Fear of death
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2012 · 12 August 2012
We're continuing tonight in our study of Matthew 9:18–26 where we see Jesus’ power over death. The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 2:14-15 that, "Jesus came through death so that He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
The writer says that men live their entire lives subject to the bondage of fear of death; but Christ has come to deliver them from that fear. Death is the thought that haunts every person's life. The longer you live, the more inevitably it comes closer. To know that Christ has conquered that is the ultimate joy. For most of the world, people have no such knowledge and they fear death.
People do silly things when they think about dying because of their fear. In Brazil, an architect designed a 39-story skyscraper cemetery which holds 147,000 corpses. It has a heliport, two churches and 21 chapels and comfortable beds for grieving friends just because he doesn’t want to be alone at his death.
Everyone will die eventually. How great is it to realize that Jesus has conquered death. Look at John 5 to get a focus on this. Verse 21, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” Verse 24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
In John 11:25-26, "Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” He said, "The Father has power over death, and He's given Me power over death." He also said, "Because I live, you will also.”
Let us get back to our story in Matthew 9:18, "There came a certain ruler," and the other Gospels tell us he was the ruler of the synagogue. First time as he came, the daughter was only dying; but, by the time Matthew picks up the story, the daughter is already dead; and the man is desperate. And he comes out of deep need; but he also expresses great faith.
And notice the middle of verse 18, “he worshiped Jesus.” Worship can be phony or self- seeking, but it can also be real and genuine; and I believe when this man came, he came in a genuineness of heart. He had a great faith and Jesus responds to great faith. Verse 19, "He rose and followed him, and so did the disciples,” and the other Gospels add, so did the whole crowd.
So there's a big mass of people going through these little streets as they wind their way down to this man's house. Jesus was accessible and He was always available. He moves away from the mass to follow this one man who had a deep need.
But Jesus still responds to this desperate woman. Verse 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." She had had a uniquely female bleeding problem where according to the law everything she touches becomes unclean. She was put out of the synagogue, out of her family, out of a marriage relationship and had been isolated for twelve years as an unclean person.
But she kept saying to herself, in verse 21, over and over, "If I can just touch His garment, I'll be well.” The Man has so much power, that if I can just touch Him. Verse 22, "Jesus turned around, and He saw her, and He said, 'Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
God never looks for the superstars and the famous people. He always uses simple people like you and me. The prophet Isaiah predicted that when the Messiah would come, He would preach the Gospel to the poor. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:26, "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”
Just look at Jesus’ disciples. The two disciples who did the most to spread the Word after His departure, John and Peter, were the two He had rebuked most often. And the Apostle Paul, who wrote more books than any other Bible writer, was selected while pursuing Christians to torture. And yet Jesus trusted the ideals of love and unity and fellowship to this group.
So Jesus Christ stops everything to deal with this outcast woman; and what does He call her? "Daughter," that's very intimate, personal and tender. Then He says this, "'Your faith has made you well.' Now, we have seen that she was already healed physically. The spiritual salvation from Jesus is in addition to that.
Look at another example like that beginning with Luke 7:44, “Then turning toward the woman Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Listen, this woman demonstrated so much love, worship and respect for Christ and He saw in her heart the faith to bring her redemption, and He forgave her sin. Let us read on, "49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” There was no healing here, but there was forgiveness of sin and her salvation.
You see, Jesus loves people. Only the rich and the famous get the press in this world. Not so with Christ. If you learn anything from this, will you not only learn how powerful He is, but will you learn how available and impartial He is. That's how it is with God. That's how it should be with those who represent Him, you and me!
Now I want to show you the power of Jesus. This is what sets Him apart. This interlude with the bleeding woman has taken so long that the girl is now dead. Matthew 9:23-24, "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.”
What's all this noise? Have you ever gone to a funeral home here? Everybody walks around whispering, black suits, very quiet. Our culture is that you get real quiet. In the Jewish culture, you get really noisy. There are three basic things that went on in a Jewish funeral.
First you have professional mourners, who scream and wail and all this. They would have been paid, and they would have learned the history of the whole family, so they would be bringing up the names of everybody who had ever died in that family, and they would bring back old sorrows long ago buried.
