Jesus and the Hopeless

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would come,

continue to come with might and power and deep conviction upon us.

As we continue to think about your, read your word and think about it,

puzzle over it, as we pray to you, as we sing your praises,

as we gather around the Lord's table to remember Jesus' death.

Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would continue to fall

with might and power and deep conviction.

And we ask, Father, we give you permission to have for you yourself

to speak into our heart and rule in our heart through your word.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So the text that we're going to be looking at today talks about sickness and death.

And I have to say that some things have developed in my life over the last two days,

two and a half days, that makes this actually far more personal.

And so if I get emotional during the sermon, there's a reason for it.

And when I tell you this, by the way, I am not equating a dog's life with a human's life.

But some of you know that we have had this beautiful big German shepherd,

115, 120-pound gentle giant of a dog, for over seven years.

Anyway, on Friday it had to be taken to the vet.

And on Saturday we had to say that nothing else would be done

and that we were bringing the dog home to die.

I didn't think I'd get emotional.

But I warned you. I wanted to just warn you.

I mean, I'm not making a comment at all that the death of a dog is like the death of a human being.

But, you know, dogs, especially a big gentle giant,

115, 120-pound gentle German shepherd,

that does become part of the family for seven-plus years.

So, I mean, obviously the vets don't know.

It might be that he will live for a couple of weeks,

but it's quite possible that by the time we gather again next week,

we will have dealt with Rocky's remains.

And the text today, obviously not about a dog,

but it is about death and it is about sickness.

And it is a text which has lots of challenges in it,

things which puzzle people and distract us from the fundamental point,

but it is a profound text to meditate upon,

how Christians are to approach sickness and how they are to approach death.

It's a very profound text,

a text that is well worth meditating upon and contemplating upon for those of you who are in Jesus.

And if you are here and you're not sure where you are with Jesus and Christianity,

or if you're watching online,

this gives you a bit of a window into how it is that Christians are invited

to think about such very, very serious matters.

The fact of the matter is, is that we all know that we will die,

but really fundamentally we all know other people will die.

We don't really believe that we will die.

Although for some of you here or those online,

you might have gotten a very bad prognosis this week,

where a loved one has had a bad prognosis.

So this is a deeply personal text,

and let's turn to it and see what it is that was said.

It's Mark chapter 5, beginning at verse 21.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

And as you've been warned, if I get a bit emotional during the sermon,

it is because it's obvious, obvious,

now that you know that thing about Rocky.

So Mark chapter 5, verse 21,

Mark 5:21

and just before we read it, what's just happened?

We preach through books of the Bible.

Basically, Mark was written as one book to be read.

And so we study it that way as a book.

And what we just looked at last week was

Jesus had gone to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,

to the pagan side of the Sea of Galilee.

And he'd come across, or he'd been met by a man

who was demonized by a legion of demons.

And Jesus delivers the man from the demons.

And as a result of that,

the people in the region want Jesus to leave.

And so that's now where the story takes up.

Jesus leaves.

If people don't want Jesus, he leaves.

And he leaves, and he goes back to the Jewish side of the lake.

And that's where this story now takes up.

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 Jesus, he fell at Jesus' 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.

I have a bit of emotion still in my voice.

Some of you who have very good imaginations

can just very well imagine the tears that would have been in his voice

as he asks for his precious daughter.

And Jesus went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years

and who had suffered much under many doctors

and had spent all that she had

and was no better, but had grown worse.

Now just sort of pause here for a second.

Why this story?

One of the things, if you read the different,

the four ancient biographies of Jesus,

if you read them, all of them,

one of the things you'll notice

is that they have all of these little asides.

Mark does it all the time.

Oh yeah, Jesus spent a whole pile of time

healing people and casting out demons,

and then he did this.

Or he spent the day doing this,

healing people, casting out demons,

and then he did this.

And several of the writers

mention right in the book

that if they actually were to record everything that Jesus did,

it would be too many books.

