At your next funeral, how will you do on the test? S31e120 Matt9:18

Every funeral you go to is a test. They are a test of your faith.

In our resurrection story today, a father's faith in Jesus is severely tested at the death of his 12 year old daughter.

He passes the test, the FAITH TEST, with flying colors.

Consider with me for 7 minutes how you will do on your next test during your next funeral.

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https://youtu.be/TbAR9JoRXlM

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My brothers and sisters, at your next funeral, there's going to be a test. How will you do on the test? Welcome to Matthew chapter 9. Now, every funeral is a test of your faith. Either Jesus has authority over your life, or he does not. Either Jesus creates life or he does not. Either Jesus has conquered death and sin or he has not. So why should I trust him with my life? Because of what happens in the story? Because he was entrusted with this little girl, because he raised her from the dead, and because he shows his ability, his authority, and his care. Now she's not the first to be raised from the dead, and she isn't going to be the last raised from the dead. But listen to the story. This is from Matthew chapter 9. A girl is restored to life. Verse 18. While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, My daughter has just died. But come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. And Jesus rose and followed him with his disciples. I'm gonna jump down to verse 23. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, Go away, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put aside, outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went through all that district. All right, so we have rulers, we have kings, we have president, we have the beautiful, we have the rich, and everybody does not have control over life and death. So in our story today, rulers kneel before Jesus. Isaiah 45, and it's repeated in Romans, and it's repeated in Philippians chapter 2. It says, Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God. There is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone out in righteousness. A word shall not return. To me every knee shall bow and every tongue swear allegiance. So we see that in our story here. This ruler, this improbably important person, at least as far as the world standards go, kneels down for Jesus. So the ruler kneels, which is really a good sign of faith. And he, the ruler, then, identifies the daughter as being dead. So faith doesn't die when a loved one dies. In fact, your faith has made you well in some many stories in the New Testament. So what is faith? Faith is trusting in the person of God before you see the promises of God happen. So the ruler asks Jesus, come, lay a hand, give life back. So the question today that was going to touch every one of us is does faith stop at the death of another? And isn't my my point here, big point, is isn't that when faith most readily digs in? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, says Psalm 118. Now in the story, we have this flute and commotion happening. Now, in this ancient area, burials were done soon after death, and that means that the process is underway, the mourners are gathering. And when Jesus says she's asleep, that's a euphemism for death in the Bible. And of interest, again, we had a woman hemorrhaging in yesterday's story, and touching a dead body makes one ceremonially unclean. Now, so there's a medical problem here, there's a hygiene problem, there's an energy problem, a religious problem, a social problem with being unclean. And the ruler asks Jesus to lay his hand on her. That is, burst through all of that and cut through it and sort of be Lord despite all of that. His requested that Jesus lay aside all these conventions and get to the heart of the matter, which is life and death. So do you have a friend with a terminal diagnosis? And will, at the at the death of that person, will your faith stop at the death? Probably not. So I want to get to the verb, this rising verb. In Matthew 28, verse 6, he's not here. He is risen. This is the angel talking. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciple that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he's going before you to Galilee, and there you'll see him. So that Greek verb is here for the rising of the girl. It's the Lord is associating this story with his own resurrection by saying that we're even using the same verb. He took her by the hand and arose. It's that same verb. And the account in Mark chapter 5 of a similar story, taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha Kumai, which means, little girl, I say to you, arise. Again, that same word. And immediately the girl got up and began walking. And then we find, for she was twelve years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement. So this whole arising from the dead was first hinted at here, and later with Lazarus, and finally with Jesus himself. The point is, the big point is, Jesus is in charge of life and death. So it's he is representative of the hope that we have. And this man's faith, the ruler's faith, doesn't stop at death. So the question is for you when you die, will you have faith? And the second question is when your loved ones die, or friends or family, will faith stop at that first death? But isn't a death a marker when faith is often displayed best at a funeral? Everybody's faith is tested. And at your next funeral, how will you do on the test? The passage, come and lay your hand on her and she will live. That's what the ruler said. So here's my testimony of faith. You have the power to do this. I'm not demanding Jesus. I'm kneeling, I'm humble, I'm agreeing with you. So who will your next funeral be for? You don't know that. Will it be for a relative? Will it be for a friend? Will your next funeral you attend be for you? So at your next funeral, how will you do on the test? That's the big question. Will you have faith? And if not, come back tomorrow. Because this is a good place to work through that. And if so, if you do have faith, come back tomorrow. Why? Because his word is always an encouragement. See you at that funeral. Hope you do well on the test.