Jesus is the Word of God
Hi there,
Haven't been around for a bit. Health problems in the family. Prayers appreciated.
In my absense though go and read Halden on God's incomprehensibility.
To whet your appetite:
It is not that God is so ineffable that we cannot speak of God, rather God is so utterly excessive in his self-giving that we cannot ever finish saying enough about God. This is why theology must be understood as doxology.
Are you a boaster?
Bet I'm a bigger one...
See?
I've been thinking about the early chapters of 1 Corinthians recently.
Here's some of the things they boasted in.
Chapter 1:31 alludes to Jeremiah 9:23. There the spotlight is on wisdom, strength and riches.
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
Wisdom, strength, riches - do they tell you who you are? Is that where you turn for an ego boost? Well really- Forget that stuff. That's small-time boasting. That's like being proud of your long bushy nasal hair. "Hey guys, check out my new perm!" You're being ridiculous. Stop it.
But it's not just our own wisdom and strength we boast in. The Corinthians demonstrated the perennial temptation to boast in our connection to the world's wisdom and strength. They got a big ego trip from keeping up with the intellectual elites, the opinion formers, the celebrity power players. It's not even that they were these big players, but they got a kick out of knowing their celebrity gossip, following their diets, repeating the arguments of the columnists at dinner parties, adopting the attitudes and management techniques of the movers and shakers. Yeah, they were in with the people that really matter in the world. Paul says, that's puny, God's made that look pathetic at the cross (1 Cor 1:18-20). It's like pointing to smoking rubble and saying 'Lookey!'
Then there's the most subtle yet most rampant kind of boasting in Christian circles - to boast in Christian labels and leaders (1 Cor 1:12). I know where I stand because I'm emergent or neo-reformed or whatever. I'm ok because I line up with Stott or Carson or Driscoll or Piper or whoever. And Paul says - forget those guys, they're just slaves (1 Cor 3:5). Slaves might boast about knowing their famous masters, but who ever boasted about knowing a slave? They're farmers. (1 Cor 3:8). Whoever heard about celebrity farmers. They're builders (1 Cor 3:10-15) - and you're not the ones to do the survey of their building. God is.
Do not boast in Christian cliques, and parties, theologies and leaders. Was Calvin crucified for you? Were you baptised into Barth? (1 Cor 1:13).
And anyway, it's all yours! (1 Cor 3:21-23) You don't belong to Christian leaders, they belong to you - all of them belong to all of you. Anything Christ-exalting said by the Arminian, the Pentecostal, the Catholic, the Emergent, the Orthodox, even the Anglican - it's yours. Cheer up, you're inheriting the whole universe and Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Martin, Thomas, and Karl are thrown in.
Stop all this boasting in you, in your worldly connections, in your Christian connections - stop that.
But don't stop boasting. No, no, no. By all means keep on boasting. Paul commands it:
"Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (1 Cor 1:31)
Boasters of the world take heed. Do not put a lid on your boasting. Boast with gusto, with verve, with unstoppable audacity. Boast big-mouthed and full-throated. Boast until you're blue in the face.
Just don't boast in you. Boast in Jesus.
Notice how the very next thing Paul does is describe his evangelistic ministry.
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Cor 2:1-5)
Here is what it looks like to switch your boasting from self to Christ. It looks like a trembling, humble evangelist, no techniques, but bold as brass for Jesus and dead certain of His foolish message. In other words it makes for missionaries unsure of themselves but certain of Christ. And that's what the world needs.
So, boasters of the world, for goodness sakes let's stop boasting in ourselves. But don't stop boasting. Use the decades of practice we've accrued and turn it to good.
We used to rabbit on about our own achievements, now let's rabbit on about Christ's. We used to name drop Christian leaders, now let's name drop Christ. We used to slip impressive facts about ourselves into conversation, now let's slip in impressive facts about Jesus. We used to think of ourselves in relation to worldly power and wisdom, now let's regard ourselves according to the cross. We used to gain identity from theological labels, now let's claim the LORD as our banner.
