Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] If you live long enough in this world, you will eventually encounter impossible situations, challenges, trials, hardships, afflictions, illnesses, losses, setbacks, things that you're utterly powerless to do anything to fix or to help.
[00:00:30] And I think all of us could relate to this.
[00:00:33] And maybe this morning you find yourself in an impossible situation and you find that you're fearful and you're doubtful.
[00:00:47] Well, those of us who have turned from our sins, those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ by faith alone, we know that we follow someone who is infinitely greater than any problems we will ever face in this world, don't we? We know that to be true.
[00:01:08] But if we're honest, oftentimes our problems seem bigger than Jesus.
[00:01:20] Well, in the Gospel of Mark, time and time again, Jesus displays his omnipotent love for sinners who find themselves in impossible situations.
[00:01:33] And several weeks ago, I think two months ago, we were considering two of these impossible situations in Mark's Gospel. So let me just remind you back in Mark, chapter four, remember the boys in the boat?
[00:01:47] They were powerless in the boat to calm that storm. They were tossed all over. And then Jesus rebuked the winds and he said to the waves, peace, be still.
[00:02:01] And then in Mark, chapter 5, verses 1 to 20, the context right before we get to this passage. This morning we met that demon infested man whom no one had the strength to subdue.
[00:02:15] And with a word from his blessed mouth, the Lord Jesus made him clean and set him free.
[00:02:23] Well, this morning in our passage beginning In Mark, chapter 5, verse 21, we encounter two very different people who are joined together by their desperate need.
[00:02:37] We find a woman with an incurable disease, and we find a father whose little girl is on her deathbed.
[00:02:46] And we find the Lord Jesus, the friend of sinners, guiding both of them from fear to faith.
[00:03:00] So if you have your Bibles open to Matthew, chapter five, excuse me, Mark, chapter five, verse 21. I'm going to read down to verse 43.
[00:03:08] If you're using the Pew Bible, you can find this passage on page 840 in the Pew Bible.
[00:03:14] This is what Holy Scripture says.
[00:03:18] And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.
[00:03:27] Then came one of the rulers of the synagogues, Jairus by name.
[00:03:31] And seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.
[00:03:46] And he went with him, and a Great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years.
[00:03:57] And who had suffered much under many physicians and spent all that she had. And she was no better, but rather grew worse.
[00:04:07] And she had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
[00:04:15] For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
[00:04:20] And immediately, immediately the flow of blood dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
[00:04:30] And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him immediately, turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments?
[00:04:40] And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, who touched me?
[00:04:46] And he looked around to see who had done it.
[00:04:50] But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
[00:05:02] And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well.
[00:05:09] Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
[00:05:13] And while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, you, daughter is dead.
[00:05:21] Why trouble the teacher any further?
[00:05:24] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe.
[00:05:32] And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue.
[00:05:42] And Jesus saw commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping.
[00:05:55] And they laughed at him.
[00:05:58] But he put all outside and took the child's father and mother, those who were with him, and went in where the child was.
[00:06:05] And taking her by the hand, he said to her, talitha cumi, which means little girl, I say to you, arise.
[00:06:16] And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age.
[00:06:23] And they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this.
[00:06:32] And told them to give her something to eat.
[00:06:39] Do you feel helpless this morning?
[00:06:43] If you do, I've got good news for you.
[00:06:46] Jesus does the impossible for the helpless and guides them from fear to faith.
[00:06:55] If you want a main takeaway this morning, that's it.
[00:06:58] Jesus does the impossible for the helpless and guides them from fear to faith.
[00:07:11] Beloved, what's impossible with man is possible with the Son of God.
[00:07:17] And that's my prayer for us this morning as a church. That the Lord Jesus himself would guide our hearts from fear to faith.
[00:07:27] So we're going to walk through the passage, give you a few headings, and then I'll give you two implications at the end. Okay, so, so the first thing I want you to see, number one, if you take notes, the first person we really meet in this Passage is number one. A distressed father. A distressed father. That's verses 21 to 24. A distressed father.
[00:07:50] So our passage begins with Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee again. He was leaving the gentile region on the eastern shore, was crossing over again, arriving on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and, and a more Jewish region of the land. And so he arrives and notice he's greeted by a great crowd.
