Desperate Faith, Divine Power

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

An addiction counselor shared this story from an actual patient:

Rebecca was overweight and wanted to lose about 20-30lbs. Fad dieting had failed her, and she knew she didn’t have the discipline to stick to a fitness program. One day, Rebecca realized she’d never seen a fat person who did meth. So she decided she’d do “just a little” meth to lose weight, then she’d stop. Her strategy was wildly effective. She got down to about 80lbs total body weight, lost all her teeth (that counts toward weight loss, right?), lost her job, lost custody of her kids, and lost pretty much everything else in her life.

Her strategy worked. Too well.

Tension

Desperation will drive us to do things that we otherwise wouldn’t do.

A desperate business man can easily give into the temptation to ignore morals and integrity in order to try and save a failing business.

People with serious health issues are often so desperate that they turn to cures that often make their condition even worse.

Sadly, desperation is often used marketing technique in our culture where companies try amplify some need or desire we have to the point of desperation in order to get us to spend money we don’t have to buy their product or service.

But, if channeled properly, desperation can actually be a good thing. This morning, we’re going to look an account of two desperate people whose desperation led them to Jesus.

Truth

Before we read this morning’s passage I’m going to go ahead and give you the big idea we’ll be developing this morning:

Desperate faith demands divine power

With that thought in mind, let’s go ahead and read our passage:

Matthew 9:18–26 ESV

18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.

The structure of this section is fascinating.

Matthew starts out with the account of the ruler. From the accounts in Mark and Luke, we know that his name was Jairus and that he was the chief official of the synagogue in Capernaum, which means he was the highest ranking Jewish man there.

Then after we’re introduced to Jairus and his daughter, the account of the woman who suffered from a discharge of blood is inserted in the middle of the passage.

Finally Matthew finishes up the account of Jairus and his daughter.

On the surface, these seem like two completely separate and unrelated events. But Matthew weaves these account together in a way that shows they actually have a lot in common:

There are two women, and both are called “daughters”. I say “women” and not “girl” when referring to Jairus’ daughter because we know from Luke’s account that the girl is 12 years old which means she would have been in the first year of womanhood according to Jewish custom.

The ruler’s daughter was 12 years old and the woman had suffered with a discharge of blood for 12 years.

Both of them have incurable diseases that require the divine power of Jesus.

Both are healed by a single touch from Jesus

Most importantly, we are introduced to this ruler and the woman at the moment they have run out of options. They remind us that when we are completely out of human options, we realize that...

Desperate faith demands divine power

Application

Obviously, I’m not saying this morning that we should only approach Jesus when we’re desperate. He should always be the first place we go. We need His divine power long before we’re desperate. But if we’re honest, we’re a lot more like Jairus and this woman than we’d like to admit. We often only go to Jesus when we’ve run out of other options.

So even though I’m going to share some principles about how to tap into the diving power of Jesus when we are desperate, these same principles apply log before we get to that point. In fact, they will often prevent us from becoming desperate.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE POWER OF JESUS

Be humble

As I mentioned earlier, Jairus was the chief ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum. It is quite possible that he would have been a Pharisee, although we can’t be certain about that. What we do know is that position would have garnered him a lot of prestige and respect.

But when he approaches Jesus, he kneels. Instead of throwing around his power or position or demanding that Jesus act, he simply humbles himself before Jesus.

The verb that is translated “knelt” in verse 18, can also mean to “bow down”, and it is most frequently translated to “worship” throughout the New Testament.

Some of you may be familiar with a Texas state representative who is running for the Senate there. He is well known for his brand of “progressive Christianity” and he previously said this about Jesus:

"Not once in the entire Bible does Jesus ask us to worship him. All he asks, is that we follow him. Love like He loved. Love the outcast. Welcome the stranger. " 

While what he said may technically be true - I’m not aware of anywhere in the Bible where Jesus specifically said, “Worship me” - the thought behind those words is quite dangerous. The implication here is that Jesus never asked anyone to worship Him because He isn’t God.

But as we see here, and in a number of other places in the gospels, when He is worshiped, He does not refuse that worship. That either makes Him a blasphemer, as many of the Jewish religious leaders claimed, or it makes Him God. Based on what I see throughout the gospels, I’m going to say unequivocally that He is God!

If I want to experience the divine power of Jesus in my life, I need to follow Jairus’ example. I need to understand that Jesus doesn’t owe me anything. Rather than demanding that He act, I need to approach Him with a deep sense of humility and awe, recognizing that He is God, the one who created the entire universe and who gave me life.

As we said earlier...

Desperate faith demands divine power

And we tap into that power by first approaching Jesus with humility.

But we must also...

Be bold

I know what some of you are probably thinking right now. Pat, you just said to be humble and now you’re saying we need to be bold. Which is it? Yes! Humility and boldness are not opposites, especially when it comes to approaching Jesus. I’m reminded here of what the author of Hebrews wrote:

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I really like how the KJV renders this:

...come boldly unto the throne of grace...

