Jesus Has Power Over Death

[0:00] Well, let's open up our Bibles then. We are in the book of Matthew. I'm glad somebody's paying attention. That was just to test you, as Marv would always say, right?

[0:16] And so we are in the book of Mark. Thank you. Book of Mark. We're in chapter 5. And I got the chapter right. That's good.

[0:26] But as we've been reading through the last couple of chapters, Jesus has been going back and forth over the Sea of Galilee. He's just back and forth, back and forth.

[0:38] And lots of exciting things happen. Each place that he goes, lots of exciting things happen right there on the Sea of Galilee, which is really just a big lake, but we call it the Sea of Galilee.

[0:50] He calmed the storm there. In fact, I think that's the last thing that we read about Noah. And then he went and he met a demon-possessed man that had thousands, or at least many, a legion, it says in the Scriptures of demons, that Jesus drove out of him and delivered him.

[1:12] Today, we are going to be starting in verse 21 of chapter 5 of Mark. And we're going to be looking at really two stories that are kind of intertwined or intermingled with each other.

[1:26] It's so interesting because I think it illustrates just the intensity of Jesus' ministry. As we'll read, he's on his way to help one person whose daughter is dying when there's a miracle that happens in the midst of them going along.

[1:44] There are a few things that I want, that we'll point out with these two accounts that are intermingled together. Looking at the faith of these two individuals that are part of this story.

[2:00] Their faith. And then the other really big thing is looking at the power of God through Jesus Christ and his ministry. You know, the Old Testament prophets had done miracles.

[2:15] Miracles wasn't a new thing with Jesus' ministry. Miracles had done by Elijah and Elisha and Moses and many others. But you will never see anywhere in the Bible the kind of intensity and rapid succession of miracle after miracle after miracle that we see in the life of Jesus day in and day out.

[2:37] So we're going to read through this passage and then we're just going to go verse by verse and talk through it. So verse 21. Now, when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to him.

[2:49] He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death.

[3:01] Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed and she will live. So Jesus went with him and a great multitude followed him and thronged him. Now, a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years and had suffered many things from many physicians.

[3:16] She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.

[3:31] Immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched my clothes?

[3:46] But his disciples said to him, You see the multitude thronging you and you say, Who touched me? And he looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

[4:02] And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction. When he was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, Your daughter is dead.

[4:17] Why trouble the teacher any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not be afraid. Only believe.

[4:29] And he permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. Then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.

[4:40] When he came in, he said to them, Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed him. But when he had put them all outside, he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him and entered where the child was lying.

[4:56] Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, Talitha kumi, which is translated, Little girl, I say to you, arise. Immediately the girl arose and walked.

[5:07] And she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But he commanded them strictly that no one should know it and said that something should be given to her to eat.

[5:21] Like I said, Jesus had been crisscrossing the Sea of Galilee. He lands again. This time it's on the, I guess, the northwest side to where he's at here.

[5:31] And he's ministering to the people, probably teaching as he had done in the past. And it says here that a ruler of the synagogue, named, this is verse 22, And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.

[5:46] And when he saw him, he fell at his feet. This Jairus, it says, is a ruler of the synagogue. If you're not familiar, a synagogue was, we might consider it like a church today.

[5:58] Today, it was a meeting place for the Jews. But in some ways, it was like a church because it was a meeting place. But in other ways, it was really not. The synagogue was something that was not commanded in the law of Moses.

[6:11] It wasn't something in any of the Jewish writings that they were commanded to do. It was something that really came up out of the captivity of the Jews. When they were taken captive by other nations and left to other lands.

[6:23] And then ultimately, many, not all Jews, returned back to Israel. And they were still under bondage. Still under being, they were a people that were under another group of people.

[6:37] They weren't their own nation. And so, they had this tradition. Nobody really knows when it started. But it seemed to have happened between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New.

[6:48] That 400 year period. And so, a synagogue was just a place for the Jews to come to. To meet, to pray, to read the scriptures.

[6:59] The Old Testament scriptures of the time. And a ruler of a synagogue was just the guy in charge. He wasn't a priest. He didn't have any kind of religious, official role. He was just what we would call today a layman.

[7:12] Somebody who it was his job to make sure that the building, if they had one for the synagogue. And in some places, they didn't have a building. They would just meet. And we read about this in the book of Acts. They would meet by the river.

[7:24] Just in a lot, a location where they would get together. But if there was money enough in a town. In some towns, it seems, actually had multiple synagogues. If it was a big enough city, they would have many.

