The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26 The story of the synagogue ruler’s daughter is told very briefly in Matthew. If you are interested to read it more fully, you can find it in Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56. According to these other passages, the man was Jairus and he was the synagogue ruler. This meant he was a very important person. He was one of the elders in the synagogue and was elected to the position of ruler by his fellow elders. He was the one who oversaw the work of the synagogue and decided who spoke in the synagogue, so he wielded great power. Synagogue rulers were strict in their adherence to the law and regarded Jesus as a dangerous heretic. Asking Jesus for help was the desperate act of a man who had tried everything else. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I would have found it hard to want to help this man after all the nastiness he had said and done against me. Fortunately Jesus is not like that and He accepted the ruler at his point of need. At the house, Jesus found the full mourning according to the law taking place. The first act of mourning was the “rending of garments”. In the law there were 39 different rules and regulations about how this should occur. They covered things like the posture to be adopted, exactly how and where the rent was to be made and what it should look like. The rules also covered how long the rent garments must be worn. The second act was “wailing for the dead”. Professional wailing women were employed to maintain a never ceasing wail. This custom is still observed in areas of the Middle East today. The third act was the “flute-players”. The regulations decreed that even the poorest must have at least two flutes, and one wailing woman, playing for the dead. Imagine the noise and the spectacle of the rending of garments, the incessant shrieking and the flutes adding to the general noise and clutter. Imagine Jesus stepping into this scene and very quietly telling these people to leave. This was met with laughter. These mourners were intent on the enjoyment of a good bit of sorrow and were not interested in the hope that Jesus offered. They also were so caught up in their rituals they left no room for God’s divine intervention. Sounds like us doesn’t it? The rest of the story needs no interpretation. Jesus healed the girl and she lived. People were so amazed at this wonderful event that they eagerly spread the story far and wide. I wonder what they thought of the event? Did they give the glory to God and acknowledge His mercy and majesty? Or did they see this as a good party trick that robbed the professional mourners of a bit of income? Was it something fun to gossip and exclaim about? Was there any genuine acknowledgement of God’s hand in this? What of the synagogue ruler? Given his strict adherence to the law, how did he respond to this miracle and proof of Jesus’ Messiahship? The bible does not record his response. If I think of many leaders of churches today and their strict adherence to the doctrinal law of their church, I see the synagogue ruler. Given the inflexibility of many leaders, I wonder if they would find it just as hard as the synagogue ruler no doubt found it to change. The Change following Jesus requires involves great cost. To acknowledge Jesus, the synagogue ruler would have lost prestige and money. He certainly would have been excluded from the elders. It is doubtful he would have been able to convince them to agree with him. A leader in a church today may face the same difficulty. If you are caught up in the strict observance of a doctrine, breaching that law will lead to great losses, unless you can convince the other elders in the church to agree with you. Your predicament may not be as extreme as that. It may involve you having to say to non-believing friends that you don’t want to take part in something that you believe is wrong in God’s eyes. Following Jesus carries a great cost. There are many who refuse to follow Jesus because they cannot pay that cost. Can you?
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:21:25 +0000
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