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Luke's Gospel, chapter 8, looking
at this section from verse 40 to the end. And it came to pass that when
Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they
were all waiting for him. Behold, there came a man named
Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down
at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his
house. For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and
she lay a-dying. But as he went, the people thronged
him, and the woman, having an issue of blood twelve years,
which had spent all her living upon the physicians, neither
could be healed of any, came behind him and touched the border
of his garment." Luke's gospel, each of the gospel
writers, none of them are exhaustive. Each of them are a selected account
of the words and the works of the Lord Jesus. At the end of
his gospel, John writes, many other signs truly did Jesus in
the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this
book. By that, he's referring to his
own gospel, but it also applies to each of the gospel writers.
In fact, John in the next chapter says, there were also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. But he says, but these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing ye might have life through his name. at the start of his account,
Luke. Remember, he's addressing a man, Theophilus. He says in
verse three of chapter one, it seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that
thou might know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed. And that helps us understand
that the purpose of the Gospels are to inform you and to instruct
you. They are to kindle and to strengthen
faith by revealing to Lord Jesus Christ that He is Saviour. It is to, or they are, to enable
you to live faithfully for Him in this world. And the focus
of the Gospels are to show that Jesus Christ, that he is both
God and man, that he has power and authority, that he has compassion
and grace. And that's revealed through his
direct teaching in the words that he spoke, but is also revealed
in the interactions that he has the interactions with those who
were opposed to him, and the interaction he has with those
who were oppressed with the consequences of sin. The reveal that he is
the one who came to deliver from bondage and brokenness of sin. And all illustrate the fact of
redemption. And each account that we're given,
each account is like a witness. And we're surrounded by a crowd
of witnesses who all testify to the glorious reality of who
Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Each witness has an individual
experience but one common testimony, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Some of these witnesses have
similar experiences, some have quite distinct and different,
but they all reveal aspects of his character and also the consistency
of his character. And they're all revealed so that
you would know that Jesus Christ is Lord. Because the great question that
often confronts us is this. Can I trust him today? Can I trust him with me? Can I trust him with my circumstances,
with my burdens, with my trials? And all the witnesses that are
given to us in the pages of Scripture all answer yes. Yes, we can trust Him. We can
trust Him because of who He is, and we can trust Him because
of what He has done and what He is doing. Two perspectives which were emphasized
in the Scriptures. One is His sovereign intervention. He encounters. And that's what
we considered last time, wasn't it? He crossed the sea with the
disciples for the purpose of encountering this man, this man
who was like living death, destroyed by these devils. The Lord crossed
the sea, the Lord confronted, the Lord delivered, and the Lord
departed. His sovereign intervention. But
the other perspective is this. There were those who actively
pursued him. Those who actively pursued him. And these two perspectives are
woven together because they belong together. His sovereignty and
our responsibility. The divine initiative and the
divine invitation. And that's why Isaiah says, seek
ye the Lord while ye may be found. Seek ye the Lord, your responsibility,
while he may be found, his gracious, sovereign intervention. Here is the Lord, and he calls
you to come. Seek ye the Lord, while he may
be found, call ye upon him while he is near. In the verses we
want to consider today, there are two events which are intertwined. And it appears that one interrupts
the other, doesn't it? Jairus, one of the rulers of
the synagogue, comes and he pleads for his daughter, and as our
Lord goes with him to his home, this woman interrupts. The narrative of this woman with
the issue of blood interrupts, so that after she is dealt with,
the news comes that it's too late, that Jairus' daughter is
now dead. But actually, these two events
are intimately connected. You get a sense of that when
you see that Jairus's daughter was 12 years old and the woman
had had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had 12 years of life. The
other woman had 12 years of being excluded from life. But also, it was Jairus's daughter
that was dying. And when the Lord deals with
this woman with the issue of the blood, you see the words
that he comforts her with? He says, daughter. And so in
this, we also find the events connected and brought together.
