Sermon in Minneapolis 10.11.2013

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We will begin our services this morning with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, this morning, as always, we have many reasons to bow the knees of our hearts and give praise and thanksgiving. We thank you for this beautiful autumn Sunday day. And today, when we can assemble before your holy word, we thank you for your many bountiful blessings that you have richly given unto each of us in our temporal lives. But above all, we again thank you this morning that, by faith, owning the merit work of your Son, Jesus Christ, we can be heaven's own, a member of your kingdom, and acceptable before you, our Heavenly Father.

And so we ask that you would be with us again today and bless our services. Comfort us with your word and nourish us with your gospel. Keep us protected. Protect us in this begun faith and bring us one day from this life to our eternal home that waits there in heaven. All of this we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Amen. We are now late in the autumn season, also late in the church calendar, approaching the end of the church calendar, Judgment Sunday, which is just a couple of Sundays from now. And today, on the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, we have the theme of From Death to Life. And today's gospel text is from the gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 9, verses 18 through 26. And we will hear these words as follows in Jesus' name.

While Jesus spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is now dead. But come and lay your hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples. And behold, a woman which was diseased with an issue of blood for 12 years came behind him and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned himself about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and he saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place, or give me room. The maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth or shut out of the room, he went in, he took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. Amen.

We are now living the autumn season, and we can see that most of the trees have lost their leaves. There are only a few leaves remaining any longer on the limbs of the trees. The fall frost has killed all of the beautiful summer flowers, and they have wilted and turned brown. And soon, all of the grass will turn brown as well. It is the end of the growing season, and I'm sure most of us are with a deep sigh, taking a deep breath, waiting for the on-come of the long, cold, and dark winter.

And the fall darkness is enveloping us as a sign, as a symbol of this, that we live in the valley of the shadow of death. So outward nature is telling us that since the fall of the year, all have turned into sin in paradise. We as human beings are a dying race. Every one of us will one day face that last enemy, which is death. And this is evident in nature as well, as we can observe when we look around us outside.

Death faces all of us. For the wages of sin is death, says the Bible. On that day you eat of that tree, God warned Adam and Eve, you shall surely die. But the Bible also gives a promise and tells of a new kingdom and a new promise. We just recently celebrated All Saints Day. And the prophetical text for All Saints Day tells of a feast, a festival, that will be prepared on a mountain, on Mount Zion. And on that mountain, that cloak, or that covering that covers all people will be removed. This covering refers to that last enemy of death, which is a result of the fall into sin. This last enemy which will be encountered by all of us.

So one day, as Lazarus and all people in the Bible times, when they died, they were wrapped in a white linen from head to foot before they were buried in the grave. Symbolizing that cloak, that enemy of death, in which we will be wrapped. Wrapped in. Every one of us, one day. From dust, you have been made. And one day, onto dust, you will return. But there is this promise of a new kingdom.

And we can see this in the work and in the ministry of Jesus. While here on this earth, He healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. And He cured many other sicknesses and illnesses. And He also, as the Bible relates, on several occasions raised the dead. So Jesus was a person who could be approached. He was there among the people. He wasn't there sitting in His ivory tower. And the only way He could be accessed was to go through His secretary at the front door. Or He wasn't isolated out in a monastery. But He was there among the people. He mingled with the people. And He approached people of all stature, people of all backgrounds, and all types of situations.

So here in our text, there are two different incidences. And they're kind of sandwiched in together. They're two different events but somehow, in a way, intermingled in this short summary here in Matthew. We can read of the same events in the Gospel according to St. Mark and also in the Gospel according to St. Luke. And these two other evangelists tell this story, or these stories, in much greater detail.

There is a young girl who is twelve years old and just recently passed away. In the Jewish society, an individual becomes as if an adult, reaches adulthood at the age of twelve years and one day. She was right on that threshold when she was taken from this life. Then there's a story of a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years. This number twelve has much significance in the Bible. But we don't know exactly what the twelve means. So apparently it has much significance, but scholars haven't been able to figure out what exactly that significance is.

We know forty refers to the time of trial and tribulation. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty days, or forty years. Jesus fasted for forty days. We know that seven refers to the number of perfection, completeness, and fullness. But here is the mention of twelve. There's a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve continuous years. Her period wouldn't stop. It kept on flowing for twelve continuous years. And she was very distraught.

