jeffersonvann

20230212 Go in Peace

Luke 8:43-48 NET

43 Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and at once the bleeding stopped. 45 Then Jesus asked, “Who was it who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me.” 47 When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Today’s text relates the story of a woman who had a prolonged time of intense crisis in her life. She had a physical ailment that was causing her to suffer, and her suffering continued for twelve years. Many of us know what it is like to have a physical problem that will not go away no matter how many doctors we consult, and no matter how many medicines we take. We have a number of people on our prayer list at the back of our church bulletin and in our weekly newsletter, and they stay on the list because they need our prayers regularly. This was a woman like that. She was needy, and she stayed needy for a long time.

We are tempted to think that such people are hopeless, but today’s story shows us that they are not. As long as Jesus is with us, there is always hope for recovery and restoration. This woman needed peace, and she found peace when she found Jesus.

There is a peace that this woman needed that only Jesus could give (43)

Our text tells us that the woman could not be healed by anyone. She probably went from doctor to doctor, only for each physician to eventually shake his head and tell her that there was nothing that he could do. Maybe she consulted specialists in alternative medicine. Maybe she spent time among the quacks and the witch doctors. At any rate, what she got for all her searching was a big goose egg. They could not give her the peace she needed.

Even if we don’t suffer from her ailment, we can understand her problem, because we can all relate to her story. Each of us had a problem that we could not solve ourselves, and nobody we tried could solve it for us. Our problem was that we all had an illness called sin. The Bible says “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is more than just a choice you make. It is a disease that you carry inside you, just like that disease the woman suffered with.

The prophet Isaiah described his nation as if they were a body completely covered in disease. He said, “Your head has a massive wound, your whole body is weak. From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed or bandaged, nor have they been treated with olive oil” (Isaiah 1:5-6 NET). The irony was that the nation of Israel had access to the LORD God who could heal them of their sin and restore them from all the damage that it had done. But they would not come to him.

We have a word for people who refuse to go to the doctor even when they know the doctor can help them. We call them stupid. But this woman in today’s story was not stupid. She had sought help from many, but she had never found that help. She looked for peace, but so far had never gained peace. But when she saw Jesus, she realized her search was over. Now, the only thing she needed to do was touch him.

She sought Jesus despite the obstacles in her path (44).

The problem was, literally everybody wanted to get to Jesus that day. I wish the same was true today. We have a lot of churches in the Delco area, but most of them are not used very much. We still have a lot of people who have a lot of problems, but most of them are not coming to Jesus for their problems. They have time to go to Judge Judy or Doctor Phil, but they don’t have time to seek out Jesus.

But on this day, there were many things going on, and they all centered around Jesus. In fact, this story of the woman with the hemorrhage is told as part of the larger story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead. Jesus was on his way to resurrect this girl when the woman came up behind him and touched his tassel. People crowded around him, wanting to witness whatever miracle he was going to do next. Peter was amazed that Jesus even noticed this woman’s touch.

But the good news for all of us is that Jesus is available to meet our needs, despite the fact that the whole world needs him all the time. He is the Lord of the universe and he has time to treat your problem. You don’t have to set up an appointment.

This woman had to fight the crowds. She had to muscle into a position where she could get close enough to Jesus to access his healing power. The obstacles were not going to keep her from getting access to Jesus and the deliverance she had sought for years.

She fearfully confessed her dependence on him (45-47).

When she saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. She had been afraid because her illness was one that made her ritually unclean and she knew that it was unlawful for her to touch anyone else because that would make them ritually unclean. If she had touched any other rabbi, that rabbi would have been justified in having her punished – maybe even put to death.

Craddock points out that in this passage, “Jesus brings God’s blessing to two persons who, while certainly within Judaism, are outside because of ceremonial laws. Maybe the double use of the number twelve (the woman was ill for twelve years, and the girl is twelve years old), symbolic of Israel, is Luke’s reminder that it is within Judaism that these two are outsiders. Because the woman has a discharge of blood, she is unclean, everything she touches is unclean, and whoever touches her is unclean (Lev. 15:25-30). The law was clear; in her own home, in society, and at the synagogue, she was an outsider. The girl, once she dies, defiles those who contact her because of the law concerning a corpse (Num. 19:11-19).”[1]

Look at this event from this woman’s standpoint. She was risking her life to save her life. She was risking destruction to gain deliverance. The only reason this story ended the way it did is that she had gambled on the right Savior. Jesus is the one who made the difference that day. If her faith had been in anyone else, she would have become a victim, not a victor.

