2023.05.14 The Rabbi's Girl
Jesus Story • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Gentile Girl
The Gentile Girl
Psalm 30 • Luke 8:41-42, 49-56
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.
49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”
50 But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”
51 When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.
52 Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”
53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.
54 He, however, took her by the hand and spoke forcefully, saying, “Child, arise!”
55 And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat.
56 Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
First of all … what’s the error in the sermon title? I think when I was preparing our Worship Planning Sheets I confused this story with the story where Jesus heals the centurion’s daughter. The stories have very similar beginnings and end results, but the details are different.
We’re told that Jairus is a “synagogue official”
So what is a “synagogue official”?
In Jesus’ time synagogues did not have salaried, trained rabbis as they do today. The “ruler” of a synagogue was generally a man who by virtue of his learning and wisdom had simply risen to the top and was accepted by acclaim as a leader of the congregation.
Richard R. Losch, All the People in the Bible: An A–Z Guide to the Saints, Scoundrels, and Other Characters in Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 183.
So a better title might be:
The XXXXX Rabbi’s Girl
The XXXXX Rabbi’s Girl
With that settled...
What do you learn about God?
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
Time isn’t a relevant issue for God.
This may be the most difficult point for us to grasp in this message , so stay with me.
We’re going to look at a few passages all over the place, so bookmark Luke 8 and we’ll come back to it.
First, let’s look at Psalm 90
2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”
4 For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
Perhaps 2 Peter3:8 may be the more familiar version of this concept to us:
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
What is time to God? Well let me ask another question: How do we define time?
We measure time by hours and minutes and seconds, but to the Jews of Jesus’ day, time was measured by days. Sun-down was the end of one day and the beginning of the next.
Who created sun-down? Turn to Genesis 1
Genesis Chapter 1
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
Time is just one of God’s creations.
Can any of God’s creations hold him captive?
Certainly not! And neither can time.
So, where is God? (everywhere) How can He possibly be in every place at once?
And how does God know everything without us being stuck with a predestined future where we have no free will?
Here’s where this concept gets a little more difficult for our human minds:
God isn’t held by location or time because he exists in eternity.
This is how we usually think of eternity.
The simplified version of how we usually think about eternity is “time forever”. But is that accurate?
Genesis starts with “In the beginning God created...” “In the beginning” means there was no time … Time began when God created! So if time has a beginning, it also has an ending … right?
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
If eternity were “time forever” that would mean God is captive to time just like we are. So how does God interact with time? The same way he interacts with the rest of his creation - and most of us learned how he interacts with creation when we were kids...
[singing] He’s got the whole world in his hands
God is not held captive to time because he holds time in his hands - like he does the rest of creation. God doesn’t have time forever ... God is OUTSIDE of time.
Instead of a straight timeline that goes on forever,
all of time - beginning to end - it’s all in God’s hands, and it’s all present tense to him.
[PHEW]
CLICK
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
What do you learn about GOD from this story?
If that’s too much to wrap around on a Sunday morning, let’s at least agree that time is not as relevant to God as it is to us.
Jesus can be delayed by last week’s hemorrhaging woman on his way to this dying girl. Or he can intentionally delay going to his dying friend Lazarus in John 11.
Time doesn’t prevent God from accomplishing what He wants. If all of what we know as “time” is present tense to him, what’s a minute or an hour mean to him?
On screen
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
God’s framework is different than our framework. He has abilities beyond ours, and none of our deadlines are deadlines for him.
Returning to Luke 8...
What do you learn about Humans?
What do you learn about HUMANS?
What do you learn about HUMANS?
When do we turn to God?
Look at Jesus’ response when the official is told his daughter is dead in verse 49:
Luke 8:49
49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”
50 But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”
What emotion does Jesus see in the man? Fear! Humans usually turn to God when we’re afraid! We’ve tried everything we know how, and our work and worry haven’t brought about our desire. And when we’re scared enough, we ask God for his action.
Where are you afraid? Two weeks ago, our Jesus Story was his teaching not to worry. Last week, we saw a desperate woman reaching out to Jesus for healing. This week, we have Jairus seeking out Jesus because he’s afraid his daughter may die. I don’t think these stories teach separate concepts. I believe the Holy Spirit is telling us about God’s nature - about how he interacts with his children.
When they hear Jairus’ daughter has already died - Jesus’ response is almost relief - “Okay, Jairus. What you were most afraid of has happened. Now you can stop being afraid, and engage your faith instead and she’ll be made well!”
What do you learn about yourself?
What do you learn about YOURSELF?
What do you learn about YOURSELF?
“Stop being afraid, and engage your faith instead and she’ll be made well!”
Do you see yourself in this story anywhere? Or perhaps everywhere?
I am often the worried person Jesus is telling to chill out and trust him.
I am often the disciples who laugh that Jesus wants to know who touched him. The crowd is pressed in … of course somebody touched you … we probably ALL touched you. I missed the miracle in front of me because I was too concerned with my temporal understandings.
I am often the bleeding woman & Jairus - who come to Jesus afraid instead of trusting - desperate instead of believing. “Well, I’ve tried everything else. I guess I’ll try this Jesus thing as a last ditch effort.”
Put away your fear, man! Engage your faith - and she’ll be made well.
Engage your faith - and you’ll find peace
Engage your faith - and you’ll be spared the garbage of all the fighting in our denomination
Engage your faith - and your brother will be delivered from his addictions
Engage your faith - and you’ll see God’s glory replace your fears
Engage your faith - and I’ll give you life and even abundantly
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?
If only I had more time.
If only I had more knowledge.
If only I had more power.
[pause]
If only I had more faith.
What needs to change in you?