So Jesus now is on the shore of the lake of Gennesareth, or the Sea of Tiberias, or the Sea of Galilee. The same body of water having three different names. And just prior to these two events, Jesus had performed a miracle. And there he commanded, Go! There was a man who was filled with, was it, many legions of devils. Thousands of devils, possessed. And Jesus said to that man who was possessed, He said to those devils in him that, Go! Depart! And the devils left that man, went into a herd of swine. The swine became so troubled that they went tearing down a hillside and went tumbling into the waters of the lake of Gennesareth.

So the previous incident there in this location, Jesus said, Go! Depart! But now, in our story, he beckons the people to come. Come, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

And who are these two people? Well, first of all, there was a ruler. When Jesus spoke these things then unto him, behold, there came a certain ruler. We don't have a clue, according to Matthew, who this ruler is. But if we read the same story in the Gospel according to Saint Mark, and also in the Gospel according to Saint Luke, he's mentioned by name. His name is Jairus. And also it mentions that he's the ruler or the head of the synagogue. So he's a very devout person. He's a very pious Jewish person. He's an Orthodox Jew. He's like the service director or the head person in the synagogue. The service director in that synagogue.

He is the one who would invite the preachers. He is the one who would determine the prayers that would be read. He is the one who would choose the texts that would be read. And he would be overseen and in control of all of the things that would happen in the synagogue, in the service, each time.

And so his daughter who was 12 years old or right on the threshold of adulthood suddenly passed away. And Jairus as an Orthodox Jew typically would not have gone to Jesus. For these people of that stature considered for the most part Jesus to be a heretic. When he was feeling healthy or when they were feeling healthy they for the most part wanted to kill him. But now he's in a different situation. He has to humble himself. He has to give up all of his dignity. And this is the last resort. And he's distraught. His daughter is gone. Has passed away. And he can find no other solution. No other avenue than submit himself to approach this man called Jesus.

And in the other Gospels it actually says that he came and kneeled down before him and began to speak to him as if to beg for mercy. What a humbling occasion and experience for this man, proud man of such great stature. So it says here there came a certain ruler and worshipped him, or actually kneeled down and began to beg of him. And he said, My daughter is dead. My twelve year old daughter, just on the threshold of adulthood. And he beckons Jesus, come and put your hand upon her that she may revive and come back to life again.

So then it says that Jesus arose and followed him and so did his disciples. So Jairus was begging Jesus, come to my home. My daughter has passed away. Maybe you could help. I have heard so much about you. Even though typically he wouldn't approach Jesus. Finally this is his last resort. Maybe, just maybe this man could offer some help.

So then apparently on the way when they're going, Jesus and his disciples are following Jairus to go to his home to look at the dead body of his daughter. Something happens along the way. And as they're walking, behold a certain woman was diseased. Diseased. She had a sickness. She was hemorrhaging. She had an issue of blood. Her monthly cycle wouldn't stop. It continued. It continued. And it continued. Eventually she would die because of the loss of blood.

But if we read in the book of Leviticus in the fourth book of Moses it says about a woman when they're hemorrhaging or having this issue of blood or during their period they're considered defiled. Everything they touch becomes defiled. What they sit on. What they lie on. The clothes that they're wearing. And they're supposed to stay clear of all people. They actually become completely isolated from everyone else in society. They are completely, entirely alone.

So as Jesus and his disciples are following Jairus to his home to help him in his situation and you can imagine the crowd. According to Mark and Luke it says that there was a great crowd of people. Not only Jesus and his disciples but there must have been tens, hundreds of people. A thick crowd of people as often were following Jesus.

And this poor woman with this serious illness was needing help. She was a woman who was a gentile woman, a non-Jew. It says in the other gospel text. And the other gospel writer said that she had spent all of her money on trying to find a cure. There were eleven different cures that people tried in order to heal this illness. Many of them were superstitious. Taking ostrich egg and buried in a felt bag and ride on a donkey and do this and perhaps that will bring a cure. So some of them are superstitious and some are not.

So she had spent all of her money going to visit the doctors and Mark says and it only got worse. So this we could look at as Luther says in the spiritual sense that she had an awakened conscience or the picture of a person with awakened conscience and before God they are in a hopeless situation. Completely helpless. Everything is spent. There is no last straw to even grasp onto. Where can I find help? How can I find peace before that righteous judge God there in heaven?

So this is a picture of a person in an awakened state of conscience looking for peace for their undying soul. So behold a woman which was diseased and had this issue of blood or was hemorrhaging and this hemorrhaging had lasted for 12 years. So for 12 years she had basically been living in isolation. I'm sure shunned by the rest of society if they knew what her condition was.

