Disease Death and Daughters Luke 8:40-56

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Well, we thank the Lord for the blessings of this week, and now that it's going to be 105 or what have you,

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I always have to remind you, I used to work in the fruit business, the cold storage business of cooling the fruit, and I'm repeating myself to you, and they would say the days would get to be 105 and 110, and they'd say, just remember, the fruit is a lot sweeter when the heat gets hot.

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So thank you, Lord, for the sweet fruit, right? That's coming. So we thank the

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Lord for that. So the announcements, if you have your bulletin, feel free to take and look and remind yourself.

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A reminder of some of the other things this week, if you notice in the bulletin, the summer Bible study continues, and this

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Friday, July the 21st at 530, they continue in the book of Hebrews here at the church.

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So remember that, and also the Bible counseling course,

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July the 22nd, the next day, it's also a meeting here at the church, Saturday at 11 o 'clock.

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So those of you who would like to attend that, all are welcome to both. And next week is going to be a real blessing, going to be as we have a baptism coming up, and we just look forward to the

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Lord's blessing in that. We have several people that are going to be baptized.

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We thank the Lord for these individuals wanting to follow the Lord in this way. And if still, if you would like to be baptized and have not considered it, you just let the pastor know and he would be talking with you about that if that would be your desire.

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Also remind that the missionary of the month is John and Becky Knox, their missionaries in Japan.

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They have a church that they have their very hard work, as we had mentioned before, but also in their prayer letter, they mentioned they're having an

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English camp, the 17th. So it was, but they have people that come and they teach the

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Bible through teaching them English. And they've had several people then end up saying, we'd like to know more about the things of the

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Lord. And they come to their church and they said they have one such couple that will be coming this Sunday to their church who had been in the

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English camp. So remember, John and Becky Knox as and the prayer letters are back on the table there if you'd like to pick them up.

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So you feel free. Let's go to the Lord in prayer this morning. Thank you,

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Heavenly Father, for the blessings that you give to us. We thank you for the fact that we can come together in a free nation and worship you according to your word.

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And we just thank you for that, Lord. We thank you for this body of believers that have come together today.

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May our concentration be on you and how you interact in our life and love us and desire us to grow strong in you,

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Lord. We would pray that you would speak to each one of us through your word, even as we listen today through the songs as we sing.

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May we worship you and guide and direct us in that. And we will thank you. Be with pastor as he brings your word.

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Pray that you give him the liberty to speak the things that you had laid on his heart. And we will thank you and pray in Jesus name.

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Amen. All right, let's stand up and sing. Morning, everyone.

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Scripture reading today is going to come out of Leviticus chapter 15, verses 25 through 30.

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Verse 25. And whatever she sits on shall be unclean as the uncleanness of her impurity.

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Whoever touches those things shall be unclean. He shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

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But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count for herself seven days.

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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.

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Then the priest shall offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.

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And the priest shall make atonement for her for the Lord for the discharge of her uncleanness.

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This is the word of the Lord. The solid rock and my faith looks up to thee.

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Let's stand and sing. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 8.

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Luke chapter 8, verses 42 to 56.

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So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.

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And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.

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And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house. For he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

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But as he went, the multitudes thronged him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of his garment, and immediately her flow of blood stopped.

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And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied it, Peter, those with him, said,

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Master, the multitudes throng and press you, and you say, Who touched me? But Jesus said,

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Somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from me. Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him.

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She declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

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And he said to her, Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well.

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Go in peace. While he was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him,

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Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying,

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Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well. When he came into the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.

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Now all wept and mourned for her, but he said, Do not weep. She is not dead, but sleeping.

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And they ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead. But he put them all outside, took her by the hand in cold, saying,

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Little girl, arise. Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.

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And he commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished.

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But he charged them to tell no one what had happened. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray.

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Father, as we come before you, we are thankful that your son,

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Jesus, has full authority over death. We thank you that death is not the end, and Jesus has the full authority to give back life.

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And Father, we pray that as we face death of others or even our own, that we would know that our

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Savior is the one who reverses death and has done so on the cross.

