Mark 5:21-43

We are in Mark and we're in chapter 5 as we continue our verse by verse exposition of the book.

We're going to begin reading today in verse 21 and read through verse 43.

So please join me there as I read.

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying,

My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live.

And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better, rather grew worse.

She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

For she said, If I touch even his garment, I will be made well.

And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said,

Who touched my garments?

And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, Who touched me?

And he looked around to see who had done it.

But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe.

And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James.

And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

And when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping.

And they laughed at him.

But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.

Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha Kumai, which means, Little girl, I say to you, arise.

And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was twelve years of age.

And they were immediately overcome with amazement.

And he strictly charged them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.

Join me in prayer.

Father, we thank you this morning for the ability to come together and meet.

And we thank you that we are your redeemed ones, your church.

We praise you this day that you have given us your word, that we might study it to know you better,

and to better know how we ought to live to exalt your name.

We thank you that you have given to us the Spirit as a helper,

that he might soften our hearts and sharpen our minds,

that we will receive the truth that you have for us this day and apply it to our very being.

And Father, it is our great prayer that as we study together,

that you will change us from one stage of glory to another,

that we will leave here looking more like Christ,

so that we can make him great amongst this world.

We pray this in his name.

Amen.

So, before we get into the details of this story,

let me just remind you a bit of the setting.

Jesus' primary ministry up to this point has been in Galilee,

would be on the north side of the nation that they're functioning in,

and he's functioned primarily out of Capernaum.

Capernaum has kind of been his home base of operations,

and that's where he's been sending out and going back and sending out and going back.

And we found him back at the beginning of chapter 4 on the side of the sea,

which is just outside of Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, on the western coast,

and he gets out into a boat because the crowd is so big that they're pressing in on him,

and he's able to speak to them from the water.

Following this, this discourse that Mark records for us,

he sets out across the Sea of Galilee, about six miles wide,

and a great storm arises.

And we get the wonderful story at the end of chapter 4

of Jesus speaking to the storm and calming it.

And then he arrives on the eastern coast,

and it's called in verse 1 of chapter 5,

of the country of the Gerasenes,

which was kind of a Gentile stronghold, so to speak,

within the primarily Israeli nation now that they're functioning in.

And so we see him then here in the Gerasenes,

and this is where he casts out the legion of demons that we saw last week.

And these people, because they were afraid of him,

and because he cast this legion of demons into a herd of pigs,

which would have brought somebody some livelihood,

and they all were driven into the sea and drowned,

asked him to leave.

So he's gotten back in the boat,

and he's crossed back over the Sea of Galilee,

crossed this six miles,

and he's landed once again on the western bank,

back outside of Capernaum,

where he did the primary amount of his ministry.

In the Gospel of Luke, when we see this story,

we actually see that a crowd had gathered and was waiting for him to return.

So as he left to go to the other side,

a crowd gathered and was waiting for him to come back onto the western shore.

And so here we see him landing and immediately encountering these two separate characters.

Before we talk about them, though,

it's also important for us to back up a little bit

and just be reminded of the meta-narrative which we all live under.

The great story would be another way of saying that word.

That is that the world is under the curse of sin.

Because of original sin,

because what Adam did in the garden,

sin has passed to all of us,

and the effects of sin have passed to all of us.

Sin runs rampant where we are,

and its effect beyond that runs rampant.

It's a wonder that we don't hate sin more as those who are delivered from it,

because it causes all of the things in this world that we consider bad.

It's why any of us are tired this morning.

It's why I've been a bit sick for the past few weeks.

It's why my little Judah burned his hand.

If you see the big scab on his hand,

that's why that happened,

and why it hurt so badly when it happened.

It's why Cade has a cough.

It's why when I woke up at 4 a.m. when he was coughing,

it was painful to wake up at 4 a.m.

It's why work is labor.

It's why we will battle weeds in our garden this year.

Every time you pull a weed, sin.

It's why families are torn apart.

It's why the word family has been redefined,

the institution itself torn down.

It's why there is so much corruption in the business and political realms.

It's why the world experiences war and famine and rampant disease.

Sin ushered into this world a great deal of decay.

It's why people die, and it's why we will one day die.

Romans 5.12 says,

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man,

and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men,

because all sinned.

So the state in which we function,

even as those who have been delivered from the bondage of sin,

who have redeemed souls and can now live to God,

we still feel the effect.