And so Jesus is walking in the midst of this thick crowd of people and this woman came behind him. She realized that she was considered according to the law of Moses to be in a defiled unclean state. And if other people would have known they would have fled or they would have sent her into isolation. So you can imagine she came with much timidity, wanting to approach Jesus. And came timidly, quietly, and in secret behind Jesus. And didn't even want to come and face him face to face. But she came and she reached out and she touched the hem of his garment.

It's interesting in those days a Jew would wear a robe and then there would be tassels on the bottom hem of that robe. And they were defined very specifically in the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. They were prescribed by the law of Moses. And these tassels had to be made in a certain way. And they were a sign and a symbol that they were of the Jewish race, one of the promised nation of Israel.

So she timidly didn't even touch Jesus but reached out and touched one of the tassels that were hanging from the hem of his garment. And she touched the hem of his garment. And then she said to herself within herself, if I may but touch his garment maybe I'll become healed.

But Jesus felt his strength fade from him. If he didn't feel the touch, her touch, her touch in his garment he felt somehow strength ebbing from his body. What this means I do not know. But anyways Jesus turned around and when he saw her he said, Daughter, or woman, be of good comfort, be of good cheer, your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made whole at that very hour.

And so she had that faith that Jesus who was the giver of life, Jesus who was the great physician, would be able to help. And she was in that state and that situation physically but metaphorically spiritually as well that there was only one source of refuge of hope and help. She had spent all of her wares, all of her money on the doctors, the physicians and Luther says these physicians are a picture of those workers of the law. They could not help. Nothing could help. She now met Jesus the great physician and she was healed from her ailments.

So then Jesus continues after healing this poor woman who had been sick with his hemorrhage for 12 years and she was healed and now they after that continued their journey and reached Jairus' home who was the ruler of the synagogue. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house he saw the minstrels and the people making noise.

So there's much Jewish tradition that's mentioned here briefly when someone in that society and in those among those peoples would pass away they would hire weeping women, wailing women, and if they weren't crying themselves out of sorrow and grief they would hire these people who would begin crying they'd be weeping and they would be wailing. But then also the people would begin to rent their clothes and there's 39 different ways and methods by which people would rent their clothes.

If you're an adult male you would take your garments and break it open right from the heart. If you're a younger child you would tear from the side. If you were a woman of course you wouldn't tear it open and expose your breasts but you would do this in privacy in your own home. So 39 different points of how and in what way to rent your clothes explicitly prescribed and described.

And then thirdly there would be people who would be playing their flutes for the grief in the morning of this deceased. So then Jesus came into the ruler's house, into Jairus' home, and he saw the minstrels, I suppose those playing their flutes, and the people making noise, the wailing women who were hired to cry out in grief. And here Matthew doesn't mention anything about the renting of clothes but it's mentioned in Mark and mentioned in Luke.

And then he said unto them Jesus shut everyone else out of the room. He wanted to be there alone. He wasn't doing this out of sensational reasons not to receive any honor and glory and fame but he did this what he was going to do he was going to do it in privacy all alone.

So he said to them, Give place or remove yourselves from the room. And then he said, This woman is not dead but is sleeping. And the people laughed at him, mocked him, and ridiculed him.

It's kind of interesting we bury our dead in a place called a cemetery. And the word cemetery literally means a place of sleeping. And so now Jesus is actually saying this woman is not dead but is sleeping. I don't want to be confusing but in the Jewish tradition when someone would pass away they would have to bury that person within a matter of hours.

So there is evidence that because the family was buried in a place called a cemetery the funeral was so rushed at times and archaeological digs have shown this sometimes people were buried alive because of the rushed situation. They were actually only in a coma not dead but buried alive.

So is this what these people are kind of insinuating or referring to? When they begin to mock him and ridicule him that what does it say here? For the maid is not dead but is sleeping says Jesus. And she was literally dead we believe and understand.

Just like in a parallel text when Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha and the brother Lazarus and they cried when they met him and they said if you would have been here earlier because Jesus came three days after Lazarus had passed away and according to Jewish tradition the soul of the person hovers around that dead body for three days and three days is the important time because after the third day then the soul departs forever.

