Miracles - Healing - VIPs
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
We all tend to get a little “star struck”.
We react differently when there’s a VIP in the room, or we meet someone of special significance.
There are even protocols on how someone should act in the presences of certain special people.
But how did Jesus react to the VIPs He encountered.
Specifically, how did he treat the requests of those VIPs?
After we look at these miraculous events, I think you’ll agree that we can learn more by how the VIPs reacted to Jesus, then how He treated them.
Centurion’s Servant
Centurion’s Servant
Both Matthew and Luke record the incident in their Gospels,
But there is a striking difference between the two.
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.”
In Matthew’s account, the centurion goes to Jesus to plead for his servant.
In Luke’s version, the centurion sent Jewish elders to Jesus.
So why the difference?
Each of the gospels was written by a different person,
With their own view on things,
Their own memories,
And their own focus.
Whether the centurion went to Jesus himself or sent others is not the point.
What we have here is a Roman soldier seeking help for his servant from a Jewish Rabbi.
For this sermon, I will use Matthew’s account.
And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
Jesus agrees to go to the centurion’s house to heal his servant,
But the centurion objects!
The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
Notice first, the centurion doesn’t feel worthy to have Jesus enter his house.
Romans, especially Roman soldiers, were not know for their humility.
For this centurion, a leader of 100 men, to say he was not worthy shows he has some understanding of who Jesus is.
Also, by stating that Jesus only needs to “speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” shows a significant level of faith.
We like to “see” what is going on.
We like it what God puts on a show.
In some cases, we won’t accept a miracle with out a show.
The centurion doesn’t need Jesus to physically be there,
He doesn’t need Jesus to put on a show.
Just say the word and it will be done.
Where does this centurion get this idea?
For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
The centurion knows what it means to both be under authority and have authority.
He recognizes Jesus’ authority over sickness.
Just as the centurion knows that if he gives an order it will be carried out,
He knows that if Jesus gives an order it too will be carried out.
And that is all the faith the centurion needs.
When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
You see, it is not how much Torah the people knew, or how much time they spent in synagogue,
Faith comes down to how it makes you act.
As James says:
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Even in Israel, with all the words of God, the prophecies, the history, and the miracles,
Their faith did not measure up to the simple understanding of this centurion.
That what Jesus says will happen.
Jesus goes on:
And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
It is not a question of being in the right church, or reading the right books.
It isn’t even a matter of being in the right faith group.
Those who have faith in God,
Not just in words, but in deeds.
Who truly trust that God will provide what they need.
They will be the ones who sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in heaven.
While many people who are in our “churches” today will find themselves cast out.
Because they put their faith in the institution rather than the one who created that institution.
Because their faith was in signs, rather than in the person God who does the miracles.
Synagogue Ruler’s Daughter
Synagogue Ruler’s Daughter
Here we have three versions of this story in the synoptic gospels,
The main difference being in Matthew, the ruler isn’t named and the daughter has already died.
While in Mark and Luke we find the ruler’s name is Jairus and the daughter lies near death.
Today, I will use the version in the gospel of Mark:
Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.
Notice the difference in faith between this ruler of the synagogue and the centurion from the previous story.
Not only did the centurion not feel worthy to have Jesus under his roof,
He recognized that all it would take was a word from Jesus to heal his servant.
Here, Jairus not only wanted Jesus to come to his house, but to touch his daughter in order to save her.
Jesus agrees, and heads towards Jairus’ house,
But there’s an interruption...
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
I’m sure we’ve all “suffered many things from many physicians” in our lifetimes.
But this woman only grew worse.
But that is just the setup.
Here we see a different type of faith,
This woman, heard about Jesus.
She sneaks up behind him.
Why?
First, being a woman, it would have been quite bold to approach Jesus directly in that culture.
Second, having an issue of blood, she was “unclean”.
Not too dissimilar to the lepers from my past sermon.
But she is convinced, if she just touches Jesus’ clothes, she’ll be healed.
So we had the centurion, who just needed a word.
And here we have Jairus, who needs Jesus to touch his daughter.
Now we have this woman who just needs to touch the clothes on Jesus’ back.
Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
The woman was right, all it took was for her to touch Jesus’ clothes,
But that is not all that happened.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
When you read this verse, do any of you think about two siblings arguing “he touched me!”?
Jesus, the Son of God, doesn’t know who touched Him?
The disciples have no clue.
Jesus, there are people everywhere, and you ask “Who touched me?”
But this touch was different, and Jesus knew it.
Mark 5:32–34 (NKJV)
And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Jesus starts looking around,
But it was the woman, with fear and trembling, confessing that she was the one.
In fact, she tells Jesus the whole story.
And again, Jesus tells her it was her faith that made her well, and to go in peace.
But you see… all of this took time.
Imagine how Jairus feels...
His daughter is lying near death, and Jesus is worried about someone who touched Him?
You see, I have this patience problem.
I get frustrated when I’m forced to wait,
Especially for “less important” things.
I need to remind myself to consider other people in those situations.
Scripture doesn’t record Jairus saying anything,
But I can imagine what he was at least thinking.
This woman has lived with this for years, my daughter is about to die.
Jesus, can’t you deal with this later?
But we’ll see that, even this delay is an important teaching moment.
While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
To late Jairus, you daughter is dead.
No need to bother God anymore, right?
Do you see why I chose Mark’s account of this miracle?
If the girl is already dead, this idea of troubling Jesus doesn’t happen.
And Jairus’ potential concern about the delay means nothing.
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
We seem to forget that we serve an awesome God.
Not awesome as it is used today, meaning something cool or exciting.
No, our reaction to what God does generates true awe.
Don’t be afraid, only believe...
Believe what?
My daughter is dead.
She died while you were figuring out who touched you.
What do you want me to believe?
And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
There is little that compares to a Jewish funeral.
People have even been known to hire professional mourners to make sure there is enough wailing.
In walks Jesus and asks why all the racket,
The child is only asleep.
How do you think these people reacted?
And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.
Sure, the people ridiculed Jesus for His foolishness.
What do you mean the child is sleeping.
Don’t you think we know the difference between sleep and death?
Jesus then shoos everyone outside, except the parents and His disciples.
He takes the child’s hand and tells her to get up.
And immediately, that is exactly what she does.
I’m sure everyone there was amazed.
To see a dead girl rise.
Although, you would think by this time, maybe the disciples would have expected this.
And what does Jesus do in the face of this most awe inspiring miracle?
But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.
Don’t tell anyone!? Don’t tell anyone!?
Are you crazy?
This the most exciting thing that has happened to these parents.
And Jesus wants them to keep it a secret!?
But remember what Jesus said in Matt 6:3
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
We are not to brag about the good things we have done.
Neither are we to expect others to brag for us.
Maybe that is why Jesus told people not to talk about the miracles done for them.
Conclusion
Conclusion
These two stories are about healings for very important people.
But notice some very important things in these.
First, it was not the VIPs who needed healing, but someone close to them.
Second, it was not the person’s importance that moved Jesus.
And, it was not the faith of the sick that led to healing, but the faith of the person who sent for Jesus.
Also, while the church leader needed Jesus to come to his house, and the woman needed to touch His clothes, the centurion understood the exercise of power.
In the story of the centurion, we see someone who understands that God can do anything, at any time, from anywhere.
So why do we keep telling God He must be here, or do this, if we are to believe?
In the story of the woman, we see that time does not mean that your miracle won’t happen.
Perhaps you need to meet Jesus somewhere you did not expect.
Not that Jesus needed to meet you, but you needed to meet Him.
In the story of Jairus, we all see the God sometimes get “interrupted”, at least from our point of view.
However, God is never late.
If God is delayed in answering your prayer, you can be sure that it is what is best for you.
I’m sure Jairus would have been much happier if Jesus had healed his daughter before he died,
But it appears what Jairus needed was not a healing, but a resurrection,
How do you approach Jesus with your needs?
Do you demand His attention?
Do you ask for Him to give you some physical sign?
Do you require that He do something now?
Or, do you recognize that He can answer your prayers where ever He is.
And He will do so in the perfect time.
And He will give you the best answer, even if it is not the one you wanted.