INTRODUCTION
• What is one of the things we fear most in life?
• Can you share a few things that “OTHER” people fear?
• I read through various lists that included public speaking, spiders, snakes, heights, darkness, rats, dentists in a variety of orders, to name a few.
• One thing that was one of the lists was dying or death. Death is something that many are afraid of for many reasons.
• You really may not think of death until you are facing the possibility.
• For those of us who are parents, one of the fears concerning death is watching our children die, and sadly some her today have experienced that trauma.
• I think the younger the child, the harder the death is on the family.
• Today, our narrative takes us to two desperate situations. One involved the death of a 12-year-old daughter, the other a long-term health issue that, as we examine it, would lead to many other problems in this life for the lady who was afflicted by her issue.
• Today, we are going to examine the power Jesus has over life and death.
• OUR BIG IDEA TODAY IS: Jesus’s power to resurrect the ruler’s daughter announces God’s limitless power over life and death.
• One thing that will give us the confidence to face life and death is knowing that Jesus has power over both! When we have confidence in the fact that death is not in control, but rather that Jesus has power over death, we can face whatever this life throws at us.
• Let’s turn to Matthew 9:18-26 together.
Matthew 9:18–19 CSB
18 As he was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before him, saying, “My daughter just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him.
SERMON
I. Where do you turn when things fall apart?
• I love life, don’t you? I know there are times when it gets rough, but overall, I am blessed with a great family, great friends, and a great church to serve.
• When things are going well in life, it can be easy not to give things a lot of thought.
• Jesus was teaching when a man in trouble approaches Him.
• In Matthew, we find this man is a leader; from Mark and Luke, we find this man is named Jairus, who was one of the leaders in the synagogue.
• At this time, the Jewish leaders were getting more and more upset with Jesus, and here is a leader of the synagogue publically throwing himself at the feet of Jesus for everyone to see.
• it is amazing how the pride of life disappears when we are faced with a desperate situation.
• When your life is going awry, where do you turn, what do you do?
• Where do you place your faith and confidence?
• This leader of the synagogue throws caution to the wind and casts his lot with Jesus.
• When life reached its’ breaking point, this man did not care what people thought of him; he had one thing in mind, the healing of his daughter.
• Matthew tells us that the daughter had already died when this man approached Jesus.
• I often wonder what Jairus did while his daughter was sick, where did he go, whom did he seek, did he pray for healing, did he take her to the doctor?
• Did it take until he was out of options before he came to Jesus?
• In our own stories, what did it take for us to come to Jesus?
• For some, we may have felt hopeless, that we tried all the other options before we were broken enough to come to Jesus.
• Here is what we do know, this man knowing his daughter was dead or close to death, comes to Jesus believing she could be healed or resurrected by Jesus!
• As we have seen before, it is the faith that Jairus displays in the power of Jesus to heal.
• The fact that the girl has already died “signals the man’s extraordinary confidence in Jesus” and the limitless power of Jesus, even over death.
• I cannot fathom the level of pain and desperation this man was feeling.
• In my view, the death of a child is the worst thing a parent can face.
• Jairus is confident that Jesus has the power to restore his daughter’s life.
• The effect is to draw attention to Jairus’ faith, that even with his daughter’s death, he is confident that Jesus’ presence can reverse the situation by giving life to the dead.
• Jesus is immediately responsive to such faith and arises from the dinner to follow the Jairus to his house.
• Jewish readers may be somewhat surprised that Jesus appears unconcerned about the ritual implications of entering a home where a young girl lay dead.
• As if this situation was not enough, something interesting will happen on the way to Jairus’ home.
Matthew 9:20–22 CSB
20 Just then, a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years approached from behind and touched the end of his robe,
21 for she said to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I’ll be made well.”
22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.” And the woman was made well from that moment.
II. The power over life.
• As Jesus and his disciples were walking the Jairus’ home, Jesus stops because something happened.
• Mark tells us more about the gravity of the situation for this woman.
Mark 5:25–26 CSB
25 Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years
26 had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.
• This medical condition seemed to be beyond the ability of doctors to bring healing to her. She has spent all she had looking for a cure.
• In addition to her physical suffering, according to the law, such regular loss of blood rendered her perpetually unclean (Lev 15:19–30), and anyone she touched would be unclean until evening.
• So not only is the women suffering physically, the emotional toll had to be tremendous.
