Faith Alone

All right. We're fewer in number, but we can, we can, we can wake up. Good morning. Excellent. Uh, if you're new with us, welcome, we're glad to have you. Uh, we are walking through the book of Luke, uh, the last few weeks, uh, Mark, who we just prayed for has been in Philippians, but, uh, Luke, uh, chapter eight is where we're landing this morning. We, Want to walk through books of the Bible regularly? It's important to look at the context here. If you don't have a Bible, the Pew Bible in front of you is page 866. We would love for you to take that Bible home with you. It is the word of God. In the Bible, you will find the words of life. We've been looking in Luke, and the last time we were in Luke, we saw a significant miracle, a couple significant miracles. Jesus calms a storm. He shows that he is the great creator who has power over all creation. Then he heals this one demonic man, a Gentile. He goes all the way across the sea in this storm to heal one man of demons to free him when no one else could free him, and that's a theme we're gonna see. The demonic man was a hopeless case. This woman we just heard read of who had bleeding for 12 years was a hopeless case. And then Jesus comes, the one great hope. As we look at this text, we'll see there's two miracles, but significant trials are here. It's not just the bleeding. It's not just the daughter who is about to die and even dies. There's shame. There's fear, there's doubt. This morning, a simple summary of our passage, only believe in Jesus, who can make us well. There's a call to simple belief, but notice it's a belief that has action. The woman comes to Jesus. She is the true, clear, absolute model of faith. We're gonna walk through the story, and then we'll make some applications. If you're wanting to take notes, there's gonna be four different kind of movements in our story this morning. First, the request. Second, touch, the touch. Third, the promise. And then fourth, the resurrection. First, the story begins here with a request. This is verses 40 and 42. Now, when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at his feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had had an only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed in around him. Jairus here is a significant figure. A town would function around a synagogue. This is not the temple. The temple, the tabernacle, that's the place for sacrifices. Each town, if it was large enough, would have a synagogue. And this is a place for teaching. It's a school. Jairus being the ruler of the school in the middle of the town would be one of the most significant people in town. He has great authority, he would have great respect. He's responsible for telling the biblical stories, for continuing on the truths that would help create this community and continue on the faith for many generations. He's a well-respected, important public figure. But now he's come across a problem that makes him desperate. This ruler, this very important figure He comes and he falls down before Jesus. We see here a pretty unique action, a significant humble action before Jesus. We don't know what he knows of him. We don't know how he's heard of him. We know that he is a dad. He has one daughter. 12 years old, about to die, no one can help her. Whatever he's learned of Jesus, he knows that he might be able to help. So he falls down and he implores, he begs. This is all we know of the story so far. What I really wanna point out here is Jesus never says no to anyone who comes in faith. We see Jesus constantly responding to anyone who comes in faith. Now, the Pharisees, they come and ask questions, trying to trick him. The Sadducees, they want to come and trick Jesus, but Jesus responds. He is kind and responds, and he begins to walk with the man. Now, a few Sermons a while ago in Luke. Remember there was a centurion, a Gentile, not a man of Israel, not a man who would have known scriptures, but he also had a child. It was dying. And the centurion said, don't even come to my house. Just say the word. This is the kind of power Jesus had. He could have just said the word. Jairus' daughter would be healed. But no, Jesus goes with him. And that sets up our full story. The setting is Jesus has been asked to heal a daughter by a man who would not normally bag anyone. Now he is going with him and the crowds are pressing in. And then we come to our second big movement in the story, the touch. We have a new character that adds all kinds of twists to the story. The story is most importantly about Jairus, his daughter, and Jesus. But what's gonna take place here is significant in understanding what God is teaching us. This woman who comes and touches Jesus, she has had a medical problem, she has been bleeding for 12 years. Let us read this section, it's verses 43 to 48. And there was a woman, who's unnamed, we don't know her age. All we know is that she had had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she has spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased, and Jesus said, who was it that touched me? When all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowds are surrounding you and are pressing in on you. But Jesus said, Someone touch me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me. And the woman saw that she was not hidden. She came trembling and falling down before him, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. This woman, she's had a discharge of blood for 12 years. We don't know how old she is, but we know for 12 years, she spent all of her money on different kinds of physicians. And it's important here, there was not anyone who could help her. Verse 43, it was a hopeless case. Now, If we go back to Old Testament ritual laws, ceremonial laws, she's had this physical problem that would be difficult to bear for 12 