That this woman, that she's not in the way, but rather she's
embraced with the same tender compassion as the child with
her innocence and the prospect of all life before her. Something very powerful in these
words, daughter. spoken to women who had experienced
shame and stigma because of her condition. She was ceremonially
unclean. Socially, she was unclean. She was not welcome. And our Lord demonstrates His
transformative grace and His mercy. He heals her. He welcomes
her. So we have two aspects of one
narrative event. They belong together, this young
woman and this older woman. And the purpose, or the main
purpose of this section is revealed in words we find in verse 48
and verse 50. We can read again from verse
48, The Lord said to the woman with issue of blood, daughter,
be of good comfort, thy faith has made thee whole, go in peace. And while he yet spake, there
came one from the rule of the synagogue's house saying to him,
thy daughter is dead, trouble not the master. But when Jesus
heard it, he answered him saying, fear not, believe only, and she
shall be made whole. And so what is the, What is the emphasis here? What is the purpose of this narrative
here? It is the significance, the centrality,
the importance, the necessity of faith. Faith in coming to the Lord,
faith in confessing the Lord, faith in a commitment to follow
the Lord. Well, first of all, I want us
to see faith. Faith means approaching the Lord
Jesus Christ. Because sometimes we ask, well,
what is faith and what does faith do? Faith approaches the Lord
Jesus Christ. Told in verse 40, when Jesus
was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all
waiting for him. And the picture we have is of
this great throng of people. There is a crowd which pushes
in to be close to him, to see him, to hear him, to follow him. And there may be many reasons
why the people were part of that crowd. Some were curious. Some had experienced his blessing. Some had heard him before. Some had heard of him. Some were
maybe there because they were opposed to him, the Pharisees
and the scribes. There was a great crowd of people,
all with different reasons for being there. But there was something
different about this woman, this woman with the issue of blood. Many pushed close, but she came
and took hold. She came with a purpose born
out of a sense of need and also out of a conviction that if she
could but touch the hem of his garment that she would be made
well. We're told that she had 12 years,
this issue of blood, and she spent all her living and all
the physicians who could not heal her. Here is a woman and
she is without hope, but she has hope. She has no other hope other than
that Jesus Christ will be able to deliver her from this condition
and the stigma and the shame and the exclusion. He has delivered others. That
is in part why they're so great a crowd, because he has delivered
others. But she comes with the hope that
he will deliver her. And that's why I say that faith
means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, the Savior
says to her, he says, daughter, your faith has made you whole.
The faith that you have exercised in coming and taking hold of
me. It was an imperfect faith. It
was an imperfect faith and we see that because she was obviously
uncertain of the response that she would meet with were she
to stand in front of him. It seems that having touched
him, she was making her way away from him. And then she was made
to come back. She'd approached him from behind. the border of his garment, it
means the tassel. The Jews were required to have
fringes on their outer garments. That was part of the keeping
of the law. And the way the robes were worn meant that a corner
of the outer garment would be over the shoulder, and so it's
like the tip of a hood hanging down behind a person. That's what she touched. The
impression isn't that she pulled it, It wasn't a jerk which would
make it obvious what she had done, but rather she touched
the edge of the garment from behind and as she makes her way
away, it was an imperfect faith because she was uncertain of
his acceptance. But yet there was faith because
she was convinced of his power. That's what the word virtue there
is. It's power. He says, power has gone out from
me. You know, the proximity to Jesus
Christ is not enough. There was a multitude pressed
in there, in the narrow lanes of this city. When Jesus said, who touched
me? Peter said, who touched you? People can't help but touch you
because we're all being pushed and jostled together. But that
wasn't what he was speaking about. Because that touch That jostling
touch, that being pushed together, that was irrelevant. That wasn't
the touch that received blessing. The word thronged is the same
word which is used at the beginning of the chapter when it speaks
about the thorns that grew up and choked the good seed of the
Word. That closeness, that intertwined
closeness. But this woman's approach was
different. Faith means approaching the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that's not a proximity issue. Rather, her
hand reaching out. Remember last Lord's Day, I tried
to speak about faith. It's being like a grasping hand. Here's an illustration of that. You know, salvation is not received
from a distance. That doesn't mean a physical
