Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Morning, everybody.
[00:00:05] It is absolutely lovely to be with you all this morning carrying on our series on Luke. So wave your Bible at me if you've got your Bible with you. Turning to Luke, chapter 8, verse 40 to 56.
[00:00:21] And those of you that don't know me, my name is Ellie. I'm one of the nought to thirties ministry leads here alongside my lovely husband James. We celebrated three years of marriage last month, which was super duper exciting.
[00:00:35] And there's one more other shout out I'm going to do because I have the microphone and I'm allowed to.
[00:00:40] My youth leader from when I was 13 years old is here. Jess, I love you to absolute bits. And just a little thing about youth work in that I genuinely believe that it's the discipleship of parents and youth leaders which has such a hand in whether children will stay in their faith when they get to adulthood. And lovely Sam is leading our youth ministry at the moment, but we are super duper short on team. So this is my little plug, my little shout out. If you want to see the fruit of discipling young people, have a chat with Sam and you've got two hours free on a Friday evening. We'd absolutely love to have you along. So I'll go on about the actual, actual preach now. It's okay, don't nobody panic. So we've been going through this series of the fullness of Christ and I've been overjoyed to see how. How by delving deep into scripture together, we've been discovering more about the personhood of Jesus and how this applies to our lives today.
[00:01:35] We've seen stories of God's immense power, but also his incredible love as he's calmed storms, he's healed the sick, he's eaten with sinners and he's driven out demons. And we're carrying on with that theme of healing today.
[00:01:48] And so the passage of scripture we're going to look at tells the story of two women, both of whom have a significant encounter with Jesus. This account can also be found in Matthew 9, verses 18 to 26, and Mark 5, verses 21 to 43. Which suggests to me that because it's in three out of the four Gospels, this event is a key moment in the life of Jesus. Three Gospel authors felt that it was so important to include in the documentation of Jesus.
[00:02:19] That means that it is important for us to look into and hear about today.
[00:02:23] Now, as we read through this text, it's quite a chunky bit of text, so I'm going to power read it, so follow along with it in your own Bibles. But we know that Luke, who is the Gospel author, he's a doctor. And we know that as he's a doctor, he's concerned about recording the events of what has happened really accurately. And so there's this focus on who is present to during these events. So as we read through, I want you to ask yourself the question of who is being named and featured and what are the names being used for those people?
[00:02:55] So here we go.
[00:02:57] Imagine you're in ancient Israel, time of the Romans.
[00:03:02] And here we go. So Luke 8:40, it says now, when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, 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.
[00:03:20] As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years and no one could heal her. She came up behind him, touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[00:03:36] Who touched me? Jesus asked.
[00:03:39] When they all denied it, Peter said, master, the people are crowding and pressing against you. But Jesus said, no, someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.
[00:03:51] 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.
[00:04:09] While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. 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.
[00:04:23] 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.
[00:04:37] And 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. And then we've got this next chunk. Chapter 9, verses 1 to 9. When Jesus had called the 12 together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.
[00:05:04] And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them, take nothing for the journey. No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
[00:05:29] God, I pray that you would speak to us through your word this morning. I pray that we would hear something fresh, something new, something gentle of you and who you are.
[00:05:39] And so I want to draw us to this story of these two women. And I appreciate the text might be a bit small. I'm really happy to send slides out a bit later, But I just wanted to highlight these two main characters in this story and use them to look at some of the key similarities and differences between them and the way that they encountered Jesus in this passage.
[00:05:59] And firstly, I want to look at their identity.
[00:06:02] Now. Jairus daughter, she is known as a daughter, whereas the woman with the issue of blood, her identity is placed in her condition. She is known for her suffering.
[00:06:16] And this is not just how the women were referred to at the time, but it's how we know them now in scripture. The title of this passage, as Jesus raises a sick girl and a woman with an issue of blood.
[00:06:29] Jairus was a synagogue leader, so he would have been highly regarded by the Jewish people, as he would have had one of the higher responsibilities within the city. And he would have been responsible for teaching the scriptures and ensuring the worship within the temple was correctly practiced. As such, the family would have been well loved and known by the community.
[00:06:47] And she, Jairus daughter, would have been known as Jairus daughter because Jairus was the one with that status in society.