years, but then it has social and religious ramifications. She's ceremonial unclean. She has not been able to worship God because she's been unclean for 12 years. She also would not be touched by another human being for 12 years, because if a human touches an unclean human, that person becomes unclean. She's been a social outcast. She's religiously distant from God, not welcome into the temple. The physical, emotional, social, religious shame and distance she must feel. What's amazing is the courageous, bold, faith. She touches just the fringe of his garment. She's not bold in coming before Jesus and demanding anything. She's not bold in coming down to him before his feet. She just wants to touch the farthest part of him. And notice there the way Luke emphasizes, immediately the discharge ceased. Immediately, she knows she's healed. Then, Jesus and Peter have a pretty classic Jesus and Peter interaction. And by that, Peter doesn't get it, and Jesus seems to patiently and kindly try to help Peter get it. If you've studied the scriptures, it's before the resurrection, Peter just is regularly speaking on behalf of everyone else, If you're standing in somebody's shoes, it's probably Peter's, who just doesn't get it. Jesus stops. He perceives what's happened. He knows someone's touched him. He knows someone's been healed. He knows power has gone out from him, and he begins the new change here, verse 45. Who was it that touched me? Peter says, Master, the contacts. People are pressing in. It's a huge crowd. They're not social distancing. They're all over him. There's all kinds of people touching. What do you mean? At some level, Peter, having just earthly eyes, sees, Jesus, people are touching you left and right. What are you talking about? No, someone touched me. Power has gone out for me. They came and they sought healing, they received it. Someone touched me by faith. Notice verse 47. This woman who has been used to not being seen by anyone, who's been used to not being touched by anyone, who's been used to being set aside in society, she now realizes she can't hide from Jesus. She sought the healing. Whatever the faith she had, she sought the healing. She knew he could help her. But then she wanted to scamper away. Look at verse 47. When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, fearful, falling down before him. Just like Jerry, she falls down before him and declared in the presence of all the people why she touched him and then confessed. Immediately, I was healed. Why does Jesus make a scene out of this woman's miracle? I think it's important for a couple reasons. One, he's publicly restoring her. She's been an outcast. They know that they cannot touch her. They know that she's not been able to worship. They know there's something wrong physically. Here, Jesus is kindly powerfully, publicly restoring her. There's a kindness there. She's gonna have to go to show herself to the priest. She will be ceremony made and declared clean, but here Jesus, the great high priest, the great ruler, the great power, he is publicly restoring. The second reason I think Jesus makes this public, it's not magic, it's God. How many churches claim to have some relic that if you just touch it, you'll be healed? How many religious organizations just say, here's a magical way. If you just do these three simple steps, then God will, or some power will help you. No, it's not magic. It's God. It really is amazing. This woman initiates the miracle with her faith, but Jesus, knows the power has gone out from him. It is God himself and the power that goes to heal this woman. It's not some magical moment. It's not just if we can do the right thing, if we can just touch the right thing. No, it's Jesus alone who's able to heal her. And three, he wants to make it clear, it was her faith. This woman that if anyone looked at her, they looked down upon her. Her faith has made her well. She came to Jesus courageously. She came to Jesus in faith, and she was healed. The next thing Jesus does, in verse 48, it raises all kinds of questions. It's quite remarkable, and the story. First, he calls her daughter. Remember, the whole story's about Jairus and his daughter. Jairus' daughter's 12 years old. This woman's been bleeding as long as that daughter's been alive. There's all kinds of just interesting connections. He speaks to her very intimately, very lovingly. Daughter, the affirmation, your faith has made you well. The word well there is the most basic word we have for salvation, sozo. I think we see here clearly the physical restoration so that she can now be clean to worship God, to be in right relations with other people. But I think we should even see it even further. It means she's been saved. Her sin's removed. She's now declared not guilty. She's righteous before God. He says, go in peace. She has been restored. And Jesus is making the significant point to make sure everyone hears, the disciples around him, Jairus, the crowds, it's your faith. The command is to go in peace. This woman was just given peace. But we do wanna just reflect here for a moment. For 12 years, she's learned and developed habits that do not have peace in them. She's had no peace with her own body. She's had no peace with other humans. She's had no peace with God. Now she has been given absolute clear peace. There's no question she has been given peace from God, but now she has to now learn how to live it. That's sometimes difficult. When we're saved, all the blessings of God that come crashing down upon us that we're not even aware of, and then we have to start learning how to live in them. New practices, new habits, new ways of thinking about ourselves, about our bodies, about our relationships, about our God. You've been made well. Go in peace. Learn how to practice putting that peace in your life. We then turn, verse 