FBC Daily Devotional – April 15, 2021

Well, April 15th, Thursday, April 15th, normally this would be tax day, but I guess, thanks to COVID, you get a reprieve if you haven't already filed your taxes and dealt with that.

Some of you, if you were getting a refund, probably dealt with that a long time ago. I know,

I know I did. I just figured it was no sense, no sense having Uncle Sam have that money any longer than he absolutely has to.

Well, that's just my opinion on the matter. Well, anyway, have you ever had a child that was,

I mean, really seriously ill? Like seriously ill? I remember when our son was just a couple of years old,

I can't remember exactly how old he was, but probably maybe three, but he had just gotten a round of vaccinations.

And right after he got those vaccinations, his fever spiked.

I mean, he had a seriously high fever and we were very, very concerned about it.

In fact, he got to be so high and we were so worried about him that we took him to the emergency room to the hospital.

And that was a little bit of a driveway. It wasn't like an hour or anything, but it was far enough away that it was a long drive, that 10 minutes or 15 minutes to the hospital.

And we got in the hospital and had to have some IV fluids or something like that. I can't remember what all happened, but I just remember the sense of urgency and panic.

Well, you read a dad who knows what that urgency and panic is like in today's reading in Mark chapter five, and you can just sense his earnestness, can't you?

Jairus comes running to Jesus and he is burdened because his daughter is sick and she's about to die.

She's at death's door. But Jairus knows if Jesus can just get there before she dies, that he could heal her.

He could, if he could just get there. So he comes to Jesus and he pleads with Jesus.

Would you please come and heal my daughter? She's at the point of death. And Jesus agrees.

And so Jairus begins the journey, leading Jesus back to his home. Now, we don't know how far that was.

I don't imagine it was all that far, but there they are. They're in this procession, leading

Jesus back to Jairus' house. And then comes the interruption. Some woman who has had a chronic condition for a dozen years comes up to Jesus and quietly, surreptitiously touches his cloak and she's miraculously healed.

Now, at that point, she didn't really do anything to hinder Jesus from going on his way.

She just touched his cloak. I'm sure other people did too. When Jesus asked about it, the disciples asserted that, well,

Jesus, you're in a crowd. A lot of people touched your cloak. What do you mean, who touched your cloak? But Jesus stopped nevertheless.

Can you imagine the frustration on the part of Jairus right now? Wait a minute, what's going on? Why are we stopping?

And Jesus says, who touched my cloak? Again, think about Jairus and his response to all of this.

Jesus stops the processional to ask who touched his cloak. And then when the woman finally confesses, he's taking precious time to interview her.

Time is ticking by. The sand is coming through the hourglass and the girl's life is ebbing away.

She could die if he doesn't get there. I want you to notice something that in verse 34,

Mark tells us that Jesus addresses her, this woman with the issue of blood, as daughter.

He said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.

And remember, of whom is Jairus concerned? His daughter, his daughter.

So at the end of the interview, the word arrives to Jairus. Your daughter has died.

Don't trouble the master any longer. Your daughter has died. All right, now pause there.

Pause there and feel that for a moment. Can you imagine the frustration arising in Jairus' heart?

The, if only, the potential anger? If only this woman hadn't interrupted,

Jesus could have saved her. And yet, how does

Jesus respond? Jesus responds by reassuring Jairus, encouraging him, encouraging him, listen, encouraging him to have the same faith for his daughter's welfare that the nameless daughter had.

So we don't know the name of that woman that was healed of her issue of blood. We don't know what her name was, but the

Lord commends her for her faith. Her faith has made her whole. And now Jesus encourages

Jairus to have the same faith for his daughter that this nameless daughter had as well.

And as they go on to Jairus' house, he takes

Jairus and a couple of his disciples into where the dead daughter is lying in state.

And he demonstrates that there really is nothing that interrupts him from his saving purposes.

He takes the daughter by her hand and while she is sleeping, and he simply says to her, little girl,

I say to you, arise. And she arises.

Her life is restored to her once again. Immediately, the girl got up and began walking, the text tells us.

Nothing could save or could interrupt Jesus from his saving purposes.

And there's another interesting little detail about this, that this seems like making her come back to life was the big thing.

First, healing her was the big thing. And making her come back to life was the big thing that Jesus needed to be concerned with.

And of course he was, and he took care of that need. But then did you pick up what

Jesus said next? Give the girl something to eat. Certainly she's hungry.

Now there's one other little detail that I'd like to point out here. How old was this girl when she died?

The text tells us that she was 12 years of age. Remember how long that woman, that nameless daughter, remember how long she'd had her infirmity?

As long as that little girl had been alive for 12 years. Now, I don't know what all the significance of that is.

The 12 years, the daughter of Israel who had her infirmity for 12 years and Jesus healed her.

This daughter of Jairus in her 12th year, her life expires and Jesus heals her, restores her to life.

Well, one thing's important. One thing's clear, that nothing, nothing, nothing interrupts

Jesus from his saving purposes. Whether the purpose is to deal with a 12 year chronic illness or to raise a 12 year old girl from life threatening death, infirmity, raise her from death.

Nothing, nothing interrupts him from his purposes. And you know what?

That's still true today. Nothing interrupts Jesus from his purposes, from his saving purposes.

He will save his own. Our father and our God, we are so grateful today for the sovereignty and the omniscience of our

Lord Jesus and his omnipotence. And thank you that there is nothing that can hinder him.

Nothing can frustrate him. Even though there are things that seem to frustrate us and get us in a tizzy, nothing frustrates him.

We're so grateful for that truth today. Encourage us with it, we pray. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, well, have a good Thursday, the rest of your Thursday, and I hope the Lord will bless you in it.