Compassion and Hope

I have your Bibles with you.

Turn with me if you would to Mark chapter 5, and we're going to be looking to begin with it at verses 21 through 24. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we lift up our sick to you today. We pray for little Thomas Rainey, Brian and Robin's grandchild who has heart complications.

Help him to strengthen and be ready for surgery. Pray for Fran Ruisi who's suffering with cancer, and Nicole Lowes who's battling vertigo. We pray for healing for Jan Beecham after her operation this week.

Lord, there are many others. Please bring healing to them all. Heavenly Father, the story before us in Mark 5 is put here for a divine purpose. You want to increase our amazement of Jesus. You want us to marvel at the power and the glory of your Son. In this story, we see Jesus do what other men could not do.

He raises a little girl from the dead. He heals a woman of a bleeding hemorrhage that she has suffered with for 12 years. Medicines didn't help. Homemade remedies were useless. Doctors were powerless to do anything for her. But when by faith she grabbed onto the hem of his garment, you healed her completely. Her bleeding stopped. Her energy returned.

She was no longer a social outcast. We too often take Jesus for granted. We love him as our Savior, but we too often don't praise him as our Lord. Father, as I preach this message, please help us, Lord, that we might take the truth of your Word into our hearts, that it might change us and make us more like Christ.

For it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

You may be seated. How many of you have seen a St. Jude Children's Hospital commercial? I love those. They are special to me.

They always get to my heart. Now, little children who have been beaten down with a deadly disease, just horrible, terrible situations, those children are on the TV screen and they got these big smiles in their faces because now they have been given hope. I want to take a minute and read you the mission statement of the St. Jude's Children's Hospital. The mission of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital is to advance cures and means of prevention for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.

Consistent with the vision of our founder, Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion, or a family's ability to pay. I love that. That rings my bell. But why have I used that to start off this sermon today?

Because in R.C. Sproul's commentary on the Gospel of Mark, he says that Mark chapter 5 is a St. Jude's chapter because it is a chapter that is absolutely filled with hope. Jesus takes hopeless situations and then turns them upside down through his compassion and power. I think the last section of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus and the disciples are out on a little boat. They're in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is asleep in the bottom of the boat and this terrible storm comes up. It's hurricane force winds and the boat's being tossed to and fro like a little styrofoam cup on the water. Waves are just crashing into the boat. Looks like certain death for them.

Looks like no hope at all. And they go and they wake Jesus up. Jesus walks over to the bow of the boat and he looks out at this huge storm and he says, hush, be still. And all of a sudden the wind stops.

The torrential rains stop and the sea is just as smooth as glass. And the disciples realize that they're not just alive and well but they realize that Jesus has power even over nature. We get into the first 20 verses of Mark chapter 5 and there's a man who is a demoniac and this man has been just put in a situation where he is absolutely miserable through demonic activity. He is suicidal. His life is falling apart. He's cutting himself. He can't stop crying. He lives out in a graveyard. Nobody will talk to him. Children run from him. Men can't stand him.

I mean this is a terrible situation. Jesus goes up to this man, casts the demons out of him and immediately the man is in his right mind. He has perfect peace. He has absolute joy and the disciples come to understand that Jesus has power over the demonic. In the passage that we're looking at today we see that Jesus has power over disease and even death.

I think Sproul got it right. I think Mark chapter 5 is the Saint Jude chapter. Well today as we look at this passage I don't want to focus so much in on the healings as I want to focus in on the healer. Folks, Jesus is the healer and I've got several things I think we can learn about him through this passage. Number one, Jesus is accessible.

He is accessible. Look with me again at verse 21 through 24. And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side a great crowd gathered around 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 him about. There was a crowd that knew that Jesus was coming. Jesus and the disciples are on the little boat.

They're headed to the shore. Most of these people in this crowd are sick people but as the boat is pulling into the shore, Jesus looks up and he sees a man running to him as fast as he can right down the hill. And he goes right through this crowd. He is absolutely determined to get to Jesus. The Bible tells us that his name is Jairus. The Bible tells us that he is the ruler of the synagogue. Now this does not mean that he is a teaching rabbi, for he's not. But when they had larger synagogues in some cities and they would get godly laymen that would take responsibility for the facilities themselves in the synagogue, for the administrative and organizational details, this man was responsible for bringing the speakers in. He was responsible for having somebody that would read the scripture. This man was not a teaching rabbi at all, but he was a very godly man and it was his responsibility to put out the order of service, so to speak. And that's what he did.

