Luke 8:40-56 Good News for “Hopeless Cases”

Patron Saints and the Idea of Hopeless Cases

There's a very large denomination that you know of that has patron saints. And so if you are in a particular job or occupation or you're doing something and you need some extra help from a saint, this denomination has many patron saints.

I found about a hundred or so of them. If you have accounting problems, St. Matthew the Apostle is their patron saint. Astronomers get St. Dominic. Bakers, I thought this was funny. If I was teaching fifth grade boys, we could be hilarious with this one.

People that bake have St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

True.

Blind have St. Lucy. Bookseller, St. John of God. Funeral directors, St. Joseph of Arimathea. Grave digger, St. Anthony of Abbott. And did you know the patron saint of the internet is St. Isidore? And this week I was thinking to myself, we have Jairus, daughter, and the woman who's got the issue of blood.

Two hopeless cases.

Where do you go when there's a hopeless case? There's no way out. Humanly speaking, I can't figure this out.

Hopeless cases.

What do you do when there's a hopeless case? Well, did you know there's a patron saint for hopeless cases? St. Jude. And you're to pray to Jude as the patron saint of hopeless cases. And then I thought to myself, in light of Luke, in light of the Gospel of Luke, in light of Jesus Christ, while we're thankful for saints who have lived good lives and helped the poor, we don't need any saint to pray to because Jesus Christ is King.

We saw that today in the lives of the people who've been baptized. So, let's turn our Bibles to Luke. So, whenever it comes to trials, hopeless cases, we can, in him, find encouragement and optimism and gladness and happiness with great joy.

Could there be a worse thing to hear than, your daughter is dead? Hopeless case. Twelve years having an issue of bleeding, could there be a worse case? And so today, in the Gospel of Jesus, according to Luke, we're going to look at that.

We're going to look at how Jesus not just has power over nature, remember the Sea of Galilee, not just having power over a man with up to 6 ,000 demons in him, but here Jesus has power over disease, sickness, and even death.

So what Luke is focused in on, he's focused in on trying to make sure we remember that Jesus is the King, that he has the authority, and not just brute force and power, but compassion. You'll never see anybody in the world, you'll never meet anybody in the world, you've never met anybody in the world who's like this man.

Yes, he's more than man, but he is truly man. And we'll see today, actually, in this passage, you'll see his divinity, you'll see his humanity. And we know to be our Savior, he has to be true man and true God.

Very God of very God, and very man of very man. So today, Luke chapter 8, verses 40 through the end of the chapter, that's verse 56. And maybe you're saying, Pastor, I've got problems, you don't know how bad they are, but the Lord Jesus knows how bad they are.

And there are no hopeless cases with the Lord Jesus. There's no hopeless people with the Lord Jesus. So let's again look at Luke and see the powerful and compassionate Jesus, so we keep trusting in him, or if you have not trusted in him, that you do.

Most of you know the passage. How many of you have ever read the passage about Jairus' daughter and the woman with the blood issue? Most everyone knows. But I think when we come back to it today, we'll think, oh, I've seen some special little nuggets and insights that we haven't seen before.

We're going to look at a woman who's got a blood issue and a man whose daughter's sick and then dies. Before we start, theologians have found differences between these two people, Jairus and the woman.

Well, one is an obvious man and a woman. One Jairus is prominent, the woman is unknown. One we know by name, the other we don't. One's wealthy, leader of a synagogue. One's poor, she spent all her money on doctors.

One has great honor, a leader. The other has great shame, unclean, remember with the blood issue. One has had 12 years of delight with a little daughter and one has had 12 years of utter.

Despair.

One is really direct, goes right up to Jesus and says, I need help. Another one by stealth approaches Jesus. Now there are some similarities. Healing was involved in both cases. Both think Jesus is the last resort.

They realize for hopeless cases, we've got to go to Jesus. And what I like, it's like they're so different, Jairus and the woman, that it's like they're exactly opposite and it makes me think, well, I could probably fit in there between them.

