WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.625 --> 00:00:02.725 In the name of Jesus. 2 00:00:03.025 --> 00:00:03.625 Amen. 3 00:00:05.525 --> 00:00:12.525 A woman has been suffering from a discharge of blood for 12 years too 4 00:00:12.525 --> 00:00:13.325 long. 5 00:00:14.925 --> 00:00:19.125 A girl dies at the young age of 12. 6 00:00:20.125 --> 00:00:21.125 Too soon. 7 00:00:22.725 --> 00:00:26.025 The number is significant for the woman 8 00:00:26.025 --> 00:00:28.725 12 years is too much time. 9 00:00:29.825 --> 00:00:36.625 It signifies ongoing chronic suffering a long time of failed, doctor 10 00:00:36.625 --> 00:00:39.525 visits, and ineffective remedies. 11 00:00:40.525 --> 00:00:46.325 She has done everything she can for 12 long years, but to no avail. 12 00:00:47.825 --> 00:00:53.525 And then there is the crushing shame of being labeled ritually impure, 13 00:00:53.925 --> 00:00:55.025 unclean 14 00:00:56.325 --> 00:00:58.725 for something, she can do nothing about. 15 00:01:00.125 --> 00:01:06.925 To the woman, 12 years must have seemed like an eternity, like a 16 00:01:06.925 --> 00:01:10.525 miserable existence with no end. 17 00:01:11.225 --> 00:01:13.425 No relief in sight. 18 00:01:15.525 --> 00:01:20.225 The number matters for the girl, the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of 19 00:01:20.225 --> 00:01:21.125 the synagogue. 20 00:01:21.525 --> 00:01:22.725 12 years is 21 00:01:24.025 --> 00:01:26.025 not long enough it's too little. 22 00:01:27.525 --> 00:01:35.625 Twelve means that a tender life is cut short, too quickly too soon. 12 23 00:01:36.325 --> 00:01:40.325 signifies the suddenness of tragedy. 24 00:01:42.125 --> 00:01:43.025 To the father 25 00:01:44.025 --> 00:01:50.325 his little girls untimely death must have come as a shock so much 26 00:01:50.325 --> 00:01:53.725 promise, so little time. 27 00:01:55.225 --> 00:02:01.025 And then, the crushing grief of losing a loved one with the wailing 28 00:02:01.025 --> 00:02:05.625 sounds of crowds and funeral music in the background. 29 00:02:06.725 --> 00:02:11.525 12 years must have seemed like an unfinished biography. 30 00:02:12.425 --> 00:02:15.725 A story abruptly brought to an end. 31 00:02:18.225 --> 00:02:20.925 Twelve Years too long, too soon. 32 00:02:22.225 --> 00:02:25.825 Some illnesses can hang on to loved ones for a long time. 33 00:02:27.025 --> 00:02:30.125 And at times we feel loved ones 34 00:02:31.425 --> 00:02:33.125 have left us too soon. 35 00:02:35.925 --> 00:02:36.725 What to do? 36 00:02:38.925 --> 00:02:42.925 The woman could have resigned herself to her sickness, even if 37 00:02:42.925 --> 00:02:43.825 reluctantly. 38 00:02:44.925 --> 00:02:47.725 She could have said I've lived with this sickness for 12 years 39 00:02:47.725 --> 00:02:50.025 anyway, what's 12 more. 40 00:02:52.025 --> 00:02:53.425 Maybe I'll survive. 41 00:02:55.025 --> 00:02:59.125 The father could have resigned himself to his daughter's death. 42 00:03:00.325 --> 00:03:04.525 Look for a way to perhaps make it hurt a little less. 43 00:03:05.325 --> 00:03:07.725 At least I had her for 12 years. 44 00:03:08.925 --> 00:03:11.225 12 years of good memories. 45 00:03:13.425 --> 00:03:17.525 The father and the woman could have simply accepted the reality 46 00:03:17.825 --> 00:03:19.525 however, undesirable. 47 00:03:20.725 --> 00:03:26.625 For what it was and just try to move on with their lives. 48 00:03:27.625 --> 00:03:31.625 Make the best out of tragic situation. 49 00:03:34.025 --> 00:03:35.225 But they cannot. 50 00:03:36.925 --> 00:03:38.025 They will not do it. 51 00:03:39.825 --> 00:03:45.025 They cannot and will not accept reality as most people see it. 52 00:03:46.325 --> 00:03:48.625 And the reason is Jesus. 53 00:03:50.225 --> 00:03:52.525 They must have been among the crowds. 54 00:03:54.725 --> 00:03:58.325 They heard Jesus speaking with authority. 