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[0:00] from the Holy Bible, from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 8, verse 40 to 56, and it's on page 1043 of the Church Bible.

[0:14] So page 1043, and it's Luke, chapter 8, verse 40 to 56.

[0:32] So Jesus has been on the, he's crossed the Lake of Galilee with his disciples, and he arrives so that we take up the reading in verse 40.

[0:51] 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.

[1:04] And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age, and she was dying.

[1:17] As Jesus went, the people pressed around him, and there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years. And though she spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.

[1:34] 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?

[1:47] When all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you. But Jesus said, Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.

[2:04] And when 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.

[2:19] And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, Your daughter is dead.

[2:37] Do not trouble the teacher anymore. But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not fear, only believe, and she will be well.

[2:51] And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her.

[3:04] But he said, Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.

[3:15] But taking her by the hand, he called, saying, Child, arise. And her spirit returned, and she got up at once.

[3:27] And he directed that something should be given to her to eat. And her parents were amazed. But he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

[3:40] May God bless to us that reading from his word. To that passage that we read from Luke chapter 8, verse 46 to 50.

[3:55] Sorry, verse 40 to 56. Near the beginning of the film, the Fellowship of the Ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the hobbit, Frodo Baggins, meets Gandalf, who has arrived in the Shire.

[4:19] And Frodo says accusingly to Gandalf, You're late. And Gandalf replies, A wizard is never late. Nor is he early.

[4:32] He arrives precisely when he means to. Now there are a number of times in the Gospels, when I'm sure that people felt that Jesus had arrived late.

[4:47] Too late. And I'm sure Jairus was one of those. But we see from this that Jesus is never late. Even in a situation where someone has died, he is never late.

[5:02] He always arrives when he means to. In this chapter, Luke chapter 8, we read of four miracles, one after the other, that demonstrate Jesus Christ's authority and power over, first of all, the great forces of nature in the calming of the storm.

[5:23] His authority and power over evil spirits when he rescues a demon-oppressed man. Also his authority and power over illness and uncleanness.

[5:34] And even over death. And we're looking today at those last two. It's kind of an intertwined narrative. So Jesus and his disciples arrive back by boat from the eastern side of Galilee back to the western side of the lake.

[5:54] And we read that when he returned, there was a crowd waiting for him. They were waiting for him. They were expecting him. And among the crowd is this man, Jairus, who is a synagogue leader.

[6:09] And he's desperate. His 12-year-old daughter is ill and about to die. And so he goes to Jesus and pleads with him to come and heal her.

[6:21] And so Jesus sets off to go with him. But also in this crowd is a woman who has suffered constant menstrual bleeding for 12 years.

[6:34] That would have caused her physical weakness and discomfort. But it also, in that culture, in that time, made her ritually unclean all of the time.

[6:47] So, of course, this is a Jewish context. And the Jewish scripture, the Torah, says this in Leviticus 15.25. When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period, or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.

[7:12] Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period. And anything she sits on will be unclean as during her period.

[7:25] Anyone who touches them will be unclean. They must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. Now, for many of us, that may be hard to sort of get our heads around, but in many societies in the world today, that sort of thing is still in operation.

[7:44] So uncleanness, as we see from that passage from Leviticus, was contagious. And this all meant that this woman was cut off and excluded from her society, from Jewish society.

[7:59] She had a constant and continuous duty to self-isolate. And she was barred from the temple, from religious festivals, and from so much of Jewish worship.

[8:17] And she is also desperate. She's been to every doctor and healer in the area, but they have all failed to help her. And she has heard about Jesus and the great miracles that he performs.

[8:33] And so she decides to go and touch his clothes in order to be healed. She wants no one to notice her.

[8:44] She's ashamed and embarrassed by her condition. And also, Jesus is at that moment dealing with the request of an important member of the community, with Jairus. How could she, a nobody, make a claim on Jesus' time and attention?

[9:01] And surely a religious teacher would not want contact with an unclean person like her. That's, I'm sure, what she thinks. But in her desperation, she thinks, if only I can touch his clothes, I will be healed.

[9:18] In fact, Mark's account gives us her thought processes and tells us that's what she thought. So she wants to get healing with no fuss, with no one knowing.