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Ever noticed how much the theme of waiting comes up in the Scriptures?
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Two examples from the OT.
People waiting for Jesus:
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In Genesis 49 we see the kings from Judah promised as throne-warmers for the Universal King (v10). In the midst of Jacob's many prophesies he says:
"For Your Yeshua I will wait O LORD." (Gen 49:18)
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Let's leap over loads more and land on Psalm 130:5-8:
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.
The LORD Himself is coming to redeem His people. Wait for Him. Watch for Him. Put your hope in Him - which is strictly parallel to putting your hope in His word (interesting parallel).
Well the Universal King came and He offered full redemption. So NT people are not people of waiting right? Wrong.
Hebrews 9:28 explains:
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
What's the distinguishing mark of the Christian? Waiting for Jesus.
I could pick loads more but what about 1 Thes 1:9-10; 2 Tim 4:8 and Jude 21:
You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead--Jesus, Who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.
Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Do you have "expectant" mothers in your church? I hope you're not dumb enough to ask them whether they've given birth yet. But if you were to ask them how they're doing, you'll invariably get the response, "Still waiting." There's an event in the future that's coming and it changes everything in the present. How you doing? Waiting.
That's the Christian's outlook on life. Waiting for God's Son from heaven, longing for His appearing, waiting for His mercy and eternal life.
Do you miss Jesus? Is there a yearning for face-to-face with the Lord who died for you?
When I was engaged to my wife we were on opposite sides of the planet. In fact we did long-distance for over a year. But here's what kept me faithful to her. And more than faithful, here's what kept our long-distance relationship positively vibrant. We were waiting for our wedding day. And that expectancy shaped virtually every minute of our lives. Simply waiting for this future state rendered any notions of infidelity unthinkable. Waiting was not an absence of activity. It wasn't a lack that necessarily needed filling. It was not a nothing preceding a something. It was a something of enormous substance. Waiting in this sense is a tangible reality.
So it is with the Christian.
When we're asked how we're doing, perhaps we should respond like the 'expectant' mum or the engaged couple. How am I? Still waiting.
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...Ted [Haggard], gentle readers, is now living proof that “it” doesn’t work the way “it” is supposed to work. Ted is now a living demonstration that, darn it, we aren’t fixable. A good church with a kickin’ band? Great shoes and suits? Sermons researched by assistants and delivered with the proper film clips and jokes? Nope. Tear filled illustrations? Prayer groups? Sermon series on mp3? Book? Seventeen verses of the latest “I love you Jesus” song? A big smile?
All worthless for real sinners like Ted and yours truly.
No Ted, it’s resurrection or nothing. It’s Jesus does the whole deal or there is no deal.
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6 Christ Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)
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Divine humility. Sounds contradictory? You don't understand Christmas.
Jesus Christ, existing in the form of God, made a judgement. That's right. Before Christmas morning, Jesus took a decision. (btw, v6 is proof that it's ok to call the pre-incarnate Son 'Jesus' - but that's for another time...)
Now you didn't decide to get born. I'm guessing if you had been offered the chance to get born, you'd have taken it. But Jesus had to choose to get born. And I promise you, if you were in His shoes, you'd never have chosen what He chose. If you were in very nature God, surrounded by the worship of heaven, able to do whatever you pleased, you would not have chosen what Jesus chose. Because this is how Jesus considered things: Being in very nature God, He chose not to grasp at His power or to exploit it. Instead He chose total self-emptying. He chose servanthood. He chose to humble Himself. He chose obedience. He chose death. He even chose the death of the cross - lifted up as an accursed thing. That was Jesus' consideration - being the God that He was.
Question: Would you have chosen that?
Answer: No. Every day I fail to give up even the smallest of comforts. Let alone to give up my very life! Let alone to suffer godforsaken hell - and that for enemies! Would I have chosen this path? No!
