Your Savior has Power Over Death and Disease

May 28, 2006

Jack Hughes

If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Luke 8. This morning, I am going to [be] preaching [on] the biggest passage [I think] I’ve ever preached at Calvary Bible Church on communion Sunday. I was barely able to do it the first service, [but] since the second service never ends, we’ll be able to get it done.

You know, when you talk to people about how they came to Christ, everybody has a [slightly] different testimony. From God’s perspective, it’s pretty much the same—He chose certain people before the foundation of the world to be adopted as sons [see Ephesians 1:4], and then at His appointed time, He draws them by His grace to Himself and works out all the details so they can hear the gospel, and grants them repentance so that they are saved. But from our perspective, some people come when they’re old, [or] young, [or] middle aged. People have all different sorts of testimonies, and we’ve heard [those testimonies]. But, what’s interesting is [that] when you talk to a lot of people and you ask them about their testimonies, a great majority of people came to Christ during some sort of crisis time in their lives—some sort of trial, sickness, pain, misery, relationship affliction, something like that. Raise your hand if you came to Christ during some sort of painful time in your life. Go ahead, raise them up. See, I told you. Now, if you were to talk to somebody and [ask], “Is pain good? Is misery good? Is sickness good?”

They would say, “No, no, no.” But what’s interesting is [that] God has used [pain, misery, sickness, etc.], obviously, for about half the people here have come to Christ through some sort of trial in their lives. You see, God would be fine if we just sought Him when we were healthy, and wealthy, and wise in our own eyes, but the problem is [that] we won’t have God during those times. Many of us trust ourselves and [think], “Why do I need God? Everything is so good, everything is so wonderful.” And so what God does is He, through His providence, brings upon us trials, afflictions, sickness—whatever it takes—to bring those He has chosen to repentance. And, in that way, He does a good thing for us by a painful thing. That is just how it is.

That is what we see in our two stories this morning. As we come to the latter part of Luke 8, what we have is a story within a story. We have the story of Jairus and his daughter, and then within that story, we have another story of a woman with a hemorrhage. What’s interesting is [that] as you’re reading along, you think to yourself, “What happened?” The story [of Jairus] is going along just fine and then all of a sudden, there’s another story. You’re thinking, “What happened to the guy with the daughter?” Then you realize that [Luke] picks back up again and he finishes the story. And you wonder why these two stories are put together—one within another—and you’re going to find out, because both of them basically teach the same things, as we shall see.

Because our text is long, I’m just going to read and explain as we move along. And though there are a lot of things that we can extract from the passage, and many rabbit trails we could take, I want to look at the big ones—the main points, the main principles—the four lessons from these two narratives that you can apply to your life so that you can be blessed and so that you can bless and give glory to God.

The first principle that we’re going to encounter in the text is: Seek Jesus for healing. Jesus was just asked to leave the area of Gadara, which is where He had healed the Gerasene demoniac. Remember, He healed the demoniac and after He was done, the people were so shocked, they said, “Get out of here!” Then He left and went back toward Capernaum. Look at Luke 8:40: “And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.” Here we see the exact opposite response from [what] the people He had just left [had done]. The people who He had just left were terrified, and said, “Get out of here!” [but] the people [in Capernaum were] waiting for Him and welcoming Him to come. Granted, many sought Him out of selfish motives, but they still wanted to learn from Him, and many wanted to have miracles done, and they believed that He could do those miracles. So there was some faith, although it was not all saving faith. And they were eager that He return.

Look at verse 41: “And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue.” Just stop there for a second. When we go through the gospels, we know who the enemies of Jesus were. They were the leaders of the Jews—the Pharisees [and] the Sadducees. Most of [those] leaders were against Him, but just because most were, don’t think that that means all were. This man, [Jairus], is seeking Jesus now, and we know of other secret followers, like Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Pharisees, and Joseph of Arimathea, who was also a leader of the Jews. So there were Jewish leaders who sought Jesus, even though for the most part, they did not.

But there was this man, he was an official of the synagogue, and he ran the services in the synagogue [and] kept the synagogue clean. He was the manager, [or] overseer, of what happened in the synagogue. This man was seeking Jesus. Look at the middle of verse 41: “And he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house.” What you need to remember here is that at this point in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is extremely popular. And so, there are crowds of thousands of people [around Him]. In fact, Luke tells us earlier that Jesus didn’t even enter into cities for fear of causing human gridlock. He just met [the people] outside the cities so He wouldn’t just shut down every city He went into because of the mass of people who wanted to get close to Him. So there is this big swarm, this big mass, of humanity [that] has been waiting for Him. Jesus comes, and now these people are there.

