Faith, Not Fear

[0:00] My name's Dave, if I haven't met you, I'm normally out with the youth and the kids. We're reading from Mark chapter 5, verse 21 to 43, and it follows on from the passage we're reading last week.

[0:14] So, Jesus has just been teaching, and he's been telling parables, and then he hops into a boat to go across to the other side of the sea, and on the way, there is a huge storm while he's sleeping, and as Josh said, he tells disciples, first of all, he calms the storm, and then he tells the disciples, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?

[0:38] And then when he gets to the other side, he has driven out a legion of unclean spirits from a man, and then into some pigs who have all run into the sea, and then he's crossed back over the sea again, and we pick up the story here, Mark 5, verse 21.

[0:57] And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, my little daughter is at the point of death.

[1:18] 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 about him.

[1:33] And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse.

[1:45] She had heard reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his garment. For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.

[2:00] And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garment?

[2:18] And the disciples said to him, do 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.

[2:39] And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.

[2:50] While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house, someone who said, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?

[3:02] 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, and John, the brother of James.

[3:14] 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?

[3:26] The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

[3:41] Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha kumi, 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.

[4:02] And he strictly charged them, that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, for the Lord Jesus, who heals the sick, and raises the dead.

[4:20] We pray that as we, look at this passage together now, that you will teach us, and you will greatly encourage us, from your word, through the Lord Jesus. Amen. So there is an outline, in the bulletins, you can follow along, and keep your Bibles open, to Matthew 5.

[4:41] And, we live in a society, where we, always hear bad news, all the time, don't we? It's all around us, and, we hear news, from the other side of the globe, and often, bad.

[4:53] And, when we hear it, we're distressed, by the war in Ukraine, the plight of hostages, and the hungry in Gaza. We feel, saddened and sorry, for news, just down on the south coast, of New South Wales, there was a mum, who saw a teenage daughter, in distress, in the waves, so jumped in to help her, only to drown herself.

[5:14] That's awful news, isn't it? And, we live in a world, where there is death, and there is suffering, and there is pain, and we hear about it, a lot.

[5:27] Because, we live in a world, that actually has been, cursed by God, because of sin. And, the curse, that God has put on this, this world, is truly awful, isn't it? Because, what's wrong with this world?

[5:39] It's not just that, Adam and Eve sinned, and then, now the world's gone bad, but rather, Adam and Eve sinned, so God deliberately, bent the world out of shape. God deliberately, cursed the world, and He caused, there to be frustration, enmity.

[5:53] He deliberately, cut off Adam, from the tree of life. It was God's active work, of judgment, that brings death, upon us, now. Now, the curse, on this world, is terrible.

[6:08] And, it's the active work, of God, it shows us, right, just how bad, sin really is, doesn't it? And, sometimes, that awful news, of the curse, isn't just news, but we feel it, deeply, don't we?

[6:24] Our own, dear brother, Peter Nixon, died just two days ago. relationships, are broken. Perhaps, the, cost of living crisis, strikes home, and it's a struggle, to, pay for things in life.

[6:42] Perhaps, a terrible accident, or a diagnosis, of a chronic, debilitating disease. Perhaps, someone close to you, has died suddenly. It's frightening, it's awful, it's distressing.

[6:55] How do we, respond to God, in such, a cursed world? With sin, and pain, and destruction, and loss, how do we, respond to God, when we feel, the effects, of the curse, so sharply, and the curse, comes home, and affects us, so personally, and profoundly, and destructively?

[7:15] In our passage today, that the curse, is shown, right in the midst, of God's people. A little daughter, 12 years old, dying, prematurely.

[7:26] A woman, bleeding out over, years of suffering. We see the fear, of Jairus, and of the woman, and yet their faith, in Jesus, that he's the one, to come to, for help.

[7:41] And we see Jesus, who he is, as he undoes, that curse, just a bit. So, so far, Mark has introduced us, to the person of Jesus, right?

[7:53] He is the Christ, the Son of God. He's shown us that, he's come proclaiming the kingdom, he's come to teach people, to show, them who he is, what the kingdom is like, and shown, his authority, through healing the sick, driving out demons, forgiving sin.

