The Two Daughters

[0:00] As I head off to Sunday school, we can join together in a word of prayer.

[0:13] Let's pray. Lord God, we come before you, shall we? Come humbly. We acknowledge we come before a sovereign God.

[0:24] We come to this place, each one of us, so varied and so different. Our backgrounds, our circumstances, even our week, even our past day is so different. We come just now to you, the unchangeable God, in whom there is no variableness, in whom there is no change.

[0:43] You are God eternal. We come just now to a God who is holy. As the angels cry out that continual cry of holy, holy, holy, we acknowledge that we come before you just now as those who this past week, this past day, that we are not holy.

[1:03] In our actions, in our thoughts, in our words, we have done and said and thought things which are less than holy. Which in fact at times are the opposite of holy.

[1:14] Our lives are not holy lives. We often live lives that are not set apart from the rest of this world. We come just now realizing and realizing perhaps afresh the fact that we are creatures made from the dust.

[1:28] As we come before you, an eternal God. You who is ultimate perfection, ultimate glory, ultimate beauty. We come, we bow ourselves down before you, knowing that in and of ourselves we can do nothing.

[1:46] But in and of ourselves we can't even know your name to proclaim it. But we come today as living witnesses that you have made yourself known.

[1:56] Through your word, through your people, through generations of revelation as we have heard recently. Of the prophets and priests and kings.

[2:08] Through normal people. Through those of Israel. And sometimes even through Gentile nations you have made yourself known. You are the God who has stepped down.

[2:20] Who has condescended. Who has made yourself knowable to your creation and to your creatures. Out of your love, out of your grace, out of your mercy towards us.

[2:32] We come today praising the Lord Jesus Christ. Praising you for sending a saviour. Praising you for the willing saviour.

[2:46] Out of his perfect obedience to you. Out of his love for his people. That he came and he lived that life. That life of perfect obedience. That life of complete perfection.

[2:59] Like us and always. Apart from sin. He felt all the pains of humanity. All the reality of what it is to be human. All the days and months and years of warfare in this world.

[3:14] He suffered humbly day by day. All so that he would have for himself a people for his own possession. A people he would call his own.

[3:27] Ransomed. With his own precious blood. We come just now and we cry out before you. That it's only in his finished work we stand today. And because of this finished work we can stand.

[3:38] And with boldness we come before the throne. In a boldness not our own. But a boldness purchased for us by his great sacrifice.

[3:49] And because we come just now covered in his righteousness. We come before the throne. And we lay before the throne the anxieties. The burdens. The stresses. The worries.

[4:00] The pains. Of this past week. We come before the throne just now. And we bring to you Lord the responsibilities. And the various many burdens. Which hang over us this coming week.

[4:13] You alone know our individual circumstances and situations. We bring just now before you those who are mourning here today. Mourning recent loss.

[4:23] But mourning also perhaps losses of many years. If not many decades ago. As time comes and as times of year come and go. We know that anniversaries come.

[4:34] And that the truth of mourning is. And the truth of grieving is. That time does not remove the pain. It just changes. Ever so slightly perhaps how we view it.

[4:47] But pain is still real. And the pain is still there. The loss is still felt. We ask that the Holy Spirit. That he would comfort those who are grieving just now. Those of your people.

[4:57] We urge now for those here. Who are going through trials. And situations. And circumstances. And ongoing perhaps trials.

[5:08] And ongoing circumstances. And ongoing situations. Who the rest of us know nothing about. But you know. Those of us who are your people Lord. You are with us in these trials.

[5:19] You are with us in these situations. And yes we must go through them. But we go through them. As we have heard recently. We go through them. With you beside us. But more than that.

[5:30] Because we worship you as sovereign God. We go through these trials with you. Not just beside us. But before us and behind us. At all time. Belongs to you.

[5:43] At all reality. At all that we will see and know. At all that we are. Belongs to you. That we live. That we live. Day by day. Week by week. Being surprised. By our circumstances.

[5:54] Surprised. By our providences. None of these things. Are a surprise to you. In your infinite. And perfect plan. These things are all known. They're all accounted for.

[6:05] You know the end from the beginning. And the beginning. From the end. Help us then. To come before you today. With the confidence. The confidence. That no matter what we are facing. Just now.

[6:16] No matter the pain. That it may bring us. Or the worry. Or the agony. Or the tears. We may have to endure it with. We come just now. To our God. Who is close. To his people.

[6:27] Yes you are glorious. Yes you are Yahweh. Yes you are the great I am. Yes you are the one. Who needs nothing and nobody. Yes you are self-sustaining.

[6:37] In all your glory. And perfection. Yes you created all things. And sustain all things. But yet. You are close to all your people. As you number and name the stars.

[6:50] You number the hairs and the heads of your beloved people. As you know the names of the stars. You know our names. Help us then with that confidence today. A confidence not found in ourselves.

[7:02] To bring to the throne of grace. Our situations. Our trials. Our tribulations. And our pains. Knowing that we come before a God who cares. A God who loves his people.

[7:13] That love was shown in the sending of our saviour. It was not mechanical. It was not forced. It was not by any other reason. Than you loved your people.

[7:25] You sought to rescue us. From the chaos. And the death. And the hell. Of sin. We found ourselves in. Patrion and our Lord. For our friends with us today.