[00:06:55] And then you have this older woman, the woman with the issue of blood, who's known for her condition at the time rather than by her name. And that's because according to the Levitical laws, so in Leviticus 15 that the Jews adhered to for however long a woman was menstruating, for, she was regarded as unclean. And anyone who would have contact with her or. Or anyone that would touch her would also be regarded as unclean.
[00:07:22] So she's not just experiencing this consistent bodily discharge. People would have avoided her so as not to be counted as unclean themselves.
[00:07:31] This would have meant that this woman would have spent 12 years isolated, alone, and would not have been touched or hugged for 12 years. Can you imagine not having a hug from someone that you love for 12 years, two different women defined by different labels society deemed appropriate for them.
[00:07:50] And I believe that sometimes as Christians, we can be in a rush to put labels on ourselves to bolster our identity and our sense of self worth, some of which we were never actually meant to wear. We define ourselves by life's characteristics such as our gender, our sexuality, our race, our ability. Or we might define ourselves by experiences such as our job title or or our relationship status or maybe even some trauma that we've lived through. And this passage makes it clear that there is only one label that God is concerned about us wearing, and that is the label of son or daughter of the living God.
[00:08:27] The moment we become caught up in chasing earthly titles, we lose sight of eternity and the fullness in how God has made us as a child of God.
[00:08:38] James read it out earlier, but 1 John 3, verse 1 says, See what great love the Father has for us, that he has lavished his love on us, that we are called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
[00:08:55] The world around us and our society will want to put these labels on us because it makes us look like people of this world. Whereas God looks at us and he calls us his son, his daughter, his child. He looks at the woman with the issue of blood. He looks past her gender, her age, her condition, her shame of being unclean, that shame she is holding. He looks past it and calls her daughter.
[00:09:20] And he looks at Jairus daughter in her lifeless state and calls her my child.
[00:09:26] There is no sin, no shame, no, no experience that can separate you and I from the love of God. Romans 8:38,39 says, I am convinced neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[00:09:51] We've been celebrating Father's Day today, and I don't know what your experience of an earthly father has looked like, but if you hear nothing else from this message today, I want you to hear this God, the One who made the heavens and the earth, the One who sent his son Jesus down to earth in human form, fully man, fully God, the one who went to the cross for your sin and for mine, to then be raised to life and ascend into heaven so we might have eternal life with the Father. That is the God that looks at you and looks at I and says, my son, my daughter, the love of God transforms our lives, takes away the heavy labels, experiences and expectations the world wants put on us and calls us into fullness of life. From knowing Christ, God calls us his children and that is what we are.
[00:10:42] And the next bit I want to talk about is this idea of waiting for healing.
[00:10:47] Both women in this passage are sick and we're waiting for healing.
[00:10:51] As I read and I meditated on this passage, the age old question came to mind of if God loves us, then why is there sickness? If God is a healer, then why am I sick?
[00:11:02] When I read the woman's story of her chronic bleeding, I felt this ache in my spirit for my own story and for others I know who experience pain and discomfort in their body day in and day out.
[00:11:13] This woman, she'd been suffering for 12 years and verse 43 tells us that nobody could heal her. In Mark's gospel, Mark 5, verse 26, it expands on this and it says that she had suffered a great deal under many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
[00:11:32] So for as long as Jairus daughter had been around, so she's a 12 year old girl, this woman had been experiencing this chronic bleeding and discomfort and pain.
[00:11:41] She would have been experiencing the abdominal pain, the discomfort, that isolation, that loneliness from being rejected by society because of her condition. And I wouldn't be surprised if she would have been struggling with her mental health as well because of the compounding impact to her physical condition.
[00:11:58] Everything she owns has gone towards trying to find a cure so she can be well again. She's gone to doctors, bought various potions and tonics and she's tried everything humanly possible to get herself better and there's no other way for her to be well again.
[00:12:13] There's this weight, there's this heaviness to the reality for her and what she's living with.
[00:12:19] And I remember when I was a teenager I was diagnosed with something called chronic fatigue syndrome.
[00:12:24] And I remember the heaviness of that diagnosis, particularly in the first few years. And I remember being in my bedroom for long periods of time crying out to God alone, saying why am I sick? Why aren't I getting better? When I pray I've seen God restore other people's bodies and yet night after night my friends and I are praying that I'd be alleviated from this condition. And yet I remained bed bound most days with this intense heaviness on my body.