approach is required of you, but rather there must be a going
out of your affections. There must be an approaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There must be a movement of the
soul as you call upon him. If you do not ask, you will not
receive. It's very simple, isn't it? If you do not ask, you will not
receive. In chapter 11, the Lord will
say, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. If you do not ask, you will not
receive. But if you do ask, you shall
receive. And so faith means approaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm always delighted to see you
here in church. Always delighted when anyone
comes to church. But there may be many reasons
why you're here. You may be here because It's your habit. It may be here because you've
learned that you like a little religion. It may be here because
you like the company. It may be here because you want
to learn a little. You may be here for all sorts
of reasons. And I don't want to discourage
you for coming at all. But friends, I long that you
would come with this great reason, for this best of reason, which is to approach Jesus Christ,
that you might receive his blessing. You hear the voice of the Lord
in Psalm 81. He says, open wide thy mouth
and I will fill it. Faith means approaching the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we must approach him because
he alone can save. He alone can deliver. And that's
your great need, to be saved, to be delivered, to be transformed. That sin will be forgiven, that
you be cleansed and made new. But secondly, as we look at this
passage, we see that faith means acknowledging the Lord Jesus
Christ. Faith means acknowledging the
Lord Jesus Christ. This woman was told her faith, it was her faith which had made
her whole. And there was two aspects to
her faith. One was approaching and the second
was acknowledging. It's an apparently absurd question,
isn't it? That's what the disciples say. Who touched you? Everyone's
been pushing against you. But the Lord knows. Verse 46. Somebody hath touched
me, for I perceive that virtue power has gone out of me. Friends, have you touched the
Lord Jesus Christ? Have you reached out and sought
Him? Have you taken hold of the promises? Do you trust and believe Him? Maybe you say, I don't even know
my own heart. But you know this, the Lord knows.
The Lord knows those who have touched Him. And when he asked
that question there, there'd be many who had been pushed against
them. When the Lord said, who has touched
me? You know, there wasn't lots of
hands went up. Well, yes, I pushed against you
and I pushed against you and I brushed past you. All the other people knew it
wasn't them that he was speaking about. They hadn't touched him. Not in that way, not in that
significant way. But she couldn't say that. She couldn't say that she hadn't
touched him, because she had. And she couldn't deny that, and
nor could she deny him. He said, someone has touched
me. He said, power has gone out from
me. Who has touched me?" And she
had to acknowledge that. And in this, we see the reality
of her faith. She knew. She knew she had touched
him, and she knew who she had touched. It says in Nahum, verse seven,
chapter one, verse seven, the Lord is good, a stronghold in
a day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. You know,
friends, not only does he know who has trusted in him, he requires
that those who've trusted in him stand up and identify with
him. This is an aspect of faith that we acknowledge the Lord
Jesus Christ. This question provokes a moment
of crisis, doesn't it? She's taken hold. She's been
healed. She's making her way away. She
has in many ways what she desires. And now suddenly everyone stops
and everyone looks around. Who is the one who has touched
him? It's a moment of crisis. Will
she deny or will she confess? Will she come and fall down and
acknowledge why in all that has happened? It was a moment of crisis she
didn't anticipate. This was the moment she wanted
to avoid. That's where she came behind.
And she might be saying, why? Why ask this? Why demand this?
Why expose me in this way? And perhaps that's how you feel
today. Why must I stand up? Why must
I speak out? Why must I acknowledge that I
follow the Lord? Can I not just quietly trust
Him? Can I not just quietly believe? Can I not just get on with my
life and just try to faithfully serve Him without drawing any
attention to me? Why has this moment of crisis
come? Friends, One of the reasons why
that moment of crisis was forced upon her was to keep her from
a lifetime of crisis. You know, without this, she would
have had an ongoing isolation and insecurity, exclusion. The unclean woman, that's who
she was, wasn't it? The impure woman. The woman who
was ceremonially and socially excluded, who wasn't welcome. The Lord, in requiring this acknowledgement
from her, was welcoming her. And by his welcoming her, he
was showing that she belonged and that she had a place. She
was no longer excluded, she was no longer alone. Faith means acknowledging the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the obedience of acknowledging the Lord Jesus
Christ brings liberty and blessing. Or you might say it brings the
blessing of liberty before God and in society. She knew what had been done in
her. and she had to acknowledge that.