There's still a judgment on this world

for the sin that has been committed.

And we have seen now,

time and time again,

in the Gospel of Mark,

people who were suffering because of sin.

And that is what makes the good news of Jesus Christ good news.

Sin is bad news.

Jesus Christ is good news.

As He comes to usher in a new kingdom,

as He comes to heal and comes to deliver,

that's why He goes about doing all of these miracles,

to give validation to His message

and to show that He is the great healer,

the one that comes to take away sin

and to fix all of the things that sin has torn apart.

So remember, that's who we're talking about here.

That's the Jesus that we're talking about here

as we look at these two miracles

that are sandwiched together.

And you see this used as a literary form

in a number of places in the Scriptures

where things seem to be disjointed but sandwiched together.

But that's not the case here.

This is the way the actual event happened.

That God orchestrated and brought about in His providence.

There's two miracles happening at the same time

because you see that the miracle of the healing of the woman

is actually an interruption

on the task that Jesus was set about.

And they are, in this way,

juxtaposed against one another.

You've got Jairus,

who's a ruler of the synagogue,

which would have been at the very top of society.

He would have had some administrative responsibility.

He wasn't a priest,

but he would have had some administrative responsibility

in the temple.

For a modern-day example,

if you think of one of the large churches in our area,

this may have been the pastor of administration

who took care of all the back-end things

that were going on.

But imagine that that church

was the only church in our region.

And everybody knew that he was the guy

that ran the show.

He would have looked after the storehouses

or provisions for the sacrifice.

would have been highly esteemed for his position.

Whereas we see the woman,

she had an illness,

a discharge of blood,

which was some type of menstrual disorder.

And she would have been at the very bottom of society.

While Jairus is a ruler of the synagogue,

she would have been forbidden from worshiping in the synagogue

because of her condition.

If you care to read on that,

Leviticus 15, 19-33

can bring some understanding to you

about why that was the case.

She was the bottom.

She was considered unclean.

People didn't want to be around her or touch her

because if they did,

they were considered unclean

and forbidden from worship.

She was at the very bottom.

Jairus has a daughter who is sick.

She's close to death's doorstep.

She's about to die.

She's 12 years old.

And we have a woman who has had a disease for 12 years.

I don't know the connection there,

but I thought it was fascinating

that the ages were the same in that way.

So we see then these very interesting,

different characters brought together in this one story.

And so I want us to look together.

I want us to note three things about our Lord from this text.

Firstly, notice the power of Christ.

Notice number one, the power of Christ.

And we have seen this time and time again.

If you've been with us in our study in Mark,

Mark is working to,

he's trying to convince us

that we should be followers of Christ,

that Jesus is in fact the Son of God.

And he displays that over and over again

in his very comic book fashion,

very punchy style.

He gives us story after story after story

of the power of Christ.

And we see it again here.

At the end of chapter 4,

we saw some of the most amazing display of this

where he calms a storm with the words,

Peace, be still, just speaks.

And the waves and the wind obey him.

At the beginning of chapter 5,

we see this man possessed by a legion of demons.

And I don't remember the exact number,

but a legion in this day

was approximately 6,800 men.

Was it that many demons?

We don't know.

But it was such a force,

the text tells us in verse 4,

that no one had the strength to subdue him.

Right?

No one had the strength.

Mark inspired, writes this down,

because right after that,

who subdues him?

Jesus.

Right?

And at the end of chapter 5,

we see him heal a woman

that no physician could heal.

Again, look at that scathing commentary

on physicians of the day in verse 26.

Interestingly, Luke says nothing about the physicians,

as he was a physician himself.

Right?

But in verse 26, he says,

And she had suffered much under many physicians,

and had spent all that she had,

and was no better,

but grew worse.

And I don't know if Mark was cynical

of medicine of the time.

I almost said Western medicine,

but this would have actually been Eastern medicine.

or not, but clearly,

she hadn't been healed.

She had an illness that could not be healed

by these people.

And what do we see happen after that?

Jesus heals her.

Not with a word this time,

but simply with a touch.

As she sneaks up behind him,

touches the hem of his garment,

and the power that he possesses

is enough to heal him.

Now, this is not the first time

that we've seen Jesus heal by touching.

Explicitly, we see it,

summarized in Mark chapter 6, verse 56.

