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EXPECT OPPOSITION

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20230312 EXPECT OPPOSITION

Matthew 10:16-25 NET

16 “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles. 19 Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time. 20 For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 “Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 Whenever they persecute you in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave greater than his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more will they defame the members of his household!

We have been studying the commands of Jesus for some time now, and our study has now taken us to a series of commands that have to do with evangelism. First, we saw that Jesus told the twelve apostles that the harvest was plentiful but the workers in the harvest are few. So, he instructed them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers.

We are always in need of more people to do the work of evangelism. The metaphor that Jesus used – that of a field ready for harvest – is quite appropriate. When you first look at a field ready for harvesting, it can be quite daunting. It’s hard to imagine getting the job done in time. You feel better about the task if you look around and see a large group of people ready and willing to share the task.

Yet, in this context, Jesus only chose to send his twelve apostles to canvass the entire Galilean region. Why did he chose just them for that task? I can only surmise that he wanted their small number to be a visual aid so that they never forgot the need to obey that command – to pray for more workers.

The next command Jesus gave about evangelism was his instruction for the twelve to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus himself had reached out to Gentiles and Samaritans in his own ministry. So, his purpose was not to exclude anyone from salvation. But he wanted his apostles to focus their ministry on people like them for this particular campaign. I mentioned last week that we should learn from that fact that we need to be sensitive to where Jesus is particularly sending us to evangelize. We should be doing more “rifle evangelism” than “shotgun evangelism.” We see examples of this in the book of Acts. The apostles went where the Lord sent them, targeting the people he sent them to.

Let’s take a look at today’s text to see what we can learn about evangelism as it related to the sending of the twelve – and how it relates to the evangelistic work that the Lord is sending us to do.

Jesus sent the twelve out (“I am sending you out” 16a).

There are all kinds of motives that people can have for doing the things that they do. Even evangelism can be done with the wrong motives. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote that some people he knew were “preaching Christ from envy and rivalry.” They were evangelizing “from selfish ambition, not sincerely, because they think they can cause trouble for (him) in (his) imprisonment.” But Paul rejoiced because they were preaching Christ and some people were getting saved anyway. [1]

But for you and me, the most important thing for us to know about our evangelistic work is that Jesus himself has sent us to do it. We have a personal relationship with Christ, and we want others to know that same blessing. But when it comes to the work we are doing, we have to understand who the boss is. If we think the people we are trying to reach are the boss, we are going to have problems. We share Christ out of our love and respect for Christ. We love others – not because we a loving bunch of people. We love others because God first loved us, and we want to share his love.

I have worked for a lot of different bosses in my time, but I can tell you this: I always worked harder for the bosses that I respected and appreciated. If there is one principle that is going to carry us through the difficulties of evangelistic work, it is this: Jesus is sending us out. We are not doing it for our church. We are not doing it for our families. Even our love for the lost will have to take second place. We seek the lost sheep because that is what the good shepherd wants us to do.

In fact, Jesus is the only reason any of us can reach the lost. Remember what our Lord told Peter and his brother Andrew? He said, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.”[2] Okay, the metaphor was different, but the subject is still the same. Evangelism happens when the followers of Jesus follow Jesus. He does not first call us to evangelize. He first calls us to believe in him and follow him. As we learn to obey those commands, the ability to obey the evangelism commands grows naturally within us.

Jesus warned the twelve that they would be opposed (“like sheep surrounded by wolves” 16b).

He told his apostles to expect opposition because it is going to happen. He didn’t say it might happen. He didn’t say if we are doing evangelism wrong it would happen. He says that we can be doing everything right and we will still be opposed, attacked, persecuted – even some of us will be killed.

Some people say that living by faith means that we must search through the Bible for all the promises that are there, and then claim each promise and we will succeed. Well, the problem with that approach is that in some places – like today’s text – the promise is that sometimes you will not succeed. Sometimes the bad guys are going to win.