[00:08:14] The word about our Savior's ministry is spreading. And in verse 22, Jesus is approached, notice by a distressed father, a man named Jairus. Jesus calls him a, or Mark calls him a ruler.
[00:08:30] The synagogue, synagogues, as you know, they cropped up after the exile in Israel and in the region. These were houses of instruction. This is where people would gather, Jews would gather to read the scriptures, to pray, to sing together, to hear preaching.
[00:08:47] And so this man is a leader in his synagogue. He's a ruler. He is a prominent man in the community.
[00:08:55] And Mark even tells us his name. You notice Jairus. Jairus sees Jesus and notice what he does. This prominent man falls down at Jesus feet and begins to beg.
[00:09:09] He begins to implore him.
[00:09:11] Death has brought this prominent man to his knees.
[00:09:16] He begs Jesus fervently because his little girl is at death's door.
[00:09:23] She's not in intensive care, she's in hospice.
[00:09:28] She's only 12 years old.
[00:09:30] Verse 42 in his account. Dr. Luke tells us that there's one other heartbreaking detail.
[00:09:40] Luke, chapter 8, verse 42. This is Jairus only daughter.
[00:09:46] So she's not just his little girl, she's his only little girl.
[00:09:51] And Jairus has heard about Jesus. He's heard about his healing ministry. He's heard about his mighty acts. And so no one else can help him but Jesus can.
[00:10:02] And notice what he says to him. He's not even asking if he's able to do it, he's asking if he's willing to do it. Notice what he says. My little girl, my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. Verse 23.
[00:10:20] Jairus believes that if the Lord would just come and touch his daughter who's about to die, she will be made well, she'll be saved.
[00:10:31] And so Jesus stops and goes With Jairus, great crowds are following and pressing in. Now you can imagine if you're Jairus, you want to hurry, right?
[00:10:44] You want to get there quickly. What is the safest, quickest way to get to the house to get Jesus there? Because my daughter is on her deathbed.
[00:10:55] And it's right at this point where Mark interrupts the story several times. In the Gospel of Mark, he does this. He'll be telling one story about Jesus and then he interrupts it with another story about Jesus before going back to the story he interrupted about Jesus. Okay, so kids, I want you to think of this way. Kids, I know you're. It's not lunchtime yet, but think of it like this. Mark loves to make story sandwiches, okay? He makes story sandwiches. And so what he does is he has two pieces of bread, right? So the first piece of bread is about Jairus and his daughter. That's verse 21 to 24. The other piece of bread is at the end of the passage 35 to 43. But then what he does is in the middle, you put some peanut butter, okay, which is, that's the middle story about this woman who's had this 12 year disease, this, this problem of hemorrhaging or bleeding.
[00:11:52] Now why should you care about this sandwich thing? Okay, here's why Mark does this, because he intends this middle story we're about to see to serve you as the key that unlocks the story on either side.
[00:12:13] So the story in the middle helps you understand the story on the outside. The bread gets interpreted by the peanut butter, so to speak. Okay, so let's consider the peanut butter. We're going to move from. We're going to move from a distressed father. Now, number two, a defiled daughter.
[00:12:31] A defiled daughter. Verses 25 to 34, verses 25 and 26. We meet a very, very sick woman.
[00:12:45] And unlike Jairus, we're not told her name. Did you notice that she's not given a name, not introduced to her with a name, but we're told that she has suffered a discharge of blood. Your translation may say she's had a hemorrhage and notice it's lasted 12 years.
[00:13:05] Down in verse 34, Jesus calls it a disease.
[00:13:10] So just think about this. This poor woman has suffered from this ailment as long as Jairus daughter has been alive.
[00:13:22] And Mark tells us in verse 26, she suffered much under many physicians.
[00:13:28] We appreciate all the medical professionals in our church, but the medical professionals of her day couldn't help her at all.
[00:13:36] And notice, not only could they not help her. It brought a very steep financial burden. She spent all that she had.
[00:13:44] This woman has no money left. She spent it all on medical care. That hasn't helped at all. In fact, Mark tells us she was not better, but she grew. What?
[00:13:55] Worse.
[00:13:57] She's got no money left. And it makes you wonder, does she have any Hope left after 12 years?
[00:14:03] God's word says a hope deferred makes the heart, what? Sick.
[00:14:08] And so this woman's body is sick, her heart is probably sick. And she suffered not just physically, but she suffered in other ways. If you go back and read Leviticus 15, this particular kind of ailment makes this woman ceremonially unclean.
