Greater Than Disease and Death

Two people in desperate situations with no hope besides Jesus.

The wailing and the flutes could be heard in the distance as they approached the house. Inside the home, the tears flowed, the sobs were heavy, the weeping was uncontrolled, the grief was potent. Death, that enemy that meets us all eventually, had visited this home and taken an only daughter and the mourning had already begun. The twelve year girl was very sick and perhaps something could have been done for her while she was still fighting to stay alive, but she was beyond help now. Life had left her body and she was just a corpse, never to move again, never to breathe again, never to laugh again, never to marry or have children or grandchildren. Just dead. Gone. Soon to be buried.

Death. It takes. It plunders. It barges into our lives without permission and robs us of those we love. And it refuses to give them back. It follows us around all our lives, threatening to take us too. Is there anyone who can stand against it? Who can tell it “no” and it will listen? Is there anyone who can tell it “no more” and it will stop taking from us?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to rewind a little bit because this scene of death is actually near the end of the true story we are going to hear today.

Jesus had decided to cross from the west side of the Sea of Galilee - the side in the land of Israel - to the east side of the Sea of Galilee - the country of the Gerasenes. While crossing with a group of his disciples, a threatening storm came down on them and the disciples thought they were going to die. But after waking Jesus up from a nap, he stood up and rebuked the storm and it stopped. The raging waves turned calm. His disciples’ jaws dropped. They were filled with fear and marveled, asking each other, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

They finished crossing the lake and as soon as Jesus stepped onto land, they were approached by a naked, homeless man not in his right mind. In reality, he was suffering under the influence of an army of demons. The crazy thing was that Jesus was not afraid of this army even though it was one against thousands. Instead, the demons were afraid of Jesus. They fell down before Jesus and begged him not to torment them or to destroy them. Instead, they asked to be sent into a herd of nearby pigs and Jesus gave them permission. The pigs rushed off the steep bank and drowned in the lake that the disciples had just nearly drowned in. The herdsmen reported these things to the townspeople, the townspeople came out and saw the formerly demonized man totally transformed, and they were afraid. They were filled with such great fear that they asked Jesus to leave. In the boat, the disciples feared and marveled at Jesus’ authority, wondering, “Who is this man in our boat who can calm storms?” These locals don’t care who Jesus is. They just want him gone. He’s too much for them to handle.

So Jesus does as they ask. He leaves. But before leaving, the formerly demonized man asked to be with Jesus - to follow him, to be his disciple. Jesus did not allow the man to come with him. Instead, Jesus sent him back to his home, the place he hadn’t been in who knows how long and the family he hadn’t seen in who knows how long. Jesus gave him the assignment of declaring how much God had done for him to his family and relatives. The man obeyed and told everyone how much Jesus had done for him. He became the first missionary sent by Jesus to the Gentile world.

Imagine you were in these disciples’ sandals. Imagine you had left everything behind to follow Jesus, to learn from him, to become like him. And imagine you are experiencing what they have experienced. More powerful than a storm. More powerful than an army of demons. Both bow down to Jesus, doing whatever he says. What’s next? The amazing thing is that we don’t have to imagine. This Jesus is the same Jesus we follow today. He is alive and he is continuing to do his work. Hear this story not only as events that happened long ago but as a story of what Jesus has done for people down through the centuries and continues to do today.

Upon crossing back over the Sea of Galilee and landing back in the land of Israel, a crowd welcomed Jesus. Let’s read verses 40 through 42 in Luke chapter 8:

40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. (Luke 8:40-42a)

A man named Jairus pushes his way through the crowd and falls at Jesus’ feet. He’s the ruler of the local synagogue, meaning he was the administrator of the synagogue, maintaining the facilities and organizing worship services. This means Jairus is a respectable man in the community, a leader in Israel's religious life.

But he finds himself in a desperate situation and so this prominent community figure throws himself at Jesus’ feet. His daughter - his only daughter - is dying. He doesn’t appeal to Jesus based on his status. He doesn’t approach Jesus in a dignified way. He lays himself at Jesus’ feet believing Jesus is his only hope for his daughter to live.

Have you ever been in a situation like this man? You find yourself driving in your car pleading with God to heal someone you love. You wet your pillow with tears at night begging God to help someone you care about - to bring healing, to bring restoration, to make it better. Just as this man approached Jesus with a request, we too approach Jesus in prayer.

Jesus agreed to go with him and the crowd followed as well, pressing around him. This is when the journey is interrupted. Let’s read starting in the second half of verse 42.

As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. (Luke 8:42b-43)

Luke describes this woman’s situation for us. She has a condition and has spent all her money on doctors who could not heal her.