[00:12:49] And I argued with God about how unfair it was that I wasn't going to be better, that he was preventing me from going to university, from fulfilling his plans and purposes over my life, because he'd left my body sick.
[00:13:05] And I know in my head that there is nothing that could prevent God's will and plan for our lives. But in my heart I was stuck in this place of feeling robbed from the life I had imagined for myself.
[00:13:17] And I don't know why. Sometimes we don't see healing straight away when Jesus. In both these accounts, it's an immediate healing that we see.
[00:13:26] But I believe that the same God of this Bible is the same God that his spirit is moving amongst us today. In Hebrews 13:8 it tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. I believe that the same God that raised Lazarus from the dead, the same God who healed the woman's chronic condition, the same God who silenced stormy seas, is the same God with us now and forever.
[00:13:48] And I believe that one day there will be a day where there will be no longer any sickness or any pain. We won't be in these imperfect earthly bodies and we will be taken to glory to be with our Saviour.
[00:14:01] I don't believe sickness is from God, but I do believe it's a consequence of the first sin where Adam and Eve disobeyed God back in the Garden of eden in Genesis 3. And so sickness was not part of God's original plan.
[00:14:16] That's why in Revelation 21, verse 4, John writes to the churches about what earth will look like when Jesus comes again. And he says he will wipe every tear from their eyes. There'll be no more death or mourning, crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.
[00:14:32] And there's this tension for us as Christians between knowing that our God is a healer and the reality that there's still sickness in the world. There's a grief and frustration for those of us with long term health conditions, like the two women in the story where we see God healing the people around us. And we've been praying and praying and answering an answer to that prayer. In verses 41 to 42 of this passage it says Jairus, the synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus feet and pleading with him to heal his daughter.
[00:15:01] Jairus had to humble himself before Jesus. He recognized Jesus healing power and authority and pleaded for the healing.
[00:15:10] But then they were delayed on their way home. And this woman who'd been bleeding for 12 years has caused all this commotion and she's been healed. And in this moment of her being healed, this other guy comes from the house and tells him don't even bother Jesus anymore because your daughter's died.
[00:15:27] And the hurt and the frustration and anguish of Jairus in this moment. Why on earth did God bother healing this woman when I asked him first?
[00:15:38] And I don't know why we don't see immediate answers to prayer, but I do believe that when we pray, both healing moments in this passage suggest that maybe sometimes there's a bit of unbelief that can be an obstacle to healing.
[00:15:53] And I'm not saying that's always, but I'm saying that in this passage, both of these incidents, Jesus reminds us that is faith that made her well.
[00:16:03] When Jesus and Jairus are en route to Jairus house, he's told that the girl is dead and not to bother the teacher anymore. Jesus reminds Jairus to hold to his belief, even though the situation feels hopeless as the girl has passed away.
[00:16:18] When Jesus arrives at the house, the people at the house, they're crying, they're weeping, and they're saying, she's dead. She's dead. And Jesus is going, she's not dead. She's just asleep.
[00:16:27] And they all start to laugh at him. And so Jesus does this. He separates Peter, James, and John, his closest disciples, and he takes the parents who he has just told to believe in him, and he takes them to the girl's bedside because they have faith. And he leaves the crowd behind because their unbelief is going to affect and rotate the faith of those that are currently believing.
[00:16:53] We need to be stirring one another's faith up so that we are not losing hope, we are encouraging one another. And we can then believe that we will see the supernatural today rather than just in those days in the West. I feel like we're lacking in these supernatural experiences of healing and people being set free from chains because we live in the West. And the reality is that a lot of us feel like we don't actually need God.
[00:17:20] We feel like we've got a good life, got good income, good family, food on the table.
[00:17:27] And there doesn't seem to be this need for God in our lives.
[00:17:31] And we've become so comfortable and acquainted with comfortability that we forget our need for Jesus.
[00:17:43] And I think sometimes it can feel the same way with sin and sickness and addiction that we may allow those things to remain in our lives, often because we're fearful of what empty might look like, because these things used to fill us, and we're not sure what fullness is going to look like if we let some of those things go.
[00:18:03] We're fearful that God can't really do what he says he can do. And so we let things like depression and anxiety and fatigue sit with us for a really long time.
[00:18:13] Sin, sickness and addiction are schemes of the enemy to distract harm and destroy us. John 10:10 says, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that you may have life and life to the full.