Question: Well if Jesus did make this choice, did that stop Him from being in very nature God?
Answer: By no means! He is ongoingly, continually 'in very nature God'.
Question: Well then, is Jesus' self-emptying a major detour from His glory in the form of God?
Answer: No this is what equality with God actually looks like! This is the very expression of the Father's glory - not exploiting but emptying.
Since He is in the form of God so He took to Himself the form of a slave! And in this self-emptying He shows what true equality with God looks like. It looks like the crib and the cross!
Christmas morning and Good Friday are not detours from the glory of God. They show us that divine glory at full strength. In eternity Jesus made this consideration. He chose His history as the incarnate Servant to be that which truly expresses His equality with God. And the Father affirms this choice - hyper-exalting He who hyper-humbled Himself. And into all eternity we will gladly serve the Servant. (And don't forget, He will serve us! Luke 12:37!)
Implication: The baby in the manger, the victim on the cross - this is what it means to be in very nature God.
What is God's nature? Don't simply look to the crown. Look to the crib and to the cross. God's nature is disclosed as one of utter self-giving. Divine humility.
Glorious!
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A sermon by Darrell Johnson on this passage (one of my favourite sermons ever!)
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Ok, Dave's right, blogging's about the quick post. So here goes...
The Ten Commandments are written in the indicative. Did you know that? There's a perfectly straightforward imperative mood in Hebrew. God could easily have said "You must not murder". But God didn't say that. He said "You will not murder." You won't. You're my special people. I've saved you. You won't lie, you won't murder, you won't covet. You won't. These things are not said in the (grammatical) mood of command. They are said in the mood of promise!
Now of course they carry commanding force. When a mother says to two screaming kids "There will be peace in this house", by golly there had better be peace. And when God says there will be peace, well there's a huge commanding force to that. But it's first and foremost a promise.
And because it's a promise, it becomes the most binding command.
"You will" is far stronger than "you must".
"You must" implies that you may not. "You must" puts you in the driving seat. To be sure it stands above you with a threatening tone. But even after "You must" is spoken the reality is that maybe you will and maybe you won't. The choice remains yours.
"You will" takes the choice out of your hands. "You will" does not even contemplate an alternative. "You will" binds you to the promise. It makes you a slave of grace. It casts you as a humble recipient of the word with nothing to do but walk in the service that is perfect freedom.
So now Jesus says this in Matthew 5:48 - and again, He could have used the imperative. Instead He spoke in the glorious future indicative:
You will be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What a command? Well, yes, subsequently. But first - what a promise!
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Oh it's bad. It's very bad. It's murdering your Maker. It's cheating on your Lover. It's grieving His Spirit. It's tearing apart your soul. It's bad. Bad, bad, bad.
But not receiving forgiveness is far worse. Failure to accept the grace of Jesus dwarfs all other sins in its monstrosity. To refuse the vulnerable humility of God; to trample on the Lamb and blaspheme His Spirit as they offer blood-bought mercy and cleansing - this is unspeakable evil. It's the reason people perish eternally.
Don't believe me? 1 Thessalonians 2:10:
They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.
Those in hell are there for refusal to love the life-saving truth of the gospel. To sin is one thing. To refuse forgiveness is itself unforgivable.
Now we know this on a macro level. We know that eternity does not depend on minimizing sin. It depends on receiving forgiveness. We believe it for that Day, but do we believe it this day? Do I live today as though sinning (or not sinning) is the ultimate spiritual barometer? Or is my spiritual barometer daily calibrated to the forgiveness of Christ?
Here's how I naturally assess my Christian walk. I rate my 'performance' largely by how much distance I've managed to put between me and my last 'big sin.' (Of course it's 'big sins' I'm interested in, if I worried about the little ones my holy-count would never get off the ground). When the number of 'sin-free' days hits double figures I'm doing great. In fact, once I'm talking in weeks rather than days it rockets me into the righteousness stratosphere. Best of all, it finally allows me to minister to people from the safe distance of 'All-figured-out-holiness.'
