Jairus' Daughter

When everything has gone wrong when what we fear what happened has happened. We stop praying. Should we stop bothering the Lord with our problems, Renewing Your Mind with RC Sproul is next in one chapter 5 we read about one family whose daughter was close to this desperation.

The girls father ran to Jesus and begged him to help the crown said stop bothering on this Lords. The addition of Renewing Your Mind will learn that our request are never bothered to the Lord. Mark includes his narrative of Jesus ministry in Galilee and were told that again. He crossed to the other side and when he arrived he was once more surrounded by multitudes of people who wants to gain something from close proximity to him and we read that one of the rollers of the synagogue whose name here in the text gyrus now is a ruler of the synagogue. He had some status among the people of Israel. He was not a rabbi.

He was a layman and the synagogue ruler was in charge of taking care of the building and ordering all the services that took place with in the synagogue building site was a man of some expertise and some status.

As I said in the community and now he comes and he falls at the feet of Jesus.

Once again we see somebody who is facing a hopeless crisis and when they come to Jesus. They come to him begging falling at his feet, begging with all earnestness that Jesus might intercede into their crisis and cure whatever the problem may be, and this was his cry, my little daughter lies at the point of death.

I'm sure that the translators struggled to render the Greek there with the phrase at the point of death, you know, we have a science called eschatology coming from the Greek word Esca toss which means last or final things and in the Greek in this text that's the word that is used here so when gyrus is my little girl is at the point of death sees at her eschaton CS at the very end.

She is at death's door.

She's breathing. Her last. It's not that she's very sick in an intensive care but she is literally on her death bed and if you don't do something Jesus she will surely the high 50s had come lay your hands on her. She may be healed. If you do that Jesus shall live.

So Jesus went with and a great multitude followed him and thronged him roundabout. And now, at this point in the narrative that Mark introduces of this crisis. For the father of this little girl. There is an interlude in between the beginning of Jesus proceeding to the home of gyrus and his actual arrival and ministry to the little girl because Mark tells us what happens on the way there was a certain woman that a flow of blood for 12 years, 12 years unceasing hemorrhage. Now that may seem bad enough to us living in the Western world in the 21st century. But if you have time this afternoon. Go back to the Old Testament and read for yourself.

The 15th chapter of the book of Leviticus and read the detailed instructions that are there. With respect to ceremonial cleansing with respect to being declared unclean. We've already examined the misery of those in home leprosy was discovered how they became outcasts.

Pariahs in the community. While the Old Testament law also required that some body in this condition was considered unclean, as long as the hemorrhage lasted she could not marry she cannot be part of the worshiping community of Israel. She was as unclean as a leopard.

No one was allowed to touch her or her close or they would become unclean.

So the woman doesn't just suffer from physical misery, but she suffers from social and religious misery because she's been banished from the presence of the people of God.

The very fact that she's in this multitude involves her active disobedience to the Old Testament ritual law, but Mark is on to describe her misery and even greater Katter. Not only is she physically miserable. Not only is he socially miserable, but she's utterly destitute because she has spent every penny that she owned done everything that she could to get relief from the hemorrhage she's gone. The doctor after doctor after doctor spending her last sent and the doctors made her condition worse, no limit, just pause here for saying I don't think that the doctors in the ancient world wanted to make her condition worse, they just did not have the medicine the knowledge and the tools at their disposal to give her relief. Her condition in medical terms of the first century was incurable in her condition only got worse.

Amazing thing to me is that she would have any hope left that she would even go out of her way to try to get in touch with Jesus, but people who are in this kind of physical distress.

Beloved will almost try anything to get relief so she said to herself only touches close. I shall be made well known one sense that's commendable in another sense it isn't one of the widespread beliefs of the day was that if you could get close to a great man or to a healer touch their clothes. You take so there's a little bit of magic mixed in to her hopes and aspirations for healing that was commonplace in that they course, nobody would believe anything like that today. Ministers on television are going to give handkerchiefs to you if you give so much money nobody would really buy that today. I'm sorry to say they do, because the idea is if you can get some part of the clothing of a famous person of a powerful person.

It'll have magic in it so whatever her reasoning.