Let me change the metaphor again. Jesus is telling his apostles that they are going to play a game of cards and they will never know whether the hand that they are playing is going to be a winning hand or a losing hand. He’s sending them out like sheep – but not in a comfortable safe pasture. He’s sending them out like sheep among wolves. They are being challenged to do evangelism among the very beasts that want to tear them to shreds and devour them.

Note from today’s text what could happen in those villages, towns and cities of Galilee where the twelve are being sent.

We have already seen from last week’s text that there would be some households and some towns that would not welcome them. When they encountered this kind of opposition, Jesus instructed them to shake the dust off their shoes and go on to the next house or town.
Some of the town councils will have them arrested and publicly flogged in the synagogues (verse 17). This is more than just rejection. It is public humiliation. It is being branded a criminal or cult member, and suffering the shame of experiencing the punishment for those crimes.
Jesus tells the twelve that this kind of thing is only going to escalate when they keep evangelizing. Someday, they will not only be tried by the local council and punished by flogging. Someday, they will be tried before governors and kings. Herod had John the Baptist beheaded. Caesar had Paul beheaded, and Peter crucified. Jesus was telling the twelve that evangelism is not for the timid. It is a dangerous activity that can get a person killed. Jesus elaborates on this later in this chapter, when he says “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword” (verse 34). And “whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life because of me will find it” (verses 38-39).
Jesus also tells his apostles that evangelism is not going to heal every family. It is going to divide some families. He says “Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against parents and have them put to death” (verse 21). Jesus warns them again about this reality later in chapter 10, when he says “I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (verses 35-37). I have known people who had to make the choice to follow Christ knowing that it was a choice to reject their family. We should be grateful that not all of us are called to reject our family in order to follow him. But we need to be aware that for some of the people we are trying to reach – they will have to go against their family’s wishes to embrace their Savior.

Jesus told them to “be wise as serpents” (16c).

The kind of wisdom he is challenging his apostles to use is the wisdom to do the right thing in the right way, and to avoid conflict when they can. A snake can attack, but usually it runs away – thank God. I think Jesus’ point is that there will often be ways that we can evangelize without ending up flogged or beheaded.

Jesus told them to be “innocent as doves” (16d).

Here, I think he was warning against those who might go looking for trouble. Opposition happens, but we do not have to ask for it. All we have to do is represent Jesus, and everyone who hates Jesus in their heart will hate us. But sometimes the attitude of the evangelist is the problem. In last Sunday night’s seminar, I quoted Rebekah Manley Pippert, who said, “I remember once encountering a zealous Christian. His brow was furrowed, he seemed anxious and impatient, and he sounded angry. Then he told me God loved me. I couldn’t help noticing the difference between his message and his style.”

There is going to be opposition when we share the gospel. We don’t need to prime the pump. If someone does reject Christ when we share him, let it be because they reject Christ, not because we have turned them away from him by our bad behavior.

[1] Philippians 1:1-18.

[2] Matthew 4:19.

SEEK HIS LOST SHEEP

20230305 Seek His Lost Sheep

Matthew 10:5-15, 40 NET

⁵ Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town. ⁶ Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff, for the worker deserves his provisions. ¹¹ Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave. ¹² As you enter the house, give it greetings. ¹³ And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town! ⁴⁰ “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

Jesus has prepared the twelve to preach the gospel that he preached, and to back up the claims of the gospel with demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s power like he did. In today’s text, we see Jesus sending out the twelve with a specific evangelistic goal. They were sent out into their home region – Galilee. They were to preach the gospel to people like them. Jesus did not accompany them on this evangelistic tour. He sent them out to represent him, to reach who they could reach, and then to return and report to him.

He told them to seek his lost sheep. What did he mean by that? I think that command is instructive for us today as we attempt to evangelize those around us. We believe – as the apostle Paul believed – that we have no reason to be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to save the lost sheep around us. We believe that Jesus promised us the same Holy Spirit that he gave to the apostles, and that the Holy Spirit will empower us to witness in Delco, in Dallas, in Detroit and in Delhi and Dubai.