Now, what is interesting is [that] a lot of people, when things are good in their lives, they don’t want God. They want their sin and they want all the pleasures of this world. When they’re healthy, they think, “Oh, you know, I don’t need God because I’m doing fine on my own. God doesn’t really have a place in my life. I don’t really love Christ. I don’t love God’s Word. I don’t love God’s people. I really don’t want to have anything to do with Jesus.” But you take that person and throw him off a cliff, [and] he’ll have thoughts of God on the way down. You have people contract terminal cancer and all of a sudden they become very religious. They start thinking of what really matters. Their new cars, their favorite hobbies, and favorite sins all of a sudden lose all luster and they realize that reality is here, and they need God. Then they come crawling to Christ.

What is even more amazing is that, just as we sang this morning, they are extended grace. It doesn’t matter how they’ve lived. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been the leader of the Satanic Worship Anti-Christian League. Jesus still has them back. He will receive them, even though they’ve been archenemies—like the Apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of God [see Acts 8:1, 9:1, 9:4, etc.]. We know Romans 8:28, and it says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Well, [with] some people, before they even know they are “called according to His purpose,” God is working in situations in their lives to bring them to a place where they are going to come to faith. He is doing them good against their will, as Thomas Watson says. You know, Jesus did expose the sin of the Jewish leaders, He did tell them, “Listen, harlots and tax collectors will get into the kingdom of God before you” [see Matthew 21:31].

[Do] you know what they thought about this? “You’re being mean to us! You’re slamming us. You’re ridiculing us.” No, He wasn’t, He was telling them the truth. The tax collectors and the harlots were getting in before [the Jewish leaders] because [the leaders] saw themselves as righteous. Jesus was loving them, He was telling them the truth. They had to come to the place where they realized they were in trouble, judgment was upon them, they were sinners, and they needed to turn to Him. So, when Jesus tried to do them good, the Jewish leaders turned against Him. And surely Jairus was among them. At least, he was among them as one who was constantly hearing slander and false accusations against Jesus—“He’s undermining the Law of Moses. He’s turning people against the Jewish leaders. He’s actually saying we’re sinners!”

But in the providence of God, Jairus had a severe trial. Look at verse 41. It says that “he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house.” Now, this is when we begin to see the sincerity and tenacity of this man Jairus’ seeking of Christ. He is a great example of what you must do to find Christ. We just look in here and say, “Oh, yeah. He came and he got down [on his knees] and he asked Jesus to come to his house.” Well, there’s more than that going on here. What’s happening is [that] by Jairus coming to Jesus, he is committing political suicide among the leadership of the Jews. Not only that, there are thousands of people crowded around Jesus at this time—a huge multitude [of] 5-, 10-, maybe 15,000 people. Picture in your mind a doughnut [shape], with Jesus in the center. They’ve given Him some room so He can heal people, but the crowds are pressing in. They all want to be healed. They all want to hear Him. They all want to see a miracle take place and so there’s this big mass of humanity [around Jesus].

Jairus, in order to come to Jesus, has to get through that mass of humanity. [Also], think of what this man is asking Jesus to do. He’s saying, “You know what? You see all these thousands of people here? You see this huge, great mass of humanity? I want you to forget about their needs [and] I want you to come to my house right now.” That’s pretty bold, isn’t it? That is desperate. This man is desperate. He needs Jesus and he needs Jesus now. So he was willing to seek out Jesus at all costs.

Look at verse 42, toward the end, where we are told why he sought out Jesus: “For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.” There’s a good motive. Who knows what was going through his mind. He had heard from [people], “Oh, yeah, this guy, [Jesus], he’s a fake.” But you know what? You couldn’t live in that area and not hear about Jesus. [Jairus] heard about Jesus’ miracles—maybe he even saw Jesus do miracles. He may even have been one of the Jewish leaders standing in the back row that Jesus slammed on multiple occasions when He was teaching. And [Jairus] probably thought [then], “This Jesus guy, who does He think He is?” But when [Jairus’] daughter was on the verge of death, what happened? All of a sudden he seeks Jesus. And he doesn’t just go up there and see if he can have a conversation, he approaches Jesus. As he gets closer, he sees this huge wad of people and he knows Jesus is in the center. He is desperate. He needs Jesus. He knows he needs Jesus, he knows that nothing else will do but Jesus, and so he has to get to Jesus.