Mark 6:56

You can flip there if you want.

And whenever he came in villages,

cities, or countryside,

they laid the sick in the marketplaces,

and implored him that he might touch

even the fringe of his garment.

And as many as touched it were made well.

And it's more implicitly taught,

previously in Mark chapter 3, verse 10,

Mark 3:10

for he had healed many,

so that all who had diseases

pressed around him to touch him.

It was said in Jesus' day

that he rid the land of sickness.

So, as I've been studying this,

I've almost,

I've gotten to this kind of mode

where I'm like,

oh, another healing.

Alright.

What are we going to talk about this week?

We've got another healing in front of us.

But it's important to note

the degree of his power

that he healed,

and he healed,

and he healed,

and he healed.

He also resurrects a young girl.

This is the first time we see this

as a record in the Gospel accounts.

He resurrects a young ruler.

This daughter of the ruler of the synagogue.

And here, he simply speaks.

The English record is,

little girl,

I say to you,

arise.

She was dead,

and she came back to life.

Now, this was likely

a ruler of the synagogue,

of the very same synagogue

that he entered into

in chapter 1.

If you'd like,

you can flip back a couple of pages

in your copy of God's Word.

Beginning in verse 21.

We won't read that together,

but this story is when he enters into

the synagogue,

and a man with an unclean spirit

is afraid of him,

and he says to him,

again with his words,

verse 25,

be silent and come out of him.

And he obeys.

He has no choice but to obey

because of the power of Christ.

Jesus is and was powerful.

The world was created

through him and for him

by the power of his Word.

He now holds everything that exists

in its proper order

by the power of his Word.

Let that truth just sink into you.

I can accomplish very little

with my words.

I think I'm gifted to teach.

My gifting is smaller

than other people's gifting

to do so.

At times have been said

that I am convincing.

I can convince people

to do some things,

but that is meager.

That is little.

It is very difficult

to convince much with my words,

but Jesus,

by the power of his Word,

does everything.

Nothing holds together

that is apart from him.

You've heard me say before

if you've been here long

that I am held in the shape of me

by the power of Jesus' Word.

That if Jesus were to stop,

if he were to say no more,

all of us would just burst

into a billion atoms.

What holds me in this shape?

Right?

It's the power of Jesus' Word.

It's phenomenal.

But,

as we've seen all these

wonderful examples

of the way in which Jesus

has expressed his power

in the world,

there was no greater display

than in the display

of his power on the cross

when he humbled himself

and was beaten beyond recognition

but hung there for our sake

and bore the wrath of God

that we might have

the redemption of our souls

in him.

That act was all-powerful.

It was perfect in its power

to forgive the sins

of those who would

and will believe in him.

Incredible.

The fact that Jesus said

on the cross,

it is finished,

needs to mean something

for our lives.

He accomplished the work.

It is done.

It has the power

for the salvation of my soul

and now the sanctification of it.

And you're not a believer today,

it has the power

for the salvation of your soul

as well.

Just believe

that it has that power.

Now for us,

we are not granted

the same power,

the same degree,

although we have been

given power

and particularly,

we've been given power,

a tool in our hands

to use

and that is the gospel.

We get to be part

of God's work

in bringing about change

in this world

by the power

of the gospel.

Remember in Mark 1.1,

Mark says,

the beginning of the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

All that Jesus was

and is

and will be

is part of this good news

of who Christ is.

His person and His work.

You hear me say that

consistently and constantly.

His person and His work.

Paul understood this

in Romans 1.16,

the first part of it.

For I am not ashamed

of the gospel.

Why?

I'm not ashamed of the gospel

as I present myself

to this dark world,

to this fallen place,

this place infected by sin.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel

for it is the power of God

for salvation

to everyone who believes.

We have been given

power in the sense

that we are tools

in the hands of the Almighty,

that we might propagate

the truth of Him everywhere.

As we behold

the power of Christ,

we should remember

that He came primarily

to seek and to save

the lost.

The way in which

He presents miracles

are simply

so that people would

stop and listen

that His message

might be validated.

And this is the message,

the same message

that we now have,

that we've been entrusted with,

that we might spread

the good news of Him

everywhere.

Secondly,

I would like for you

to notice

the compassion

of Christ.

Notice the compassion

of Christ.

