...While he was saying these things to them, behold! one of the rulers came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has died just now! Nevertheless, come place your hand upon her, and she will live." And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold! a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came near behind him and caught hold of the tassel of his garment, for she said to herself, "If only I just catch hold of his garment, I will be saved." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Have courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." And the woman was saved from that very moment. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd causing a disturbance, he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they ridiculed him. But when the crowd had been cast out, he went in and grabbed hold of her by the hand; and the girl arose, and this news went out into all that district. (Matt. 9:18-26)
Matthew 9:18-26 is often described in laymen's terms as a sandwiching story. In the academic arena, this rhetorical pattern is described as intercalation. Intercalation occurs when a distinctive story is intentionally imbedded between another story, thereby causing an interruption in the story. Intercalation frames the beginning and ending of a story in such a way that they both serve as a commentary on the imbedded narrative. In other words, intercalation frames a story in an A--B--A' pattern, leaving the "A" and "A' " framework to function as a commentary upon "B." This type of rhetorical pattern is actually very common in Scripture, even though it may seem like an unusual method of recording historical events today. And contrary to many liberal accusations of inherent contradictions within the synoptic gospels, rhetorical devices such as intercalation help explain why there are many aesthetic differences (without contradiction) among all three synoptic gospels.
For example, in the story of the fig tree that Jesus curses and causes to wither away, Mark uses intercalation, whereas Matthew clearly does not. Matthew has Jesus cursing and withering the fig tree as one combined story, followed by Jesus "cleansing" Herod's temple (Matt. 21:18-19). But in using intercalation (an A--B--A' pattern as a commentary upon the central "B" section), Mark interrupts the story of cursing the fig tree with Jesus "cleansing" Herod's Temple before returning to the story about Jesus causing the fig tree to wither away (Mk. 11:12-14 [A]; 15-19 [B]; 20-21 [A']). The cursing and withering of the fig tree serves as a commentary on Jesus' visitation upon the Temple (and it's future destruction in 70A.D.).
Not only does Matthew "sandwich" one miracle between another by splitting the first miracle in two parts, but he also arranges each miracle with a neat symmetrical parallelism (A--B--C--a-a'-b-b'--A'--B'--C'):
B) saying, "My daughter has died just now! Nevertheless (alla), come (erchomai) place your hand upon her, and she will live."
C) And Jesus rose (egeiro) and followed him, with his disciples.
a) And behold! (idou) a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came near behind him and caught hold of (apto) the tassel of his garment,
a') for she said to herself, "If only I just catch hold of (apto) his garment, I will be saved."
b) Jesus turned, and seeing (eidon) her he said, "Have courage, daughter! Your faith has saved (sozo) you."
b') And the woman was saved (sozo) from that very moment.
A') And when Jesus came (erchomai) to the ruler's (archon) house and saw (eidon) the flute players and the crowd causing a disturbance,
B') he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but (alla) sleeping." And they ridiculed him. But when the crowd had been cast out, he went in (eis-erchomai) and grabbed hold of her by the hand;
C') and the girl arose (eigero), and this news went out into all that district.
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