Look at the end of verse 42: “But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.” So there was this huge, tangled mass of humanity. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever gone to youth camp, [but] they play games where they’re a big, tangled mass of humanity. But [there] aren’t thousands [of them]—[there are] just a few. It’s amazing to watch people try and get in through those knots of people. Just imagine thousands—5-, 10-, 15,000 people—and they’re all pressing [in on Jesus]. The word “pressing” here is the same word used in the parable of the sower, where it talks about the seed falling among the weeds and being choked out [see Matthew 13:7; Luke 8:7]. It’s the same word—it’s a choking mass of people. They are just mashing, trying to get close. Jairus approaches and he sees this huge wall of people he has to get through in order to get to his daughter. And does he say, “Oh, it’ll be too hard. I’ll never get there!”? [No.] What does he do? He jumps in. He jumps into the mass and in desperation he’s clawing, “Move out of my way!” And he’s mashing, he’s pushing, he’s crunching.

Do you think [the people] liked him taking cuts? They’re like, “What are you doing? We’re in front of you! Get behind us!” He’s going under their elbows and mashing through their arms. He’s pushing. He’s desperate. He’s going to seek Jesus if it kills him. It’s either Jesus or nothing. There is no equivocation here. There is no thought, “Well, I might see Him.” He is going to see Jesus and he’s going to see Him now. This is the kind of person that Jesus always responds to: [one] who seeks [Him] at all costs. The crowd has given Jesus some space and now, as Jesus is doing miracles, out pops Jairus, “Gah!” [and he] flops down on the ground in front of [Jesus] and starts begging. Now, Jesus and Jairus are the centers of attention, and this huge crowd is massing around and they’re going, “Man! Look at that guy! What is he doing?” And he begins to beg Jesus. It’s interesting how Luke puts it here: he says that [Jairus] fell before [Jesus] and then he says what he had to go through in order to fall before Him—he had to press through this huge mass of people.

[Jairus] is a great example because he sought Jesus and he would not have “no” for an answer. I’m sure there are people in this room [who are] like the multitude described in our text, who never want to really get close to Jesus. They are content [to be] on the outside—they don’t get involved in ministry, they don’t want Jesus in their lives. They’re willing to come to church and kind of stay on the fringe all the time. They’re fringe people. They don’t really want Jesus, they just don’t want to go to hell. Well, I want you to know [that] if you don’t seek Jesus like Jairus, you are going to hell, even if you come to church. Jesus wants people who are desperate. Jesus wants people who know they are in trouble, who know they are sinners, who know that there is no other way for them to escape but than to have Him. Some people say, “Well, you know, you just need to let go and let God.” No, you need to strive.

Listen to what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 29:13. The Lord, speaking, says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with,” what? “All your heart.” God doesn’t say, “You will find Me if you seek for Me with a half heart,” but with “all your heart.” In Isaiah 55:6-7, the Lord calls out to sinners, and says:

Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

There is no, “Well, I get to have the pardon. I get to have the compassion and forgiveness if I don’t seek the Lord, if I don’t turn from my wicked ways and forsake my unrighteous thoughts.” No, there is a volition there—an extreme volition. If you aren’t willing to leave your sins and follow Christ, you aren’t willing to be saved.

Turn over to Matthew 11. Here Jesus is talking about John the Baptist. (We’ve looked at this before, but we haven’t looked at verse 12.) Look at verse 11. Jesus is making a statement about John the Baptist, and He says, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Now, the reason you need to understand verse 11 is this: Jesus is saying in verse 11 that the lowest person on the totem pole in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest person who ever lives on earth. That is the bait that everyone needs to understand: that heaven is a great thing [and] that being the lowliest saint [in heaven] is better than being the greatest monarch the world has ever seen.

[Look at] verse 12. Knowing the greatness of being saved, even if you’re least, verse 12 [says], “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” Did you see that? Jesus says, “You want to go to heaven? Then be violent for it. Take it by force.” That’s how people get in. And you’re thinking, “Well, Jack, that doesn’t sound very in the realm of grace. That sounds like you have to strive to enter the narrow gate.” That’s exactly what it sounds like. It sounds like “everyone is forcing his way into it” (Luke 16:16). The [English Standard Version] translates [Matthew 11:12, a parallel verse] as “and the violent take it by force.” The old Geneva Bible says, “and they take it by storm.” You storm to get in—you storm the castle, is the whole idea.

How does this work? Well, when God’s grace comes upon a person’s life, [nothing] matters anymore. I’m sure everybody here who came to Christ later in life probably had this experience where all of a sudden you just realized you had to have Jesus. You didn’t care about your friends, you didn’t care about your family, you didn’t care about your job, you didn’t care about your reputation. All you cared about [was that] you had to have Jesus, and you had to have Him now. This is what it means to seek Christ. It means that you, in responding to God’s grace, do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. That’s what we see in the life of Jairus.