In addition you were supposed to rip your clothes. That was symbolic of your grief, and they had 39 different rules and regulations on how to rip your clothes. According to the Talmud, you had to do it while you were standing up. And you had to rip it big enough to stick your fist through and on and on.
The third thing you'll notice in verse 23, were the musicians. They had all different kinds of flutes. The Talmud says, "The husband has to bury his dead wife and to make lamentations in mourning for her according to the custom; and also the very poorest among the Israelites will not allow her less than two flutes and one wailing woman."
Jesus saw and heard the musicians and the people making all this noise and He said to them, 'Go away, the girl is not dead. She's sleeping." What is Jesus saying? Of course He knows she's dead; but what He's saying is, "You must treat it as sleep, because it is temporary." And the implication is, "Because I'm going to raise her from the dead.”
You can tell that they were paid mourners, right? How? When their weeping turned to laughing right away. They could cry for this child, or they could laugh at Jesus in an instant; and so they mocked Him in the face. In fact, the Greek verb means they laughed as the scornful laughter of a superior who laughs at someone who is stupid.
Even though they had seen other miracles, this crowd in Capernaum they still didn't believe. Just like what Jesus said, "If they don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe the One raised from the dead." But, anyway verse 24, "He said, 'Stop, go away.' And they laughed in His face."
Verse 25, "But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.” Luke 8:54-56 says, “But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.”
Notice what it says in the beginning of Luke 8:55, "And her spirit returned." That means that she was truly dead, and became alive again, and she got up right away. You know, Jesus didn't have to touch the little girl. He could have just said the word, but this is the way of God is. It is the way of God to be gentle and loving. And this is the way God's people should also be, loving and tender as an extension of His character.
You know what the Gospel says about Him? "He has power over disease. He has power over demons. He has power over death. He can redeem our sin." And so Matthew reaches a pinnacle in his presentation of the power of Jesus Christ. John says in Revelation 1:18, "Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades.”
Jesus says in John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." Believers in Jesus have passed already from death to life. They have now already an eternal life. Eternal life cannot by definition end. Believers do not see death and do not taste death.
Our bodies die and they look asleep. Jesus calls her death falling asleep, for all people will leave their earthly bodies until the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15:52 says, "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” So when our bodies die, we do not die. Believers have passed from death to an eternal life in heaven and unbelievers will be in hell forever.
When we were born again, we received the gift of spiritual life (John 3:6–8). When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive (Ephesians 2:4–5). This new life is eternal life. In this new spiritual life, we are able to fellowship with God, know God, experience God, speak with God and hear from God through his word. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
This fellowship that we enjoy with God will not end. It is eternal. When our bodies die, we do not experience any break in our fellowship with God through Christ. Our fellowship, in fact, in that instant is perfected (Hebrews 12:23). The life we have with Christ in God today, because of the new birth, will never end.
The adversaries of Jesus mock him because of this promise of eternal life then and now. Let us see what Jesus says about Himself in John 8:52–59. They said, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death." 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
54Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' 55But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad."
Abraham saw my day? He saw the time when I was alive and reigning, at the day of my glory. He rejoiced. Many commentators are trying to find out what promise or event this refers to in Abraham's life. We don't know. And Jesus didn't pause to explain, because these adversaries didn't care either. They understood the implication and pressed further. Who do you make yourself out to be?
57So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." 59So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple."
There it is, the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great "I am" of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If He only wanted to claim pre-existence, He could have said, "Before Abraham was, I was." But He means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, "Before Abraham was, I am." "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"
Hebrews 2:14–15 describes the effect of Jesus' death in our place. Listen how he puts it, “Since therefore the children [that's us] share in flesh and blood [since we are human], he himself likewise partook of the same things [he became human], so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Without our even knowing it, fear of death is a slave master binding us with invisible ropes, confining us to small, safe, self-centered ways of life. Jesus has the solution for this bondage in John 8:32, "You will know the truth [about death], and the truth will set you free." The world desperately needs the courage and the Christ of fearless Christians who know they will never taste death. Be one. Let us pray.