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Give us the hope to face death well, knowing who is with us.

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In Jesus' name, amen. This is the continuation from the last passage, where we saw

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Jesus' full authority over the natural disasters and demons. Today, we see

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Jesus' full authority over disease and death. This particular disease is different from just a fever or any other disease that we may think of.

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It's particular in a way that it consists of flow of blood.

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And in the Jewish context, the flow of blood resembled death.

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And this is why. They believed, as God told them, that the life force of the person or even the animal is in the blood.

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And because of that, their whole spectrum of uncleanness, their whole category of uncleanness revolved around blood.

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Hence, when you look at the dietary laws, they're forbidden from eating anything that consumes blood.

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There's a degree of separation for the Jews from what represents death.

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And hence, this flow of blood as a disease is unique because it represents death.

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Blood flowing out of her is showing that she is experiencing something that is associated, very closely associated with death.

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And that's what made her unclean. It resembled death.

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And this healing miracle interrupts a greater miracle of the resurrection of the only daughter.

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In one sense, Luke shows through these two miracles that there is one who is in charge over even death itself.

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For all of human history ever since Genesis 3, death has been a reality.

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And that's because death is the natural consequence of sin. When you rebel against the

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God of life, you will experience the loss of life.

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If you're separated from the God of life, you'll experience death.

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And when we think about it, death is something that happens to everyone. And that has happened for thousands of years.

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And whether it's the death of a pet or the death of a loved one, no matter how many times one experiences it, it is a traumatizing loss.

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One may see it coming from decades away. Yet, no expectation, no preparation can harden the heart of the person who's experiencing the loss through death.

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And what we see here this morning is Jesus' view of death.

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What does the one who actually has all authority over death think of death itself?

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And all throughout the Bible, what we find out is whenever Jesus encounters death, whenever Jesus faces death head on, he wins.

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But not only that, any funeral that Jesus takes part in, he ruins it.

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He resurrects the dead person. He ultimately ruined his own funeral when he rose from the grave.

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And this is important this morning, not because there is a promise that one you lose in life would resurrect from the dead just like this only daughter.

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But the fact that when you do experience death of a loved one, or when you might face death yourself, you're not facing it alone.

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There is someone who has full authority over death right by your side. And he not only is mightier than death, but he's there beside you.

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He hates death more than you yourself. He grieves the loss with you.

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Now, this morning, this passage shows us, unlike the exorcism of thousands of demons from last week,

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Jesus commands privacy regarding the last miracle. And we have two women who are healed or experienced miracles.

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The woman who suffered the discharge of blood for 12 years and our little 12 -year -old girl who dies.

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And this morning, we see the heart of God who desired to seek both of them restored.

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The main point of today's text is that to all who believe, Jesus exercises the authority to compassionately and completely reverse death.

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To all who believe, Jesus exercises the authority to compassionately and completely reverse death.

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First, even through their timid faith, Jesus compassionately restores even those whom the world disregards.

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Even through their timid faith, Jesus compassionately restores even those whom the world disregards.

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Now, as Jesus returns to the western shore of the

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Sea of Galilee after his trip, he is warmly welcomed by the crowd.

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And verse 40 tells us that they were even waiting for him to return. Now, from the vast crowd,

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Luke shifts the attention to one man in verse 41. And behold, there came a man named

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Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house.

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A ruler of the synagogue is not a political position, but rather a social position.

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Think of him as an elder of a local congregation. And as an elder of a local synagogue, he led the assembly and worship.

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Although he was not politically powerful, he probably was socially very influential, especially in the region that's

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Jewish, and that was probably one of the few synagogues around. And he was the one preparing everyone for worship.

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Now, this man, upon Jesus' arrival, he falls down at his feet and starts to beg.

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And what this shows us is that Jesus was even approachable to those who are in power.

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Oftentimes people think that Jesus was only accessible to the poor and the needy, but Jesus was approachable to anyone who would come before him.

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He wasn't exclusive. Now, what's the reason for this humble gesture?