[7:34] So, the ruler was just the person in charge of the building. He would make sure the building was taken care of, the contents of the building. He might even be someone who would arrange for the meetings that might take place.

[7:51] In fact, we read when Jesus went to a synagogue. And he went to synagogues regularly. That at one point, he was handed a scroll. Maybe that was the ruler of the synagogue that had handed him the scroll to read it.

[8:05] But that's about all we know about a ruler of a synagogue. Somebody who had probably some kind of place in society. But this man, it says, came to Jesus.

[8:16] He fell down at his feet. In verse 23, he begged him earnestly, saying, My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she might be healed.

[8:29] And she will live. This is a desperate father. He has a daughter. In the book of Luke, it actually says, Luke has a similar account, or the same account, really, just with some different words.

[8:44] And in Luke, it says that this was his only daughter. We don't know if he had sons. Maybe he just had one child. Maybe he had ten sons and one daughter.

[8:56] But this was his only daughter. And she was very, very sick. And he knew that she was going to die if something didn't happen. And as I'm reading this, this last week, I'm thinking, I have daughters.

[9:14] I've got three. I've got four boys and three girls. And, you know, I have three daughters, not just one. But I'm thinking and trying to think about what this man is experiencing with his daughter, so sick and so close to death.

[9:32] You know, there's something very unique and special about a daughter. You have sons and then you have daughters. And we love them both, but they're different.

[9:45] And especially for a father. A father's relationship with his daughters is just not something, it's difficult to describe. The best way I can describe it is that especially for a little girl, a sweet little girl, is a soothing balm to the soul of a father.

[10:07] Every day. The, Daddy, come look at this. Daddy, come look at my dress. See me all dressed up. Daddy this, daddy that.

[10:18] The sweet little hugs and kisses. And for this man, this was his little girl. She's 12 years of age. We find out later. And she's dying.

[10:30] He's going to lose her. And he heard about this man, Jesus, who was healing people. The next thing I want to look at is his faith. Jairus. What does he say?

[10:42] He says, my little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed. And she will live. That's quite a statement of faith.

[10:55] He knows that if Jesus just comes, if he just will touch her, if he will just put his hands on her. He's heard the stories. He knows what Jesus has done. That if he'll just put his hands on her, she'll make it.

[11:10] That was his faith. Jesus, come. And that was just a little bit of faith.

[11:21] It was more than many people had. Some people said, oh, I'm not going to even ask. There's another story that we read in the Gospels about a centurion. He was actually a Gentile.

[11:34] He tells Jesus, you know what? I'm not worthy of you to even come to my house. You just say the word and she'll be healed. He had even greater faith.

[11:46] He knew that Jesus just had to speak a word. But I think this is interesting.

[11:58] This shows us that Jesus will meet us where our faith is. You know, some of us have really great faith and some of us have little itty bitty bitty faith. And God's willing to meet us where we're at.

[12:11] In fact, doesn't Jesus say somewhere about the size of faith that he's willing to accept? The size of what? A mustard seed. That's pretty small. Just a little bit of faith.

[12:23] So Jesus went with him. And it says that as he went, he was on the way to this man's house and there was throngs about him.

[12:38] People were following him. They didn't just let him go on his own. They followed him and it says they thronged him. They were pressing in. Huge crowds. And then the story suddenly just switches focus.

[12:53] Looking at this man, Jairus, and his daughter and what's going on. And on the way, we have this another story that comes into play. There's a woman that came into the crowd.

[13:05] Verse 25. Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.

[13:17] This was a woman. We don't know how old she was. We don't know if she was married or not. But she had this condition. It just calls it a flow of blood.

[13:28] And likely, likely this was some kind of condition related to the menstrual cycle, the regular monthly flow that women have.

[13:44] And probably something with that natural created process that God created, something went wrong. And instead of just once a month, it's very likely that this was just a continual bleeding.

[14:03] One of the things to consider with this is not just the health concerns, right? As we all know, those times of the month can be difficult.

[14:16] And imagine this is happening continually. She saw many doctors and the physicians tried to help her. But instead of getting any better, it just got worse. Over 12 years. I wanted to point out a few things in the law that she also had to deal with.

[14:33] The law of Moses. If you turn to your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 15. If you go to the very beginning of your Bibles, Genesis, Exodus, and then Leviticus.

[14:45] It's the third book. And right about the middle. There's a law. And it seems kind of strange.

