Matthew 9:14-26

Yes, Terry. Thank you, Terry. Doris, such a beloved

part of our church, left incredibly big shoes

to fill, and she'll be missed. Last Sunday, she

sat right over here. And the previous Sunday,

she sat over here. And so we're so very thankful.

And today, she sits in the communion of saints,

beholding the face of her Savior. I'm sure she's

singing that more noble power, sweeter song that

can save her as she lies silent in the grave.

That's amazing to me. We'll continue to pray

for Terry, Kim, the family, and this week as

we prepare for the funeral. You know, Doris would

want us, she'd say, I know what Doris would say.

She'd say, right, now preach Jesus to them because

he's the hope. So let's look to Jesus at this

time, Matthew chapter 9. It's a longer passage

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

than what I normally preach on, but let's read

through. It's going to be verses 14 through 26.

You may not have, if you've read these before,

think they don't tie in. I hope to show you this

morning that they actually do go together. So

beginning in verse 14, it says, Then the disciples

of John, that is John the Baptist, came to him,

that is Jesus, and they had a question for him.

They said, Why do we and the Pharisees, we fast

often, but your disciples do not fast. And Jesus

said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom

mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

But days will come when the bridegroom will be

taken away from them, and then they will fast.

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old

garment. For the patch falls away from the garment,

and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new

wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins

break. The wine is spilled, and the wineskins

are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins,

and both are preserved. Now if we stop there,

it would seem a little bit like, what's going

on here? But keep reading. Now while he spoke

these things to them, behold, a ruler came, that's

a ruler from the synagogue named Jairus, and

worshipped him, fell before him. saying, My daughter

has just died, but come and lay your hand on

her, and she will live. So Jesus arose and followed

him, and so did his disciples. And suddenly,

as they were making their way to Jairus' house,

a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years

came from behind and touched the hem of his garment.

For she said to herself, If only I may touch

his garment, I shall be made well. But Jesus

turned around, and when he saw her, he said,

Be of good cheer. Take heart, daughter. Your

faith has made you well. And the woman was made

well from that hour. Now when Jesus came into

the ruler's house and saw the flute players and

the noisy crowd wailing, he said to them, Make

room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.

And they ridiculed him. But when the crowd was

put outside, he went in and took her by the hand,

and the girl arose. And the report of this went

out into all that land. Let's pray and ask the

Lord to help us. Our Father, Lord, we're so very

thankful there is hope. There is a confident

hope, even in the midst of death. Lord, as my

sister Terry is just standing and testifying

to her own mother, Lord, we're so very thankful

that, Lord God, the gift of faith and grace that

you have given, and Lord God, that even death

does not separate us from your love. That, Lord,

there is hope that lies beyond the grave. And,

Lord, God, help us, Lord, this morning to see

the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, and

what he has done. God, open our eyes to behold

wondrous things out of your law. We pray this

in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, in Jeremiah 31, there

is a great promise. It's a promise, or prophecy,

I should say, of a time when a new covenant is

going to be given. And Jeremiah writes about

this in Jeremiah 31. He says, behold, the days

are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a

new covenant with the house of Israel and with

the house of Judah. Now, they've always had a

covenant, the Mosaic covenant. But not according

to the covenant that I made with our fathers

in that day that I took them by the hand to lead

them out of the land of Egypt. He's like, we're

not looking at that old covenant. My covenant,

which they broke, though I was a husband to them,

says the Lord. This is a covenant that I will

make with the house of Israel after those days,

says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds,

and I will write it on their hearts, and I will

be their God, and they shall be my people. No

more shall every man teach his neighbor and every

man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they

shall all know me, from the least of them to

the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will

forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will

remember no more. Now the Jewish people had always

been defined by their relationship to the Mosaic

Covenant. We call that the law, the law of Moses.

In fact, their whole Jewish identity, the way

they dressed, the way they ate, the way they

interacted with people, was tied to that covenant

that God gave to them through Moses. But now

you have this great prophet Jeremiah, and God

is telling the people through him, That there's

coming a day when a new covenant would come,

unlike the one they had always known, and it

would be better. It's new. It's radically different.

