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