Secondly, we’ll get back to Jairus in a minute. The woman [with the hemorrhage] enters the picture. At first, [it seems to be] an apparent derailment of the story, but it’s not, as we shall see. Verse 43 [says]: “And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone…” Stop there for a moment. What are not so obvious to people like us, [but] which were very obvious to people in that culture, are the consequences of this woman’s illness. According to Leviticus 15[:19-27], this woman would have been ceremonially unclean. To be unclean meant you couldn’t be around anybody for seven days and you had to offer a sacrifice. Well, that’s kind of a bummer if this is going on for twelve years. You can’t be around anybody for twelve years? That’s right. And if you touched an unclean person, you would be unclean [at least until that evening]. So no one wanted to be around a person like this. She was a social leper. She could have [had] leprosy and they would have treated her the same way. Unclean! Unclean! And, [as a] courtesy, she would have [had] to say that when she approached people. It would have been a miserable life.

In Leviticus 5:2-3, it talks about [how] if you touch somebody who is unclean, or some unclean thing, then you are unclean. Surely the people of [the woman’s] town knew she was unclean, so she probably had to live on the outskirts of town, isolating herself from human contact. Just think about that—not having a hug for twelve years. The text [in Luke] also tells us that she could not be healed by anyone, which tells us that this woman desperately tried to get healed by everyone, and no one could do it. For twelve years she lived as an unclean person.

Mark 5:26 adds some interesting details which Luke leaves out. Mark’s parallel account says that she “had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.” Of course, Luke is a physician, so he leaves that part out—that this lady squandered all of her wealth trying to get doctors to heal her and they could not do it. As a matter of fact, she had gotten worse.

It’s interesting to note the parallels here. Why is this story thrust into the middle of the story of Jairus? Well, this is why. Note the parallels. One, Jairus and the woman both fall at Jesus’ feet. Two, Jesus heals Jairus’ daughter and heals this woman whom he refers to as “daughter”—daughter of Israel. Both are called “daughter.” Three, Jairus’ daughter was twelve years old and this woman was sick for twelve years. In fact, this woman was sick [for] the entire time this young girl was living. Four, both are healed by faith in Christ. Jairus’ daughter, of course, is healed by [Jairus’] faith; the woman [is] healed by hers. Five, both were healed by coming in contact with Jesus. Jesus touched the daughter, as we shall see, and she is healed. The woman touches Jesus and she’s healed. Six, both were ceremonially unclean. The girl was unclean because she died, as we shall see. The woman was unclean because of [her] hemorrhage. Knowing this helps us understand why Luke puts [the woman’s] story right in the middle [of Jairus’ story]. They are just two peas in a pod. These stories are very similar—they teach us the same thing.

Jesus had created a huge stir in that area, which Mark 5:27 tells us this woman had heard about, and so she said, “You know, I’ve tried everything else. I’m going after Jesus.” She believed Jesus could heal her. How do we know that? Because Mark 5:28 and Matthew 9:21—parallel accounts—tell us what she was thinking. What she was thinking was: “If I will just touch his garment, then I will be healed.” Now, that is an interesting thing to think, since no one else was healed by touching his garment. What made her think that? I don’t know. But that’s what she thought. She said, “Hey, if He’s the Son of God, if I even touch His garment I will be healed.”

Now, keep in mind that a huge crowd has gathered, but now it’s in motion. Jairus has fallen down, said, “Please come to my house,” and Jesus has granted him his request. So now, He’s moving toward Jairus’ house. What’s interesting is [that] as they’re in motion, going toward the house, this woman is able to manipulate her way through the crowd because the crowd is breaking up and now they’re all walking. Yet, she knows she can’t say, “Unclean! Unclean!” I mean, imagine the disastrous effects of having several thousand people and having to go through them saying, “Unclean!” They probably would have picked up stones, [thrown] them at her, and said, “Get out of here! You’re unclean!” So she doesn’t say anything, and she’s going to sneak up behind Jesus, as we shall see. Look at Luke 8:44. She “came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.” You see, usually when you are unclean, you would say, “Unclean! Unclean!” but not this woman. She realizes, “Listen, I’ve got to get to Jesus, and I’ve got to get to Him now. This is my chance.” So she’s sneaking up.

Why does she touch the fringe of his garment? What is that talking about? Well, in Numbers 15[:38-41] and Deuteronomy 22[:12], the Law of Moses said that all Jews were to wear four tassels on the bottom hem of their clothing and they were to have a blue scarlet thread in them. Or, a blue cord in them, not “blue scarlet”—that wouldn’t be right. I was thinking of Rahab. [The tassels would have] a blue cord in them and that cord was there to let them know that they were to remember and keep the law of God. So this woman is thinking, “You know, I don’t want to make Jesus unclean, but if I can just get up there and touch the tassel, the little fringe, that part hanging down—if I could just touch that little bit, I will be healed.” No one told her this. This had never happened to anyone. She just believed it to be true because she believed that Jesus was the Son of God. And so, guess what? That’s what she did. And guess what? The text says she was healed immediately.