So today we are looking at this passage to see what Jesus was telling his disciples when he commanded them to seek his lost sheep. We want to know how these instructions can help us fulfill our role in evangelizing the lost.

If we want to seek his lost sheep, we need to do it on his terms (5-6).

For this evangelistic campaign, Jesus specifically told his disciples to avoid Gentiles and Samaritans, and only target the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He wanted them to seek other Galilean Jews like them, and to focus their evangelistic efforts on that people group.

In our missions literature, we are learning about our churches in Tanzania, who have established a link with an unreached people group called the Hadzabe tribe. These brothers are going on evangelistic trips to teach and preach Christ to this tribe who have no access to the gospel except through them. They are targeting the Hadzabe because they believe Jesus has specifically called them to that area to reach those people with the gospel.

Now, for us here in Delco, we should be in prayer to find out just who he is specifically calling us to reach. It is okay to contribute to the Penny Crusade for World Missions, but that is not all that Jesus wants for us to do. He wants us to evangelize the people in our own neighborhoods and towns. He might want us as a church to seek out a specific group of people who are not being reached by other churches. We will not know who he wants us to reach until we dare to ask him.

If we want to seek his lost sheep, we need to preach his message (7).

By the way, when he said “lost sheep of the house of Israel” Jesus was referring to the whole house of Israel. He sent them into a particular territory, but to obey his command they had to go to every synagogue, speak to every family member, and explain the gospel to every soul. It was a call to bring the gospel to a particular area, but the gospel they preached was the same gospel that we are called to preach.

Jesus told them “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’” This is the message we are called on to preach as well. The kingdom is the kingdom of God. The king of this kingdom is Jesus Christ. We are called on to tell people who are presently living against that king that they need to renounce their opposition to him because he is coming back to earth to claim his rightful place as king of kings, lord of lords, president of presidents.

Jesus called it the kingdom of heaven, but most people misunderstand what he meant by that. A better translation of the phrase is “the kingdom from the sky.” The prophet Daniel saw a vision in which the Messiah was coming down from the sky to earth. That is the kingdom from the sky that Jesus is talking about.

Jesus was not talking about enrolling in the kingdom of heaven and then getting to go to that kingdom in heaven when you die. That is not the blessed hope of the believer. The blessed hope of the believer is the glorious appearing of the coming king – the king who is going to return to this earth from the sky, any day now.

If we want to seek his lost sheep, we need to be open to his power (8).

Jesus told the twelve to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. He said, “Freely you received, freely give.” The power to do all these things was given to his disciples because Jesus wanted them equipped to do what was necessary to reach the lost sheep.

In the book of Acts, we find that all the believers were given the same commission to reach the lost sheep of all nations, and that the power of the Holy Spirit was available to enable them to do that.

Throughout history, many Christians have questioned whether the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still available. Some have suggested that Jesus only intended the power of the Holy Spirit to manifest at the beginning of establishment of the church, and that the gifts are no longer available now. People saw a powerless church, and they concluded that the power was no longer available.

But this passage of Scripture tells us what is wrong with that kind of thinking. It tells us that the power is available to those who dare to stay true to the mission. Jesus has not promised to empower us if we refuse to evangelize. He has not promised to empower our church if our church has ceased to seek the lost sheep. The empowerment is always connected to the mission.

The good news for all of us is that we don’t have to earn God’s power by being better people or by giving more money or sacrificing something we want. God’s power is available for everyone who is doing what he has called us to do.

If we want to seek his lost sheep, we need to leave the consequences to him (9-15, 40).

Jesus told his disciples that they were going to go in his power to do what he had called them to do, but even then there would be problems.

He tells his disciples not to hoard a bunch of resources for this mission. They were not to prepare for the mission by gathering supplies. God was going to take care of them by providing through those very people that he sent them to reach. God was going to provide for their needs through the converts that they win to Christ. This evangelistic tour was going to be a lesson in trusting God to give them what they need if they were focused on accomplishing his mission.

