Having dealt with the side story of the woman subject to bleeding, Matthew turns again to Jesus’ journey to see Jarius’ daughter; “When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.”
Everywhere Jesus went He saw and called out what should be and what will be. He never dwelt on what was or is. One commentator put it this way, “Jesus make[s] a remark directed towards the future which the crowd takes as directed towards the past. They hear diagnosis, Jesus offers prognosis; they know for a fact that she was dead, Jesus knows for a fact that by restoring her to life he will make this period of death into nothing more than a period of sleep.” It is not that Jesus is upset that there is a crowd there, or that there are hired mourners (the reed or flute players). These things were part of first century Jewish custom. No, Jesus tells them to leave because He knows that they are wasting their time. There is no reason to mourn what was when it is not gone. In His eyes, the girl is about to come alive even before He touches her.
This is the hallmark of the truly prophetic. To not only occasionally act in, but to live entirely in, and by, faith. Seeing what will be and knowing it so completely as to be completely caught up in acting according to that reality – a reality that is not yet present!
To the faithful it all makes sense, but to the faithless it makes no sense at all. The world looks on and laughs because they cannot see what is to come. Eternal God – who was and is and is to come – is right there among them, and what will be is about to become! But they cannot participate in His reality for even part of a second. They are caught up completely in the present, because they are trapped in their sins and cannot see with eyes of faith. From their perspective the girl is dead. Talking like she isn’t just marks Jesus out as a fool. They do not know what is true reality, nor can they see what is about to pass. They know only what was. They see only what is.
To become more like Jesus is to live as Jesus lived. We must likewise look with eyes of faith, and we must likewise call out and act according to what will be. This is what the Scriptures exhort us to do; “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
This we do, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Amen.
While we are to pursue love we are also to desire spiritual gifts, and chief among them the gift of prophecy. Now this gift is very clearly defined in the next verse. It is not merely or mainly the power which foretells future events, nor is it at all the mission of receiving inspired revelations and adding to the already finished Word of God, but it is a simple and practical ministry of help to men. He defines it by three terms, “He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.” In a word, the prophet’s business is to build up men, to stir up men and to cheer up sorrowing and troubled hearts..
A.B. Simpson
APPLICATION: Intentionality
Not everyone is called to the office of prophet, but all God’s children can prophesy from time to time, because every time you speak the truth of God into someone’s life you are prophesying. When did you last do that? Look for opportunities to do that today.