Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 10 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Matthew: The Chief Gospel  /  Tax Collector: From Despised to Disciple (Matthew Chapter 9)  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 10
Bercot says the woman with the flow of blood was likely Gentile (no command to show herself to the priest) and cites Eusebius’s report of a statue later destroyed to prevent idolatry; what does this combination—Gentile inclusion, public memory of Jesus’ power, and the danger of making images into objects of devotion—expose about our instincts to memorialize God’s work, and how can we honor God’s acts without turning them into substitutes for obedience and faith?
Another way to ask: What do these details—Jesus helping a likely Gentile, people remembering the miracle publicly, and the statue later being destroyed to avoid idolatry—teach about our urge to make memorials of God’s work? How can we remember what God did without turning objects or stories into replacements for obedience and faith?

Direct Answer The transcript suggests God’s power and mercy extend beyond Jewish boundaries, and people naturally want to memorialize dramatic acts of healing—but memorials can slide into misplaced devotion. We can honor God’s acts by remembering and testifying to them while avoiding objects or practices that could replace faithful obedience.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot notes none of the evangelists explicitly say the woman was Jewish, and early Christians “seem to all assume that she was Gentile.”
  • Key clue: Jesus does not tell her, “Go and show yourself to the priest,” which would have been expected under the Law for a Jewish woman with a flow of blood.
  • Eusebius “says specifically” she was Gentile and from “Caesarea Philippi,” and the healing became “legendary in that city.”
  • The city built a “bronze statue” showing a kneeling woman and a man looking down—Eusebius claims he saw it.
  • The statue was later destroyed by “Julian the Apostate,” and Bercot adds God “probably approved…so we wouldn’t have…[a statue] that people would perhaps start worshiping.”
Discussion Follow-ups What kinds of “statues” do Christians build today—objects, platforms, or personalities that begin as testimonies but become substitutes? How can we preserve memory in a way that leads to deeper obedience rather than attachment to a symbol?

Jumpstarter 10 of 10
Back Questions Done