Two for One

Matthew 9:18-26

I suspect that God loves to give 2 for the price of 1 miracles. He doesn't just want to bless individual X. No, he want to bless X plus X's friends, relatives, coworkers, and maybe even X's dog. He looks for how much mileage He can get out of just one miracle.

The story in Matthew 9:18-23 illustrates just one of those 2 for the price of 1 miracles. It starts with a ruler's request that Jesus heal his dead daughter. "Come and put your hand on her", the ruler says, "and she will live" (Matthew 9:18). The ruler knows the value of Christ's touch.

There's another person in the crowd who knows the value of touch. She's someone who hasn't been touched for years. Her constant bleeding leaves her unclean and untouchable. She wants healing, but she doesn't want to expose herself. She reckons if she can just touch Jesus's garment, she will be healed.

The crowds slow Christ's way to the ruler's house, but maybe his slow progress is providential. It will provide an opportunity for the woman to find Him. She pushes through the crowd. She squirms between two people and gently grabs Christ's garment. Christ stops, "Take heart, daughter...your faith has healed you" (Matthew 9:22).

Christ is on his way to heal one man's daughter, but he takes the time to acknowledge a woman who may not have been acknowledged in years. Not only does he acknowledge her, but he calls her daughter. It is not only her body he seeks to heal but her spirit. "Take heart" he commands her: have courage God has recognized you.

When Christ reaches the ruler's house, he asks the mourners to leave, and he asks the onlookers to go. This is a miracle that will not happen for gawkers. No, this will be a quiet miracle; he takes the daughter's hand and she gets up.

In the course of one day, he has healed two women. He has encouraged one with words, and the other with touch. It would seem that as the Messiah he might have more important business, but his Father's business (the business he told his parents early on that he must be on) was the business of healing.

I hope that the woman who bled for too long and the ruler's daughter met. I hope that their lives were forever intertwined by sharing a day of Christ's miracles.