[0:00] Luke chapter 8, we're going to read from verse 22 to the end of the chapter, a day in the life of Jesus.
[0:13] So page 1037, as we look at this day in the life of Jesus. So let's hear God's word together.
[0:25] One day, Jesus said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side of the lake. So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep.
[0:37] A squall came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him saying, master, master, we're going to drown.
[0:49] He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsided and all was calm. Where is your faith? He asked his disciples. In fear and amazement, they asked one another, who is this?
[1:04] He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him. They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town.
[1:18] For a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, what do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high God?
[1:34] I beg you, don't torture me. For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
[1:53] Jesus asked him, what is your name? Legion, he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the abyss.
[2:04] A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and they heard rust down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
[2:19] When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind.
[2:37] And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.
[2:50] So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, return home and tell how much God has done for you.
[3:01] So the man went away and told all over the town how much Jesus had done for him. Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.
[3:12] Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house, because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
[3:22] As Jesus was on his way, the crowd almost crushed him. And a woman who was there had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[3:39] 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. I know that power has gone out from me.
[3:51] 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.
[4:03] Then he said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler.
[4:15] Your daughter is dead, he said. Don't bother the teacher anymore. Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, Don't be afraid. Just believe, and she will be healed.
[4:28] 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.
[4:41] Stop wailing, Jesus said. She is 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.
[4:54] 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.
[5:09] Amen. We're continuing with this study, enjoying God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thinking about how the way the three persons of the Trinity relate to us and how we relate to them can help us in our walk of faith.
[5:28] And today we're going to think about the truth that in every pain and trouble we experience, we can enjoy the Son's presence. It was probably about this time last year, I think, that as a church, we thought about the fact that God is eternal and unchanging, and that's good news.
[5:50] This evening we're thinking about the fact that Jesus is unchanging, that as Hebrews 13 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
[6:03] And I want us to think about why that's particularly good news for us when we find ourselves walking through pain and suffering. And it's good news for us as we remember that what Jesus was then, as we encounter him in the Gospels, Jesus is now and always will be for his people.
[6:29] It's good for us to remember that while we are always changing, that while our response to others is affected by all kinds of things, by our own personal circumstances, by our physical well-being or otherwise, by the emotions or stresses that we go through, the same is not true of Jesus.
[6:53] That while our ability to help others has limits, there are those drains on our resources. We have our own stuff to deal with.
[7:05] People talk about compassion fatigue. We see so much suffering on our screens that we can become immune to feeling pain and expressing sympathy.
[7:16] When we do invest in others, there's an emotional drain that makes it hard for us sometimes to do that for the long haul. And again, that's not like Jesus.
[7:30] So Jesus is like us in that he became one of us, in that he experienced weakness and suffering, and so is able to sympathize with us.
[7:41] But he is unlike us in that he is eternal God, in that he has unlimited resources. And here in this context, that means he has unlimited resources for caring for you and for me.
[7:56] And we meet in Jesus someone who is never too busy, never too tired, never too preoccupied to care for us. We find in Jesus someone who never becomes desensitized to our pain and suffering.
[8:11] Jesus knows everything that's happening all around the world, and yet he cares for each one of us. We are precious to him. So it is good news for us to recognize that Jesus is unchanging.
[8:24] The character of Jesus we discover in the Gospels is the character of the Jesus who sits in heaven for us. So I want us to do this evening is just to look at a few hours in the life of Jesus that we find here in Luke chapter 8 in order to give us hope, to remind ourselves that in every pain, we can enjoy the Son's presence.
[8:48] So we're going to look at verse 40 to verse 56. And we're going to discover there, as we have already, two very different people, but they have one shared need.
[8:59] Now one of the things about the way the Gospel writers put their Gospels together is that they typically move from one person's story to another person's story, to some teaching of Jesus, and it can feel very busy.
[9:14] I think we all appreciate Jesus lived a very busy life, but sometimes it can seem quite well-ordered and structured from here to here to here. But Luke, in this little section, it shows us Jesus in his extreme busyness, but also these different complex needs pressing in at once.