49, our third big movement in the story. Verse 49 to 50. While Jesus was speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher anymore. But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, do not fear, only believe she will be well. The woman who is bleeding is a story in the story. And just hear the connections. She will be made well is the promise. Only believe is the command. He's just heard by the woman. Your faith has made you well. Jairus should be learning here. Now, if I'm Jairus, I'm trying to put myself here in the shoes, I'm probably a little frustrated. We were walking to my house so that this man who just healed a woman would heal my daughter, but now I've heard she's dead. Immediately I'm thinking, why did you delay? Why did you take the time for this woman when my daughter would die? Notice Jesus stops the movement. He's the one who's in control of all the timing, and now the timing, With it, the daughter's dead. The news would be crushing. Jairus has some hope. He's come to Jesus. He's fallen before him. He now has the great physician coming. It's not clear he knows Jesus is the Messiah, his creator, his God, his savior. They at least know he's a great teacher. That's what they call him here. But now he hears his daughter's dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore. It's hopeless. Jesus, hearing the grief, the despair, the problem, first says, do not fear. He speaks to this immediate personal anguish. Fear is clearly one of the emotions he's going through. Fear of the worst reality is his lost daughter. Jesus declares, fear not. And then he commands him, only believe. Just believe. Only believe. There's nothing else that's going to help you. There's nothing else that's going to help your daughter. But if you believe, it's not mystical, it's not magical. This is Jairus with God himself. Only believe. It's not just mustering up. If I just believe enough, kind of like, if I just believe in Santa Claus, then things will happen. It's not just mustering up enough of my own something. No, it's looking at who's next to you and saying he alone can help. He says, if you only believe, then your daughter will be well. Here's my interpretation of this story. Why the daughter's healing has, in God's sovereignty, this bleeding woman healed in the middle of it. Jairus is a ruler in the synagogue. He's one of the most important people in the city. What Jesus is turning him to is to look at one of the most despised women in the town and learn from her. Jairus, who's the great teacher in the synagogue, needs to learn what faith is by looking at the woman he's looked down upon the entire time. That is the perfect Lucan motif. As we looked at it, as we read Isaiah 61, the shamed will be exalted. The proud will be humbled. What a God. What a Savior. Jairus is getting the lesson he needs. The perfect model of faith was this woman who knew if she just touches the cloak, That's all, I don't need attention. She didn't want attention, she just wanted to be made well. She is the perfect model of faith and Jairus is now being challenged, believe like the woman. Take a lesson from the woman. She was made well and your daughter will be made well. This is why the passage is about faith. She's a model of faith, the command is faith. Faith alone is a desperate call that makes it obvious to ourselves. When we come to the realization, there's nothing I can do to help myself. There's times in which we have physical ailments. We know there's nothing we can do to help ourselves. We go to a doctor and oftentimes they cannot help us. And there's that very important moment when we come to realize we've got a sin problem. We have a problem we call sin, that there's a stirring up and a nodding of our desires that affects our behaviors, that affects our relationships, that we have no control over, and that's when we come in faith and say, God, help me, forgive me, save me. Dependence upon the only one who's died for sin, who's risen again to give us hope, the only one who can unknot the twisted heart. our fourth and final section of the sermon text. Verse 51, the resurrection. And when he, that is Jesus, came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and the mother of the child, and all were weeping and mourning for her. But he said, do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand, he called, saying, Child, arise. And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that some things should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. Let's look at verse 51 through 53 first. This is pretty common. Jesus has 12 disciples, and he regularly takes three of them to special moments. These are the same three that alone will see the transfiguration in a few weeks. These are the three alone who are gonna go up and be asked to pray in Gethsemane. So this is not uncommon for Jesus to take these three, Peter, James, and John, and call that kind of the inner circle of the disciples. I do think we need to kind of wrestle with when does Jesus say certain things and when do these things happen? I believe verse 51 is giving kind of a specific, he's only going to take the parents, Peter, James, and John into the house. But I think verse 52 is him kind of spanning back out because he refers to all. I don't think that's all those five people. I think it's everyone who's gathered there at the house. Again, Jairus is a very important person in the town. People would have loved him, revered him, and wanted to be there with him. The wailers would be present. Those grieving would be present. All who had come to the house were weeping. They were mourning for her. And there outside the house, before Jesus, I think, goes into the house with these three men and the parents, He says to those weeping what they should want to hear. Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. Again, we recognize they have no idea who's talking to them. The one who spoke life into existence. the one who's already raised the dead in previous miracles, the one who calms the storm, the one who has control and authority even over demons, the one who, just by someone touching his cloak, healed a woman. He says, do not weep. This is what they should want. They should want their weeping to turn to joy and a laughter that's rejoicing in God. But notice what happens, and this is the warning of the passage. Their weeping was turned to laughing, but not the right kind. They laughed at him. There wasn't a rejoicing in the promise. There wasn't rejoicing in the declaration of hope. No, they thought he was silly, foolish. Can you imagine on the day of judgment having heard your God audibly speak and having to give an account for laughing in response. All sin will be judged righteously and justly, but the shame here of hearing the word of God and mocking, deriding, It's an incredible fear we should have, a great warning. God's speaking and they're mocking him. Verse 54, with the same kind of tender care he showed to the woman who had touched him, now verse 54, but taking her by the hand, saying, child, arise. The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, when she touched Jesus, Jesus should have been made unclean. That's how it works. But no. He who is all power made her clean. Here, you don't touch a dead body. That would make Jesus ceremonially unclean. He's God. He's the God of the resurrection. He's the God of life. He touches her. tenderly, carefully, kindly. He takes her by the hand. He does not become unclean, but instead, he declares with the simplicity of the words, child, arise. Again, the very God who spoke life into existence. The very God who will rise from the dead, Jesus Christ. He speaks with all power, even over the dead. And she rose. It's very clear she was dead. Her spirit returned to her. We are a body and soul. When we die, the soul departs from the body. We're undone. But here, the spirit returns. She gets up at once. She's no longer dead. She's no longer dying. She's well. Give her something to eat. She's alive. Here we see Jesus demonstrating his perfect power. He's calmed the storm. He's exercised his power over earth. He's exercised his power over demons. He's exercised his power over sickness. Now he's exercised his power even over death. The last thing he says to is the parents. It always causes us to have some kind of wonder. Her parents were amazed. They know she was dead, and now they have her back. They're amazed, but he charges them not to tell anyone it happened. This is what we call the secret Messiah. There's lots of reasons people will say that Jesus does this. If you go back to the demon-possessed man, the Gentile who was saved, Jesus told him in his town, the Gentile town, the Decapolis, the 10 cities, go and tell everyone what God has done among the Gentiles. It's clear Jesus, as he becomes more popular, as his name is going out, he doesn't want the Jewish people to hear more and more about him. At some level, we know this is because he realizes people are gonna keep pressing in on him and demanding things of him and expecting things of him that he has not come to do. He's gonna continually say, my time has not yet come. He asked him not to share, and at that moment, you're supposed to wait to share what God has done for you. That is not the world we live in anymore. Let's consider a few applications from this passage. First, a warning. How do we respond to the promises and commands of God? If we just go back to this passage where God himself promises, actually commands, do not weep, she will be alive. They mock him. They laugh at him. If you remember, we go back to Genesis. How did Abraham and Sarah respond at different times to God's promise that they will have a son? They laughed at God because he was too slow to fulfill his promise. Do you know what Isaac, the child's name is? It means laughter. It's a reminder, you do not mock God. You do not laugh at God. Friends, God is speaking. God has given us his word and his word contains promises and commands. Do we receive them like the good soul Jesus spoke of in a couple sermons ago in the parable? Do we receive them joyfully, eagerly, promises to believe in and hold on to, commands to obey fervently? We might not laugh at God, but do we mock his word with disorder and disobedience? A warning is important. The key point of the passage is Jesus is powerful to save. He's had power over storms. He's had power over demons. He's had power over sickness. He's had power over death. We see the continued message. He is able to help. everyone in every problem. There's physical healing in this story. There's emotional healing. Fear goes to peace. Jesus resolves all the problems in the story. He is perfectly powerful. He's perfectly merciful. There's not a single problem we face that he is not able to help us with. We go back to faith. Do we come to Jesus in faith asking him to really help us with our problems? It may be a physical problem. There might be a real physical ailment, a sickness. It might be sin, a continued pattern of sin that you realize you have no control over. Are we going to Jesus in real faith asking him to help us? Do we trust he can really help us? I wanna make sure we have two things in mind here. We're all going to go through various trials. Christian, it's not if, it's when. Where we're commanded to count it joy because by faith we know that trial is used by God for his glory and our good. Know this, not every trial, not all suffering is caused by sin. There is suffering that's going to come upon us that's not caused by our own sin. That doesn't mean we repent of a sin so that the suffering is removed. No, sometimes suffering is just