[00:14:28] She couldn't join the worshiping community until her illness was gone.
[00:14:33] So she was kind of like under quarantine.
[00:14:37] She was like an untouchable. She would be as someone that you would distance yourself from in the community, like a leper.
[00:14:45] She's unclean. God's law says unclean.
[00:14:50] So culturally, Jairus is at the top of the food chain. Socially, this woman would have been at the bottom. He's an insider, she's an outsider. And this woman is isolated.
[00:15:03] Imagine being isolated like that for 12 years.
[00:15:09] One scholar put it like this quote. She was an outcast, even having to avoid physical contact from members of her own family.
[00:15:20] It had been 12 long years since anyone has embraced her or even held her hand.
[00:15:29] You know, when people are going through really hard times, even just sitting with them and holding their hand can mean the world.
[00:15:37] This woman hasn't experienced that.
[00:15:41] Maybe you're suffering isolation even this morning.
[00:15:45] I know we have precious homebound members that know what it means to be isolated.
[00:15:53] Those of us who suffer from chronic suffering, chronic illness, can maybe relate to this. No one really understands what you're going through, and you feel isolated.
[00:16:04] Do you remember back during the pandemic, it feels like 50 years ago, but remember, depending on where you lived, you understood the inability to get with people and to interact with them normally and social distancing and all of that. So some of us, I would say maybe even all of us, have tasted something of what it means to be isolated like this.
[00:16:25] But imagine going through that for 12 whole years.
[00:16:29] She's suffering. This poor woman is suffering physically, she's suffering financially. She's suffering socially, and she's suffering relationally. And she has been enduring the shame of being an outcast, someone that you would avoid. And she's actually taken a risk by going into this crowd of violating God's law.
[00:16:52] But she's Desperate. And so she approaches Jesus. Notice she goes to Jesus because she wants to be healed. She knows if anyone can heal me, if anybody can make me whole, if anyone can save me, he can.
[00:17:07] And so, like Jairus, she hears these reports, she believes and she pursues Jesus. But notice how did she come to Jesus? Did she walk up to Jesus and just say, hey, this is my name, you're Jesus. Where did she come from? From what?
[00:17:22] Did you see that she comes and approaches Jesus from behind. And look at verse 28.
[00:17:28] For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
[00:17:37] And that's exactly what happens. She comes from behind. The crowds are around Jesus. She reaches out and touches Jesus garments.
[00:17:50] And we're told immediately, Mark's favorite word. Immediately the flow of blood dries up and she feels in her body that she's been healed. One touch of the good physician instantly did more of 12 years of all the other physicians. Right now, we're not told in the text explicitly, but I believe it seems to me that she wanted to touch Jesus, get healed, and then kind of sneak out the back.
[00:18:22] Maybe there was a shame associated to this.
[00:18:25] Maybe she just wants to slip off, right? But Jesus has other plans for her. Look at verse 30. So don't look at me, look down at your Bibles. Look at verse 30. Jesus perceives power has gone out from him.
[00:18:37] And he immediately turns around and says to the crowd, who touched my garments? And the disciples are like, man, a lot of people are touching your garments right now.
[00:18:47] Everybody's touching you. But look at verse 32. He looked around, so he got touched from behind. He looked around to see who had done it.
[00:18:56] And I think this woman who wanted to be anonymous can't be anonymous anymore.
[00:19:01] And notice she steps out of the faceless crowd, comes to Jesus, notice fear, and in trembling.
[00:19:11] And just like Jairus, what does she do? She falls down at his feet.
[00:19:17] Why was she so afraid?
[00:19:20] You'd think she'd be happy.
[00:19:22] You'd think she'd be rejoicing.
[00:19:25] But she's not afraid of the crowd. She's not afraid of the sudden attention. She's not even afraid of what she's done in terms of touching him and kind of scurrying off.
[00:19:35] Mark tells us why she's afraid. Look at verse 33. But the woman, here's the reason, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling.
[00:19:48] Now just think about it.
[00:19:51] Just like the disciples in the boat were more afraid after Jesus calmed the hurricane.
[00:19:59] They were afraid of the hurricane and Then Jesus just spoke to it and it stopped and their fears increased.
[00:20:08] She knows what has happened to her.