What exactly is her condition? Verse 43 says she had a discharge of blood for twelve years. The term here is similar to the one used in Leviticus 15:19 for menstruation. That would be an expected discharge of blood, but her condition makes it so that she has a more frequent or constant discharge of blood.

That’s her condition physically. But this condition affects her in other ways, namely religiously and socially. We need to go back to the book of Leviticus, the third book in the Bible, to understand this. The question that Leviticus answers is: how can a holy God dwell among an unholy people? Part of the answer is that they need to be morally pure; the other answer is that they need to be ritually pure. God is “holy” which means he is set apart from everything else. What sets God apart? For starters, he is the only Creator and giver of life. So death has no business in his presence.

In order to be in a ritually pure state, you had to separate yourself from anything related to death - diseased skin, dead bodies, certain bodily fluids. It’s important to note that “unclean” isn’t a synonym for “sinful”. Becoming ritually impure isn’t necessarily sinful. What’s wrong is entering God’s presence while in an impure state.

Leviticus 15 addresses the issue this woman has. It includes laws about different bodily discharges that make someone unclean. While a woman is discharging blood during her menstrual cycle, she is considered unclean. Blood represented life and the loss of blood represented death. Anyone who has a condition that causes a flow of blood is unclean. Anyone who touches her is unclean. Anywhere she lies or sits is unclean and if anyone touches those areas they are unclean. The priest would be the one to pronounce her clean, declaring that she has been restored to a state of ritual purity.

When we come together on a Sunday, there is an order to our service called a liturgy. It is designed to direct our attention to God and guide us in worshiping him properly. The book of Leviticus is a liturgy that encompassed all of life for Israel and was designed to give Israel practices that taught them about God and themselves. God is holy. He is the totally unique Creator of all and giver of life. Death does not belong in his presence. That’s what this liturgy taught them.

This woman we meet in The Gospel According to Luke had lived this liturgy that death has no place in the presence of God for 12 long years. She has well learned the truth that God is utterly separate - he is holy, holy, holy - and that death does not belong in his presence.

Unclean, I think we could say, had become her identity. Like a scarlet letter, she was labeled as one unable to come before a holy God in worship and one with whom others could not associate lest they become unclean as well. She has lived as a walking symbol of death for 12 years.

Imagine her desperation. She bears the frustration, difficulty, and pain of whatever is causing this bleeding. But she also bears the pain of isolation from the religious and social life of her community. She cannot touch or be touched because that would make others unclean. She can’t come to the synagogue services that Jairus runs. She’s used all her resources in hopes that she’d be able to find a doctor who could heal her but now she is broke and still remains broken.

Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever done something that made you feel so unclean inside that you swear when people look at you they can tell? Something that made you feel so ashamed that if anyone knew they would be disgusted and would no longer be your friend? Have you ever been excluded from a group, made fun of, talked about as you walk by? I have felt all of these things. And I think a lot of people outside the church feel this way too. There was a lady I worked with while I was in college who told me if she ever went to church, God would strike her dead because of how bad she is.

Let’s continue reading what this woman does in verse 44.

44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. (Luke 8:44-47)

The juxtaposition between Jairus – a prominent community figure who organizes the religious life of Israel – and this woman, who is ostracized from both, almost gives you whiplash. And yet, both are in a desperate situation with no hope besides Jesus. And notice, Jairus’ 12 year old daughter is at the point of death. This woman has suffered with this discharge of blood for 12 years, making her a walking symbol of death.

Instead of Jesus being contaminated by the woman's uncleanness, she is healed of her disease. Instead of her uncleanness contaminating Jesus, his power overcomes her uncleanness. Isn’t that what we all need? We are dirty, unclean, and sinful. Ephesians 2 says we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We are not worthy to come before a holy God. Jesus is the one who removes our uncleanness. He’s the one who takes away our sin. He’s the one through whom we are declared righteous, blameless, clean, white as snow in God’s presence.

Jesus wants the person who touched him to come forward. No one steps forward. They deny it. Peter says, “Master, you have a whole crowd of people touching you...how can you ask who touched you? Everyone is!” Jesus has someone specific in mind. He knows someone has reached out in faith and been healed.

Why does she want to hide? For starters, she risked making everyone in that crowd that she touched unclean. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be there. But in her desperation and with faith, she ignored those restrictions. And she probably feels unworthy to have Jesus’ attention. She didn’t even call out for him. She tried to sneak in and out.

But Jesus wants her to come forward and bear witness to what has happened. Jesus changed this woman’s life in an instant. And he wants to do even more. After she comes to tell her story, you can almost hear the crowd gasp. “She’s unclean? Was I touched by her? Am I unclean now?” But Jesus speaks words of comfort over her in verse 48.