55 00:03:59.825 --> 00:04:04.025 And Jesus by his Divine words, draws them in. 56 00:04:06.125 --> 00:04:10.925 Jesus draws the girl's father and the suffering woman to himself. 57 00:04:12.125 --> 00:04:14.625 And to his way of seeing things. 58 00:04:15.725 --> 00:04:17.625 To his view of reality. 59 00:04:20.125 --> 00:04:23.425 While he was saying these things behold 60 00:04:23.425 --> 00:04:26.925 a ruler came in and knelt before him. 61 00:04:28.625 --> 00:04:34.025 And behold a woman came up behind him and touched the fringe of his 62 00:04:34.025 --> 00:04:34.825 garment. 63 00:04:36.825 --> 00:04:39.925 While he was speaking with Divine Authority. 64 00:04:42.525 --> 00:04:44.525 So, what is Jesus reality? 65 00:04:46.325 --> 00:04:47.625 It's the kingdom of God. 66 00:04:48.925 --> 00:04:51.425 It's the gracious rule of his Father on Earth. 67 00:04:52.725 --> 00:04:59.025 And in this view of reality, Jesus is establishing the kingdom by 68 00:04:59.025 --> 00:05:02.825 saving people from the powers of the old age. 69 00:05:03.425 --> 00:05:06.925 Jesus, preaches and brings about this Kingdom 70 00:05:07.125 --> 00:05:11.525 when he forgives sins, drives out demons, heals the sick, 71 00:05:12.825 --> 00:05:14.025 raises the dead. 72 00:05:15.125 --> 00:05:20.125 The stuff of Matthew 9, Matthew 8 and a few other places. 73 00:05:22.525 --> 00:05:29.425 In Jesus view, sickness and death are leftovers from the old corrupt 74 00:05:29.425 --> 00:05:34.925 age enemies of God, which which Jesus has to eradicate from his 75 00:05:34.925 --> 00:05:37.425 creation by his words and deeds. 76 00:05:39.025 --> 00:05:43.125 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 77 00:05:43.825 --> 00:05:45.025 The old has gone. 78 00:05:45.725 --> 00:05:47.325 The new has come. 79 00:05:48.825 --> 00:05:53.725 The old powers that keep people in bondage to the powers of the anti 80 00:05:53.725 --> 00:05:58.125 Kingdom, must give way to and finally be driven out 81 00:06:00.025 --> 00:06:01.125 by a new king. 82 00:06:03.025 --> 00:06:05.325 There's a new sheriff in town. 83 00:06:05.925 --> 00:06:08.025 There is a new ruler on Earth. 84 00:06:08.625 --> 00:06:14.625 There is one Lord, one Savior and his name is Jesus. 85 00:06:16.025 --> 00:06:19.225 And by his presence and his words 86 00:06:19.425 --> 00:06:25.125 Jesus makes known this mystery of the Kingdom to a grieving, father and 87 00:06:26.825 --> 00:06:28.925 a sick woman deemed unclean. 88 00:06:30.425 --> 00:06:35.925 The father knelt before him, which means that the ruler of the 89 00:06:35.925 --> 00:06:36.825 synagogue 90 00:06:37.925 --> 00:06:41.325 here bends the knee or better yet 91 00:06:41.625 --> 00:06:49.925 worships from the Greek proskuneoo worships Jesus as the ruler of 92 00:06:49.925 --> 00:06:50.625 creation. 93 00:06:50.625 --> 00:06:55.625 He knows Jesus as his Lord and his daughters 94 00:06:55.825 --> 00:06:56.525 Lord. 95 00:06:57.725 --> 00:07:00.925 And the woman touching Jesus 96 00:07:00.925 --> 00:07:09.425 garment says to herself, if I only touch his garment I will be made 97 00:07:09.525 --> 00:07:09.925 well. 98 00:07:10.925 --> 00:07:12.125 Or better yet. 99 00:07:12.625 --> 00:07:16.625 I will be saved from the Greeks zozo. 100 00:07:17.825 --> 00:07:25.225 The woman knows Jesus as the savior of creation as her savior. 101 00:07:25.925 --> 00:07:31.625 You see these stories of healing are stories of faith of seeing 102 00:07:31.625 --> 00:07:36.725 reality with the eyes of the kingdom of seeing reality through the 103 00:07:36.725 --> 00:07:40.425 eyes of trust in Jesus as Savior 104 00:07:40.625 --> 00:07:43.725 and Lord. Of seeing not only by sight 105 00:07:45.025 --> 00:07:46.625 but seeing by faith. 106 00:07:48.025 --> 00:07:54.125 And so Jesus tells the sick woman whom he drew to himself and who knows 107 00:07:54.125 --> 00:07:55.525 him as her Savior. 