You might wonder, “How did she know she was healed immediately?” Well, if you have this kind of sickness and you’re bleeding, what happens is [that] it causes problems. Your iron levels go way down and pretty soon you become anemic, you become weak, and you’re just out of energy. This woman goes up to Jesus, she’s tired, she’s weak, she’s been sick for twelve years, and she touches the hem of His garment, and when she does, this power just surges through her, and vitality comes back, and strength comes back. She knows immediately she has been healed.

Look at verse 45: “And Jesus said, ‘Who is the one who touched Me?’” Well, she didn’t even touch Him, she touched the robe that was touching Him, but it still worked. Look at the middle of verse 45: “And while they were all denying it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.’” This is Peter’s way of saying, “That was a dumb question. I mean, look at all the people! They’re all touching You! They’re all bumping into You! Look at them all. What do You mean, ‘Who touched Me’? Everybody’s trying to touch You!” But Peter didn’t know what Jesus knew. Peter didn’t know that when a particular person touched Jesus, Jesus all of a sudden felt power coming out of Him. I don’t know what that feels like, [and] since I’m not the Son of God I probably never will.

Look at verse 46: “But Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.’” Yes, many people were crowding around Jesus. Many people were bumping into Jesus, but only one person touched Him so that power went out. And the reason, we’re going to find out in a minute. But this is fascinating to think about—that this woman was actually healed by Jesus without Jesus’ consent. The Father and the Holy Spirit looked down on this woman, saw her faith, and They granted her the miracle that Jesus was unaware of. We also see Jesus’ humanity here in that even though He was God, He didn’t always exercise His divine attributes, and He was in submission to the Father’s will. So He said, “Who touched me?” He didn’t know.

Look at verse 47: “When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him.” Why? Because she was unclean and she touched Jesus, that’s why. Because she made her way through the crowd and didn’t say, “Unclean! Unclean!” So she’s apologizing to Jesus, she’s apologizing to the crowd, and she’s explaining to them the reason why she had touched Him and what happened when she did—she was immediately healed and she was found out. So she did that. Look at verse 48: “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’” And in an amazing reversal, when she is unclean and she touches Jesus, Jesus makes her clean instead of her making Jesus unclean.

Now, what do we learn from this? Yes, just like Jairus, we need to seek Jesus, just like this woman, we need to seek Jesus, but we need to seek Jesus in faith. In faith. There are a lot of people who seek Jesus for a lot of reasons. [If] you read through the gospels, some are seeking Him trying to kill Him, some are seeking Him because of the free food, some are seeking because of miracles, some seek Jesus out of guilty consciences, some seek Jesus out of religious duty. But what Jesus wants us to do is seek Him with saving faith.

Do you understand what “saving faith” is? Saving faith isn’t just saying, “Oh, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day.” The demons know that. Mormons will tell you that. Most cults will tell you [that] you need to believe in Jesus. No, saving faith is a knowledge of who Jesus is, a knowledge of what Jesus did, and volition—will—combined with that faith, which desires to trust Jesus. Which means that [you must let go of] whatever you [were] trusting in before. We saw that in Isaiah 55. You let go of, repent of, whatever it is you’re living for [in order] to grab on to Jesus. But you don’t get to live for your idol and then live for Jesus, too. Saving faith grabs hold of Christ and trusts Him completely.

That is what we see in this woman. Nobody said, “Listen, all you’ve got to do is touch the little dangly thing on His robe…” She just believed it. She just went, [thinking], “You know, He’s the Son of God. I know He is. I know He can do this,” and she touched Him, and power went out, and healed her. This woman’s faith was not the dead faith that James described [see James 2:17, 26]. It was a living faith, a working faith, a faith that did something. She wasn’t sitting on her couch at home going, “Well, I’m just going to trust God.” She sought Christ, she found Christ, she reached out and touched Christ, and she was healed.

The question is: What about you? Are you seeking Jesus? Are you placing your faith in Christ—a trusting faith, a faith that relies upon Jesus, that believes in your mind [that] what Jesus says is true and so [you are] going to live that way because [you] believe it’s true? Don’t give me this, “I believe it’s true,” and then not live that way. That’s unbelief, regardless of what you say. Are you seeking Jesus? Are you seeking Jesus in faith? Are you seeking Jesus, believing He can heal you?

And not physical [healing]. I mean, He can do that, too, and He may do that, and He does that on occasion. But listen, when Jesus was alive here on earth, yes He came offering physical healing, but remember, all those people got sick [again] and died. Those [people] were nothing more than pointers to let people know who they needed to look at for spiritual healing. And so, Jesus, yes, did the physical healing, but Jesus isn’t offering physical healing today, He is offering spiritual healing. He is offering to save you from the consequences of your sin. That’s what He wants for you. That’s what He wants for all of us.