[14:55] A lot of the Old Testament law seems strange. But it's interesting in the New Testament. Some of the things that seem strange become clear. Leviticus chapter 15.

[15:10] And verse 19. The first section actually talks about men. And things regarding men and bodily things there.

[15:22] And then he talks about women here. And related to what this woman is dealing with. But it says this. Verse 19. But if a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days.

[15:37] And whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean. And everything that she sits on shall be unclean.

[15:48] And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

[16:02] if anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits when she touches it he shall be unclean until evening and if any man lies with her at all so that her impurity is on him he shall be unclean seven days and every bed on which she lies shall be unclean there's this law it seems strange for a natural part of life that God created as part of a woman's life that there is this period of uncleanness and why would why would God call something like this something natural an uncleanness part of this was to be a type and a symbol of something bigger than just bodily types of things but this woman for the last 12 years has not just been unclean once a month she has been unclean every single day for 12 years touching people and things would make them unclean again this is ceremony we call it ceremonial uncleanliness being ceremonially ceremonially unclean and that would have an impact on your Jewish life whether you are able to go into the temple you could not go into the temple to offer a sacrifice to do anything if you were unclean she had no access to the temple at all for 12 years because of this condition it says this in verse 27 we'll go back to mark mark chapter 5 verse 27 when she heard about jesus she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment for she said if only i may touch his clothes i shall be made well if only i will touch his clothes we just saw an act and a word of faith from jairus if only jesus will come to my house and touch my daughter she'll be healed this woman had faith as well her faith was a different kind in fact i would consider it and think about it as even a greater faith she didn't ask jesus to come to her house she didn't even ask jesus to touch her she said you know what i know that if i just touch not not even his skin just the clothes that he's wearing i know i'll be healed in verse 29 it says this immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction this isn't something that happened after a month of calling the prayer chain and having people pray for her condition or a week of treatments from a physician this wasn't even a miracle that took 24 hours or a few hours to heal it says immediately in an instant she knew she felt in her body that she was healed verse 30 and jesus immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him turned around in the crowd and said who touched my clothes but his disciples said to him you see the multitude thronging you and you say who touched me jesus was talking about a certain kind of touch wasn't he not just somebody pressing against him somebody touched him with a hand and a heart of faith and he knew it he knew that power went out of him and he looked around this is verse 32 he looked around to see her who had done this thing but the woman fearing and trembling knowing what had happened to her came and fell down before him and she told him the whole truth why was she afraid why was she trembling

[20:28] I think there's two possibilities one she is ceremonially unclean if she touches someone else what does that do it makes them unclean and they have to it says for the for until evening I think they are unclean and have to go through a ritual washing to become clean and there are certain things that they can't do if she touches her and so that would have been a fearful thing to touch someone when you are in an unclean position so maybe she was afraid that maybe he would be upset that an unclean person touched him but was jesus ever afraid to be touched or to himself touched an unclean person no remember we've already read about the leper that jesus came and he healed that leper who that's an unclean condition as well the other possibility and maybe you know these can both be true is that she felt bad because well she kind of she kind of stole the healing didn't she she didn't really ask for it she just kind of reached out and she took it and maybe jesus would be mad who took this power from me but did jesus mind here's what he said verse 34 and he said to her daughter your faith has made you well go in peace and be healed of your affliction jesus wasn't mad he was thrilled that she would reach out with the hand with the heart of faith to know that he was willing to do what it was to meet her need where she was at i want to go back to leviticus and sorry maybe i should have had you keep your finger there but we're going to go back to leviticus and read the rest of that passage leviticus i should have kept my finger there leviticus chapter 15 well actually i have it written down here so verse 25 because it doesn't just before it was just talking about you know the regular monthly cycle of a woman now it speaks to a different thing verse 25 leviticus 15 25 if a woman has a discharge of blood for many days other than at the time of her customary impurity or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity all the days of her unclean discharge she shall shall be as the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean every bed on which she lies on the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity and whatever she sits on shall be unclean as the uncleanness of her impurity whoever touches those things shall be unclean he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening but if she is cleansed of her discharge then she shall count for herself seven days and after that she shall be clean and on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtle doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest to the door of the tabernacle of meeting then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness this is a different thing the regular law was for this monthly issue and there wasn't anything about going to a priest or anything like that you just had to avoid you couldn't go into the temple there were some other rules you had to follow when you were in an unclean condition temporarily but for this woman she was in a permanently unclean condition and what do you know the Bible actually speaks to this it seems like this would be a rare case right this was a condition that she had