• This woman’s quality could not have been good, and she probably faced a great deal of isolation and loneliness as a result of her medical condition.
• Once the seriousness of her condition is known, Matthew provides the reader with an insight into her inner thoughts and motivations.
• Once again, the faith of a person is front and center of the story.
• Yes, Jesus does a healing, but the point made is the faith of the one seeking healing.
Mark 5:28–29 CSB
28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”
29 Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
• WOW!
• What we need to understand is that this woman’s life is in ruin. Her quality of life had to be terrible.
• I am so sad to see so many people whose lives are in ruin.
• They are miserable, broken, emotionally scarred, a shell of what they could be.
• This poor woman did all she could think of, she spent all she had seeking to better her life, yet here she was, financially ruined, emotionally exhausted, outcast, with no hope.
• What is life like when there is no hope? Have you ever been there?
• There is a difference between experiencing life and existing.
• Jesus came that we may have an abundant life in Him no matter the circumstances we face.
• How do you want to live life?
• For this woman, something changed; Jesus was walking right before her.
• This woman had so much faith in Jesus that she thought if she just touched the edge of His garment, she would be healed.
• Guess what that is exactly what happened!
• In Matthew’s account, it looks like Jesus just turned to her and said she was healed, but Mark offers us more detail.
• He asks the disciples who touched Him; they were perplexed because many people crowded together.
• Jesus felt power leave Him and He starts looking around.
Mark 5:31–33 CSB
31 His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But he was looking around to see who had done this.
33 The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
• Luke recounts the story of Jesus raising a widow’s only son (Luke 7:11–17).
• Of course, John’s Gospel finds Jesus resurrecting his friend Lazarus (John 11:1–44), and there is a sprinkling of resurrection incidents later in the New Testament (Acts 9:36–42; 20:7–12).
• The healing of the woman with the flow of blood follows a similar story arc as other healing stories in Matthew.
• We are in awe of Jesus' power; Jesus is in awe of our faith!
• Jesus showed us He has the power over life when you think nothing can save your life, that nothing can save you, JESUS CAN PRAISE JESUS!
• PRAISE, JESUS!
• Let’s turn to the rest of our narrative concerning the daughter of Jairus.
Matthew 9:23–26 CSB
23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house, he saw the flute players and a crowd lamenting loudly.
24 “Leave,” he said, “because the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they laughed at him.
25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
26 Then news of this spread throughout that whole area.
III. The power over death.
• Jesus and the disciples and Jairus get to the house, and the scene is not pretty.
• The scene is one that is depressing as death has happened.
• Flute players, according to Jewish tradition, even the poorest people were expected to have two flute players and a wailing woman for a funeral.
• Why is Jesus there, she is dead, and everyone knows it.
• The crowd was lamenting loudly; this girl was dead, her life was over.
• Jesus surveys the scene and asks why folks are so upset because the girl is only sleeping.
• The crowd knew better, and they laughed at Jesus.
• Do you think Jairus was laughing, or was he full of faith, expecting something special to happen?
• Jesus tells the crowd to leave the room.
• According to Mark, only Jesus, Peter, James, John, and the parents were left in the room.
• The crowd gave up on the girl; they were in funeral mode; they saw what they saw.
• How many times have we felt like there was no hope for our life or no hope for someone else?
• How many times have we been in funeral mode with other people?
• We thought they were too far gone for anything to save them, so we give up on them and leave them for dead?
• The crowd had the gall to laugh at Jesus.
• They did not think He could do anything; as a matter of fact, Luke and Mark tell us that the crowd questioned why He was even there.
• The father brought Jesus knowing his daughter was dead; he was not giving up on her because he had enough faith in Jesus to know that Jesus could do something!
• Where are you with Jesus today?
• Jesus comes into the room, and He raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead!
• While both these miracle scenes characterize Jesus as an object of faith, the depth of insight surpasses previous episodes, as the Jairus sees Jesus as a restorer of life, and the woman is persuaded that her salvation depends on making contact with Jesus, even if it be only the edges of his garment.
• Jesus has the power over death and life!
CONCLUSION
• I ask you, who have you written off in life?
• Who in your life would you ask Jesus why He is here?
• Our application point for this week is: When we believe that God possesses power over life and death, we are free to put our hope for the future in his hands
• Who do you see that is beyond Jesus?
• Jesus has power over life and death, so you can trust He has power over whatever you are dealing with in life!