That is our story as well. We have come here today to worship God in a Christian church because we have declared our faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior. We have made our choice, and we have found our peace. There are others who have claimed to have found salvation elsewhere. But we have declared our dependence on him.

On that day, … Jesus gave her healing and peace (48).

Michael Card wrote, “She is the third person in this chapter to be found at the feet of Jesus. First, there was the demoniac, and then there was Jairus. And now this nameless woman confesses before Jesus and the crowd what she has done and what has happened to her as a result. Even though he is on an urgent mission, Jesus pauses to help a poor woman whose illness has marginalized her. It is the only time in all the Gospels that Jesus calls a woman by this tender term. “Daughter,” he says, “your faith has made you well.” It is the same thing he told the sinful woman in Luke 7. In his humility, Jesus will always point away from himself and thereby win praise for God. Although few recognize it, two daughters will be healed in this story.”[2]

He told her to go in peace. She came to him a wreck, she left restored. She came to him broken, she left healed. She came in turmoil, but she left in peace. Her physical healing was only part of the blessing that Jesus gave her that day. We don’t know how long she lived. the Bible does not say. But she probably lived several years after her experience with Christ. She probably had other physical ailments after that. But the peace that Jesus gave her never left.

How do I know that? My own personal experience tells me that. I came to Jesus as a young boy. I have had all kinds of problems since I came to Christ at the age of ten, but the peace that he gave me then has never left me. He told me to go in peace and I did. I touched the tassel of his robe once, and that was all it took. I have faced crisis after crisis, some of them life-threatening, but his peace has never left me. Why? For the same reason that this woman could go in peace. Not because she had been healed of a temporary illness. Because she had met Jesus!

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage” (John 14:27 NET). We have a choice. We can take the peace that Jesus offers and go in it. Or, we can choose to go with the stress and care and anxiety and disorder and fear that the world will throw at us. Like the woman in today’s story, we have a choice. We can choose to carry our old burdens, or to go through life set free from them. She chose to walk away from her old war and live in peace. Jesus gave her that choice. He commanded her to go in peace, and she obeyed his command.

Now, my question for you – Christian believer – is “Have you obeyed this command?” When you came to Christ to touch his tassel and receive salvation from him, did you get it? There is a way to tell. Those who are restored by him go in peace.

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[1] Craddock, Fred B. Luke., 2009. p. 119.

[2] Card, Michael. Luke: The Gospel of Amazement. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2011. p. 116.

20230122 Trust Him

Mark 4:35-41 NET

35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” 36 So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him. 37 Now a great windstorm developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” 39 So he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then the wind stopped, and it was dead calm. 40 And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?” 41 They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!”

In ancient days, one of the most frightening things that could be imagined is to be at sea and overwhelmed by powerful winds and waves. A psalm describes such an event:

“Some traveled on the sea in ships, and carried cargo over the vast waters. They witnessed the acts of the LORD, his amazing feats on the deep water. He gave the order for a windstorm, and it stirred up the waves of the sea. They reached up to the sky, then dropped into the depths. The sailors’ strength left them because the danger was so great. They swayed and staggered like a drunk, and all their skill proved ineffective. They cried out to the LORD in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles. He calmed the storm, and the waves grew silent. The sailors rejoiced because the waves grew quiet, and he led them to the harbor they desired. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his loyal love, and for the amazing things he has done for people!” (Psalm 107:23-31).

The psalmist captures the helplessness that the sailors experienced when facing a storm at sea, and the elation they felt when God calmed the storm, and they reached land safely.