[00:18:24] Sometimes there's this fear of what happens if we let go and give God control of our lives. But by letting go of things, we then have a free hand to grab hold of the hem of his garment and experience that fullness and restoration of Jesus.
[00:18:38] Jesus encourages Jairus in this moment, do not be afraid.
[00:18:42] Just believe.
[00:18:44] It's about partnering with the Holy Spirit. And we don't have to be worried or fearful about whether God is going to show up in those moments, because it's not about us. It's all about God and His almighty power and the way that he wants to move amongst his people. He wants to heal the sick. It says, he who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases. And Psalm 103, verse 3. But this partnership, I imagine it a bit like we're talking a lot about dads today. But imagine the dad building a treehouse with his kid, and occasionally he'll let the kid use the hammer and bang a nail in. And realistically, dad can build the treehouse on his own. He doesn't need the kid's help. But it's the joy of partnering together to do something for good, something constructive, something for somebody else.
[00:19:29] And that is what partnering with the Holy Spirit looks like in these moments.
[00:19:33] God doesn't need us to exercise his authority, but it's about partnering with him and His Spirit to share hope to a lost and broken world.
[00:19:42] He asks for our faith and our belief so that when we're partnered with him, we might see the dead raised, the sick healed and demons drived out.
[00:19:52] Even if we don't see a physical healing straight away.
[00:19:55] And we may never fully understand the whys and the hows. And I think that's okay. There are some mysteries of God that we're just never going to know. The young adults will hate me for saying it, but in Corinthians it talks about the mysteries of God and how actually there's some things that we're just never going to know. And in Isaiah it says, my thoughts are not your faults, neither are your ways. My ways, declares the Lord, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so so my ways are higher than yours and my Thoughts than your thoughts. We can never fully understand the mysteries of God, but we can choose to trust him in the unknown.
[00:20:31] Healing was not denied for Jairus daughter, but just delayed so that Jairus faith might grow and be developed.
[00:20:39] At the end of this, we're going to do something a bit different and we're going to give space for people who have been long term sick or have been long term addiction to have the opportunity to be prayed for. And I believe wholeheartedly that just as we saw with the women of the issue of blood who'd been having that for 12 years, that today is the day where those people that have been praying those same prayers again and again will receive their answer and healing this morning.
[00:21:07] But for those of us whose maybe our faith doesn't feel big enough yet for those miracles, I just want to give you two verses which I've held onto for the past 12 years while my CFS has flared up or when I've needed to remind my spirit that the Lord is with me in my weakness.
[00:21:23] The first One is Micah 7:7. As for me, I watch in hope for the Lord. I wait for God my Saviour, My God will hear me.
[00:21:35] And then Psalm 73, verse 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.
[00:21:49] And finally, I want to talk about encountering Jesus.
[00:21:54] Jesus encounters the woman with the issue of blood as an adult, but he encounters Jairus daughter when she is just a child.
[00:22:02] The Bible Society did a recent study in April this year which showed there's been a significant increase in the number of young adults who are attending church, particularly in young men, which as Dave said before, you know, there's been generations where actually fatherhood's got a really bad rep at the moment and we've been let down. But the fact that there are young men coming back into the church building, we are seeing decades of answered prayer, answered. I remember being in church living rooms or church buildings with adults. And they're praying for young people. And there's two things they're praying for. They are praying for young people who would be rooted in scripture, but also living in the Spirit. And we are living off the back of those decades and decades of prayers now. And it's the prayers of spiritual fathers and mothers who decided to fall at the feet of Jesus, just like Jairus here. And they pleaded for the lives of this generation.
[00:22:50] And I believe there are parents in this room who have knelt by their beds in their living rooms and they've interceded for their children to be saved. And you've been interceding for years and years and years.
[00:23:01] Those prayers don't go empty.
[00:23:04] He hears every single one.
[00:23:07] And I believe that there are more Jairus parents still to be called who will intercede and pray for a righteous generation to follow them.
[00:23:14] And my prayer is for my generation that we would leave behind that righteous legacy for those coming up behind us and that we would set an example for those that are ahead of us and that we would call back in the prodigal parents.
[00:23:27] We are called to be a gyrus praying church.
[00:23:30] And Jairus means Yahweh shines. And by getting on our knees and interceding that those who are dead in their sin would be brought to fullness of life. In the name of Jesus, we're declaring John 1, verse 4 to 5 over our areas, our schools, our workplaces, churches and nations. In him was life, and that life is the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness.