Because he did lots of miracles.

So you have to ask yourself a little bit,

why this story?

Like why did they tell this story

rather than the thousands of other stories of healings

that they could potentially have told?

And I think one of the reasons is

you have to remember

every time you read the Bible

is on one level,

the world is very different than today.

I mean, on the other level,

it's very same.

We still wrestle with the death of loved ones.

And all of us will die

unless Jesus comes first.

Like that's all very deeply personal.

And people back then were very smart.

But one of the things

which was different between now and then

is even though obviously many people read,

but books were expensive and very rare.

And so it was fundamentally an oral culture.

And it was an oral culture

where people actually remembered things

because they weren't constantly distracted

by text messages,

emails, phone calls,

Twitter, Facebook,

all of that type of stuff.

You know, I told my wife the other day

that often I turn off the sound with my phone

during the day.

I try to remember to leave it up so I can see.

And that's just because the text messages

can be really irritating.

And if you're at all like me,

there's something compelling

as if you have to look at the stupid text.

Well, you don't really, right?

But you feel like you do.

And it gives you several other irritating dings

to make you think you have to look at it.

Anyway, in their world,

they wouldn't have had those types of distractions.

And they were an oral culture.

So often, one of the reasons

they probably chose this story

is not only the putting together,

juxtaposition, which is a big word

that just means putting together

of these two very...

They would have looked at it and said,

you know, you remember that time

when this happened

and it was immediately followed by this

and it was really striking.

And the other thing,

and this would help with memory,

is that the woman has been suffering

for 12 years

and the girl is 12 years old.

And, you know, that's one of the things

to help you remember things, right?

The number, that connection of the 12

helps you to remember them

and even helps to see,

remember that the two things were connected

because sometimes they might have said,

gosh, he healed so many people.

Was it that woman he healed?

No, no, you know,

they might even have...

But this one would have really stuck out

partially just because they happened

right after each other

and partly the 12.

Helps them to remember.

And the other thing, by the way,

is that everything in this text,

even the using of his name,

is once again,

part of what Mark is doing

is to say this actually happened.

This is historical.

The fact that he gives the name

of an important person

and the fact that he mentions

that lots of people were around.

This is all the way that if Paul,

not Paul,

Mark is writing this

and he's writing it at the time

that many of these eye and ear witnesses

were still alive

and he's really constantly inviting people

to say,

listen, if you have any questions about this,

get on a boat,

go to this area.

It's going to be in and around Capernaum,

maybe even Capernaum

and just look for Jairus.

He's still around

and talk to him about it.

Like it's part of the way

that Mark is writing it

to help us to remember

that this actually happened.

So I'm not going to give an apologetic

about miracles in this sermon once again

just because of time constraints.

But in a very, very real sense,

if this is an historical account

written at a time

when many of the eyewitnesses

were still alive,

this in and of itself

is something that should make

an open-minded person say,

maybe we don't live

in a closed universe.

Maybe there is a God

that does exist.

Maybe there is a personal God.

Because Mark is trying to drive home

that this is something

that actually happened.

So, the next little bit

has actually caused Christians

a lot of trouble.

And it's, in fact,

it's sometimes

I've come across

Jehovah Witnesses

who occasionally

have mentioned this

as an example

of why Jesus isn't God.

It's caused trouble

to Christians as well.

It's a very puzzling thing

that happens

over the next few verses.

And in some ways

what happens

is these little puzzles

that deflect us

from the really big thing

that's going on in the text.

But we have to look at them.

Well, look what goes on.

Verse 27, right?

So, the woman has suffered.

Verse 27,

she had heard the reports

about Jesus

and came up behind him

in the crowd

and touched his garment.

And in the original language,

you might see,

if you ever go to Israel,

you'll see that

more orthodox,

devout Jews,

they'll often have these tassels,

certain colors

on their garments.

And basically,

she just touches

one of the tassels

of the garment.

