Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
I was up this morning getting excited about this passage and then I saw the snow and my first thought was, man, I really hope we don't have to cancel worship.
I'd much rather be with you all here in person than try to preach to you through a screen.
So I appreciate you all being here. I'm glad you all made it. Of course, I'm certainly glad for those who made the decision that it was wise for them to stay home as well.
So don't hear what I'm not saying, but I'm glad that we are all here together and I'm thankful that you're here.
Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community and as we follow Jesus together,
we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark.
You'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus and his life and his death and his resurrection.
And we come today to the second half of Mark chapter 5.
You'll remember the last two weeks we've had these two stories that were pairs that went together.
The first one was Jesus' power and control over nature.
And the second one last week was Jesus' power and control over evil and demonic forces.
This week we come against something interesting.
We have what might be called a sandwich or a bookend or a split screen,
which is a way of saying we have two stories.
One wraps around the other.
And so it's a way that Mark is putting these two things together.
We have the bread of the story, which is about this man named Jairus,
whose daughter needs to be healed.
That story gets split in half and there's a story in the middle
about this woman who needs to be healed from 12 years of bleeding.
And when we run into something like this in the Bible,
when we hit up against a sandwich, it is not by accident.
It is something extremely intentional on the part of the narrator
to connect these two stories to teach us something we would not learn otherwise
if they were apart.
And so we're going to do both of these stories together this morning,
which means we're going to have a slightly longer passage.
It also means I'm going to say something, not everything,
because we're handling two stories at the same time.
And so our focus, our strategy going in is we're going to look at what we learn
by the fact that these are both together,
which means we're not going to talk about every detail of every story.
We're not going to answer every question.
In fact, not all my questions are answered.
These two stories raise all kinds of interesting issues.
But as you listen this morning and as I read,
I'm going to ask you to think about this question.
Why are these two stories placed together?
What is it that we learn from the two of them wrapped around each other
that we wouldn't learn if we read each of them separately?
And our focus is going to be two different questions.
I bet you can't guess what they are.
Question one, who is Jesus?
Question two, how do we respond to him?
And so with that, I invite you to turn with me in your Bible
or in your worship guide or on your phone to Mark chapter 5.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold,
even the finest gold, and it's sweeter than honey,
even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 21.
And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side,
a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.
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 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 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.
Verse 35.
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.
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.
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 them that no one should know this
and told them to give her something to eat.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we praise you again,
that you speak to us, that you haven't abandoned us,
but instead you instruct us.
We ask that you would remind us of the miracle that this is,
the love that it shows from you.
And we ask for your help this morning,
that you would help us to focus and attend to your word.
Lord, you would help us to hear and to understand,
that you would challenge us,
that you'd encourage us,
that you'd show us Jesus,
that you'd grow our love and our affection for him.
You'd grow our reverence and our all of him,
that we would look to him and see him more and more.
And we ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We see at the beginning of this story,
we are back to the area of Capernaum,
which means we finished our little incursion
over into Gentile territory,
which we saw last week.
And in verse 21, we see again,
we're beside the sea,
which is this setting that we've become familiar with.
It seems to be a common location for Jesus.
Perhaps he's using the sea again as this natural sound system
where he's able to speak out and be heard by a large crowd.
And we find here as he comes,
verse 22,
one of the rulers of the synagogue comes up to Jesus.
Now, this should be probably the ruler of the same synagogue
we saw Jesus preaching at in Capernaum earlier
in the Gospel of Mark,
but this is an unlikely candidate.
And so there's a sense in which we should be surprised,
and there's a sense in which this is to be expected.
We should be surprised on the one hand
that this is the ruler of the synagogue.
The Jewish leaders, as we've seen,
are not exactly on Jesus' side.
In fact, Jesus presents something of a threat
to their power and their identity.
So that's the surprise.
On the other hand,
this is completely to be expected for this reason.
Desperation is a great motivator.
Desperation is a great equalizer.
This man's daughter is at death.
When you're in dire need,
it matters less and less who's on your side.
It matters more and more who can help.
And so in that sense,
it's exactly what we would be expecting,
that this man would run to Jesus.
We know that need and desperation
levels the playing field.
There are those who would come to Jesus
only where they're in these extreme dire straits.
And so we're in this unusual situation
in this ruler of the synagogues
coming up to Jesus.
And by my count,
as we look back over the gospel of Mark
that we've seen so far,
there are six people that Jesus has either healed
or cast a demon out of.