Everybody with their problems can fit somewhere in between and identify. Now when we have a story like this, it's hard to have an outline like you would with an epistle like with Romans. But to help us work through, just in our mind and see progression, the outline today is simple, three interruptions.

Three interruptions. I know you all love to be interrupted. I wonder how Jesus acts, by the way, when he gets interrupted. You'll see there's not a man like this. So three interruptions, all focused on Jesus.

And I want you to be reminded that there are no hopeless cases with Jesus. Interruption number one, verses 40 through 42. Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him for they were all waiting for him.

There was a man named Jairus who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling down at Jesus' feet, the SV says falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house for he had an only daughter, about 12 years of age, and she was dying as Jesus went, the people pressed around him.

Now remember, Jesus was just taking care of the demon-possessed man. Remember the demon called himself at least a legion, for we are many. And Matthew says Jesus is talking about fasting and other things.

And while he was saying these things, this man comes to him and says, I want you to lay your hand, Jesus, and heal him, Matthew says. Jesus crosses over the other side of the Sea of Galilee, an area of the Gentiles.

Many people were left over in the Capernaum area, and they're going to wait, they're going to camp out, they're going to wait by the beach, they're going to hover around, and they know Jesus could possibly come back because they want to see Jesus, they want to hear from Jesus.

And now, verse 40, it says, the crowd welcomed him, they were all waiting for him. How many days, how many hours, at least a day, I wrote down in my notes, I would wait for Jesus, too. And then with the language that the ESV doesn't give us, but it's in the original, behold, all of a sudden, there's these people that are waiting, and like out of nowhere, we see this guy, and his name's Jairus, and he's a big shot, and next thing you know, he's at the feet of Jesus.

Not like the demon-possessed man, who with authority recognized, gets on his face. This is a different posture. This is a different attitude. And he falls at Jesus' feet. He says, please come to my house.

Now, synagogue rulers were kind of like deacons in our church. They kind of run things, and help things, and get things in order. By the way, thanks, Jose, for everything you did today, because there was a lot of order to maintain with all these baptisms.

And this man comes and falls on his face. Just think about it. Respected, leader, big shot, but he knows who Jesus is. He's heard about Jesus, and down he goes. Who does that to someone like that? Did you know the Magi, when they saw the child with Mary and his mother, they fell to the ground and worshiped?

Who does that? To whom do we do that to? The devil said, tempting Jesus, all you have to do is fall down and worship. Same word. In heaven, Revelation, it says, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fall down before the Lamb.

He's out of the boat. There's people there waiting, and here comes this man we're introduced to, named Jairus, and he's down on his face. And Jesus should say, you ought not to worship me, because I'm only a man.

Get up. Didn't the angels say that? Remember John? Not once, but twice in the book of Revelation. He sees an angel, and down on his face he goes, and the angel says what? Not to worship me, you're to worship God.

I don't want you to forget, as you see this, this is a spotlight on the divine nature of Jesus, and he accepts worship on his face. Truly man, truly. He's worshiping.

He's believing.

He had an only daughter, verse 42, 12 years of age, and she's dying. Very personal. My little daughter, my little girl. She's 12, and literally she's at her last breath, Mark says. I mean, this is amazing to me.

Jesus must have sent, and it says, as he went, verse 42, the people pressed around him, pressing,.

Pressing, choking.

I remember once, the only thing I could think of that might relate to it in my mind was, I went to a concert once. Before I was saved, it was a secular band, just to let you know. And I'm not going to tell you the band.

And I remember so jammed in that I could lift both of my heels up off the ground, my feet off the ground, and I never moved. So pressed in. Think about the needs of the people. Think about those coming to see Jesus, and they are pressing, pressing, pressing in.

Everybody wants a piece of the action. Maybe with bad motives, but certainly with good motives as well.

And they're pressing.