Of course when I sin it sucks. Why? Because I'm back to zero. My functional righteousness is caput and I'll have to endure the hassle of a 'holy' fortnight before I can feel good again. If I minister to people it will have to be out of broken messiness and a dependence on the grace of Jesus. Ewww.
Now that's a stark way of putting it. But I don't think there is a nice way of portraying this mindset. While ever we pursue the Christian life as though sinning is the worst thing and 'not sinning is the most important thing' then such a foul system will develop. But it's to entirely forget the gospel.
So friends, perhaps you've really blown it recently. Praise God this could be the opportunity to realize your profound and continual need for the blood of Jesus. Allow this to teach you the truth - the person you showed yourself to be in your sin is the person you have always been. It springs from a heart full of evil which you will carry to the grave. Your only hope lies far above and beyond yourself at God's Right Hand. He is your profound and continual need.
Perhaps you blew it a while ago but you just can't seem to get beyond it. Friend - the Word of God forbids you to take your sin more seriously than Christ's forgiveness. Is your sin great? Yes. But is it greater than the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? Is it beyond the redeeming value of God's own blood (Acts 20:28). I think your sin has met its match in Calvary's cleansing flow, don't you?
Perhaps you haven't blown it for a while now but you're realizing you operate according to a functional righteousness. You hate sin only because it spoils your 'holy count'. You're proud and graceless. Well meditate on Philippians 3:1-11. Know that such 'righteousness' is dung and reckon it all as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He alone is your life and peace.
Or perhaps you're a blogger who writes about grace. You can dissect the sins of works-righteousness and see through latent Pharisaisms. Well neither are you righteous for your pithy critiques of the flesh. You haven't got it figured out. If you know anything it's that you're ignorant. If you have any strength it's only found in your helplessness. There's no credit to your insight, there's only rest in His mercy. You are nothing. Jesus is everything.
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Oh it's bad. It's very bad. It's murdering your Maker. It's cheating on your Lover. It's grieving His Spirit. It's tearing apart your soul. It's bad. Bad, bad, bad.
But not receiving forgiveness is far worse. Failure to accept the grace of Jesus dwarfs all other sins in its monstrosity. To refuse the vulnerable humility of God; to trample on the Lamb and blaspheme His Spirit as they offer blood-bought mercy and cleansing - this is unspeakable evil. It's the reason people perish eternally.
Don't believe me? 1 Thessalonians 2:10:
They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.
Those in hell are there for refusal to love the life-saving truth of the gospel. To sin is one thing. To refuse forgiveness is itself unforgivable.
Now we know this on a macro level. We know that eternity does not depend on minimizing sin. It depends on receiving forgiveness. We believe it for that Day, but do we believe it this day? Do I live today as though sinning (or not sinning) is the ultimate spiritual barometer? Or is my spiritual barometer daily calibrated to the forgiveness of Christ?
Here's how I naturally assess my Christian walk. I rate my 'performance' largely by how much distance I've managed to put between me and my last 'big sin.' (Of course it's 'big sins' I'm interested in, if I worried about the little ones my holy-count would never get off the ground). When the number of 'sin-free' days hits double figures I'm doing great. In fact, once I'm talking in weeks rather than days it rockets me into the righteousness stratosphere. Best of all, it finally allows me to minister to people from the safe distance of 'All-figured-out-holiness.'
Of course when I sin it sucks. Why? Because I'm back to zero. My functional righteousness is caput and I'll have to endure the hassle of a 'holy' fortnight before I can feel good again. If I minister to people it will have to be out of broken messiness and a dependence on the grace of Jesus. Ewww.
Now that's a stark way of putting it. But I don't think there is a nice way of portraying this mindset. While ever we pursue the Christian life as though sinning is the worst thing and 'not sinning is the most important thing' then such a foul system will develop. But it's to entirely forget the gospel.