[24:48] I'm sure there weren't many people that had this I don't know but isn't it interesting that the book of Leviticus and this law of Moses speaks to it and how many times had some had a and it says here that if she has this permanent condition and is healed of it she should go to the priest and present herself and offer these two doves or pigeons and how many times did this happen probably not many and we read when we read about the leper who was healed what did Jesus tell the leper to do go do what the law says and present yourself to the priest because the law said what to do if somebody was healed of leprosy which never happened and so that leper went and told what had happened to him this man that healed him of his leprosy and I'm going to fulfill the obligations of the law here is another case of a condition where Jesus got involved and he brought to pass what it says here in Leviticus that someone with this condition that seemed permanent was healed and even though he doesn't say anything to this woman about presenting yourself to the priest she was probably pretty familiar with this whole passage right

[26:20] I mean it speaks directly to her condition and eight days from now she's going to go to that priest and to the temple which she has never been able to go into before with her offering of two turtle doves and pigeons and say I've been unclean for 12 years and there's this man Jesus who healed me and this is an opportunity for the priests to hear about Jesus if they haven't yet many of them may have already heard about Jesus from that leper that came to present himself but here's another opportunity it's again funny kind of these laws in the Old Testament that we find some use comes to them later on in the ministry of Jesus so this woman is healed this is as they're walking this is Jairus the ruler of the synagogue walking with Jesus and he sees all this he hears all this this woman that's healed and then it says this while he was still speaking

[27:29] Jesus barely got the words out of his mouth to talk to this woman go in peace be healed of your affliction and somebody walks up verse 35 while he was still speaking some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house and he said your daughter is dead why trouble the teacher any further you can imagine Jairus who had just a little bit of hope and faith that that faith that he had that was just a little bit would be completely deflated and what was Jesus response to the man what did he say to Jairus verse 36 and as soon as Jesus heard the words that was spoken he turned to the ruler of the synagogue and he said to him do not be afraid only believe he didn't say well

[28:34] I wonder if this man is going to continue to believe after this news has come in Jesus was there to provide encouragement don't be afraid this isn't over hold on to that faith Jesus is not just the healer as we'll find out here in a little bit then it says this in verse 37 and he permitted no one to follow him except Peter James and John the brother of James you know Jesus interestingly enough he had 12 disciples but there were three that we read about in several different scenarios that seem to be part of his more inner circle and these are Peter James and John and why did he only have them come with him it's not really clear two possibilities that I can think of one maybe they were more mature in their faith one of the things we'll see in a second is that there were people who were very disbelieving and Jesus asked them to leave the other possibility is we actually find out later that

[29:47] Jesus really didn't want word to get spread out that he was raising dead people we'll talk about that more in a second but it's possible he wanted to kind of keep things under wraps and so I'm just going to have a few of my guys come that'll maybe reduce the chances of the word getting out that I'm not just healing people but I'm raising people from the dead so two possibilities regarding that why he just brought those three verse 38 then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly funerals back in that time and even today in different cultures are quite a can be a loud it's really a very external grieving process in American culture and probably most of western European culture it's very different right we tend to grieve quietly we have services that are generally quiet I was actually watching a short documentary with the kids some missionaries went to I forget some kind of island nation in the

[30:50] Pacific and while they were there a lady had died an older lady had died and he was recording and in the background you could just hear this loud wailing as they grieved very loudly over the death of their loved one and so even today in cultures this is a way and I'm sure it could be very therapeutic to just let those emotions let them out and so that's what we see here and when he came he said to them why make this commotion and weep the child is not dead but sleeping why would Jesus say that she's sleeping does he not know well no he does know doesn't he and you know the Bible does use and even we use today what we call a figure of speech called a euphemism it's very death is a difficult thing to talk about so sometimes we use different words that are less jarring to our sensibilities passed away for example and so we see in the

[32:03] Bible that somebody falling asleep is a euphemism for somebody dying is that what he was doing doesn't seem like that at all in fact we see when Lazarus remember the story of Lazarus in the book of John when Lazarus dies and they bring news or actually they don't bring news but Jesus knows that he has died and he tells his disciples well he's fallen asleep and so his disciples basically say okay well maybe we can delay our plans then he's just sleeping and Jesus would say well actually he's dead I didn't mean he's literally sleeping I meant to say that he has died but why tell the people that she's sleeping and I have two thoughts two ideas one possibility is that he was actually trying to hide from the people that he was about to raise the dead we actually will see in a bit that he tells most of the people to leave he only has a few people in that room with him and we see later on also that he wants to keep this on the down low the other thing is maybe he really just wants to prefigure to us that death is like sleep death is not the end really for anyone but especially for those of us who trust in him verse 40 says this they ridiculed him did they believe that