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Verse 42, For he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. Verse 42 reveals the core problem of this passage.

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Jairus' daughter is dying. And Luke adds an even more emotional weight here by revealing that she is

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Jairus' only. It's his little girl.

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It's his only little girl. And she was so precious to him that he was willing to beg

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Jesus to come visit his house. Maybe if Jesus just lays his hand on her as he has done for the leper and for that boy who was dead, maybe, maybe he can reverse the course of death that's impending.

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And in this scenario, there is nothing more unnatural than a death of a child before her parents.

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And we will see what Jesus will do to this unnatural course. And this account also parallels

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Jesus' first resurrection in Luke 7 when he raised the widow's only son from the dead.

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Now Jesus will raise Jairus' only girl from the dead.

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And from the second part of verse 42 to verse 43, Luke sets the background for another story.

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It's a story that interrupts the bigger story. And this passage is uniquely set that way where a miracle interrupts another miracle.

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But as he went, the multitude thronged him, gathered around him, surrounded him. Now a woman having a flow of blood for twelve years who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any.

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Now the crowd is still following Jesus. And this will be important for what's coming.

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In verse 43, we see that out of the many, there is one who specifically needs to see

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Jesus. This is an unnamed woman who has suffered some sort of hemorrhage, bleeding out for twelve years.

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And Luke's detail in here helps us to experience the desperation of this woman. Just as the twelve -year -old girl is dying, there is also a woman who has experienced bleeding for the same number of years and has suffered an incurable illness.

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And in the Jewish context, hemorrhaging is more significant, as I mentioned, because according to Leviticus 15, which was read today by Dexter, she was unclean.

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Because blood represented life of the person, her blood flowing out represented death.

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And in Israel, a nation that worshipped the God of life, anything that resembles or associates with death was considered unclean.

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Uncleanness did not mean sinful. Uncleanness was its own category.

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Sin could make someone unclean, but unclean did not mean someone sinned. That's important.

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This woman was not sinning just by her existence of blood flow. It's that because she was unclean, she was unable to worship the

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Lord with the rest of the congregation. Because she was unclean, and that uncleanness is contagious, she would not have been able to fellowship with other believers, even her own family member, lest they also become unclean.

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And this disease was more than just a physical ailment.

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For her, it was a social alienation. And what makes this situation sadder is that she spent all her money on physicians who were ultimately of no help.

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She was not only alienated, she was also poor. This was a woman who tried everything humanly possible and only faced one disappointment after another.

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Now after 12 years, she heard about Jesus. She has heard about He would only place

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His hand and the person would be restored, whether it's leprosy or even death.

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Then one day she finds out that this same Jesus is coming to her town. So she thinks to herself,

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If only I can just touch His garment. He doesn't even have to touch me.

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He doesn't even have to find out about my condition. Only if I could touch His garment,

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I can be healed. No one has to know about my humiliating status.

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So she, verse 44, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. Although some commentators rebuke her superstitious view of Jesus' garment,

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Luke only portrays this woman positively. After all, she had enough faith in Jesus' power to restore that even secretly touching

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His garment would be sufficient for her to be made well. Now what was the result?

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And immediately her flow of blood stopped. 12 years of alienation and disappointments and impoverishment came to an end from one touch.

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And you would think she could quietly go home. Just go back home in peace.

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No, there's one person who noticed this woman's action. Who touched me,

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Jesus said. Before the woman responds, Peter, one of his disciples and others, they chime in,

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Master, the multitudes throng and press you. And you say, Who touched me? The words throng and press are actually vivid words here.

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Throng in other places in the Bible is used to describe a siege, a military siege, a complete surrounding by the enemies, or even imprisonment.

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There's no way out. And press, on the other hand, is used in the context of squeezing grapes.

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You can tell how it must have sounded ridiculous to Peter and the other disciples when

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Jesus asked the question, Who touched me? And also, as we have been told a couple times already,

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Jesus is surrounded by a crowd. Wherever he's going, there's the crowd following.