[00:20:11] She's trembling because she knows she's in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.
[00:20:17] She's in the presence of someone who can do what the law can't do, someone who can heal and make whole by simply touching this one.
[00:20:30] And so she falls down and I love it. She tells the whole truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.
[00:20:36] And Dr. Luke adds this one little detail that I love. Luke 8, 47. She declared in the presence of all the people why she touched Jesus and how she had become immediately healed. So this woman is now not just testifying to Jesus.
[00:20:55] It's like the crowd parts and she's giving a spontaneous testimony about Jesus, power and grace to the whole crowd.
[00:21:06] She's been an outcast 12 lonely years.
[00:21:10] She's been isolated. She's hit rock bottom. And now she gets to publicly testify what Jesus has done for her.
[00:21:20] And this woman, did you notice who was not named earlier?
[00:21:26] Jesus calls her something more precious than a name. Do you remember? Look at it, verse 34. Do you notice what Jesus calls her?
[00:21:35] And he said to her, daughter, daughter, your faith has made you well.
[00:21:47] Your faith has saved you.
[00:21:49] Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
[00:21:54] Now Jesus would have been about 30 something years old.
[00:21:58] Usually someone that age isn't going to speak. We don't know how old this woman was. But do you hear the care, the tenderness in that one word? Daughter. That's my favorite word in the whole passage.
[00:22:14] This woman who is filled with shame, who doesn't even get a name. And then before the whole crowd, Jesus says, that's my daughter.
[00:22:24] That's beautiful.
[00:22:26] That's glorious.
[00:22:29] Back in Mark, chapter two, verse five, that joker that gets brought down through the roof, the paralytic guy, remember him and remember he.
[00:22:38] Jesus heals him, and remember what he says. Your sins are forgiven. Remember what he calls that guy Son.
[00:22:44] He called him son.
[00:22:46] And here he calls this woman daughter. Jesus never calls anyone daughter in the rest of the Gospels. This is it.
[00:22:52] It's amazing.
[00:22:54] Daughter, your faith has made you well. Your faith has saved you. Go, enter into peace.
[00:23:02] And so this woman had already been healed with when she reached out and touched Jesus, right? She'd already been healed physically.
[00:23:10] Why does Jesus say, be healed of your disease in verse 34 if she's already healed? Well, I believe Jesus is publicly declaring to her and to the crowd, my daughter, take heart.
[00:23:26] You are healed and your 12 years of suffering are over.
[00:23:31] You're healed of your disease.
[00:23:33] So just think about this woman. She arrives in torment. Jesus sends her away in peace.
[00:23:40] She arrives afflicted. Jesus sends her away healed and whole.
[00:23:45] She arrived unclean. Jesus sends her away clean.
[00:23:50] She arrives nameless.
[00:23:53] And Jesus sends her away as his beloved daughter.
[00:23:58] And she has a wonderful story to tell, doesn't she? What is her testimony?
[00:24:03] Jesus welcomed me.
[00:24:05] Jesus made me clean.
[00:24:07] Jesus made me his.
[00:24:10] All by faith alone.
[00:24:13] Friend, if you're here and you're not a follower of the Lord Jesus, let me ask you, has Jesus ever called you out of the crowd?
[00:24:26] Do you have a story like this?
[00:24:31] All of us have needs we can't meet. All of us have problems we cannot solve.
[00:24:37] All of us have besetting sins that we can't handle on our own.
[00:24:44] All of us, either now or sometime soon, will be facing the impossible. For Friend, and this passage was written down in the Bible to remind me and to tell you and all of us that when all hope is lost, when everyone else has let us down, there is one who is willing and able to love us, to save us, and to adopt us, and to restore us, and to cleanse us, and to declare before the whole world that we belong to him.
[00:25:28] That's why this passage is in the Bible.
[00:25:31] And so, Friend, do you have a story like this?
[00:25:36] Has Jesus ever called you out of the crowd? Could he be calling you out of the crowd even this morning?
[00:25:44] By his gracious power and by his loving heart. Did you see what he did for this woman?
[00:25:49] He didn't just heal her.
[00:25:53] He did the impossible. And he is guiding her. From what?
[00:25:58] From fear to faith.
[00:26:03] So we've met a distressed father. We've met a defiled daughter. And finally, number three, we meet a dead daughter.
[00:26:12] A dead daughter.
