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You may be seated.
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Jesus leaves no doubt
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that he is God.
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A woman with a twelve year flow
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of blood touches just the hem of
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Jesus's garment and she's made
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whole. A girl is dead,
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and Jesus takes her by the
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hand and she rises.
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Two blind men cry out for mercy.
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Jesus touches their eyes and
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their eyes are opened.
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They can see again.
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No one else can do this
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but God alone.
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But what is most divine about
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Jesus isn't that he can do it,
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but that he delights to do it.
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Jesus just can't help himself.
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My five year old son has a two
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foot by three foot puzzle of
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the solar system that has a
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permanent home on our
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family room floor.
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He loves that puzzle,
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and every once in a while I get
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a bit tired of having to step
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over it or around it.
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So when he's not looking,
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I quickly pick it up
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and put it away.
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And then my son walks into the
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room and he is indignant.
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He immediately finds the puzzle
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and gets busy putting
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it back together.
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You shall not take away the
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beloved creation of a
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five year old boy.
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But Titus Christoph Golden does
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not hold a candle to Jesus.
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For twelve years,
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this woman has been physically
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depleted and anemic.
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She has not only suffered
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physically,
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but she has been left unclean
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according to the Levitical
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standards.
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She has borne a heavy weight.
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That is not what Jesus desires
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for his beloved creation,
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she will be whole. Indeed
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Jesus says to her, take heart,
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O daughter.
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Your faith has saved you.
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The crowd gathered outside a
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dead girl's home is emotionally
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disturbed.
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They are creating
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quite a ruckus.
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Jesus tells them to go away
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because she is dead.
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She is not dead,
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but merely asleep.
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No need for mourners here.
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Their ridicule will not stop
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Jesus from doing what he does
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because he delights in life,
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not death.
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Jesus cannot help Himself
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but save His creation,
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taking this woman and this
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girl from death to life.
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And He does it all with a
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wonderfully physical touch.
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Now,
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there are times when Jesus
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brings life simply by speaking
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the Word, his Word,
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bringing things into being.
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But here today, in Matthew,
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chapter nine, He delights to
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touch His creation and
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make it whole.
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The woman touches the hem of
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Jesus's garment and she's saved.
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Jesus doesn't even speak
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a word to the girl,
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but takes her by the hand and
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she rises from the dead.
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Jesus touches the eyes of the
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blind men and their
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eyes are opened.
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Jesus delights in being that
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physical, that tactile,
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that in touch with his creation
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because he delighted to create
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us physically in the
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first place.
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When God went about creating
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everything,
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He keeps looking at what He has
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made and we keep finding that He
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has the exact same verdict.
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He sees it and says that
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His creation is good.
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Jesus delights in these physical
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bodies that He has given us.
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But it is not good for His
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beloved creation to
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suffer and die.
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He will not leave His creation
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fallen and broken.
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He will save His creation and
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make it whole because He
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delights in the physicality of
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His creation and so do those
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who serve in His name.
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Among the great blessings of
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pastoral and diaconal ministry
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is the personal physical
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visitation of God's
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people. Make it your standard
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that for every minute
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you spend online,
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you spend an hour in physical,
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personal visitation
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of the saints.
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It will do wonders for your
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personal well being,
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it will bring great pastoral
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and diaconal fruit,
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and it will cultivate
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congregational health. Now,
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I have delighted in the
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visitation of all the saints who
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have been entrusted to my care
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throughout the years,
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but I especially rejoice in my
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visits with Stephanie. Now,
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Stephanie is only three
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years older than me,
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and so when our visits
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would take place,
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we always had conversations
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about our shared generational
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experiences,
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both being Gen Xers.
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And I can always count on
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Stephanie to have some jokes
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to offer when I'm there.
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The laughter that permeates our
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visits is uplifting because it
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is a celebration of life,
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even as Stephanie has spent her
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adult life watching her
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body shut down.
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She was only 16 years old when
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the first evidence was there,
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and it wouldn't be long before
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she was diagnosed with
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Multiple Sclerosis.
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When I first became her pastor
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about twelve years ago,
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she would spend our
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visits sitting in a
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specialized motorized
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wheelchair.
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But for the past five years,
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she's been stuck in bed,
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unable to move any part of
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her body below her neck.
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And though laughter is the
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norm for our visits,
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the conversation has turned
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rather serious on occasion,
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because both of us know that
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Jesus has come in the flesh to
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set free his creation from its
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bondage to decay. Now,
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what would I give for her
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just to touch the hem of my
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garment and she'd be made whole.
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How our laughter would ring out
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all the more uncontrollably if I
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could take her by the hand and
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she would rise out of that bed.
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And why not? After all,
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Jesus is certainly capable
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of doing that.
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And it's rather apparent
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he delights to do that.
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He longs to make his creation
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whole. So why not her?
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And why not now?
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I've not been given
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that authority.
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But when I was her pastor,
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I was given the authority to
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deliver Jesus to Stephanie
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physically so that she is saved.
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How can bodily eating and
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drinking do such great things?
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Because Christ says,
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here is His body and blood under
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bread and wine given to us
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tangibly physically.
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Now,
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along with the Lutheran
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confessions,
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we reject copernietic eating.
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We can't explain the mystery
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because Scripture does not
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explain the mystery.
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But we do get to rejoice.
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Rejoice that just as Christ
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delighted to save the
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hemorrhaging woman,
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just as he delighted to
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raise the dead girl,
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just as he delighted to touch
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the blind men and
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give them sight,
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so He comes to us in physical
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means as well,
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so that our broken bodies are
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saved. Into our mouths
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He places His own body that
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suffered and died,
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but now is risen from the
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dead. Into our mouths
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He puts His own blood
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shed upon the cross.
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But now that is truly His life
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blood coursing forth with His
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life that we might have
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life everlasting.
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As we watch our bodies die,
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here is the certainty that what
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is true of Christ's body and
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blood is true for ours as well.
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We will pass with Christ
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through the grave to
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life everlasting.
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Jesus tells the woman,
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take heart, O daughter
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your faith has saved you.
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Faith takes hold of
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Jesus Christ.
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Jesus asked the blind man,
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do you believe that
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I can do this?
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Yes, Lord.
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According to your faith,
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let it be done to you.
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And how about you? Do believe
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what Christ has said to you?
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Whoever has faith
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in these words,
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given and shed for you for
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the forgiveness of sins,
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has exactly what they say.
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The body and blood of our Lord
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and Savior, Jesus Christ,
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sustain you in body and faith
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until that day that he takes you
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by the hand so that you rise
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to life everlasting.
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Amen.