These men were well respected and they were greatly admired. And so everybody in that area knew Jairus and they looked up to him and they respected him. But now we see Jairus running to Jesus. He is horribly upset. Tears are rolling down his cheeks. He is usually steady and calm. He is usually just filled with organizational power, but all of a sudden that's not happening.

He could care less at this point in time about administrative details and organization. Doesn't matter to him. Now, what was he? What kind of man was he? I think he was a very godly man and I think he could have been a Pharisee. We don't know for sure if he was, but we do know there were a lot of Pharisees in that synagogue. And so he knew that the Pharisees resented Jesus. He also knew that the Pharisees would want him to resent Jesus too.

But guess what? He didn't give a rip what the Pharisees thought. He didn't care what they liked and what they didn't like because Jairus had a problem. Jairus's daughter was dying and Jairus was deeply concerned about her and he ran to Jesus. He fell down on his knees before Christ and he cried out and he said, Jesus, my daughter is at the point of death. I want you to notice that he didn't say, my daughter might die, or that my daughter is very sick and we're concerned about her. He said, my daughter is at the point of death.

In other words, she could be breathing her last breath at any moment. The doctors had given up hope. The servants had given up hope.

Her family had given up hope. They had called in hospice, so to speak. They knew that any time she could breathe that last shallow breath and she could enter into eternity. Jairus came running up to Jesus. He fell down on his knees before Jesus in a posture of worship. He didn't care what the Pharisees thought.

He didn't care what the crowds thought. He knew that Jesus was his only hope and so he ran for help from Jesus. You remember Nicodemus? Nicodemus was a part of the Sanhedrin, part of the Jewish Supreme Court. I've always loved and appreciated Nicodemus, but when Nicodemus started out, he was kind of a secret disciple. He would go to Jesus at night.

He was very tentative, filled with the fear of man, didn't want to get caught, didn't want anybody to know. Later on, things completely turned around. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, after Jesus died, he and Joseph of Arimathea went. They took Jesus down from the cross. They took him to the tomb.

They laid his body in the tomb and they ministered to him by preparing his body for burial with over 100 pounds of spices. At that point in time, he had gotten strong. He was ready to take a stand for Christ.

Wasn't like that at first. He was very secretive, very tentative, filled with the fear of man. Jairus was the exact opposite.

Jairus's seeking of Jesus was wide open. He didn't fear man. He didn't fear consequences.

He didn't fear anything. His daughter was about to die and he knew that he needed Jesus' help, so he ran to Jesus. Jesus sees him come and approaching him and Jesus allows him to approach. Jesus sees his heart. He sees his hurt. He sees the need in this man and he's deeply, deeply concerned about him. Now, Jesus could have said, now listen, there's a great crowd of people here.

You're gonna have to wait your turn. Jesus didn't say that. Jesus said, okay, I'll go with you right now. Folks, Jesus was accessible.

Accessible. As a pastor, I remember back when I was in my former church, we had a little boy that was riding his bicycle. He got hit by a car. They took him to the emergency room. He was unconscious at the time and I went and I sat down with the family in the emergency room and the doctor finally came out and the doctor looked at the family and he kind of shook his head and he said, it's not good news.

He said, he's still living right now, but he very well may not make it. And I remember the doctor looking over at me and said, are you the pastor? I said, yes, sir. He said, well then pray and pray right now, and I did. Folks, I know of no deeper hurt than for a parent to be experiencing either near death or the death of their child. Let me tell you something, pastors need to be accessible. Jairus knew that if Jesus didn't come, it was over.

His daughter could never get well without Christ, and so Jesus went with him. Jesus was totally accessible. I tell you, I worry about churches that get so big that the pastors have no time to actually pastor and minister to the sheep. Some churches are so large that the pastor doesn't even know, but a handful of people in the church, that's sad to me. I find Jesus's accessibility refreshing.