But Jesus also told them that there would be opposition and rejection. They would not be able to convert all the lost sheep. The book of Acts is the historical record that shows that this is the case for all evangelistic missions.

For this evangelistic mission, Jesus tells his twelve disciples that there would be some who welcome them, and others who did not welcome them. They would be welcome in some households but rejected by others. They would be welcome in some towns but rejected by other towns. Jesus recommends a little ritual for those twelve evangelists. He says if anyone will not welcome them or listen to their message, they should shake the dust off their feet as they leave that house or that town. We don’t know how many houses got the dust-off. We don’t know how many towns got the dust-off. But every time these evangelists did that, they were saying that they came with the good news, but the good news was rejected. So, now they are going to someplace else. Some of the lost sheep would remain lost. But it would not be for lack of trying by these disciples.

Jesus has some people that he wants you and me to bring the gospel to. Often we fail to even try to reach others because we are afraid of the consequences. Perhaps we think that if we knew for sure what the consequences would be, then we would gladly preach the gospel. But the twelve in this Galilean mission never knew what the consequences would be for them. One day they might have a good response, another day they might have to beat a hasty retreat to avoid getting stoned to death. We need to learn to leave the consequences up to Jesus and continue with the mission.

Jesus has given us a broader commission than that he gave to the twelve in today’s passage. He has not limited our commission to one nation. He has commissioned us to reach all nations. But the principles that we have seen in today’s text apply not our efforts at evangelizing as well. We need to follow our Lord’s lead. We need to preach his message. We need to be open to his power. We need to trust him no matter what consequences we experience. There are lost sheep that need us, and we must go to them.

ASK THE LORD OF THE HARVEST

20230226 Ask the Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38 NET

35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”

We have been walking through the Gospels chronologically, looking at all the commands of Christ – who they were given to and what the situation was when he gave them. Today we are looking at the command in verse 38, where Jesus tells his disciples to ask for more workers for the harvest.

It’s not hard to understand the metaphor that Jesus is using here. We feel sorry for the farmer whose crop has been destroyed by a weather disaster. But in some ways, it is even more tragic when the farmer has an abundant crop, but cannot find enough workers to harvest that crop before it goes bad. The farmer looks out at his field, and the fruit right there waiting to be picked, but he knows he does not have enough time to do it.

Jesus told a parable about a vineyard owner who had the same problem. He went into town many times and hired more and more workers to get the grapes harvested. He was running out of time. That’s the urgency that we read into today’s text.

The metaphor has to do with the harvest of a crop, but the reality to which the harvest is pointing is evangelism. The Lord needs evangelists to harvest the crop of people who are ripe for his kingdom. For the next few weeks, all the commands of Christ we are going to be looking at have to do with evangelism. Today’s passage teaches us…

Every field on this planet needs harvesting (35).

Notice the setting of today’s story. Jesus and his disciples are going throughout the towns and villages of Galilee. This is the beginning of the final campaign in that region. Soon they will all relocate to another region to do their work. Matthew defines that work as composed of three activities. It involved teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness.

It was all evangelism, but it involved different kinds of evangelism depending on the field. We know that harvesting is different depending on the crop being harvested. Some harvesting requires specialized machinery. Some take more time than others. Some require more harvesters than others.

The evangelism that Jesus and his disciples were doing in Galilee required that they spend time teaching in the synagogues in order to reach the religious – to show that Jesus was the biblical Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. They also had to spend much time doing open-air preaching in order to persuade the masses to repent and accept the good news of forgiveness and repentance. Both of these activities are examples of what we call proclamation evangelism.

Another activity that Jesus and his disciples were involved in is the healing of every kind of disease and sickness. This is what we would call demonstration evangelism. St. Francis of Assisi is famous for his saying that we should always preach the gospel and if necessary, use words. Well, it is necessary that we use words! We can do good things for people all the time and they will not be drawn to Christ unless we explain that he is the reason that we are doing those good things. But it is also true that unless people know that we care about them, they are not going to care about what we know.