For she said,

verse 28,

if I touch even his garments,

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 I tried to bring out

in my way of reading it

is the original language

they rebuked Jesus.

They're putting him down.

Like he's asking

a stupid question.

Duh.

If we were maybe trying

to put it in

more modern Canadian.

Duh.

Like all sorts of people

are touching you.

So like,

you look at this

and you go,

like what's going on?

Like I thought Jesus was God.

How come he didn't know

who's touched him?

And come on,

like what's going on?

Is he like a walking horseshoe?

Is he like a walking rabbit's foot?

A walking,

you know,

lucky charm

and you touch it

and something happens?

Like this is,

like what?

Like what's going on

in this text?

It just seems sort of

not right.

So this is one of

many texts.

It's one of the things

in the text

that it's a very,

very interesting thing

to meditate upon

and to contemplate

because it's a really

good window

into something

that we could

begin to understand

but not really understand

because it's talking

about how it is

that Jesus can be

fully God

and fully human

but one person

and at the same time.

So like,

here's the first thing.

If Jesus never asked

a question,

he wouldn't be human.

If Jesus never asked

a question,

he wouldn't be human.

I mean,

there's a couple

of babies here.

I mean,

you can ask,

you know,

that family over there.

If their baby,

as soon as they learn

the first words,

just starts lecturing them

on the Einstein's

theory of relativity

or,

you know,

if you ask them

what's the,

you know,

if a number

with,

you know,

11 digits

is a prime number

or not

and they can tell you,

you know,

like that would just,

that wouldn't be

a human baby.

Like you'd,

I don't know

what you'd think.

It's some type of,

I don't know

what you'd think.

It's not human.

So if Jesus never

asked a question,

he wouldn't be human.

And it's interesting,

we have a problem

asking this,

like how come

Jesus asked the question?

Isn't he supposed

to be God?

But none of the,

none of the disciples

ask that question.

It's not as if they go,

whoa,

Jesus just asked a question.

What's going on?

No,

they would have been used

to him asking questions

all the time

because human beings

ask questions.

And actually this is

in a very,

very small way.

One of the things

that we just sort of

take for granted

in our Western culture,

in our Western culture,

we take it for granted

that it's a smart thing

and a wise thing

to ask questions.

But that's actually

partly how we've been formed

at a very deep level

by the Christian faith.

It's not obvious

in Islamic

or Eastern cultures

that it's a virtue

to ask questions.

In those questions,

it's a virtue

to accept,

to just accept.

And so Jesus

is actually grounding

at a very deep level

the importance

of questions.

And he is human.

Now,

the second thing is,

and this is where

the text is a bit

of a mirror

to help us

look at ourselves,

is that part of the reason

we have a hard time

wondering how it is

that Jesus could ask

a question

if he's supposed

to be God

is because

if we were God,

we would only

tell people

what to do.

I mean,

we already,

many of us

already think

we're gods

and we're always right,

but dang it all

if I'm God,

not only would I tell you

all the time,

you want to know

the right view

on what Trudeau

should be doing?

I'm going to tell you.

You're not interested?

You should be interested.

I'm God.

Like,

that's what I would do

all the time.

That's what you would do.

Right?

And so part of this

is,

so part of the problem

is it shows,

in a sense,

the humility of God.

we want to be like God

and are proud.

And if we had the power,

we would be forcing people

to shut up

and listen to us.

And so what the Bible

is revealing here

is that God,

the Son of God,

that it's part of

the big story,

that God,

the Son of God,

sets aside His glory,

His prerogatives,

His appearance as God,

His power as God,

but still maintaining

the fact in nature

that He is God,

but He willingly sets

that all aside

to enter into

our human world

and to take into Himself

our human nature.

And so what that means

is that,

and you can't figure out

the psychology of that,

but what's constantly revealed

then in the Scriptures

is that in a sense,

unlike us,

Jesus lived,

part of His constant temptation

is would He continue

to just trust

that the Father

would reveal to Him

and give Him

the things He needs

as He needs them?