My own experience with this kind of thing came when I was in high school. I was a member of the junior reserve officer’s training corps, and one of the perks of belongings to JROTC was that we got to take trips on Navy ships. One Summer, my unit spent a week aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. We boarded the ship at Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida, and headed out into the Atlantic for a week we would never forget. The aircraft carrier itself is large enough to hold enough people that it is like living in an entire city that floats on the water. The ship was over 1000 feet long and over 200 feet wide. I imagined that this building on water would not be very much affected by anything that was happening in the water.

I was wrong. We were not too many days out into the Atlantic when the seas started getting rough. The world started moving this way and that. Drawers slid open and closed and then opened again. Most of us kids were turning green and feeding the fish. We were in one of the largest and most powerful vessels ever designed, and we were being tossed about like we were nothing. That storm finally ended, but it left me with an appreciation for the power and danger of the water and wind.

Such was the case for these disciples in today’s text. They understood clearly that they were in danger of dying, and they called out to their Master to save them. We’ll come back to this idea later, but…

First, let’s look at the mission of Jesus on that day (35).

Jesus had been teaching all day by parables on a boat while large crowds listened from the beach of the lake that they called the sea of Galilee. Evening came, and Jesus told his disciples that he wanted to go by boat to the other side of the lake. So the disciples joined Jesus in that boat and others joined them in other boats and they started across that great lake.

The disciples did not know why Jesus wanted to go to the other side of the lake that day. Jesus knew. He had a mission. We have the privilege of reading Mark’s Gospel and so we know that Jesus was heading to the region of Gerasa. There he would encounter a demon-possessed man, and he would rescue him from the demons and send him back to demonstrate his power in the same town that he had terrorized as a demoniac.

Jesus has a mission in Gerasa and it is not the same mission he had on the beach on the other side of the lake. But it was important that Jesus accomplish that mission because the world needs to know that Jesus is more than just a teacher. He can set us free by the truth of his teachings, but he can also set us free by releasing us from our bondage to the devil and his works. He can do more than just influence our minds. He can restore us to our right mind.

We see this same Jesus in the Gospels healing the sick and injured on one day, telling the woman with the bottle of perfumed oil that her sins are forgiven another day, and teaching the crowds about the sower and his seed the next. He is the same Jesus all the time but his mission changes according to the need.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we possess the same Holy Spirit, and we are called to the same kinds of mission that Jesus was. That is why the Holy Spirit gives us gifts so that we can accomplish different things for him. Not all of us are preachers of the gospel. Not all of us teach. Not all of us deliver people from demons. Not all of us have prayers that heal. But among us all those different missions are still being carried out.

In today’s text, Jesus was on his way to Gerasa to rescue a demonized man. That was his mission.

Next, let’s look at the monsters that threatened that mission (37).

I say monsters (plural) because the text tells us that a great windstorm developed – that was the first monster. As a result of the windstorm, the waves were breaking into the boat and threatening to capsize it. That was the second monster.

The water and the wind are usually part of the means of getting from one section of the lake to another. But these same elements that are usually helpful for the task of transportation by boat have turned into hindrances that day.

That is how it is with missions. I was one time planning a mission to Africa, but when I got to the airport, I discovered that my passport did not have enough space in it for the stamps that would clear me for the countries I would be visiting. That small detail became a monster preventing my mission that day.

For the disciples in the boat that day, the monsters were not only threatening the mission, but they were also threatening to put an end to the lives of the missionaries. Everyone was scared. Well, not everyone.

Now, let’s look at the Master of the mission (38).

Jesus was in the stern of the boat catching some zees. He was asleep on a cushion.  He can sleep anywhere. He slept in a manger when he was a baby. He’s sleeping in a boat here. He’s not afraid of monsters. He can see the end from the beginning. He has control of the elements that his disciples worry about. He also has control of the things we worry about.

Why is Jesus unafraid when his disciples are afraid? Well, for one, he has faith. He has eyes that can see the unseen. He has access to a power greater than that of the wind and the waves. He also has a mission to accomplish. If he has a mission to perform, nothing is going to get in his way. That is why the miracles happen.