I find it very challenging. Love how John MacArthur described Jesus's accessibility. He said this, gripped with grief and yet emboldened by faith, Jairus sought Jesus in the midst of the crowd. How grateful he must have been when the Lord not only listened to his heartfelt request, but agreed to go with him to his home. The accessibility of Jesus is seen not only in his willingness to intermingle with the crowds, but also in his availability to go with one desperate man who needed him. Because he was accessible, he could be contacted, spoken to, and reached in a moment of need. Because he was available, he was willing to give of himself to meet the need of one man.

Consequently, he went off with him. Though a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him, Jesus began the journey through the streets of Capernaum to Jairus's house. Despite the many demands he faced in his earthly ministry, the Creator walked with people, made himself accessible to them. The King of Creation, the Lord of Hosts, the ruler of all, was not too busy to graciously care for those in need. The Gospels are filled with the accounts of his merciful availability to individuals. So number one, Jesus was accessible. Number two, Jesus is interruptible.

Look with me at verses 25 through 34. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather it 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. 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. Jesus said to Jairus, I will go with you and minister to your daughter. Boy, he was absolutely overjoyed. He was so excited because Jesus was going to go with him, but Jairus knew that his daughter was at the precipice of death, and if they got to hurry, they got to go very quickly. And so they started moving toward the house, but the crowd was moving along with them, and that was slowing down the pace. Jairus had run down the hill to get to Jesus, and now Jairus wants Jesus to run back up the hill with him, and that's not happening. They're going pretty slow, and then all of a sudden there's a lady that steps out and touches Jesus and interrupts everything and stops the procession.

Patience is not one of my virtues. If I had been Jairus, I think I would have said to Jesus, Jesus, forget about this woman right now, because my daughter is dying. She's not dying. She's just sick. Come and deal with my daughter first and save her life, then come back and deal with a woman.

Jesus, that's what you need to do. He could have said that. He could have kind of scolded Jesus, but he had too much respect for him to do that. Jesus did not get aggravated with the interruption of this woman.

Why? Because Jesus knew this was the providence of God, that God allowed this interruption to take place for a purpose. I get aggravated with interruptions. I just get aggravated with, I wish they didn't happen. I need to be more like Jesus.

I need to realize that if I'm being interrupted as part of the providence of God, there may be a lesson here that God wants to teach me. Let me take a moment and share with you about this lady. This lady had had an ailment for 12 years. She had had a sickness where it just totally debilitated her. She had gone to one doctor after next, after next, after the next, and none of the doctors had been any help to her at all. She had tried all kinds of medicines.

She had tried all kinds of home remedies. She had gone through directions and exercises and all these different things, and nothing has helped, and now she has lost all of her money. She's totally broke.

Nobody has been able to help her. She's a mess. What kind of sickness did she have? She had a hemorrhage.

She was bleeding desperately. She's weak and anemic. Her health is just failing. She is almost at the point of death. She has been very, very sick, and she's been very, very sick for a long, long time.

But I want you to know that was not her only problem, just physical sickness. She had another problem, and that problem was a social and spiritual problem. The Jewish community looked at her as if she were a leper. They said, you can't touch anybody. You can't come to the synagogue. You can't go to the temple. You can't worship.

You can't hear the word of God preached. You can't be around it. You've got to stay away. You've got to socially distance, so to speak, and she's done that for 12 years, not being able to touch anybody, and she's totally frustrated. Notice the difference between Jairus and this woman.

They are complete opposites. Jairus was a well-respected leader in the synagogue. She is a social and religious outcast. Jairus had known 12 years of joy and happiness with his daughter, but she has known 12 years of absolute misery with this affliction.

She has known just rejection for 12 years, and it's been a tough 12 years. Now, the Jewish Talmud listed 11 different remedies for this kind of disease that she has, and all of them, or at least most of them, are just a bunch of superstitious nonsense. Let me share two of them with you. One was putting ashes on the ostrich egg, putting it in a sack, and then carrying it around with you. That was supposed to heal her.

