[0:00] So have you ever been completely off the mark? Like you thought one thing, but then it turns out you were completely wrong because of one minor detail. Well, late last year, I had some health issues.
[0:12] My neck, shoulders, and back were killing me, particularly when I was at work. Like every half an hour, I'd just have to sit down for five minutes because my body was in such discomfort, and there was just so much tension I couldn't move.
[0:26] So the OH&S officer and I tried our best to get to the bottom of this, right? And we're thinking, you know, noon, are you lifting stuff properly? Noon, you're pretty small. Are you trying to lift too big stuff?
[0:37] Which I said, how dare you? Is it your general posture? Like what are you doing at home? And for weeks, he would ask me these questions and just grill me, right? And my safety officer would sometimes even come and spy on me while I'm working, just to see if I was doing anything I wasn't mindful of.
[0:54] And I even went to my physio, who gave me some stretches, which helped out a bit, really some tensions. But even he said when he was, you know, digging his elbows into me, he was just like, yeah, you're pretty, it's pretty tense, bro.
[1:08] I'm like, thanks, man. And so it wasn't my work, it wasn't my routine. I started playing badminton. Was it from that? Was it my bed? Some people were like, it could be a mattress.
[1:18] And on and on it went until one day, that one glorious day, where one of my colleagues pointed out, hey, Noon, your shoes are massive.
[1:30] How heavy are those? And I didn't notice it at the time, but my shoes were heavy. Now, not like heavy, heavy, but heavy enough that over the years, it was stressing out my lower back, which eventually ended up messing up my neck and shoulders.
[1:44] And if you're just curious, I have a picture of my shoes. There they are, the culprit of my health problems, right? It looks small there, but it's bigger in real life, right? Just take my word for it.
[1:55] And what we spent weeks on thinking was the issue wasn't actually the issue at all. And in our passage today, there's a danger of missing the point. At first glance, we read this account of Jairus and the unnamed woman and think that their need of physical healing is simply the main point.
[2:12] But I would say there's something deeper going on beyond that, and that there's an even greater spiritual need that surpasses their physical need that we need to address. And that's what we're going to unpack here today.
[2:24] But before we jump into that, let's just give you a bit of... Let me just bring you up to speed on what's been going on in the book of Luke, if you haven't been here for a while. In the past few weeks, you would have heard about Jesus' epic tour around Galilee, performing miraculous acts while teaching and preaching about the coming of the kingdom.
[2:44] We heard about the parable of the soulless from Devon, that true disciples are doers of the word and simply not hearers. That if we're grounded in good soil, we will be a light in the darkness.
[2:56] And last week, we heard from Mark where Jesus tells his crew, his disciples, he says, hey, let's sail over to the other side of the lake. And on the way, he casually rebukes the storm, which causes fear and awe to fall upon his disciples.
[3:10] And the same thing happens when he delivers this demon-possessed man, which inflicted fear into the hearts of the locals there. All this to beg the question, who is this man?
[3:21] And today, Jesus returns to a place where he's been before called Capernaum. And in verse 40 in your Bibles, we read that when Jesus returned, there was a crowd ready to welcome him there, for they were all expecting him.
[3:34] So let's get to work. Let's read from chapter 8, verse 41. And if you've got your handouts, we're on point 1. So verse 41. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house, because his only daughter, a girl of about 12, was dying.
[3:55] So here we meet our man Jairus. Now, we know he's a synagogue ruler, meaning he was most likely respected, a well-known figure in the church, kind of like Mark or Andrew Price, kind of, if that's how you see them.
[4:10] And Jairus' job was to organize formal meetings for the congregation, things like organizing who would be praying for us, who would be reading the word and teaching it for us. And it's this man that comes to the feet of Jesus in humility, pleading with him, come heal my daughter.
[4:27] And just take a moment here and try to feel the gravity of the situation. Imagine how desperate you would have to be to come, pleading on your knees. Not in private, this is out in the public.
[4:39] I mean, you're respected. You got money. You're meant to have it all together. But as we read on, the story shifts from the second half of verse 42.
[5:00] Now, unlike Jairus, we don't get a whole lot of information about this woman.
[5:15] And I think this is intentional by him. All we know is she's been sick for a very long time. I mean, 12 years. I remember earlier this year, I was out with a cold for about two weeks.
