Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue, and his predicament was one that no parent would ever want to experience. His young daughter- his only daughter- was dying. He sought Jesus as his only hope to have his daughter healed, but as Jesus delayed due to other encounters amongst the crowd, a messenger came to tell Jairus his daughter had died. Luke’s account of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter indisputably proves that Jesus is the only Savior. By His faithfulness, spiritual care, and message, we know He alone has the power to save. 

Jesus is faithful.

After receiving news of the death of Jairus’ daughter, Jesus continued making His way through the immense crowd toward Jairus’ home as He had promised. No distractions from the throng of people who desperately desired to see Him kept Him from doing what He had set out to do for Jairus. He was faithful. 

God can never act against His nature and character. Whatever we face, He is with us because He is faithful. The problem is, we often doubt Jesus’ faithfulness. When God seems silent as our life goes awry, we begin to think Jesus overlooks us in our struggles. We have mistakenly determined what is good based on our own severely limited understanding, forgetting that God works all things for good according to His own will and ways. Furthermore, we misunderstand God’s faithfulness by comparing ourselves to others. God has no degrees of faithfulness. He delays with good purpose. We must see this proven in Jairus’ experience and trust God’s faithfulness.

Jesus cares for us.

What utter hopelessness and devastation Jairus must’ve felt when he received news that his daughter was dead. But Jesus immediately reassured him to not be afraid, but only believe. He promised Jairus that his daughter would be well. At that moment, there couldn’t have been a message more caring and timely for Jairus. 

Jesus cares for us. God speaks to our anxious souls through His Word, often giving us the exact message we need to hear. Just as Jesus urged Jairus to only believe in the physical healing of his daughter, what is spiritual becomes material as God’s Word gives us exactly what we need in our lives.

Jesus wants us to experience His message. 

When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, He allowed Peter, John, and James to witness the healing of the young girl. Jesus wanted them to see that the heart of healing is salvation, coming by the power of the gospel. In this situation- as with any others- it was not the physical healing that was most significant, but that the healing was a manifestation of salvation. 

Jesus wants us to experience the power of the gospel. If the gospel has not transformed and empowered you, you have not recognized Jesus as the indisputable Savior. The gospel is good news. Jesus satisfied the law by dying on the cross and rising again. All that the law requires, the gospel has been fulfilled. Like Jairus’ daughter, God wants us all to experience the gospel and be healed of our spiritual deadness to rise again by His power. 

In this week’s text, Jesus demonstrates his power to heal in healing “a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years and could not be healed by anyone” (v 43).  This woman, because of her disease, was a pariah to society. She was considered ceremonially unclean and needed to be cleansed to go to the temple or synagogue. But through her faith, she was healed by the Lord Jesus. Even through everything she has experienced over the past twelve years, she did not lose faith. It was her faith that led her to go into the midst of the crowd to find Jesus and become healed by him. Jesus recognizes what happened and brings attention to this woman whom he honors for her faith.

Jesus honors living, active, and practicing faith; faith that is not dead. Despite the woman’s chronic condition and unable to find healing, her faith led her to find Jesus, and believed she would be healed by touching the fringe of his cloak (v 43b). The word “touch” used here refers to “clutching” or “clinging”. She held on until she would be healed fully believing Jesus was able. Jesus, with the crowd pressing in on him, shows his unlimited availability to heal anyone with this kind of faith.

Even though all Christians are given the gift of faith from God when they are saved, some do not practice their faith always. The main reason why some Christians stop practicing their faith is holding onto idols that compete in their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Holiness and sin cannot dwell harmoniously. As all sins have been repented of at conversion, believers must not welcome any idols into their hearts. Holding onto idols is a lack of trust in Christ. Therefore, exercising faith is putting one’s trust in the Lord.

The faith that Jesus honors only comes from the Lord. The result of true saving faith ends up in a saving and ongoing personal relationship with the Lord. When Jesus honors faith in a believer, the result is love and obedience to God’s word. False faith cannot produce obedience. Two common types of false faiths are the Sunday Christian who rarely practices faith in daily life and the active churchgoer who practices lawlessness. Is our life dictated by the self, resulting in unbelief and lawlessness, or the will of God, resulting in righteousness and salvation? This woman is an example of what true saving faith looks like. She entered the narrow gate and continued walking on the narrow path. Jesus affirms her faith and that is what made her well (v 48).

Moreover, Jesus calls the woman his daughter having been adopted into God’s family. The Lord not only confirms her physical healing but also her spiritual healing. Only with the Lord Jesus Christ’s affirmation can one have the assurance of salvation on this side of glory. Today, the Christian’s public water baptism is how the Lord declares one’s faith and salvation.

And as the woman was told to go in peace by the Lord, the Christian also has peace with God and is given strength as they live with the peace of God on this side of glory. This kind of peace is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that possess this peace unceasingly pray and are known as peacemakers.

There is certain etiquette required while in the presence of the Queen of England. Even when other world leaders visited Queen Elizabeth, they abided by the rules of royalty and kept their manners. Our God is greater and mightier than any king or queen on earth (Rev 4:8, 5:13-14). He also deserves to be treated reverently. When our church gathers we come to worship Him. Sunday church service should not just be the tired old pattern but it is worship to the Almighty God who loves us. Hebrews 10:24 encourages everyone to not just come to church with little expectation but to build up and stimulate one another to love and good deeds. How can we gather in a way that fulfills this purpose? The answer is with joy, humility, and faith.

