Tuesday 28 October 2025

Psalm 89:19-37

Background
Yesterday’s reading gave us one of Jesus' most extraordinary conversations in the gospels. His encounter with a Gentile (non-Jewish) woman (whether Canaanite as in Matthew's Gospel or Syro-Phoenician in Mark's Gospel) concentrates several central themes in one short exchange: Jesus’ humanity, his divinity, the centrality of faith, his compassion, his identity (?Messiah), and so on. Today we have a short generalising paragraph which describes great crowds seeking him and his response in numerous healings. The amazement of the crowd is expressed in praise of the God of Israel.

In a sense, we learn nothing new in these three verses; it’s all been said before. But the master narrator who gives us Matthew’s Gospel is here reminding and summarising for hearers who will mainly carry what they learn in their memories, not in notebooks or as material saved on computers as we would today. The twice-repeated list of the lame, the maimed, the blind and the mute (although, oddly, in not quite the same order) also suggests that this is an aid to learning and remembering.

Summary passages are a common feature in the three so-called 'synoptic gospels' (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Sometimes they signpost the end of a section and the imminent start of new themes, although that’s true only to a limited extent here.

The final words “praised the God of Israel” would have been a phrase more used by Gentiles than Jews, so it’s interesting that it comes up here in this most Hebrew-orientated of the four gospels. Perhaps it’s influenced by the story immediately before involving the Gentile woman.

For us too, centuries later, this passage is a useful summary. We’ve heard the stories many times but we need to be amazed as were the first hearers of Matthew’s Gospel. We need to ask the same questions as they did, most notably “Who is this Jesus?”

To Ponder:

• When were you last really amazed and praised God when you heard a story about Jesus?
• Do you find encouragement in the miracle stories of healing, or are they problems for modern understandings of how the world works?

Prayer
Lord God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ, help me to hear the stories of Jesus with fresh openness and wonder. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Alan Bolton
Alan Bolton is a supernumerary presbyter in the High Wycombe Circuit, having sat down in 2018. He preaches regularly round the Circuit. His other occupations are family, music, model railways, walking and reading, with a close interest in politics.