Or another one was this, going out and finding a kernel of barley corn that you would get from a recent fresh pile of female donkey manure, and taking that kernel and carrying it with you all day. That was supposed to make you wail. How could anyone believe that silly nonsense? The same way our culture is trying to get us to believe that there are more than two genders. Folks, forget what the infallible Word of God says, that God created man and God created one.

God created woman. Forget about all that. Forget what the Word of God says. Forget what common sense tells you. Forget what biological facts say. Just believe the nonsense. Folks, that was going on 2,000 years ago.

It's still going on today. So anyway, the lady had come to the end of her rope. She knew that she was not supposed to touch anybody, but she had tried everything else. She'd spent all of her money. Doctors hadn't helped.

Nothing had helped. So she says, I'm going to touch Jesus. I'm going to touch him. And she said, well, what are they going to do to me? Said, they may take me and they may stone me to death if I touch him, but that'll be okay.

I'd rather die than live like that anyway. So she pushed herself through the crowd, and she reaches between two people. And the Scripture says here in the Gospel of Mark that she touched or reached over and she grabbed Jesus' garment. Now Mark wrote his Gospel to the Romans, and so Mark knows that the Romans would not understand all the rules and regulations and things that the Jews understand, so he says it very plainly and very simply.

Matthew, on the other hand, is writing to the Jewish people, and he tells us in detail what happened. She reached over and she touched not just the garment, but the hem of the garment. Now that's very, very important, for the hem of the garment has a lot of symbolism in it, and it's very, very important. In Numbers chapter 15, God commanded the people, the Jewish people, to make a prayer cloth, a prayer shawl, that they would wear over their head when they prayed. They'd put it over their head, it would drape down onto their shoulders. Jewish people still use this today.

But in Numbers chapter 15, they were given some instruction. They were told to take a ribbon or a tassel of royal blue, and then they were to sew it into the corner of the hem. Where'd that royal blue come from? It came from a little shell fish called a murex, and they would drill down into the back shell of that murex. They would take out one little drop of royal blue liquid, and it would take thousands of these to get a pound of dye.

That's why they call it royal blue, because it was so expensive. Then they would take that tassel, they would put it down in that dye, and then after it dried, they would sew it into the hem of the garment. Folks, the hem of the garment is a picture of authority. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah walks into the temple of Jehovah. He walks into the temple of Jehovah. He sees the angels, the seraphim, surrounding the throne of God, singing out, holy, holy, holy. And then the scripture says that the Lord, he saw the Lord up on his throne, and his train filled the temple.

The word train there means him. In other words, the robe that he had on, as God is sitting on that throne, doesn't go down and just touch the floor behind the throne. It just flows, and it flows, and it flows, and it flows until it fills the entire temple. Folks, what's being said here?

What's being said is this. God is sovereign. God has all authority.

God has all power. God is king, and there is none like him. Now, when a person was to pray, they were to use this prayer shawl.

They still do this today. And when that person gets down on his knees with that prayer shawl over his head, he reaches up, and he takes that that blue tassel in his hand, and he prays. And he says, Lord, you are king. Lord, you are the one who has power. Lord, you are sovereign. Lord, you are the one that can answer my prayer. And so I pray to you, and I pray to you alone. Listen, this sick little lady was not just reaching up to Jesus to touch him anywhere on his person.

Oh, no, no. She was reaching over, grabbing the hem of the garment, because she knew that was the symbol of his authority. Folks, do not look at what this little lady did here as something accidental or haphazard. This was one of the most purposeful things she had ever done in her life. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was reaching over and grabbing that tassel.

How important that is. This was not superstition. She was not trusting that there was power in the tassel, for there certainly wasn't. But she was acting in faith, believing in the sovereignty and kingship of Jesus, that Jesus had the power to make her well. Look at verse 29. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. What doctors could not do in 12 years, Jesus did in one second. But then Jesus turned around and said, who touched me?

The disciples got a little sarcastic. Said, what do you mean, who touched you? Thousands of people out here trying to get to you. Everybody's touching you. Jesus said, no, no, somebody touched me in faith. He said, I felt power leaving my body.

