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After a long string of defeats, it’s easy to give up hope. You feel like you can’t win or experience anything good. You may have battled something within yourself, and you feel like you can never defeat it. You keep going back to the same sin and the same old pattern. You feel like you’ve tried everything, and you can’t move forward. You also can experience this in regards to others. You feel stuck in a relationship. You feel like nothing can change. You’ve tried everything, and nothing seems to work. So, you wait but without much hope.
In this passage, we have two examples of people who were tempted to give up hope. Then, they saw the power of Jesus. This gave them hope when others gave up hope, and they saw Jesus do an amazing work.
There are two histories intertwined here. The account begins and ends with the account of Jairus, a synagogue leader, and in the middle is the account of a woman with an issue of blood. We will deal with the woman first and then we will consider what happened when Jesus went to Jairus’ house.
The Woman with an Issue of Blood
Jesus triumphed over the demon army on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The people, though, did not want him to stay, and so he returned to the Jewish side. There is a big contrast in this passage between the crowds who asked Jesus to leave in the previous story and the crowds on the other side of the Lake. “Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him” (Luke 8:41).
In the midst of those crowds was a man named Jairus, a leader in the synagogues. This man came to Jesus and fell at his feet begging Jesus to come to his house. Have you ever experienced something that drove you to Jesus’ feet like that? What this man experienced is the sort of thing that would drive you to your knees. This man had one child, a daughter of 12 years old, and she was dying. Everyone expects that their children will outlive them, so the death of a child is always the hardest.
Jesus tried to leave, but the crowds were pressing in around Him and nearly crushed Him. There, in the midst of the crowd was a woman who had a gynecological condition. She had continued to bleed for twelve years. She had tried everything, and no one could heal her. This was a very difficult disease, but the situation was even worse. Women who experienced an issue of blood were considered ceremonially unclean. They had to remain separate from others so as not to make them unclean, and they could not enter the temple.
That’s what makes what happens even more striking. She came up behind Jesus and touched his cloak. Immediately, she was healed. She didn’t make Jesus unclean. Jesus made her clean. Jesus healed her.
Then, Jesus asked a very strange question. “Who touched me?” He was in the midst of a crowd, and people were pressing in all around Him. Jesus then clarified, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me” (Luke 8:46).
The woman saw that she would not go undetected. So, she came, trembling, and told him everything. Jesus responded with a great affirmation. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” What Jesus was saying was that this woman saw what Jesus could do for her, believed it, and got what she had asked for. And note, it is not the greatness of her faith but the Christ in the faith that healed her.
And the same can be true for us. We may have struggled a long time. We may feel unclean. But Christ can heal us. I have experienced this in my life and seen it in the lives of others. Sometimes Jesus heals us instantly. I’ll never forget a summer day in Spearfish, South Dakota, where my previous church was. There, I was adjusting the hoses because it is very dry there, and the lawn has to be watered to remain green. I was struggling with bitterness in my heart toward a group of people. As I was praying, the bitterness simply disappeared. I never felt angry or bitter towards that group again. It was a miracle. It was the healing power of Christ.
Jesus doesn’t always heal like that. Sometimes, He does it over time. One of my favorite stories is from a Pastor who did not know Jesus when he was in college. After college, he became a Christian, and he also lost touch with most of his college friends. Years later, like many of us, he reconnected with them on Facebook. He started getting messages from his friends. “What happened to you? In college, you were such a jerk. It’s clear that you’ve changed.” God did a work in him and changed him from being a jerk to a person who knew how to love. It was clear to those who had known him before, but he had never thought about the extent of the changes because it had been a gradual healing.
That’s what Jesus can still do for us. Even if we have been struggling for years. We should go to Jesus who will heal us, cleanse us, and make us free.
Jairus
Jesus was still speaking, but someone came to Jairus from his house. He said to him, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Hope is gone. It’s time to give up. That’s what his friend was saying.
And has anyone ever said that to you? Have you said that to yourself? “There’s no hope. People can’t change. I can’t change.”
Have you ever heard of Saint Augustine, the Bishop in time of the late Roman Empire in Northern Africa? His books are some of the great classics of the world. He tells the story of his conversion in his confessions. His books present the Christian faith in a powerful way that has influenced theologians and philosophers ever since.
But you know what? Augustine rejected Christianity for a long, long time. He was well into the middle of his life before he accepted Christ. But, he had a praying Mother named Monica. She was a Christian, and she prayed for her son for 17 years before he became a Christian. Her life is a testament to what Luke would say later about one of Jesus’ parables. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). God answered her prayers, but she had to pray and not give up for a long time.
That’s just what Jesus taught Jairus here. “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” In other words, don’t look at the hopelessness of the situation, look at what I can do, Jesus is saying.
How many times do we give in to despair in our situations and forget the one thing that is able to do the most good? To look to Jesus! I was talking to a friend recently, and he was concerned about the influence of a man in his church. We talked for a long time about strategies for dealing with the situation. However, I forgot the most important thing! To pray regularly that God would change this man’s heart. That’s what was needed the most. I contacted my friend as I was working on this sermon to remind him of that point. We will see what Jesus will do.
Jesus went into the room to see the girl. He told them, “Stop wailing! She is not dead but asleep.” Now, did Jesus think that she was just sleeping and had not physically died? I don’t think so. I think what Jesus was saying to him is that death is not irreversible. In fact, of every believer, we can say that they are not dead but asleep. Their bodies are going to rise and be reunited with their souls at the resurrection of the dead. As Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15, those who are asleep will rise, and those who are alive will be changed. This corruptible body will be changed into an incorruptible one, and thus we will all be with the Lord forever in glorified bodies.
The people responded to what Jesus said with unbelief and scorn. But the laughter did not last long. Jesus did something they did not expect at all. “But he took her by the hand and said, ‘My child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up” (Luke 8:54–55). That is the power of the one who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or even imagine.
Conclusion
Now, where are you inclined to give up? On yourself? Or on others? Don’t fear. Don’t give up. Only believe. The power of Christ is present here to heal, to cleanse, and to empower. Don’t forget it. See the greatness of Christ, and let this shape the way you look at every situation. Amen.
Benediction: As you look at the challenges of this week. Don’t be afraid. Just trust in Christ. Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.