Now, let’s look at the miracles the Master performed (39)

His panicked disciples woke him up and he said, “Be quiet.” I imagine that the disciples were quiet because of what he said. But he was not talking to them. He was rebuking the wind and the waves. He commanded the monsters. The wind and the waves had transformed into the incredible hulk, and Jesus told them to be quiet and they transformed back into Bruce Banner.

Jesus stopped the storm, but that was just one miracle. You see, if there is a windstorm, and it ceases, a boat on the water can be still in danger from the waves. Jesus not only calmed the wind, but he also spoke to the waves, and they immediately flattened. The text says that it was a dead calm.

Now, let’s look at the men who witnessed the miracles (40-41).

The men in the boat with Jesus had been afraid of the monsters threatening to end their lives. But when Jesus took care of the incredible hulk right before their eyes, did you notice their response? The text says they were overwhelmed – not with relief, not with gratitude, not with joy or worship. It says they were overwhelmed with fear!

We would like to think that if we went around walking on water and calming the sea the way Jesus did, it would result in a lot more people getting saved. But human nature does not work that way. The disciples responded in fear because that is what happens when a power is manifested that you cannot explain.

We would have a lot more miracles happen in our lives if we had enough faith to handle them happening before our eyes. We would also have more such miracles if we stayed actively involved in the missions the Lord has called us to. He has called us to keep proclaiming his gospel, keep obeying his commands, keep loving others in Jesus’ name, and keep doing battle with the real enemy: the devil.

Believers in Jesus Christ are called to a mission. There will be monsters who will oppose and threaten our mission. But we have a Master, and those monsters are no threat to him. He wants his followers to trust him, believe in what the Bible says about him, and continue with the mission despite the storms.

Come to Him

Matthew 11:20-30 NET

20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done
many of his miracles because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done in you had been
done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on
the day of judgment than for you! 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be
exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the
miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have
continued to this day. 24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the
region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!” 25 At that time
Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed
them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows
the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my
yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and
my load is not hard to carry.”

We are continuing to look at the commands that Jesus gave us in the
Gospels. We have moved from those commands found in his sermons on
the mount and the plain, but we will still find many important commands as we read the narratives in the Gospels, and we will also notice several more sermons.

Today we focus on Jesus’ command for the weary and burdened to come to him. We find that command in verse twenty-eight. It comes with a promise from the Lord that those who come to him will find rest.

If we back up seven verses, we find that …

The Lord came to three cities with the gospel (21,23).

Those three cities are all in the region of Galilee, where Jesus performed
most of his miracles during this time in his ministry. Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee. After his hometown rejected him, he moved to Capernaum, and the focus of his early ministry was in the region consisting of that city and others (like Chorazin and Bethsaida).

Jesus and his disciples visited all three of these cities numerous times, and they preached the gospel there. They gave ample evidence of the truth of their message by performing signs and wonders. All three of these cities are proud of the fact that they had a rich spiritual heritage. Capernaum, for example, seems to have adopted a motto that because of Jesus’ work among them, Jesus would exalt them to heaven. These cities expected Jesus to bless them because he had exposed them to the gospel.

But those cities refused to come to Him! (20,22,24).

Matthew tells us that Jesus criticized these cities because they did not
repent. In other words, Jesus had invited them to come to him, but they never came. It was like they had bragged about all the invitations they had received for the wedding but never got around to going to the ceremony.

You might remember that Jesus gave a parable (recorded in Matthew 22) about a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. In that parable, the king’s command was “Come to the wedding banquet.” The king became furious because the people he had invited “were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.”

When people refuse God’s gracious invitation to come to his Son, it infuriates him. To show this, Jesus picked three pagan cities, notorious for their sinfulness. Those cities were Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon. These were three bad apples – rotten to the core. But Jesus said that on Judgment Day, these three cities would fair better than Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida.

Jesus said that because he had not blessed Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon by his presence like he had blessed Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida. The king had not invited them to the wedding banquet. Those who God blesses with the message are responsible to respond to the message. It is a sin to hear the gospel and to be indifferent to it.

But there is good news in today’s text. After his condemnation of
those cities…

Jesus Praises his Father for those who did come to Him (25-27).

