Exegesis: The Healing Powers of Jesus

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue [a] came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread throughout that district.

The Gospel of Matthew is the first canonical gospel of the New Testament. It is believed to be written somewhere between the period of 70-100 CE. Most scholars agree that the gospel of Matthew was written in either Galilee or near Syria, with the original language most likely being Aramaic and/or Greek. Like the other canonical gospels, the gospel of Matthew is a biography of Jesus. Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the Messiah and scripture. Many commentaries written about the gospel of Matthew agree that the sources for the gospel would have included the gospel of Mark, the Q source, as well as oral tradition. The original audience of Matthew’s gospel would have been Jewish-Christians who viewed Jesus as “hope for Judaism”. The anonymous author of Matthew, who most likely w...

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...ew. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1965. Print.

Meeks, Wayne A., and Jouette M. Bassler. "Matthew." The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, including the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. By Harold W. Attridge. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006. N. pag. Print.

Newsom, Carol A., and Sharon H. Ringe. The Women's Bible Commentary. London: SPCK, 1992. Print.

Syswerda, Jean. Women of the Bible: A One-year Devotional Study of Women in Scripture. By Ann Spangler. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012. 321-25. Print.

Talbert, Charles H. "Third Triad of Miracles, with a Fourth Embedded (9:18-34_." Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 119-27. Print. Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament.

Westerholm, Stephen. Understanding Matthew: The Early Christian Worldview of the First Gospel. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2006. Print.