2023.05.07 Miracle on the Way
Notes
Transcript
Miracle on the Way to a Miracle
Miracle on the Way to a Miracle
Psalm 6 • Luke 8:41-48
41 And a man named Jairus came, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began urging Him to come to his house;
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.
43 And a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,
44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”
46 But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.”
47 Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
In Luke’s Gospel, immediately before this event was Jesus casting out a legion of demons into a herd of pigs. After that, the people are scared of him and ask him to leave the area. The man, though, begs Jesus to let him go with him. But look at what Jesus tells him in verse 39:
39 “Return to your home and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city what great things Jesus had done for him.
GO HOME! AND TELL EVERYONE WHAT YOU’VE EXPERIENCED! For those in the Wednesday Bible Study … does this sound familiar at all?
Those of us raised in the Church have been told our whole lives that the disciples were to be respected because Jesus called them and they went. But when Jesus has the opportunity to have another recruit leave his home and follow … he tells him to remain and tell everyone what he’s experienced.
THAT is our responsibility. What have you experienced with Jesus? THAT’s what we should be telling the world around us.
They don’t care about our biblical knowledge (or lack thereof).
They don’t care about our denominational issues.
They don’t care about the Romans Road, or what the Church’s position is on a political or social issue.
They’re desperate to hear what a difference Jesus can make in their life, and that begins with hearing what a difference he’s made in YOUR life and mine. If you don’t want to listen to anything else I say, I hope you heard “the sermon on the way to the sermon”.
So, then Jesus gets in a boat and leaves, and we move on to "the miracle on the way to a miracle.”
In this story, what do we learn about God?
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
God is responsive.
Jesus hears Jairus’ story and responds by getting up and going to the man’s house. He doesn’t delay. He hears the need and moves into action immediately. Our God is moved by our sorrows. And he’s moved to ACTION! But surely Jesus knew about the little girl before Jairus told him, right? But He didn’t move to action until Jairus poured out his heart to Jesus. So what can we learn about God? Our God is responsive, but most of the time … his action is in response to our request, not just our circumstance.
We’ll talk about what happens at Jairus’ house next week, but something amazing happens on the way to Jairus’ house.
On the way, we learn that God’s power is found in proximity!
In verse 44 - What did the woman have to do to be healed? Sneak up and touch the edge of his clothing! That’s it!
We’re told that crowds were waiting for Jesus’ return. She likely heard he was coming back from the other side of the Sea of Galilee and gathered among the crowd to get the healing she needed.
The healing power flows from The Father through his Son and Holy Spirit … but proximity makes a difference.
You may recall another healing story, where we see friends tear a hole in a roof to lower their paralyzed friend down in front of Jesus because they couldn’t get him through the crowd. When Jesus heals the man, he looks at the FRIENDS and says, “your faith has healed your friend.” They knew that proximity to Jesus activates God’s power to heal.
So did this woman. She did what was necessary to be in-place when Jesus walked by, and she seized her moment.
When she touches his cloak, Jesus feels power flow through him and insists that somewhere in this throng is a person who received healing. The disciples are like, “Um … okay Lord, look at the crowd. I’m sure lots more than one person touched you.” Jesus says, “No … I know lots of people touched me, but only one received power.”
And the woman reveals herself (as if Jesus didn’t know who it was), and Jesus goes off on an enraged monologue laced with expletives and calls for the woman to be expelled from the crowd! No.
After she sheepishly falls down before Him and confesses that she invaded his personal space, what does Jesus say in verse 48?
48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Jesus could’ve just kept walking. But he didn’t. Our God … stopped the entourage. He quieted the crowd. He stopped moving toward the sick 12 year old and called out what had happened. What was his purpose in stopping everything?
He stopped everything to tell the woman her faith made her well, and he pronounced a benediction over her.
We learn that God’s response to our desperation is compassion and blessing!
In our world where important people can’t be bothered with commoners’ troubles, our God will not only be “bothered” by us, his response will be compassion and blessing!
GOD IS GOOD, AMEN?!
Now, what do we learn about humans?
What do you learn about HUMANS?
What do you learn about HUMANS?
First, what is the woman suffering from?
some sort of bleeding disorder
I’ve seen all sorts of guesses as to what was going on
a period that never ended
general hemorrhage
bleeding from a cut
We don’t know the specifics. We do know that she has tried to find human answers:
Hold your spot in Luke 8, and check out Mark’s version of this story in Mark 5
26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
How long has the woman suffered from this hemorrhage? [about 12 years]
Do you remember how old the synagogue official’s daughter was? [12 years]
I can’t tell you what if any connection there is there, but I would suggest an at-home search for a connection may not be a fruitless journey.
Flipping back to Luke 8, the woman has been bleeding for about 12 years. I don’t care what the nature of the bleeding is … let that sink in a minute. Imagine actively bleeding for 12 years! It’s miraculous she’s still alive! Today, we would be giving transfusions and infusions to make sure her body has the blood necessary to survive, but they didn’t have those technologies. It is indeed a miracle that this woman has not bled to death.
As you consider 12 years of active bleeding … imagine her desperation when she gets word of Jesus returning from the other side of the lake. And when he passes by, she’s not going to miss her shot!
In her desperation, she finds a spot, and when he walks by, she stretches out as far as she can. Look at verse 44. [pic]
44 Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.
She’s not even close enough to touch Jesus. She doesn’t even touch his cloak! She touches the fringe of his cloak and is immediately healed.
So, what do we learn about humans from this story?
Well, Jesus has spent a lot of time in this area on the Western banks of the Sea of Galilee. Right before this story, he had been over on the Eastern side, and they eventually asked him to leave the region when his miracles scare them. And the crowd was waiting on the Western shore to greet him.
So, if she was from this area, she had previous opportunities. She’s tried everything else. God is often our last ditch effort to find relief.
What we learn about humans is sad, but it’s true ...
Humans often have to be extremely desperate to really trust God with their deepest need.
And looking back at Luke 8:47 at how she approaches Jesus when he stops the crowd:
47 When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.
She wanted to be anonymous. And when Jesus called her out, she approached scared … “trembling”. She falls down and bluntly tells what happened. So even in her fear — she gives testimony to what God’s power had done for her through Jesus!
pic of woman’s face in Jesus’ hands
The other thing we can learn about humans is that our job is to tell the crowd what we’ve experienced! When she tells the crowd what happened to her, Jesus shows her compassion, he celebrates her faith, and he pronounces a blessing on her.
What do you learn about yourself?
What do you learn about YOURSELF?
What do you learn about YOURSELF?
Where are you in this story?
Are you a member of the crowd, just being pushed along as Jesus moves about?
Are you one of the disciples who think it’s hilarious that Jesus wants to identify one among so many who’ve likely touched him?
Are you the desperate woman in need of Jesus’ healing power?
Or .. are you the healed woman on the other side of this story who needs to tell others what has happened to you?
Perhaps we’re all of these characters at one point or another. Where are you right now?
What needs to change?
What needs to change as a result of what you’ve learned?
What needs to change as a result of what you’ve learned?
I can’t answer this question for you. I can only ask it.
We’ve learned some things about God and about humans.
You’ve hopefully recognized some things about yourself.
So, what is God calling you to change in response? What is he asking you to do in response to what you’ve learned?
Whatever it is, he has compassion and a blessing prepared if you’ll respond in faith. So I pray your response will be faithful and won’t end when you leave your pew this morning.
Let’s pray. [include Communion]