William McDonald said, there's a big difference between the touch of physical nearness and the touch of desperate faith. So the lady realizes that she can't hide anymore. She realizes that she's been caught, so she steps forward, trembling and shaking, scared to death, and she said, Jesus, it was me. I'm the one that reached over and touched you. Lord, I'm sorry, but I've been sick for 12 years. I've had this bleeding condition. I've had this terrible hemorrhage. I've been to doctors. I've spent all my money.

I don't have anything left, and none of the doctors have helped me at all. But as soon as I reached over and I touched the hem of your garment, and I grabbed that tassel, as soon as I did that, I was made well. She expected to be rebuked by Jesus. Jesus did not rebuke her.

Instead, Jesus exalted her. Look what he called her. He said, daughter. Man, how precious that is. He calls her daughter.

Daughter, go your way. Your faith has made you well. My brother Scott gave me a book for Christmas a while back, and it was a book written by Charles Martin, and Charles Martin has a whole chapter about this lady, and it's just a great chapter, but he had gone to Africa, and while he was in Africa, he saw a situation that was there going on in Africa at that time that gave him a lot of insight into what this lady was experiencing, and I want to share with you just a paragraph here. I thought this was really interesting.

He said, years ago I was working on a book in Africa. I met up with some doctors who were treating women with obstetric fistulas, a condition caused in countries with limited medical care. Prior to birth, the baby got stuck in the birth canal, dies, and in so doing tears a hole in either the bladder, the bowel, or both. After delivering a stillborn baby, the women are left with uncontrolled leakage of urine, feces, and blood. With no cure, the women eat and drink less to control the flow. Considered cursed by God, they are thrown out like lepers.

Many sleep with animals to keep warm. Suicide is common. The stench is significant.

No, it's awful. I have walked among them, so I'm speaking from experience. The only thing worse than the smell is the shame carved into their faces.

Few, if any, look you in the eye. In colloquial language, these women are called the bleeders. For whatever reason, the tormented woman in the street was a bleeder. I wonder how much time passed before she took off that diaper. How long before she tore down the laundry line, burning every last rag.

In my mind, she stands alone in the street and screams at the top of her lungs, he called me daughter. When I get to heaven, I want to find this woman and hug her neck. Her story knocks a few things loose in me, and I want to thank her. I want to thank her for her gumption, for her faith out of which she elbowed her way through a crowd that did not want her, for despising her own shame. For when all seemed lost, she reached at her hand and cried out to Jesus. Why, of all the saints in Scripture, do I want to find this one? This woman believed the Word was more true than her circumstances. Let that sink in. Thy word is truth.

I like point three. Jesus is unflappable. Look at verse 35 through 40. 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, John the brother James. 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 he took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. We don't know how long it took Jesus to deal with this woman who had the issue of blood, but it was long enough that as he was doing that, the little girl daughter Jairus had died, and messengers from Jairus's house came running down and I think said rather sarcastically, Don't worry the master anymore. It's too late now. Jesus drug his feet. If Jesus had gotten here when he should have, if he had hurried up, then he could have dealt with her, but now it's too late. There's nothing that Jesus can do. It kind of reminds me of the reaction of Mary and Martha when Lazarus was sick and dying, and they wanted Jesus to get there very quickly, and Jesus didn't do it.

He had a bad attitude toward that. Let me tell you, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing because Jesus wanted to do more than a healing for Lazarus. He wanted to do a resurrection.

I think we see the very same thing here. Jesus wants more than just a healing. Jesus wants a resurrection. In other words, Jesus wasn't late. He was perfectly on time, God's time.

Well, I can picture Jairus dropping his shoulders and the tears just come pouring down. Jesus doesn't want him to have doubt, so he looks over at him and says, do not fear, only believe. And if you read this in Luke's account, he adds something.

He said, your daughter will be made well. He only allows three disciples to go, Peter, James, and John. We call them the inner circle. They were a group of three men that Jesus knew needed to be in on this miracle.

Why? Because after Jesus would be crucified, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, the early church would get its start and they would begin to minister. And I wonder how many times Peter, James, and John came across a snag, a problem they just did not know how to handle. And I wonder how many times they thought back to this miracle, what Jesus did here, how he raised this little girl from the dead, and they thought to himself, as long as we've got Jesus, we've got hope. When they got to the house, the funeral had already begun. The professional mourners were there, and they were crying and yelling and screaming and going through all their stuff that they went through.