[5:29] And I thought it was over for me. And here we have someone who's been suffering for over a decade. And it's not like she wasn't trying to get better. Verse 43 says, There was no one that could heal her.
[5:41] Just think of all the doctors she saw. You know, this might work for you. Let's try this out. This might stop the bleeding. Imagine going from doctor to doctor, clinic to clinic, checkup after checkup, to find yourself worse than you were than in the beginning.
[5:57] And in the Gospel of Mark, in the same account, it says she suffered a great deal under the care of these doctors. Not only that, but she spends all her money as well.
[6:09] And she still grew worse. And here she hears about this Jesus guy. That he's going around casting out demons, healing the sick. He even raised a widow's son from the dead.
[6:22] And you've got to ask, really? Did he do this? Surely. I'm calling it fake news, right? And it sounds all good to be true. But what does this woman do?
[6:32] She goes out. He's back in Capernaum. This is my chance. And here she is within a massive crowd around Jesus. Pushing and shoving, trying to get to him.
[6:44] And verse 44 tells us she makes it to him. And she comes up behind him and touches the edge of his cloak. And immediately her bleeding stopped.
[6:55] Who touched me? Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you. But Jesus said, someone touched me.
[7:06] I know that the power has gone out from me. Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
[7:22] Then he said to her, daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. So she touches the edge of his cloak and it heals her. And at this point, Jesus asked this funny and kind of unfair question, right?
[7:36] Because remember, there's a crowd pressing against him to the point where he was almost crushed. And all these people wanting the same thing this woman wanted. I mean, imagine if, imagine if, where's Adam?
[7:47] Imagine if Adam was Jesus, right? And then we all just rushed at him right now. Like everyone just on him, like relentlessly, right? Imagine if everyone's after him. And imagine the chaos.
[7:59] Imagine how hectic it would be. And it's within this chaos, this woman touches the edge of Jesus' cloak. Not his arm, not his leg, not his face. Just his cloak.
[8:09] And Jesus is like, wait. Who touched me? To which Peter responds in a very Peter way. He says, everybody. Everybody. Literally everyone around you is trying to touch you.
[8:22] They're trying to put their hands on you. To which Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no. There's someone who touched me because I felt the power go out from me. Which once again is a strange thing for Jesus to say. You mean somehow the power went out without you knowing Jesus?
[8:35] No, that's not what he's saying. I think what Jesus is trying to get us to notice is that there's a way to reach out. Which separated this woman from the rest of the crowd. And that one thing is faith.
[8:48] Which implies she was the only one reaching out, believing in her heart genuinely that this man can heal me. He can restore me. If only I were to even touch his cloak, I will be healed.
[9:00] And Jesus wants to bring this to the public. And the woman terrified comes to the feet of Jesus and tells him that it's her. Now why was she terrified?
[9:12] Wasn't it a good thing that she was healed? Well, there's something you've got to understand which brings us to point two. The greater problem. There's more going on with this woman than just a physical illness.
[9:23] You see, under the old covenant, her bleeding would have made her considered unclean. If you know what that means. Which simply means you are not appropriate to worship God.
[9:34] You weren't allowed to draw near him. And in some instances, you're isolated from the community. Not only that, but anything you touch or anyone you touch would also become unclean.
[9:46] This is why she was trembling before Jesus when she was healed. Because what if the crowd didn't believe her? They know who she is. Oh man, she just touched Jesus.
[9:56] Now he's unclean. We can't get to him now. How easy it would have been for all of them to turn on her. So we can see this added weight. This added pressure to this woman's condition, right?
[10:10] So try to wrap your head around this. For 12 years, imagine how society treated her. Imagine the isolation. Not being able to simply walk around shopping town without people judging you.
[10:24] Or telling you, hey, you're getting a bit too close there. Wanting to come to church. Wanting to go to temple worship. But you couldn't because of your condition. For 12 years, you've got this weight upon your shoulders.
[10:37] Trying to get better. Trying to find healing. And how easy it would have been to think, maybe God doesn't want me to get better. So for this woman, her greatest need wasn't her physical illness in and of itself.
[10:51] But what it represented. A separation from God. But here, after 12 years, she's still seeking. She's still searching for a cure. Because she wants to be reconciled with God.
[11:03] Which is why Jesus is such great news for her. And Christ attributes this healing to her faith. Verse 48. He says, daughter, your faith has healed you.