This woman said I don't care. This is my last chance this is my last resort. Jesus I've heard so many great things about Jesus. Maybe he'll have time for me. He doesn't have to stop. Even if the lays hands on me just touch his clothes. I can just get close to. Maybe that so she made her way through the crowd and even though the law of God forbade her from touching anybody. She stretched forth her hands and touched Jesus when she did that instantly.

The hemorrhage stopped and she knew it she felt it in her body that she was instantly healed of that affliction you notice when Jesus heals people's never really over a protracted period of time.

Jesus never makes a circus display out of the ceiling like some of the allegedly healers on television.

Summary touches a person who says they're deaf and then he walks when he says, can you hear me now can you can imagine Jesus putting on a display like that when he heals some poor person no, this woman knew instantly that she was healed. But Jesus also knew instantly that something had happened. Mark tells us in Jesus immediately knowing in himself the power had gone out of him turned around in the crowd and said hello touch my close limits comment on this briefly get rid of some of the mythology that surrounds our understanding of Jesus, who we believe is vera Homo Faraday is truly man truly God and the great heresy that the church had a fight against in the fifth century included the Monophysite heresy that involved deifying the human nature in the incarnation, the divine nature loses none of divine attributes the divine nature stays divine and the human nature stays human that human nature is not deified and the divine nature is not humanized. I say this for reason Jesus touching his human nature was not omniscient. He didn't know everything is. He later on in this gospel says he didn't know the day of the hour that the father had appointed for the consummation of the kingdom will here we have Jesus in his human nature manifesting the limitations of that nature. They didn't know touched into somebody touch them. He felt that much, but he didn't know who and so he stopped not remember he's on the way to minister to a young girl who is at the point of death, and maybe by now was even died. Every minute counts. He doesn't have time to delay, but he stops the terms money soon who touch with ever the disciples are irritated by their master is now what you mean, who tested how we supposed to know who touch to thronging multitude pressing and bumping up against every second and you want us to discern who it was that touched you. I know somebody touch me because I felt the power go out of so really he's not calling on the disciples to reveal who was the touch. Now he's calling on the person to identify themselves as looking at the group which one of you people out there did this, who came up to me and touched me and took that power from me, but the woman fearing and trembling knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him.

Listen, this and she told him the whole truth.

When she came in the presence of Jesus, and Jesus asked what was going on here. There was no partial truth, no half-truth. She could've said I'm an outcast I broke the law of Leviticus. I'm not allowed to touch you, but I was unclean. I was desperate, she could adjust the limited data and she goes to sit here I did it, we see Jesus wanted the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and that's with this grateful woman gave to Jesus. Jesus I touched you I am unclean. I just made you unclean. According to the law because I touched you. I hope you'll forgive me for me but I was desperate because I have had this for 12 years I went every doctor I know of that took my money and they made me worse. I'm sorry Jesus, but I just knew that if I could touch you. I would finally be healed. She told him the whole truth, and with a Seder usually didn't say didn't say daughter your touch has made you well. Nor did he say daughter my garments have made you well know, he said, your faith has made you well with hitting me.

This wasn't name it and claim it.

There was no intrinsic power in her faith. 11. To her faith was not the efficient cause of her healing. Jesus was the efficient cause of her healing. But how did that cause get plugged into this woman. What we would say is the instrumental cause of her cure. It was faith, just as in our justification were not justified because there's any inherent righteousness in our faith the gotchas because you have faith, I will save you know the faith is called the instrumental cause of justification because it is that cool with that instrument by which we grab a hold of Christ.

Christ is the efficient cause of our justification. So in this case it was Jesus and his power that healed the woman he says go in peace, and be healed of your affliction. Now the go in peace could be seen simply as a standard customary valediction like goodbye, but I think it means so much more than that to this woman who hadn't had a moment's peace in 12 years that valediction now takes on a whole new meaning to her as Jesus speaks tenderly to her nieces go now, not in fear not, and trembling, not in misery but in peace, and the current significance of our peer say and you are healed permanently. As soon as this happened while he was still speaking, somebody came from the rule of the synagogue's house and said gyrus. It's too late.