And then Jesus comes up to them and says, what's all the commotion about? A little girl is not dead, she's just sleeping. And all of a sudden, the professional mourners quit crying and they started laughing.

So what are you talking about? Said, we're professional mourners. We deal with death every single day. Well, we know what death looks like, and this little girl's not sleeping.

She is dead. They were saying, Jesus, why are you saying these crazy things? What's the matter with you?

Why are you doing this? What did Jesus do? He made the scorners, the skeptics, and the mockers clear out.

Said, everybody leave. Then he called Jairus and Mrs. Jairus. Peter, James, and John said, y'all come on in. They came into the bedroom where the little girl had died laying on the bed, and there they were. In point three, I said that Jesus was unflappable.

What does that mean? It means that Jesus was perfectly calm in the midst of a crisis. The mourners laughed at him.

The parents of the little girl were absolutely devastated over what had happened. The disciples weren't saying anything because they didn't have a clue as to what Jesus was going to do. Jesus doesn't show anger to the mocking crowd. He doesn't show frustration toward the doubting parents, and he doesn't show disgust with the disciples who are not acting in faith. He was unflappable.

He was totally calm in the midst of a crisis. All right, point four is Jesus is compassionate. Look at verse 41 through 43. 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 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. Jesus walks over into the bedroom. She's laying there on the bed. He walks right over to her. She's dead.

He reaches over. He takes her hand, and he lifts her up, and he says to her, talitha kumai, little girl, arise. The word talitha literally means little lamb. By the way, John Piper named his adopted daughter talitha. There are some of you right now that are expecting a baby.

You may have a little girl. If you do, I think talitha would be a great name. Not to put any pressure on you, but I think talitha would be a great name.

You say, why? Well, when she gets a little bit older, where she can understand, you can take her. You can put her up on your knee. You can read her this story, and you could say, we named you talitha after her, because she was a little girl who needed Jesus' help. She was a little girl who needed life, and Jesus gave life to her, and says, we named you talitha, because you need life too. You need life from Jesus.

You need life from Jesus so that you will go to heaven when you die, and you will spend all of eternity with him. Talitha. Pretty good name.

Pretty good name. Well, when Jesus said, arise, the little girl did. She opened her eyes. She jumped out of bed, she walked, and not only was she just alive, but she wasn't sick anymore.

She was completely well. I can imagine the parents running over, hugging the little girl, then hugging Jesus, then hugging the disciples, and the scripture says that they were overcome with amazement. Then Jesus, in his compassion, says, give her something to eat.

Amazing love. He not only raised a little girl from the dead, but he was so compassionate that he thought, she needs nourishment, and I'll continue to take care of her. Then he gave them strict orders.

This is interesting. He said, don't tell anybody about the miracle. Now, why not? Because the crowds that had been following Jesus were getting larger and larger, and they were hindering his ability to get out and preach the gospel, and it was messing up his opportunities to preach the gospel.

And he knew that if this miracle got out and people found out about it, then the crowds would multiply. So what's the problem here? What's the issue?

Folks, here's the issue. The issue is the primacy of the gospel. It's important that we pray for sick people, physically sick people.

We ought to do that. The Lord's able to heal physically sick people. But I want you to know it's not near as important as the gospel getting into the heart of those who don't yet know Jesus. Let me ask you something.

Are you here today? Do you know this Lord? Have you trusted the one who went to the cross in order that he might conquer sin, death, and hell? Jesus did that.

He did that in order that he might take your sin and impute to you his righteousness. Have you believed? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to the Father but by me. Have you believed in Jesus? Have you trusted in Christ? Have you genuinely repented of your sins and surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus? Have you believed?

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, great lessons in this passage. We learn that Jesus is accessible. No one on earth was greater and more glorious than Jesus and yet he still had time for the most insignificant. We stand in amazement.

We as your people are not as enthralled with you as we should be. Please use scripture like this to increase our fear of God and our love for God. Stories like this remind us that with God nothing is impossible. We love you Lord. Help us to love you Lord. Help us to love you more. For it's in Jesus' precious holy name that we pray. Amen.