I mean,

that's partly what's going on

with the temptation

by the devil,

which isn't recorded

in Mark,

but it's recorded

in Matthew and Luke,

is that would Jesus

just actually be content

to trust His Father?

If His Father wants Him

to know something,

He'll know something.

But does He want to know?

Does He want to grasp

back that power?

And we're all familiar

with the fact

of curtailing

our power

to be with.

like if you have

young children,

the Sunday school teachers

out there,

I mean,

if you're visiting

your nephew

and your niece

and you play

or you maybe even

wrestle a little bit

with your two-year-old,

one of my children,

no,

I won't tell you the story.

I try not to tell stories

that might embarrass my children

and then you'll all

wonder which one.

But, you know,

if we were playing

with your nephew

and niece,

a little two-year-old,

well, you don't beat them

because you're way stronger

than them.

You curtail your power.

To beat them

is called child abuse, right?

The right type of thing

is you let them

wrestle you to the ground

or her wrestle you

to the ground

and tackle you

and all of that type.

You're just having fun, right?

So we all understand

what it means

to curtail the power

and that's what you're

getting on here with Jesus.

For this particular reason,

the Father didn't want Him

to know.

So now you see something

that He did all the time.

He asked a question

because He's human.

He doesn't know.

And He wants to find out

for a variety of reasons.

And then the other thing,

this weird, weird thing

is that why is it

that Jesus,

why is it that

Jesus,

she just touched Him

and now the text

is very clear.

It sounds as if

if you read it

not very closely,

it sounds as if

somehow her faith

is if faith

is some type of

internal power

that you unleash

and if you unleash

this internal power

then you're healing,

you get healed

and you can do this

and you can do,

no, no, no, no.

The text is very clear

that the power

comes from Jesus.

The woman purely receives.

She doesn't add anything to it.

All she's done

is put herself

in a place

where she can receive

and it all comes

from Jesus.

But what this also

is showing

is it's showing

who Jesus is

in His very nature.

It's showing

who God is

in His very nature.

Give you an example.

Imagine that

maybe one of you folks

we become

very, very good friends

and I happen to discover

as we become friends

that you're very,

very, very generous

but you're especially

generous towards

your friends.

Just very open-handed.

Not clutching at all.

Just very, very open-handed.

And maybe it's something

like I'm going to go

to an area

and there's no parking

and I know that you live

in a certain house

and I'm with

one of you other folks

and I just pull

into the driveway

and park.

And the person

beside me would go,

you can't park

in somebody's driveway.

And I go

and I knock on the door

to see if they're there

and they're not there

and the person beside me

would say,

no, you just can't go

park in their driveway.

Like, what?

But I'd say,

no, no, no, no, no.

I know what they're like

and they're really,

really generous

and they're very generous

towards me

and I know that I can

park in their driveway

even if they're not home.

There'll be no problem.

Just trust me.

There's no problem.

Because you know

what they're like.

And that's what

you're seeing here

about Jesus.

That's what he's like.

He heals.

That's his nature.

And this, by the way,

is very, very mind-blowing

because just you have

to keep remembering

that if you study

the gods and goddesses

of the day,

the gods and the gods

of the gods

and goddesses

of the day,

they lied,

they cheated,

they raped,

they hurt.

They were completely,

they were thin-skinned

and you never knew

if you did something

to offend them

and if you offended them

they would make

your life miserable.

And that's what

the gods and goddesses

are like.

And what you're seeing here

is the real God

and this real God

is radically different

than the other gods.

And it's still even true today

where one of the major religions

of the world,

fundamentally,

that major religion

is a religion

of a warrior,

triumph,

militaristic God.

And the other fundamental option

is a God

that at the end of the day

says there's no difference

between sickness and health

because you're just going to die

and get reborn

and you're just going to die

and get reborn.

And in the face

of such alternatives

you have this radical picture

of a God

whose fundamental nature

is to give you health.