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Now, to Peter's response, Jesus argues why he asked this question. Somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from me.

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Now, this is not to say that Jesus' power is like a certain amount of toothpaste inside, and you press the tube, and there's less toothpaste and less power to work with.

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That's not the point here at all. Rather, it shows us that Jesus is the very bearer of God's power.

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And he alone has the authority to use it. This is different from any other prophets in the

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Bible. Any other prophets, before they have to perform a miracle, they need to request it from God, either during the miracle or beforehand.

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From Moses to Elijah, they had to request God. Or God would tell them what would happen.

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Not so with Jesus. Jesus doesn't need to request and wait for God's power to come to him.

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He has direct access to God's power right now and then, because he is

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God himself. And he sensed that his power restored someone.

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Some argue that he didn't know who it was, and I think we will see that he knew who it was.

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He just wanted to give her the chance to speak up. The beginning of verse 47 tells us, now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, right?

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Of course, we don't get the privilege of seeing Jesus' body language or the gaze that he had.

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But the woman knew that Jesus knew. She came trembling and falling down before him.

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She declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

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She is trembling because she does not know how

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Jesus will respond. After all, an unclean woman touched this holy man of God.

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Would he treat her with wrath? Would he reverse the healing? No rebuke comes out of Jesus' mouth, but rather a gentle encouragement and affirmation.

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Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. As Jesus is headed to heal

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Jairus' only daughter who is dying, we see that to Jesus, there is someone just as important to him in his life.

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The woman who suffered hemorrhage for 12 years. We don't know anything about her family.

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We don't know anything about her background, socioeconomic status other than she is currently impoverished.

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However, we know one thing. Jesus considers her his family, his daughter.

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It is not just Jairus' only daughter who is precious to Jesus that he would travel all the way to heal her, but this unnamed woman is also daughter to Christ.

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This woman whom the crowd easily ignored was sought out by Jesus himself.

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He was willing to stop the whole entourage to speak to this woman.

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This woman whom her surrounding, right, the people around her viewed her as unclean for the last 12 years and avoided direct contact with her at all cost.

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Jesus sought to make her clean, even if it meant risking him being unclean.

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Not only that, he confirms her inner reality. Go in peace.

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If it wasn't clear enough that her recovery, immediate recovery, mind you, for the first time in 12 years showed that she was made clean before God, what

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Jesus does is that he reassures her.

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Woman, you have peace with God. Woman, God does not view you as alienable, rejectable, abandonable.

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There is now peace between you and God because I've restored you, woman.

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That's the reassurance she got. And that's the reassurance that Jesus gave after stopping the whole entourage.

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That was pretty urgent in the first place. And this morning, this passage shows us you do not have to be a child of a well -known synagogue leader to receive restoration from Jesus.

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You do not have to be a child of a well -known pastor to receive attention from Jesus.

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Your need for restoration is no interruption at all for this compassionate

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Savior. Other religions and social groups may focus and highlight the influential among them.

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They get to serve as bishops. They get to serve as elders, not under Christ.

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Christ recognizes and stops for the unnamed woman who was not a significant member of the society.

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In fact, she was not even part of that society because she was unclean. She was shunned.

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She was rejected. And Christ sees those who are regularly rejected as worth stopping for and restoring.

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Christ was on a mission for another miracle. But for this woman, even though she was made well,

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Jesus had to stop to talk to her, to reassure her, you have peace with God.

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Woman, you are clean. What this means is

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Christ sees those who are regularly rejected as worth stopping for and restoring.

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You are never too insignificant for the tender care of Jesus Christ.

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If he was on his way to prevent a death of a precious daughter of the religious leader, yet he stopped for this unnamed woman whom nobody really knew, would he not pause for you in your life?

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Would he not stop for you? Would he not be accessible to you right now?

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If Christ dropped everything he was doing to restore and reassure this woman, would he not do the same for you?

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How could anyone be too insignificant for Christ's abounding love?

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Second, this passage shows us that it is not the intensity of one's faith that saves, but the correct placement of the faith.

