[0:00] But if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read. The Gospel according to Mark, Mark chapter 5.
[0:18] Mark chapter 5, it's on page 840 of the Church Bible. We're going to read again at verse 35 and 36.
[0:30] Mark 5 at verse 35. While Jesus was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house someone who said, or some who said, your daughter is dead.
[0:45] Why trouble the teacher any further? But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe.
[0:57] Do not fear, only believe. As you know, in the day and age in which we live, the Bible, our Bible, is often thought to be irrelevant, especially irrelevant for our modern world.
[1:20] The Bible is considered to be outdated. It's outmoded in comparison to the progression of science and even the prevailing views of society in the 21st century.
[1:32] We don't need the Bible now, they tell us, because we know better. We know better. But you know, when you come to a passage like this one, and you see that life takes that unexpected twist or turn, and we're brought face to face with a trial or a tribulation or some turmoil, we're often brought to realize that we know nothing at all.
[2:00] Because when there's a diagnosis you never saw coming, or a disease you didn't anticipate, or even a death that you weren't expecting, how do you respond?
[2:11] What do you do? Who do you turn to? And yet, when we open this ancient book, we discover that the Bible speaks, and it always speaks into that very situation and that very circumstance in our lives.
[2:27] And that's because the Bible, as you know, it's not a dead and dusty old book. No, the Bible is a living book, and it's a loving book. The Bible is a real and it's a relevant book.
[2:38] What's more is that the Bible never covers up the problems of this world, and the Bible never tells us and pretends to us that everything is going to be okay. The Bible never paints over and makes pretty all the painful providences that we go through in life.
[2:55] No, the Bible reminds us and even reassures to us, it reminds us plainfully and reminds us powerfully, that none of us, absolutely none of us, are immune from the heartache and the heartbreak of this life.
[3:12] None of us are free from the chaos and the confusion of sin, or sickness, or sorrow, or separation that comes into our homes and into our families. And you know, I've said it many times before, if the teaching of our Bible could be summarized in one sentence, this would be the sentence, life is uncertain, death is sure, sin is the cause, Christ is the cure.
[3:40] Life is uncertain, death is sure, sin is the cause, but Christ is the cure. And that's what these two families in this passage came to discover, because we're not only looking at one family today, we're also seeing two families.
[3:55] Two families, they come to discover that life is uncertain, death is sure, sin is the cause, and Christ is the cure. And we see that because one family is dealing with a debilitating disease, and the other family is dealing with the painful prospect of death.
[4:11] And yet both families are fearful. They're fearful about their future. But what both these families come to discover is that Christ is the cure.
[4:23] And Christ is the cure because He cares. Christ is the cure because He cares. And you know, you might be asking the question this morning, maybe you're going through something I don't know about, but maybe you're asking the question, well, Jesus, do you care?
[4:41] Do you care about me? And that's a question I want us to ask as we come to this passage. Jesus, do you care? I want us to consider three headings this morning, because we see, first of all, a fearful future.
[4:56] Then there's a faithful female. And then lastly, there's a frightened father. So a fearful future, a faithful female, and a frightened father. So first of all, a fearful future.
[5:08] A fearful future. Look at verse 21. Of Mark 5. 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.
[5:20] 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.
[5:34] And He went with Him. And a great crowd followed Him, and thronged about Him. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse.
[5:51] So in these verses, Mark introduces us to the woes and worries of two families. Two families who are facing, you could say, two of the most painful providences that we all encounter in life.
[6:06] The providence of sickness, and the providence of sorrow. And for all their differences, they both have one thing in common. They're both fearful about the future.
[6:16] They don't know what the future holds, so they're fearful about the future. Because on the one hand, we read there, we have this man, Jairus. Jairus, who's, as we read, he's the ruler in the local synagogue.
[6:29] But what concerned Jairus was that he had a twelve-year-old daughter at home who was lying in her bed, and she's so ill that she's at the point of death.
