Don't be afraid; just believe!

Luke 8:40-56

Key Verse 8:50

Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."

Today we would like to think about the faith that fights all the elements of death within us and enables us to live a victorious life.   

First, Jairus brought his problem to Jesus in humble prayer.

I wish no one among us would have any problems whatsoever; I wish all of us would be so well endowed that every one of us would live a totally problem free life. But as everyone might quickly admit, life here on earth does not work that way. Until we finish our physical life here on earth, we will always run into one problem after another. Remember that the night before his departure, Jesus said to his disciples: "In this world you will have trouble." 

When I went to Papua New Guinea I saw people suffering from tons of problems. They have too many problems with too few solutions that in order to forget their problems they get into deeper problems such as substance abuse, only to make their lives worse. I belonged to a study group led by Shepherd Sheldon. In my group there were two new sheep who attended the conference for the first time: brother Charlie and his friend Matthew. Like all other students their skin color was dark, which is beautiful. The problem was that they did not smile. During the first half hour of the Bible study they did not open their mouth to speak. At first I was curious. I thought they may have had a speech impediment. So I made a joke, and they started laughing. They started opening their mouths. But I was shocked because the color of their tongues and teeth were all red. The sight was gruesome that I thought I had two vampires sitting right in front of me. After the group Bible study, I then took Missionary Jacob Lee aside and asked him what was wrong with these two students. Jacob Lee said that they came from a very poor island that because they were so poor they chew certain plants which make them feel not only numb, but also cause the color of their tongue and teeth to be red. Later I further realized that the name of the plant was beetle nut. Its leaves are broad like the size of a palm. They fold the nuts in leaves to make a small packet. They then chew the whole packet. The chewing coats the tongue and teeth fiery red color. Over a long period of time, abuse of this kind causes oral cancer. 

People have problems. Are we Americans different? No. We too have our own problems. It was no different with the people of Jesus' day. They had tons of problems. Is God indifferent to the problems we have? No. In order to resolve all the problems we have in life, the Lord God sent Jesus Christ. 

Look at v. 40. "Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him." The place where Jesus returned was most likely Capernaum in Galilee. Where had Jesus been? Jesus had been in the land of Gerasenes. In the land of the Gerasenes people had tons of problems. The Gerasene demoniac had 6,000 demons inside. Numerically he had 6,000 problems all in his chest, but Jesus went there and resolved his problems all at once. Now as he was returning back home, the land of the Jews, the so-called "Bible belt", the conditions of the people were not that much different from the conditions of the people in the land of the Gentiles. Thus far Jesus performed a lot of miracles there in Capernaum. Jesus solved the problems of people again and again, but still the more problems Jesus solved, the more people came out with the more number of problems they had in life. 

When one sees anyone bringing to him nothing but problems after problems, he may feel like avoiding that person. But it is not so with Jesus. Upon seeing the problem-ridden people Jesus could have played hide and seek. But Jesus did not do that. To him, they were all lovely sheep. Like a loving father, as they greeted Jesus back home Jesus also must have greeted them back. Surely the Lord is good. Let us all say, "The Lord is good!" 

Knowing that the Lord is good all the time, and even wants us to bring all of our problems to him it behooves us to know how to bring our problems to Him. Then in order to bring our problems to Jesus we do not need to come to a huge religious crusade like that of Billy Graham all the time. God’s way is simple: prayer. In prayer we can bring all of our problems to Him. "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 16:23) "In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf." (John 16:26) And this is that day. 

The question then is how are we to bring our problems to God the Father? Look at verses 41,42. "Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house, because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him." Remember that he was a synagogue ruler. A synagogue what? Yes. A ruler! Yes. A ruler also has a problem. A medical doctor, a lawyer, a CPA, a CEO, a pastor, a deacon, a mother, a father, and virtually all have problems. And we should not be ashamed of having problems. And we must bring our problems and leave them at his feet. 

Second, a woman got healed of her disease which no one could heal.   