Now I'm wondering if you can name
any of those six people,
if you remember from the previous weeks.
You can't because we weren't told their names.
Not a single one of them.
Last week, we found out the name of the demon
was Legion.
That's the name of the demon,
not the man who was cured.
We have no idea what his name is.
And when we see a pattern break
as we're reading a story in the Bible,
that should raise our attention.
We should ask ourselves,
why is this detail suddenly changing?
We didn't need to know the name
of the six people who came before
from the very beginning of the gospel.
Suddenly, it's important that we know
that this guy's name is Jairus.
I'm gonna answer that in a bit.
I want you to hold that question in your mind.
Before we answer that question,
we have to understand the distinction
between clean and unclean
because it's an important factor in this story.
Now there's many terrible things
that have come out of COVID
over the last two years.
There's one good thing that's come out
for preachers and it's this.
It is easier than ever before
to explain the purity laws
from the Old Testament.
And so as we go here,
I'm gonna talk in terms of COVID
so you understand what we're dealing with.
And as I talk about this,
I know everyone's got their political opinions
about COVID, okay?
Whether you have opinions about masks or no mask,
whether it's serious or not serious,
whether you'd have a vaccine or not have a vaccine,
just please put all of that to the side.
That's not what we're talking about.
I'm just using this.
I'm not taking sides.
I'm just using it as an illustration
so we understand what's going on in the passage.
So just track with me, okay?
If you have COVID or you've been exposed to COVID,
especially if you have it,
there is a sense in which you are unclean.
And there's three things you need to know
if you're unclean.
One, you can make other people unclean.
So what happens if you're around someone
who later is tested positive for COVID?
Well, if you were less than six feet
and you interacted for a certain amount of time,
maybe if you gave them a hug,
you're now considered exposed,
which means you are now unclean.
So unclean people can make other people unclean.
Principle two, there's a separation.
Once you're unclean,
you're supposed to remove yourself from other people
so you don't infect them as well.
If you have COVID, you're supposed to quarantine.
It's less true now, but if you were exposed,
you were also supposed to quarantine
for a certain amount of time
to make sure you didn't make anyone else sick.
So you can make other people unclean.
You have to quarantine or separate yourself.
And then there's a third element to cleanliness laws,
and that is there's a way to purify yourself.
There's a process by which you can make yourself clean.
We know that process is twofold.
Either you get your negative test,
so you can prove to everyone you're clean once again,
or you quarantine for a certain amount of time, right?
That's your process to know
that you have finished your time of uncleanness.
You're pure now.
You're no longer going to infect other people.
So we've sort of lived this reality
for the last couple of years
where it's intuitive for us
in a way it would not have been, say, back in 2019.
In the Old Testament, it wasn't necessarily COVID, obviously,
but there were all sorts of things
that could make you unclean.
And if you became unclean,
you had the potential, just like we've talked about,
to make other people unclean.
There was this factor of separating yourself
from the community for a while.
There was a process of making yourself clean again.
In fact, that's what we read about,
John read for us in Leviticus chapter 15.
And the purpose of this in the Old Testament
was for it to be this object lesson
that taught people about how holy God was.
It was meant to be this daily practice
that reminded God's people
of the seriousness of moral purity.
So it's a physical lesson about a spiritual reality.
There were also some real health concerns
that went along with the purity laws.
So they're practical things
that were meant to prevent sickness
from spreading among the Old Testament community.
It's with that background
that we come to verses 25 and 26.
So I want you to jump back in the story with me.
We've met this man, Jairus,
who's the ruler of the synagogue.
Now we meet this other individual, this woman.
We find out she's had a discharge of blood for 12 years,
which is another way of saying
she has been unclean for 12 years straight.
There's been 12 years of her saying,
don't come over to the house.
I don't want to make you unclean.
There's been 12 years of her being a social pariah.
There have been 12 years of this woman being isolated.
And we're told here she's penniless
because she spent all her money on doctors.
She is close to hopeless.
I mean, imagine if you were some,
I mean, you can think, right?
If you were someone who was quarantined for a while,
how hard it was to be isolated
for maybe 10 to 14 days.
Here's a woman who's been isolated,
not for 10 to 14 days, but for 12 years.
Even more than that,
she has the hopelessness that's come
from going to doctor after doctor after doctor
and not being able to find a cure.
We find out here, I believe it's verse 26,
that she spent all the money
that she has on these doctors.
And so she has nothing left.
It's in that context then
that we are going to compare both of these characters.