So there was no hope for Lazarus any longer. And Jesus says Mary and Martha if you would have been here earlier maybe this wouldn't have happened because they knew that he was God's son the great Messiah the giver of life and death. So Jesus wept together with the mourning of his sisters. But then he wiped his tears away and he stepped before the cave in which Lazarus had been laid and buried.

We bury our dead in a six foot deep hole in the ground. But they didn't do that in the Jewish culture. They would bring the body into an empty cave. First it was mummified. It was wrapped in white linen from head to foot. And then actually some sort of solution was put upon that white linen and it would turn into a hard cast.

If you broke your arm or leg and the doctor puts a cast on your arm or your leg you know how hard that is. That cast is after the solution hardens. This is what Lazarus actually looked like when he was laid into the bosom of the earth, into that cave.

So Jesus wipes his tears away. He lifts his gaze up into heaven. And then he raises his voice and he actually shouted, Lazarus come out. The brain of Lazarus began to function again. The heart of Lazarus began to pump again. And the Bible says that Lazarus came walking. I don't know how he walked when he was mummified like that. But came walking out of the grave on his own two feet.

And he told the disciples or those there present take the wraps, white linens from off his body. Then Jesus said I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me will never die. But he who believes in me will live forever.

So Jesus has the power over the great majesty, the final enemy which is death. And so we see around us as I mentioned already the effects of fall and autumn. How nature is dead and dormant. It looks like there is only a flicker of life in nature any longer. But if we look closely we can see a flicker of hope and a flicker of new life.

Go and closely look at the tips of the branches on the tree. You can see little tiny buds and in each one of those little tiny buds is the seed of new life. The fall winds have been blowing seeds, thousands, millions of seeds every which direction. And they are settling on the ground here and there.

Come next spring we'll see how the buds on the tips of the branches will open up again. And all those seeds that have been dropped here and there by the fall winds will bring forth new life.

Jesus said that I am like a kernel of wheat. I am like a seed from a corn cob. And if that seed gets left alone nothing will happen. But when I, says Jesus, am like this kernel of wheat gets planted into the ground like a natural seed. A seed from some flower or from an apple tree or some other type of plant gets planted into the ground, eventually it will bring forth a new plant just like the seed from the plant which it came. An exact replica.

So Jesus is now comparing himself to a living seed which needed to be buried into the ground. After he died on the cross, Jesus was buried in the grave. But then he rose again from the grave on the third day bringing forth new life and commissioned his disciples go forth and preach that gospel. Preach the message of the living seed who believes will be saved.

And so Jesus is the giver of life. I am the resurrection and life. And so after he shut the people out of the room in this house of Jairus when the people were sent out he went in, he took her by the hand and in Mark and in Luke, one of the two it says Jesus said in the Aramaic language, his native tongue, Talitha kum, girl, stand up, rise and walk. Immediately she recovered, gained new life, came back to life from death.

And then the fame hereof went abroad into all the land.

So what is the message for us today? Jesus has died. He died the death, that punishment that came upon all mankind on the day when you eat of that tree you shall surely die. We will all die. Jesus needed to experience that punishment of sin as well. He was crucified on the cross, laid into the bosom of the earth but it didn't end there.

He rose on the third day from the grave breaking the shackles of death. Winning over the power and the majesty of death. And therefore he sanctified for us that eventual resting place in the grave as a sweet place of repose but a place of sleeping.

And therefore Jesus said at the grave of Lazarus who believes in me will not die but will just be sleeping. That's why Jesus said this twelve year old girl is not dead but she is sleeping. She is just like closed her eyes. You go to sleep at night, you close your eyes and it seems like you just close your eyes and eight hours have passed by and the alarm bells are ringing and it's time to get up the next morning.

That's how it will be for us when we can sleep away in faith in the wounds and in the refuge of Jesus the resurrection and life and from there we will be called on that final day of resurrection when Jesus will return the second time with all of his angels as Paul writes to the Thessalonians that we will rise up to meet him in the winds and the clouds and we can be with him forever there in the glory of heaven.

So even though death is called the last enemy and many of us may fear it and our flesh sin corrupt portion trembles and fears that moment but we need not fear because we are a new, we are a living seed and on that final day we will rise with a new body which is likened unto Christ's body of resurrection in which there is no weakness, no defilement only power, glory, a sinless body where we can be with Christ and his own from everlasting to everlasting.

So we can be of good cheer even now and cling yet to the grace promises of God and believe sins forgiven in his precious name and holy blood and believe unto peace, freedom, and joy in Jesus name. Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us your peace in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.