Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
In today’s Gospel we hear St. Matthew’s account of two of Jesus’ miracles. As Jesus was speaking to the multitudes, a certain ruler came up and said to him that his daughter had just died, but that he believed that if Jesus came and laid his hand on her she would live. Jesus rose up and followed him. A woman, who had been troubled with an issue of blood for twelve years, came behind him and touched the hem of his garment. She said within herself that she would be healed if only she touched his garment. When Jesus turned and saw her he said that her faith had made her whole, and she was healed at that hour. Jesus came to the house of the ruler and saw the minstrels and the multitude making a tumult. He said that the girl was not dead but sleeping. They laughed him to scorn, but when the multitude were sent away Jesus went in and took her by the hand. She arose and Jesus’ fame as a miracle worker went abroad throughout the country.
Jesus’ miracles were an integral part of his proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God in his own person and ministry. While the final coming of the Kingdom, when God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, was still in the future, it was already being inaugurated in Jesus’ ministry. He said, in response to John the Baptist’s question from prison about whether he was indeed the coming one, that the hope of the prophet Isaiah, in which the eyes of the blind are opened, the deaf hear, the dumb speak and the dead are raised and the good news preached to the poor, was now being fulfilled. He did not seek to withdraw from society, but to minister to and reform the world as he found it. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, because he had anointed him to proclaim the release of those in captivity and the acceptable year of the Lord. Consequently the relief of those in need was a central part of his ministry.
Though healing the sick and preaching good news to the poor was part of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God in his own person and ministry, the Church in later centuries has at times been so preoccupied with focusing our attention on our final liberation from sin and death in the world to come that it has been tempted to neglect the relief of those in need in this world. People have sometimes been taught that there is no place for the actual liberation of the poor in this world because their faith should be something wholly spiritual and other worldly. The agonies and sufferings of those in need in this world are seen as of little significance, for all our energies should be devoted to looking forward to the glories of the age to come.
In reaction to this error of making our faith so wholly spiritual that the actual physical needs of those in this world are neglected, at other times there has been a tendency to become so focused on social reform of unjust structures that the need for our own personal salvation has been downplayed. But the problem with this approach is that the reason why there are corrupt and unjust structures in this world is precisely because of fallen human nature. If we only focus on social reform in this world, we may be tempted to forget that the problem lies not so much in man’s environment as in man. The problem with only devoting our attention to unjust structures is that, even if they are successfully reformed, they will still be imperfect because they are made up of fallen and sinful human beings. The final liberation from sin and death will only come in that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
In contrast to the opposite errors of being either so spiritually minded that we pay no heed to social reform, or so preoccupied with physical liberation in this world that we lose sight of our ultimate goal in the world to come, Jesus’ proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God involved both the healing and restoration of those most in need and also redemption from the deeper bondage of sin and death. After all, he said that he had not come to abolish but to fulfil the Law and the Prophets. The Law of Moses was intended to cover the whole of life and it was designed for a people who had been redeemed from slavery in Egypt. When the prophets summoned the people to repent of their sin and turn to God they both denounced the unjust social structures of their age as well as exhorting the people to live holier lives. In proclaiming himself the anointed liberator of Isaiah Jesus brought the message of salvation to the whole person. He offered not simply good advice about social reform, but rather proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. At the same time he did not neglect the concerns of those in need in this world.
Hence, our Christian ministry and discipleship today should involve not only preaching about the love of God, but also being fundamentally concerned with the love of neighbour. There could be no better expression of this than the relief of the suffering.
Let us therefore seek to help those most in need in our own time and place, but also remember that our ultimate liberation from the forces of sin and death that hold us in bondage in this world can only finally come in that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Leave a Reply