[6:40] And then on the other hand, as we read there, you have this anonymous woman who's been battling a particularly difficult health issue for the past twelve years of her life.
[6:50] And not only had her health been deteriorating, but Mark tells us that she had spent everything that she had, she had spent every penny that she had, in this vain attempt to deal with her illness.
[7:03] And what's remarkable is that these painful providences in the lives of these two families, they are the means for bringing them to Jesus.
[7:16] And you know, I've said this before, but I say it again, and I say it very carefully, and very, I hope, compassionately. the Lord allows painful providences into our lives, not to drive us away from Him, but always to drive us to Him.
[7:34] The Lord allows painful providences to come into our personal lives, not to drive us away from Him, but always to drive us to Him.
[7:45] Now, as you know, we use the word providence. When we use the word providence, we mean that our lives, they are not a result of luck. There's no such thing as luck, or chance, or fate, or fortune, or karma.
[7:58] Why? Because the Lord is sovereign. He's absolutely sovereign over our lives. He's superior. He is supreme. He has written the story of our lives. He's the narrator in our narrative.
[8:11] He's the director in the drama of our lives. We might not understand the storyline, and often we don't. We might not foresee all the twists and the turns, and often we don't.
[8:22] But He's the one who turns all the pages in our providence. And for these two families, real families, real situations, they are painful providences.
[8:34] Remarkably, they were the means for bringing them to Jesus. But you know, if we were to consider what was happening in their lives, the lives of these two families, if we were to think back 12 years earlier, you know, we'd see a completely different story.
[8:52] Because in the house of Jairus, 12 years earlier, there wasn't fear. There was joy. There was the joy and excitement that his wife has just given birth to a baby girl.
[9:06] But there's also worry, though. There's worry in the house of this unnamed and unknown woman. We don't know her name. We don't know anything about her. But she's worried because she's now been diagnosed with this debilitating illness, and she's all alone.
[9:21] And she knows that as a Jew, the issue of blood that she was suffering from, it was enough to leave her as an outcast from society. But what we see is that in the providence of God, the lives of these two families changed dramatically over 12 years.
[9:42] Jairus, as you know, he was a religious man. He had spent most of his life at the synagogue. That's probably where he was when he came and found Jesus. He was religiously praying for his dying daughter.
[9:54] nothing wrong with that. But for Jairus, in the back of his mind, he knew that there was a question about his religion, his religion of Judaism, that he knew that there was something that his religion couldn't answer.
[10:09] And fearful for his daughter's future, he knew that he needed an alternative and fast. And then there's this worried woman. She's in another home. She'd spent 12 years of her life trying to be free from her debilitating disease but to no avail.
[10:26] And every day she lived in fear. She wondered if this day was her last. And she wondered what her future held. She also wondered what other people thought of her because she knew that her religion had refused her.
[10:39] She knew that everyone labeled her as an outcast and unclean in society. But not only that, as we read, this woman, this worried woman, she wasted all her money on every doctor, there was no NHS in those days.
[10:55] She had spent all her money on every potion and every ointment in order to try and make her better. But it only made her worse. And fearful for her future, she came to realize that there are infirmities and illnesses in life that money can't buy.
[11:13] And she also needed an alternative and fast. And you know, my friend, there was a problem for Jairus that his religion couldn't solve. And there was a problem for this woman that money couldn't buy.
[11:27] And yet people today, so many people today still think that all the problems in life can either be solved by having enough religion or having enough money. But the reality is the problems of sickness and sorrow, they are too big for religion and too big for riches.
[11:48] But my friend, they are never too big for Jesus. They're never too big for Jesus because Jesus cares. Jesus cares. And you know, you look at their lives, you look at their providences, all that's outworked in their experience, and you know, you have to question there, had it not been for these painful providences, would they have ever come to Jesus?
[12:15] Had Jairus' 12-year-old daughter not lay lying and dying in the family home, would Jairus have ever come out to meet Jesus? And had this woman received the right treatment, the right potion, the right ointment, and been healed of her disease, would she have ever come seeking Jesus?