By a combination of acts of kindness and mercy and proclamation of the gospel, we can reach every field – the whole harvest.

Every heart on this planet needs help (36).

When Jesus saw the crowds in Galilee, he had compassion for them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Oh, if we could only look inside the people that we meet every day, we would see hurt and hunger and sorrow and anxiety and fear. Jesus saw that. He looked out upon the crowds of people, and he saw a flock of sheep, endangered by wild animals and helpless to save themselves.

The metaphor has changed now. It has changed from plants that need to be harvested to sheep that need to be rescued and protected by a shepherd. But Jesus is still talking about reaching people for Christ. Every field needs harvesting so we have to go to all the fields to do the work. Every heart needs help so we have to find ways to reach every hurting heart with the gospel. What is at stake is the very life of those scared, confused sheep. They know they are in danger, but they don’t know who can rescue them. They need a shepherd.

When it comes to evangelism, we have a double responsibility. We have a LAW responsibility and we have a GOSPEL responsibility. We cannot succeed unless we communicate both. The LAW responsibility is we have to share the bad news to everyone that they are lost in sin and cannot save themselves. The GOSPEL responsibility is we have to share the good news that Christ has paid the price for their sins and he offers to save them if they come to him by faith.

Every heart on this planet needs to hear the LAW from us. They need to know about the garden of Eden. They need to know about the sin they inherited from their ancestors. They need to know how sin has corrupted them. They need to know that they need a Savior.

Every heart on this planet needs to hear the GOSPEL from us. they need to know that the Son of Man did not come into the world to condemn us, but so that we might be saved. They need to know about the cross – the plan of God to redeem us from sin so that we can live eternally. Every heart needs to come to that cross and surrender to God’s will there. No one is exempted from that need. It is good news for us but it must be accepted by us.

Evangelism is necessary because …

The harvest needs more workers (37).

Jesus said that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. There is a big crop in each field and it is not going to harvest itself. There is always more crop to harvest than there are harvesters to do the work. That is the nature of evangelism.

We like to think that a small town like Delco is immersed in the gospel because we have so many churches. But our churches are small and our population is not flocking to those churches. Even here in Delco, there are some families that do not have a single believer. And even our families who are represented in our churches have many who never darken the door of a church. Even here, the harvest is plentiful, and even here we have the same problem – the workers are few.

There are people in our neighborhood who will come to our church, but they are just waiting for an invitation.

There are also some people who will never be reached by inviting them to a church service of church function. They have needs and hunger and hurts that will require something more than a preacher on Sunday morning. We need workers in the harvest who specialize in reaching those who cannot be reached by traditional evangelistic approaches.

There are also some people who are wonderful at reaching others in their neighborhood but there is a problem. They haven’t been reached themselves yet. Maybe on your street, there is such a person. That is why …

Jesus commands us to pray for more workers (38).

Jesus had chosen twelve to be his apostles but he told them that they were not going to be enough to reach all the hearts in Galilee. Every town, every village, and every life was on its way to destruction in hell. They all needed to be reached with the reality of their lostness and the good news of the salvation Christ offered. Not everyone would be saved, but everyone COULD be saved. All they needed was enough harvesters.

This is Christ’s command for us today. He does not command us to do it on our own. He knows that we cannot do it on our own. We need churches full of evangelists. He commands us not to try to do it all. He commands us to get more workers. He tells us how we can get more workers. He tells us to ASK for them.

Now, our church is a praying church. We pray for the people on our prayer list. We pray for people who are injured in accidents. We pray for people who are sick. We pray for people getting surgery. We pray for families who are grieving the loss of a loved one. But I say to our shame that there is a prayer that we often forget to pray when we gather. It is the prayer that we are commanded to pray in today’s text.