To come into contact with him

is to come into contact

with health.

To come into contact with him

is to come into contact

with life.

To poke this God

is to poke health.

Just constant,

self-giving,

generous,

open-handed.

Like there's that song

The Reckless Love of God.

Just reckless health.

That's who he is

and that's what's being revealed

here in this story.

And her tiniest,

tiniest,

tiniest sliver of faith

and maybe it's mixed

with some superstition,

who knows what,

she can't pass

a theology test,

she can't,

she's never taken,

you know,

theology one

and the nature of God.

She just knows

that if she can just touch him,

she suspects,

she's heard the stories

and she believes it

and she trusts

that he's this type of person

and he can do it

and she does it

and he does all the rest

even if he's not conscious of it.

Now,

the next bit,

you see,

here's one of the things

about the Bible

that we don't often

take it for granted.

we just look at

and we take it for granted

that he's going to act

a certain way.

Partially that's because

the stories like this

have formed

how our culture thinks

even if we reject it

but it's formed

how we think.

But the fact of the matter

is that every single one of us,

some of us more than others,

we are used to put downs.

We are used to being denigrated.

We are used to being dismissed.

It's interesting

if you watch

Raising,

I think it's called

Raising Dion.

It's this thing on Netflix

about an eight-year-old

who develops superpowers.

It's sort of a funny

type of thing.

But one of the main characters

is a very interesting thing

on Netflix

because one of the main characters

is a severely handicapped

young woman,

young girl.

It's very,

very unusual

to have a very severely

handicapped young girl

as one of the stars

of a thing.

And one of the things

which is very interesting

about her

when they're trying to describe

what her superpower is,

she says she's invisible.

Well, why is she invisible?

Because handicapped people

are invisible.

And many of us

are familiar with

what it's like

to be invisible.

And so if you just think

about that for a second,

you'll understand

the drama

that's going on here

in the text.

Look again what happens.

Look at verse 32.

He looked around

to see who had done it,

but the woman,

knowing what had happened to her,

she'd been hiding,

right?

Came in fear and trembling

and fell down before him

and told him the whole truth.

Well, why is she so worried?

She's an invisible woman.

The last 12 years

of her life

have been 12 years

where she's constantly

denigrated,

put down,

kicked to the sideline.

That's the real world

for her.

And if you're here

and that's your real world,

this story's for you.

So he tells him

the old truth.

She's hiding

and hiding and hiding.

She's terrified

that when she comes forward,

he's going to say,

well, I didn't mean

to heal you.

I'm going to take it back.

You know,

really, you?

I thought it would have been

somebody better looking,

hipper, cooler, younger,

has a big Instagram following,

like, I don't know,

influencer.

What does he say,

verse 34?

This is why Jesus

is so radical

and so powerful.

Look at verse 34.

And he said to her daughter,

daughter,

that means,

that's affection.

That's affection.

Daughter,

not invisible woman,

not person I don't care,

not a loser in our culture,

but daughter.

Your faith has made you well.

And that can also be

equally translated

as your faith has saved you.

Go in peace

and be healed

of your disease.

Now, this next part,

my guess is,

I don't know if this room

would be 50-50 on this,

but there's definitely divide.

And we all know who we are.

I would be the type,

and I'm not boasting about this,

this is something

you need to pray

that I get over.

I would be the type,

if it was my daughter,

I'd be saying,

Jesus,

like, don't stop.

Like, my daughter's sick.

Like, don't stop.

Like, I'd be the guy

wanting to grab him,

you know,

by his tassels,

not to be healed,

but to say,

listen, you know,

that woman,

she just don't care about that.

You don't need to know that.

You don't need to know who touched.

I'd be pulling him.

That's the type of person I am.

Some of you type

might be saying,

really?

There's people like that

in the world?

Like, that's like my annoying dad

or my annoying mom

or sister.

Because some of you

would just be very,

very content,

just trusting.