[12:37] Probably not. But you know, it was when they were emptied of all their religion and emptied of all their resources and hitting absolute rock bottom in their lives that they both came to Jesus.
[12:54] They both came to Jesus. The Lord brought something into their life, not to drive them away from Him, but ultimately to drive them to Him. Because when their need became so great, they realized to whom else could they go but to Jesus.
[13:10] And when they came to Jesus, we read there that they came to Jesus crying. They came to Jesus crying, asking Him, Jesus, do you care?
[13:22] Do you care about me? Do you care about my providence and my situation and my circumstances? And you know, my friend, you may look at the personal and painful providences in your life, and you too can say today, had the Lord not brought these things into my life, I would never have opened my Bible.
[13:46] I would never have come to church. I would never have cried to the Lord in prayer. As painful as it was at the time and still is, had it not happened, I wouldn't have learned all about the Lord's love for me.
[14:05] I wouldn't have learned about His strength and His sustaining grace to help in my time of need. I would never have learned that God remains my refuge and my strength and a very present help in time of trouble.
[14:19] Had it not been this way, I would never have discovered that Jesus actually cares for me. And though I couldn't see it at the time or even understand what was happening at the time, I now know that He was working all things together by His grace and for my good and ultimately to His glory.
[14:46] Jesus, do you care? Do you care about me? And so we see a fearful future. Then secondly, we see a faithful female.
[14:57] A faithful female. Look at verse 27. verse 27. She heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind Him in the clouds and touched His garment.
[15:10] For she said, 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.
[15:22] So as Jesus was on His way to the first house, to Jairus' home, to see His dying daughter, as He's on His way to deal with Jairus' daughter, that this encounter with the woman, this worried woman who had a debilitating disease, that's when it took place.
[15:41] And you know, when we look at this unknown, this unnamed woman, she had nothing and she had no one. She had nothing and no one to lean upon in life.
[15:53] Her money couldn't deliver her. Her family had disowned her and her religion had declared her unclean. And yet she'd heard about this Jesus.
[16:05] We don't know how she heard about Jesus, but she'd heard about Jesus. And she'd heard that Jesus could rescue her and restore her and redeem her. And you know, like many people in our community, this worried woman, this worried woman could have thought, well, Jesus, he's too busy for me.
[16:25] Like many people in our community, this worried woman could have thought that Jesus didn't care about her because she's unclean. Like many people in our community, this worried woman could have thought that she wasn't religious enough, she wasn't good enough to come to Jesus.
[16:40] She could have thought that she didn't know enough for Jesus to even consider her or even look upon her at all. But when Mark explains what happened, he tells us that none of these things.
[16:53] None of these things deterred this determined woman from seeking Jesus. And my friend, none of them should ever deter you from seeking Jesus either because you're always exhorted and you're always encouraged in the gospel to come to Jesus and to come to him just as you are.
[17:15] To come to this Jesus just as you are. You don't need to make yourself better before you come to Jesus. You don't need to sort your life out and straighten things out in your life before you come to Jesus.
[17:28] No, you just come to Jesus as you are. You come to him as you are. But you know, in comparison to Jairus who came to Jesus very, very publicly, we saw that.
[17:39] He was on his knees begging before Jesus. This woman, though, she didn't come publicly. She came privately. In fact, we read there that she didn't want anyone to know that she was coming to Jesus.
[17:55] So much so that this unnamed, this unknown woman, she tried to remain unnamed and remain unknown. She wanted to come to Jesus unnoticed and undercover from this large crowd.
[18:11] her desire and determination was to remain disguised because this woman knew that she was despised. She knew that she was an outcast.
[18:23] She knew that, well, even being a female, she wasn't allowed to speak to a rabbi like Jesus. But she also knew that the Jewish law declared her unclean. Everybody would have looked at her and thought, unclean, unclean, unclean.