It would not be the law 2 .0. They don't need

an updated law, but rather this is an entirely

new covenant. So the Jews knew that. Now if you

look at Isaiah, the other great prophet, there's

all kinds of promises that God gave to Israel

that he's going to send them a deliverer, a rescuer.

a Messiah. So all this was very familiar to the

Jewish people. In fact, it would have been in

their collective psyche at any time. So they

would live in expectation of these promises one

day being fulfilled. Now, 600 years after Jeremiah,

there comes this man out of the desert, dressed

in funny clothes, eating funny food, John the

Baptist, and he comes on the scene and he begins

to call Israel to repent. And he says, you need

to repent for the Lord is coming. The Lord's

arrival is at hand. Something new was happening.

So in essence, if John was preaching that what

had been prophesied through Isaiah, through Jeremiah,

it was coming and it would soon be fulfilled.

Do you remember on that day when John the Baptist

first sees his cousin Jesus, he looks and he

cries out for the very first time, behold the

Lamb of God, which takes away. The sin of the

world. Now you can hear in that statement, takes

away the sin of the world, the echoes of that

promise given to Jeremiah about the promise of

a new covenant when what? I will forgive their

iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.

So John, the Baptist that is, began to be heralded

as this great prophet. He was very popular with

the people and in fact there was many disciples

who would rally and follow him. And some of his

disciples began to have questions when they started

seeing Jesus and his followers and what they

were doing. Now last week we saw another group

have some questions. We saw the Pharisees, the

strictest religious leaders. And they were criticizing

Jesus for eating with tax collectors and eating

with other notorious sinners in Matthew's house.

They could not believe, the Pharisees could not

believe that Jesus was the one sent from God.

Because he was willing to fellowship with men

like Matthew, other notorious sinners, and people

of ill repute. But this week we see something

different. It is not the Pharisees, rather it

is John the Baptist's disciples who seem to be

somewhat critical of Jesus himself. Notice verse

14. So they come to Jesus and they're like, hey,

we have a question. What's going on with you

guys? Now they came to Jesus and they said, why

do we and the Pharisees, we're always fasting,

But your disciples, you guys don't do that. Now,

John the Baptist is most likely already in prison

at this time. And his disciples were a little

critical. They're looking at Jesus. They know

that John had been pointing to Jesus. But they

weren't doing the same things that John had taught

his people to do. They did not participate in

the same regimen of fasting. Now, you and I might

be sitting here and saying, well, what's the

big deal? I mean, why were they so critical?

Because they could not understand why Jesus and

his disciples were not strict in fasting. In

fact, they said, man, this guy's a drunken and

a wine, he's a winebibber and a glutton. He doesn't

fast, he eats whatever he wants. They're not

strict in their religious devotions like we and

the Pharisees are. Now, they could have been

confused. It appears as though they're being

critical. But at the very least, they were unable

to understand the newness of Jesus' ministry.

Now they're followers of John the Baptist. Now

remember John the Baptist is an ascetic. So that

meant he lived a very strict lifestyle. In fact,

he lived out in the desert. He followed a very

strict diet. He ate locusts and honey. He wore

strange clothes. And he held strict religious

practices. So his disciples naturally followed

his own actions. We're also told that the Pharisees

The strict religious group that opposed Jesus,

they were always fasting. And all these people

were fasting, but there was actually only one

day a year that was commanded by God to fast

for the Jewish people. And that was the day of

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Now, there

were some other special occasions when Israel

was under attack when a national fast would be

proclaimed as well. But only one day of the year

when they had to. But you had tradition growing

up. So it's particularly among the Pharisees.

So by the time we get to Jesus, the Pharisees

were fasting two days a week, every week, religiously.

And apparently that was also the custom of John

and his disciples. That's a lot. I mean, we're

going without food for two days a week, and you

guys aren't doing anything. Now, why would they

be fasting? Usually that was a sign of sorrow.

But it was also a sign of anticipation. They

were fasting, awaiting the coming of God's kingdom.

So they were going to continue to fast until

the day when the kingdom of God came. And this

is what Jesus is trying to point them to. They

failed to understand the king was already present.

Why are we fasting? And you guys are not doing

the same. And Jesus said, verse 15 through 17.

I mean, can the friends of the groom mourn as

long as the groom is with them? He said, now

don't get me wrong, the days are coming when

the groom will be taken away, and then these

people will fast. Why didn't Jesus just answer

them directly? He answers them a little enigmatically,

correct? So he's referring to himself as the

groom, the bridegroom. He's referring to his

disciples as friends of the groom. That's all

Old Testament language. In Isaiah 62 and Hosea

Hosea 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, Israel was referred to as the bride

of God. God sends his son to be the groom. John's

disciples were fasting as a sign of mourning.