This is also

not the first time

that we have seen

this to be true.

Previously,

in the Gospel of Mark,

one of my favorite

examples of this,

chapter 1,

verse 40-45,

we see a man

with leprosy

who has to live

in desolate places

because of his condition.

He was ordered.

People would have

nothing to do with him.

He had to stay

outside of town

because none of them

wanted to contract

this horrible disease.

He was forced

to be outside

of community,

forced to be alone.

And Jesus

has compassion on him.

He heals him.

And because He heals him,

Jesus is forced

to go out

to desolate places.

He trades places

with Him

in the same way

that He traded places

with us on the cross.

He takes the shame.

He takes the burden.

And He goes and dwells

in desolate places.

Great display

of compassion.

And then my next favorite

is chapter 5.

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

This man who's stricken

with demons

who's,

in other gospel accounts,

we see that he's naked,

that he's crying out

in the wilderness,

that he's cutting himself

with stones.

And Jesus lands

on the shore

and the very first thing

He does

is sees a man

who desperately

needs to be delivered.

And He does so.

The account we get

is that the man

wants to go with Him.

Of course,

he would want to go with

Jesus who had delivered

Him in this way.

And Jesus leaves Him behind

and tells Him to go

and tell all the Lord

has done for Him

and how He has had mercy

on Him.

Jesus is God.

We've seen this

over and over again.

We see that displayed

in the power of God.

But we also see that

displayed in the compassion.

Psalm 103.13

records,

as a father shows compassion

to his children,

so the Lord,

Yahweh in the Hebrew,

God Almighty,

shows compassion

to those who fear Him.

And here we see that

so clearly expressed

in the person

of Jesus Christ.

Note how he even

intercedes

in the potential trouble

that Jairus may have

encountered

at the delivery

of the news

that his daughter

has gone ahead

and passed.

There's this interruption

on the way.

This interruption

that slows Jesus down.

He stops to talk

to this woman

that has pressed in

and has touched

his garment.

And he takes the time

to overhear the news

and to say to Jairus,

do not fear,

only believe.

Do not fear,

only believe.

Remember the faith

that caused you

to come and find me.

To fall at my feet

and ask that I would come

and heal your daughter.

Remember that faith.

Do not fear,

only believe.

And he goes on with him

to the house.

Phenomenal expression

of that kind of compassion.

Now for us,

we are called

in the same way

to have compassion.

Look again

at another example

of Jesus

and His compassion.

Matthew 9.

Please turn there.

Matthew 9,

Matthew 9:35

verse 35.

And here we see Jesus

and His compassionate character

turning that outward

to those who would be

His disciples.

So as He's compassionate,

He's now asking them

to be compassionate.

Verse 35,

And Jesus went throughout

all the cities and villages

teaching in their synagogues

and proclaiming the gospel

of the kingdom

and healing every disease

and every affliction.

Boy, I love that.

Every.

So good.

Verse 36,

When He saw the crowds,

He had compassion for them

because they were harassed

and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples

and He says to us

this morning,

The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly

to the Lord of the harvest

to send out laborers

into His harvest

to send out those

that would have compassion

the way in which

Jesus had compassion.

Do you look at the world

in that way?

Do you look out at people

who are harassed

and helpless by sin?

That are held in bondage to it?

And having the keys

to unlock

the shackles that hold them

in that place,

do you have compassion on them?

Do you go to seek

to deliver them

from the place

that they're in?

I think far too often

the answer to that is no.

If we're honest with ourselves,

the answer to that is no.

And as disciples of Christ,

we ought to be compassionate

the way He was.

The writer of Hebrews,

in his drive

to keep the Hebrew believers

devoted to Christ

and to His ways,

reminded them of a time

that they were compassionate,

reminded them of a time

that that was

a better choice.

Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 10:32

verse 32.

And I would ask you

to join me there,

although I may start

off ahead of you.

So Hebrews 10,

Hebrews 10:32

verse 32.

The writer of Hebrews says,

But recall the former days.

Back when,

after you were enlightened,

when you had become a believer,

you endured a hard struggle

with sufferings.

Sometimes being publicly exposed

to reproach and affliction,

and sometimes being partners

with those so treated.

So sometimes you were afflicted

and persecuted,

and sometimes you partnered

with those.

And here's the example,

verse 34.

For you had compassion

on those in prison.