[00:26:14] Verses 35 to 43.
[00:26:19] Now you can imagine. Just put yourself in Jairus sandals.
[00:26:25] I mean, is he tapping his foot?
[00:26:27] I mean, you can imagine. It's like, why are we stopping, Jesus? Hurry up.
[00:26:35] Well, what we are told in verse 35 is while Jesus is finishing ministering to this poor woman that he's just healed and called daughter, the next reference to the word daughter is in verse 35. These messengers come from his house, and they say, your daughter is what is dead.
[00:26:55] Why trouble the teacher any further?
[00:26:58] And so, Jairus, he doesn't even have time to process this horrible news. Because then Jesus overhears what those messengers said, and he commands, jairus, look at verse 36.
[00:27:11] Do not fear, only believe.
[00:27:17] Don't be frightened by death, Jairus. Only believe. Only Trust. You just watched what I did for this woman who had suffered for 12 years.
[00:27:28] Trust me to save and rescue your daughter who's 12 years old.
[00:27:34] Stop fearing Jairus. Keep on believing.
[00:27:39] And so facing the impossible. Jesus. Jesus is even in this moment. He's seeking to transform this grieving father who is helpless. And he's guiding him with these words.
[00:27:54] Be afraid, only believe. He's guiding him from what? From fear to faith.
[00:28:00] Look at verse 37. Jesus brings his inner circle. Peter, James and John. They go to Jairus home. And there's just like this mournful commotion going on outside the home.
[00:28:11] People are weeping, people are wailing. Matthew's account, he says that there's flute players who are playing funeral music, right?
[00:28:20] And then Jesus asks a puzzling question and he makes a shocking statement. Look at verse 39. Why are you making a commotion and weeping?
[00:28:30] The child is not dead, but sleeping.
[00:28:36] Jesus says, the child Jairus daughter isn't dead, but she's sleeping.
[00:28:42] Now that may be confusing, but remember, remember in the story about Lazarus, Remember that John 11, Jesus said to his disciples in John 11, our friend Lazarus has what, fallen asleep.
[00:28:58] But I go to wake him.
[00:29:01] So this is the way Jesus speaks about death.
[00:29:05] And we're thinking, okay, but just think about what he's doing here.
[00:29:10] Jesus can raise the dead as easily as we can wake someone up from a nap.
[00:29:17] That's how strong and mighty Jesus is, right?
[00:29:20] This little girl was dead, but as far as Jesus was concerned, well, she's just sleeping.
[00:29:27] And so what's the response? Verse 40. They laughed at him.
[00:29:31] They're mocking him. They're laughing at him. This guy thinks she's asleep. What is he talking about? Right? And so Jesus puts the mockers out. He takes the child's father, the mother, and his three disciples. They go into the room where the child was. Verse 41.
[00:29:47] And what does he do? He reaches down and touches her.
[00:29:52] I love it. He takes her by the hand. Isn't that beautiful? I love that little detail. He takes her by the hand and he said to her, talitha kumi, which means, little girl, I say to you, arise.
[00:30:07] Talitha could wake up. Little girl.
[00:30:10] It's time to get up.
[00:30:12] And just as an aside, isn't it amazing that Mark records the words that Jesus said in Aramaic?
[00:30:20] And you remember Mark's gospel, it's from the perspective of Peter, right?
[00:30:25] So it just makes you think Peter was there in the room when he did this.
[00:30:30] And I just wonder, those tender words, Talitha Cummings, if they just pierced Peter in His heart, he remembers those words, little girl, it's time to get up.
[00:30:44] And he remembered them all those years later.
[00:30:48] And so, verse 42. And immediately the girl got up and began walking.
[00:30:55] Amazing.
[00:30:56] By the gracious, mighty command of Christ, this dead daughter is brought to life again. Luke tells us in his account, Luke 8:55. Her spirit returned.
[00:31:09] And then, obviously, look at the astonishment. Verse 42. They were utterly astonished. They were immediately overcome with amazement.
[00:31:19] They're getting ready to start the funeral outside, and this girl is walking around, right? She got up out of bed and she's walking around.
[00:31:27] Verse 43. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this. I mean, yeah, right? I mean, they're like, playing the funeral music outside, and she comes out and it's like, hey, what are y' all here for, right? I mean, obviously, when a formerly dead daughter's walking around, folks are gonna talk. Okay, but here's the point. Why is Jesus saying that? Well, throughout Mark's Gospel, Jesus is on his divinely ordained timetable, isn't he?