Remember, we're not reading this as two stories.
We're reading it as one story.
The purpose of Mark and Jesus here
is for us to take this man, Jairus, and this woman
and to put them side by side,
to see them in that split screen.
And of course, as we look at them,
we see there's major differences between them.
First, on the one hand,
you have this prominent man and this unknown woman.
You have a man who is confident
and has no problem coming out in public
and declaring before a great crowd to Jesus his need.
On the other hand,
you have this woman who is filled with shame
and wants to stay anonymous.
He is a ruler of the synagogue.
He's on the inside track
of those who are powerful and influential.
She is on the outside.
She's been separated and isolated for 12 years.
He leads the religious community.
She's unclean in the religious community.
He is known and respected by the world.
She is not.
There's one more important difference.
We know his name.
We don't know hers.
He is a person of note and power
and influence in the community.
She is a nobody.
That's what we need to keep in mind
as we come here to verses 30 and 34.
Because she comes up,
she's sneaking up behind Jesus,
hoping to remain anonymous,
hoping not to be seen.
And it's the midst of that
that Jesus decides to completely stop
this great crowd that's following him.
Verse 30,
Jesus perceiving in himself
that power had gone out from him
immediately turned about in the crowd
and said,
who touched my garments?
Disciples think he's crazy here.
Verse 31,
they're asking him
why he would be asking this question
when he has this great crowd
pressing in all around him.
But Jesus won't let go of it
until this woman comes forward
and confesses that she is the one
who has come to be healed by Jesus.
It is during this stop
that Jairus' daughter dies.
Okay?
Look at verse 35.
While he was still speaking.
In other words,
Jesus is talking.
There came from the rulers
how some who said,
your daughter is dead.
Why trouble the teacher any further?
Think for a minute
about what's probably going through
the minds of the crowd in Jairus.
Jesus had an urgent situation
where someone was on the brink of death
and instead of making it in time,
he needed to stop and chat for a little bit.
In fact, had he not,
maybe he could have made it
to this house in time.
If Jesus could just figure out his priorities
and have the right sense of urgency,
perhaps this child would not have died.
Jesus pauses his work
with a powerful man
to stop and help
a powerless, penniless woman.
Jesus pauses his work
with a powerful man
to stop and help
a powerless, penniless woman.
Jesus pauses something
that's incredibly urgent
to deal with something
that is not urgent.
The point is this.
Jesus does not give
preferential treatment
to the rich
or the powerful.
Jesus does not give
preferential treatment
to the rich
and the powerful.
you may have
standing in this world.
It does not give you
standing with Jesus.
Jesus does not choose
the young
over the old.
He does not choose
officers
over the enlisted.
Jesus does not choose
people with a college degree
over those
who only have a GED.
Jesus does not choose
the rich
over the poor.
He does not choose
those who are beautiful
over those who are
average
or unattractive.
Jesus doesn't prefer
people whose names
are known.
And Jesus does not
despise people
whose names
are unknown.
Jesus does not prefer
people who live
in the Broadmoor
over people who live
in Fountain.
Jesus does not operate
according to the values
and hierarchies
of this world.
And he gives us
both of these characters
side by side
to drive that point
home for us.
As we come
to the scriptures
we want to look
always for encouragement
and challenge
that God's word
would stir us up
and it would convict us.
Our encouragement
here is this
you may be nameless
to the world
you are not nameless
to Jesus.
You may be nameless
to the world
you are not nameless
to Jesus.
You may be nobody
to those around you.
That doesn't make you
worth any less
in Jesus' eyes.
James chapter 2
James tells us
about this natural
tendency among humans
to treat the rich
better than the poor.
And he warns the church
not to give in
to this temptation.
Jesus does not respect
the things that this world
loves and values.
our challenge
is this
many people
may be impressed
with you
Jesus
is not.
Many people
may be impressed
with you
Jesus is not.
Jesus does not care
if you're the ruler
of the synagogue.
He does not care
if other people
know your name.
He doesn't care
if you have power
and influence
in a religious community.
That does not
get this man
any sort
of preferential
treatment.
If you've been
to the airport
of course you know
when you line up
there's two different lines.
There's the regular line
for the common people
and you also have
for the elites
the TSA pre-check.
And if you have
TSA pre-check
my understanding
is I have not
reached this level
of influence yet
but my understanding
is you do not
have to take off
your shoes.
You may not even
have to take
your laptop out.
You get to go
to a shorter line
right?