[7:35] We thank you for them. Those who come here. Perhaps week after week. Who as of yet. Cannot say that they know. Nor love Jesus. We thank you for their presence. We ask that even today.

[7:46] As we come around your word. Once more. You would open up their eyes. To your word. They would see. Perhaps even for the first time. What it is to know. And to worship. And to serve.

[7:57] A living saviour. A saviour who has done all things. If only they would come. And find and know that salvation. For themselves. A saviour who says.

[8:08] That he has paid the price. For all that come to him. We pray for our own congregation. We thank you for this gathering. We can gather here. Week after week. We thank you for all that takes place.

[8:21] Behind the scenes. Week by week. We pray Lord. For all the plans going forward. To the end of this year. And the plans. Into next year. Lord we make our plans. And we have our plans.

[8:31] But we know that. These plans. We leave it to you. That we try and build the walls. And we try and serve you as best we can. But if you're not with us.

[8:42] If you're not in it. Then it all is in vain. We try Lord. And we plant. And we water. But we have been reminded. From your word again and again. It's you alone who gives the increase.

[8:53] It's you alone who gives the life. Who gives the growth. We prepare for new life. For our village. For this district. If we would see hearts of stone.

[9:04] Be turned to hearts of flesh. Lord make use of us we ask. Help us to be your witnesses. Your faithful witnesses. Help us to be bold. As we go out of the gospel message. To this place. Help us to clearly.

[9:15] And faithfully. Be witnesses to you. In our homes. In our places of work. In this village at large. As we pray for ourselves. We also pray once more of course. For our brothers and sisters next door.

[9:28] Pray for them today. As they engage in worship also. We pray that you will. You will provide for them. An under shepherd. An under shepherd. Who will lead them. And who will guide them.

[9:39] We pray. We pray Lord. A prayer that is beyond our ability. We pray Lord. For days of unity. Days of togetherness. For this community. For this. Lord.

[9:50] This. Gathering of your people. We give you praise. For our own. Unity. As a congregation. We don't take it for granted. We thank you for it.

[10:00] We ask you to keep us united together. Help us as we seek to serve you in this place. Take away Lord. Perhaps embarrassment. To our shame.

[10:10] At times the embarrassment. Of proclaiming the gospel. Take away nervousness. And awkwardness. And leave us with just that zeal. Which sees our friends.

[10:20] And our family members. Heading towards a lost eternity. Which can do nothing. But point them towards us. We know we can save none. And in our preaching. In our witnessing.

[10:31] In our daily interactions. We can save none. But you. Lord. In your power. You save. You bring life. To whoever is deaf. You bring hope. To whoever is known.

[10:41] No hope whatsoever. We pray for ourselves. We pray for the wider. Gospel work. In our island. In our nation. Across the denominations. Lord. With every gathering today.

[10:51] Which worships you in spirit. And in truth. We ask you. Bless them. And be with them. Pray Lord. For our first minister. Our prime minister. And our king. We ask for wisdom. For them.

[11:02] As they seek to lead. Our nations. Lord. We do ask Lord. For prosperity. For our nations. But we ask. First and foremost. That you would. Change the hearts. Of these men. Bring them.

[11:13] To a saving knowledge. Of yourself. For without you. Leading and guiding them. Lord. We know that. They have no real. Solid foundation. To build their lives.

[11:24] Or their policies on. Or until we. See a change. In our days. We ask for faithfulness. In this day of small things. Help us to serve you. Faithfully. To serve you well.

[11:35] We give you praise. That we may find ourselves. A day of small things. We know that's not the same. For many areas. And many parts of this world. Where your gospel work.

[11:46] Is flourishing. Pray Lord. For these areas. Areas of growth. Where we have previously seen. No growth whatsoever. That reminder. That your church. Is not bound.

[11:57] To our culture. Not bound. To us. But your church. Is worldwide. And you bring your. Will to bear. Across all cultures. All nations.

[12:07] All languages. We pray once more Lord. For our persecuted brothers and sisters. Who serve you faithfully. Day by day. And at times. It feels for them. Second by second.

[12:18] Waiting as it were. For the end of our witness. And the end of times of our lives. Lord we ask you. Be close to them. Be with them. We thank you. For the freedom we have. In our country.

[12:29] To preach the gospel. So openly. We also thank you Lord. For the safety we have. In our country. Safety both from war. And from currently. From natural disaster. Lord we bring before you Lord.

[12:40] The disasters we are seeing. Even this past week. The suffering. And the pain. Lord we see. The very creation itself. Lord seem to cry out.

[12:51] As sin shows its reality. The pillar for those engaged. In the suffering. Of ongoing warfare. Lord heal them. Be with them. We see a world.

[13:02] That is so full of sin. And the effects of the fall. We find ourselves. Crying out to the Lord. And saying. That it is. A time so hard to bear. As we see the suffering. Of this world.

[13:15] We find no hope. In anything else. In anyone else. But. In Jesus. Well that's it. His name will be glorified today. His name will be lifted up. In our work.

[13:25] In our service. In our worship. May I ask. Lord you forgive us our sins. Just now. As we come before you. Acknowledging that sin. To only one. Who can forgive us for it. Come just now.