[18:38] And yet, her desire, her desire and her determination was to come to Jesus and just touch Him. Just touch Him.
[18:52] And you know, my friend, maybe you're someone who desires to come to Jesus. You've heard about Him all your life and you just want to come to Him.
[19:05] And you're determined to come to Him before you take your last breath. You want to come to Jesus for salvation, but like this woman, you don't want to disclose that to anyone.
[19:17] You don't want to divulge that information to anyone around you. Maybe not even your friends or even your family. Because you want to keep the fact that you are seeking Jesus a secret.
[19:30] You want to be one of those secret disciples. angels. But what we see with this woman is that she had the faith to believe that as long as she just touched Jesus, everything would be okay.
[19:46] We read there in verse 28, she said, if I touch even His garments, I will be made well. If I touch even His garments, I will be made well.
[19:56] And you know, the way verse 28 is worded there in the original language, it tells us that she almost kept repeating to herself this phrase. If I just touch Him, if I just touch His garments, I will be made well.
[20:10] If I just touch Him, I will be made well. If I just touch Him, I will be made well. It's almost as if she's repeating herself to encourage herself to take another step forward.
[20:21] She's exhorting herself. She's speaking to herself and saying to herself, if I can just get through this crowd and get to Jesus and come to Jesus and just touch His garment, no one will save me.
[20:35] But I'll be made well. Just one touch and I'll be made well. Just one touch. That's all I need. One touch. And He will heal me. He'll change me. He'll transform my life.
[20:46] He'll help me. Just one touch. That's all I need. All I need is this one touch. And you know, you can almost imagine this woman, unnamed, unknown woman, who's unclean.
[21:00] And you can almost imagine this hand in amongst the crowd. It's coming up from behind. And the crowd, it's coming from nowhere. And she just touches Jesus. He's passing by and she just grabs onto Him and touches the hem of His garment.
[21:15] And Mark tells us immediately. He says there, verse 30, Jesus perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched me?
[21:27] Immediately. Immediately, this change took place. Jesus knew that something had gone out from Him. Immediately, the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
[21:42] The change in her life was immediate. It was instantaneous because that's what happens when you come to Jesus. Your life changes. Your life changes.
[21:56] But then we read that all of a sudden, this crowd, they're on their way towards Jairus' house. And all of a sudden, Jesus stops. He just stops dead.
[22:10] The whole crowd comes to a standstill and Jesus turns around in the crowd and asks the question, Who touched me? Who touched me? And the disciples are like, What do you mean, who touched you?
[22:23] We're all pushing you. We're all pressing you. We're all walking with you. What do you mean, who touched me? Why are you saying, who touched me? Everyone's touching you. But of course, Jesus didn't ask the question because of His confusion.
[22:40] Jesus asked the question so that this woman would come forward. Jesus asked the question, Who touched me? To draw out a confession from this woman.
[22:53] Jesus asked the question to draw out a commitment from this woman because this woman, as you know, she wanted to disappear. She wanted to come to Jesus and then disappear as this secret disciple without anyone else knowing that she'd ever come to Jesus.
[23:09] But you know the thing is, my friend, you can't come to Jesus without confessing Jesus and committing your life to Jesus. You can't be cleansed from sin and not confess Jesus as your Savior.
[23:24] You can't experience and enjoy and enjoy salvation in its fullest and then keep it to yourself. That's why I love what Mark tells us there in verse 33. Jesus is asking the question, Who touched me?
[23:37] 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.
[23:53] You know, although this unnamed and unknown woman, although she was full of fear and although she was trembling in trepidation, she knew that she had to come forward to Jesus publicly.
[24:06] She knew that she had to confess Jesus publicly as her Savior. She knew that she had to commit her life to Jesus publicly as her Lord.
[24:17] And my friend, you know, you might be like that. You might be full of fear of taking the next step, trembling in trepidation at the thought of confessing Jesus as your Savior or committing your life to Him as Lord or coming out midweek to the prayer meeting or coming forward even to the Lord's table for the first time.
