PASSAGE: Matthew 9:18-26

SERIES SUMMARY 

As Jesus steps onto the scene of history, Matthew paints a picture of him that invites our participation in what Jesus is doing. The portrait is that Jesus is the True King who is bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. This good news is not reserved for especially religious people in a distant future; it’s good news, right now, for ordinary people who come to Jesus in faith. 

And while Jesus inaugurated the kingdom among us through teaching and serving in dozens of ways, he ultimately brought heaven to earth by embracing the cross as his throne and wearing thorns as his crown. In doing this, he broke the powers of the kingdom(s) of this world and opened up God’s new world through his resurrection. Now, because of these things, discipleship to Jesus is about praying and living “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” It is about whole-life transformation and embodying kingdom realities. It is about becoming people who naturally live out what Jesus taught. Today, because of Matthew’s witness and Jesus’ ministry, the kingdom is coming in our own lives, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

PASSAGE GUIDE

Matthew 9:18–26 continues to reveal both the authority of Jesus and the way He carries that authority. While Jesus is speaking, a ruler approaches Him with an urgent and seemingly hopeless request: his daughter has died, but he believes Jesus can restore her to life. Jesus gets up and follows him, only to be interrupted along the way by a woman who has suffered from bleeding for twelve years. One is a respected ruler who approaches Jesus openly; the other is an unnamed woman who quietly reaches for His garment. Yet Jesus receives them both. In a day filled with urgent needs, Jesus is not hurried, not hindered, and not too busy to move toward those who need Him.

The woman’s interruption reveals the compassionate authority of Jesus. Although the ruler’s situation appears more urgent, Jesus stops, turns toward the woman, sees her, and calls her “daughter.” Her condition had made her ceremonially unclean, but her uncleanness does not overcome Jesus. His cleansing life overcomes her uncleanness and makes her well. Jesus is interrupted, but He is never inwardly disrupted. He does not have to control the timing of the day because He trusts His Father completely. What might appear to be an inconvenient delay becomes another opportunity for Jesus to bring healing, dignity, and restoration.

By the time Jesus arrives at the ruler’s house, the mourners have gathered and everyone believes it is too late. Jesus, however, takes the girl by the hand, and she rises. Just as uncleanness could not overcome Him, neither can death. The delay along the way has not hindered Jesus or prevented Him from accomplishing what He came to do. What appears final to everyone else is not final to Him. These miracles point beyond themselves to the greater work Jesus will accomplish through His own death and resurrection. He will enter suffering and death, entrusting Himself completely to the Father, and rise again in victory. Because of Jesus, suffering and death are real, but they do not have the final word.

Matthew’s account therefore invites more than admiration for the calm and compassion of Jesus. It calls us to trust the One who is never too busy for our need and never too late for our hopelessness. Jesus receives the visible crisis and the hidden suffering, strong faith and trembling faith, because the power of faith rests not in its strength but in the One to whom it looks. And for those who belong to Christ, His unhurried trust is not simply an example to imitate through greater effort. As we abide in Him, His Spirit forms His life in us, teaching us to loosen our grip on control, trust the Father with what we cannot manage, and increasingly receive the unexpected moments of life as opportunities to trust God and love the people He places before us.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Jesus' authority is revealed not only by what He does, but by how He does it, with unhurried trust in His Father.
• Jesus is never too busy for our need and never too late for our hopelessness. 
• Because Jesus trusts His Father completely, He is never hurried by the urgent needs and apparent interruptions of life, and because Jesus lives in us, we can learn, over time, to live that way too.
• What if the interruption is part of the mission? What if the delay is not a detour from the Father’s purpose? What if the person who needs our attention is not an obstacle to the day God has given us but part of the day God has given us?
• Only a posture of unhurried trust will allow us to see interruptions differently, not merely as disruptions, but as invitations to trust the Father and love the person in front of us.

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS    

These are “suggested” questions. You do not have to go through every single one of them. Remember: the text is the focus; the sermon is a commentary. Discuss and apply in the group.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (Read Matthew 9:18-26)

1. What has God been teaching you in his Word over the last few weeks? 
2. What stood out to you from the passage or from the sermon today? 
3. Why do you think Matthew places these two stories together rather than telling them separately?
4. What would the delay caused by the woman have felt like from the ruler’s perspective?
5. What does Jesus’ response to that delay reveal about the way He handles urgency and pressure?
6. What does the raising of the girl show us about the extent of Jesus’ authority?
7. Where in your life are you most tempted to believe that Jesus is either too busy to notice your need or too late to do anything about it?
8. What kinds of interruptions or delays tend to make you anxious, impatient, or controlling and what might those reactions reveal about what you are trusting?
9. How might your response to interruptions change if you viewed them not only as disruptions to your plans, but as opportunities to love the person in front of you?
10. What is one need, fear, disappointment, or area of hopelessness that you need to bring honestly to Him right now?

LIFE ON MISSION THIS WEEK 

• Pray: Ask God, “Where are you already at work around me, and how can I join you?”
• Serve: Compassion Weekend | We will need volunteers to man tables for Compassion child sponsorships on Sunday, October 11. We need 34 volunteers at Hwy 14 location and 16 volunteers at Adams Mill location for each service. You can register online under “Events” to serve during our Compassion Weekend!