The first thing we bring to stimulate one another is joy. We are joyful because Christ is risen from the dead. Our Lord is alive and He is with us! He saves us from sin and death! Praise the Lord for the wonderful gift of salvation and eternal life. We are also joyful because Jesus speaks to us through His word. Also, it is the time we meet our brothers and sisters to have blessed fellowship (Psalm 100:2).

In Luke 8:40, the people were waiting for Jesus and welcomed Him. They were joyful to wait and hoped to meet Him. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is listed between love and peace.  Christian joy is not some emotional passion but a mixture of love and peace that is not influenced by outside circumstances. It is different from a worldly joy which is based on circumstances and can never satisfy. The joy of Christ is true and lasting joy. In fact, every Christian is chosen by God to be joyful. He saves us for the purpose of joy, not sorrow. Without Jesus, it is impossible to have joy but as a Christian, it is guaranteed. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit and his fruit is joy. 

Even in suffering, we can still be joyful because we know the outcome of our circumstances is holiness. When our joy is little, we can restore our joy through faith. Through faith we can see God is real and what He is like (Phil 4:8). Joy can be restored by looking at all of God’s past blessings. We have received countless blessings every day. The one supreme blessing that God has given us is Jesus Himself (Romans 8:32). The grace and fullness of Jesus are with us. His promises, His presence, and His life is ours. If we have Jesus, we must be joyful for there is no greater blessing in heaven or on earth. He is the source of joy.

Next, we meet Jairus (Luke 8:41). Jairus is a rich man who was an official of the synagogue. Therefore he has wealth, status, and influence. Yet Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet. Jairus is completely humble before Jesus. Without humility our worship is false (Isaiah 66:2-3, Romans 12:1). To worship God rightly, we must be like Jairus who fell at his feet. It is complete and absolute surrender. Worship is not a negotiation but a surrender. Take heed from what Jesus told the rich young ruler, “One thing you lack” (Mark 10:21). Do not hold onto your pride or things no matter how large or small. From the beginning, you must completely surrender to follow Jesus (Matthew 16:21). Jesus was the first to surrender to God, and He did so for our salvation (Phi 2:7-8). His perfect surrender and righteousness is also ours when we surrender to Him. Remember God is good therefore it is good to surrender to Him.

Lastly we bring faith to worship. Jairus came to Jesus for help by faith. His daughter is dying but Jairus came to Jesus, the only one who could save his daughter. He was waiting for Jesus and welcomed Him by faith. Faith loves Christ. Faith obeys Christ. You cannot worship God without faith. Sacrifices do not mean anything if they lack faith (Isaiah 1:11-13, Romans 14:23). Only by faith can we worship God in a pleasing manner (Hebrews 11:4,6). Faith knows God and believes in all of God’s attributes. Faith will strive and seek God until it receives God’s blessing because it knows who God is (Genesis 32:36).

But we cannot place our faith in the wrong thing. Faith must be in the true gospel. Only by the gospel of Jesus Christ is true faith born. You can understand all the other truths of the Bible or know all the facts about the Bible but without the true gospel, there is no true faith. Even though the eunuch didn’t know much, the eunuch had true faith and went on his way rejoicing because he had received the true gospel (Acts 8:39).

We don’t need other skills, we don’t need things, we don’t need works, we don’t need the help of others. With joy, humility, and faith, we can worship the Lord (1 John 2:27).

The demon-possessed man in the country of the Gerasenes lived in utter hopelessness, devastation, and isolation due to his state. Then he met Jesus, and everything changed. The man became a new creation in Christ. 

What characterizes someone who is in Christ? 

The man from whom the demons had gone showed these three marks as a new creation in Jesus-

Love for Jesus.

Anyone who is in Christ loves Him and prioritizes Him above all else. Love for Jesus is the mainspring of spiritual life. Contrastingly, the absence of love for Jesus is evidence that you are not truly saved. The demon-possessed man knew the difference between being in and out of Christ. His love for Christ revealed a genuine salvation that was born of God, wrought by the Holy Spirit, and it compelled him to desire to be with Jesus. 

What causes love for Jesus?

It is only by the gospel that we could love Jesus because it is only in the gospel that we experience the love of God. In the gospel, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God and overcame death for us. The gospel is essential to remember every day. Our love for Jesus will be directly correlated to our comprehension of the gospel. 

Love for others.

The demon-possessed man loved Christ, and therefore loved others. As a new creation, he was commissioned by Jesus to share the gospel with the lost. Beware- any motivation to share the gospel apart from love for Christ is an act of legalism and self-righteousness. Only those who love Christ and are in Him understand and fulfill their purpose in life to make disciples.

What hinders us from sharing the gospel?

Without prayer, we will have no desire to share the gospel. With more prayer, you would have eyes to see the lost and passion for their souls and for God’s glory. 

Submission to Christ.

If you love Jesus, you love to obey Him. Anyone who is in Christ can obey because they have a new nature that is made in the likeness of Jesus. 

Before we met Christ, we were just like the demon-possessed man. We were in the bondage of sin.  But in Christ, we became a new creation. This is the gospel.  By the gospel, we can maximize our love for Jesus, love for our fellow man, and submission to Jesus.