[0:00] Well, can I start by asking, what are your hopes for this year? I now have two teenagers learning to drive, and so one of my hopes is that my car will remain unscathed.
[0:12] Actually, it's okay. They're now learning to drive on Michelle's car, so my car's fine. Actually, they're pretty good. But for others, perhaps it's hoping you can get a decent holiday after these last two years.
[0:26] Or perhaps if you're studying, it's hoping you'll get good results. Or with more families isolating with one member having COVID, perhaps it's hoping that the rest of the family won't catch it.
[0:38] Sorry, Vijay. Or more seriously, for those in the Ukraine and most of the world, it's hoping that Russia's invasion will end. Of course, most of our hopes have no guarantee, do they?
[0:54] It's partly why we call them hopes. Our hopes are generally something good in the future, but that's not actually guaranteed. But the word hope in the Bible is often used to refer to something good in the future that is guaranteed.
[1:11] Namely, life after death, where our souls go first to heaven with Christ, and then later our bodies will enjoy a resurrection in a new creation.
[1:25] But like last week, how do we know that Jesus can deliver on his word? How do we know that hope is guaranteed? Well, Luke has been showing us, hasn't he?
[1:39] Remember his purpose statement on the next slide? He has written his account so that you may know the certainty of the things that you've been taught, including our hope.
[1:50] And so he's got these eyewitness events recorded for us. As I said last week, if you want to talk about how miracles are possible or not possible, we can talk about that later.
[2:02] But for now, we saw last week that he showed his authority over creation by calming the storm, which tells us he does have the power to bring the new creation.
[2:12] We also saw last week he has authority over evil to save us from sin's judgment, to save us from an eternity of torment when he healed that demon-possessed man who was being tormented.
[2:26] And now this week he shows us, Luke shows us Jesus' power to save from death and raise to life, that we may know the certainty of our hope that is guaranteed, which is great news because sadly, and I know this is a bit of a down on a nice sunny Sunday morning, sadly we do all live under the shadow of death.
[2:53] So point one, first paragraph, verse 40, have a look there. Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.
[3:04] Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue ruler or 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.
[3:17] Jesus returned from calming the storm and saving the possessed man, and now he is greeted with someone else who's facing the death of his daughter.
[3:28] And do you see how Luke is trying to help us feel the heartache of this father? Here Luke identifies him as a synagogue leader or ruler, a respectable person, and yet he throws respectable out the window and falls at Jesus' feet.
[3:47] He wouldn't do that in that culture. And what's more, Luke tells us that it's his only daughter and that she was about just 12 years old.
[4:01] It's heartbreaking. But this heartache of death affects us all at different times because we all live under its shadow.
[4:12] Just this week, I was told of someone else's daughter who lives up Montmorency, not part of our church community, but someone else. She was just 10 years old and died of a brain aneurysm.
[4:25] And also just this week, I've been visiting one of our church members, a husband whose wife is dying at the moment. People say death is a natural part of life, but as I've said before, I think it's actually unnatural because God has designed us to live.
[4:46] If death really was natural, it wouldn't be so horrible, would it? But disease and death has entered our world as a consequence of sin.
[4:59] That's Genesis 3. And so because we live in a fallen world, death hangs over us all, like a dark shadow or like a shroud, as we heard in our first reading.
[5:11] But Jesus, thankfully, has the power to save us from it, or rather through death. And so he leaves with Jairus, but on his way, he meets a woman of faith.
[5:24] So point to verse 42, the rest of verse 42, second paragraph. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her.
[5:42] A woman has been suffering for 12 years. Now, I don't think us guys understand how bad this is, and the girls will no doubt be glad to hear it's not going to be part of the new creation, but I think we can all understand how dangerous it is, because we all need blood to live, right?
[6:02] And so here is another person, sadly living under the shadow of death. What's more, because God is life, then in the Old Testament, everything related to death, the opposite of God, was counted as unclean, whether it was male or female.
[6:22] So a loss of blood or any disease, for example, everything associated with death in this fallen world made people unclean. And if you were unclean, you couldn't touch anyone until it stopped.
[6:36] Otherwise, they'd become unclean too. And so you'd have to isolate. But her bleeding hadn't stopped for 12 years. That's a 12-year isolation. It makes the last two years look like nothing, doesn't it?
[6:52] Here is someone who lived under the shadow of death, both socially and physically. And sadly, at the end of verse 43, we're told that no one could heal her.
[7:03] Literally, no one was strong enough to heal her until the very next verse. Verse 44, she came up behind him and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[7:19] Notice how Luke highlights Jesus' power here. Verse 43, In 12 years, no one is strong enough to heal. That the very next verse, just the edge of Jesus' cloak is strong enough to heal.
[7:37] What's more, she is healed immediately, instantly. And so instead of her touch making Jesus unclean, like the Old Testament law said, no, no, Jesus now makes her clean.
[7:49] Here is Jesus' power to save from the shadow of death. But it wasn't touching his cloak that actually healed her. It was her faith in Jesus to heal her.
[8:05] And that's what Jesus now goes on to highlight. Verse 45, Touch me, Jesus said. When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.