[13:36] As always. We find ourselves. Perhaps in our small faith. In our weak faith. Clinging on to a saviour. Who holds eternally. On to his precious people. It's in his name. And it's for his sake.

[13:47] We ask all these things. Amen. Let's read. We're carrying on our series. In Mark chapter 5. After Mark 6.

[14:01] We're going to take an hour short break. But carry on just now. Mark chapter 5. Let's read the word.

[14:16] Of God. We came to the other side of the sea. To the country. Of the Gerasenes.

[14:28] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat. Immediately. There met him out of the tombs. A man. Of an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore.

[14:39] Not even with a chain. For he had often been bound. With shackles and chains. But he wrenched the chains apart. And he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.

[14:52] Night and day. Among the tombs and on the mountains. He was always crying out. And cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar. He ran and fell down before him.

[15:04] And crying out with a loud voice. He said. What have you to do with me? Jesus. Son of the most high God. I adjure you by God. Do not torment me.

[15:16] For he was saying to him. Come out of the man. You unclean spirit. And Jesus asked him. What is your name? He replied. My name is Legion.

[15:28] For we are many. And he begged him. Earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs. Was feeding there on the hillside. And they begged him saying.

[15:39] Send us to the pigs. Let us enter them. So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out. And entered the pigs. Then the herd numbering about two thousand.

[15:50] Rushed down the steep bank. Into the sea. And drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled. And told it. In the city. And in the country. And people came to see. What it was that had happened.

[16:02] And they came to Jesus. And saw the demon possessed man. The one who had had the legion. Sitting there. Were clothed. And in his right mind. And they were afraid.

[16:12] And those who had seen it. Described to them. What had happened. To the demon possessed man. And to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus. To depart. From their region. As he was getting into the boat.

[16:24] The man who had been possessed. With demons. Begged him. That he might be with him. And he did not permit him. But said to him. Go home to your friends. And tell them.

[16:35] How much the Lord has done for you. And how he has had mercy. On you. And he went away. And began to proclaim. In the Decapolis. How much Jesus had done for him.

[16:47] And everyone marveled. When Jesus had crossed again. In the boat to the other side. A great crowd gathered about him. And he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers.

[16:58] Of the synagogue. Jairus by name. And seeing him. He fell at his feet. And implored him. Earnestly saying. My little daughter. Is at the point. Of death.

[17:10] Come and lay your hands on her. So that she may be made well. And live. And he went with him. And the great crowd. Followed him. And thronged about him. And there was a woman.

[17:21] Who had a discharge of blood. For twelve years. And who had suffered much. Under many physicians. And had spent all that she had. And was no better. But rather grew worse.

[17:33] She had heard reports. About Jesus. And came up behind him. In the crowd. And touched his garment. For she said. If I touch even his garment. I will be made well. And immediately.

[17:44] The flow of blood. Varied up. And she felt in her body. That she was healed. Of her disease. And Jesus. Perceiving in himself. At power going out from him. Immediately turned. About in the crowd.

[17:55] And said. Who touched my garments? And his disciples. Said to him. You see the crowd. Pressing around you. And yet you say. Who touched me? And he looked around.

[18:05] To see who had done it. But the woman. Knowing what had happened to her. Came in fear. And trembling. And fell down before him. And told him.

[18:15] The whole truth. And he said to her. Daughter. Your faith. Has made you well. Go in peace. And be healed. Of your disease. While he was still speaking.

[18:27] There came from the ruler's house. Some who said. Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher. Any further. For overhearing. What they said. Jesus said to the ruler.

[18:37] Of the synagogue. Do not fear. Only believe. And he allowed no one. To follow him. Except Peter. And James. And John. The brother of James. They came to the house.

[18:48] Of the ruler. Of the synagogue. And Jesus saw a commotion. People weeping. And wailing loudly. And when he had entered. He said to them. Why are you making a commotion. Weeping.

[18:59] The child is not dead. But sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside. And took the child's father. And mother. And those who were with him.

[19:10] And went in. Where the child was. Taking her by the hand. He said to her. Talitha. Kumi. Which means little girl. I say to you. Arise. And immediately the girl.

[19:21] Got up. And began walking. For she was 12 years of age. And they immediately. Were overcome. With amazement. And he strictly charged them. That no one should know this.

[19:32] And told them to give her something. To eat. Amen. We give praise to God. For his holy. And his perfect. Word. Let's again sing.

[19:43] From the Scottish Psalter. This time. From Psalm 51. Scottish Psalter. Psalm 51. Psalm 51. Chapter 25. And sing verses 1.

[19:58] Down to verse 6. Of the Psalms. Psalm 51. Verses 1. Down to verse 6. It's on page 280. Of the Church. Psalm 51. Psalm 51.

[20:08] On page 280. 280. After a loving kindness, Lord, have mercy upon me. For thy compassions great blot out on mine iniquity. Be cleansed from sin and freely wash from mine iniquity.

[20:21] For my transgressions I confess my sin I ever see. Psalm 51, verses 1 to 6. To God's praise. After thy loving kindness, Lord, have mercy upon me.

[20:50] For thy compassions great blot out on mine iniquity.

[21:06] Be cleansed from sin and freely wash from mine iniquity.