So friends, perhaps you've really blown it recently. Praise God this could be the opportunity to realize your profound and continual need for the blood of Jesus. Allow this to teach you the truth - the person you showed yourself to be in your sin is the person you have always been. It springs from a heart full of evil which you will carry to the grave. Your only hope lies far above and beyond yourself at God's Right Hand. He is your profound and continual need.
Perhaps you blew it a while ago but you just can't seem to get beyond it. Friend - the Word of God forbids you to take your sin more seriously than Christ's forgiveness. Is your sin great? Yes. But is it greater than the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? Is it beyond the redeeming value of God's own blood (Acts 20:28). I think your sin has met its match in Calvary's cleansing flow, don't you?
Perhaps you haven't blown it for a while now but you're realizing you operate according to a functional righteousness. You hate sin only because it spoils your 'holy count'. You're proud and graceless. Well meditate on Philippians 3:1-11. Know that such 'righteousness' is dung and reckon it all as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He alone is your life and peace.
Or perhaps you're a blogger who writes about grace. You can dissect the sins of works-righteousness and see through latent Pharisaisms. Well neither are you righteous for your pithy critiques of the flesh. You haven't got it figured out. If you know anything it's that you're ignorant. If you have any strength it's only found in your helplessness. There's no credit to your insight, there's only rest in His mercy. You are nothing. Jesus is everything.
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Mark 5:21-43
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So we've seen how the woman's expectation was frustrated, she was driven down then lifted up.
The same happens to Jairus. He had expected Jesus to come and heal His little girl. But talk about frustration.
Can you imagine being Jairus in v24? You're leading the way back to your place, Jesus is coming but the crowd is holding everything up. How fast can you go when a large crowd is pressing around? You can bet Jairus wished the whole crowd would just disappear. I mean there are even people grabbing hold of Jesus' clothing as they're racing back to his house. But frustration just isn't the word when in v30, Jesus stops.
"Why have you stopped Jesus? Didn't you understand v23: my daughter IS dying." This is a race against the clock. Jesus has brought everything to a halt and now He's looking around a large crowd and asks 'who touched me?' Put yourself in Jairus's shoes.
"Who touched you? Who touched you??? A) Everybody. B) Who cares!!" It's incredible isn't it.
I mean verse 31 from the disciples is just dripping with sarcasm and incredulity:
"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask,'Who touched me?'"
That's how the disciples were thinking, how must Jairus have been thinking??
I have no medical training, I have no healing powers but if you told me your daughter was dying I'd come with you in a second. And nothing would get in my way.
Jesus is very different. He frustrates our expectations. We keep coming up against this in Mark. Just think about the last three weeks. In Mark 4 a hurricane blows up and not only does Jesus not immediately still it, He takes a power nap. And the disciples say "Jesus don't you care if we drown!?" Jesus does not do what He's meant to. Unbelievably Frustrating.
Last week we saw Jesus deliver a man oppressed by an army of unclean spirits. If you were here last week you'll remember Jesus had granted the request of the demons, He'd granted the request of the hostile crowd but when this delivered man just wants to hop aboard and be with Jesus, Jesus says 'No. Go back as a missionary.' Jesus frustrates our desires.
Here a father wants healing for His dying girl. Is there anything wrong with that request? Anything wrong with wanting your twelve year old daughter to live? Well then Jesus, if you have the power and if you're good, you'll do this thing. But what does Jesus do? He waits. He stops and talks to a woman - a destitute, unclean woman who wouldn't have even been allowed into Jairus's synagogue. And what's more this woman has been bleeding for 12 years now, she could wait another hour Jesus. But no. Jesus is unmanageable. He has His own agenda. He's insanely frustrating.
And verse 35,
"While Jesus was still speaking to this woman, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler."
And here are some of the most painful words you could ever hear
"Your daughter is dead."
