Jesus Crosses the Lines We Draw

Possible Preaching Angle

Jesus crosses lines others have drawn. Today, we get to keep it up.

Jesus calls Matthew straight from the tax booth, then eats with sinners and tax collectors, defending it by saying the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. The passage then pivots to two healings: a hemorrhaging woman who touches his cloak in secret, and a synagogue leader’s daughter Jesus raises from the dead.

The thread running through the passage is not just miracle, but movement across boundaries: social boundaries, purity boundaries, reputational boundaries, and the boundary between life and death.

Community Bridge

This angle naturally holds personal restoration and social repair together. It can invite listeners to consider who has been labeled untouchable, unworthy, too risky, or too far gone, and how a community shaped by Jesus might move toward them.