Despite the refusal of these Galilean cities to repent and come to Jesus,
many individuals had responded to his message, repented of their sins,
and forgave them and welcomed them.

Jesus’ prayer in today’s text reveals two principles. Both principles are valid scriptural truths. People have problems with one or the other of these biblical truths. The reason is that it is hard to hold to one of these principles without denying the other.

The first principle is that everyone is responsible to repent of their sins and come to Christ. The second principle is that no one understands this responsibility unless God supernaturally reveals it to them.

The Galilean cities had heard the gospel many times, but they never responded to it. But the king was not going to sit idly by while those he invited refused to come to his son’s wedding. He told his slaves to go into the main streets and invite everyone they find to come.

The citizens of those Galilean cities were happy to be associated with Christ and his ministry, but they considered themselves too wise and intelligent to respond to the gospel by repenting of their sins. But there were some little children who were meek mourners who were poor in spirit, and hungry and thirsty for God’s righteousness.

Jesus blessed his apostles because they were hungry and thirsty for his righteousness, and he promised them that they would be filled. He gave them the proper wedding garments – he clothed them in his righteousness.

Today…

Jesus invites us all to come to Him (28-30).

He tells all of us who are weary and burdened that we can come to him
and find rest. This is the rest of God’s grace. We cannot earn this rest. It
only comes to those who choose to let God save them.

The invitation is to all. Even those Galilean cities are the target of this
invitation, even though they repeatedly refuse it. On the day of
Judgment, the books will be opened. A record of every time the gospel
was presented will be noted. A record of every time a person thought
“Not now” will be revealed.

He tells all of us to put his yoke on our necks. The version I read says
“you will find rest for your souls” but souls do not wear yokes. You put a
yoke on your neck. The master carpenter has built a yoke for you that fits
perfectly. When you are doing your work wearing his yoke, it will not
seem like work. It will be work and rest at the same time.

He tells all of us to learn from him. Oh, the hardship we suffer needlessly
because we stubbornly refuse to follow instructions. He has taught us
all we need to know to live our best life, but we leave his book on the
shelf. If there is one resolution I recommend every year it is to get back to
the Bible. Learn the word of God. Learn from the teacher who obeyed
every word his Father gave him.

The reason Jesus is the best teacher is that he is gentle and humble in
heart. We all know what it is like to have a teacher who is proud, cruel, and abusive. You can’t learn anything with that kind of teacher. But our
teacher cares about us. He is patient with us, giving us the same
instruction again and again until it sticks.

His yoke is easy to bear, and his load is not hard to carry. Compared to
the load the devil gives us, living the Christian life is a piece of cake. It is
a burden, but it is a light burden. Even when Jesus commands us to love
our fellow Christians, we will find that the more we do that, the more joy
we will experience in this life. We will find ourselves saying “He ain’t
heavy, he’s my brother.”

Now, what happened with the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida and
Capernaum? The citizens of those cities were told a lie and believed it.
The devil told them that there are three ways to live. He told them that
they didn’t have to live the devil’s way, and they didn’t have to live
Jesus’ way either. They could follow Frank Sinatra and live life their way.

Folks, I hope you are not planning to stand before Christ on Judgment
day and tell him “I did it my way.” “My way” is the devil’s way. Jesus
said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Him.

Jesus invites us all to come to him because He is the way to the Father
(John 14:6).

Jesus invites us all to come to him because whoever believes in him will
not perish but have permanent life (John 3:16).

Jesus invites us all to come to him because the result of living life my way
is permanent death, but the Gift of God through Jesus Christ is
permanent life (Romans 6:23).

Jesus invites us all to come to him because God has given us a chance to
live a permanent life, and this promise of a permanent life is exclusively
for those who are in his Son. The one who has the Son has this permanent
life: the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this
permanent life (1 John 5:11-12).

Delco is not listed among the cities that Jesus condemned in today’s text.
But we are in danger of sharing their fate. We have been blessed with the
proclamation of the gospel, and with much evidence of its reality. We
have no excuse if we choose to live life our way – the devil’s way. The
invitation to come to Christ has been given. Each of us is commanded
to respond.