[11:16] And it's important to highlight here that the word healed here in the Greek is also used as save. In the other passages. It's the same word used in Ephesians 2, chapter 8.
[11:26] Where Paul tells us, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. So it's becoming clearer that this wasn't just about a physical healing. But one of spiritual importance.
[11:39] I mean, hear what Jesus has to say after she's been healed. He says, go in peace. For by faith, she is now reconciled to God. And Jesus wants to make this clear.
[11:49] He even addresses her as daughter. And nowhere else in the Gospels will you find Jesus speak of someone this way. Daughter, your faith has saved you.
[12:01] Go in peace. Now, before this kind of wraps up, we shift back to Jairus in verse 49. So if you've got your Bibles open, let's read it together. Not together.
[12:12] I'll read. You read. While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus. The synagogue ruler. Just in case you forgot, he's still around. Your daughter is dead, he said.
[12:24] Don't bother the teacher anymore. Here, Jairus is confronted with his greatest fear. His greatest issue, which we all share. The issue of sin and death.
[12:37] A reality that we all live in. And Jairus' initial problem, he thought it was just the illness of his daughter. But now we see the true brokenness and the fracture of our fallen world, don't we?
[12:49] And I don't know what Jairus would have been thinking. I don't know what it would have been like to receive that message. But notice how Christ is quick to comfort him in verse 50. This is what Jesus says to him.
[13:01] Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, don't be afraid. Just believe. And she will be healed. Or saved. It's the same word.
[13:13] When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him, except Peter, John, and James. And the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her.
[13:25] Stop wailing, Jesus said. She's not dead, but asleep. They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, My child, get up.
[13:37] Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished. But he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
[13:52] Now just try to imagine once again. Just try to feel the gravity of the situation. Your daughter just passed away. And for Jesus to say, Hey, hey, hey, hey. Don't be afraid. Just believe.
[14:03] It would not have. It wouldn't be easy. It would have been easier to doubt. It would have been like, You know what? No. I can't go there, Jesus. I can't. And you can see in this passage that it's filled with people's doubts in the way that they laughed and mocked Jesus.
[14:20] They were so certain that she was dead. And they most definitely doubted what Jesus could have offered in that moment. Yet in the midst of these doubting mourners, we see Jesus bring back Jairus' daughter back from the dead.
[14:33] To show that he does have the power. That he does have the authority to heal and to save even from death. And I just love how this passage sort of wraps up, by the way.
[14:45] Jesus brings this girl back from the dead. Spirit returns. Everyone's in awe. And the first thing Jesus says is, Hey, give her some lunch. She's hungry. Like, it was no big deal for him, right?
[14:58] It was no big deal. And this brought the appropriate response, which was awe and astonishment. Now, what I love about this account is the fact that the passage doesn't say how strong or weak Jairus' faith was.
[15:12] It doesn't make it clear. It doesn't say he believed with great faith. But regardless of how little or how much he had, it's clear that he simply believed. It's clear in both instances that it was because of their faith that brought about the power of God to heal them.
[15:31] It was all about their faith. It didn't matter who they were. It doesn't matter if you're a high-profile, established leader like Jairus. It doesn't matter if you're insignificant, as this woman was, who we don't even know the name of.
[15:47] Yet the one thing necessary for them both was simply faith. And just to be clear, this account isn't promising us that faith in Christ will make you healthy.
[15:58] But instead, that faith in Christ will save us from our greatest need, which is a full pardon from our sins. And I'm not undermining any forms of sickness that burdens us to this day.
[16:11] There are legitimate struggles. There are legitimate hurts. I mean, should we pray for those who are sick? Absolutely. The book of James encourages us to. We should pray for them.
[16:21] We should ask God to show us the power of his spirit in the lives of those who believe. But is it the main point of our faith? Absolutely not. God never promises us a full bank of health in this life.
[16:35] Oh, how shallow it would be if that's all Christ could do for us. A simple physical healing here and now, while the greater issue is unresolved. What we're offered in Christ is a greater future, a greater promise, a greater hope in eternity.
[16:51] In Revelations 21, it should be up on the screen. Verse 3 to 4 promises us of this day. It says, So if you're not a Christian.
[17:33] If you haven't put your faith in Christ Jesus yet, may I plead with you today. Consider Christ. You don't need to fear about the what is.
[17:43] It doesn't matter how dire your history is. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. It doesn't matter how far, how long or how dark your sin is. To be honest, I don't even need to know about your past.