There's preferences
that you get
there's privileges
that you receive.
Some people
are used to
having a TSA
pre-check
in all the areas
of their life.
People will
show you
deference
they will give
you benefits
and privileges
if you are
powerful enough
beautiful enough
young enough
influential enough
and it's easy
to not even
see it happen.
Jesus doesn't
have a TSA
pre-check
and even
if the rest
of the world
gives you
a shorter line
Jesus
will not.
And so there
are many
powerful people
who are surprised
because they
expect the same.
The world
gives them
preferences
and defers to
them.
They expect
Jesus to do
the same.
And yet 1 Corinthians
chapter 1
tells us this
God chose
what is foolish
in the world
to shame
the wise.
God chose
what is weak
in the world
to shame
the strong.
God chose
what is low
and despised
in the world
even things
that are not
to bring
to nothing
things that are
so that no
human being
might boast
in the presence
of God.
The point
is this
others might
be impressed
with you
Jesus isn't.
Others might
overlook you
Jesus doesn't.
Others might
be impressed
with you
Jesus isn't.
Others might
overlook you
Jesus
doesn't.
He doesn't
care that this
man is a ruler
of the synagogue
and he's not
put up by the
fact that this
woman is unclean.
And what we
see here is
this picture
of the gospel
which is that
your merit
is irrelevant.
The clout
and power
and influence
that you have
in this world
means nothing
in the kingdom
of God.
God does not
care how much
money you have
how powerful
you are.
He does not
give you any
sort of special
access.
God does not
operate according
to the standards
of our world
based on what
is urgent
and not urgent.
In his world
he can choose
to heal
bleeding on his
way to raise
someone from
the dead.
Who is
Jesus?
Jesus is the
one who does
not give
preferential
treatment to
the rich
and the
powerful.
Now I've
given you a
list of all
the things
that this man
and woman
are different
in.
There's actually
a lot of
things that
they have
in common.
They're both
very similar.
Both of
them present
situations to
Jesus that
would make
him unclean.
they present
situations that
would contaminate
him.
So verse
35 we find
out of course
we know that
this woman's
unclean right?
She's been
bleeding.
We read that
section in
Leviticus 15
earlier.
But then verse
35 we find
out that this
man's daughter
is dead.
In verse
41 Jesus
touches this
dead body.
You know
what makes
you even
more unclean
perhaps than
touching someone
who's been
bleeding?
Let's try
touching someone
who's dead.
Both of
these situations
present a
threat to
Jesus'
ability as
a Jewish
man to
remain
ceremonially
clean.
And so
Jesus
accomplishes
something.
There's a lot
of reasons I
believe Jesus
stops to
talk with
this woman.
One of
them is
he gives
time for
this little
girl to
die.
Jesus
allows this
situation to
come to a
point where
he's going
to become
as unclean
as possible.
Because in a
sense this
woman and
this man are
much clearer
than they
appear.
Now you
might remember
from our
passage in
Leviticus
chapter 15
that it's
touching that
you need to
be careful
about when
you're dealing
with things
that are
unclean.
And we
see this
theme of
touching
appear over
and over
again in
this passage.
Verse 23
Jairus
comes and
he wants
him to
lay his
hands on
his daughter.
Verse 28
what does
this woman
do?
She says
if I
touch even
his garments
I will
be made
well.
Verse 30
there's this
hope.
Jesus says
who touched
my garments?
What does
he do with
this dead
girl?
He takes
her by
the hand
he touches
her.
Jesus
chooses a
variety of
different ways
to heal
people throughout
the gospels.
He does
not always
have to do
it simply
by touching
them.
Here he
does to
highlight
and underscore
that he's
doing exactly
the opposite
of what you
want to do
to remain
ceremonially
pure and
clean.
Jesus is
putting himself
in the exact
situation
where he
is going
to become
the unclean
one who
has to
separate
himself
from others.
Except there's
something that's
different about
Jesus
than everyone
else.
we know
this going
back to
talking about
COVID.
Being exposed
to a sick
person hurts
you.
Right?
Being exposed
to a sick
person makes
you exposed.
However,
the opposite
is not
true.
Being exposed
to a healthy
person doesn't
help you.
So if you're
exposed to
COVID,
you don't
then find
someone who's
not infected
with COVID
and stay
within them
for six feet
for more
than 15
minutes and
then suddenly
you're healed.
Right?
It only works
one way.
You can infect
other people
with your
presence.
You cannot
heal them
with your
presence.