"Your daughter is dead." Put yourself in Jairus's shoes. He's left his daughter's bedside. He's come and put his career on the line, he's prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus - begging for his little girl's life. And Jesus has not come through for you. Now you hear 'Your daughter is dead.'
Jairus's story is our story. Every one of us either has had or will have moments like this in our Christian lives. We have come to Jesus. We have real needs. We are sure we know the best way He can help us. But He doesn't do what we'd thought and our worst nightmare happens.
These last three weeks have been teaching us painful but invaluable lessons.
The storm of Mark chapter 4 taught us: We will go through storms and Jesus won't calm them right away. It will get to the point where we say "I'm dying here and you don't care do you?". The story of Legion in Mark 5 taught us: Jesus will say 'No' to us even when our desires seem completely legitimate and godly. This week we learn: Jesus will delay and nightmare scenarios will arise.
What do we do?
This is what we're supposed to do - v36:
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
That's incredible. How can that be in the bible? How can Jesus say that? Everything in us tells us this is the moment NOT to trust Jesus. This is the moment to conclude He's not good or He's not powerful but either way He's not helping, He can't be trusted. Jesus says "Don't be afraid, trust me."
Jairus is being driven down further than he'd ever anticipated. You would have thought at the start of the story that begging Jesus for healing was as desperate as Jairus could have been. But no, his daughter is now dead and still Jesus asks Jairus to trust him. Jairus is being driven down.
He is brought to the point where there is no earthly hope whatsoever. Only the God of resurrection can be trusted at this point. When your daughter is dead you must either be swallowed by despair and conclude that nothing is bigger than the grave or you can trust in the God of resurrection, but there's no other option. Either death swallows everything or there's a God of resurrection. Jesus says 'Trust me - I am the God of resurrection. I eat death for breakfast.'
Jairus gets to see firsthand the God of resurrection at work. Let me read from v38 (it's worth just reading this in full):
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Jairus was driven down and then lifted up in the most incredible way.
Jairus came to Jesus for a healing. He got a resurrection. And when it came, verse 42 says they were 'completely astonished'. Literally it says they were mega-ecstatic. Mega-ecstatic. Greatly beside themselves. Completely astonished. Jesus raised their dead daughter the way you or I would wake the sleeping. Those words in verse 41, "Talitha coum," are in Aramaic - the language Jesus spoke most often. And Mark leaves them in their original Aramaic because people remembered the exact words that came from Jesus' mouth. It was such a precious moment people would always remember the way He spoke to that little corpse. Jesus said 'Talitha coum' which is a term of great endearment. 'Talitha' has the feeling of 'Little girl', 'little madam', 'little missy' - it's warmly affectionate. I heard one American translate it 'Honey.' Honey, it's time to get up. That's the flavour of what Jesus says. He takes a 12 year old dead girl by the hand and says 'Honey, it's time to get up.' Immediately she rises from the dead at the word of Jesus.
And at the end of the story Jesus has saved both daughters. He's saved both daughters. Everyone thought the bleeding woman could wait while Jesus healed the dying girl. But no - Jesus He's saved the woman with the flow of blood and He's saved the dying girl. He calls the one 'daughter', He calls the other 'Talitha' - both terms of great affection. He does care, He is powerful and He does know how to bring things to a happily ever after that far outstrips anything we expected. Through sickness and suffering, through frustration and painful delays, through death and grief, Jesus brings us through to resurrection and leaves us in verse 43 feasting. That's what you do when you rise from the dead you eat. That's what we'll do when we rise from the dead, we'll feast with Jesus, and on that day we will see how Jesus has brought us through suffering into astonishing glory.
Do you know that the same Jesus who said 'Talitha koum' is alive and well and ruling the universe? Do you really know that? Do you really know that this Jesus who calls the woman 'Daughter' and the girl 'Talitha', He is seated on the throne of the universe. He is the One ruling the events of this world and this week and my past and my present and my future. This Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever, this Jesus is Lord.