I'm just telling you,

for those of you

who are very, very,

and maybe that's what

Jairus is like,

that he was just very,

very calm.

But for,

so there's two sort of

emotional ways

of understanding

what's just happened.

But for those of you

who are more like me,

who wants to move them along,

get with the program,

Jesus.

That's what I'm thinking.

Don't stop.

You need to go

and you need to get

to my place, right?

And so now he's going

to move on.

But while Jesus

is still speaking,

we don't get told

all the other things

that Jesus says,

but he speaks for a while

about this woman.

Verse 35,

while he was still speaking,

there came from the ruler's house

some who said,

and in the original language,

the implication is

they sort of take

the Jairus aside

and they sort of whisper

into his ear,

your daughter is dead.

And it'd probably be tears,

like me telling you

about Rocky.

Your daughter's dead.

Why trouble a teacher

any further?

But Jesus overhears.

He overhears.

But overhearing

what they said,

Jesus said to the ruler

of the synagogue,

do not fear,

only believe.

Now one of the things

which is very interesting

in the story here

is that we don't wait

to actually see

whether the Jairus

has actually any faith.

Because believe and faith

are sort of the same way

of translating

the same basic word.

I mean,

I'll be honest,

if I was Jairus,

I'd say,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

Jesus, I have faith,

but I don't have any faith.

I have no faith.

And here you actually

get a very,

very powerful window

into what it is.

Remember,

faith is connecting.

That's ultimately

what it is.

It's a power to connect.

And so he actually

probably has

absolutely zero,

all he's done,

he stays connected

to Jesus.

That's the bottom line

about faith.

He stays connected

to Jesus.

He stays connected

to Jesus.

verse 37.

See that,

and Jesus allows

no one to follow him.

The crowd is put away

except Peter and James

and John,

the brother of James.

And they came

to the house

of the ruler

of the synagogue.

So there's now

just Jairus,

Peter,

James,

and John.

They came to the house

of the ruler

of the synagogue

and Jesus saw a commotion,

people weeping

and wailing loudly.

And by the way,

this isn't a bad sign,

that's just how they grieve.

People from that time,

if they came to one

of our funerals,

they'd go,

did they even like

that person?

Like,

they're all just quiet.

Right?

Like,

we'd look at a funeral

and we'd be saying,

are they all mentally ill?

Like,

what's the problem with that?

But they'd be looking

at us and saying,

did they even like

the person?

Just the way they grieve,

that's all.

So they're weeping

and wailing loudly.

Verse 39,

And when Jesus had entered,

he said to them,

Why are you making

a commotion and weeping?

The child is not dead,

but sleeping.

Now,

just sort of pause here.

This has caused

lots of debate

in commentaries

in other circles.

And just to emphasize

that if you could go back

in a time machine

and you had a doctor

with you,

and you could go back

in a time machine

and also get the ability

to understand Aramaic

or Hebrew or Greek

or whatever they're speaking,

the doctor would pronounce

the girl dead.

So Jesus isn't saying,

no, no, no, no,

she's just in a coma.

He's not saying that.

What he's doing

is he's speaking

to the disciples,

he's speaking down the years,

he's speaking to you and me,

and he's giving us

one of the images.

This whole story

is giving us

one of the images,

not all of them,

but one of the images

for us to understand

our own death in Jesus.

And one of the fundamental ways,

one of the fundamental ways

to understand your death in Jesus

if you are in Christ

is that when it comes time

for me to death,

to die in Christ,

I am falling asleep in Christ.

And I can look forward

to the day

when just as Jesus

is about to do

to the young girl,

he's going to say to me,

he's going to say to me,

wake up.

Wake up.

And arise.

That is the Christian hope.

That in the far side of death,

one day,

I am asleep in Christ,

and he will appear,

and he will say,

George,

wake up.

Arise and walk.

And in that new heaven

and in that new earth

with a resurrected body,

I will arise,

and I will walk

in that new heaven

and that new earth,

and I will eat

in that new heaven

and that new earth,

because I will be at home

in that new heaven

and that new earth,

not because of anything in me,

but because of Christ.