48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:48)

She has experienced a complete reversal of her situation. She was unclean, on the outside of society and religious life. Now, she is clean and called “daughter”. She has been brought into Jesus' family and family is as close as you can possibly get to God. Once she was estranged but now she has been brought near.

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus said those who hear the word of God and do it are his family. This woman has followed God's word in her display of faith and thus is part of Jesus' family. Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.” He commends her faith. He affirms her. Her wellness is a blend of physical, social, and spiritual salvation. "Go in peace" is a Hebrew blessing. It’s more than just a goodbye but speaks to restored relationship with God. Go in peace means “go as one restored to a proper relationship with God”. “Peace” would have been the Hebrew word “shalom” which speaks to everything being as it should be. It’s about wholeness. Jesus has brought wholeness, wellness, and health to this woman in all aspects of her life.

What words do you long to hear from Jesus? What might he do and say if you sought him out and invited him into your pain and desperation? Take 60 seconds and listen to what Jesus might have to say to you today. Invite him into your pain and hurt and listen to what he wants to say to you.

In all this excitement, we may have forgotten about Jairus, the man with a daughter on her deathbed. Verse 49 brings him back into focus.

49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” (Luke 8:49)

Put yourself in Jairus’ situation. He came to Jesus, desperate because his only daughter is dying. To his relief, Jesus agreed to come with Jairus to his house. But then on their way, Jesus stops. He starts asking who touched him. Jesus knows Jairus’ daughter is on her deathbed and yet he insists on stopping to ask who touched him and waits for someone to come forward. You can imagine Jairus tapping his foot or wringing his hands. Finally a woman comes forward with a story of her desperate situation and her healing. She falls down before Jesus just like Jairus had also done not long ago. While Jairus listens to Jesus telling her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace,” someone from Jairus’ house comes up behind Jairus and puts their hand on his shoulder. Jairus turns his head to hear the man say, "Your daughter is dead."

Have you had moments in your life where someone said words to you that just didn't seem real? Words to which your first reaction was, "No, it isn't true. That cannot be. I don't believe you." Words like:

• “Your father and I are getting a divorce.”
• “We’re letting you go. You’re fired.”
• “The test results are in. It's cancer.”

“Your daughter is dead.” We can imagine how Jairus felt because we’ve felt it too. The words ring in his ears. Numbness washes over his body and for a moment the crowd and the rest of the world fade into the background.

Someone else’s words snap him back to the moment. He hears Jesus saying to him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” What does faith look like in this situation? His daughter is dead. He believed that Jesus could do something for her when she was on the brink of death, but what can he do now? Healing someone of sickness is different than bringing back the dead.

And now we are back where we started this morning. As they approach Jairus’ house, they can hear the mourners weeping and grieving over the dead girl. Jesus allows only three of his disciples to enter the house with him: Peter, James, and John. These three disciples become Jesus’ inner circle. Along with these three disciples, Jesus brings the father and mother of the girl, Jairus and his wife.

Jesus tells those mourning not to weep because the girl is not dead, but sleeping. They laugh at Jesus because they know she’s dead. The physicians could do nothing for the woman; the mourners believe Jesus can do nothing for Jairus’ daughter.

After everyone had left, Jesus then walked up to the girl, took her by the hand and said, “Child, arise.” What would you expect to happen if someone spoke to the corpse at a funeral? This isn’t the first time Jesus has spoken to a dead person. He spoke to the dead man in chapter 7, the only son of a widow, saying, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the same thing that happened then happens again in this house. The dead person listened! The girl’s spirit returned to her and she got up at once. Then Jesus directed that something should be given to her to eat. Then he strictly charged those present to tell no one what had happened. It needs to be kept secret because people don’t yet understand what sort of king he is. It also shows us that Jesus didn’t do this to show off or make a name for himself. He did this out of compassion and love. He did this because it’s his purpose: to seek and save lost, to release and restore what’s broken.

According to the book of Leviticus, a dead person should make Jesus unclean. He should move from clean to unclean, from a ritual state of life to a ritual state of death. But instead, he gives life to the dead. The girl’s deadness does not infect Jesus but his life infects her. This isn’t the first time Jesus has touched something he shouldn’t. He touched a leper and the plank carrying the widow’s dead son. But in every case, they don’t give Jesus what they have but instead he gives them what he has: life, health, wellness, wholeness.

In Christ, what’s his becomes ours and what’s ours becomes his. He takes away our uncleanness, our sinfulness, our deadness, our brokenness and he gives us his righteous, his holiness, his wholeness. We too can be told, “Daughter (or son), your faith has made you well; go in peace.” When we feel that we are far beyond Jesus’ help, we need to hear the words to Jairus: “Do not fear; only believe, and you will be well.”