We want to fill our church because we are ashamed of how few cars are in the parking lot on Sunday morning. We want to fill our church because if we don’t, we won’t be able to pay the preacher or keep the doors open. But we should be praying that God would fill our church and every other Christian church in this town because our churches are supposed to be places where workers prepare for the harvest. We want our neighbors to come to Christ so that they can fill the pews in our churches. But that is getting it wrong. We should be praying for workers in our pews so that they can reach all our neighbors and their neighbors for Christ.

LORD OF THE HARVEST, we are asking you this day to make us a church that trains harvesters for your harvest. Give us a heart to reach other hearts for you. Give us ministries that demonstrate the gospel by loving others and meeting all their needs. Give us ministries that teach your truth in the church and proclaim your truth in the open air. You commanded us to ask, so we are asking. Send us workers, O Lord, and make us workers because the harvest is plentiful, and we are too few to harvest it all.

CHILD, GET UP

20230219 Child, Get up.

Luke 8:41-42a, 49-56 NET.

41 Then a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, came up. Falling at Jesus’ feet, he pleaded with him to come to his house, 42a because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.” 50 But when Jesus heard this, he told him, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” 51 Now when he came to the house, Jesus did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Now they were all wailing and mourning for her, but he said, “Stop your weeping; she is not dead but asleep.” 53 And they began making fun of him because they knew that she was dead. 54 But Jesus gently took her by the hand and said, “Child, get up.” 55 Her spirit returned, and she got up immediately. Then he told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

We have been following the Gospels chronologically, looking at those passages that highlight commands that Jesus gave. Sometimes those commands are obvious, and sometimes they are implied and indirect. Sometimes Jesus gave his commands to his disciples deliberately, and other times he gave them to someone who is encountered along the way. Last week’s passage was an example of the latter. Jesus was touched by the woman experiencing a long-time illness, and after he healed her, he told her to go in peace.

That story was sandwiched in between today’s text. Today we are going to look at the incident where Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. The disciples are mostly just observers of this event, but I’m sure that it had an enduring impact on them. They had learned that Jesus had power over nature through incidents like the calming of the storm. They learned that he had power over the spirit world through incidents like the deliverance of Legion, the demoniac. They learned that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins by witnessing events like his forgiveness of the woman who washed his feet. In today’s text, they are learning that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He has the power to raise the dead.

As we look at the stories of these most recent events, we discover that Jesus is encountering people with desperate needs. The demoniac had been a threat not only to his own life but also threatened the lives of everyone he met. The woman with the blood illness was so desperate that she transgressed the law to touch Jesus. Her illness made her ritually impure, and she could have been arrested for just being out in public.

In today’s text, we encounter another person desperately in need of Jesus. He is a synagogue ruler named Jairus – a very important man in his community.

Notice the desperation of Jairus, the father of the child (41-42a).

Jairus was a very important man in his community, but when his little 12-year-old daughter got sick, he found out that he was helpless to save her. A life-threatening illness in someone we love makes us desperate. Jairus was desperate to help his little girl recover. He found this young rabbi and he fell at his feet and begged him to come and heal his daughter.

I think the Lord blesses us sometimes with impossible problems because if we don’t experience them we are tempted to live our lives a comfortable distance away from him. Jairus had been living his life like that. The Bible says nothing about Jairus’ character, but we can assume from the fact that he ruled in a synagogue that he was respectable in his community. But he was not close to Jesus. Then, his daughter got sick, and he was forced to own up to his own helplessness to save her.

Notice the death of the child (49).

You might think it is not necessary to point out that Jairus’ daughter died, but there is a rumor floating around that this girl was not really dead. Some interpreters believe that she was merely experiencing a diabetic coma. Some explain away the incident of the demoniac by simply assuming that he was insane. But Jesus realized the source of his insanity and removed the real problem by removing the demons. But the real problem Jairus had was that his daughter had died.

The household member who gave Jairus the news had told him not to trouble the teacher anymore. The girl was dead now, and that changes things.

The professional mourners started their mourning, and when Jesus came to wake her, they made fun of him. To them, that was a ridiculous notion because they knew she was obviously dead.