108 00:07:55.725 --> 00:07:57.425 Take heart daughter 109 00:07:58.525 --> 00:08:00.925 your faith has made you, well. 110 00:08:02.525 --> 00:08:06.325 Your faith in me has saved you. 111 00:08:09.425 --> 00:08:15.025 And in the healing of this unclean woman, Jesus gives us an 112 00:08:15.025 --> 00:08:16.025 anticipated 113 00:08:16.025 --> 00:08:22.525 sign of the final manifestation of the kingdom of God of our restored 114 00:08:22.525 --> 00:08:23.225 creation. 115 00:08:24.925 --> 00:08:28.825 Where there will be no sickness and all the sick will be well. 116 00:08:30.025 --> 00:08:35.725 And where the unclean will be healed and welcomed into God's presence. 117 00:08:38.325 --> 00:08:39.525 And what about the girl's 118 00:08:39.525 --> 00:08:40.025 father? 119 00:08:41.425 --> 00:08:44.125 For sure, he knows that his daughter has died. 120 00:08:45.525 --> 00:08:51.825 But he will not let this define reality in any kind of ultimate sense. 121 00:08:52.325 --> 00:08:54.125 Kneeling before Jesus 122 00:08:54.825 --> 00:08:59.225 he tells him, my daughter has just died 123 00:09:00.825 --> 00:09:06.025 but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. 124 00:09:08.325 --> 00:09:15.225 His is a bull faith in Jesus, as the Lord of Life, the one who alone 125 00:09:15.225 --> 00:09:18.725 can raise the dead to life. 126 00:09:20.225 --> 00:09:24.725 Here the fathers words at first carry the force of an imperative. 127 00:09:25.125 --> 00:09:31.525 Lay your hand, and then he declares what Jesus will bring about in the 128 00:09:31.525 --> 00:09:32.125 future. 129 00:09:32.425 --> 00:09:33.725 She will live. 130 00:09:36.725 --> 00:09:40.325 And after the father addresses, Jesus, the text tells us 131 00:09:41.825 --> 00:09:46.125 that Jesus rose and followed him with his disciples. 132 00:09:49.225 --> 00:09:49.925 What? 133 00:09:51.425 --> 00:09:58.325 Aren't we supposed to follow Jesus, but you see when Jesus draws the 134 00:09:58.325 --> 00:10:00.925 man to himself, the man 135 00:10:00.925 --> 00:10:02.125 now, sees differently. 136 00:10:02.425 --> 00:10:03.925 He can't help himself. 137 00:10:04.225 --> 00:10:07.825 He must ask Jesus to answer his plea 138 00:10:08.425 --> 00:10:15.125 for Jesus alone can do it, and Jesus does, and Jesus follows this man 139 00:10:15.625 --> 00:10:18.425 to bless him to accompany him. 140 00:10:19.625 --> 00:10:20.925 To bless his daughter. 141 00:10:23.525 --> 00:10:27.425 The father's faith is a complete opposite of the reaction 142 00:10:27.425 --> 00:10:33.825 Jesus gets from the people wailing, at the site of the girl's death. 143 00:10:34.525 --> 00:10:40.025 The people who laughed at him when he told them go away for the girl 144 00:10:40.025 --> 00:10:40.925 is sleeping. 145 00:10:42.225 --> 00:10:46.725 The crowd laughs at Jesus and his words. 146 00:10:48.125 --> 00:10:50.625 Because you see, they have resigned themselves 147 00:10:51.625 --> 00:10:53.825 to death having the last word. 148 00:10:55.025 --> 00:10:56.625 They only live by sight. 149 00:10:58.225 --> 00:11:03.825 But the girl's father believes in Jesus and his promise the girl is 150 00:11:03.825 --> 00:11:04.725 sleeping. 151 00:11:06.525 --> 00:11:10.925 He sees reality, through the eyes of the Kingdom to come through the 152 00:11:10.925 --> 00:11:18.225 eyes of faith in Jesus as Lord of creation, and Jesus manifests God's 153 00:11:18.225 --> 00:11:22.125 rule on Earth by raising the dead to life. 154 00:11:23.725 --> 00:11:25.525 He took her by the hand 155 00:11:26.625 --> 00:11:28.625 and the girl arose. 156 00:11:29.925 --> 00:11:36.225 Here we have another anticipated sign of the kingdom of our restored 157 00:11:36.225 --> 00:11:39.725 creation where death will be defeated. 