Christ.

And that is your destiny

in Christ.

In Christ,

love is stronger

than death.

In Christ,

death does not have

the final word.

In Christ,

life has the final word.

Christ has the final word.

And that final word

is the first word

of the new beginning,

because I will walk

in that new world

and eat and dwell

and be at home

in that new world

with my Savior.

So he doesn't say sleeping

because he thinks

she's asleep.

He says sleeping

so that you and I

can have a powerful

and wonderful image,

one image,

of what it means

to die in Christ.

Verse 40,

and they laughed at him,

made fun of him.

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

and taking her by the hand.

He said to her,

Talitha Kumi,

which is Aramaic,

a language which doesn't exist

fundamentally anymore,

which means,

little girl,

I say to you,

arise.

And immediately,

the girl got up

and began walking,

for she was 12 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.

Just sort of in closing

about this,

just a couple of things.

I'm going to talk about this

a little bit more next week

because the next text

which immediately comes after this

is a case where Jesus

goes to his hometown

and they look down their nose at him

and they have no faith

and he heals very few people.

So I'm going to talk about this

a little bit more next week,

God willing.

But one of the things

just to say about this

as I'm sort of wrapping it up

is that this gives us Christians,

so first of all,

this is why Christians

invented hospitals

because we're about healing.

We should be.

Now I know we have all sorts of,

you know,

and we're about healing

and we should be praying

that people come up

with better medicines

and we should pray for the sick

and we should pray in faith.

And if you pray in faith

as a Christian,

there's three basic outcomes.

The first outcome is this,

that God,

that Christ might heal

the person you're praying for

miraculously and instantaneously

and probably many of us

have stories of that

actually happening.

The second thing is

sometimes he heals slowly,

a combination maybe of providence

and of things like medicine.

And the third thing is,

and this is the most important,

is that in Christ

he will heal finally

in the resurrection.

The loved one that you have

whose body is racked

with Parkinson's or cancer

and seems to be

but a shadow or a husk

or a grotesque-looking being

far from what you had known

and loved

in Christ

will walk.

The healing is final

and eternal.

The second thing is

that I think all human beings

have an intuition.

I mean, it's very, very funny.

I'm not recommending you watch this,

but if you watch Ricky Gervais'

Three Seasons of Afterlife,

which sometimes is very wise,

sometimes is very funny,

sometimes is just grossly disgusting,

sometimes is filled with hatred

of human beings.

But Ricky Gervais,

who's been an atheist

almost his entire life,

is a very public atheist.

You can really see him

wrestling with the fact

because the whole thing

is about a man

who loves his wife

who dies of cancer

and considers suicide.

And you see there,

he has no categories

to deal with it,

but there's this fundamental intuition

that love should be stronger

than death

and that death

can't really be the end.

And one of the things

that we see in this story

is that that intuition

actually became fact

and walked about in history.

health,

life,

walked among us

and his name is Jesus.

And the second thing

that you can see in this story,

and this shows you

the importance of the cross,

one of the images

that you'll see it

towards the end

of the Gospel of Mark

is just before Jesus

goes to the cross

and I've talked about this before

and I love this image

and hopefully some of you

love this image as well,

is that Jesus is wrestling

with the fact

that when he's dying

upon the cross

that what he's actually doing

is he's taking the cup

from the Father.

And the cup

is this Old Testament image.

And as I've shared

with you before,

what you can picture

is that in a sense

everything about me

that's shameful,

everything about me

that's bad,

everything about me

that is wrong.