Jesus is on the way to heal this little girl. And I learned this week from S. Lewis Johnson that the Greeks didn't really have a lot of children in their heart. They didn't care about the children, painting and sculptures.

But I did read, and you would know this, that Christian art has all kinds of things about little ones. Children, 10-year-olds, 5-year-olds. And I think you could say, I could sing, Jesus what, loves the little children.

Jesus is going to go do something. Interruption number two, found in verses 43 and following. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. And though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.

And she came up behind him. Stop there.

Don't touch him.

He could be unclean. You're unclean.

Stay away.

You can imagine people who would see this would go, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't do that. And she came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. And immediately her discharge of blood ceased.

Now you know in the Old Testament when there's a discharge of blood that you were unclean. You were ceremonially unclean. And there's a variety of things that you had to do to make yourself ceremonially cleaned and cleansed.

Kareen, C-R-E-E-N. I mean if there's ever a hopeless case it's this lady, 12 years. Some kind of gynecological problem is mostly what we think it is. Hemorrhaging, bleeding, just think how tired she must be, how broke she was, 12 years.

Now remember what's happening is Luke shows the power of the demon possessed man because he wants you to say only Jesus is more powerful. I mean 6 ,000 demons in someone? That's amazing. Especially as I said before when one angel can kill 185 ,000 Assyrians.

So this is not, I don't feel good for a day or two or I'm kind of sick. This is 12 years. That's long enough for her to know, everyone else to know, you're not going to get better. And every time she sat on a chair, she sat on a bed, she sat someplace in public, she would then make that thing unclean.

Spurgeon said, this disease of hers laughs at the physicians, can't help. How do you get healed? Well they have some ways to get healed of this back in the Old Testament times and even.

Before that.

Let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand and let someone come behind her and frighten her and say, arise from my flux. Sounds like HMOs that I know. If that does no good, take a handful of cumin and maybe fennel and a handful of crocus and a handful of another kind of fennel, boil them in wine, give them to her to drink and say arise from my flux.

If these do no good, let them dig seven ditches in which, let them burn some cutting of the vines. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine, lead her away from this ditch and make her sit down over that ditch.

And may her friends say to her, arise from my flux, carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a special cloth. The list goes on and on and on. It's just like people selling supplements today.

I take supplements.

Make sure you take K2 with vitamin D, not a doctor, hopeless, not curable. The point is, well, if it can be cured by Jesus, then Jesus must be worthy of my worship.

And trust.

Could not be healed by anyone. Day after day. And so she goes up and she, she touches him. She touches literally the fringe of his garment, verse 44, and she's sneaking up. I don't know why she's sneaking up.

Maybe she thought if they know I'm unclean and I go talk to Jesus and touch him, they're not going to let me. Crowds would run up to Alexander the Great to touch him to think maybe some power might come from this great leader.

Maybe she knew about that. But we know deep down she had a faith in Christ's ability to heal.

She heard.

She knew.

And she thought, I've got to get to Jesus. Faith in Christ's ability. I've got to make a dash for it. And she does. And the fountain, literally in Mark, the fountain of blood stops. And the text doesn't say it, but when Jesus heals, it doesn't just say, oh, he's healed.

No more bleeding.

But I'm sure fully restored. This affliction is gone. And Jesus said, verse 45, who was it that touched me? When all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowds surround you and you're pressing in on you.

I mean, a lot of people are touching you, in other words. Who touched my garments? Now the wrong view is Jesus doesn't know things. The wrong view is, oh, he finds out later. The wrong view is somehow he's not truly God exercising omniscience.

That's the wrong view. But he's going to have this woman's concealed faith revealed for everyone, including her, to strengthen her. Someone touched me, verse 46, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.

I mean, Jairus' daughter's waiting. Jairus is waiting. Jairus is right there. And by the way, I do not think Jairus is saying to himself, come on, Jesus, my daughter's dying. I think Jesus is doing this for the woman, for the disciples to see, but for Jairus.