Some problems are from God. For example when King Saul became proud the Lord God sent him evil spirit. And he was in trouble. In the case of Apostle Paul, in order to keep him humble, the Lord God continued to keep a disease in the body of Paul. I don't know what that disease was. Paul simply calls it a "thorn in my flesh" and "a messenger of Satan" to torment him. Obviously he is referring to a specific disease. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away from him, but the Lord said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Then Paul says, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2Co 12:9-11)

Another Bible passage which puzzles me is 2 Kings 13:14 which reads, "Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died." In Hebrew the name Elisha means "God is salvation." As this name suggests through Elisha the Lord God performed a lot of miracles. In fact the number of miracles he performed was exactly twice as many as the number of miracles his mentor Elijah had performed. But this man was "suffering" from the illness from which he died. 

These examples indicate that the Lord God does not heal "all" kinds of diseases. And he does not do that for a reason, that is, to fulfill a greater purpose the Lord God has for each of his children. 

Having said this, here is the point we need to consider: faith dictates us to believe that Jesus can do what man cannot do. With this faith we must come out to Jesus, until we can "touch" him. 

Look at verses 43-44. "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped." Notice two things: No. 1 - the expression, "no one could heal her." Remember that Luke was a Physician. Nowadays there are many good medicines coming out. But, still there are many more diseases coming out, which men cannot cure. But Jesus can cure what man cannot. No. 2 - the word "touched". She came up behind him and "touched" the edge of his cloak. She worked like a baseball player. In a baseball game, if you are the first base man, for example, as the runner of the opposing team runs to your base, the catcher will send the ball to you. You then catch the ball and you are going to touch the player as soon as he gets to your base! Or if you belong to a team on the offense, what you really want to do is to hit a homerun. Then after hitting a homerun, you run to first base, and then second, then third, and then, you "touch" home base. But you know it is not easy to hit a homerun all the time. So what the players sometimes try to do is to steal the base. And this lady stole home base! 

This woman believed that Jesus could heal her disease which no one could heal. By faith she overcame herself, came to Jesus, touched Jesus, and got healed of her disease. A lot of people touched Jesus but her touch was different, for it was the touch of faith. Immediately the bleeding stopped. 

Here bleeding includes not just physical bleeding but spiritual bleeding. What causes man or woman to suffer physical or spiritual bleeding varies. Most commonly sin causes man to bleed inside. Medical doctors may be able to cure physical bleeding. But they cannot heal man of spiritual bleeding caused by sins of men. King David for example committed adultery with Bathsheba. This caused him to bleed inside. You may wish to read Psalm 51 if you want to know what I mean. But like the woman in the passage David came to the Lord in prayer. Other Bible passages such as Psalm 32 indicate that like the woman in the passage, David too approached the Lord's throne of grace until he made a "healing touch" in the Lord. 

Third, Jesus helped her to make a public confession of faith, so she would be in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Faith also dictates us not just to have our problems resolved through healing touches every once in a while but to strengthen us build a personal relationship with the Lord, that healing would be constant. Let us read verses 45-48 responsively. "45 Who touched me?" Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." 46  But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me." 47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." This passage says that at first this lady adopted the "hit and run" strategy of a baseball player. But Jesus did not allow her to escape. He insisted on her coming out and making a confession of faith in the Lord. It was only after she came out, and made a confession of faith in the Lord, that Jesus blessed her fully. 

A lot of people want to get quick benefits from Jesus and then want to go their own way. They do not want to commit themselves to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They think that in this way they can get the best of both worlds - that is, enjoy all the sinful pleasures of this world still being able to get benefits such as peace of mind in the Lord. This idea sounds smart. But it is not a smart idea. Had it not been so, Jesus would have allowed the woman to go free. But Jesus insisted on her coming out and making a confession of faith. Why? Jesus wanted her to have not just seek quick benefits from Jesus but also Jesus himself. "Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace." Here "faith" is "faith in the Lord." It is through faith in the Lord (not just Lord's benefits) that we are saved. And as we relate ourselves to the Lord and maintain a personal relationship with the Lord the Lord can satisfy us with all we need for life all the time. 

Fourth, we should never allow facts of life destroy our faith, but rather let faith alter the facts.