[9:31] And so she sort of makes her way through the crowd, pushes her way through, reaches Jesus and touches his cloak. And immediately, she is healed. Now, according to the Torah, the law, whatever an unclean person touched became unclean.

[9:51] We saw that from Leviticus. So normally, Jesus would become unclean by her touching him. But here, instead of the uncleanness flowing from the woman to Jesus, contact with Jesus makes the woman clean.

[10:07] That tells us that the Lord Jesus is so pure and holy that his touch makes the unclean clean. Well, Jesus turns to the crowds and asks them, who touched me?

[10:25] And Peter objects that the crowds are, you know, they're all pressing around him. Everyone's touching him. But Jesus says, no, somebody has touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.

[10:39] And that suggests a cost to Jesus that's in keeping with his whole mission. He came to serve. He came to give his life as a ransom for many.

[10:50] And blessing and healing come to others at cost to Jesus himself. And ultimately, that is true of Jesus' suffering and death on a cross.

[11:07] Well, in verse 47, we read that when the woman saw that she could not go and notice, she came trembling and fell at Jesus' feet. She's terrified.

[11:19] She's been exposed. And I'm sure she thinks, I'm really for it now. I'm really in trouble now. But before all the people there, she told why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed.

[11:36] And Jesus, instead of criticizing or condemning her, speaks to her words of reassurance and comfort and acceptance.

[11:48] Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. I want to just sort of stop the narrative there and just ask the question, why did Jesus expose her?

[12:06] Well, I think there's a number of reasons. First of all, he is due the honor and the credit for healing her. This was not an outwardly obvious miracle like many that Jesus performed, where someone who's paralyzed is able to walk again or a blind person able to see.

[12:25] This was an unseen miracle. Others would only know about it if she tells them. And she owes that to Jesus. And of course, that is true of us, that if we have received from Jesus Christ blessing, answered prayer, salvation, then we owe that to thank him and also to speak of it before others.

[12:49] But the Lord Jesus also exposes her for her own benefit. She wanted no one to know about it. She had been excluded for 12 years from society.

[13:03] And she felt she was a nobody. She felt she was unimportant. But to the Lord Jesus, she is important. And he wants to meet her personally.

[13:16] And he addresses her as daughter. A word of kindness and gentleness and honor and love. And you today may feel that you're not important.

[13:32] You may feel that for whatever reason, you're excluded. Maybe in school, in work, in your family, in your neighborhood. That for some reason, you are excluded.

[13:44] People don't accept you. But if that's the case, you still matter to Jesus. You are important to Jesus Christ. Perhaps also, Jesus sort of brings her out, you know, into the open before the crowd.

[14:02] For Jairus' benefit. Jairus is desperately concerned about the emergency at home. For his daughter, who is dying. And now he's got this excruciating delay.

[14:17] It's as if Jesus is saying to Jairus, You're very naturally concerned for your precious, beloved daughter. But this woman here, she is my daughter.

[14:29] She is beloved and precious to me. But also, Jesus wants the woman herself to know that it was through her faith in him that she was healed or saved.

[14:45] Some people think, if only I could touch something that was connected to Jesus. Or go to some place that was associated with Jesus.

[14:59] Then I would receive some, maybe a healing or some blessing. But Jesus wants her to know, and us to know, that it's not touching something associated with Jesus.

[15:11] It's not going to some place associated with Jesus that gives us any blessing. But it's faith in him. It's trusting in him that gives us blessing.

[15:23] And yet we see that Jesus accepts her muddled faith. He's not harsh and critical. But gently tells her that it is by faith in him that she is healed.

[15:37] Now some of us may be so concerned for doctrinal correctness. That we would totally dismiss such muddled faith. Such faith that's sort of mixed in with superstition.

[15:48] Now of course, sound doctrine is vitally important. And Jesus does correct her. Gently correct her. But sometimes we need to see the seed of faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of muddle and confusion.

[16:06] But today, no less than then, it is faith in Jesus Christ. It is trusting in him that brings blessing and salvation to you and me.

[16:16] One other point here. And it's the word that's translated in verse 48.

[16:30] Jesus says, Daughter, your faith has made you well. And that word, it's actually the word that's usually translated, saved. So it could be translated, your faith has saved you.