By the way, you want me to come and heal your daughter? I can heal. You watch right now. You watch how powerful I am right now. This is strengthening Jairus' faith. And now Jesus is going to give an opportunity for her to praise him.

Like Psalm 107, let them give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness and his wonders to the sons of men and daughters of men who are sick for 12 years. Verse 47, and when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, literally.

Shaking.

And here we go again, falling down before him, declared in the presence of all why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. I mean, it's just down you go. And as a side note, probably one of the best things that you could do when you're struggling with prayer and the posture of prayer, attitude-wise, and Lord, I need to depend on you and I need to worship you rightly.

Might I just suggest as a pastor to just get down on your knees? You're on your knees and you're just praying. You're kneeling before the God of the universe. I mean, the demoniac was forced to get on his knees.

Jairus did it willingly to worship, and she does the same thing. And of course, we have bowed our knee in faith. So much falling down. And isn't it just like Jesus? He gives you more than you bargained for.

She wants to be healed physically. And what do you think he does over and above? What could be better than being healed physically? By the way, you can be healed physically and still die and go to hell.

What does Jesus like to do? Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 and 21, exceedingly, abundantly, beyond what we ask or what? That's exactly what she got. You go to Jesus for one thing. I mean, it's on the negative side, I would say, you know what?

I go in to the dentist for a cleaning and I got more than I bargained for because now I got to get a shot in my gums. On that's the negative side. Flip it over asymmetrically. You go to Jesus for physical healing, and then he gives you that and spiritual healing.

He said to her, verse 48, daughter, your faith has made you well.

Go in peace.

How many times does Jesus call a woman daughter? I don't think you'll find too many, but it's a word of affection. It's a word of love. It's a word of kindness. Daughter, I want your faith to be strengthened.

I want you to know that there's something more important than physical healing. I want you to be of good cheer. There's a man who invented chloroform and his name was James Simpson. And his friend said to this Christian man, soon you'll be resting on Jesus's bosom.

And Simpson said, I don't know if I can do that, but I think I can hold the hem of his garment. Little daughter, weak faith in a mighty Savior is still faith in a mighty Savior. She didn't have access to anybody or anything being unclean.

Now she has access to the community and she has access to God through Christ. We sometimes think, you know what, we just pray any time we want and we can and we should. But it's all because of our advocate.

It's all because of our mediator. Ephesians chapter 2, for through him we have access to the Spirit of the Father. No trespassing signs been replaced with welcome mat. Come to God anytime you want. I see Sherm here.

Sherm turned 95 yesterday. Sherm, I'll tell you a little story that involves you. I first got to the church 20 years ago and I would have my door unlocked and Sherm was here working all the time. And then Sherm walked in one day without knocking.

I said, Sherm, what's going on? You know, you're here working and everything. He said, I just wanted to say hi. I said, Sherm, I love you, but my wife and my kids, they come in without knocking, but you better well start knocking.

And he's still here. Just walk right in. Little Luke, little Haley, little Gracie, little Maddie, they just walk right in. Eleazar's not allowed. Now he, access, not just physical access, spiritual access that every Christian has.

By faith.

Little daughter, your sins are forgiven is what he's saying, healed. You came for healing physically, and I'm going to give you more than you bargained for. Literally the word healed in Mark's account is saved.

Your faith has made you well, you're saved. Healed immediately, go in peace. Interruption number three, while he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, your daughter's dead.

Don't trouble the teacher any more. I wonder what Jairus is thinking now. Don't trouble the teacher anymore. I mean, could it be that they said, don't trouble the teacher? Because if you said, don't trouble the Lord, the Lord could heal the dead, raise the dead, but he's just a teacher.

Don't trouble the teacher anymore. Verse 50, but Jesus on hearing this answered, do not fear, only believe, and she will be.

Well.

Don't think about her, in other words, think about me. Don't be frightful about her death, believe on me. Sola fide, faith alone. That's what you need, you need faith. And you've seen in the Old Testament issues of faith with Moses and with Joshua and with Abraham and with David.