[33:43] Jesus could do anything about this nope she's asleep okay whatever you're crazy you're insane who is this guy anyway but when he had put them all outside he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him and entered where the child was lying as far as I can tell there's five people involved here that Jesus brings with him into that room his three disciples that we just talked about and the mom and the dad that's it everybody else get out and I find this interesting because there's actually we see a lot in the Bible where it talks about the faith of people their faith being involved when they receive a miracle or healing in fact there's a verse in Matthew chapter 13 verse 58 if you're taking notes Matthew chapter 13 verse 58 says this that he was trying to do a bunch of miracles in this certain town and it says this now he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief there are people their their unbelief prevented

[34:52] Jesus from exercising his healing ministry in that certain location so Jesus wanted people who were going to stand with him who were going to believe and then it says this in verse 41 then he took the child by the hand and he said to her and this is in the Syriac language which was the language of the day he said to lethia kumi and it says here which is translated little girl I say to you arise notice again and we've talked about this before did Jesus get on his knees and pray to the father father please heal this girl no Jesus had the power in himself he had the authority to command her arise he didn't use a lot of words did he I you know Mark is the only one there's three accounts of this in the Bible Mark is the only one that brings out what he specifically said in this language of Syriac

[35:57] Syriac would have been the language that he probably spoke most of the time when he was among the Jews anyway it was the language of the day and Mark found it even though all the New Testament books are written in Greek because that was the language especially of writing probably Jesus when he actually spoke this didn't speak in Greek most of the time he was probably speaking in Syriac but he found it useful to us that we would know those specific words spoken in Syriac and how many words do you use to perform this miracle just two makes me think of in Genesis if you look at the Hebrew when God created the heavens and the earth when what was the first thing that God created light you know there's only two words light be that's it here he says little girl arise a little girl just just one one word to lethia kumi just two words and then it says this in verse 42 immediately the girl arose and walked for she was 12 years of age and they were overcome with great amazement how long did it take did she stir around and over a few hours kind of gradually get up I mean she had been sick for a long time I'm sure she was very weak right immediately her body was restored to full health and vigor she stood up verse 43 but he commanded them strictly that no one should know it and he said that something should be given her to eat you know when you're sick you don't eat very much I don't know how long she was sick but she was probably had a pretty empty stomach and he's like give this girl some food she's ready for it but I want to speak real quickly about this command that Jesus said he said he strictly says strictly warned them or commanded them that no one should know about what he did it seems like Jesus is constantly going back and forth with telling people you know tell people what I did for you and then to some people he says don't tell anybody what I did for you why is that it seems strange my thought here is that

[38:31] Jesus was really Jesus had this three years of ministry and he needed the word to get out that was true but he also had to be somewhat strategic because at the end of his three-year ministry something there was a plan that the Jews or would would come and they would have him killed and he knew that was part of the plan but he it needed to happen at the end of three years not the end of one year not the end of two years not halfway through it's interesting we mentioned the story of Lazarus being risen raised from the dead and if you read that section of Lazarus it's in the book of John chapter 11 starting in verse 43 it talks about what happened right after Lazarus was raised from the dead and it says that the men who experienced those things went and told the leaders of the Jews about it and it was then and there that they began plotting his death we've got to kill this guy we got to get rid of him this is too much and so Jesus being I think somewhat strategic said okay let him know about the healings I don't want people to know that I'm raising the dead that's going to put them over the top that's going to send them over the edge and we're not ready for that not right now so now the question what are we to take from all this I talked about two things one is faith and also the power of God it seems we see throughout the Bible that that faith is a key to receiving God's blessings in Hebrews chapter 11 verse six it says this but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him believe that

