Mat 9:18-34 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Matt 9:18-34: 9:18-34 Jesus is the Messiah whose power knows no boundaries. He calls people to have faith in him. 9:18 lay your hand on her: The laying-on of hands is a visible symbol of prayer for God’s power to flow into someone, often resulting in new life or ministries (19:13 ; Num 27:18-23 ; Deut 34:9 ). • The man believed that Jesus had the power to raise the dead (cp. 1 Kgs 17:8-24 ; 2 Kgs 4:18-37 ).

Summary for Matt 9:18-34: 9:18-34 ^a Jesus is the Messiah whose power knows no boundaries. He calls people to have faith in him. 9:18 ^b lay your hand on her: The laying-on of hands is a visible symbol of prayer for God’s power to flow into someone, often resulting in new life or ministries (19:13 ^c; Num 27:18-23 ^d; Deut 34:9 ^e).

• The man believed that Jesus had the power to raise the dead (cp. 1 Kgs 17:8-24 ^f; 2 Kgs 4:18-37 ^g).
9:20 ^h The woman’s constant bleeding rendered her always ceremonially unclean and made whoever she touched unclean as well (Lev 15:25-30 ⁱ). But instead of rendering Jesus unclean, her touching him made her clean, a stunning reversal that illustrates Jesus’ power to redeem and sanctify (see Matt 14:36 ^j; Mark 3:10 ^k).

• fringe: The tassels at the bottom of a tunic (Matt 23:5 ^l; Num 15:37-41 ^m) reminded Jews to live in accord with God’s law.
9:22 ⁿ Your faith has made you well (literally has saved you): Physical healing demonstrated her spiritual salvation (see 8:17 ^o).
9:23 ^p noisy crowd ... funeral music: Sorrow over the death of a family member was publicly expressed, with musical accompaniment and dirges by professional mourners. “Even the poorest in Israel should hire not less than two flutes and one wailing woman” (Mishnah Ketubbot 4:4 ^q).
9:24 ^r Though she was physically dead, from Jesus’ perspective the girl was just asleep—she would soon be raised back to life (see Isa 26:19 ^s; John 11:11-14 ^t, 25 ^u; 1 Thes 4:14 ^v).
9:27 ^w Eye diseases were common in the ancient world. Blindness was often considered to be divine punishment (see Exod 4:11 ^x; Deut 28:28 ^y; 2 Kgs 6:18 ^z; John 9:2-3 ^aa). The Old Testament predicts that the Messiah’s coming would bring restoration of sight for the blind (Matt 11:4-5 ^ab; Isa 29:18-19 ^ac; 35:5-6 ^ad).

• Son of David is a messianic title particularly associated with miraculous healings (see Matt 1:1 ^ae; 12:23 ^af; 15:22 ^ag; 20:30-31 ^ah; 2 Sam 7:12-16 ^ai).
9:28 ^aj Jesus intended his question to elicit confessions of faith from the two men.
Summary for Matt 9:32-34: 9:32-34 ^ak The Messiah’s acts invoke faith, astonishment, and derisive rejection. 9:32 ^al Enabling the deaf to hear and the mute to speak is a sign of the Kingdom of God (11:4-5 ^am; Isa 35:5-6 ^an).