Think about me. And there's no hopeless cases. Trust the person, not the circumstance. Verse 51, and when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James and the father and the mother of the child.

So they finally get there. And by the way, when they got there, it's chaos, it's commotion, it's mourners. You hire professional mourners. I have a German background, and when I mourn, it tends to be quiet and reserved.

And when you mourn in the Middle East, especially back in those days, loud, cacophony. Matthew says, noisy disorder and flute players, probably things weren't really in tune and clanging. Verse 52, they're all weeping and mourning for her.

And Jesus said, do not weep, for she's not dead, but sleeping. That behavior is inconsistent with the God of the universe being present. And how do they respond? Great, Jesus, you healed this woman with 12 years of blood issue.

You cast out demons from the demoniac legion. You walk on water. You calm the sea. Good, I'm glad you're here.

But what do they do?

Verse 53, they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. I mean, you better get that body, that dead body, post haste. No embalming back in those days. It's hot there. Body's going to decay. We better get going.

They're weeping. They're lamenting. Listen to what Revelation says. Verse 1, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he had laid his right hand on me saying, fear not, I'm the last and the first and the living one.

I died. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. And I, Jesus, have the keys of what? Death and Hades. This chaotic, disordered scene, Jesus shows up to. Spurgeon said the minstrels had commenced their hideous discords.

And he says, she's sleeping. Was she sleeping or was she really dead? And often in Scripture, the word sleep is used for a believer who's died in Christ. Because their body's going to wake up one day, of course.

Remember the passage in John chapter 11 with Lazarus, Jesus, after he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, I go that I may wake him out of sleep. The disciples said, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll recover.

Now, Jesus had spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking of literal sleep. I'm trying to think of some comment about motorcycles on the Sabbath. My favorite all-time story was, I was talking about some kind of sin or judgment or something.

Up here.

And it was snowy. And you know, the snow up on our roof, and it started all coming down. And it was like an avalanche of judgment coming for you unless you repent. Five people came up and gave their lives to the Lord that day.

Avalanche Bible Church. Jesus said in John 11, plainly, Lazarus is dead. Jesus knows the girl's dead. They don't understand. They laugh at him. There's going to be a big change in a moment. The laughing's going to stop.

The sneering's going to stop. And by the way, regularly when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, are any body, the sneering, the laughing, how could you believe such a thing? Think about Paul on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17.

Now, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer. It means to throw the lip out. I'm going to even make a weird face because you're such an idiot to believe the resurrection. He puts them all out, brings in the family and his three trusted disciples.

And what does he do?

Verse 54.

You know the story, but it's still sweet. It's still wonderful. Taking her by the hand, what her temperature is, we don't know, called, saying, child, little girl, arise.

Interesting.

He doesn't say, dead body, get up. He talks to the girl. And just by saying, no mumbo-jumbo, no incense, no cutting himself to get the gods to answer, Jesus says. And Mark gives us a little translation, Talitha Kum, little girl, I say to you, arise.

Talitha, little lamb. Can you imagine the savior of the universe, the God of this world, who trumps Satan, the small g God of this world. Little girl, a text doesn't say it, but his attitude is just like him making that little girl rise from the dead and taking her and putting him on his lap.

Amazing.

Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Little lamb. Can you imagine a little lamb? I don't know what your nicknames for your children are, your grandchildren, but if you can't see the humanity here of Jesus and the kindness of Jesus, you're missing it.

We've seen his divinity, we've seen how great he is, he's the God man, but we also see Jesus with the little children. I say to you, get up, little girl, little lamb. I'm not doing this for our Scottish visitor today, but I had in my notes before I met him, we last get up.

Mark says immediately the girl rose and began to walk for she was 12 years old and immediately they were completely astounded. Now that's not the reaction that people have if she's just sleeping, she's taking a nap.