But you don't mourn at a wedding. What do you

do at a wedding? That's a time of rejoicing.

It's a time of feasting with friends. It's a

time of great celebration. fasting would be very

inappropriate at a wedding. And now that the

king was with them in the flesh, fasting would

be very inappropriate. And if John's disciples

could have possibly understood what was taking

place, then they would have known and understood

why Jesus and his disciples were not fasting.

The king had come. The arrival and presence of

the king was a time for rejoicing, for feasting,

for mirth, for celebration. This was not a time

for sadness or mourning or fasting at this time.

And then Jesus does, for the very first time

in the Gospel of Matthew, he refers to his eventual

death. He says, the days will come when the groom

will be taken away. And then they will fast.

He said, after I'm gone from here, it will be

appropriate to mourn, to fast, but not now. Right

now is a time to celebrate for the new had come,

what was taking place. And he does this, and

again, he speaks to them a little bit figuratively.

Look at verses 16 and 17. He says, if you look,

he says, no one puts a piece of unshunk cloth

on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from

the garment and the tear is made worse. And you're

like, I mean, is he talking to me about clothing?

Are we really talking about clothes with holes

in them? No. He said, I want you guys to consider

what happens when you have a garment that has

a hole in it and you take this piece of cloth,

a new piece of cloth, and just patch it on that

old garment. He said, you know, everyone knew

at that time, if you put a new unshrinked cloth

on an old garment, when that garment is washed

and dried for the very first time, what's going

to happen to that patch? It's going to shrink.

For the very first time. And the very thing you're

trying to do, patch the hole, it'll be worse.

And then he says something else. He says, and

why don't you put new wine into already old or

used wineskins? What were the wineskins made

of? Animal skins. Most likely goat skins. Well,

what happens when you put wine into wineskin?

That wine is going to continue to ferment. And

that wineskin is going to expand because of the

gases being expelled in the process. Again, everyone

knew at that time. If you would put new wine

into an old, stretched out wineskin, when that

new wine begins to ferment further, the skin

is going to burst, spilling all that wine. Now,

again, we're like, come on, Jesus, what's the

point you're trying to make? What was he saying

to John's disciples? He's not talking about clothing,

and he's certainly not talking about wine. His

point was that a new age had dawned. The king

had arrived, and he's going to usher in this

new epic under a new covenant. Jesus Christ did

not come to patch up the old covenant. Rather,

he came to bring something entirely new, exactly

what Jeremiah had prophesied of. He did not come

to put the new wine of the new covenant into

the old wineskins of the law. That wasn't going

to work. The old was passing away because the

new had come. The kingdom for which they had

been praying and longing for and anticipating

had arrived because the king had arrived. So

this is not a time for mourning, folks. This

is a time for celebration. The promises of God

at that time were being fulfilled. When Jesus

arrived on the scene, he was the consummation

and fulfillment of the old covenant, and it was

the inauguration of the new covenant. Now we

go to two miracles, and they don't seem to be

related. Matthew then, now immediately in his

condensed version, which is how Matthew writes,

he presents two intertwined miracles. You have

the healing of a bleeding woman, and you have

the raising of a dead girl. Why? The new age

had come. Because this is what the kingdom of

God in its fullness looks like. When the new

kingdom arrives in fullness, there'll be no sickness,

and there'll be no death, and those are illustrated

in these miracles before us. These miracles are

not for ostentatious display. They're not that

you can sit back and just be in awe. Rather,

they are there to reveal who Jesus Christ really

is, the King of Israel. Now look at the text.

While he was speaking, a ruler came. As he was

talking with John the Baptist's disciples, you

have a desperate man coming. Very desperate.

And he's asking for help. Now Matthew just tells

us he was a ruler, but Mark and Luke tells us

he was a ruler of the synagogue. And his name

was Jairus. This means, because he's a ruler

of the synagogue, he would be incredibly well

respected in the community. So a man of his stature.

dignified, well -respected, it would have been

a hard time for him to come and humble himself

and ask for help. He didn't normally need to

ask for help. But this situation was different.