[16:42] And it's the same thing in verse 50, where Jesus says to Jairus, Do not fear, only believed, and she will be saved.

[16:55] Now being saved, or salvation, is one of those huge words in the whole Bible. It's a hugely important word.

[17:05] In fact, Jesus, the name Jesus, means the Lord saves. And Joseph was told by the angel at his birth, You shall call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

[17:24] And salvation is a huge theme throughout the whole of the Bible. But here we see that salvation is holistic.

[17:37] What we mean by that is that it encompasses, it covers the whole person. Not just the soul and the mind, but also the body.

[17:49] Because this woman, she was healed, but Jesus says you're saved. And the same with Jairus' daughter. Now for most of us, if we are believers in Christ, that aspect of salvation, that physical aspect of salvation, will take place at the resurrection.

[18:09] When Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Then our bodies will be raised to eternal life. We will be totally healed of all that afflicts us.

[18:22] And our bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies, no longer subject to decay and disease and accident and death. And this miracle, like all of Jesus' healing miracles, is an advanced foretaste.

[18:38] It's a trailer of that future healing at the resurrection. And it shows us that the salvation that Jesus Christ brings, it is total, it's a total salvation.

[18:49] It's a salvation of the whole person. A few years ago, our family had to catch a 7am train to London from Glasgow.

[19:12] And we had to get a taxi to the railway station. Now, none of us are at our best early in the morning. We're not morning people.

[19:23] And so we were a wee bit late leaving home. But we still had enough time, although we were a little bit anxious that we wouldn't reach the station on time. And then just a few streets away from the station, we got stuck in traffic.

[19:41] And the seconds ticked by, and 7am came. And our only hope was that the train would leave late. Well then finally the taxi arrived at the station, maybe about 5 past 7.

[19:55] We jumped out of the car and legged it onto the platform, just in time to see the train leaving. We were too late. We had missed the train.

[20:08] Now something like this happened to Jairus, the synagogue leader. Except that it was something far more serious than missing a train. His 12-year-old daughter was about to die.

[20:20] He had gone to Jesus and pleaded with him to come and heal her. And Jesus had set off with him back to the house. But then there was this terrible, excruciating delay.

[20:31] This woman with her condition comes to be healed by Jesus. And Jesus just seems to take an eternity in dealing with her and healing her.

[20:44] And speaking to her. And Jairus is now panicking. His daughter is dying. Every second counts. Could not Jesus speak to this woman later?

[20:56] Her case might be serious. But it's not an emergency. And surely he could find her later and say these things to her. Has he no sense of triage?

[21:09] And then Jairus' panic turns to despair. A messenger arrives from the house with the news that his daughter has died. And he tells Jairus, don't bother the teacher anymore.

[21:24] It's too late now. And the messenger from the house is actually quite abrupt in breaking this bad news.

[21:35] Which might suggest that he and others didn't approve of Jairus going to Jesus for help. And the messenger just says, don't bother him anymore.

[21:47] It's too late. Even if Jesus were able to heal people. There's nothing he can do now. Because she's dead. It's too late. But he's making a big mistake.

[22:00] He's underestimating the Lord Jesus. And in verse 50 we read that Jesus says, Jesus on hearing this answered Jairus, do not fear.

[22:14] Only believe. And she will be well. She will be saved. Jesus Christ is saying this in a situation of death.

[22:25] And if Jesus Christ can say this in a situation of death, then there is no situation that you are in that is too hard for him. You might be experiencing great trouble in your life.

[22:40] Maybe a disaster. You may have been ill. Or you may be ill. And you may have turmoil in your family. You may be facing some huge change in your life.

[22:52] Or have some huge decision to make. And you don't know which way to go. And you're confused. Or you may be worried about money. And financial difficulty.

[23:04] Or maybe the loss of your reputation. Maybe you feel guilt. And shame. Maybe you just wish you could turn back the clock. You wish you could unsay something you have said.

[23:18] And maybe you just feel unclean. That your life is polluted by what you have done or said or thought. Or maybe you fear death. And what lies beyond death.

[23:30] Well, Jesus Christ's words to you in that situation are the same as to Jairus. Don't be afraid. Just believe. Believe in me. Believe in my power. Trust me.