Even Jesus admitted that she was dead when he said that she was asleep. All throughout the Bible death is called sleep. To raise someone from the dead is to wake them from their sleep. When Jesus said the girl was not really dead, he was pointing out that the death people experience in this age is not permanent death. It is real death, but it is not permanent death.

We all know this. That is why we bury our dead in cemeteries. The Greek κοιμητήριον means a sleeping place. We know that death is real, but we also know that Jesus promises to return someday and wake all who are in their tombs, and they will live again. We call death sleep because if a person is sleeping, we expect them to wake up again.

Look also at how Jesus takes pains to make sure that this incident is not published in the town. He ordered the parents to tell no one what had happened. If this had been mere healing, that order would not be necessary. Jesus needed to hide the fact that he was the promised messiah because he had a date with a cross. So, this miracle had to be hidden safely in the minds of his disciples alone.

All this evidence indicates that this girl’s death was real, and her resurrection was real, too.

Notice the directions from Jesus himself (50-52).

The actions and words of Jesus in this incident are very helpful for all of us who face the anguish of a loved one with a life-threatening illness. Jairus begged Jesus to go with him to his house and heal his little girl. Jesus did not stop Jairus and tell him to just go home and trust him to do what was right. No, Jesus agreed to go with him. He wants to be with us when we face problems like that.

Jesus tells Jairus to not be afraid, to believe and the girl will be healed. Now Jairus doesn’t know that she is going to die first, but Jesus does. He knows everything. But Jesus also knows Jairus, and he knows the biggest threat to Jairus at this point is his fear of losing his child. His words to all of us are “Do not be afraid” and “believe.”

Jesus dismisses the professional mourners by telling them to pack up and stop their show. This act is also instructive for all of us who are tempted to let the loss of a loved one wreck our lives. There is a time to mourn, but we are not to grieve like the pagans who have no hope. For us, our loved one is not permanently dead. She is asleep.

Notice the derision from the professional mourners (53).

They made fun of Jesus because to them death was a period. But for Jesus, it is only a comma. The world will never understand a faith that looks death in the face and keeps believing in life. They make fun of us. But the way we handle the loss of a loved one shows our faith in his promise. His promise is that he will come again.

Notice the details of the child’s resurrection (54-56).

Jesus looked at that little girl and told her to get up. The words were simple words. Her parents had probably used those same words every morning to gently wake her from her night’s slumbers to greet the new day. It was completely natural for her to respond to those words by getting up and carrying on with her life. But this sleep was not ordinary sleep – it was the sleep of death. No matter how much they say the words, or how often they say them, or how loud they scream them, her parents were not going to be able to wake her from that sleep.

But Jesus could. He could calm the sea by telling it to be quiet. He could bring peace to a troubled soul by saying “you are forgiven.” He could rescue a demoniac from a legion of demons by telling them to go. He had just brought joy and cheer to a woman with a prolonged illness by telling her that she was healed, and could go in peace. Now, Jesus looks square in the face a problem no one has ever been able to solve. He uses those familiar words because the power is not in the words themselves. The power is in the person who says the words.

Later, he would weep at the tomb of his friend Lazarus and then cry out “Lazarus, come out.” He called his friend by name. He is the good shepherd, and he knows his sheep by name. Some day soon, he is going to be at my tomb. I’m not worried about that. He knows what to do. He has only to call out my name and tell me to come out of that grave.

“Ain’t no grave gonna keep my body down,

Ain’t no grave gonna keep my body down,

When I hear that trumpet sound, I’m gonna get up outta the ground,

Ain’t no grave gonna keep my body down.”

The Bible teaches us that death is a reality. It is not a mirage. When the enemy takes us, we will go down to the grave in silence. But we need not be afraid of that sleep. We need not fear the time of darkness and silence. We don’t have to be afraid because that time is temporary. It may last for a thousand years, but it is still temporary, like an overnight sleep. Someday our gentle shepherd will come back, and he will call each one of us by name. We will wake to a new life, a new permanent eternal life.

GO IN PEACE

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.

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

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