[21:24] For my transgressions I confess my sin I ever see.

[21:42] Against me, Lord, have mercy upon me. Against me, Lord, have mercy upon me. In thy sight I am this ill.

[22:00] But when the sea's from misty just, And dearly judging still, Behold, thy eternity was born and born with him.

[22:37] My mother, Lord, have mercy upon me. My mother, Lord, have mercy upon me.

[22:51] My mother, Lord, have mercy upon me. Behold, thou in the inner heart, With truth, beighted heart.

[23:13] And wisdom, thou shalt keep me low, With earth, like in heart.

[23:34] Let's for a short time turn back to the chapter we had in Mark, chapter 5. So we're carrying on our series. So last week we ended looking at the demon-possessed man down to verse 20.

[23:47] Well, we carry on verse 21 to the end. If we were to give a title perhaps to today's sermon, Quite simply we could call it the two daughters.

[24:03] The two daughters. Last week we looked at length as the demon-possessed man. We saw all his suffering. We saw all his pain. We saw that he was possessed and what that meant for him, What that looked for him, How that felt for him.

[24:20] We tried as best we could to get into his life. And we found ourselves last week, I am sure, Feeling distraught from the man. As we saw a life wasted, Wandering among the tombs and the hills, Cutting himself, Screaming and crying, Day and night.

[24:37] No rest. No peace. Constant pain. But perhaps we found ourselves last week, Whilst feeling sorry for him, Whilst sympathising for him, We certainly couldn't empathise with him.

[24:53] We couldn't say with him, We couldn't say with him, Well, we know how you feel, Because we ourselves have been demon-possessed. We know it's not common. We know it's not as common, At least as it was in the days of Christ, While he was on the earth.

[25:09] Today we see two accounts, That perhaps we as individuals can find ourselves in, Much more clearly. If last week we saw a spiritual oppression, That showed itself and manifested itself in physical ways, Then today we see two accounts, Of what we could say are physical realities of the fall.

[25:35] No less painful. No less agonising. Today we see death. We see grieving. We see physical agony, And we see mental, spiritual agony.

[25:50] We see in this chapter, We see Jesus cares, of course, For the spiritual agony. He cares for the man possessed. He cares for ridding the man of demons.

[26:03] But Jesus also cares for those who are suffering, As it were, we could say normal ailments. He cares for those who are mourning. He cares for those who are weak, Through illness, And through pain, And through grief.

[26:20] We've seen this again and again, Throughout our series in Mark. Jesus has time. For the individual person. Brothers and sisters, As we read this passage, As we look at these two accounts, Of Jesus dealing with these two daughters, As we are reminded, That we worship a saviour, Who has time for those, Who need him.

[26:46] And I hope we're challenged ourselves, As we look to ourselves, This past week, This past month. And we ask ourselves, How willing are we, To give of ourselves, As his servants, As his witnesses, As his ambassadors, How willing are we, To give of our own, Very busy lives, To stop, To stop, And to serve, To stop, And to be there, To stop, And to point those around us, To Jesus.

[27:15] And friends, As we look again, At this passage, I'm sure a passage, You've heard preached, Plenty of times before, You won't hear, I'm sure anything, Brand new, You've heard most of these points before, I can always guarantee it.

[27:29] And the thing is, As we're saying, During our communion season, As your old minister, Was saying to you, We try, We share the gospel, As ministers, As best we can, We try and engage, We try and be as engaging as possible.

[27:48] But the truth is, In this passage, We meet with a saviour, Who cares? If nothing else today, If nothing else today, Leave this building, Please.

[28:02] Seeing how God, God's word reminds us, Once more, That in Jesus, You have a saviour, Who actually cares, Who actually takes the time.

[28:13] And I know, There is church hurt, I know there is history, I know there is many reasons, Why many of you as of yet, Have not come to Christ. And I just say, That in this account, In these two accounts, We see a saviour, Who has time for you.

[28:32] A saviour who cares, For you. So we take just these two accounts, As we have them really, We look first of all, At the first daughter, At Jairus' daughter, Skip the middle section, And come back, To that, As we look at the second daughter.

[28:49] First of all, Looking at Jairus' daughter, Verses 21, Down, To verse 23, We see the girl herself, Being described. Who is this girl?

[29:00] So Jesus has healed, The demon possessed man, He's just released him, From his oppression, He has stepped back off the boat, A crowd has met him, On the other side, There is no rest for Jesus, There is no peace for our saviour, He is back onto his work, As it were, Back onto his mission, Straight away.

[29:18] And there came, Verse 22, One of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. This girl needs help, But this girl belongs to Jairus, A ruler of the synagogue.

[29:32] This is a girl, Who has grown up with privilege, Grown up with money, Grown up with status. We might hear ruler of the synagogue, And we might think to ourselves, Well, It's like a minister's kid, A minister's daughter.

[29:47] It's not, is it? It's much more than that. Now I know we've talked before, Perhaps in times gone by, That we in our culture, Put ministers on a pedestal, And that of course, Was not right, And is not right.

[30:02] But, The point is that, As much honour as we perhaps gave ministers once, It doesn't even compare to the honour, That this girl would have grown up with.