And maybe your concern today is this, that you see no dramatic
physical change. Now this lady had a physical
ailment and she was conscious of that physical ailment being
healed. And you may be saying to yourself,
if only I had something as tangible as that, then it would be easier
for me to say, yes, I have touched him. Yes, I've been blessed by
him. Yes, I've been healed by him. No dramatic physical change. But the question the Lord asks
isn't who's been dramatically healed, who's been physically
changed. The question the Lord asks is
this, is who has touched me? Who's come knowing that I'm Lord
and taking hold of me with the hope of my blessing? Let me ask. Have you here today, have you
taken hold of the Lord? Have you reached out for Him?
Have you called after Him? Have you sought Him? Have you
prayed to be received, to be forgiven, to be delivered from
your sin, to be made new? I'm not asking if you feel yourself
full of power. I'm not asking if you see great
change in your life. I'm simply asking what the Lord
is asking here. Have you reached out and have
you touched him? Isn't it true that you pray? Isn't it true that you worship? Isn't it true that you entertain
the thought, the hope, that if something should happen to you,
that all will not be lost? Not because you're good enough,
not because you've achieved enough, but because God is gracious.
Isn't it true that this is the hope that gives you comfort?
That you might not be as everyone else, because maybe you see everyone
else so far ahead of you, But yet, nevertheless, you have this
hope that the Lord will be faithful to his word. And at the end of
the day, you'll not be cast away, but embraced. Have you touched him? Faith means approaching him.
but it also means acknowledging him. And these two belong together. We find that in Romans 10 in
verse 9, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. To confess with the mouth and
to believe in the heart. This woman came trembling. She came, but she came trembling. Why did she come trembling? Well, she came trembling because
suddenly every eye is upon her, and there's a horrible feeling
of self-consciousness, isn't there, when everyone is looking
at you, and everyone's looking at you with their own thoughts,
or who knows what they're thinking, you imagine what they're thinking.
She comes trembling because maybe she's fearful, That it'll be
taken from her. That what she's received will
be taken from her because of who she is or what she's done. Maybe she's rationalizing in
her mind why these troubles came in the first time. Maybe she
feels it was the judgment of God because of this or because
of that. She comes trembling, maybe because
she has many doubts about herself, but she has no doubt about him. Verse 47, she came trembling
and falling down before him. She declared unto him, before
all the people, for what cause she touched him and how she was
healed immediately. He didn't call her to shame her.
He called her to strengthen her. Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace. You don't want to draw attention
to yourself. Maybe that's why the communion
brings you to that point of crisis again and again. To profess faith
in the Lord, to go forward with the Lord's people, to draw all
that attention to myself. My friends, you're not called
to draw attention to yourself, but rather to stand and to point
to Jesus Christ. He fell on the ground before
Him. This is who you are. This is what you've done, O Lord. Are you unwilling to point to
Him? Or are you unable to point to
Him? Can you say that you don't reach
out to take hold, that you don't pray, that you don't worship,
that you don't believe? He gives himself to all who take
hold of him. Let me read again the words from
chapter 11 of Luke's gospel in verse nine. and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth. And he that seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it
shall be opened. Faith means approaching the Lord
Jesus Christ, but faith also means acknowledging the Lord
Jesus Christ. And there is liberty to be found
in that. And there is liberty that you
will not otherwise find unless you do that. But we need to move on. Because we're told, after these
precious words spoken to this woman, daughter, be of good comfort.
Thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace. That even while
he spoke, people came from Jairus' home and said, the girl's dead.