Faith is eternal; it never changes. The Apostle Paul alluded to this truth on faith when he said, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love." 1Co 13:13a. Hebrews 12:2 also indicates the same truth, for it says that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith." Jesus is eternal. He is the same yesterday today and forever. Faith which came from Jesus should be the same. 

But it is not so with facts. The facts of our life keep changing. For example, you know some facts about me. For example as of now, I am 56 years old or young. I have x number of grey hairs. But these facts keep changing. Second by second, I grow either younger or older, depending on how you understand human age. So is the case with the number of grey hairs. 

In the passage, Jairus had one urgent prayer topic, that is, the problem of his daughter. As he remained prayerful, the time passed by second by second, minute by minute. As the time passed by, the facts about his daughter kept changing. By the time he left her to fetch Jesus, her condition was critical but still her life did not expire. There was still lingering hope. But, as the time passed by, the situation grew worse. 

Finally, the news which he dreaded the most hit him. Look at v. 49. "While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher any more."" The four words: "Your daughter is dead." They dropped a bomb on Jairus. 

But what did Jesus say? Look at verse 50. "Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."" Notice that Jesus did not refute the facts. He did not bother to talk to those who brought facts to Jairus. Rather Jesus talked to Jairus so that Jairus would continue to operate with faith despite facts. He did not want Jairus be affected by facts, but rather let his faith alter the facts. 

On many occasions fact finding is necessary, for fact finding leads us to finding a solution. But facts are facts. They are not the solutions. So we should not let the facts of life dictate us. But unlike facts which become manifested in this physical world and keep changing, the faith which came from God does not change. So we must let faith to dictate us. No matter how despairing the facts may look, still we need to look up to Jesus, so that by faith in Jesus we would see Jesus altering the fateful looking facts of life into reasons to praise God's name. 

Fifth, faith is the tool by which God makes his power complete in the one who believes in Him, and do the work God has sent him to do. 

Before Jesus would raise Jairus’ daughter back to life, Jesus did something interesting for those who were close to him. Let us read responsively verses 51-56. Here, Jesus did not allow anyone other than five people to go inside the room where they put the dead body of the daughter: Simon Peter, John, James, and the parents. 

Why did Jesus not allow anyone other than these five to get in? Many interpretations are possible. 

But in my opinion, Jesus did this to plant in these five people what it is to live by faith in the Lord. And Jesus did this to help them exercise spiritual leadership among the people put under their care, so that even without Jesus having to be physically around all the time, by faith in Jesus, all who believe in Jesus would always avail themselves to God's power and thereby get their problems resolved all the time.

As many of us know Simon Peter was a man of many weaknesses, especially the problem of fear, especially the fear of death. Not all fear is bad. For example we are called to fear the Lord God. And the fear of the Lord is what keeps us safe from all the harms and dangers. But of all the fears, the fear of death is the most devastating. It is this fear which causes man to do all kinds of crazy things. It is this fear which causes man not to do what they are supposed to be doing. 

In America, the fear of death comes in great varieties.  One of the most widespread types of fear is the fear of not being able to pay the bills. When I visited missionaries in Sydney, I saw the same is true with them. One sister has a husband who is not gainfully employed. So she has to work full time. As the major bread earner, she is kind of worried about a number of things. She is afraid of the possibility that she might fall ill, fail to working full time, and thereby fail to make mortgage payments or run short of the child care expenses. All these fears kept hitting her, so the she became ill. And when I asked her for her prayer topic, the first prayer topic she shared with me was "for her health." 

It was however no different with Simon Peter. In fact he was so afraid of death that he denied Jesus even in front of a slave girl. Later, however, thanks to Jesus' help, he overcame the fear of death, and became a powerful leader in pioneering the church despite the threatening environments. 

In conclusion, let us read the key verse for today: "Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."" "Don't be afraid; just believe!" Jesus came to help us overcome fear of death, and do great work of God by faith in Him. Speaking of the same truths, Hebrews 2:14-15 say, "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Living in this American society which is predicated on capitalism, let us pray to overcome the problem of materialism, and by faith encourage one another to first seek God's kingdom and his righteousness. 

One word: do not be afraid; just believe

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