[00:23:55] The darkness has not overpowered it.
[00:23:58] Teenagers, young people, kids, start making history with God. You are never too young to encounter Jesus. Jairus daughter received a miracle at 12 years old which would have stayed with her for the rest of her life.
[00:24:10] Start making your own history with Jesus. Adults. The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years went most of her adult life without having encountered the love and presence of Jesus. It is never too late for an encounter with Jesus. Do not waste the rest of your life wondering if God is with you. Do not waste the rest of your life chasing the things of this world which mean nothing when we get to the end of it. Realistically, it means nothing. That's. That's the truth.
[00:24:39] God loves you so much. He is calling you even now to come and submit yourself to his will and his ways and his love. And oh, it's the best decision you will ever, ever, ever make.
[00:24:52] Secondly, grab hold of God and let God hold you.
[00:24:59] There are two beautiful pictures in the story of how God meets with us and the woman with the issue of blood. In verse 44, it says she came up behind him, touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[00:25:15] In her determined desperation, she goes after Jesus and grabs onto the hem of his garment. And immediately she encounters Jesus's power and compassion. She has chosen to seek after Jesus to grab hold of him. She believed he could heal her just by a touch.
[00:25:32] There's that really cheesy little mixed song where it's like, just a touch of your love is enough to knock me off my feet. All week. And it just makes me think of that in how just a touch of Jesus is enough to knock us off our feet for the rest of the week. It's enough of an encounter to sustain us when life feels heavy, when life feels hard, and she's chosen to seek after him just by one touch of Jesus, all her uncleanness is transferred onto him. All that uncleanness that she's been defined by, by her whole life, all that shame, all that pain is suddenly transferred onto Jesus and she's made whole.
[00:26:10] Jeremiah 29, verse 13 says, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
[00:26:18] Don't hold anything back from God. He already knows he's pretty, he's pretty clever that way.
[00:26:26] Don't hold anything back from God if you seek him wholeheartedly. There is revelation and encounter. Just on the other side of seeking there's this Pinterest quote and I'm not sure the original source. I'm really sorry, but it says, if you're hanging on by a thread, make sure it's the hem of his garment.
[00:26:42] If you're in your seeking, in your lowliness, in your quiet moments of crying out to God, if you feel exhausted from your circumstances, if you feel burnt out from the world around you, reach out and grab hold of the hem of his garment and he will meet you in your weakness.
[00:26:59] And it's not just a one way streak here as we see with Jairus daughter in verse 54, it is Jesus who takes her hand and says to her, my child gets up.
[00:27:08] When we don't feel like we have the strength to reach out to Jesus for ourselves, he's already waiting for us with arms outstretched from his time on the cross, before we even knew him and accepted him, he was there waiting to take hold of our hand and say, my child, get up.
[00:27:26] And thirdly, don't be afraid to fall to your knees at the feet of Jesus.
[00:27:34] Both the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus both fall to their knees before Jesus to show that they recognize his sovereignty, his power. There's something different about his man, that in their humanity, they've never met the guy, but they know that just by his presence alone that he is somebody worth submitting their life to.
[00:27:54] And in the book of Revelation there's this moment where John encounters Christ and it gives this beautiful description of what Jesus looks like.
[00:28:04] And just to finish, what I'd like to do is just read this description to you. So can I just encourage you just to close your eyes for A moment.
[00:28:11] Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. Close your eyes just for a moment.
[00:28:15] And this is Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings and the Lord of lords.
[00:28:20] Revelation 1, verse 12 to 18 says, I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest.
[00:28:37] The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like blazing fire.
[00:28:44] His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. And his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
[00:28:51] In his right hand he held seven stars. And coming out of his mouth was a sharp double edged sword.
[00:28:56] His face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance.
[00:29:01] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said again, just like he did to Jairus, do not be afraid.
[00:29:14] I am the first and the last.
[00:29:17] I am the living one. I was dead and now look. I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
[00:29:28] Jesus, you're wonderful in all of your ways. And we thank you that your voice is like the sound of rushing waters, telling us, just like you did to Jairus and to the woman with the issue of blood, that we do not have to be afraid and that we can go in peace.
[00:29:41] If there's anyone here today that does not know you, I pray you would reach out and grasp hold of them now. In Jesus name.