You know, some people try and tell you, “Well, you know, if you’re a Christian, [and] you’re a true believer, God will heal you and make you healthy, wealthy, and wise.” That is a lie. All the way through the ages, [people]—[even] the apostles—died. If God wanted us all healthy we’d never die physically. Yet we all do. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” It’s going to happen. Even if Jesus were to heal you right now of some terminal disease, guess what? You’re going to die of another one. It’s just a temporary fix. [Some people] like to go to Isaiah 53:5, which talks about “and by His scourging we are healed,” or “with his stripes we are healed” [KJV]. We are healed—spiritually. Spiritually. Once you’re healed spiritually, then you’ll live even if you die. You live on for eternity. Jesus can heal you, He can save you, He can forgive you, He can make you whole for all eternity if you are willing to place your faith and trust in Him. That is what we see Jairus doing, that’s what we see this woman doing.

Now, let’s get back to Jairus. The third point: Know [that] there is always hope if you have faith in Jesus. Look at Luke 8:49: “While He was still speaking,” that is, to the woman. Get this. The big mass is there. [Jesus] comes back from the Gerasene demoniac situation, there’s this huge mass crowded around Him. Jairus mashes his way through the crowd, falls on his face, says, “Listen, please come to my house,” and Jesus says, “OK.” They start moving in that direction when, through the crowd dodges this woman with the hemorrhage. [She] touches the back of the hem of [Jesus’] garment [and] is instantly healed. The procession is started, the little incident occurs and I’m sure Jairus at this point is probably [saying], “Come on! Come on! My daughter is dying! Come back and heal these people!” He’s desperate. He’s a desperate man.

They finally get underway again, having been interrupted by the woman with the hemorrhage. Look at verse 49: “While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, ‘Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.’” Now, that would have been a real blow. Jairus must have just crumbled in grief, at least for a moment. He knew his daughter was dying, he believed that Jesus could heal her, he managed to get through the crowd, he threw himself at Jesus’ feet, Jesus granted his request, they were moving in the right direction, they were going toward his house to heal his daughter. And now, as they’re walking [that] way, someone runs [from] the other direction, and says, “Don’t bother Him anymore. Your daughter is dead.” She’s dead. She’s no longer sick—she’s dead.

That must have rent his heart. But what is amazing is what Matthew tells us in Matthew 9:18 in his parallel account, when he says that even after [Jairus] heard the news, after he knew his daughter was dead, he said, “Come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” The guy was unstoppable. He must have been shocked for a moment, and then he must have [thought], “Listen, if He’s the Son of God, He can raise her from the dead. I’ve heard He can do that, too.” Look at Luke 8:50: “But when Jesus heard this,” [what the messenger said], “He answered him, "Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well."

Do you know what you can learn from this? There’s always hope if you have faith in Jesus. There is always hope. No one has ever placed his faith in Jesus Christ and ever been disappointed about it. You may not even get what you want when you place your faith in Jesus, but you’re going to get what God wants, and in the end you’re going to realize that’s the better thing because you don’t even know what you need. I mean, I know you think you need to win the lottery, but you know what? [If] you win that lottery, that money may destroy you. It has [done so to] many. You may think you need to be healthy, but you know what? God knows that if you’re healthy you might fall into some sin, or might dishonor His name, or that you might not be as close to Him. It’s better for you to be sick and closer to Jesus. God knows what is best for you.

In this instance, [Jairus] shows such incredible faith because even when the [messenger] says, “Listen, your daughter is dead,” [Jairus] is only shocked momentarily, and he turns to Jesus, and says, “Still come to my house, and lay Your hands on her, and she will live.” We know the guy believed because [Jesus] went to his house. I mean, if the guy didn’t believe, he wouldn’t have taken Jesus to his house. But he did believe, he did still take [Jesus] to his house even though his daughter was dead. There is always hope in Jesus. You need to place your faith in Jesus. You need to seek Him, you need to seek Him in faith, and you need to hope in Him because He will never disappoint you.

Fourth: Know that Jesus will raise you from the dead. Look at Luke 8:51: “When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl's father and mother.” Now, Luke has this way of kind of going ahead and then going back to explain the situation, but what we see here and what we’re going to learn is [that] Jesus has this private audience because He’s going to tell them, “Don’t tell anybody.” Why? It doesn’t say. The commentators just go crazy on this. What’s interesting is [that] the parts that commentators comment most on are the things that are never said. Whenever you have something not said, they have a lot to say about that. They say, “Well, you know, the people [outside] were unbelieving,” or, “He didn’t want this to happen.” But He had already raised the dead in public, He had already healed all manner of disease and sickness in public, He was doing miracles in public. He [had] just healed the woman with the hemorrhage in public. I mean, the people already knew the girl was dead, [and] she was going to come out alive in a little bit. It’s like, hello! So, I don’t know why [Jesus told them not to tell anyone]. I have no idea. But, He’s taken a private party into the room with Him.