[40:33] God is and that he's good to us that's it believe that he's good to us and these two people that was their faith they knew that this was a man sent from God they probably weren't exactly sure what he was is he the Messiah is he a prophet is he something more than that I don't know but I know that he's sent from God and he's here to heal his people and I believe it I believe that he's sent from God and he's willing to heal me and my family the other thing to talk about faith is this example is that God will accept any step of faith large or small he'll meet you where you're at for Jairus he said if Jesus will come and if he'll touch her then she'll be healed that was his step of faith to that woman with the issue of blood she said if I just touch his clothes I'll be healed the other thing to consider is this woman in her her state of uncleanness and for many people they you know uncleanness in the Old Testament was really a type and a symbol of what being unclean from sin those things were not sinful that that are described there in the Old Testament those specific things that we read about but it is a symbol of sin that makes us unclean and so it answers the question can we make Jesus unclean when we come to him in an unclean state no in fact we need him more than if we were clean don't we in Mark chapter 2 verse 17 Jesus said this those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick it's not the clean ones that have need of me it's the unclean ones I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and was Jesus offended that someone unclean touched him you know people today might think I'm going to offend God if I come to him I pray if I seek him in my unclean state but we see here Jesus was thrilled to have somebody who was unclean come and touch him the last thing to point out is really about Jesus and who he is and the authority that he has and we've seen that Jesus has this the authority and the power over demon spirits to cast out a legion tell them with a word to leave and they'll leave and they'll do as he commands he speaks to diseases and illnesses of all kinds he speaks to the wind and the waves and they obey him we see here that he doesn't just have power over all things Jesus this man

[43:53] Jesus has the power over death itself over the grave he's not just a man Jesus this is the creator of heaven and earth the alpha and omega the beginning and the end and Paul says this about this power that Jesus was wielding in this account says this in Romans 8 chapter 11 but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you if God's spirit lives in you then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortals to your mortal bodies ultimately the most important thing this is the three year healing ministry of Jesus and people had faith for healing during that time the most important focus of our faith is trusting God with our very soul with our eternal life and the Bible says that for those of us who are willing like these two to trust Jesus not just with our health but with our eternal soul that one day Jesus himself is going to shout from the heavens his voice will tear through the clouds and echo across the oceans and through the mountains and the forests and the plains and he's going to say to us arise just as he did to that little girl and that same power that God used to create the heavens and the earth will gather the atoms and the molecules from the dust of the ground those same atom and molecules that were used to form atom from the dust they'll leap from the earth and begin to form together and using the same DNA instructions that are in billions of our cells right now they'll form brand new flesh and bone bodies full of vigor and full of strength and the power of God the very spirit and presence of God the same power that left Jesus and healed that woman will surge through these new bodies and in a moment the Bible says in a twinkling of an eye our eyes will open and we will awake just like that little girl and we will experience new life in a way that we have never experienced it before a life similar to the one that we experience now but this one full of glory and brightness health and strength and a life that will never end that will endure forever and ever and ever and that's the promise to those of us if we'll believe that's a pretty good promise isn't it so the question what about you these people believe Jesus to be healed today God is offering to all of us something we can have eternal life for our souls

[47:45] Jesus died so that we could live you know it's interesting the one man asked Jesus for the healing gift the other woman she didn't ask she just took it and you know what Jesus was thrilled with that and when it comes to eternal life do you even have to ask you can it's okay to ask God would you forgive all my sins will you give me eternal life it's okay some people do that but you know you don't even have to do that because we already know what his answer is isn't it he already accomplished something for us all who come to him he will never cast out the Bible says and you don't have to clean up your life first just like that woman who was ceremonially unclean he invites us to come to him just as we are unclean and he will immediately declare us clean and then he will take his life into ours our life into his he will make his abode in us he'll live in us and he'll work on us he'll work on us over time some of us take longer than others it'll make us to be like him so if you haven't done that there's anybody here who's never done that and told God

[49:17] I want that gift I'm gonna believe you can do that today well he's good to us isn't he do you love him today amen let's say is it okay if we sing a song we've been singing a song at our house it's a simple song but I'm just thinking about the love of the Lord it's a song that comes from I think it's Ecclesiastes the steadfast love of the Lord I think it's a really almost word for word or coming out of Ecclesiastes but it goes like this and we'll just sing this a cappella and why don't you just sing after me it goes like this the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases so repeat that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases then it goes like this his mercies never come to an end his mercies never come to an end they are new every morning they are new every morning new every morning new every morning great is thy faithfulness oh Lord great is thy faithfulness oh Lord great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness let's see if we can do it together the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases his mercies his mercies never come to an end they are new every morning new every morning great is thy faithfulness oh Lord great is thy faithfulness amen father we love you thank you so much for your power at work in us today your spirit that lives in us who believe that you're willing to accept any amount of faith little big whatever for all that will humble themselves thank you so much for being so good to us for giving us so much more beyond what we could even ask or think you are amazing and we love you in Jesus name we pray amen thanks everyone to go welcome