Exposure
is a one
way street
except
for Jesus.
Jesus here
is demonstrating
both by his
touching of
this woman
and this
dead body
that his
cleanliness
operates in a
way that is
not true for
anyone else
in this world.
Most people
would become
unclean
by being
touched.
Jesus touches
and the
opposite happens.
He in
fact makes
these people
clean.
Jesus is
able by
his presence
to reverse
the impurity
and the
infection.
Jesus is
able to
come and
touch things
that other
people want
to avoid
and stay
far away
from.
Jesus is
able to
be less
than six
feet and
resolve
the situation.
In other
words,
Jesus is
not just
the one
who doesn't
give preferential
treatment to
the rich
and the
powerful.
Jesus is
also the
one and
the only
one who
is able
to make
unclean
things
clean.
Jesus is
the one
and the
only one
who is
able to
come and
bring real
and full
and ultimate
healing.
If you
turn with
me,
you look
page seven
of your
worship guide.
We have
this long
quote about
the Old
Testament
system,
but I
want you
to look
just at
the last
sentence.
When
Jesus,
the clean
one,
touched
an unclean
sinner,
Christ did
not become
unclean.
The sinner
became
clean.
Jesus has
a power
that no
one else
in this
world
does.
Jesus is
the only
one who
can change
you and
clean you.
Jesus is
the only
one who
can change
you and
clean you.
Remember that
these purity
laws are meant
to be an
illustration of
our spiritual
lives.
Jesus cleans
these people
physically.
He's the
only one who
can do that
spiritually.
Jesus is
the only one
who can
actually make
you pure and
able to stand
before God.
Jesus is the
only one who's
able to remove
the spots and
stains of our
sin.
Jesus is the
only one who's
able to come
and bring us
real, life
transforming,
heart changing,
alteration to
our lives.
Jesus is the
one who's able
to empower us
to make a
180 degree
turn.
Jesus doesn't
prefer people.
Jesus makes
the unclean
clean.
That's who
Jesus is.
How do we
respond to
him?
I mentioned
before that
desperation
is an
equalizer
and desperation
is a
motivator.
There are
some things
you wouldn't
imagine doing
unless you're
desperate
enough.
Jairus
probably didn't
imagine that he
was going to
come begging
Jesus for
help.
And this
woman probably
didn't imagine
that she was
going to go
out in a
crowd in the
midst of her
uncleanness,
chase Jesus
down secretly
from behind
and touch
his cloak.
And Jairus'
need was
great enough.
This woman's
need was
great enough.
There is a
sense,
brothers and
sisters,
in which God
can only work
with us as
we give up
control.
There is a
sense in which
God can only
work with us
as and when
we give up
control,
as and when
we are
powerlessness,
we are
powerless.
Desperation
made this
powerful man
come to
Jesus.
Desperation
made this
powerless woman
chase down
Jesus.
Jesus'
work with
us does
not happen
within our
comfort zones.
God
says,
it is hard
if not
impossible
to be in
control
and for
God to be
at work
in your
life.
It is
hard if not
impossible
to be in
control
and for
God to be
at work
in your
life.
And of course
that's what's
happening here.
Verse 23,
this man's
daughter is
at the
point of
death.
And there's
few things
you won't
do to
save your
children.
Verses 25
and 26,
there are
very few
things that
make you
crazier
than searching
for a cure
to a chronic
illness.
we come
to Jesus
with our
powerlessness.
And I'm
going to be
really blunt
here.
If you're
not willing
to be
needy,
if you
don't
recognize
your need,
Jesus
isn't for
you.
If you're
not willing
to be
needy,
if you
don't
recognize
your need,
Jesus
is not
for you.
need not
just for
the situations
outside of
you,
need for
the situation
inside of
you.
If you
say that
you are a
Christian,
need is
part of
the package.
Remember
what I
told you
very first
sermon,
Mark
chapter 1
verses 1
through 8.
If you
want to
take the
journey of
Mark,
you have
to admit
real need.
That is
the price
of
admission.
I also
told you
we are
not
here for
an
intellectual
exercise.
We are
not here
to have
profound
insights.
As we
look at
the gospel
of Mark,
we are
here to
be saved.
We are
here to
come and
bring our
need to
Jesus.
Mark
chapter 2
verse 17,
And when
Jesus heard
it,
he said
to them,
those who
are well
have no
need of
a physician
but those
who are
sick.
I came
not to
call the
righteous
but sinners.