Look at verse 52: “Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, ‘Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.’” So He’s entering into the house, He sees the mourners, who are often called when somebody is sick. They are called, brought around, [and] He says, “Don’t mourn anymore. She’s not dead, she’s asleep.”

And they go, “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” and they laugh at Him—they scorn Him. They mock Him. “What a fool! Asleep!” Well, that’s what He said. It’s interesting, when you do a word study on this word “sleep,” it’s used a lot of different ways. For instance, in Mark 4:38, it describes Jesus sleeping in the stern of the boat—basic sleeping. It’s also used in reference to salvation, such as in Ephesians 5:14, where Paul, speaking to those who need to come out of darkness into the light, says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead.” So in that, it’s like, “Get an eternal life.” It’s used to describe spiritual apathy as in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7, where Paul exhorts believers, “So then let us not sleep as others do,” speaking of living a life that is not focused on bringing glory to God. You know, “Let us not be spiritually lethargic.” It’s also used to describe death, such as in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, where Paul says, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” “Awake” means alive in our mortal bodies, “asleep” means dead physically.

The question is: how is Jesus using it here? Well, we know that Jarius’ daughter was physically dead. Jesus knew that because the messenger already said that. The mourners were there—it was obvious. So He couldn’t mean, “Oh, she’s not physically dead.” What Jesus does mean is that, “Yes, while the girl is physically dead, she is merely asleep because the real her is still alive.” Now, follow me here. In our world, a world saturated by lies about [the] afterlife and evolution, we are told that when you die it’s over, baby. That’s it—death is the final fling. It’s over—you just go into Never Ever Land. You just disappear.

That is a lie. When you die, you still live. When you die, you’re conscious. You wake up right after death in one of two places—heaven or hell. You live forever. Everyone lives forever. You know, when people are worried about dying, “Oh, no. I’m sick or I might get this or I might get that,” [do] you know what that is? That’s unbelief. Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body, but I will warn you whom to fear, fear Him who after He has killed the body has the power to cast both body and soul in hell” [see Matthew 10:28]. In other words, after you die physically, there is somebody who can kill you spiritually, which is to throw you into hell. It’s called the “second death” [see Revelation 20:14, 21:8]. The point you need to realize here is that Jesus is saying, “Yeah, this girl, though she is physically dead, is just waiting for resurrection.”

Now, turn to John 11. Let’s look at Lazarus of Bethany. I know we all know this story, but let’s just see [what the text says]. Jesus says almost the identical things in John 11. You know the story, probably, that Lazarus is Jesus’ friend, and [Lazarus’ sisters] send messengers, saying, “Your good buddy is sick. Come heal him.” Jesus then kind of hangs out for a couple of days. And you think, “What’s going on here?” Look at verses 3-4:

“So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."

So, Jesus delays. Look down at the middle of verse 11. Jesus says:

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." [John 11:11-15]

If you know the story, Jesus gets there and is confronted by two women, “If you would have come a little bit sooner… Why did you delay?” Then Jesus raises [Lazarus] from the dead. Notice that Lazarus was dead physically, but Lazarus himself was not dead. You see, this is the point that this section [in Luke] teaches: Physical death is not the end of life. Everyone who dies physically will be raised again. You could look at a text like [Luke 8] and you can think to yourself, “Well, listen, Jack. What does this text have to do with me? I mean the story is interesting, and I’m glad that it happened 2,000 years ago to the little girl and that Jesus raised her from the dead, but He’s not even here. He’s not going to raise me from the dead…” Yes, He is. Yes, He is.

[In] John 5:28-29, Jesus speaking, says:

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Everyone gets resurrected. Everyone. Not just the daughter [in Luke 8]. Yes, during Jesus’ ministry and in a few instances in the Old Testament, people were raised again—temporarily—to die again. But Jesus has the power and will execute that power to raise everybody from the dead permanently. Some He will raise from the dead [and] give them a body that will be fit for the second death, which is the lake of fire [see Revelation 20:14, 21:8]. Others He will raise immortal, giving them a glorified body just like His that will be fit for all eternity, and those bodies will never get sick or die. But everybody gets resurrected. Jesus has the power to raise you from the dead.