Both Jairus and the woman were in desperate situations with no hope. Desperation comes out of a longing, a need. I think there’s two universal feelings that everyone has. Everyone feels that something is wrong and that something is missing. Both of these feelings can send us on a desperate search.

When we feel that something is wrong, we will look for the solution. Ask a hundred people what’s wrong with the world and you might get a hundred different answers but you will get a hundred answers because we all feel that something is wrong. And if you get a bit more personal and ask them, “What’s wrong with you,” they might feel a little offended but when they are being totally honest with themselves, they feel that something is wrong with them as well. “I can’t get it together. I’m lazy. I’m a cheater. I don’t work hard enough. I drink too much. I’m too fat. I’m selfish. I don’t give back enough. I’m a bad mom. I’m a bad dad. I’m a bad husband. I’m a bad wife. I’m a bad son. I’m a bad daughter.” We can feel the brokenness in us and around us. We feel that something is wrong and we look for someone or something to fix it.

When we feel that something is missing, we will look for something to fill us. We are looking for what will finally make us happy or secure or significant or special or successful. Ask anyone on the street what they most want in life and they can probably tell you what they are looking for and even if they aren’t able to put it into words, they are on a search. Maybe they say they already have what they want. They’ve come to the end of the quest for what’s missing and have found it in a lover or a job or a hobby or whatever else.

What we are really looking for is a Savior and a God. We are looking for a Savior to save us from our brokenness and the brokenness around us. We are looking for a god to fill in the hole of what we feel is missing. Everyone makes a god out of something. We are all in search of something that will fill us, that will quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger deep inside us and take away the ache. We are looking for something worthy of orbiting our lives around whether it’s work, kids, a spouse, drugs, alcohol, friends, amusement.

This true story we’ve heard today shows us a God and Savior who is moved by our desperate situations and who moves into our desperate situations. Both Jairus and this woman brought their desperate need to Jesus and what they experienced was salvation. Jesus did for them what they couldn’t do for themselves. Jesus did for them what no one else was able to do for them.

What’s your desperate situation? Have you come to the end of yourself? Have you given up on trying to fix yourself? Have you finally concluded that nothing in this world will ever fill the hole inside you or satisfy that deep longing to be loved, secure, and significant? Have you admitted that you have no hope besides Jesus? We will only come to Jesus when we are ready to admit our desperate situation and when we believe Jesus is our only hope.

How do you think Jesus usually responds to you when you are in a desperate situation? Disappointment? Fed up? He's had enough of you. "Oh you again..." Put yourself in the story. Look at how Jesus responds to these two people in their desperate situations. "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace." "Do not fear; only believe."

What does faith look like? Faith runs to Jesus through all obstacles because he’s our only hope. The woman overcame the potential ridicule of the crowd. Jairus overcame the ridicule of those in the house who laughed at Jesus. These two believed Jesus was their only hope and nothing was going to stand in their way of getting to him. They acted on their belief that Jesus could do for them what no one else could do for them and what they couldn’t do for themselves. If you believe Jesus is your only hope, you will stop at nothing to get to him.

Luke told us in the very first verses that he wrote this gospel account - this narrative of the good news - so that believers may have certainty about what they’ve been taught concerning Jesus. Luke shows us that Jesus is Lord over both the physical and spiritual world. Our trust is not misplaced. We can have confidence in following him and trusting him. Jesus is the one who can do all that he says and all that God has promised. The woman is healed by touching Jesus. The girl is raised by Jesus’ word. He calmed a storm with a command. He conquered a legion of demons.

We may ask: Why am I not experiencing healing? Why didn’t Jesus answer my prayer? This can give us uncertainty. The salvation Jesus offers, which includes healing of diseases and raising from the dead, is already here but not yet full here. Different people will experience different measures of it throughout their lifetimes but all who trust in Jesus will experience it in full when Jesus returns.

The beatitudes are experienced at different times. They are a promise fulfilled in Jesus’ kingdom, which is a kingdom that is already here but that also is not yet fully here. Those who experience the beatitudes here and now are receiving a foretaste of that future kingdom and they become for us a picture of Jesus doing for one person what he will do for all who trust in him and for all of creation.

Many times Hudson asks us for something and our answer is, “Yes, but first” or “Yes, but only after”. In Christ, all our requests for healing and wholeness are answered, but many times it is a “Yes, but first” or a “Yes, but only after”. We have to wait for it. God does his work in his time, not ours.

When we wake up every morning, before our feet hit the floor we need to believe deep down that Jesus can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and what no one else can do for us. We need to wake up every morning and admit our desperate need for Jesus. Jesus restores what's broken. Jesus heals what's sick. Jesus revives what's dead. Jesus repairs what's been destroyed.