And He was crushed ultimately at the cross so that power could come out for our salvation - by His wounds we are healed. He ultimately went down into death, and He ultimately rose up again and is now reigning over history and over you. And now when we come to Him we find forgiveness and cleansing. We can have a one-to-one with Him where we tell Him the truth about ourselves. And we can know ourselves to be a beloved Daughter or Son. And one day beyond our own deaths Jesus will say to us 'Rise and shine. It's time to get up. It's time to feast.'
In the meantime we may face crippling pain, financial ruin, sickness, overwhelming grief and horrific frustrations. But all the time Jesus is saying to us "Don't be afraid, just believe!" He is saying this to us right now 'Don't be afraid, trust me.' And we can trust Him. The One more powerful than the storms, more powerful than the demons, more powerful than death itself, will bring us through suffering to a completely astonishing glory of resurrection and feasting.
So, "Wait for the LORD. Be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." (Ps 27:14)
Therefore to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be ascribed all the glory, all the honour, all the majesty, all the power and all our trust, now and forever. Amen.
Taken from this sermon. Audio here.
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Mark 5:21-43
In this story, two people come to Jesus with their needs. They are very different people. Jairus is an important man. V22 says 'a synagogue ruler'. He's a man, he's a ruler, he has a family, he's religious and very respectable in the community.
The woman is not even named. Jesus calls her 'Daughter' in v34, which is even better than telling us her name. But as the story begins she is an unnamed and unclean woman. She has, v25, an unstoppable flow of blood which made her perpetually, ceremonially unclean. This woman is unnamed, unclean, sick and now destitute.
Verse 26 details her 12 years of suffering:
She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
That really tells a story doesn't it? Suffering under the "care" of many doctors. I don't know if you've been passed around from doctor to doctor and they can't seem to help you. That in itself is frightening and dehumanizing enough. But this woman has been suffering at the hands of these doctors. We can only imagine how these 1st century physicians were treating her or what they were prescribing. Mark just tells us that she suffered a great deal. And she paid a lot of money for these worthless and painful treatments. Now she has nothing, you can add financial ruin to her list of woes. This woman is in a desperate position.
So this woman has had 12 years of great suffering.
She is very different to Jairus. Jairus, we can imagine, has had 12 years of joy with his 12 year old daughter. But now with his daughter on death's door, Jairus is brought to the woman's level. They are both needy beggars coming to Jesus.
Verse 22 this respectable man falls at Jesus' feet and pleads earnestly with Him. This was very dangerous for Jairus to do. We know from chapter 3 verse 6 that the religious authorities have been plotting to kill Jesus. So for this synagogue ruler to fall at Jesus' feet could well have cost him his job and his reputation. But what's that compared to your 12 year old girl?
So Jairus and the woman, very different, but both come to Jesus in their need.
And both people think they know how Jesus is going to help them. They both have very particular expectations of Jesus.
Verse 23: Jairus thinks Jesus ought to come and lay hands on his sick daughter. And he probably thought that because Jesus had performed other healings where that's what He did - He laid hands on people. Other times Jesus healed people from a distance or just with a word, or He spat on the ground and made mud or He put His fingers in their ears. Jesus didn't have a single way of healing people, but Jairus thought 'laying on hands' was the order of the day.
Verse 28: the woman also thinks she knows how to get a healing. She thinks if she just touches Jesus' clothes she'll be healed. Why did she think that? Well quite probably it was because of an Old Testament prophecy. There's a verse from Malachi chapter 4 and verse 2 that speaks about the Messiah as the Sun of Righteousness who would rise up with healing in His wings. That might be a familiar verse to you at Christmas. When we sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing we say Jesus is "Ris'n with healing in His wings." Well in Hebrew the word for wings is the same as the word for the end of your garment. Where we might talk about coat tails, they'd talk about wings. And so there was this expectation that when the Messiah rose up, there was going to be healing in His wings, His coat tails, in His clothes. And this woman thought 'if I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.' So in her head she was just going to grab the end of Jesus' coat, get zapped and slink off. That was her plan. She had a plan, it was her sickness, she knew how best to be treated. This is how Jesus is going to help me.