[8:16] But Jesus said, Someone touched me. Sorry, that's my microphone. I know that power has gone out from me. Then the woman, seeing that she could no longer go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet.
[8:31] In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. Then he said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you.
[8:42] Go in peace. Here Jesus knows that power has gone out. Not that he's kind of like a battery, that the power goes out and he gets depleted. Nor that he has no control over it.
[8:54] The very fact that there were lots of people pressing in on him, but only one was healed, tells us that he does have control over it and he actually knows exactly whom he has healed.
[9:08] And now this woman knows that he knows too. And so she comes trembling because she wasn't supposed to touch him or anyone. And now everyone hears, including us again, how Jesus's power healed her instantly, made her clean, gave her life, all because she had faith in him.
[9:34] Verse 48 is the key verse. And this is why Jesus stopped the crowd and asked the question. You've got to remember, Jairus is still with them at this point.
[9:44] He's desperate, no doubt, to get back to his daughter who is dying. And then Jesus stops the crowd to ask this question. Are you serious, Jesus? What are you doing?
[9:54] But you see, it's important that Jesus highlights her faith in him because it does more than heal her. It actually saves her.
[10:08] Luke wrote in the Greek language and the Greek word for heal in verse 47 is actually different to the word for heal in verse 48. In verse 48, it's literally your faith has saved you.
[10:20] And then Jesus adds, go in peace. That is peace with God. The peace Jesus was born to give.
[10:31] Remember at Christmas time, what the angels sang, we sung it in Hark the Herald on the next slide and things like that. Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth, peace on whom his favor rests.
[10:45] This is what Jesus came to bring. Peace with God. Which comes through forgiveness of sins. And it means she's not just saved from sickness, but saved from sins, judgment.
[11:01] You see, her faith in Jesus may have healed her in this life, but it has also saved her for eternal life. For now she's forgiven, clean in God's sight.
[11:14] And so saved from judgment for life eternal, which includes a resurrection. So point three, verse 49.
[11:25] While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore. Subtle as a sledgehammer comes to mind here for this guy.
[11:40] But having highlighted the woman's faith in front of Jairus, notice what Jesus now says to Jairus. Verse 50. Jesus said to Jairus, don't be afraid, just believe, and she will be saved.
[11:59] Jairus is to learn from this woman. He is to have faith in Jesus, like her. Not only from the shadow of death, but now, sadly, from the reality of death too.
[12:14] He is to have such faith that he need not fear, for Jesus has power to save, not just from sin's judgment, from death as well.
[12:25] So verse 51. When he arrived at the house of Jairus, Jesus 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.
[12:39] Stop wailing, Jesus said. She is not dead, but asleep. They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. Now, just to explain a couple of things here.
[12:51] In those days, you hired professional mourners who cried, like we hire funeral directors who kind of bow and look solemn, which explains why the people here change so quickly from mourning and wailing to laughing.
[13:09] It's just paid crying. It's not genuine. But it does help us to know the girl really has died. They know it. Everyone knows it.
[13:20] So what Jesus does next really is powerful. Luke misses a detail that Mark has on the next slide.
[13:31] Just so we know, the whole crowd doesn't follow Jesus in. He actually puts them out of the house, and then he takes those three disciples, Peter, John, and James, with the father and the mother, into the house to where the girl was.
[13:45] It seems Luke can't wait to show Jesus's power over death. And so verse 54, The words get up and stood up are literally, my child arise and she arose.
[14:14] This is a kind of resurrection to life. Interestingly, we're told the spirits, the girl's spirit returned to her. You see, humanity is made up of body and soul or body and spirit, which is why our loved ones whose souls are safe with Christ in heaven are still waiting for a resurrection, a bodily resurrection.
[14:38] But the point here is that Jesus has the power to save from death and raise back to life. Luke again adds the words, at once or immediately, to highlight this point, this power.
[14:52] It's also why Jesus said to the girl, was just asleep. I mean, you'd never go to a funeral and walk up to the casket and say, don't worry everyone, they're just asleep, would you?
[15:04] It'd be grossly insensitive, unless you had the power to raise them. And for the Jews who knew their Old Testament, it would remind them of the resurrection on judgment day.
[15:19] And so in the Old Testament book of Daniel, here the dead are again likened to those who sleep in the dust of the earth. And resurrection is likened to being awakened, some to everlasting life and others to everlasting contempt.
[15:35] And what Jesus is doing here is he's showing that he has the power to do this. For he will go to the cross to pay for our sins that caused our death.
[15:47] So that he can raise us to life everlasting. In other words, it's Jesus who guarantees our hope of life after death.
[16:00] I mentioned that one of our hopes this year might be not catching COVID from another family member. And we can try and guarantee that hope by, you know, keeping away from them, locking them in their room.
[16:10] When my son had COVID, I was thinking about getting him to wear this T-shirt on the next slide. Unclean. Around the house. Perhaps we can get that for Vijay. Oh no, I shouldn't tease him. I shouldn't tease him.
[16:23] But no matter what we do, we can't guarantee it, can we? But Jesus can guarantee this hope of life after death. Where our souls live on with him in heaven.