[24:44] You might be full of fear, trembling with trepidation. But you know, this woman came and she came and confessed it publicly because of what Jesus had done in her life.
[25:03] And you know, I'm sure that the day this woman came to Jesus and was cured by Jesus and the day she confessed Jesus as her Savior, I'm sure that after 12 years of suffering, all these prescriptions and all these portions from the doctors, I'm sure she said to herself, I wish I'd come sooner.
[25:29] I wish I'd come sooner. Remember Sandy saying that to me at the age of 84. I wish I'd come sooner.
[25:41] And for many of you, I know that the day you do finally take that step and come to Jesus and confess Jesus as Lord. And the day you commit your life to Jesus and come to the midweek meeting and come to sit at the Lord's table, whenever that will be, I hope it will be soon.
[26:01] But you know, the day that you do, you will say to me like this woman, Murdo, I wish I'd come sooner.
[26:13] I wish I'd come sooner. My friend, don't wait and worry. Don't let fear hold you back. Because as Jesus says, He wants a confession.
[26:27] He wants us to come today. He wants us to come now. A fearful future, a faithful female. And lastly, we see a frightened father.
[26:39] A frightened father. Look at verse 35. While Jesus was still speaking to this woman that came from the ruler's house, some who said, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?
[26:52] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear. Only believe. You know, this frightened father, he feared the worst.
[27:05] That's why he went to Jesus. He feared the worst. But for him, the worst happened. Jairus was fearful for the future that his dying daughter would die.
[27:18] And she did. It's the news that no parent wants to hear. Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?
[27:31] In a moment, Jairus' world, it's turned upside down. And as death always does, it brought with it chaos. It brought with it confusion. It brought heartache and heartbreak into their home.
[27:46] And maybe like the woman, Jairus thought, I wish I'd come sooner. But now I'm too late. I wish I'd come sooner.
[27:59] But now I'm too late. And maybe Jairus wondered, why did Jesus spend so much time helping this unknown and unnamed and unclean woman? Did he not care about me and my family and my needs and my situation?
[28:10] Because if Jesus cared, he wouldn't have let this happen to me. You know, that's how people often view Jesus. That if he cared at all, he would never let bad things happen to us in our lives.
[28:23] But as we said, the Lord brings things in not to drive us away from him, but to drive us to him. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
[28:33] And that's what we see here because when Jairus thought that Jesus was too late, when he thought that Jesus was too late and everyone else thought that Jesus was too late, in the face of sorrow, Jesus speaks to Jairus words of care and compassion and comfort.
[28:54] And you know, my friend, when there's sadness and sorrow in your home, you want Jesus to speak to you. You want him to speak into your situation with words of care and compassion and comfort.
[29:11] But you know, when faced with the reality and the finality of death, Jesus says to Jairus, unbelievable words, really. His daughter has died.
[29:22] She's lying on her bed. And Jesus says to Jairus, do not fear, only believe. Do not fear, only believe.
[29:33] And you know, to say that to a fearful father in the face of the finality of death, Jesus is either a liar, he's a lunatic, or he's Lord.
[29:45] He's either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. People in Jairus' house, they thought Jesus was a liar. Jesus said, she's not dead, she's sleeping. He's a liar. Or he's an absolute lunatic.
[29:58] Because we read there that they laughed at him, they put him, but Jesus put them out. But when Jesus brought the frightened father and his family face to face into the room with their daughter, when they came face to face with sadness and what sorrow is, what does Jesus do?
[30:17] I think it's honestly something so beautiful. He takes the 12-year-old dead daughter by the hand. And Jesus speaks with resurrection power those beautiful words, Talitha Kumi.
[30:35] Talitha Kumi. Which means, little girl, it's time to get up. Little girl, it's time to get up. Talitha Kumi. And she got up.