If you
want the
gospel to
be alive
for you,
this is
the secret.
If you
find the
gospel boring,
this is
why.
If you
want the
gospel to
be alive
for you,
this is
the secret.
If you
find the
gospel boring,
this is
why.
Jesus
could have
spoken to
this woman
in a
monotone.
And as
he spoke
to her
in a
monotone,
Jesus
could have
been reading
to her
the ingredients
off the
back of
a Wheaties
box.
And I
guarantee
you she
would not
have found
him boring
because her
need was
so great.
Jesus
was her
answer,
her
solution.
If we
want to
have joy
in the
gospel,
if we
want it
to be
alive to
us,
if we
want to
escape it
being something
rote that
we've heard
many times
before,
there's an
answer,
there's one
answer.
We need
to know,
like this
woman,
that Jesus
is the
one who's
able to
make us
clean.
We have
to know
our need.
If you
know your
need,
the gospel
is not
boring.
Jesus
is not
stale.
Neediness
is the
price of
admission.
How do we
respond to
Jesus then?
We come
to him
with our
desperation.
We come
to him
with our
powerlessness.
It's not
simply need,
though,
that these
characters show
us.
need.
They also
have faith.
It's one
thing to
have need.
It's another
thing to
bring that
need to
Jesus,
believing he
can do
something with
it.
That's the
other thing
that these
characters have
in common.
It's not
just that
they're in
these powerless
situations,
but it's also
that they
believe Jesus
can do it
and they
come to
him for
it.
Verse 28,
If I touch
even his
garments,
I will be
made well.
Verse 34,
Daughter,
your faith
has made
you well.
Verse 36,
What does
he say to
Jairus?
Do not
fear,
only believe.
Having need
is the first
part.
Coming with
confidence to
Jesus is the
second part.
That's part of
what we do
every week
when we gather
together as a
congregation,
and John or
whichever elder
it is,
comes up and
gives the
congregational
prayer.
We are not
simply doing
that as some
sort of
religious exercise.
What we are
doing is saying
we as a
congregation are
incredibly needy.
Here's the
places and the
ways in which
we're needy,
and we have
faith that God
cares enough and
he's powerful
enough to do
something about
it.
And so we
come week after
week together
as a church on
Sunday morning to
do this very
thing together.
We do it as
a community
throughout the
week as you
share your
needs with one
another and with
God in prayer.
This is part of
what we do as we
walk as a church
following Jesus
together.
We're admitting
our need to
Jesus and each
other on the one
hand.
We're believing
in faith on the
other hand that
God cares and
he's powerful.
We know our
need.
We bring our
need.
I mentioned
earlier that
there's a lot
of different
ways that you
can become
unclean.
Perhaps the
best way to
become unclean
is death.
Jesus risks
his cleanliness
by coming to
the dead body
of this girl.
He gives us
a hint,
a picture
of what's to
come later in
the Gospel of
Mark.
because Jesus is not just going to go into a room
and touch a little girl by the hand.
Jesus is in fact going to go all the way to the cross.
And he's able to make the dead live
by himself experiencing death.
Jesus is able to make the unclean clean
by himself becoming unclean.
Jesus brings the power here that comes from the cross,
the power that he has as he stands
and takes God's punishment for us,
as he takes our uncleanness for us,
as he takes our death for us so that we can live.
This is not just a good story about Jesus.
It is a story that points us forward
to what Jesus is going to do fully and finally.
Speaking of this story with a little girl,
one man says this,
Later on Calvary, Jesus would share again in death.
This time it was our death.
He would become unclean for our sake
and bear God's judgment against our sin.
In a sense, what he was doing here
was but a preview of what he would do then.
It was also a preview of what he will do
at the end of time when he will take us by the hand
and say, arise.
That will not be in secret but in public.
Every eye will see him.
Even those who mocked him that day will see him and mourn,
this time for themselves.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the one who doesn't show special treatment
to the rich and the powerful.
Jesus is the one who takes unclean people
and makes them clean.
How do we respond to him?
We admit our need.
We bring Jesus our need.
And we believe that Jesus meets our needs.
Verse 34.
And he said to her,
daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven,
we thank you for your mercy and your compassion on us.
That you're not just powerful,
but you're also good.
And you use that goodness to heal and cleanse us.
We ask that you'd be at work in our lives,
in our hearts,
that you'd be moving us in humility to come to you,
admitting our need to you and to one another.
And that we would have the faith to come to you
for the healing and the cleansing that you offer.
We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.