[16:36] And then on judgment day, our bodies will be raised to everlasting life in a new creation. For he has the power to raise us from the dead. For he is the one who paid for our sins that caused our death.
[16:51] But only if we have faith in him like this woman. You see, these two miracles are closely linked.
[17:02] Luke even gives us some very tiny little details to help us, not just because it's true, but because it helps us see the link. Like how Jesus called the woman daughter. And you know, the person dying is Jairus's daughter.
[17:14] The woman suffered for 12 years. The little girl is aged 12 years. These little things. But it's actually Jesus himself who links these two miracles.
[17:24] Because you remember, he stops in the middle of Jairus's desperation to highlight this woman's faith and salvation. And the point is, if we want to know resurrection to everlasting life, then like this woman, we need to have faith in Jesus first.
[17:44] For it's by faith we are saved from sin's judgment. We can go in peace with God. And that comes with the guarantee of everlasting life later.
[18:00] And so the first application, I think, is pretty obvious, isn't it? Do you have faith like this woman? Last week we would have right faith, right fear, sorry, sorry, of Jesus.
[18:14] But this week we'd have real fear, real faith in Jesus. I'll get it right. Last week, right fear of Jesus. This week, real faith in Jesus. And so do you.
[18:26] You trust in him as your savior, whether you're here in the room or online. There's been quite a bit of news about Shane Warne's death recently. He was an outstanding cricketer, although he's received quite a fair bit of media attention.
[18:44] One person said, it seems like as much media attention as the Ukraine at the moment. And they actually said, you'd think he was a God or something. And I suppose for many Aussies who worship sport, perhaps he was, but as someone gave me this cartoon that was in the Australian last week, I don't know if you can see it.
[18:59] And Warne bowls out St. Peter and just strolls through the gates of heaven. And as amusing as that might be, it's not actually the way we are saved, is it?
[19:12] It's not the way we have peace with God now and enter heaven later. Now it's that key verse 48 on the next slide, where Jesus says, your faith has saved you.
[19:26] Go in peace. I don't know if Warne had faith or not. That's not for us to say. But the question for us is, do we? For only then we will have peace with God, which in turn gives us peace of mind that our hope of life after death is certain.
[19:48] Our souls will go to heaven and our bodies will on the last day enjoy a resurrection. So firstly, first application, do you have faith? And for us who do, then secondly, don't fear even death.
[20:04] Last week I said there is a good fear, a healthy fear of disasters. You know, that kind of flight or fight response that's built into us to protect us from disasters.
[20:15] Well, it's the same with death as well. God has built us to live. And so our bodies will naturally fight to live. It's why we have a gag reflex, for example.
[20:28] And we'll have a natural, healthy fear of things that can cause our death. It's why we jump back when we see spiders, for example. But the bad type of fear is the one that consumes our thoughts such that it keeps us up at night.
[20:44] It's that type of fear that consumes our lives, controls our lives, so that we're constantly afraid. Don't have that fear of death because Jesus guarantees our hope of life after death.
[21:01] Jesus said to Jairus, don't fear, only have faith. One of our members who has recently been diagnosed with fibrosis, that could lead to pulmonary fibrosis, which as I understand it is a terminal condition.
[21:16] It's just a matter of time. In fact, I asked if she would mind me sharing this and she didn't. So I don't know if you remember Estelle, whom we interviewed a few weeks ago on our kickoff Sunday.
[21:28] This is her. I was emailing her because I didn't catch her that Sunday. This was just a couple of weeks ago to see how she was going. This is what she wrote. Dear Andrew M. Well, I'm not worrying about the diagnosis at all.
[21:39] Have to do more testing end of April and hopefully this will show no enlargement of the nodules in the lung, etc. Whatever happens, I am not alone, just saved and sustained. How's that for an answer?
[21:51] Here is someone who does not fear even her own death, but continues to have faith because she knows her hope is guaranteed.
[22:04] Or a couple of weeks ago at the prayer night, I marked you include a letter from a minister in Kiev in the Ukraine. This is what he wrote. We have decided to stay both as a family, I think he had three or four girls, and as a church.
[22:18] We will shelter the weak, serve the suffering, and mend the broken. And as we do, we offer the unshakable hope of Christ and his gospel. Now, whether you would stay with your family or not, either way, they don't fear their own death, do they?
[22:36] But continue to have faith because they know the unshakable hope we have in Christ and want to tell others too.
[22:48] Most of us are thankfully not close to death, but we are all still living under the shadow of it, which means we're to continue to have faith and not fear it. What's more, we may even know some who are sadly close to death, whom we can encourage to have faith and not fear.
[23:08] For Christ has guaranteed our hope of life after death. As the husband of this church member who is dying that I've been visiting last week, he said to me a couple of days ago, I don't know what people do without our certain hope.
[23:27] Thank God we have it. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for the Lord Jesus, who by his death and resurrection has power to save us from death, to bring us through death to life again, where our souls will be with you in heaven and on the last day our bodies will enjoy a resurrection to live in a new creation.
[24:00] And so Father, help us we pray to continue to have faith and to not fear even death. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.