You're not astounded when a child gets up after their nap. She was really dead. John 5, Jesus said, just as the father raises the dead and gives him life, even so the son also gives life to whom he wishes.

I'll never forget at my father's funeral, singing those words, thine be the glory, risen conquering son. Endless is the victory, thou over death has won. They were laughing at Jesus and now dear Christian, you can laugh at death.

Did you know that? Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, oh death, where's your victory? Oh death, where's your sting? That's taunting. That's saying death, you have no more power over me.

Why?

Because of the resurrected Jesus who said, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live.

As the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming, Bethlehem Bible Church, when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, believers, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I mean the pain and the bereavement. To bereave means to rip and to tear the 12-year-old little daughter's dead.

And now the flip side, she's alive. Think about the joy, think about the happiness. Verse 55, her spirit returned, she got up at once, and he, Jesus, directed that something should be given her to eat.

My son Luke is here today, second time I mentioned him, that's $2 I owe him. Luke preached this passage from this very pope, and I remember what he said to this day, I guess being dead makes you hungry.

Only time I've ever quoted Luke, and I won't quote you again. You just see the kindness, little lamb, little girl, powerful, uphold the universe, but I care for you. And by the way, she needs something to eat.

Give her something to eat. And her parents were amazed. That's not all, but they were certainly amazed. And he charged them to tell no one what had happened. Boy, that'd be so hard, wouldn't it? Don't you see the divine power and the divine compassion?

Don't you see the divine authority and human love? Dear friends, this is how Jesus treats people. Isaiah 42, a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. Isn't that good?

That's wonderful.

I read something that was crazy about that man, James Simpson, who discovered chloroform. And they would use chloroform as an anesthesia for... I've been in the operating room with anesthesiologists, and they're different than anesthetists, but that's a different story.

But they would use it for that, that thing, C-A-R-E-E-N. And they would also use it for childbirth, because it obviously hurts, uh-huh. But there was a man who hated Simpson for doing this, because he thought women in childbirth should have pain, because that was part of the curse.

He said, chloroform was a decoy of Satan, apparently opening itself to bless women, but in the end hardening them and robbing God of their deep, earnest cries that they should arise to him in times of trouble.

Emma Zuck is looking at me like, oh, gross. As gross as that is, now you see how compassionate the Lord is. That's not the way the Lord teaches. That's not the way the Lord is, crushing. Should we sin?

No.

Do we sin?

Yes.

Do we get disciplined for that sin?

Yes.

But we have a great Savior who blesses, who comforts, who knows, who defends helpless cases he attends to. So when you read scripture, you should say to yourself, what's the divine intention? How does it fit in?

What's trying to be taught? Remember, Luke's teaching us that we can have certainty that Jesus is the Christ, that we trust him for eternal life. And you also can think about the nature and character of Jesus when he deals with other people.

And then you can say, that's the same Savior that I have. I have troubles and trials, and I don't have any hopeless cases in my life right now, in terms of health or something like that. But you say, this is the God who helps.

Did you know God is called God the helper? And he even gives us faith to trust in him when we don't get our answer to prayer, when someone we love does die and is not raised from the dead now. And so I look at this passage and I just say to myself, who's like Jesus?

Who does these things? What would it take for a man to walk into a room and you run over to him and get down on your knees and worship him as the God of the universe? This is what it would take, and that's why we get to see it, and that's why we get to trust in the Lord Jesus.

I hope you say to yourself, he is compassionate as well. He is powerful for me as well. He can be trusted by me as well. Jairus, daughter, the woman, and you, and me.

Let's pray.

Thank you, Father, for your word. You who did not spare your own son, but delivered him up for us all. How will you not also with him give us freely all things? And you do. There's no one like you. There's no one better than you.

There's no one equal to you. The Lord Jesus, loving that woman, daughter, and loving that daughter, little lamb, and loving us as well. Thank you for that. May we respond with an attitude of thanksgiving, evangelism, and more.

In Jesus' name, amen.