It was dire. This is a desperate man before us.

We are told that he came and it says worshipped

him. Other versions may not say this. It may

say bow down. The word is proskounou in Greek

and it literally just means to bow down. And

this means it's a posture of humility. It's a

posture of reverence. And when it's referred

to God, it does mean to worship. We bow down

before God. So you have this well -respected

ruler of the synagogue. He falls before Jesus'

feet, showing respect and submission. He knows

he needs Jesus. He also knows that Jesus is the

only one who can help. But why is he so desperate?

Why is he falling before another man's feet begging?

Because his daughter, we know is 12 years old,

she just died. Could there be, I don't know,

any situation more desperate than a dad who just

lost a daughter? You're out of your mind with

grief. You're beside yourself. And this man,

he knows, he's heard of Jesus, he knows Jesus.

He's aware of the miracles. And he believes that

if Jesus will come and just touch his daughter,

that she's going to live again. That's incredible

faith. That's not desperation. That's a faith

-filled man right there. And we see in Jairus

a man who had faith in Jesus. Now, I don't know

who exactly Jairus thought Jesus was. Obviously,

he knew that Jesus was more than a teacher. He

was more than a prophet. He was more than a rabbi.

He also truly believed with all his heart if

Jesus would just touch his daughter, she'd be

raised back to life. Did he know that Jesus was

God in the flesh? I don't know. We're not told

that. But he did know this, that Jesus had been

sent from God and possessed the power of God.

In verse 19, we see Jesus and he agrees to go

with Jairus. He says, yeah, I'll come. I will

heal your daughter. He goes and his disciples

follow him. But in verse 20, this narrative is

interrupted with another desperate person. This

time it's not a man. It's a woman. And folks,

you know women at this time did not hold the

same status in society as men. But the difference

between Jairus and this woman, it is striking.

Jairus, he's a leader. He's a leader of the synagogue.

We don't even know her name. She's left nameless.

Jairus is well respected in society. This woman

has been shunned and exiled from society. Jairus

is a man of means. He has some wealth. This woman

has spent all her money on doctors who could

offer her no help whatsoever. Everyone wanted

to be Jairus' friend. No one wanted to be hers.

Verse 20. And suddenly a woman... Who had a flow

of blood for 12 years, came from behind and touched

the hem of his garment. For she said to herself,

if I only may touch his garment, I shall be made

well. She's desperate. She's as desperate as

Jairus was. She had spent every penny she had.

Her entire life savings were gone. She had spent

them on doctors and she still was none the better.

Can you imagine? You're hopeless. I'm not getting

any better. I've spent everything. I don't even

have money to go to another doctor. She knew

a doctor's not what I need. And she also had

heard of a miracle worker. She truly believed

that if Jesus, if she could just get to Jesus,

then the relief she so desperately sought for

would finally be hers. If I only, I don't have

to have a conversation with him. I don't have

to have a meeting with him. If I can just touch

his garment, she said. Then I'll be healed. Just

like Jairus, this woman has all her faith in

Jesus. And her situation was not life -threatening,

but it might as well have been because I'm sure

she thought her life was over. Because of this

flow of blood problem, and we don't know exactly

what it was. Was it hemorrhaging? We don't know.

But we do know this. She was rendered ritually

unclean. That meant she could not participate

in community. or in worship at the temple. She

would have been forbidden from that. She was

unable to participate in religious life. And

as a Jewish woman, that must have felt like a

death sentence. And by the way, it's been that

way for 12 years. She can't go to any parties.

She can't go to a birthday party. She can't be

in crowds. She can't go temple. She has to stay

away from everyone, for anyone who touches her

becomes unclean. She's desperate. Now the other

Gospels, Mark and Luke, they let us know that

at the time great crowds were pressing in on

Jesus. Where should this woman not have been

in a great crowd? Why? Because again, anyone

who just bumped up and touched her at all was

rendered ceremonially unclean and they wouldn't

be able to go to the temple until they had been

cleansed. Mark chapter 5 verse 24. So Jesus went

Mark 5:24

with him, that is Jairus, and a great multitude

followed him, and notice what Mark says, thronged

him. It's like what we see when stars are out,

and the paparazzi's all around, and they can't

hardly make their way through. So the crowds

were thronging Jesus, and by the way, there was

a lady among them, this lady, and she was not

asking for Jesus to meet with her face to face.