The little girl's dad and then they raise a question to him why trouble. The master anymore. At one point in your life. Beloved, do you say to yourself why trouble God anymore. Everything I feared what happened is happened, why should I bother praying now my husband I my child died and I why bother now. There is no time. When you stop traveling the Lord because it is never any trouble to him to hear you cry, and to wipe away your tears from an earthly perspective was too late. The girls did soon as Jesus heard the word was spoken. He said the gyrus.

I know what they said don't troublesome was too late. Don't be afraid. Gyrus don't give in to your terror. Just keep on believing asked me gyrus you came, you were on your face. You asked me to do this when your daughter was at the doorstep of death.

Now she's entered that doorstep.

It's not too late. You just believe this is not over yet. So he stopped the crowd from falling and the only ones he permitted were Peter, James, John, the inner circle. He came to the house of gyrus sought to malt the crowd of those who wept and wailed loudly.

You know who they were able to produce.

It was the Jewish custom that when there was a death in the family that you hired professional mourners to rent their garments until Whalen took Danson to weep and to signify that this great calamity has befallen a household and the size of your professional morning committee was determined by economics, but the rabbis had this requirement that even if you were a present. If you had a death in the family you were required to at least higher to players of the flute and one female whaler. That's if you were dirt poor. Yet at least two flutes and one lady screaming, dancing, and wailing, but this was the ruler of the pseudo-channel team of these professionals you can imagine the noise as he approaches the house there already yelling and screaming and dancing weeping when Jesus came he said to them, hey, be quiet, why make all this commotion and weep. The child is not dead child is sleeping. Jesus is not saying you missed that. She just is comatose.

That's not what he meant. Here is not saying these people had been at deathbeds time and time and time. There is no doubt among the crowd. Among the family that this little girl had briefed our last Jesus is using sleeping is the euphemism that was commonly used the describe somebody who was dead. Notice in verse 40 and they ridiculed him.

The professional criers now became amateur laugher's. They laugh at you, they turned the tears off instantly and I started giggling making fun of the whole year as the sleeping that's all. Many put them all outside. He took the father and the mother knows her with him entered where the child was. He took the child by the hand. This is the second time in just minutes that according to the Old Testament ritual law. Jesus had been defiled by the touch of an unclean woman and by the touch his touching a corpse, but he took her by the hand and just like Christ gives his power by the sound of his voice. As I mentioned before that just as God brought the whole world and the creation by the sound of his voice by fiat by imperative just as he brought Lazarus out of the tomb by command. He speaks to this little girl in her state of death holds her hand and says to her little girl arise immediately. The girl arose and she walked up out of bed.

She said how I was dead as can take me a while to get my legs note all of her strength returns to her instantly. She walks around the room and Jesus says to the parents look bunko broadcasting this everywhere, people won't understand it. But here's what I want you to do prepare her something to eat because she's the power of the resurrection power over death. All of these things converged in the touch of Jesus in the home of gyrus. This is the Lord in whom we place our trust for life and for death forever your listening to Renewing Your Mind and asserted by Dr. RC scroll from the Gospel of Mark, we have no way of knowing the difficulty that you may be facing today, but we do have the privilege of pointing you to the God who cares and comforts this verse by verse study through the gospel of Mark reminds us of the amazing work. Jesus accomplished while he was on this earth that are resource offer today is something we hope will be a helpful study companion to the series. It's RC's commentary on Mark is nearly 400 page hardbound volume provide you with insight into every passage with your gift of any amount you can request this commentary. When you go to Renewing Your Mind.word. This is an online offer only so that web address again is Renewing Your Mind.work well if you'd like to hear more biblical teaching like you heard today. Let me recommend riff that to you. It's our 24 seven Internet radio outreach featuring teaching and preaching from a reformed perspective will hear from trusted teachers like Alastair beg John MacArthur all of Lincoln years teaching fellows, and Dr. John Gerstner, who was RC's mentor back in the day. You also your Bible reading news, commentary and music to listen for free at any time you can download the ref net app on your phone or you can listen online by going to ref net.FM. Jesus said that a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown will discover the truth of that statement as we continue. Dr. Crystal series from the gospel of Mark next Sunday. Here on Renewing Your Mind