[00:31:55] There's another resurrection coming at the end of Mark's gospel, when Jesus is going to say, go tell the whole world.
[00:32:03] But that time is not this time.
[00:32:07] And I just want it before we get to application. I just. That little detail at the end, isn't that precious?
[00:32:13] Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
[00:32:18] I mean, a moment earlier, the daughter. This daughter is dead.
[00:32:22] But now she's alive again. She's walking around, her parents are in shock.
[00:32:28] And Jesus looks at him and says, you should probably get her a snack.
[00:32:34] Maybe a peanut butter sandwich. I don't know.
[00:32:37] But just don't listen, beloved, don't miss these details, like how infinitely caring and utterly attentive is our Savior.
[00:32:51] He's like, she probably wants a snack.
[00:32:54] It's amazing.
[00:32:57] There's none like him, y'. All. There's none like him.
[00:33:00] No, not one.
[00:33:03] So let me conclude two brief implications from this passage. You can see where they come right out of the passage. These. These are not profound. They're right there.
[00:33:15] The first consideration is this passage calls us, number one, to consider how faith reaches out to touch Jesus.
[00:33:28] Consider, number one, how faith reaches out to touch Jesus.
[00:33:39] So if you were to ask who's the central kind of model of what it means to have faith in this passage? Remember the whole sandwich structure.
[00:33:48] It's not Jairus.
[00:33:50] It's this poor woman.
[00:33:54] It's the woman who was healed.
[00:33:57] Mark wants you to see that. Just as Jesus kind of showcases this woman's faith, that as weak as it was, she knew if she could just touch Jesus, that she would be saved, that she would be healed, that she would be made whole.
[00:34:15] And so Jesus calls her then, while Jairus is standing right there, to testify to what he has done for her.
[00:34:27] So faith could be strengthened in Jairus.
[00:34:32] So she is. She's held out to us in this passage as an unlikely model of faith. She pursues Jesus by faith. She stretches out her hand by faith. She steps out of the crowd by faith. She testifies concerning Christ by faith.
[00:34:47] And she's declaring before the whole crowd, what's impossible with man is possible with Jesus Christ.
[00:34:55] And she moves from fear.
[00:34:59] Faith.
[00:35:02] And this is what's so amazing. It wasn't the strength of her faith that made her well.
[00:35:08] It wasn't the strength of her faith that saved her.
[00:35:12] Her weak faith was placed in a strong Christ.
[00:35:19] Her true faith, as weak as it was. Did you notice it grew by testing. Did you see that?
[00:35:26] Our Father's Abraham. Our father Abraham's faith grew by testing. Genesis 22. And this woman's faith was tested. She wanted to just believe that Jesus could heal her, touch him and then leave.
[00:35:39] But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:35:42] I want to test your faith.
[00:35:44] And he calls her out of the crowd to give public testimony.
[00:35:50] And Jesus wants to test Jairus faith, too. He had faith. He knew and believed that Jesus could save his daughter.
[00:35:59] But he wanted to strengthen his faith and move him from fear to faith.
[00:36:04] And so this poor woman, helpless, healed woman, is an example for us.
[00:36:13] She reaches out to Christ with empty hands, and she trusts him to do the impossible.
[00:36:23] Now, friend, if you're not a follower of Jesus, the Bible says very clearly that all of us, every single one of us, have rebelled against the good God who made us.
[00:36:36] We face his right and holy and good judgment because we've received everything from him. But we haven't honored him.
[00:36:47] We haven't loved him, and we haven't loved the people around us perfectly like he calls us to.
[00:36:56] And we require rescue.
[00:37:00] We don't just need to be rescued. We actually require resurrection.
[00:37:06] And just like this woman, and just like Jairus, friend, we are utterly helpless.
[00:37:13] And we are utterly hopeless. And we are utterly incapable of solving this problem on our own.
[00:37:20] We can't do it.
[00:37:25] But Christ's grace is greater than all our sins.
[00:37:31] He can do the impossible.
[00:37:35] He can do what the law weakened by the flesh, is unable to do.
[00:37:40] Friend, are you fearful and helpless this morning? I've got wonderful news for you. There is a friend of sinners. Who loves to help the helpless and who can do the impossible. Even this morning, friend, look to Christ.