And this day,

if you didn't have somebody

to come and care for you

in prison,

they didn't care for you.

There was not cable TV

and three meals a day.

This didn't happen.

They threw you in a cell,

and they permitted family members

or friends to come

and bring food.

That was it.

That's what you got.

For you had compassion

on those in prison,

and you joyfully accepted

the plundering

of your property.

So as they're going

to help the Christians

who are in prison

for their faith,

they're automatically

identifying themselves.

They're going to take food,

they're going to take provision,

and they're saying,

we love these people.

These are our people.

And therefore,

they're identifying themselves

as Christians,

and they joyfully,

it's a phenomenal thing,

it's a strange thing,

it's a set apart

from the world thing

to see that they joyfully

accepted the plundering

of their property.

They had compassion

that drove them

to not even care.

To not care

that their property

was plundered,

that their things

were stolen,

that graffiti was written

on their walls.

Why?

Since you knew

that you yourselves

had a better possession

and an abiding one,

one that couldn't

be taken away.

What is he talking about?

He's talking about Christ.

They had a better possession.

Jesus Christ.

Beloved,

why do we hold on

to things

that are lesser

when we can have greater?

It's a simple trade.

Such an easy decision to make.

If we can gain more of Christ,

why would we not give

all that we have

and all that we are

to have compassion

for those

who are in the shackles

of sin

that we might gain

more of Him?

Yesterday morning,

I spent some time

with Gary Bailey.

We went and got some breakfast

and visited a friend of his

who gave me some books

from his library.

And on our way back,

I saw a big 15-passenger van

with D-Now written

on the back of it.

If you guys don't know,

that's Disciple Now.

And there's a church

in the area

having a Disciple Now

this weekend.

So I just kind of mused at it.

I remember some

Disciple Now days.

They're probably headed

to recreation

on a Saturday morning

to go be crazy

and have a lot of fun together,

which is good.

Out in front of that,

I could see

a bright green Dodge Viper,

which is a six-figure vehicle

if you don't know that.

It's a $100,000 vehicle.

And as Gary passed the Viper,

which now that I think about it,

it's kind of ironic

in the Toyota,

D-Now was also written

on the Viper as well.

And it broke my heart

for the man driving it

because he's been misled.

His own heart

has deceived him

to think that

there's greater joy

found in that car

than what he could do with it,

what he could do

with the money that it took

to purchase

a two-seater,

six-figure vehicle

to gain more of Christ.

Wasn't mad at him

for what he could have done

with the money.

Wasn't jealous

that he had the money

to buy a vehicle like that,

but sad for him

because it means something

about what he believes

about who Jesus is.

He doesn't believe

that Jesus is more precious,

that he's more valuable.

And how is it

that we serve him?

We serve the least

of these, right?

What could he do

that would gain more for him,

that would put up

treasure in heaven for him,

that would help

have him experience

in greater degree

what it is God is doing

and accomplishing

in this world?

Because I can tell you

the little snot-nosed kid

riding with him

was not the kind of joy

that he wants to bring

into the world.

Like, he was having fun,

I'm sure.

But ultimately,

why does God

give us gifts

that we might

know him better

and enjoy him more?

Let's talk about

a couple examples

of compassion.

Tomorrow, St. Patrick's Day.

Most of you

may be aware of that.

It's a very bizarre holiday

that we celebrate

in the U.S.

In very bizarre ways.

I actually heard somebody

on TV this week say

that it's the only holiday

that what it's celebrating

is drinking beer.

Wow!

It got perverted

that far away

from the life

of the man

called Patrick

that we know

as St. Patrick.

You know, Patrick's

not from Ireland.

He's actually

from Britain.

Wales, Scotland area

more than likely

was some sort

of British aristocracy.

At the age of 16

he was kidnapped

by a band

of Irish marauders

and they came

and they kidnapped him

and they took him

back to Ireland

where he served

as a slave

for six years.

Six years

in servitude

as a slave

and had a dream

that God told him

that it was time

to get out of the country

and he took off

towards the east coast

and a ship

just happened

to be sailing by

right when he hit the coast.

He got on it

and it took him

back home.

As he returned home

though

as a believer

in Christ

he had

picked up

the religion

of his parents

while he was

in slavery.

