6/7/26 Called and Restored: Three Stories (Atlas & St. Croix Falls)

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Called and Restored: Three Stories

The Gospel lesson today from Chapter 9 of the Book of Matthew brings together three remarkable stories. Jesus calls a tax collector named Matthew to follow him. Jesus responds to the plea of a desperate father whose daughter has died. And on the way, Jesus heals a woman who has suffered for twelve years.

Initially these look like three separate events and my curiosity was raised about what these stories meant and why they are together. Matthew places them together in verses 9-26 to illustrate a single truth about Jesus. In each story, Jesus reaches out to people whom others probably would overlook, avoid, or consider beyond help. A tax collector. A chronically ill woman. A dead child.
In each story Jesus brings out and shows mercy, healing and new life.

Jesus says: Follow me

In the first story, Matthew 9:9 starts out with Jesus passing a sheltered counting desk or tax booth where he sees a man named Matthew who was working there. This counting desk was strategically placed near the route out of the area of Galilee where fishermen would transport their catch. Tax collectors were despised because they were often believed to cheat the people whose taxes they were collecting. They were considered to be no better than swindlers and murderers. They were often viewed as collaborators with Rome. Matthew was probably a customs official and he would have been included amongst these men of ill repute.
But Jesus saw Matthew and said simply, “Follow me”. And remarkably, Matthew got up and left his desk and followed him. There is a different example with an opposite result in the Book of Mark, chapter 10, the story about the rich man who had always followed God’s commandments, and when he asked Jesus about gaining eternal life, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor. “Come, follow me,” he told the man. The man was shocked and went away grieving, as he owned many possessions. He rejected the command of Jesus to follow after him.

There is something both simple and powerful at the same time about the moment Matthew left his job to follow after Jesus. Jesus did not require Matthew to clean up his life before accepting him. He didn’t require Matthew to make a confession of the cheating he had engaged in while collecting taxes. Matthew was not required to prove his worthiness. First he was called. Transformation would come later. Grace came first.

This is an example of Christ meeting us where we are, not where we think we ought to be. Being called to discipleship is not a reward for being righteous, but rather a beginning of becoming righteous.

This reminds me of an incident in family court many years ago. My client, a young mother, was engaged in a custody dispute with her soon to be ex-husband. She had engaged in some questionable behaviors during the time the parties were going through their divorce. Somehow her religious life was brought up. The Judge asked her, “Are you a good Christian?” I cringed. I didn’t know what she was going to say. She looked at the Judge and said simply, “I’m working on it”. I thought it was a pretty good response. Isn’t that what we all are doing?

Jesus says, “I Desire Mercy”

The next scene takes place at a dinner table surrounded by tax collectors and sinners. The religious leaders are scandalized and they ask the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” To the leaders, holiness meant separation.

Then Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea:” ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'” Jesus continued saying, “I have come to call not the righteous, but the sinners”. This comes from the Old Testament book of Hosea 6:6 and highlights an ancient principle that compassion, love, and inward transformation matter far more to God than rigid adherence to religious rules and rituals. Jesus wasn’t rejecting worship or religious practice, but rather Jesus used this phrase to teach that human needs take precedence over man-made traditions. Rituals without compassion miss the mark of loving your neighbor. Showing grace, forgiveness, and justice to others is the highest expression of devotion.

A Desperate Father

In the second story, while Jesus was speaking, a leader of the synagogue came and knelt before him saying that his daughter had just died, but nevertheless he was asking Jesus to lay his hands on her, believing that the girl’s life would be restored. Jesus and his disciples got up and followed the man.

Before Jesus reaches the leader’s house, another story interrupts the journey. There was a woman in the crowd who had suffered for years from hemorrhages. She told herself that if she could only touch Jesus’ cloak, she would be cured. Likely, this woman had been living in social isolation and physical suffering for years, hoping for change and living with disappointment. When she reached out her hand, Jesus stopped and turned and saw her. Jesus saw her faith, her courage, and her suffering, and he said, “Take heart daughter, your faith has made you well.” By using the word daughter, Jesus was welcoming her into God’s family. She wasn’t treated like a problem to be solved. By reaching out her hand, she was met with grace and love.

The Girl Raised

In the third story, Jesus then arrived at the leader’s house and mourners had already gathered, believing they knew that this was the end of the girl’s life. But, Jesus said, “The girl is not dead, but sleeping.” The crowd laughed at him and he sent them away. The crowd didn’t understand that hope and possibility are in God’s control. When Jesus entered the room and took the girl by the hand, she got up.

These stories show us a Savior who calls the unlikely to follow him, welcomes those that are excluded, heals the suffering and raises the dead. Jesus desires that we will show mercy to others by extending grace to those who haven’t known it, extending forgiveness even when undeserved, and pursuing justice by alleviating human suffering. As the young mother expressed her faith when asked if she was a good Christian, we’re not perfect, but we’re working on it. Contained in these three stories are the examples for us to follow that Jesus shows us and as told to us by Matthew. Amen.