[23:41] Put your confidence in me. And Jesus Christ may not answer your prayer in the way that you expect or want.

[23:53] But he will work everything out for your ultimate good if you trust him. Well, they arrive finally at the house.

[24:04] And there's a crowd of mourners there. And Jesus sends everyone out of the room. And just takes the girl's parents.

[24:15] Her mother and father. And three of his disciples. Peter, James and John. And there's a contrast here with the public exposure of the woman he healed earlier.

[24:28] There we saw he kind of exposes her before the public. He brings her out. He puts the spotlight on her. But by contrast, he sends everyone out of the room.

[24:41] And this is for the girl's benefit. Because he wants her to awake to peace and calm. Rather than a room full of excited people. The Lord Jesus thinks of everything.

[24:53] And in verse 54 we read that he takes hold of her hand and says to her. Child, get up. Again, to the Torah.

[25:06] Contact with a corpse made a person unclean. But instead of the uncleanness flowing to Jesus. Instead, life flows from the Lord Jesus to the dead girl.

[25:22] And in verse 55 we read that her spirit returned to her. And immediately she got up. And Jairus and his wife received back their beloved daughter from the dead.

[25:33] But Jesus, in verse 55, he says, give her something to eat. And in verse 56 we read that her parents were amazed.

[25:45] But he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened. And again, we see the contrast with how Jesus dealt with the woman earlier on. The fact that the girl who was dead was now alive.

[26:01] It couldn't be hidden. All the mourners knew that she was dead. But Jesus' aim is to make this as easy as possible for the girl and her parents. And to avoid sensation in the community.

[26:13] Of course, they didn't have social media and tabloid press. But things could still go viral. You know, the grapevine was there and in every other society was amazingly fast and efficient.

[26:29] And news could spread like wildfire. And so we see Jesus, he wants to make this as easy as possible. To avoid some sensation. And again, we see his compassion even in the details.

[26:42] And again, in contrast with the way he dealt with the woman earlier. Although that was also compassion for her and others. And so in these two, this sort of intertwined narrative.

[26:56] Jesus dealing with the woman and with Jairus and his daughter. We see his authority and power over illness. And even over death.

[27:08] And that is wonderful news. It's wonderful news for those of us who are ill. Or sick. Or disabled. Or just feeling our age. And in the process of decay.

[27:20] Which ultimately all of us are. The salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. Brings forgiveness and healing and cleansing.

[27:32] And renewal and even resurrection from the dead. Don't miss out on that. This is the wonder of Jesus Christ brings.

[27:44] He is the saviour. The one who saves. Who brings forgiveness and cleanness. And wholeness. And life from the dead. Believe in him.

[27:54] Trust in him for that. Well according to the Holy Bible. For we ourselves. Our sins. Make us unclean.

[28:08] And our sins result in death. Our uncleanness means that we are not fit. To be in the presence of a pure and holy God.

[28:18] And death. Physical and spiritual death. Is the just punishment for our sins. But here we see the Lord Jesus dealing with both of these.

[28:32] He takes away uncleanness. And he takes away even death. And he can do that for us today. If we come to him in faith.

[28:43] That is possible ultimately because of his own death. His blood. Sacrificed on that cross. Purifies us. And he dies in our place for our sins.

[28:57] And God demonstrated his approval of Jesus. And his acceptance of that sacrifice. By raising him from the dead. How can we today receive blessing and healing and salvation.

[29:11] From Jesus Christ. What do you need to bring to him. For all the woman and all Jairus had was their need. And a basic trust that Jesus could help them. And all we need to bring to him.

[29:24] Is our need. And to trust him. With that. Let's pray. Lord we praise you for what we read in this wonderful account.

[29:35] Of healing and raising the dead. We thank you for the compassion. For your compassion that we see in this narrative.

[29:47] Compassion even in the details. And also your power. Power even over death itself. We pray that. You would enable us.

[29:59] Each of us to trust you. Whatever our situation is in life. Whatever our need. And we all have need. We are all in need of forgiveness. We all have many other needs.

[30:09]  We pray that we would bring those needs to you. And that we would place our confidence. Our trust. Our belief. Our hope. In you. Amen.