Now you can understand their expectations can't you? They seem fair enough. But for both of them Jesus frustrates their plans and they are driven down much further than they were prepared to go before being raised up much higher than they'd dare dream.
What do I mean they were driven down and then raised up? Well let's see it first in the woman.
There she is, just an anonymous figure in the crowd, pressing in against Jesus. She wants to remain anonymous, she doesn't want a fuss, she doesn't want to meet Jesus. She just wants to get zapped and get on with her life. Well incredibly even with that kind of belief, which is bordering on the superstitious, even with that tiny mustard seed of faith, Jesus responds.
Verse 30: At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
Power goes out from Jesus. Isn't that amazing? Jesus feels power going out from Him.
We might imagine that if Jesus is the LORD of creation, well then everything He does is effortless. Surely the One who calms hurricanes with a word will take a healing like this in His stride. Well if we remember that the ultimate power of Jesus is shown at the cross, if we remember that the healing of the world happens when Jesus is crushed, then we might start to think differently. Isaiah the prophet said of Jesus: By His wounds we are healed. Are we healed by His strength? Yes. Are we healed by His omnipotent power over sin, sickness, Satan and death? Yes. But it is no less true that "by His wounds we are healed". The healing power of Jesus is grounded in His suffering death on the cross. Jesus is not like a broadband package - unlimited downloads. It's not clinical like that. It's personal. Those He heals, He also suffers for.
If you've come to Jesus you should know He has suffered for you. You haven't just downloaded salvation from His infinite hard-drive, it's personal. He has suffered for you. Paul would write in Galatians 2:20, "The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me." Christians know this to be true. I'm not an anonymous member of the crowd who happens to have been zapped by Jesus. Jesus has suffered for me. He has felt power going out of Him for me. On the cross, He was drained... for me!
This woman thought she would mean nothing to Jesus. She wasn't going to bother Him. She just hoped for a zapping. But there's no such thing. You can't have Jesus' power without having Him. His power is a personal power and a power that costs Him dearly. He wants one-to-ones with each and every one of us. Immediately Jesus feels that power has gone out and immediately He wants to talk to this woman.
The woman is terrified. It seems to take her a while to own up. Verse 32, "Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it." The woman wanted an anonymous experience. Jesus wants a personal encounter. And that's scary. This is far more than the woman bargained for. But eventually v33:
Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
The woman is driven down. Just seconds ago she'd hoped for a zap and run, but now face-to-face with Jesus she falls at His feet. And she tells her story to Jesus. "This is who I am Jesus, I'm a poor, sick, unclean, desperate woman. That is the whole truth." The woman is driven down further than she'd ever expected, but then Jesus lifts her higher than she's ever dreamed. Verse 34:
Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
This woman is not just an anonymous woman to Jesus. To Jesus she's a daughter. He doesn't want anonymous followers hanging onto His coat-tails. He wants daughters, He wants sons, who tell Him the whole truth.
And Jesus explains to the woman - your faith has healed you. Jesus is telling her, 'It's got nothing to do with any magical powers in my clothing. You believed in Me, that's the thing. I'm the Power that healed you, and you trusted Me. Now go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'
This word peace means wholeness, soundness, welfare, prosperity, tranquility, friendship. It's peace with God, peace with others - Jesus says go in peace. What a brilliant encounter with Jesus. She wanted to get zapped and run, Jesus wanted to call her 'Daughter' and give her peace. Driven down, but raised up much higher.
Do you have a zap and run mentality with Jesus? He wants a face-to-face. He wants you driven down to confess to Him your whole story and He wants to lift you up and speak peace to you. But you can't just be anonymous in the crowd when it comes to Jesus. Fall at His feet, tell Him the whole truth. He will lift you up.
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Taken from this sermon. Audio here.