QT 6 Apr 17, Matt 9:18-26, Authority over life

Matthew 9:18–26 (ESV) — 18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

NOTE: One could spend a lot of time discussing the implications of this paragraph of verses. I want to focus on Jesus' authority. While we could discuss the woman's healing, I think the main purpose is to delay Jesus enough so that the man's daughter is clearly dead. "Raising a person from the dead" was not a Messianic miracle, although it was very rare in scripture (Elijah and Elisha both exercised this miracle). Also, technically, this would not count as a resurrection, but rather as a resuscitation in the Jewish understanding, because a person needed to be dead 3 days (all or part of 3 separate days is the Jewish definition) to be a resurrection. Later, Jesus will delay some days before coming to raise Lazarus back to life, fulfilling a true resurrection. But even if this event and others like it are not resurrection events, they still show Jesus' power over life and death. This is a power which can only come from God. Satan's later mimic of Jesus' power is more of an animation of life (in my opinion) than a real resurrection of life. We can almost animate the dead today through machines, but we can't restore brain function after a person has died. So Satan will animate the antichrist's body, and will function as the antichrist's brain when the antichrist dies and is then resurrected. Satan is always trying to mimic the power of God, but Jesus is the power of God.