, according to your faith, be it done for you. And so come to Jesus with faith. Believe in Jesus' power to save. If you're not trusting Christ this morning, and I know in a group this large we have some, oh, our invitation is that you would come to Jesus believing that he alone has the authority, but he also has the compassion and mercy to receive sufferers and sinners and to give them life.

31:45Now, we might read, your faith has made you well in chapter nine, verse 22, your faith has made you well. And we might think that sounds a lot like faith earns healing like faith merits healing. So how is faith necessary but not meritorious you? You said the the girl didn't show any faith, and yet Matthew's been emphasizing the nature of faith like these people keep coming to Jesus with faith. Well, I think it's a little bit like this. Faith is the act of a beggar reaching out to the king with empty hands begging his empty hands are a sign of his faith. But these empty hands don't contribute or require the king's mercy.

32:33Yet the act of reaching out with empty hands is this act of faith that the king is glad to receive. And so Ephesians two tells us, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. We're saved through faith. And even the faith itself is a gift from God. So come to Jesus with these empty hands, believing that he is willing to fill them. That's all you need to do this morning. Even for believers, we come afresh to Jesus and say, oh, fill my mouth with your praise. I hear the songs being sung and I don't even feel like I can sing them and I don't wanna be a hypocrite.

33:21And my heart just doesn't rise up to rejoice. And so we say, oh Lord, I come with empty hands, empty mouths, empty hearts. Would you fill it again? Fill me with your spirit. Enliven me so that I might worship you the way you ought to be worshiped. Number three, Jesus will raise us from the dead. Jesus will raise us from the dead Jesus authority and power in this account. Point forward to the greatest miracle of all time. Great raising a soul to eternal life. Jesus has come not just to raise one person from the dead and he actually does three in the gospels. But what he has come to do is to neuter the power and the sting of death itself.

34:06John 10 18, Jesus says, I lay it down, speaking of his life, I lay my life down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. Jesus authority extends not only to raising a little girl from the dead, but he will actually lay down his own life, voluntary, substitute for sinners and mankind, and then he will take it up again. He has the authority given to him by God Almighty and God Almighty, with the Spirit will raise Jesus from the dead. Jesus will take up his own life in order to rule and reign over all things conquering sin, death, and Satan, putting them on permanent notice and being the first fruits for all those who will rise in Christ, as sure as the resurrection is.

35:02That's how sure our resurrection is you. Were not destined for this world. You will rise again and you will dwell with Jesus forever. And our world tells us, well, there's no such thing as the afterlife. That's just a fairy tale, wishful thinking. Religion is the opium of the masses and it's just a coping mechanism people have when they're faced with their mortality. It's just unscientific thinking. And yet the resurrection is a historical claim with over 500 eyewitnesses. Not a single one said, actually, I was lying. It was a very elaborate scheme. It though it cannot be scientifically proven, the afterlife, its truth is empirical like logic in morality and beauty.

35:56And this account testifies that there is hope, even in hopelessness near the end of her memoir, Johnny Erickson wrote, I saw that my injury was not a tragedy, but a gift God was using to help me conform to the image of Christ, something that would mean my ultimate satisfaction and happiness, even joy. Those are amazing words. He was using it to conform me to the image of Christ and it would mean my satisfaction, happiness, and even joy. And in that same way this morning, brothers and sisters, the hardships, the struggles, the tears, the suffering that we experience. God is using those difficult circumstances to make us more like Jesus, to build in us a greater hope, to release our grip on this world and to help us to long for the one to come.

37:11So go to Jesus. He takes ruinous circumstances and redeems them to produce hope. He looks to all who come to him and he says to each one of us this morning, take heart. Take heart, my child, take heart. I'm working all things for good and for my good purposes. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you take our hopelessness and despair and you minister to us fresh hope and you're making us more holy. And so help us to be those people. Lord, help us to be filled with hope in Christ Jesus and help us to overflow that hope to a world that is desperate for Christ, that is desperate for answers. Fill us with the power of your spirit.

38:13We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

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Sermon Text

Matthew 9:18-26

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