[9:31] And what we see at the same time is Jesus showing compassion, love, and power for whoever comes to him, making time for them, serving, healing, saving.
[9:43] So let's meet these two people with one shared need who come to Jesus. First of all, let's think about Jairus. Who is Jairus? Verse 41, we discover something of him.
[9:56] Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, 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. So he's a ruler of the synagogue.
[10:08] So we're presented with somebody who is part of the religious elite, somebody who had a reputation for godliness, somebody who is able to understand and to teach the Bible.
[10:19] And in that day, to be part of the religious elite meant you had high status in society. But we know something else about Jairus. Despite all of that privilege and status and standing, he is also in a desperate nightmare situation.
[10:37] Ask any parent their worst fear, and this is it. This is Jairus' experience. And so what we discover about Jairus is that he forgets his status to come to Jesus, to fall on his knees, to publicly beg and plead for help.
[10:55] Jesus is his only hope, and he knows it. So that's Jairus. But he's not the only person we meet. As Jesus walks towards Jairus' house, we also meet a woman unnamed.
[11:08] Verse 43, what do we learn about her? A woman was there who'd been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. In other accounts, we discover she spent all her money going to different doctors, but nobody could help.
[11:24] But we certainly know this lady is on the other end of the social spectrum. For 12 years, she has been suffering physically with bleeding. The same length of time that Jairus' daughter has been alive, she has suffered from bleeding.
[11:39] And because of that bleeding, she is regarded as being religiously unclean. Jairus, worship leader, this woman denied access to worship.
[11:53] Jairus at the center of society, this lady socially isolated. Nobody wants to come into contact with her lest they too become unclean.
[12:06] So she is penniless, she is hopeless, but she comes to Jesus in her need. So they're different in so many ways, in terms of gender, in terms of class, in terms of religious worship, even in terms of how they approach.
[12:19] Jairus comes publicly, this woman comes privately, secretly. But they're the same in this one crucial way. There is a situation they are facing that lies beyond human help.
[12:32] And they both make the same response. They turn to Jesus. It's interesting, as Luke presents us with these two stories, he's also at the same time pointing us towards the fact that there were large crowds present.
[12:46] It seems like wherever Jesus went, there were lots of people who would gather who seemed to be there, at least in part for the show. What will Jesus do next? But not these two.
[12:58] These two came in their need and they came with faith. And as we read their stories, we're also discovering the unchanging Savior, Jesus.
[13:14] He is the one who will help them both. He is not distant. He is not disinterested. He makes time for them both. And we are invited to learn from them to run to Jesus in our pain, through our tears, with the shame that we carry.
[13:35] When we think about our own circumstances, what is that pain? What is that burden that you carry? Jesus says, Jesus says, come to me, take your burden to me, find rest from me.
[13:49] And remember this Jesus, his heart is as big as ever it was. He sympathizes, and he draws near, and he is strong to comfort, and he is mighty to save.
[14:01] Or maybe like this woman, it's shame that we wear. Perhaps because of failures in our past.
[14:11] Perhaps because of addictions that we wrestle with, patterns of sin that we struggle with. Jesus knows our shame, and he can give us peace.
[14:22] He can clothe us with his honor. Maybe we come with doubts and fears this evening when we think about our situation and our struggles.
[14:35] I don't think anyone else would understand what I'm going through. Perhaps we feel overwhelmed, and we find ourselves, I can't face this alone. Where can I turn? As we think about these stories, and as we think about our unchanging Savior, we're invited to see Jesus as the answer for our fear.
[14:55] To think of him in heaven, that unchanging Savior, still for his people, wanting to love us. So let's think of these two different stories.
[15:07] Let's think of these stories of faith, and let's think some more about our strong Savior. It's interesting, when Luke has written his account here, we're invited to see two healing stories, but the word for healing in the Greek is literally saved.
[15:29] When the woman is healed, in verse 43 and 44, and then in the presence of all the people, verse 47, she told why she touched him and how she'd been instantly healed.
[15:45] And Jesus says in verse 48, your faith has healed you. Those healed words are the same as the word saved. And same when Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from death, healing and salvation.