He found a great deal

of comfort

in the promises

of God

while he was there

and as he returned

to his homeland

as a believer

in Christ

he had this

compassionate heart

worked in him

for the Irish.

The very ones

the brutes

that had enslaved him

for those six years

and he spent

twelve years

he studied

to become a priest

he returned

to Ireland

at the age of 34

as a missionary

where he remained

the majority

of his life.

he spent 40 years

evangelizing

the Irish.

This is

not a normal

thing to do.

This is not

the actions

of a normal

man.

Praise God

that Jesus

makes us

extraordinary.

That he works

in us

his heart

and doesn't

leave us

with our old

dead

vindictive

hearts.

On the world's terms

he had

no reason

to return.

Didn't owe them

anything.

In fact if he owed

him anything at all

it was vengeance

of some sort.

He was some sort

of aristocracy.

He could have

raised up an army

and gone back

to Ireland.

But instead he goes

back and he raises

up a different

kind of army.

He raises up

a band of believers

and he would take

them with them

to the next village

and he would leave

behind the mature

to continue to

evangelize

and to start a church

and he would take

with him two new

believers and they

would go to the

next place and go

to the next place

and go to the next

place and brought

about a great deal

of devotion to God

in his time

there.

The opposite

of Patrick

we've got a good

biblical example

of that.

I remember the

story of Jonah

I alluded to it

last week.