This is the great truth of Christianity. This is why funerals are so cool for believers. People always look at me, “Jack, you know, you seemed pretty happy at that funeral.”

“Man, I’m happy!”

They say, “Well, why are you so happy?”

“Because, man, that person is coming out! They’re going to be raised from the dead. They’re with Jesus right now—their spirit is with Jesus right now. I mean, how could I be sad about that? I’m so sorry you’re with the Lord. I’m so sorry that you’re happier than you’ve ever been. I’m so sorry you get to talk with the saints of all the ages. Too bad you’re not back here in this sin-cursed world, fighting against your wicked, sin-cursed heart.” Come on! These people who know Christ, they are raised immortal, glorified. They stand before the Lord and are whiter than snow and perfect in holiness. That is something to rejoice about. Don’t buy into the lie that death is the end. It’s not the end; it’s the beginning. Satan wants you to think death is the end so that you don’t fear what’s going to happen. I’m telling you, if you don’t know Christ, you had better be fearful. You better be terrified—until you come to repentance and faith in Christ.

Look at Luke 8:53. [Just before this verse] Jesus says, “Oh, she’s not dead,” that is, her spirit isn’t dead, “she has just fallen asleep.” She has died physically. Verse 53: “And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.” Jesus doesn’t explain Himself, He just goes into the house. Look at verses 54-55: “He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Child, arise!’ And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.” Some people ask, “Why is that?” Well, the girl was probably sick for a long time and wasn’t able to eat. And, do twelve year olds eat? Yeah. Come to my house. They eat. Jesus shows compassion here and wants to make sure that this young girl who hasn’t eaten anything for a long time gets something to eat, and says, “Make sure she gets something to eat.” Look at verse 56: “Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.” Jesus didn’t want the publicity at this time for raising this girl from the dead. We don’t know why. He probably knew the consequences of how this would affect His plans. Who knows?

But the last portion, the last truth, the last principle you need to take away from here is: Jesus can and will raise you from the dead. You will be raised from the dead. It will either be to heaven or to hell, but you will be raised from the dead. You can’t escape it. No one gets to stay in the ground and just live in oblivion. You’ll be conscious after death—the real you will never die. All souls, all spirits, are eternal. They never die. That is why we need to make sure that in this life we aren’t living for this life, but for the life to come, because that is the real life that we need to live for.

You need to ask yourself [if] you see yourself as a great sinner. Do you see yourself in need of a Savior? Are you seeking Christ? Are you seeking Him above all other things? Have you found Him? Have you laid hold of Him? Have you placed your hope in Him? Are you saved? If not, you need to be so today. Today is the day of salvation. Do not delay.

If you are a believer, if you have placed your faith in Christ, if you have been born again, and your life is changed, you need to remember that, as you live your life here on earth, that this life is not all there is. The pleasures of this life, all the things we see in the world, are all going to pass away. So don’t put all your eggs in this life. You will live for eternity. Sure, you can enjoy things in this world, but don’t do it to the neglect of the things you must do to bring glory to God. You have to live for the glory of God because eternity is coming, because even when you die, you live.

For those who don’t know Christ, this should scare you. It should make you want to seek Christ, to lay hold of Him, to strive to enter the narrow gate, to take heaven by storm if necessary, to squeeze in. Because, as Jesus said, “The way is narrow and few are able to find it” [see Matthew 7:14]. He even says, as we get to Luke 13, “Many will seek to enter, but will not be able” [see Luke 13:24]. [Do] you know why they won’t be able? Because they’re unwilling to let go of their sin, and the pleasures, and the world, and the control of their own lives. And, because they’re not willing to let go, Christ is not willing to have them. You must cling to Christ and lay hold of Him with all of your heart and then He will save you. He never rejects anyone who comes to Him in faith. Let’s pray.

Father, we are so grateful for this text. What a great example of two people who sought the Savior with tenacity, with faith, without doubting, and were rewarded. Father, we know that You still offer this to [us] all. You say, “Come to Me, all who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest” [see Matthew 11:28]. You are commanding all men everywhere to repent. Father, You will save even the greatest sinner if he would merely fall down before you like Jairus, and beg You for help. Father, if there is somebody here, which I’m sure there is, who hasn’t given his life to you, who hasn’t really believed and trusted in Christ so as to live for Him, I pray, Father, that You would grant him, by Your grace, the faith he needs. Open his heart to Your truth, help him to see Jesus standing before him that he might come and bow down and be saved and transformed forevermore. For those of us who know You, I pray that we would remember that this life is not all there is, that eternity awaits just on the other side of death. And that, Father, when we die, life will really begin. So, Father, help us to live today in light of tomorrow so that we might give You glory. We pray this in Christ’s name, Amen.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the New American Standard Bible®, ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation