It's one of those moments that you do not forget.
The call comes.
They got the results of the biopsy.
They want us to come in and meet with them.
The news is not good.
Not good at all.
In that moment, the emotions flood, shock.
I can't believe this is happening.
Fear.
How can I face the unknown?
Don't want to suffer.
Don't want to die.
Desperation.
Is there any way we can get out of this?
You look for something, anything that might help you.
Johnny Erickson Tata is one of my heroes in the faith.
If you don't know her story, you should acquaint yourself with it.
She was paralyzed when she was 17 in a diving accident.
She has been a quadriplegic for over 55 years.
In her struggle after her accident, she was brought to faith.
And through her faith as she grew, she founded a worldwide ministry to help those facing physical
disability.
In a letter that she wrote, a blog post five years ago, she wrote reflecting on her 50 years.
She said this,
Recently, I was at my desk writing to Tommy, a 17-year-old boy who just broke his neck body surfing off the Jersey Shore.
He's now a quadriplegic.
He will live the rest of his life in a wheelchair without use of his hands or legs.
When it comes to life-altering injuries, quadriplegia is catastrophic.
Halfway through my letter describing several hurdles Tommy should expect in rehab, I stopped.
I felt utterly overwhelmed, thinking of all that lies ahead for him.
I've been there.
And even though a half a century has passed, I can still taste the anguish.
Hot, silent tears began streaming.
I choked out a prayer.
Oh God, how will Tommy do it?
How will he ever make it?
Have mercy.
Help him to find you.
In response to this boy's situation, she points him to the only place she knows to find hope in the face of sickness and death.
I don't know where you're at this morning.
Maybe you are here today facing these things.
Chronic illness.
Aging parents.
Death of a loved one.
It's very real and poignant for you today.
And maybe not.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not this year.
Maybe not this decade.
But someday, you will.
And our passage this morning from the book of Mark is one in which Jesus encounters those who are facing these very things.
So if you want to turn with me, page 789 in the Pew Bible.
We're in Mark 5.
We're starting in verse 21 and reading through to the end of the chapter.
We're going to look at how Jesus interacts with those who are facing sickness and death.
So let's go ahead and read this together.
These are, if you've grown up in church, these are well-known stories.
But let's read them hopefully with some fresh eyes this morning.
See what God's word has to say to us.
Mark chapter 5, starting verse 21.
And when Jesus had crossed again into the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was beside the sea.
Then came one of the rulers 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.
Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.
And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years.
And who had suffered much under many physicians.
And had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard the reports about Jesus.
And came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
For she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.
And immediately the flow of blood dried up.
And she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him,
immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garment?
And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you?
And yet you say, Who touched me?
And he looked around 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 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, there came from the ruler's house some who said,
Your daughter is dead.
Why trouble the teacher any further?
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler 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.
And they came to the house 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 and weeping?
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
and went in where the child was.
And taking her by the hand, he said to her,
Talitha kumi, which means, Little girl, I say to you, arise.
And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age.
And they were immediately overcome with amazement.
And he strictly charged that no one should know this
and told them to give her something to eat.
Let's pray together.
Lord, we thank you this morning for your word.
We thank you that in it, Lord, you have revealed yourself to us.
Lord, we pray this morning that you would help us.
Lord, help our minds to grasp and understand what you are teaching us.
Lord, help our hearts to be humble before your word,
to receive the truth and to respond, Lord, rightly.
Lord, we pray this morning that by your spirit,
we might sit under your word together.
And I pray that you would help me this morning to speak as I ought for your glory and for our good.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
What does Jesus do in the face of suffering and death?
This is the question which these stories address, and we will look at them together.
Now, for a little bit of background, we're getting back into the Gospel of Mark after a bit of an Advent hiatus.
Going back to Mark chapter 4, verse 35, there are three stories expressing Jesus' power.
At the end of chapter 4, Jesus shows his power over the sea and calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee.
The beginning of chapter 5 that Pastor Nick preached on last week,
Jesus frees a man from demon possession in the country of the Gerasenes.
And then today we see Jesus in the face of sickness and death, demonstrating his power again.
And as you read the story, you probably noticed that this is what commentators call a narrative sandwich.
Right?
There are two slices of bread about the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus.
And then there's the meat in the middle, which is a story about a woman.
And they reinforce one another.
And in fact, by making it a sandwich of two stories around the same theme,
we see a fuller vision of Jesus' character and work than we would have on their own.
And that's why he does that, and that's why we're dealing with these stories together.
And what we're going to see as we look at this passage this morning is two very simple, very profound things.
First, we will see that Jesus meets us in our fear of sickness and death.
And then that Jesus restores us from the power of sickness and death.
So if you're taking notes, that's our outline.
We've got two points this morning.
First, Jesus meets us in our fear of sickness and death.
Now, Jesus has been over across the Sea of Galilee in a region called the Decapolis, the Gentile Virgin.
He's now gotten back in a boat.
He's come back across into the Jewish section.
And as has been the practice, he's surrounded by crowds as soon as he arrives.
And the story begins because a man, a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus shows up,
a ruler of the synagogue wouldn't have been a rabbi or a teacher,
but someone who had actually the practical organizational role of making sure the synagogue worked,
that people were there to do their things, that the supplies were made.
That's what his role was.
It was a significant one and an important one.
He would have been used to being able to be in control of his life.
And yet he faced a situation in which he was not in control.
For his daughter was sick.
And he didn't know what to do.
Now, in the middle of the story, we'll see this woman come in.
And what I want to do is actually draw some parallels and also distinctions between these two characters as they come to Jesus.
He comes with this need to, this desire, feeling out of control, looking for help.
He comes in fear because he can't do anything to save his daughter.
Then there's a woman.
A woman comes seeking him as well.
But she has been coming with a different kind of fear because she's been ostracized by her illness.
In the Jewish world, if you had the kind of disease that she had, you would have been declared richly unclean.
That would have prevented her from going to the temple.
Would have prevented her from normal interaction because she would have made others who interacted with her
Richly unclean and unable to participate in temple life.
So she was ostracized by her chronic illness.
An untouchable outside of the community of faith.
And they both come in fear.
Hoping that Jesus might help them.
They both come in faith.
It's remarkable.
They both express this.
Jairus says, if you come, you can heal her and give her life.
The woman says to herself, if I only touch his garment, he can heal me and free me.
But they come with some distinctions between them as well.
Jairus is an important person in the community.
Jairus is a powerful person.
And you see this.
It's remarkable.
He gets a name in the story.
Which is actually, it stands out because often people don't get names in Mark's story.
And the woman doesn't have a name.
But he gets a name.
Jairus.
And he comes.
And when he comes, he comes face to face to Jesus.
He does fall on his knees before him.
But he calls Jesus.
Come to my house.
Come and be the solution to my problem.
She, however, as an outcast, as a woman, doesn't even dare to approach him from the front.
She comes to him from behind.
Says, if I can only touch him.
She comes as an untouchable, poor, and alone.
He had all these resources.
She had nothing.
She had wasted or used up all of her resources.
And had nothing to show for it.
And yet, for both of these, Jesus meets them.
Jesus looks at Jairus in his desperation and says, I will come with you.
And remember that Jesus didn't always do this.
Remember we saw back in chapter 1, verse 38,
that there were many people thronging at Jesus' door.
Many more people to be healed and for their demons to be cast out.
And Jesus said, no, I've got to keep going because I'm here for a greater purpose
than simply healing everybody.
So Jesus didn't always heal, but he did.
He responded to Jairus in compassion and began to go with him.
He also met the woman in a remarkable way.
Because she tried to sneak up and be healed without having to actually interact.
She wanted his power, but didn't dare believe that he would want a relationship with her.
But when it happens, Jesus knows something has happened.
And he stops.
And I hope you got the slight humor in the story.
Because Jesus, you know, imagine you're at a football game, right?
After the football game, as the crowds are going out,
you know what those masses of people are like?
Where you're jostling and elbowing your way just to get through.
This is what Jesus' situation is.
And suddenly he says, whoa, who touched me?
And his disciples are looking around going, you've got to be kidding me.
Everybody's touching you.
You're in the middle of a mob.
What do you think?
I have no idea what you're asking for.
But Jesus does, because he knows something had happened.
And in fact, the verb tense in verse, let me find it for you.
Verse 38, no, verse 32 says,
and he looked around to see who had done it.
The verb tense there is actually, he kept looking.
So he asked the question, the disciples were like, I have no idea.
And he kept looking.
He was persistent in wanting to find her.
Because he wasn't happy with just letting her be healed.
He wanted her to be restored to a relationship with him.
He wanted to know who she was.
Jesus saw their need.
And he met them with compassion and with help.
And friends, this is good news.
Because we know that in those moments of diagnosis,
in those long years of chronic illness,
in the face of death, whether sudden or not,
it's so easy to doubt that God is with us.
It's so easy for fear and desperation to drive us away from God.
It's easier for us to shake our fist at him than fall on our knees before him.
When we're overwhelmed and despairing,
this passage reminds us that Jesus will meet us there.
You know, some of you, please don't laugh at this.
Stephen Curtis Chapman is one of my favorite Christian artists.
He's old and he's kind of corny.
I get it.
But he's also lived a lot of life.
And in fact, one of his albums, Beauty Will Rise,
was written after his daughter was killed in a tragic accident.
It was a meaningful album for me
during the season of my first wife's illness.
Here's some of the words that he wrote
that I think capture what I want you to see
from this part of the passage so far.
When you think you've hit bottom
and the bottom gives way
and you fall into a darkness
no words can explain
and you don't know how you make it out alive,
Jesus will meet you there.
When the doctor says,
I'm sorry,
we don't know what else to do
and you're looking at your family,
wondering how they'll make it through.
Whatever road this life takes you down,
Jesus will meet you there.
He knows the way to wherever you are.
He knows the way to the depths of your heart.
He knows the way
because he's already been where you're going.
Jesus will meet you there.
And when we realize that we're out of control
over the most important things of life,
when our situation seems impossible to change
and impossible to bear,
this passage reminds us
Jesus meets us there.
But he doesn't just meet us
to walk with us.
He also meets us
so that he might restore us
to life,
overcoming the power of sickness and death.
For this is what this passage says
as you look at the parts of the sandwich.
Let's look at the bread first.
What happens to Jairus?
It's remarkable, by the way,
did you see that Mark started calling him
the ruler of the synagogue again?
And he lost his name
in the second half of the story.
It's just an interesting note.
I'm not even sure what to make of it,
but I thought I'd point it out to you this morning.
But it's fascinating, right?
Because Jesus says,
I'll go with you.
And then there's this interruption.
You can imagine Jairus standing there going,
are you kidding me?
My daughter's dying?
What in the world is going on?
His impatience, his confusion,
his frustration, his desperation, right?
And then people from his house come
and they say, don't bother.
It's too late.
She's died.
And Jesus overhears.
And if you see, my ESV has a footnote.
That overhearing, that word has lots of connotations.
It does mean overhearing as in hearing something
that wasn't directly meant for you.
But it also means ignoring it,
like you heard it and ignored it,
or you heard it and discounted its truth.
And Jesus was doing all of these things.
He heard this report.
She's dead.
Don't bother anymore.
And Jesus, instead of receiving that word,
he looks at Jairus and he says,
do not fear, only believe.
He knew that at one level they were saying something true,
that the girl was dead.
But he said, but their position was that
that dead death was final.
And Jesus looked at him and said,
don't believe that lie.
And so they go on and they come to the house
and they're professional mourners.
And this is typical in the first century.
Even poor people would hire people to come in to mourn.
And on a side note,
maybe there's something healthy for us to learn
in our modern day culture
where we privatize grief
rather than do it in community.
That's a society, that's a freebie.
But they do this and they come in
and Jesus says, why are you doing this?
And they mock him.
And can you imagine Jairus again thinking,
am I just a fool?
What is he gonna do?
But Jesus says, mourners, clear out.
And he brings in his three disciples
and parents' kids
and he looks at the girl
and he says, get up.
He doesn't just comfort,
but he restores.
And he doesn't just resuscitate.
Everyone knew she was dead.
Jesus raises her.
He resurrects her to new life.
He grabs her hand,
which is a remarkable thing
because the body would have made him richly unclean.
He grabs her hand
and instead of him being unclean,
she becomes clean again
as she is restored to life.
Jesus brings her to an immediate
and a full recovery.
She gets up,
she walks around,
she eats food.
Can you imagine the joy
that Jairus and his wife felt?
Can you imagine the wonder of the people?
She was dead
and now she's alive.
So that's the meat
or that's the bread.
How about the meat of the sandwich?
This woman approaches Jesus from behind
thinking if I only touch his garment,
I'll be healed.
And it works.
She touches the garment
and power comes.
And Mark has no problem saying,
I don't know how that happens.
I just described it.
That's what she said.
This is the eyewitness account.
It happened this way, right?
Right?
She touched his garment
and the power came out.
The power to heal
flowed immediately
and she knew it in her body.
She who had lived for 12 years
with this ongoing chronic condition,
imagine what relief and joy
she would have felt.
It's finally over.
But Jesus isn't willing
to let her simply be healed physically.
He wants her to be restored.
And so he seeks her out.
He seeks to find her.
She who has no name in the story
is pursued and known by Jesus.
She who is outcast
is touched by Jesus.
And he looks at her
and he says,
my daughter.
He embraces her with his words.
Says that she is loved and welcomed.
So he shows the power
to restore from sickness and death.
Though the man and the woman
both come in fear and desperation,
they walk away with joy.
Because Jesus has come into the world
with this purpose.
To meet us
and to restore us.
With Jesus coming,
sickness and death
no longer are inevitable
and unstoppable.
For he has the power
to heal,
to restore,
to save.
And at one level,
that's what this story
is all about.
And we could close in worship
that Jesus has come to do this.
But you and I both know
there's a question.
Isn't there?
Because if Jesus has that power
to meet us
and restore us
and heal us,
but he doesn't do it all the time
in this life,
does he?
He doesn't heal everyone.
It sure seems like
sickness and death
still take hold.
In fact,
death is one of those things
that is an inescapable
human condition right now.
So how do we understand this?
Well,
that would be
a whole other sermon
or a Sunday school class
or a seminar
or a seminary class.
But let me say
a few things
in response
to this question.
First of all,
this passage reminds us
that Jesus can
and does heal us
powerfully.
He does it all the time.
Sometimes he uses
the very normal means
that we have come to trust in
and don't even see
God's hands in it.
We have doctors
and medicine
and all sorts
of natural means
that God uses
to heal and restore
people from sickness.
and to even bring back
from cardiac arrest
and from moments
of death.
And we know
from the testimony
of the church
throughout the world
and even here
in the western world
that God can
and does
at times
heal people miraculously.
That by the power
of his spirit
he intersects
in someone's life
and he heals them
and he frees them
from disease
and he even raises
from the dead.
Just as he did
for Jairus' daughter
and for the woman
he can and does
do that today.
But as we have acknowledged
he doesn't always do this
in this life.
The testimony
of both the Bible
and history
show that God's
greater purpose
is not simply
to alleviate
some suffering
from sickness
and death.
One of the most
remarkable things
is that everyone
that Jesus healed
in the Bible
still died.
Lazarus was raised
from death
and he still died again.
He didn't
he wasn't raised
to eternal life
when he was raised
in John 11.
So we need to recognize
that the Bible
acknowledges
what we see
that Jesus has
all this power
and yet
he doesn't
instantaneously
and immediately
fix
all of these
problems.
Thirdly
what the Bible
does say
and what this passage
does say to us
is that
there is healing
for all
who have faith
in Jesus.
Healing will come
either in this life
or in the resurrection
but sin
and sickness
and death
no longer have
the last word
for Christians.
So he tells
Martha
Lazarus' brother
in John 11
I am the resurrection
and the life
whoever believes
in me
though he die
Jesus acknowledges
you will die
and yet
you will live.
That any healing
that Jesus does
now in this age
is a sign
of a greater
and eternal
healing
that is to come.
For friends
this is the very
core of the gospel.
This is what
the Bible tells us.
When God created
the world
before there was sin
there was no sickness
and there was
no death
when sin
entered into the world
all of the world
was put under
the curse
and the sickness
and death
that entered
into the world
was the result
of the rebellion
of humanity
against God.
Now listen to me
very carefully here.
That does not mean
that if you got
a cold this week
it's because you sinned.
Okay?
It is because
we live in a fallen world
under the curse
that came into the world
because of human sin
that all of us
are now subject
to sickness and death.
And so they are
part of our world
in this age
and they are inevitable.
But when Jesus
comes into the world
bringing the kingdom
he comes
with the good news
that that curse
will not last forever.
He comes to reverse
that curse
and to begin the work
of redeeming
a people for himself.
Redeeming them
from sickness and death
yes but even more so
redeeming them
from sin.
So his earthly
ministry comes
with signs
of renewal
and reversal.
He heals.
He casts out demons.
He feeds the hungry.
He forgives sin.
He raises the dead.
All of these
are signs
pointing ahead
to the greater
and fuller victory
that Jesus
will accomplish
through his death
and his resurrection.
For ultimately
Jesus did those things
on his way
to enter in
to the curse
for us.
To take on
the penalty
of sin
for us
by taking on
death itself
as he hung
on the cross
for us.
He shed blood
for the woman
who was cursed
by a flow.
He entered
into death
so that he might
raise a 12 year old
girl.
Jesus went
to death
in our place
for us
so that he might
restore us
and rescue us
from it.
But Jesus
didn't simply die.
If he had died
he would have been
just one other person
under the curse.
But three days later
he rose from the dead
and in doing so
he showed
that death
could not hold him.
He defeated
the power
of sin and death
by rising
from the dead
forever
and on the basis
of his indestructible life
he now offers
to all of us
the greatest hope
that we could ever have.
Though we die
yet we shall live.
Because we are
joined with him
by faith
into his death
so we are joined
by faith
with him
to a resurrection
that will be ours
forever.
This is what we read
in Isaiah 25.
Death
will be swallowed
up
forever
and God
will wipe away
all tears
and we see it
in Revelation
where there is
no more sickness
and no more sorrow
no more mourning
no more pain
and no more death
because the finality
has come.
and friends
this is our hope
in the face
of sickness
and death.
Many of you know
our dear
our dear brother
Rick Schneider
went to be with the Lord
after a years long
battle with sickness
but he wrote
Pastor Nick and I
sorry
he wrote us a letter
before he
in the last few weeks
of his life
a lot of it
was thanksgiving
some of it
was thanks to you
all as a church
for the ways
that we have loved
his family
over the last
couple years
but he wrote this
in the last few weeks
the Lord has overwhelmed
me with a sense
a vision
of the wonder
of what he has
prepared for us
the beauty
of it all
the vistas
the tastes
the fellowship
with Jesus
with each other
no eye is seen
nor can the mind
of man
imagine
it's quoting
from 1 Corinthians
can you believe
this
he says
as you read this
I am walking
with two legs
at work
I am free
of ALS
and I am experiencing
the love of Jesus
in ways
I cannot now
imagine
friends
this
is the good news
of the gospel
Jesus looks at us
and he says to us
do not be afraid
but believe
let's pray
oh Lord
we have touched
on deep waters
and weighty things
but Lord
we know
that there is
an indestructible hope
that we have
because Jesus
is raised
from the dead
and he is
our living
Lord and Savior
oh Lord
I pray this morning
that this word
would be a comfort
to those
who are grieving
would be a strength
to those
who are weak
and Lord
would be
Lord
a bolster
to all of us
that we might know
just a little more deeply
the hope
to which
we have been called
that we might
in that
have great joy
in knowing
and worshiping you
we pray this
in Jesus name
amen
have Say em
haveб
us
we might
have
us
have
come
in
say
必
dedans
in
a
man
has
come
go
on