And if you could just imagine

an evil wizard

or something like that,

but in this case it's God

who somehow or another

could take all of that evil,

all of that shame

and it would become

this foul,

foul,

disgusting looking liquid

that drips out

and all comes into a cup

and at the end of it

it's almost as if

God would ring me

to make sure

that every single bit

in me

that is proud

and lustful

and envious

and greedy

and hateful

and prejudiced

and everything

in me

from the moment

of my conception

to the moment

of my death,

it's wrung out of me

and it becomes

like a cup

and what you're

to understand

when Jesus dies

upon the cross

is in his death

upon the cross

what you see

is Jesus

drinking your cup.

because he's man

he can drink it

for human beings

and because he is God

he can drink it

for every person

it's as if

he looks around the room

and he sees you

he took the sip

he sees you

he drank the cup

he sees you

he drank the cup

and when you see

Jesus dying

upon the cross

you see him

drinking that cup

and you see

this is a very

very wonderful thing

because in this new heaven

and in this new earth

and this salvation

that you get in Christ

is that young girl

she died

but she

she enters

the realm of death

but at the

Jesus calls her back

from the realm of the dead

to this side of the grave

but she will one day die

Jesus

drinks your cup

and mine

and the cup

of every human being

that he enters

into all there is

to taste of death

and at the end of the day

on the third day

he rises on the far side

of death

having drunk your cup

and that means

that in his death

and resurrection

every single bit

of evil and shame

that you have ever done

or ever will do

he is drunk for you

and when you put

your faith and trust

in him

you are putting

your faith and trust

in the one

who is on that far

side of death

and has drunk

your cup

and it means

there is nothing

that is ever going

to come up

that will so shock him

and make him repulsive

and dismiss you

that he will turn away

from you

the health

and the life

that you have

in Christ

is eternal

you don't have to worry

that something

that something will come out

that will make him

change his mind

it isn't as if

you know in those movies

where you think

you've killed the bad guy

and then you see

the little finger

twitch a tiny bit

and you realize

the monster

hasn't been killed

when you receive

the health from Christ

when you die in Christ

in a sensory in him

there's no twitch

of your old man

it's all consumed

all dealt with

in the cross

and you share

in his resurrection

brothers and sisters

that's my hope

that is a Christian hope

I am by nature

a marsh wiggle

if I had a patron saint

whose name would be

Puddle Glum

I am not a natural optimist

but that is the Christian hope

that is my hope

and my prayer is

that that will be

more and more

your hope

please stand

if you're here

if you're watching

I just want to say to you

the story about

what Jesus did

to that woman

there is nobody

so bad

or so dismissed

or so invisible

that Jesus doesn't see you

and he didn't die

for you as well

nobody

and all you have to do

is just say

Jesus

be my savior

and my lord

be my health

and my healing

and thank you

that you will never

let me go

and he will hear

your call

and your prayer

and he will make

you his

let's bow our heads

in prayer

father thank you

so much

that Jesus

loved us so much

thank you father

that he in humility

and in love

was willing to set aside

his prerogatives

and his glory

and his power

as God

to come amongst us

to be Emmanuel

to be God with us

to be with us

in our mess

only without sin

thank you

thank you that he

knows us so perfectly

and loves us so perfectly

and so deeply

and thank you father

that you don't weigh

our merits

that you know

every single one

of our offenses

and that when we put

our faith and trust

in Jesus

that every one

of those offenses

is gone

and that you clothe us

father

in Jesus'

perfect life

that you clothe us

in his health

in his life

in his light

in his goodness

in his mercy

in his justice

that that's how

you clothe us

and it's all father

an act of grace

which is so remarkable

and so deep

and so wide

and so thick

that we desperately

need to come together

once a week

to be reminded of it

because it so easily

flits from our mind

it is so big

and yet so real

and we thank you

that you offer it

to people like us

and father

we ask that you

fan into flame

with us

an ever deeper

hope in Jesus

as our hope

of glory

our hope

of life

our hope

of health

that he is our hope

and help us

to bear witness

to that

in a culture

which has closed

its ears

but you still

have those father

who want

that you know

you are calling

to yourself

and help us father

to bear witness

to Jesus

and we ask this

in the name of Jesus

your son

and our savior

amen