[16:02] Why combine the two? Because in these healing stories, we're being shown a window into the kingdom to come.
[16:14] And we are being invited to see in all of the miracle stories, here is how the world was meant to be, and here is how the world will one day be.
[16:27] Remember that rich and glorious promise at the end of Revelation? The hope for the people of God is a renewed world. Will there be no more pain or tears or sadness or death?
[16:38] Jesus is giving us a window into that great hope. These miracle stories are a lens through which to view Jesus, the Savior, to see that he truly is the resurrection and the life, to see that he is the one who has come to make everything new, including us.
[17:02] In the time of Jesus, it happened then, often for us, our hope of healing and deliverance. Maybe lands in eternity, but still we trust in this same Savior who has come as the servant of the Lord in order to give the hope of new and perfect life.
[17:26] So let's take a look at these two stories of faith and salvation. We'll begin with the woman. So in verse 44, we discover that she comes behind Jesus, secretly touches the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[17:43] Who touched me? Jesus asked. Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you, but Jesus said, someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.
[17:58] That question, who touched me, may or may not be similar to the question that God asks in Genesis chapter 3.
[18:09] As Adam and Eve, in their sin, in their sense of shame, try and hide from God, God comes into the garden and asks Adam and Eve, where are you? In that case, God is not ignorant of the situation.
[18:23] He wants to draw them out for their good. It may very well be that Jesus is doing the same thing here. Jesus wants to draw this woman out to speak to her for her sake and for the sake of the crowd to make it clear that her faith, as Jesus says in verse 48, has healed her.
[18:44] But maybe it might be helpful for us to think, well, why has she come secretly to Jesus? Why hasn't she done what Jairus did, fall on her knees and beg? Most likely because of these 12 years of being isolated and unclean.
[19:00] Most likely because of a fear of rejection. People may have been offended by her attempt to get close to Jesus and by extension getting close to them. She may have worried about humiliation, so she came privately.
[19:15] But yet she came with faith. Jesus can identify the touch of faith. And so as he's dealing with the critical situation of Jairus, he still makes time to stop.
[19:32] So let's think, why does Jesus stop? One thing that becomes clear is Jesus stops, so this woman can give clear testimony to the work of Jesus in her life.
[19:51] She has moved from being a secret believer in Jesus to being a powerful public witness for Jesus. Here she is before Jesus and before the crowds, and she's saying, well, here was my life before Jesus.
[20:08] This is what has brought me here. I came in my needs and my uncleanness and my suffering. This was my identity. Isolated, unable to worship.
[20:20] I came with faith and I stand before you healed and saved by Jesus' power and by Jesus' grace. So by Jesus stopping, he has allowed this woman to publicly share her story and to share it in such a way that glory is given to God and honor is given to Jesus.
[20:43] Jesus. That's a wonderful moment for her life. I wonder if you and I have had that privilege of telling our own story in that same way.
[20:54] This is what I was like. This was my past. Then I met Jesus and this is the difference that he has made. It can be a very useful piece of homework to think for ourselves.
[21:05] If I had two minutes, three minutes to talk to a friend or a family member about what my faith is all about, how would I do that in such a way that like this woman, glory is given to Jesus.
[21:19] So Jesus stops so this woman can give testimony. Jesus stops also so that we can get an understanding into the transfer that has taken place.
[21:31] So normally, and you find this all through the Old Testament laws, if a person who is unclean touched another person, and then the uncleanness transferred to them.
[21:42] But here, what we discover rather is that Jesus' cleanness flows to her. She is instantly healed. She is instantly made clean.
[21:54] In this battle, I'm at the stage where we think about superheroes and battles. Here is Jesus and his power is greater.
[22:05] The force of uncleanness is no match for the perfect holiness of Jesus, the Savior. In the Old Testament, all those laws about uncleanness were because uncleanness represented sin.
[22:22] So in this wonderful little moment, Jesus is reminding us his grace, his power, his love is greater than our sin. It has the power to deal with to remove sin.