[30:48] And you know, I'm sure that growing up, Jairus' daughter growing up in Jairus' home, every morning, she would have heard her mother and father saying to her, Talitha Kumi, little girl, it's time to get up.
[31:05] It's time to get up. But when Jesus spoke these words, when Jesus spoke to her with those powerful words of resurrection, it was like she'd heard these words for the very first time.
[31:23] Talitha Kumi. And you know, that's what it's often like with the gospel. We can sit under the sound of the gospel for generations. We can sit here for years and years and people can sit and listen to what's been said.
[31:37] But it's only when Jesus speaks. It's only when Jesus speaks with resurrection power that it's like we hear it for the first time. We hear like we've never heard before.
[31:50] Talitha Kumi, little girl, it's time to get up. And you know, Jairus thought that Jesus was too late. Jairus thought that Jesus didn't care at all.
[32:04] But as you know, the timing of Jesus was perfect. His way is perfect. And that's what Mark wants us to take home with us this morning.
[32:16] We might not understand the Lord's providence in our lives. We might not understand His purposes. We might not even understand all His plans.
[32:29] But one thing we can be sure of, it's perfect. Because even the events of this passage, it was a providence, a meeting.
[32:40] A meeting that was twelve years in the making. It took twelve years of God's providential plan out working in the lives of these two families to get to this point and bring them both to Jesus.
[32:55] You know, it was planned to perfection. And that's why Jesus could say to Jairus, do not fear, only believe. Do not fear, only believe.
[33:07] And that's what Jesus is saying this morning. Do not fear, only believe. Because life is uncertain, death is sure, sin is the cause, but Christ is the cure.
[33:23] And Christ is the cure because He cares. And He cares so that we'll come to Him and we'll confess Him and we'll commit our lives to Him. My friend, the wonder of who this Jesus is, is that He cares and He cares about you.
[33:42] So do not fear, only believe. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we give thanks for reminding us this morning that Jesus meets with us even in the darkest of circumstances, that He's able to meet us when we are suffering with sickness or even facing sorrow, and to know that He is there for every experience that we go through in life, calling us to come to Him and to cast all our cares upon Him.
[34:19] Help us, Lord, we pray, not to fear, to fear that He knows the way that we take, and that when He has tried us, we shall come forth as gold. Help us, Lord, to believe, to believe that He knows what He's doing, and He's doing it well, to trust Him in the darkness as well as in the light.
[34:40] Bless, Lord, our time together, we pray. Bless, Lord, the tea and coffee afterwards this morning. Bless our fellowship. We thank You, Lord, for every gift that we receive from Thee. and help us to know and to see that the Lord is the giver of every good and perfect gift.
[34:57] Grant to us then thy blessing, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. Amen. We're going to bring our service to a conclusion this morning.
[35:09] We're going to sing the words of Psalm 71. 71. That's in the Scottish Psalter, page 311. Psalm 71.
[35:21] We're singing from verse 14 down to the verse marked 17.
[35:35] Psalm 71 at verse 14. But I with expectation will hope continually, and yet with praises more and more I will thee magnify. Thy justice and salvation my mouth abroad shall show, even all the day, for I thereof the numbers do not know.
[35:52] And I will constantly go on in strength of God the Lord, and thine own righteousness in thine alone I will record. For even from my youth, O God, by Thee I have been taught, and hitherto I have declared the wonders thou hast wrought.
[36:08] So we'll sing these verses of Psalm 71, and we'll stand to sing, if you're able, to God's praise. Psalm 71. Psalm 71. But I with expectation will hope continually, And yet with praises more and more I will thee magnify thy justice and salvation my mouth abroad shall show in all the day for I thereof the numbers do not know.
[37:32] And I will constantly go on in strength of God the Lord, and thy O righteousness in light alone I will record For even from my youth, O God, by Thee by Thee I have be taught, and hitherto
[38:37] I have declared the wonders thou hast brought.
[38:53] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.