Jesus Is More Powerful Than Doctors And Death Pt 1

I. Introduction

1. Prayers

Scripture memory

Romans 8:27 ESV

27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Let’s open our bibles

Catch- Why is it easier to ask for prayer for sickness more than other things?

CS Lewis wrote

We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities; and anyone who has watched gluttons shovelling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating, will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

—from The Problem of Pain

We will see the example of two very sick people desperately going to Jesus

Thus, we should not be afraid to be desperate ourselves or upset at desperate people

3. Review of the book

The ESV study bible gives the following helpful outline

IV. The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee (4:16–9:50)[1]

F. Jesus, Lord of natue, demons, disease, and death (8:22–56)

1. Jesus calms a storm (8:22–25)

2. Jesus heals a demon-possessed man (8:26–39)

3. Jesus heals a woman and Jairus’s daughter (8:40–56)

G. Jesus and the Twelve (9:1–50)

You can see we are in the section where Jesus is doing lots of miracles in this section to show that He must be heard and followed

Two incidents reveal our need to trust Jesus’ power and plan

1. The great need (40-42)

i. Explanation

1. The crowd presses (40)

Jesus returns from across the sea

Jesus was exhausted because the crowd

Matthew 8:18 ESV

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

He went across the lake and was so tired he slept through a life threatening storm

So Jesus left to get away from the crowds because he was tired

And now the crowds want him again

The word welcome mans to accept, receive with warmth

The crowds like Jesus and demand his attention

But Jesus shows us the importance of both rest and turning back to serving others when we can

HOw did the people in the country of the Gerasenes treat Jesus after his miracles?

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus left this large crowd to serve someone else And a group of people who didn’t like him

V42 says that the people pressed

The word means to inhibit or to choke

The tense is ongoing, meaning they just kept pushing against him

Then v41 begins with “and behold,” drawing our attention in the midst of the crowd to this father

2. The father’s humility honored (41-42)

Jay-ey-rush was an important man

He was a ruler of the synagogue

This was an important title and role both in Israel and in pagan sources

the official who was responsible for the arrangements at the synagogue services. He would select, for example, those who would lead in prayer, read the Scripture and preach. He was thus a man of eminence in the community.

We read about these men asking Paul to read from the scripture

Acts 13:15 “After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.””

In the temple synagogue, he was the third officer in rank; the first officer being the high priest, and the second, the chief of the priests. In provincial synagogues, the “ruler” was supreme. No one was eligible for this office until he had a certificate from the Great Sanhedrin stating that he possessed the required qualifications.

This synagogue was an important one, as it’s remains can still be seen today

So how could this position be one of pride?

But Jairus is incredibly humbled by his situation

His only daughter was 12 years old and she was dying

The word means was was approaching death… so this was a desperate time.

So he falls at Jesus’ feet

ii. Illustration

Death has a way to awakens us from the slumber of daily existence to the stark reality of a world gone painfully awry.

Book quotes HELP! My Baby Died

weakness felt by a mother who cannot rescue a dying child is multiplied for a father who helplessly walks alongside his wife, unable to save his child from death or his wife from heartache.

Imagine the man’s desperation

iii. Application

1.What pride keeps us from publicly bringing our needs to Jesus before others?

2. What reasons can you give to someone to actually pray about their difficulties?

Ok, jesus is with the man, Jesus can do miracles…everything is going to be ok, right? Prayer answered… well, then there is the

2. The great delay (43-48)

i. Explanation

1. The woman’s great need (43)

Another character joins the stage… a woman

This little girl is 12 years old, and this woman has been has been hemorrhaging for those 12 years

Nothing is known about her outside of this account thought later church history would call her Veronica

We do not what exactly was wrong with her and neither did they

It is a Hemorrhage. Issue of blood, coming from any cut or nosebleed (Prv 30:33). However, in Scripture it almost always refers to vaginal bleeding.

She was bleeding somehow repeatedly for these 12 years and the doctors had no clue

We are not told if something happened to start this, whether it was a mistake on her part or something out of her power… but there has been no solution

Though she repeatedly went for treatment they could do nothing

Luke was a physician himself, so perhaps that is why he says it nicer than mark

Mark 5:26 ESV

26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

How does someone feel when they’ve gone to doctor after doctor without answer?

And there is a religious element to this

The law required that women were considered unclean during their regular flood time of their menstrual period

Leviticus 15:25–27 ESV

25 “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

This was a periodic rather than a chronic discharge (cf. vv. 25–27), the woman was considered unclean for seven days

being ceremonially unclean is not sin

if it was not handled correctly, it would lead to sin

any temptation is not sinful, but not dealt with properly will lead to sin

à uncleanness is a picture of moral unholiness, but not actually being unholy

in OT, it was only if you went to the temple and defiled it.

So coming in contact with blood meant no sacrifices for a while

So, in god’s eyes, was this woman sinful?

But if someone comes along and then is touched by this woman, they are now not able to go to the temple for 7 days

How might they have felt? How would they treat this women then?

So this women is desperately isolated.

If this woman was your sister/mother/friend, what would you tell her to do when Jesus comes by?

2. The woman’s great faith (44)

The crowd continues to press on Jesus as he walks through the crowded city

Ancient cities were not made for crowds and so were not very big, so it would have been very tight as you can see in this picture of only a few people

What would happen if this unclean woman touched anyone?

They too would be unclean

What what happen if she walked up and announced to Jesus what was wrong with her?