Oh, just let me touch his garment. Let me get

close enough in there. By the way, how close

do you have to get if you're going to touch the

hem of his garment? And why do you think she's

touching the hem of his garment? Where do you

think she is? She's probably on her hands and

knees trying to crawl up between them. I've just

got to get to that tassel there. And she did

so. And as soon as she did, she was healed. Notice

Mark, and I'm going to quote Mark here, chapter

5 again. Immediately, the fountain of her blood

was dried up, and she felt in her body that she

was healed of this affliction. And Jesus immediately,

knowing in himself, that power had gone out of

him, he turned around in the crowd and said,

who touched my clothes? But his disciples, I

love this, they're so human. His disciples said

to him, what do you mean who touched your clothes?

You see the multitude thronging you. I mean,

you really want to know who touched you, Jesus?

Look around, any of these people touched you.

And he looked around to see who had done this

thing. As soon as she touched his robe. the tassel

off the garment. He knew power had gone out from

him. And I love this. He wanted to talk to her.

He stopped in an emergency situation to talk

to this woman. Now let me just say, if I'm Jairus,

I'm frustrated. And that's probably the wrong

word. Because he needs Jesus to get to his house.

And he's on his way to his house to heal his

dead daughter. But he has time, not for another

Jairus, but for a nameless, helpless, desperate,

unclean lady. Jesus is not a respecter of persons,

folks. He's not impressed with titles. He's not

impressed with prestige. He's not going with

Jairus because he is Jairus, the leader of the

synagogue. That's not the way he's going. Jairus

came and humbled himself before him. He's not

going to show any preferential treatment whatsoever

over this woman and Jairus simply because he

was a leader in the community. He's not going

to do that. I love this. He has time for a poor

lady amid an emergency. What do you and I see

in this? He's not too busy for you. He's sometimes

like, well, he's running the whole universe.

The cosmos depends upon him. He has time for

you, folks. See, really important people, they

have handlers that's going to tell you who gets

an audience with this person and who does not.

They oversee their affairs and manages their

time. Jesus has no handlers, folks. He doesn't

have anyone saying, yeah, you can get an audience.

No, you can't. He doesn't only allow certain

people to talk to him. It doesn't matter if you're

a gyrus, well -respected, or you're a poor, desperate,

no -name lady. Why? Because Jesus cares for his

people. He's the great shepherd. And he protects,

he defends, and he cares for his sheep, even

the nameless ones. And perhaps in particular,

the nameless ones. Verse 22 of chapter 9, he

says, but Jesus turned around and he saw her

and he said, I love this, he's not mad at her.

He said, be of good cheer. Rejoice, take heart,

daughter. Daughter. Your faith has made you well,

and the woman's made well from that hour. He

called her daughter, a term of endearment. He's

restoring to her dignity and a place back in

society. No longer is she unclean, folks. No

longer is she isolated from society. She'd been

made whole through faith in Jesus. Now, what

about Jairus? What about his daughter? So he

goes to the house. And Jesus came into the ruler's

house. He saw the flute players and the noisy

crowd wailing. And he said to them, make room

for this girl's not dead but sleeping. And they

ridiculed him. They finally get there. I felt,

if I were Jairus, I mean, it probably had to

feel like an eternity. They get, and by this

time, a crowd had gathered to mourn with the

family. In ancient times, in Jewish culture,

no one mourned or grieved alone. In fact, it

was customary that you would hire professional

mourners. That makes no sense to us. But even

the poorest of family would have hired two flute

players and one wailer. Someone who's just wailing

to be present. And the idea behind that is no

one grieves alone. You weep with those who weep.

We rejoice with those who rejoice. But Jairus

is not a poor man. He's a wealthy man. And Matthew

tells us there's a noisy crowd. Probably much

more than two flute players and many wailers.

The scene's chaotic. It's full of commotion.

And I love what Jesus does. The Lord steps in

and he tells them, he goes, hey guys, stop. Stop

playing, stop wailing, stop grieving. This girl's

not dead. She's asleep. And they laughed. They

ridiculed. They mocked him to scorn. They knew

the girl was dead. And by the way, Jesus knew

she was dead. But he also knew that in just a

moment, this little girl would be raised back

to life so that it would appear that she had

only been sleeping. And by the way, what do we

call the believer's repose in death? We call

it sleep. They're present with the Lord. But

it's a euphemism for death here. So the Lord

Jesus, he dismissed the crowd. He puts everyone

outside we know from Mark. Everyone except Jairus

and Jairus' wife. Now, I can imagine. This is

me reading into the text. But if Jesus said,

I need all these people outside, who do you think

is the one kicking everyone out of his house?