[30:14] The synagogue ruler wasn't just there to, As I were aware, teach and preach on the Sabbath. He was there as almost part of the judicial system. He's judge, He's ruler locally, He's part of the council, we could say.

[30:28] He is there as representative of the people, He's there to teach the people, In political matters, In social matters, In religious matters. In short, This is one of the local celebrities.

[30:41] The high names. It's like, It doesn't even work for us, But imagine if we had great veneration for the members of our council, And, As minister, I'm also part of the council, I'm also involved in the law, I'm also the sheriff in Stornoway.

[30:57] This is an all-round job. This man had money. We know they had money. We know from secular sources, That the synagogue rulers lived lavish lifestyles very often.

[31:09] They had money, They had status. And this is a young girl, Who would have been revered because her family, Her father was revered. She's the daughter of a well-known man.

[31:24] But also note, She's the daughter of a loving man. Yes, he's got high status. Yes, he's probably well off. Yes, he's well respected. But look what this man is doing.

[31:38] And it's almost lost in the detail. Jairus, the synagogue ruler, Is grabbing Jesus. This man, The text doesn't tell us, We must be careful here, But we know from our text, What happens when those involved in the synagogue of the day, Begin to worship Jesus.

[32:04] They're cast out of the synagogue almost instantly. This is a man who is willing to lay aside his lavish lifestyle, Lay aside his respect, Lay aside his very place as synagogue ruler.

[32:19] Because the second he goes to Jesus, And cries out for help for Jesus, The second Jesus actually heals this man's daughter, This man, His time, His place in the synagogue, It's gone, isn't it?

[32:31] You can't say, You can't say, That Jesus, The son of God, Has healed my daughter, At the same time you say, This man, Who is calling himself, The son of God, Is a heretic.

[32:42] As of course the other, Men were saying, This man, Is willing to lay, His life, His lifestyle at the very least, His money, His reputation, His place in society, All of that is cast aside, And even the chance his daughter has helped.

[33:02] He's heard this man, Jesus, Is healing people. He's heard this man, Jesus, Is perhaps even the Messiah, The one sent from God. He's heard, He has called himself, Or has been called, The son of God.

[33:14] If even the smallest chance that this is true, Then we must do whatever we can to save our daughter. And he goes and he finds Jesus. And he grabs Jesus, He comes up to him, And what does he do?

[33:26] He falls at his feet. And we have here, He implored him earnestly. That's a very kind translation. He implored him. Literally, He is crying out at his feet.

[33:39] This high man, Who tied himself in such dignity, Has fallen at Christ's feet, And is there, Crying out, That Jesus would come. And look what he says.

[33:53] He says, Come and lay your hands on her, So that she may be made well and live. Even in the grammar of it, There is an uncertainty. He's not quite sure Jesus can do this, But he is hoping he can.

[34:08] He is taking whatever chance he can, To do it, To help her, To look after her. He loves his daughter, He loves his daughter, More than himself, More than his reputation.

[34:23] But finally, Quite simply, We see this is a girl, Who is dying. And there is nothing anyone can do. Again, You can imagine, They have spent money, They have spent time, They have the doctors around, But this girl is dying.

[34:38] No one and nothing can help her. All he's got left, Is Jesus. So how does Jesus help, This first daughter?

[34:51] I'll just skip ahead a wee bit, Down to verse 35. We're still there, Having dealt with the second daughter, We'll get to her in a second.

[35:05] We're still there, The time has passed, And a servant comes, Someone comes from, This ruler's house, And he delivers, He delivers the worst news, And he delivers it, In the worst possible way.

[35:22] It's quite blunt, In the Greek it's even more blunt, Your daughter is dead, Why bother him? Quite literally, Your daughter is dead, Why bother him? This poor man.

[35:37] This poor man, He's wasted his time, He's wasted his time, Coming to this teacher, He's lost his position, He's lost everything, His daughter's dead, His life is effectively over now. But look at Jesus, First of all we see his plan, His plan is perfect.

[35:56] To the world, As we said to the boys and the girls, Jesus' timing is awful, He stopped to heal this ever lady, He stopped to talk to her, And because he stopped, This girl is now dead. If Jesus had gone to her, She would be alive.

[36:08] But no, Jesus stopped to talk to the other woman, To heal her, To be with her, To comfort her, And because Jesus stopped, Several girls now dead. The awful timing, Of this supposed teacher sent from God.

[36:27] But Jesus knows, And Jesus is in full control. Jesus overhearing verse 36, What we said, He speaks kindly to the synagogue ruler, Do not fear, Only believe.

[36:44] Do not fear, Only believe. This is a grieving man. Imagine the shock, And just the coldness in his body, His stomach sinks, And his blood runs cold, And he's heard the news, Your daughter's dead.

[36:56] His life's over, His family life's destroyed, His last hope is gone, This teacher hasn't saved his girl, This Messiah hasn't helped her, And in his panic, And his pain, And his grief, Jesus speaks to this man, And he says to her, To him, Do not fear, Only believe.

[37:22] The peace, The gentleness, The carefulness, The carefulness of our saviour. Look what happens, He goes, And he takes, The man and the family, And they go to the house, And the poor man, You can imagine him, He, He's still hanging on there, But, He knows his daughter's dead.

[37:41] But Jesus, Has more reassurance, For the man, More help, For him. He gets to the, To the house, The chaos, And the crying, And the wailing.

[37:56] Of course, Jesus says, And asks, The question, Which you can understand, Why it caused some mockery, Why are you making a commotion, And weeping, The child is not dead, But sleeping.

[38:07] Of course, The crowd understand this, And we see that, And the opposition of the crowd, What happens in verse 4, Do they laugh at him? This man, Who has arrived, Far too late, Now he's saying, The girl's not dead, Asleep.

[38:22] We know she's dead, The people at that time, They weren't silly, They knew what death was, And this girl, She is dead. And she was dead. They don't believe, They don't understand, They aren't wanting to understand, What Jesus is saying.

[38:43] But gently, And slowly, Jesus, Takes care of the situation. But look what he does. Look at the care, Look at the, Behind the scenes care of Jesus.

[38:55] They're there, Wailing, And weeping, And shouting, And crying, But also they're now laughing, And mocking, And Jesus then does what? He puts them out.

[39:07] This crowd, He gets rid of them, He shoves them out the door, And he takes, The child's parents, And he goes with them. Gain for simple care of Jesus.

[39:21] For them, The girl's dead. For them, She's lying there. Their whole world is collapsed. So Jesus takes them and the disciples, They're on their own now in the room. And the care carries on.

[39:36] He takes her by the hand, And even the wording there, It's a grabbing almost of two hands, The sense is, He takes her by her wee hand, And He holds onto her hand. And the great I am, The eternal Son of God, Who's been praised for all eternity, Who has all life, All creation made through Him, All creation made for Him, Who angels in her myriad worship, Who has all life and all power and all glory.

[40:03] And He stands beside this wee girl, Takes her wee hand, And He quite simply says to her, These two beautiful words. Even the wording, Talitha, The most delicate, The most gentle wording, Little girl.

[40:19] It's very, It's very favorly, That wording. Little girl, And come here, Get up, Arise.

[40:31] It's almost what you would say, And that I make to your child in the morning. As a loving parent to a child in the morning saying, Come on, time to get up. That's the tone, That's the sense.

[40:43] Little child, Get up. I said to you, Arise. Instantly, She's alive. Instantly, She gets up. Instantly, We then see, She begins walking around.

[40:55] She begins showing full signs of full life. She was dead. She was physically dead.

[41:08] But Jesus knew what He was doing. He knew He was going to bring this girl back to life. So in one sense, She was not dead. She was just sleeping. As the scripture gives us that illustration, doesn't it?

[41:19] That the saints in Christ, That when they die, The sense is they're nothing but asleep. Now we know, We're not saying so sleep. That's a whole different chat for a different day.

[41:30] We don't believe that. We don't believe the scripture teaches that. When saints die, The souls go to God who made them immediately. We know our catechism summarizes that for us. But He's speaking tenderly here.

[41:44] He's speaking gently here. He is not giving a theological explanation. He's speaking to parents who have lost their wee girl. And He speaks to them in a way he will understand.

[41:55] That's what He's doing. That's what He's doing. And in that moment, We see finally this one wee point of care towards Jesus, From Jesus towards this girl and our family.

[42:06] Verse 43, He charged them that no one should know this. He knows this will cause commotion. This will cause chaos. This girl's been dead. All of a sudden now, The village now here, She's alive again.

[42:19] But He wants peace and quiet for them in the family. Who have just grieved their daughter. She's back again. Their emotions, You can imagine, Are running wild. And note the last bit.

[42:30] Nothing in God's word is there by accident. Nothing is wasted in God's word. Note the last instruction He leaves them with. And told them to give her something to eat. Jesus cares.

[42:42] And we think this means nothing. But no. Jesus cares. He cares about this poor wee girl, Who's been ill for who knows how long. Who's fallen ill. Who's had fever.

[42:53] Who's died. This girl has been through the mill. And He wants to make sure she's okay. In the most practical way possible, He gives her food. We've covered before, When Jesus comes back after His resurrection, He's at the shore.

[43:06] He makes breakfast for the disciples. These are small things for us. But Christ cares. The sovereign Lord in charge of all creation, He cares.

[43:18] That's a first daughter. But in the middle of His first daughter dying And being brought back to life And being healed. We see the interruption of the second daughter. Verse 25 down to verse 29.

[43:31] As Jesus makes His way to heal Jairus' daughter To bring her back to life. The crowds around Him. And you can imagine the scene and the chaos. The great crowd followed Him.

[43:42] And thronged about Him. And in this crowd, In verse 25, We find this second daughter. This is a woman who we know Has had an awful, awful time of it.

[43:55] Twelve years she's been bleeding. Twelve years. We must be silent. We're scripture silent. We cannot begin to diagnose her ailment, her disease.

[44:08] Nor is it wise for us to do so. But out of a way, This woman has been suffering. First of all, there's the obvious physical suffering.

[44:20] This is a chronic disease of some sorts. Twelve years of what seems to be at least constant bleeding of some sorts. Constant losing her blood. Constantly losing what she needs.

[44:33] And you can imagine just the anemia of this woman. The food she needs. The help she needs to keep on going. Losing that blood all the time in different ways. Physically that's going to destroy you.