158 00:11:40.725 --> 00:11:46.725 And the dead, those who like the girl fall asleep, waiting expecting 159 00:11:46.725 --> 00:11:52.425 Christ visitation will rise to everlasting life. 160 00:11:55.925 --> 00:11:59.725 You know, sometimes we read these stories of healing and say to 161 00:11:59.725 --> 00:12:02.325 ourselves and that was then, 162 00:12:03.425 --> 00:12:04.425 but what about now? 163 00:12:05.725 --> 00:12:06.825 What about us? 164 00:12:08.925 --> 00:12:13.425 Well, we too suffer illnesses and grief the death of loved ones. 165 00:12:14.425 --> 00:12:17.525 Sometimes those illnesses last too long. 166 00:12:18.725 --> 00:12:21.425 And sometimes loved ones, die, too soon. 167 00:12:23.825 --> 00:12:26.325 But like the girl's father and the sick woman 168 00:12:27.825 --> 00:12:33.025 we do not live as if sickness and death have the last word. 169 00:12:34.925 --> 00:12:36.625 No, we cannot 170 00:12:37.625 --> 00:12:44.925 and we will not, because Jesus has given us another set of lens. 171 00:12:46.325 --> 00:12:51.825 Jesus has given us eyes to see life in terms of his kingdom. 172 00:12:54.025 --> 00:12:55.525 Jesus is the same Lord 173 00:12:56.625 --> 00:13:04.125 and savior today, he still draws us to himself by his word we too kneel 174 00:13:04.125 --> 00:13:07.525 before him and worship him. 175 00:13:08.625 --> 00:13:13.625 We too touch his glorified body in his meal 176 00:13:14.925 --> 00:13:21.425 and seek his forgiveness and receive his gifts and healing. And because 177 00:13:21.425 --> 00:13:25.225 Jesus rules graciously in our lives 178 00:13:26.225 --> 00:13:29.725 we now see reality not by sight, no matter 179 00:13:29.725 --> 00:13:31.225 If the world is laughing. 180 00:13:32.725 --> 00:13:37.625 No, we see by faith in his promises. 181 00:13:39.925 --> 00:13:40.425 Daughter 182 00:13:40.425 --> 00:13:41.925 take heart 183 00:13:42.925 --> 00:13:44.725 your faith has saved you. 184 00:13:46.725 --> 00:13:49.425 Don't be anxious, belief. 185 00:13:51.525 --> 00:13:52.925 The girl is sleeping. 186 00:13:56.125 --> 00:14:01.325 And Jesus has also taught us to pray for his kingdom to come 187 00:14:01.425 --> 00:14:03.825 now. Even now 188 00:14:05.725 --> 00:14:13.025 and he invites us to be bold and ask him to fulfill his promises to us 189 00:14:13.225 --> 00:14:19.325 of a new creation by delivering us from bondage to the powers of sin, 190 00:14:19.325 --> 00:14:20.925 the devil and death. 191 00:14:20.925 --> 00:14:21.425 Yay, 192 00:14:21.525 --> 00:14:25.525 even from sickness itself. For what is sickness 193 00:14:26.625 --> 00:14:30.325 but a reminder that all is not well with us 194 00:14:30.625 --> 00:14:36.325 and with this world. What is sickness but even a harbinger of death 195 00:14:36.325 --> 00:14:37.225 itself. 196 00:14:39.725 --> 00:14:40.925 Friends in Christ, 197 00:14:42.125 --> 00:14:48.025 because of Jesus, we are bold to pray for his kingdom to come. 198 00:14:50.025 --> 00:14:55.525 And we are bold to approach our loving, Father in prayer when times 199 00:14:55.525 --> 00:14:56.425 are tough 200 00:14:58.125 --> 00:15:00.925 and the suffering is even unbearable. 201 00:15:03.125 --> 00:15:05.525 For the world prayer is nothing 202 00:15:08.725 --> 00:15:09.725 but for us, 203 00:15:11.625 --> 00:15:13.225 it's hanging on to Jesus 204 00:15:15.025 --> 00:15:16.125 at all times. 205 00:15:18.025 --> 00:15:22.825 We can be sure Brothers and Sisters in Christ that the same Lord 206 00:15:23.925 --> 00:15:28.325 who listened and answered the pleas of the father, and the woman will 207 00:15:28.325 --> 00:15:31.825 listen to an answer our prayers today. 208 00:15:33.225 --> 00:15:38.425 We can be sure that he will heal us from our sicknesses and deliver us 209 00:15:38.425 --> 00:15:41.625 from death if not already now 210 00:15:42.625 --> 00:15:50.225 then his final coming in his final visitation in his second Advent. 211 00:15:51.425 --> 00:15:57.225 When he will visit us and make all things new and right in his 212 00:15:57.225 --> 00:15:59.425 kingdom, which has no end. 213 00:16:02.125 --> 00:16:03.025 Take heart 214 00:16:04.225 --> 00:16:05.425 your faith in him 215 00:16:06.825 --> 00:16:07.625 has saved you. 216 00:16:09.125 --> 00:16:09.625 Amen.