Both Jairus and the woman demonstrated great boldness in this passage.

Mark records that Jairus “implored him [Jesus] earnestly”. While he was certainly humble, he was also very bold in asking Jesus to come bring his daughter back to life.

And think about the woman. Her discharge of blood was not just a physical problem. It was also a spiritual issue. According to the Jewish ceremonial law, she was unclean so she was not allowed to go to the temple or the synagogue or participate in Jewish religion life. There is no doubt that she had no social life either since no one would want to be around her, fearing that they might touch her and become unclean themselves.

But she didn’t allow any of that to deter her. They verb “saying” in verse 21 could more accurately be translated “she kept saying to herself”. The idea here is that she kept mulling this over and over in her mind. She obviously considered the possibility that what she was about to do would lead to people making fun of her and shame rather than healing. But she decided the risk was worth it and took the bold action of reaching out to touch Jesus’ garment.

Just a moment ago I shared the verse from Hebrews 4 that exhorts us to come boldly to the throne of grace. But the verse right before that explains why we can do that:

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The reason we can approach Jesus with boldness is not because we are worthy in any way. Rather it is because of what He did on our behalf. He is our great high priest who has paid the price to make it possible for us to be bold in approaching God. So I hope you can see now why I said earlier that humility and boldness are not opposites. They are merely different sides of the same coin.

Desperate faith demands divine power

And if we want to experience that power we must approach Jesus with boldness that is rooted in what He has already done for us.

Finally, we must...

Be expectant

Both Jairus and the woman had confidence that Jesus was both willing and able to act. Although they didn’t know exactly what He was going to do or how He was going to do it, they trusted that Jesus would act in a way that was ultimately for their own good.

One of the lessons we learn from this passage is that we can’t put Jesus in a box. We can’t limit Him to acting in a way of our choosing. We don’t ever want to be like the crowd that laughed at Jesus when He said the girl was not dead, but just sleeping, because they didn’t believe that He could raise her back to life. We need to remember that there is no situation so desperate that it is beyond the divine power of Jesus.

I want to focus for a moment here on Jesus’ response to the woman who touched His garment. While this woman was looking for physical healing, Jesus did so much more than that for her. Let’s look at verse 22 again:

Matthew 9:22 ESV

22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

The phrase “made you well” translates a verb that is the common New Testament word for salvation. The implication here is that her healing was far deeper than just physical healing. That is confirmed by Jesus calling her “daughter”. With that one word He restores her dignity, affirms her worth and, most likely, welcomes her into His kingdom because of her faith. The woman had come hoping for physical healing, but Jesus gave her so much more. And He still does that for us, too.

Desperate faith demands divine power

And if we want to experience the divine power of Jesus in our lives, we much trust and expect that He is going to work in our lives in a way that is best for us, even when that might be something completely different than we imagined.

Action

Jesus still saves desperate people. And the truth is that all of us, whether we know it or not, are desperate people. That is certainly the case when we only come to Jesus when we’ve exhausted all our other options, like the women who turned to meth when she couldn’t lose weight any other way.

But it is also true when we don’t wait that long to turn to Jesus. We are all prone, as sinful human beings, to tray and fix supernatural problems with human strategies. The question is not whether we’re all desperate. The question is: will that desperation drive us to Jesus?

Let me close by suggesting several ways you might want to respond to what we’ve learned together this morning.

For all of us our most desperate need is to be made right with God. The Bible is clear that there is nothing we can do on our own to do that. It is only through faith in Jesus alone that we can have a personal, intimate relationship with God. I am confident that most of you here this morning have already made that commitment. But I would be remiss if I didn’t consider the possibility that there could be one or more of you joining us today, either in person or online, who has not yet done that.

If you haven’t yet put your faith in Jesus alone, I want to encourage you to do that today. Don’t wait! If you’re not sure exactly what that means or how to do that, I’d consider it a great privilege to talk to you more about that. Just see me after the service or email me. You’ll find my contact information in the bulletin.

Second, there may be some of you here today that find yourself in a place of desperation. Maybe that arises out of some new circumstances, like Jairus’ daughter who had just died, or maybe it’s a situation that’s been going on for a long time, like the woman who had been ill for 12 years. Either way, will you take a moment right now to give that over to Jesus humbly, boldly and expectantly? I’ll give you some time to do that in just a moment.

Finally, I know that all of us have experienced the divine power of Jesus in our lives, probably in some way that far exceeded our expectations. So I want you to think about one of those times and spend some time thanking Jesus for pouring HIs divine power into your life.

So let’s all go ahead and bow our heads and spend a few minutes responding to God’s Word however He would lead.

[Response time]

Inspiration

Desperate faith demands divine power

As we saw at the beginning of the message, desperation can drive us to do things that we wouldn’t otherwise do - usually things that are harmful to us and to others. But desperation can also drive us to Jesus. And the good news is that when that happens, Jesus is both willing and able to pour in His divine power for our good and His glory.