Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 9:23-26

"And when Jesus came into the ruler`s house, and saw the flute-players, and the crowd making a tumult, he said, Give place: for the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the crowd was put forth, he entered in, and took her by the hand; and the damsel arose. And the fame hereof went forth into all that land." — Matthew 9:23-26 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: After the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, the raising of the dead follows: And when Jesus came into the ruler's house...¹

St. John Chrysostom: We may suppose that He proceeded slowly and spoke longer to the woman He had healed, so that He might allow the girl to die. In this way, an evident miracle of restoring her to life could be performed. In the case of Lazarus, He also waited until the third day.

The verse, And when he saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, was a proof of her death.

St. Ambrose of Milan: For by ancient custom, minstrels were hired to make lamentation for the dead.²

St. John Chrysostom: But Christ put out all the pipers and took in the parents, so that it could not be said that He had healed her by any other means. Before restoring her to life, He raised their expectations with His words, saying, Give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.

The Venerable Bede: It is as though He had said, "To you she is dead, but to God, who has the power to give life, she is only sleeping in both soul and body."³

St. John Chrysostom: By this saying, He soothes the minds of those present and shows that it is easy for Him to raise the dead. He did the same in the case of Lazarus, saying, Our friend Lazarus is sleeping (John 11:11). This was also a lesson for them not to be afraid of death. Since He Himself would also die, He taught His disciples confidence and patient endurance of death through the experiences of others, for when He was near, death was merely like sleep.

After He said this, they mocked him. Yet He did not rebuke their mockery, so that their laughter, the pipes, and everything else might serve as proof of her death. Often, at His miracles, when people would not believe, He convicted them by their own answers. For example, in the case of Lazarus, when He asked, Where have you laid him?, those who answered, Come and see, and, He stinks, for he has now been dead four days, could no longer disbelieve that He had raised a dead man.

St. Jerome: Those who had mocked the Reviver were not worthy to behold the mystery of the revival. Therefore, it follows, And when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

St. John Chrysostom: He restored her to life not by bringing in another soul, but by recalling the one that had departed, raising it from sleep, as it were. Through this sight, He prepared the way for belief in the resurrection. And He not only restores her to life but, as the other Evangelists relate, commands that food be given to her, so that what was done might not be seen as a delusion. And the fame of this spread throughout all that country.

Glossa Ordinaria: This fame was about the greatness and novelty of the miracle and its established truth, so that it could not be supposed to be a forgery.⁴

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Mystically, the Lord enters the ruler's house, which is the synagogue. Throughout the synagogue, a strain of wailing resounded in the songs of the Law.

St. Jerome: To this day, the girl lies dead in the ruler's house, and those who seem to be teachers are merely minstrels singing funeral dirges. The Jews are not the crowd of believers, but of people making a noise. But when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: But so that the number of the elect might be known to be few out of the whole body of believers, the crowd is put outside. The Lord indeed wished for them to be saved, but they mocked His sayings and actions, and so were not worthy to be made participants in His resurrection.

St. Jerome: He took her by the hand, and the girl arose; because if the hands of the Jews, which are defiled with blood, are not first cleansed, their synagogue, which is dead, will not revive.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: His fame spread throughout all that country. This means that the salvation of the elect—the gift and works of Christ—are preached.

Rabanus Maurus: Morally, the girl dead in the house is the soul dead in thought. He says that she is sleeping because those who are now asleep in sin may yet be roused by penitence. The minstrels are the flatterers who cherish the dead.

St. Gregory the Great: The crowd is put outside so that the girl may be raised. For unless the multitude of worldly cares is first banished from the secrets of the heart, the soul that lies dead within cannot rise again.⁵

Rabanus Maurus: The girl is raised in the house with few to witness; the young man, outside the gate; and Lazarus, in the presence of many. This is because a public scandal requires a public expiation, a less notorious sin requires a lesser remedy, and secret sins may be done away with through penitence.

1. non occ.
2. Ambrosiaster, in Luc., 8, 52
3. Luc.
4. non occ.
5. Mor., xviii, 43