The Power Over Life And Death Series

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.