gonna come. Physical ailments are gonna come. Our sin does not cause those. We should not think immediately, what kind of sin have I done that has caused this particular suffering? Sometimes there's suffering that is just under the hand of God for our refinement. The second truth we need to hold with that God does not bless disobedience. That'd be wrong. It'd be confusing. This is why James says when you pray, pray in faith. If there's a sin that we're actively committing, if there's a sin we continue to practice and we keep praying and we get frustrated with God, why would he bless our disobedience? Why would we think a good God would bless a disobedient person who's praying? What's actually amazing is the parents never express faith that we see. There are times that God just blesses us without our obedience. Everyone who's ever been saved was saved while we were still sinners. God blesses us abundantly. But when we're gonna pray asking for wisdom, We're gonna pray asking for God's hand of kindness and relief. And we're gonna say, I want that kindness even while I'm disobedient. We can read the whole book of Judges over and over again. God does not bless disobedience. There's a helpful challenge here to our sense of time and waiting. The woman who had the bleeding waited for 12, years. Jairus, while we don't know how long it was that he thought and knew his daughter was dead, the one woman has a long suffering, he has an intense burden, excruciating. Well, we can look at both of these stories and ask, well, why didn't God just save them quickly or keep the suffering from ever happening? Here's some challenges. Trust that even though God does not heal you immediately or ever, he is perfectly powerful and good. We cannot interpret God through our trial. We must interpret our trial through God. Here's one thing that I wanna make sure we hear. God never promises you perfect health in this life. We're all gonna die. What God promises you is that he will sanctify you. God doesn't promise you will always have perfect health. What God promises you is that if he began a good work in you, he will complete it. Hold on to the promises of God that he gives. He doesn't promise health. He promises godliness and Christlikeness. Secondly, trust. that when we are in a trial, he's with us, he's for us. He uses all things for his glory and for our good. And in the midst of the trial, he's not only transforming us and sanctifying us, he's there to comfort us, to care for us. And thirdly, trust that we can count all trials as joy. because they are all in his sovereign hands. Even the greatest evil done, the murder of God's own son, was done according to his will for the betterment and the salvation of his people. If you're a Christian, are we praying in faith? Are we looking at a trial and letting the fear and frustration of that trial overwhelm us? Are we looking to God, praying in faith, asking for wisdom? That James passage we read earlier. It's startling as we look at the context, count it all joy, ask for wisdom. It's very confrontational because anytime I'm in a trial, guess what the first thing I pray for is? Lord, end it. God says, pray for wisdom, that it might actually have its proper end. What we see here, the timing of God is perfect. He's always healed at just the right time. He's always had his weight for just the right reason. We must repent of the lie that we have a right to life, or a right to health, and believe that he is going to sanctify us. Here's our final question for meditation. We've been in a trial for some time now with sickness lurking all around the world. My question for us to consider, have we grown in fear, frustration, or faith? Have we practiced growing in frustration That is, we look around and we just, we're constantly frustrated by the responses and what other people are doing. Or we're growing in fear because we continually hear the dangers and the warnings. Or we're growing in faith. Now, I wanna be very clear. There's something to be afraid of. Sickness is terrifying. Death is just around the corner. There's so many things to be really afraid of. My point here is, are we growing in faith in the midst of those trials of fear and frustration? We typically aren't growing in frustration and faith. We're typically not growing in fear and faith. Let me be very clear. Every news cycle is designed to grow your frustration and faith. There's ways that we clearly practice to grow in our frustration and fear. There's only one source that's going to help you grow in your faith. It's studying God's word with God's people. The clear question is just simply, where's our attention? The clear pattern of humanity, we're going to get better at what we practice. Are we practicing faith? Are we growing in faith? Are we going to look at this woman and have the same lesson Jairus has? She models perfect faith and absolute dependence upon who Christ is and what he can do for her. We know more than she does. He's died for our sin. He's risen a new life. Are we going to trust him? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have not left us in this world full of things to be truly afraid of, of ways to be frustrated. Lord, you've given us your own son. Lord, I pray that we would take up your word and read of him. We would gather together and hear of him. We would proclaim him to one another and to our neighbors. Lord, I pray that you would help us to believe. Help us, Lord, to believe, Lord. I pray that those who are here with us or listening over the live stream, though there are numerous trials in our own body, many are physical, many are relational, many are with you. Lord, we thank you that Christ has come to make us well, to restore us, to give us peace. Lord, help us to grow in our faith in him. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing together.