[00:37:57] Look to the one who lived and died and rose again.
[00:38:01] Even this moment, he's calling to you to turn from whatever you're trusting in. With the empty hands of faith, receive Jesus Christ.
[00:38:14] He promises he will save you.
[00:38:18] He will help you.
[00:38:20] Faith is the beggar's outstretched hand.
[00:38:25] Faith reaches out to touch Christ.
[00:38:28] And by receiving Christ, friend, you receive everything.
[00:38:32] You receive all things in him.
[00:38:36] And so, friend, my encouragement to you this morning, leave the graveyard of your shame and your guilt by reaching out to the living Christ. With the empty hands of faith, bring your sins to Jesus by faith alone and receive his endless love.
[00:39:00] Faith reaches out to touch Jesus.
[00:39:06] And number two.
[00:39:07] And finally, consider how holiness reaches down to touch the unclean.
[00:39:18] Consider how holiness reaches down to touch the unclean.
[00:39:26] This passage is a tale of two daughters, isn't it?
[00:39:31] But it's also a tale of two touches.
[00:39:34] Twice we see a touch that, according to Old Testament law, ought to have rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean.
[00:39:42] But he's the Holy One of Israel.
[00:39:45] When he touches a defilement, he doesn't get defiled. He makes clean.
[00:39:51] An unclean woman, defiled by her illness, touches Jesus. And then later, Jesus touches the corpse, the hand of a little girl who has died.
[00:40:01] And yet, instead of being defiled, Jesus sanctifies the Holy One of Israel, reaches down and his touch makes the unclean clean.
[00:40:13] Isn't that wonderful?
[00:40:16] When holiness incarnate reaches down to touch the unclean, they are made clean forevermore.
[00:40:23] Jesus can do what the law of God is powerless to do. God's holy law is perfect. And it points out that we need cleansing. But it can't cleanse us.
[00:40:34] We need a redeemer. We sang earlier. Remember earlier in the service, we sang, his blood can make the phallus. What?
[00:40:45] That's weak. All right, let's go.
[00:40:47] It's clean. Ready? His blood can make the phallus. What?
[00:40:51] Clean. He can make us clean.
[00:40:53] We need more than perfect rules. We need a perfect redeemer.
[00:40:59] And what God the Father has given us in His Beloved Son is a perfect redeemer who died in our place, who was on the cross an outcast, who on that day was put outside the camp.
[00:41:16] The righteous for the unrighteous.
[00:41:20] He himself was touched by death. On Calvary, he was deemed unclean and he was deemed undefiled. And on that day, every as he was dying for sinners in our place for our sins. He didn't commit any sins.
[00:41:41] Do you remember what the scoffers said to him?
[00:41:44] They mocked him.
[00:41:45] They laughed at him.
[00:41:48] He saved others.
[00:41:51] He cannot save himself.
[00:41:54] Oh, brothers and sisters, he didn't save himself because he was saving others.
[00:42:01] He was saving us.
[00:42:03] The unclean.
[00:42:07] He tasted death, Christian, for you, that he might bring you to glory.
[00:42:16] Jesus touched death, but death could not hold him. And he rose again on the third day for our justification. He arose and he ascended into heaven. And he's ruling and reigning at God's right hand.
[00:42:32] And Jesus is coming again. And he won't deal with sin. He's going to save all of those who eagerly await him.
[00:42:40] Now, friend. Listen, brothers and sisters, as I close.
[00:42:46] In this life, we will have trouble, won't we?
[00:42:52] In this life, you may lose your health.
[00:42:56] In this life, you may lose your child.
[00:43:01] In this life, you may lose your mom.
[00:43:05] In this life, you may lose your dad.
[00:43:09] You will never lose your Savior.
[00:43:13] You will never lose your Savior.
[00:43:16] When Christ calls you son, when Christ calls you daughter, you're his child forevermore.
[00:43:27] You're pitied and protected and provided for.
[00:43:31] And all that he has and all that he is is yours.
[00:43:37] Jesus does the impossible for the helpless and he guides them from fear to faith.
[00:43:43] Beloved. Beloved. No matter what we are facing this morning, no matter how impossible things appear, our wonderful and merciful Savior says to each one of us, do not fear, only believe.
[00:44:02] Let's pray.