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This woman did not boldly jump out to request healing. She was not looking for any publicity at all.

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In fact, her timid faith allowed her to just reach out her hand to touch his outer garment, hoping for healing, but that was enough.

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In the end, restoration comes not based upon the strength of one's faith, but on the correct object of one's faith.

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In fact, if you believe in the wrong God, no matter how powerful your trust is, he can't save you.

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Thousands have died for Allah, but Allah cannot save any. And for Christians, you don't have to be martyred for Christ's sake to be saved by him.

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Even a little faith is enough for Christ to save you.

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Second, despite the hopelessness, Jesus reverses even death's final grasp.

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Despite the hopelessness, Jesus reverses even death's final grasp. The celebration, however, is short -lived.

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Immediately after, a messenger from Jairus' house brings a horrible news. Your daughter is dead.

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Do not trouble the teacher. Unfortunately, the precious daughter died during this delay from the healing and discussion.

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After stopping to heal a less serious disease, Jairus' daughter died.

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And you can almost hear Jairus' hope shatter the moment that message is received. He's made the journey all the way out here to beg

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Jesus on his knees to come with him, and they were so close, but it seems there's no need for Jesus anymore.

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However, Jesus calls Jairus to faith. Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well.

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Despite this hopeless situation, Jesus calls

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Jairus to believe. Jesus commands

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Jairus to trust in God's capability to reverse this situation, even when everything seems to be falling apart.

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God's ability to restore even when things seem the worst. Believe that.

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And the act of faith, of course, would be allowing Jesus to continue on the journey to his house.

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And that's what Jairus does. In verse 51, when he came into the house, he permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John and the father and mother of the girl.

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At this point, only a select few go in with Jesus to see what is about to unfold.

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Peter, James, and John are the special three throughout the gospel who actually do get to see more than others.

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In the next chapter, they will see the transfiguration of Jesus. Now, already at the house are mourners.

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They're weeping and mourning the death of Jairus' only daughter. The word for mourning here is actually very picturesque.

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It also means to strike. So what this means is it's a type of mourning where you're beating your chest because the grief is so great, where the internal sorrow cannot be kept in so you physically hit your chest.

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Again, the death of this daughter was unnatural and unsettling for everyone around.

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In response to these mourners, Jesus commands them to stop, to not weep.

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She is not dead, but sleeping. Now, sleeping is an ancient Jewish idiom for death.

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Jesus uses it in John 11 to refer to Lazarus, his dear friend who has died.

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In fact, Paul uses it in 1 Thessalonians 5 .10 to refer to believers who have died already.

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What the use of this idiom has in common is that their death is not the final story.

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Right? Their death is not the final story. Jesus said Lazarus was sleeping because he knew he would revive

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Lazarus from the dead. And Paul's encouragement is that those who are dead before Jesus comes will eventually live with him.

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Their death is not the end. For those who are sleeping, death does not have the final say.

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Hence, Jesus, knowing that he's about to raise the daughter, says she's sleeping.

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Now, after hearing Jesus' response, the mourners actually ironically begin to laugh. And they ridiculed him, knowing that she was dead.

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They cannot possibly believe how a dead girl can rise from the dead.

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That's not normal. That doesn't happen. The mourners are accustomed to death having the final word.

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They're accustomed to being ruled by death. Death is the natural end.

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What they don't realize is that there is a supernatural savior who is also the author of life.

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Regardless of their response, Jesus continues on. He does what he came to do to reverse death, to overrule death, to override death.

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But he put them all outside, took her by the hand, and called, saying, little girl, arise.

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And just like the healing of the woman, the result of Jesus' power is immediate.

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Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And we see here what death is.

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It is a violent separation from a person's spirit from the body.

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It's a violent separation of a person's spirit from that person's body.

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And this is why death is so harsh, despite its frequency. People die all the time.

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Animals die all the time. But why it is so disturbing and so traumatic is because that is not

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God's original intention for human life. God did not create human soul to be separated from human body ever.

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It's that when sin entered the world through human rebellion, that became normal.