[44:44] This is a woman who's been twelve years of having her very life ebbing away. But there's more than just physical misery in this woman's life.

[44:56] Sadly, we can say for certainty, there's also, as it were, community and spiritual misery. Although scripture is silent, we can say, and we know from scripture, elsewhere in scripture, of course, always interpret scripture.

[45:19] If you are a woman and if you are bleeding, you are what in Jewish culture? You are ceremonially unclean.

[45:30] And if you are ceremonially unclean, where can you not go for twelve years? You can't go near the temple. You can't go near God's people. You can't go near your worshipping people in the temples.

[45:43] You can't approach the inner worshipping areas. You are outside with the Gentiles. This is a woman who is not only physically ill, but also she's an outcast.

[45:56] Perhaps not literally, but at least at times, she's an outcast from her community. She can't engage in God's worship alongside them. Can you imagine the spiritual damage that does? Imagine the mental damage that does.

[46:08] This is a woman who has suffered in ways we can't begin to understand. Or perhaps some of us can't. Perhaps some here you can understand. Again, I don't know your details.

[46:19] I don't know what goes on behind us or our closed doors. But this is a woman who has felt twelve years of suffering. Twelve years of pain.

[46:31] As long as that wee girl has been alive, this woman has been suffering. The image here is clear. The comparisons are clear. And here we see this woman.

[46:42] For all her pain, there's something she has. She has faith. Verse 27. She's heard the reports about Jesus.

[46:53] She's heard something about who he is. This man can heal me. He's healed others. He's given sight to the blind. He's given ability to walk to those who are lame. He has cared and helped those who are possessed by demons.

[47:06] Then surely he can help me. Or maybe at least he can help me. The crowd is there. And imagine also this woman. Her illness is something she wouldn't be talking about openly.

[47:21] She's not going to go around telling everyone. The shame she has. And you see that shame in that she's just there. Quietly in the crowd. This woman with no money left her name. She's just wasting all her money on doctors who couldn't help her.

[47:34] And she's there in the crowd. And she creeps up. Shamefully. Quietly. And in her mind she says to herself, If I just get a hold of him, maybe that'll help me.

[47:48] And she reaches out and she grabs him. Grabs his tunic. Grabs his garments. And she feels herself instantly be healed.

[47:59] She feels her body better. But again, we see Jesus taking his time.

[48:11] Now the truth is, she's healed. She's better. In one sense, Jesus could just carry on walking. And a woman could go back to her life having been healed. Having been cured.

[48:22] Her problem solved. There's nothing wrong with that. But Jesus stops. And he asks a question. Which might surprise us.

[48:34] Who touched my garments? Oh, Jesus. Surely Jesus knows who touched his garments. Surely he knows who this woman is. He made her.

[48:46] He knows her story. What does this question remind us of? Let's not take our minds perhaps back to the garden. But God asks Adam, Where are you?

[49:00] God knew where Adam was. God had eternal sovereign knowledge of where Adam was. God cared for Adam. We've covered that before. But God here cares for this woman.

[49:14] Who touched my garments? He gives her a chance to speak up. And look what happens this poor woman. Verse 33. She comes to him in fear and trembling.

[49:27] And like Jairus, she now falls down before his feet. And she told him the whole truth. That wording there tells us something interesting.

[49:41] Not just the truth of what she did. But the whole truth. It implies a historicity. It implies a history to that truth. It implies a past. It implies a time frame to the truth.

[49:52] That this woman has told Jesus her whole story. Her whole story. Her whole story of her years of pain. Her years of misery. Her years of shame. Her years of bleeding.

[50:05] And Jesus listens to her. And Jesus then reassures her. He said to her. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. And be healed of your disease.

[50:16] These two women. The girl and the woman. They are miles apart. One's an unnamed woman. One's the daughter of the synagogue ruler. But they're united together in one thing. In the care Jesus shows towards them.

[50:37] We call this sermon, Two Daughters. To Jairus' daughter, Jesus addresses her as a father addressing a little girl. To Jairus' daughter, Jesus addresses her as a father addressing a little girl.

[50:53] little girl, little girl, get up. And here we see the same language, the same affectionate language being used by our saviour towards this woman.

[51:04] The crowd didn't care about her. Her own community would have cast her out. But Jesus says to her, daughter. He doesn't just send her away healed.

[51:19] He stops. He talks to her. He reassures her. He addresses her with respect, with kindness and with love. And he says to her, daughter.

[51:31] Also, he reminds her that it's her faith that's made her well. There's not some special powers in Jesus' garment. It is her faith and his power that's made her well.

[51:45] Go in peace. Go and live your now free life. And be healed of your disease. He gives her value.

[51:56] He gives her healing. He gives her worth. Friends, it's been almost, well, more than six months as I came and started worshipping and seeking to serve you here.

[52:09] I'm getting to know many of you a good deal. But the truth is, I could be here for six years, 16 years, 26 years, 36 years. I don't know your stories.

[52:19] We all know that what we are, as I were, publicly, what we are behind closed doors, what we go through week to week, we hide from many people, perhaps even those closest to us.

[52:30] I don't know your stories. I don't know your ailments. Not truly. Even those of you who do know, perhaps, what you go through in your bodies, I don't know the full effect and the full pain that brings to your life.