[17:55] Because I know, I already believe that there is no sin, past, present or future, that I can commit that is beyond the work, beyond the power of the cross of Christ.
[18:08] And if this can be true for me, then it can be true for you too. God has already made a way for you. He has made a full pardon for you in the death and resurrection of Christ.
[18:21] Romans 8 verse 1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And the crazy part is God wants this for you. He wants you to be forgiven.
[18:33] He wants you to be reconciled. He wants to call you daughter. He wants to call you child. And all we need to do is believe to have faith. So can I plead with you?
[18:46] Put your faith in Christ today. But what about for the rest of us? Well, as simple as it may be, my question to you is this. Where is your faith?
[18:59] Where is your faith? Because a genuine faith that Christ will save us, will shape and transform the way we live. True faith will always move us.
[19:13] It will make us live a life that, will make us live a life in the reality of who God is and what he's doing. What do you mean by that, Nene? Well, let's look at our Old Testament passage in Joshua 6.
[19:25] You don't have to flick there. It will be up on the screen. But here we have an account where the people of Israel, God's chosen people, are about to take over the city of Jericho, right? And here they're getting ready to go to war, to take over like, oh, let's do it, right?
[19:39] And this is what God tells them. This is his promise to them. See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its kings and its fighting men.
[19:50] So that's a great promise. Good start. Good start. The city is ours. So what's the game plan now? What are we going to do? And this is what God tells them to do. March around the city once with all the armed men.
[20:02] Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets.
[20:14] And when you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse. That was the game plan.
[20:24] And even the simplest of men that are going to war will ask, any chance there's a plan B to this? I mean, should we ask Moses?
[20:36] No, he's gone to glory. Oh, never mind. Like legit, you want us to walk around six days, and on the seventh we shout, all right, yeah, let's do it.
[20:47] Yeah, go team. Go team Israel, right? And this is what God told them to do. And if you know the story, that's exactly what they did. And the walls came down.
[20:58] And in the book of Hebrews, it tells us that it was by faith the walls of Jericho fell. It was faith that drove them out to walk around those walls. It was faith that made them shout with a loud voice on that seventh day.
[21:12] It was by faith in the power of God that the walls came down. And my point is this. Genuine faith will move us.
[21:24] If we believe, personally, right, that I am saved by faith, that I need healing of my sins, and Christ is the only way to that, and that there is a day coming where he will come to judge the living and the dead for all they've done, if this was true for us, wouldn't it be true for our friends and family as well?
[21:49] Wouldn't it mean that they too need saving? This should stir within us the desire for them to know the gospel. It wouldn't make sense if it didn't.
[22:00] In the same way, if we truly believe that there's a day where the old will pass away and the new will come, then wouldn't it change how we spend our money? Wouldn't it change the way we spend our time and vitality?
[22:13] You could put it this way. Are you storing up for yourselves treasures on earth or in heaven? I think all these things are indicators of whether or not our faith is genuine.
[22:24] And if you're reflecting now on how you're living, and it doesn't really line up, if your lips profess one thing, but your life says another, then I ask you again, where is your faith?
[22:36] Maybe you believe, but you're struggling right now. And hey, that's fine too. Many of us do, but my encouragement is, don't stay there. Seek the counsel of mature Christians.
[22:49] Talk to Mark. Talk to anyone you can trust. Figure out why there's this disjoint between what you say you believe and how you live.
[22:59] Talk it over with your friends here. Ask your brothers, sisters in Christ, you trust and ask them honest. Be like, hey, be honest. Does my life reflect the gospel?
[23:11] Do I simply sit under sin or do I struggle through them? Do I care about the loss? Do I care about the needy and the poor? Do I care about the same things Jesus cares about?
[23:23] And all of this, not because our works define us, right? We all know that. But I think it's wise to see if we're on the right track. And my hope is that through all this, as we wrestle and figure it out, if necessary, it would produce in us a genuine faith in Christ that saves.
[23:42] For Christ to say, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the love and the grace you have shown to us in Christ.
[24:02] Help us to be honest with ourselves and grant us wisdom and insight by the power of your spirit to really ask the hard questions of where our faith is.
[24:15] Help us, Lord, to live lives that reflect the gospel so that many will come to put their faith in you. Help us to do this. And in Christ's name I pray.
[24:26] Amen.