ACC ~ Matthew 9 v18 - 19

THE NARRATIVES INTERWEAVE

HILARY: The prayers of the ruler, the faith of the woman, the gathering of the crowd in the house and the shouting of the two blind men, as well as the bringing of the deaf and dumb demoniac … are all interrelated. The ruler here is understood to be the law. He prays to the Lord for the people. The law has nourished them on Christ in the expectation of his foretold coming, and he restores life to the dead girl. Now we do not read of any ruler who was a believer. Hence the person of this praying ruler may rightly be taken as a model of the law. The Lord promised to help him, and he made good on his promise. ON MATTHEW 9.5. [1]

[1] SC 254:208.

LAY YOUR HAND ON HER

CHRYSOSTOM: His action overpowered his speech. This caused the jaws of his critics to drop all the further. In this case, the one who came running was himself a ruler of his synagogue! And the crisis was appalling. For the child was his only daughter, only twelve years old, in the very flower of her life. It was especially for this reason that he raised her up and did so immediately.

Luke says that people came who said, “Do not bother the teacher any longer, because she has already died.” [1] Because of this we will say that Matthew’s statement, “She has just now died,” came from one who was making a guess based on the time that had elapsed since he had started on his journey. Another possibility is that the man was overstating the misfortune. For it is the habit among people who are in need to exaggerate their personal problems and to say a little more than what actually is the case. They do this to get a response more effectively from those with whom they are pleading their cause. [2]

But note the ruler’s insensitivity, [3] how he abruptly requires of Christ two things, both his actual presence and the laying on of his hands. This, by the way, is a clue that he might have left her still breathing. Similarly you will recall Naaman the Syrian imploring the prophet: “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call in the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.” [4] For those who are more or less dull of temper tend more to require sight and sensible signs. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 31.1. [5]

[1] Lk 8:49, slightly modified.

[2] Chrysostom reconciles the differences between the accounts of Matthew and Luke. He adds an indictment against people who need physical demonstrations for their faith to be effective.

[3] Chrysostom is rather combative in what he says about the leader of the synagogue because he may see in him a paradigm for the leaders of the synagogues of his own time. In Chrysostom’s day, synagogues were not necessarily led by individuals from any one group but were becoming increasingly dominated by ideas from the later rabbis, who were the ideological descendants of the Pharisees. This is why Chrysostom implies an identification between the leader of the synagogue and the Pharisees.

[4] 2 Kings 5:11 LXX.

[5] PG 57:369-70; NPNF 1 10:205**.