I bet Jairus. I mean, Jairus, can you imagine

him forcefully telling the people to be quiet

and get out? Why? He truly believes she's going

to be healed. And the quicker y 'all get out

of here and let him do his thing, the quicker

I get my little girl back. This situation is

serious. Verse 25. And when the crowd was put

outside, he, that is Jesus, went in. He took

her by the hand. What do you not do as a Jewish

man to a dead body? You don't touch. Right? But

he took her by the hand. And that little girl

arose. She got up. She was raised back to life.

Now again, under the old law, the old wineskin,

if you will. Him touching her would have made

him unclean. That's the old wine of the law.

But the new had come. And he made the unclean

clean without defiling himself. The new wine

was there. Now look at verse 26. I love when

the Bible does these things because I think it's

just hilarious. And in my notes I put, no kidding.

And the report of this went out into all the

land. Yeah, no kidding. I'm like, can you imagine?

Word gets out, a 12 -year -old girl died and

was raised back to life. I can imagine news went

everywhere. Why? Because everyone who was sick

now had hope. And every parent who was on the

verge of losing a child had hope. It happened

once. He can do it again. But why is Matthew

putting these here? Something new was happening

in Israel because the new age had dawned. The

new age had come. The new wine of the new covenant

was ready to drink. You say, but how does this

apply to any of us here this morning at Mamre

Baptist Church in Southern Ohio? I want you to

see this one. I think this is exactly what's

so important. Look at what Matthew's doing. He

is not happy. sharing miracle stories. Oh, he's

a great apologist building a case for Christ.

So let me ask you this question. Who is Jesus?

Matthew has absolutely wonderfully and masterfully

shown us. Jesus is the one who has power over

stormy seas. Remember back in Matthew 8? They're

in the boat. They're going to drown and Jesus

gets up and says, hey, wind and waves, stop.

And they did. He's the one who has power over

demons. Remember Matthew 8? He goes over to the

Decapolis, the Gentile land, and the two demon

-possessed men, and Jesus rescues them and restores

them back to natural health. He's the one who

restored and healed the paralyzed man. Remember

in Matthew 9, the four friends who brought their

quadriplegic friend to Jesus, and Jesus healed

the man? He healed the paralyzed man. Today he's

the one who healed the woman with the issue of

blood and no doctor could do anything for her.

Today we see he is the one who raises the dead

back to life. Who is he? He's the long awaited

promised by God king. That's who he is. And this

is what it means this morning. He's the one who

can bring hope to hopeless situations. He's the

one who has authority, we saw also in Mark 9,

to forgive sins. He is the only one here this

morning who can save your soul and deliver you

from the consequences of your sin. He is the

one. Jesus Christ. He's the one who brought the

new wine of the new covenant with the promise

of eternal forgiveness. Their sins and iniquities

I will remember no more. Praise God for that.

Friends, your faith does not need to be perfect.

Whose is? But just like Jairus and just like

this woman, it must rest completely in Jesus

Christ. That's it. That's what Matthew's driving

home. He's the king. He is Lord. He is the longed

for Messiah. So now what? One principle and that's

it. This is the whole point. Trust him. You trust

him. Lord, I trust you. What helps a grieving

family? Jesus Christ. The one who has defeated

death. What hope do you have? Jesus Christ. When

you're going through the worst trial of your

life, where do you turn? To Jesus Christ. But

on your best day, when everything seems to be

sunshiny, who are you trusting? Jesus Christ.

There is no other. Matthew has clearly shown

us that, friends. Now you trust him. The new

wine, it was shed on that fateful day at Calvary.

And today we share in that. We look forward to

this meal and we get to remember Jesus and his

death and his body being broken and his blood

being shed for our sins and we commune with the

risen Lord who's alive today and offers fellowship

with his people. If you don't know him, trust

him. Bow before him, confessing your sins and

crying out, Lord, save me. And he saves all who

come to him in faith. Let's pray. Father, I thank

you for your word.