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But when Jesus entered this funeral, he reversed its course. The spirit came back to the body, and the girl rose from the dead.

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Jesus' compassionate care is not just life -giving, it is also life -sustaining.

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And he commanded that she be given something to eat. Jesus' care is fully restorative.

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He tenderly considers every need of a life that he's just resurrected.

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He doesn't just major the major, he comprehensively covers all. Now, verse 56 tells us something curious.

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And her parents were astonished, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

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Unlike the previous healing miracle of the exorcism of the demoniac, this event must not be proclaimed.

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Now, of course, this isn't for the secrecy reason because obviously if a dead girl walks out her front door for the first time since dying, everyone else would know that something happened, a miracle has happened.

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And in fact, they probably would might as well guess it's Jesus. He's the one who said he's just sleeping.

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And unlike the previous resurrection of the only boy in Luke 7, the parents must keep quiet about what

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Jesus has done. And the question here is why? And many have tried to come up with answers.

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But I think the most striking one is that Jesus did not want his ministry to be focused on miracles.

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This is not to say Jesus didn't perform miracles. His focus here was not performing daily miracles.

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His daily duty was not to go around hospitals and funerals and run them out of business. His mission was far greater than just individual healing and individual resurrection.

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He didn't come to reverse some deaths around the region. After all, if people hear about this, the bigger crowds will come about and then invite him over to touch and command their dead to arise.

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His mission was far greater. His mission is to reverse death once and for all, for all who believe.

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Ultimately, even his early ministry points toward the cross, what he came to do to reverse death once and for all.

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Even this miracle is a mere signpost toward what his ministry is all about.

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It points to not just to cancel a couple of funerals, but to cancel death once and for all.

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Death, an overwhelming force that humans could not reverse.

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No amount of money, no amount of good works, no amount of technology, no amount of medical advancement, even to this day can reverse death.

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But Jesus, who is not just a human, but God incarnate, came to cancel death once and for all.

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This precious daughter, although revived at 12, eventually died later in life.

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Death still got her. What this means is Jesus did not come to elongate the lifespan of his people, but rather he came to eliminate death for his people.

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He did this by experiencing death himself once and for all on our behalf.

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Hebrews 2 .9 said, But we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, that's when he became man, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by God's grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.

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Jesus took your place in the judgment of death that you earned from sinning so that you would take his place in the undeserved life that he's earned through faith.

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And for those who trust in Christ, death is merely falling asleep.

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Not because you will lose your consciousness, that's not the metaphor at all, but because it will not be the ultimate end.

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For those who believe in Christ, not only will death be the beginning of your life in heaven with your

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Saviour, but also he will reunite your soul with your resurrected body, just as he did for Jairus' daughter.

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But unlike the daughter, your resurrected body will never taste death again.

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It will never decay because it has been redeemed by your Saviour's blood.

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For Christians, when there is death, it is appropriate to grieve because when we grieve the loss of someone's life, we're actually agreeing with God that death is inappropriate, death is, in fact, violence against God's good creation, and we're agreeing with Christ, who hated death so much that he died to end it all.

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For Christians, when there is death, we do grieve, but we grieve with hope, knowing that because Christ died for us on the cross, death does not have a final say in our lives.

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Death does not have the final word because Jesus will have the final word when he commands, arise.

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Let us pray. Father, we're thankful for our

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Saviour, who not only has the power to revive, but has the heart and the desire to revive us.

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Thank you that his mercy and might go together, and thank you that he opposes death with full force, he despises death with all his being, and because of his heart and love toward us, that he died to save us from death, and we pray that you would help us to see

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Christ when we do face death, knowing what kind of God is beside us, even amidst death.

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In Jesus' name. Why don't you stand with me?

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I was thinking, since we have a God who can be trusted, this is a good song to close with.

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We have a mighty God who can be trusted, and as Pastor said, it's not so much our faith, but what we are putting our trust in, and it's our

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God. He's such a faithful and strong, loves darkness.

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He's such a faithful and strong, loves darkness.