[52:46] I don't know it. Mentally, I don't know what many of you, perhaps, are going through in terms of mental anguish and agony. Those here who have grieved loss of years ago, I don't know how that loss will affect you.

[52:58] I don't. But Jesus does. We come today to be reminded of a Saviour who cares for those who are low, who are suffering.

[53:13] Low in their bodies, low in their minds. Those who are distraught in their bodies, distraught in their minds. Those who are suffering, who are grieving, who are in physical pain, mental pain, spiritual pain.

[53:25] Jesus cares. This is not just some trite, kind of small pick-me-up for this week. This is not just a motivational speech we're giving. This is God's truth. No minister will heal you.

[53:39] No minister, no elder will cure you. We could, we would, but we can't. Come to Christ. Dear friends, come to Christ.

[53:51] The one who reassures you of his care, of his love, of his tenderness. And you might come like Jairus himself. You might come and be not quite sure just how valid Jesus is.

[54:03] You might come and you're not quite sure just how real this man is. But he came nonetheless and he found out just how real Jesus was. Or come like the woman. Come in fear and trembling and say, I don't deserve this, but I know I need this.

[54:17] And find out once more just how caring, how loving Jesus is to those who come to him. You need not remain, as it were, suffering.

[54:30] If you're suffering in your body, in your mind just now, in your soul just now, don't let that keep you away from coming to Jesus.

[54:40] In fact, really, it's only by coming to him do you begin to process and work through that. Now, we're not saying for a second. We're not saying for a second. It would be unwise to say this. We've said this before. We're not saying come to Jesus and have an easy life.

[54:53] Come to Jesus and face no more terrifying diagnosis. We're not saying come to Jesus and be healed of all your physical diseases. We're not preaching a health and wealth prosperity gospel.

[55:05] We are saying come to Jesus. And in your trials and your suffering, in your pain, in your anguish, know you have a saviour who is with you, who cares for you, who is by your side, who goes before you.

[55:18] That's what the gospel shares and points us towards. A saviour who is with his people. For all the bad days and the hard days and the dark days and the impossible days, he is there.

[55:30] The days still take place. We must all still go through them. We go through them with him before us, behind us, and beside us. Come and know, dear friends, the care and the love of a saviour who cares lovingly for all those he calls his own.

[55:52] Let's bow our heads now, a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you for the gift of your word. We thank you for the gift of these accounts where we reminded us to your sovereign care for those who come to you.

[56:05] We have a saviour who casts out none who come to him. He calls for all to come and to bow themselves down before him. He calls for all who are suffering, all who are weighed down with burdens and cares, to come and to take on themselves the beauty and the wonder of having Jesus as their saviour.

[56:25] The Jesus who takes the burdens of his people, who takes the pains and anguishes of people. We come to a Jesus who has taken the punishment of sin for his people. We pray once more that your word would be of effect to some here today, that you would use it to build them up in their faith, or for some here use it to bring them to faith, perhaps even for the first time.

[56:47] We leave that in your sovereign control. We pray once more, Lord, for the one who leads worship. We thank you for those who willingly lead worship week after week, as they engage in that vital and that important, greatly important aspect of our worship, that sung worship.

[57:04] As we sing your praises back to you, as we sing your word to you, we do so knowing we sing it without fault. Many fault in our own voices, many fault perhaps in our own skills, but no fault in your word.

[57:18] Help us to sing these words of understanding. Help us to sing these words focusing on our saviour. Let's call these things in and through and for his precious name's sake.

[57:29] Amen. We can bring our time to a conclusion today by singing to God's praise, this time in Sing Psalms. Sing Psalms and Psalm 147.

[57:44] Sing Psalms, Psalm 147. That's on page 192. Psalm 147 on page 192.

[57:56] We sing verses 1 down to 7 of the Psalms. Psalm 147 verses 1 to 7. Oh, praise the Lord how good it is to sing him songs of praise.

[58:07] How pleasant I give thanks to him for all his gracious ways. The Lord builds up Jerusalem, and he it is alone who reaches out to Israel to bring the exiles home.

[58:18] Psalm 147 verses 1 to 7. To God's praise. Amen. Amen. O praise the Lord how good it is to sing him songs of praise.

[58:39] How pleasant to give thanks to him for all his gracious ways.

[58:52] The Lord builds up Jerusalem, and he it is alone.

[59:05] Who reaches out to Israel to bring the exiles home.

[59:19] He heals his people's broken hearts, He stores the bruised and grain.

[59:33] He sets the number of the stars, and falls in fish by him.

[59:47] He heals his people whoвин'l कर management audience Nemo. He decked against myaband,醜 кажется he traces… He 60 years on His Father, and was a girl to be rocketed upon him. The Lord sustains for me by none of yon red focusing? He backs up Horse irmaninoons and vigorously, with Him whohovah each other than humble art and際 would giveться upon him to the sun, every God the heck of us 등ly for our heaven A마irj, and when Huymagman국 niath, his donner gives peace.

[60:06] the meek and the wicked to the ground.

[60:18] Sing to the Lord with handfulness, with joy in His faithful faith, and with the music of the heart give glory to His name.

[60:49] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, both of you now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.