[22:37] And ultimately, we see that at the cross where Jesus dies and he disarms the powers and authorities that were against us. He cancels the record of our debt against God that stood against us so that by faith we too become clean through contact with Jesus and that transfer that takes place.
[23:04] Then one other significant thing about this stopping of Jesus is that it confirms to this woman a change of relationship. See how Jesus speaks of her in verse 48.
[23:18] Then he said to her, daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. Wonderful message. Somebody who's lived in isolation for 12 years, now Jesus calls her daughter.
[23:35] The grace of God that adopts people into his family is a glorious thing. To remember Jesus, our elder brother, our strong savior, who's always present, the one who's brought that change of relationship is a wonderful thing.
[23:52] Philip Riken, the Bible teacher, said, Jesus had called this woman not to humiliate her, which perhaps she was used to, but to save her, to heal her, and to love her as God's own dear child.
[24:10] And nothing has changed because Jesus hasn't changed. We can come to him in our chaos. We can come near to him through our tears, and we too can leave with his peace, knowing his strong presence with us when our faith is in Jesus, the one who died and rose to rescue and to restore and to be present with his people always.
[24:41] That's the woman's story of faith and discovering a strong savior, but what of Jairus? Something of an emotional rollercoaster for Jairus these few minutes of his life.
[24:58] He comes with desperation to Jesus. This is his last chance for his daughter, so he falls on his knees and he begs, and they're on the move, so hopes are raised, and then there's this delay.
[25:13] What was Jairus thinking at that point? But then perhaps hope bloomed again as he saw Jesus, by his grace, working this miracle in the woman's life, but then his hopes appear dashed by the message of verse 49.
[25:31] As his servants come, your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore. I read an account last week of a mum talking about the anniversary of the loss of her daughter, and she said it was like someone pulled out my heart, my battery, had been taken out.
[25:53] It's almost impossible to imagine what Jairus is going through at this moment, the pain that he experienced, but where is Jesus? He is present in this pain, and he calls to Jairus in verse 50, have faith, do not fear, don't be afraid, just believe, and she will be healed.
[26:19] From anyone else. These words are just cruel, hurtful, heartless, but from an unchanging, all-powerful son of God. From this Jesus who has just healed someone from 12 years of pain, there is solid hope that he can bring new life to a 12-year-old girl.
[26:40] And so we see Jairus holding on, keeping his faith in Jesus, continuing that journey. The commandment most frequently mentioned in the Bible is do not fear.
[26:58] Faith and fear are like oil and water, they just do not mix, they're like opponents in a battle. And Jesus says to Jairus and Jesus says to us, fight to hold on to faith, don't give in to fear.
[27:18] Here is Jairus confronted with our deepest fear, the fear of death itself. And we're being reminded that with faith in Jesus, death is not the end.
[27:33] We're being reminded that our greatest enemy is powerless compared to Jesus. Jesus, the one who offers eternal life, who is our only hope in life and in death.
[27:49] And we see that in the healing, the saving that he does. Verse 44, Jesus took the girl by the hand, the crowd knows she's dead, but he took her by the hand and said, my child, get up.
[28:04] Her spirit returned and at once she stood up and Jesus told them to give her something to eat. moment in this power, in this story of resurrection, power in this story of a strong saviour, that there's a signpost to his own resurrection, a reminder that Jesus is stronger than death.
[28:25] Death has no claim on him and death has no hold on him. He is our sinless saviour. And there is too hope for our resurrection, a resurrection that will be permanent and that will be glorious.
[28:43] For this little girl, she would die once again, but for us, when our faith is in Jesus, death is the gateway to eternal life, to resurrection life that is permanent and that is glorious.
[28:59] So in these few hours, we are reminded and encouraged as God's people that in every pain, we can enjoy the Son's presence.
[29:12] Whether that pain and suffering that we endure is private or public, whether it is long-term or temporary, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual, we know that Jesus is not disinterested.
[29:30] We know that Jesus is not distant in heaven. in our tears, hear him say, I am with you always.
[29:42] I will never leave you or abandon you. In our pain, in our struggles, like Jairus, like this woman, come to him with faith.
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