God says to Jonah

the very beginning

of the book of

Jonah he comes to

him and he tells

him that he's to

go to Nineveh

and to preach

repentance

and Jonah says

no I'm not

I'm going the

opposite direction

I'm heading out

across the

Mediterranean

I'm going to

a place called

Tarshish

I'm getting as

far away from

Nineveh as I

possibly can

and we all know

what happened to him

thrown overboard

swallowed by a

large fish

spit back out

on shore

the reason he

didn't want to

go to Nineveh

is because it

was the Syrian

capital

the Syrians

were horrible

horrible people

they had a great

deal of damage

to the Israelites

they were their

enemies

right

one of Israel's

most cruel

enemies

nothing compared

to the Babylonians

they were

horrific in the

way in which

they conquered

skinned people

alive just as

an example

horrible people

this is the

capital city

of that

and Jonah

had no

compassion

for them

no compassion

whatsoever

yet God

did

and used

Jonah

to accomplish

this

look what

Jonah says

in chapter 4

verse 1 and 2

but it displeased

Jonah exceedingly

except for the city

in a massive way

turns to God

and he was angry

and he prayed

to the Lord

and said

oh Lord

is not this

what I said

when I was yet

in my country

that is why

I made haste

to flee

to Tarshish

for I knew

that you are

a gracious God

and merciful

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and relenting

from disaster

Jonah knew

that God's character

was compassionate

Jonah knew

that if he went

and preached

God would have

compassion

on these people

and that's why

he ran away

a bad example

praise God

that he was obedient

in the end

and God accomplished

his work

apart from him

we can learn

from Jonah

while God

snatched Jonah

up by the back

of the neck

and sent him

where he was

supposed to go

I would like

to serve the Lord

with gladness

and joy

and appreciate

the things

that he leads me

into

and I get to

participate in

not to do it

begrudgingly

or to have God

use someone else

to accomplish

his work

God intended

to save

the souls

of people

in Nineveh

and he was

going to get

it done

one way

or another

this would be

paramount

for us

on 9-12

oh gosh

I forget the year

was it 2001

9-11 happened

okay

thank you

on 9-12

of you saying

I have a

compassionate heart

for Muslims

and the Taliban

and I want to

go to the place

where they are

headquartered

and share

the good news

of Jesus Christ

with them

this would be

similar

this is what

St. Patrick did

it took him

some time

to go back

this is what

Jonah did

begrudgingly

but it is in fact

what he did

this would be

the same

do we have

compassionate

hearts

do we recognize

that Jesus

came into this

world to seek

and to save

the lost

people who are

shackled by sin

people who

we ought not

expect them

to act any

other way

than sinfully

this is a great

example for our

church

of the

whetstones

who are

currently serving

in Central

Asia

and they're

serving a

people

that as

Americans

we ought not

be compassionate

towards

in the world's

terms

but because

they have the

hearts of

Christ

and they

see that

they need

to be

delivered

from their

sin

they're going

they're pursuing

they're learning

the language

so that they

might bring

the gospel

the good news

of the kingdom

to these people

so notice

the compassion

of Christ

thirdly

notice

the reach

of Christ

notice

the reach

of Christ

as we

look through

the gospel

of Mark

we are going

to continue

to see

that he

was

always

available

to

everyone

Jesus

in all

respects

could have

removed

himself

he could

have

set up

camp

in one

of the

synagogues

he could

have

taught

from a

lofty

place

he could

have

removed

himself

from the

people

but he

was always

with

the

people

in fact

they're

pressing

in on

him

constantly

in

occasions

where

he

can't

eat

in an

occasion

where he

had to

actually

get

into

a

boat

because

I

would

imagine

he

would

have

ended

up

standing

in

the

water

because

people

would

have

just

continued

to

press

in

around

him

just

as a

man

and as

he

was

a

man

I

imagine

that

had

to

be

taxing

was

trying

to

him

that

constantly

massive

crowds

gathered

around

him

and

not

all

these

people

as

we've

discussed

gather

around

him

for

genuine

!

they

wanted

to

see

the

show

they

wanted

to

see

what

new

amazing

thing

was

going

to

happen

that

was

going

to

be

performed

by

this

person

Jesus

hungry

and

tired

constantly

available

to

everyone

and not

only

were

these

people

trying

to

him

physically

but

remember

that

these

people

were

enemies

of

God

these

people

were

sinners

these

people

with

their

lives

had

rejected

the

ways

of

God

and

these

people

had

been

given

the

ways

of

God

in

a

very

special

way

they

had

been

given

the

law

they

had

the

prophets

and

so

they

were

enemies

of

God

and

therefore

enemies

of

Christ

and

here

we

see

him

compassionately

making

himself

always

available

to

everyone

that

is

the

importance

of

this

shocking

interruption

as

one of

the

rulers

of

the

synagogue

comes

to

him

and

asks

him

to

come

and

visit

his

home

to

heal

his

daughter

and

there

is

an

interruption

by

a

woman

who

is

considered

unclean

who

is

at

the

very

bottom

of

society

but

he

stops

and

he

visits

with

her

and

he

speaks

to

her

and

he

says

to

her

your

faith

has

made

you

well

people

their

jaws

would

have

dropped

in

this

culture

us

we

read

right

past

it

no

big

deal

but

this

would

have

been

a

shock

to

them

that

you

would

take

the

time

me

and

Barack

Obama

are

visiting

together

we're

hanging

out

and

a

homeless

guy

on

the

street

stops

me

and

asks

for

something

and

I

go

yeah

you

hang

on

and

I

go

over

and

I

visit

with

the

homeless

man

for

a

while

this

is

what

would

have

happened

everybody

around

would

go

what

are

you

doing

right

he's

the

president

maybe

not

all

of us

in

this

room

or

social

status

the

only

distinction

that

was

made

was

that

of

faith

notice

verse

34

and he

said

to her

daughter

your

faith

has

made

you

well

go

in

peace

and

be

healed

of

your

disease

and

then

in

verse

36

and

we

mentioned

before

he

says

reminds

Jairus

of the

faith

that

he

had

remember

that

he

came

and

he

fell

at

his

feet

he

knew

!

he

had

the

!

to

heal

his

daughter

do

not

fear

only

believe

there

is

the

distinction

there

is

the

distinction

for

us

today

that

we

might

have

faith

and

believe

there's

instruction

Paul

gives

to

Timothy

in

1

1 Timothy 2:1–4

Timothy

chapter

2

verses

1

through

4

and

this

is

a

very

commonly

misused

text

in

all

kinds

of

directions

let me

tell you

what

it

means

and

how

it

applies

here

as

we

notice

the

reach

of

Christ

beginning

in

verse 1

first of

all

then

I

urge

that

supplications

prayers

intercessions

and

thanksgivings

be made

for all

people

for kings

and all

who are

in high

positions

that we

may lead

a peaceful

and quiet

life

godly

and dignified

in every

way

this is

good

and it

is

pleasing

in the

sight

of

God

our

Savior

who

desires

all

people

to be

saved

and to

come

to

the

knowledge

of

the

truth

now

this

text

is

used

to

justify

all

sorts

of

belief

systems

about

God's

purposes

in

salvation

I want to

say to

you

that

if we

read it

very

plainly

verse 4

desires

all people

to be