Don't trouble the master any longer. And that's where we have these
next words spoken by the Savior. Verse 50 says, fear not. Believe
only. and she shall be made whole. Faith means attending upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jairus clearly had faith. He
clearly believed that the Lord was able to heal his daughter. He came to him in a point of
crisis, but he came to him, just as his woman had come, with purpose
and with conviction, with felt need. There was faith, but here there
is a requirement for greater faith. It seems it's too late that all
hope has now gone, and the Lord says, not so. Hope is not gone. It's not too late. Rather, he says, listen to me. Listen to me, not to that. Put
all of that aside. Don't hear what they're telling
you. Listen to what I'm saying. Fear not. Believe only and she
shall be made whole. A word made whole, it means she
shall be saved. Believe only and she shall be
saved. He gives no explanation of how,
only that it is so. Believe me, follow me, wait upon
me. When he entered the house, he
says, she's not dead, but she sleepeth. Not that she literally
slept, there was no doubt the girl was dead, but he uses this
expression because it has the sense of anticipation of restoration. Just as a sleeping child can
be awoken, so with the same ease this dead child may be raised. And we're told they laughed them
to scorn. That's not the mother and the
father and the disciples who were with them. That's rather
those who'd gathered, because when there was death, there were
those who gathered to mourn. It was a profession. Matthew speaks about the people
who came and they played their musical instruments and they
wailed. They were the experts in death because they attended
upon every death and they took over at that point. The physicians
were done. The mourners were here and they
laughed them to scorn and Jesus put them out. And his putting them out was
a challenge and an encouragement to the faith of Jesus, wasn't
it? There's no place for mourners here because this is not the
end. We don't know why it was only
Peter and James and John that were taken, the other disciples
were not brought in. Perhaps it was simply because
this was within the home. There wouldn't have been space
for a great crowd. It wouldn't have been helpful to have a great
crowd pressing in. Sensitivity for the family. He took her by the hand and called,
saying, maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and
she arose straightway. And he commanded to give her
meat, to give her something to eat, Again, we see his sensitivity,
don't we? His sensitivity to the family.
Here, do something for her, give her something to eat. It also
speaks of her fullness of health. She's ready, she's hungry, she's
healthy, she's whole. Fear not, believe only. and she shall be saved." Faith
means approaching the Lord Jesus Christ, it means acknowledging
the Lord Jesus Christ, but it also means attending upon Him,
following Him, awaiting Him, trusting Him. That's all they
had to hope was that He had promised, I will do it, and He did. You can't be sure why he told
them not to tell anyone at the end of the chapter there. Her
parents were astonished, and he charged them, they should
tell no man what was done. I mean, Luke's now telling us
what was done. The other gospel writers, Matthew
and Mark, also tell us what was done here. Maybe again it's to shelter the
family a little, to give the girls some space. Perhaps it's
also this, that not every experience needs to be told. Not every detail
of every experience needs to be told. There are some experiences
that we have which are best left untold. Some spiritual experiences,
some works of God, some revelations of His grace, some deliverances. but your trust in Him, your faith
in Him, your love for Him. That's not something that should
be left untold. That's something that must be
clearly stated. My faith is made ye whole. It's
not faith, of course, is it? Faith is the instrument. It's
Jesus Christ who is made whole through the instrumentality of
faith. And as we look at this passage
here today, we're reminded that there is no good reason for you
not to believe, because here he is revealed. in His power
and His authority, His compassion and His mercy, His grace. And this is the one who says,
come unto me and I shall save you. And that's true, friends, at
every stage of the Christian life. And I say that because
there's some who've been going on and away for many years, and
you're today confronted with particular situations, and you're
today confronted with particular burdens. What's required is what was always
required, that you trust in the Lord, you lean not on your own
understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge
Him. Come unto me and I shall give
you rest. Amen. Let's pray.
The touch of faith
Series Luke
Faith means approaching the Lord Jesus
Faith means acknowledging the Lord Jesus
Faith means attending upon the Lord Jesus
| Sermon ID | 10922131215192 |
| Duration | 43:24 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Luke 8:22-56 |
| Language | English |
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