This was an embarrassing type of suffering, more like the lepper than the blind

More like the person praying for healing of a venereal disease than a cough..

But she takes the risk because

Mark 5:27–28 ESV

27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”

She touches the very fringes of his garment

According to Numbers 15:38-39, the Israelites were to make tassels on the corners of their garments to remind them to obey God’s commandments.

Lightly touching these small cords, she believes she can be healed

This took faith

Faith is making our lives consistent with the truth claims we agree with.

For example I commit myself to exercise, trusting that it is good for me.

In the same way, I commit myself to Christ, trusting that he will save me from my sins

She probably hoped to get in and out without anyone knowing and just praise God silently to herself

We’d probably let her, right?… but Jesus doesn’t

3. The woman’s exposure (45-47)

Jesus knows something is up

Jesus asks who touched me Peter thought was a ridiculous question

This is what we call a embarrassing moment for the future leader of the church.

historians look for in ancient writings is called the Criterion of embarrassment." It basically means that one of the ways we can judge whether someone was telling the truth is if they didn’t leave out embarrassing details about themselves or their story

-Another Gospel? Alisa Childers

How does it make Peter look foolish to question Jesus here? Did Jesus know better?

But Jesus says he knew experientially the power went from him

This gets into an issue of was Jesus omniscient

Christ’s omniscience was convincing proof of His deity, and caused the disciples to say, “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God” (John 16:30

We’ve seen Jesus know people’s thoughts, but at the same time he doesn’t know certain things

Matthew 24:36: "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

The Doctrine of Christ teaches us that (1) Christ is fully God; (2) Christ is fully human; and (3) Christ is one person.

we can acknowledge that this is a mystery that we cannot fully understand,

John Macarthur points out:

Luke 1–5: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Spirit’s Anointing

His deity was mediated to His humanity by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s power was essential, since in His deity Christ would not have done the miraculous deeds He did, or say the divine words He spoke. The reason for that is found in Philippians 2:6–7, which says that “although [Christ] existed in the form of God, [He] did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” Jesus voluntarily surrendered the independent use of His divine power, and submitted Himself completely to the will of the Father.

It could be that Jesus knew what was happening but wanted to encourage her, or that the father knew something had happened and wanted Jesus, the son, to say something

RC Sproul says

That woman didn’t have the courage to come and talk to Jesus. She thought that she was too insignificant to require the direct and immediate attention of Christ. But here is Jesus Christ, on his way to raise somebody from the dead, followed by multitudes of people eager to witness this extraordinary act, and in the midst of it all, he stops to give his undivided attention to this poor, humble woman. Here we see the compassion and concern of God for the smallest individual in the world. Nobody is unimportant, but the dignity of your personality is worth the touch of Christ.

So the women realizes she is known and comes forward

instead of running, She came forward trembling (to shudder in awe)

She then speaks in front of everyone the entire story

Why would this act require much trust in jesus?

The end of ritual impurity from an abnormal discharge was the same for men and women: The person was to wait for seven days after the end of the discharge. On the eighth day, the person was to bring either two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, who would offer one of the birds as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering

So she would have still be unclean

Buts she hides none of her story

So we get

4. The woman’s praise (48)

The only time Jesus calls a woman, daughter

The word made well is sozo, to be saved

Faith just means trust

Who was the object of faith? Who did she trust?

Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God

To believe in Christ (or trust in Christ or put faith in Christ) means to count or rely completely on what Christ has done in his death and resurrection for my sin, so that my hope of being right in God’s sight is all because of Christ and has nothing to do with any good thing I might ever say or do.

This woman was unwanted, despised, and a castoff from society. She had such strong faith in Jesus that this woman came up from behind Jesus in a crowd of people and touched His outer garment and was healed.

Jesus was amazed at her faith, and pointed her back to salvation comes by faith alone

ii. This event is largely an interruption in the main story

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in Life Together,

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks. . . . It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s “crooked yet straight path.”

iii. Application

We are to be like Jesus right?

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Here, Jesus is in a big hurry, but stops

let’s talk about interruptions

Why do interruptions bother us?

But if God is sovereign over every single incident, are there any interruption to His plan?

Proverbs 16:33 ESV

33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Matt Perman observes, “All productivity practices, all of our work, everything is given to us by God for the purpose of serving others” (What’s Best Next). If we view our work in isolation from others, and a potential interruption must be avoided at all costs, we’re probably functioning out of a wrong motivation and certainly operating under faulty assumptions about the purpose of work.

God consistently using those interrupted moments of life not only to use me as a means of grace in the lives of others, but also to shape me and change me, and perhaps knock me off the well-beaten path of agendas and give me a fresh awareness of himself through the lives of others.

Can I be so interrupted that I fail to love someone? Yes,

So we should aim to make our goal to love others

Is there anything else your learned from this passage?

Remember to think through the bridge

To be continued...

3. The great miracle (49-56)

i. Explanation

1. The depressing news brings gospel opportunity (49-50)

Back to our main character

RC Sprul again- Obviously he had feelings like anybody else; I am sure he was glad that this woman had been healed, but who could blame him for thinking, ‘If only Jesus hadn’t taken the time to heal this woman, he would have made it to my house and maybe saved my daughter. But now it is too late! There is nothing he can do now.’

2. The sad situation brings mocking (51-53)

3. The power over death brings awe (54-56)

ii. Illustration

1.

iii. Application

1.

III. Conclusion

1. Cohesion-

2. Resolution-

IV. Closing prayer

V. Discussion questions