[8:08] And then there's, the three stories, from 4 verse 35, to today's passage, that all go together. Jesus calming the storm, driving out the legion, of unclean spirits, and then healing, this bleeding woman, and raising Jairus' daughter.

[8:22] Why does Mark, include these stories, in his gospel? Not just to show, Jesus' authority, though it does do that, but to teach us, about fear, and about faith. Jesus, rules over the, the forces of chaos, out there, the things that, that we can't control, the tumultuous depths, and the ferocious wind.

[8:42] And he brings, peace, to the chaos, of the waters. He rebukes, his disciples, in their fear. Why, are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?

[8:55] Such that they, fear him even more. Jesus then, in the region, of the Gerasenes, is in an unclean, Gentile area, with a man, living among the unclean dead, filled with unclean spirits, near a herd, of unclean pigs, and Jesus cleanses out the lot.

[9:11] Jesus deals with, the chaos, around us. He deals with the, uncleanness, over there, out there. Such that the people, seeing the man clothed, in his right mind, fear, Jesus, and beg him to leave.

[9:26] And now, in today's passage, there's this, uncleanness, and this curse, which has come, right into the midst, of God's people. A synagogue leader, on the pillars of society, with a dying, 12 year old daughter, and a woman, who's been bleeding, and suffering, for 12 years.

[9:42] And Mark is showing us, what difference, does Jesus make, when God's curse, comes home, when it's personal, when it strikes, right in the midst, of God's own people.

[9:56] And the passage, is in three chunks, so Jairus' request, and then the healing, of the woman, and the raising, of the dead girl. And so in verse 21, Jesus made it back, to the Jewish side, of the sea, and Jairus, one of the synagogue rulers, comes up, falls at his feet.

[10:10] Just as the man, with the legion, of unclean spirits, did back in verse 6, falls down, before Jesus, and implores him, earnestly. Verse 23, just as the man, with the unclean spirits, did back in verse 10.

[10:22] Literally the word is, begged. But the two men, coming to Jesus, and begging, couldn't be more dissimilar. One man is filled, with unclean spirits, living among the dead. He's naked, he's crying out, he's cutting himself, he's a horror, and a terror, to anyone nearby.

[10:39] And the other is, a synagogue ruler. Respected, centre of community, of God's people. A pillar of society, conscientious in law, abiding, ceremonially clean. But they both come, and fall, at Jesus' feet, and they beg him.

[10:53] And Jesus has already shown, he's got authority, over sickness, to heal, to make people well, and so Jairus, comes to him, humbly, and in faith. Knowing Jesus, is the man, to come to him, in such a time.

[11:06] He's the one, who can actually do something. Verse 23, he says, 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.

[11:20] And a man, in great despair, his little daughter, is under the effects, of the curse. She's so close to death. And yet, in the midst of that fear, there's a great hope, isn't there?

[11:31] Jesus can actually, do something about this. So, Jesus goes with him, and there's a great crowd, that goes with him, and is all about him. And Jesus, do you remember, couldn't enter a town openly, after he healed a leper, in chapter one, because the leper, went and told people, and he'd get mobbed, by crowds, that weren't healing.

[11:49] But here he is, going to the home, of a very public figure, Jairus, and there's a great crowd, mobbing all around him, going with him. But as he goes, the story is interrupted, with another story.

[12:02] We're introduced, to a woman, and her problem, and her history, in verse 25, you can see it there. 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 grew worse.

[12:21] So, she's got, this chronic discharge, of blood, with all the, low iron, weakness, other complications, that come from that. But she's also, suffered, under doctor, after doctor, and, she's completely impoverished, she spent all, that she had as well.

[12:41] What a state, this woman is in. The curse of, frustration, and sickness, and mortality, have come home for her. But it's not, just even these things, but she was also considered, unclean, because of this.

[12:57] So, in the Old Testament, God gave people, an illustration, of just how holy, he was, and how bad, sin is, through this, this idea, of uncleanness.

[13:07] So, there are three states, that a person, could be in. Holy, which you obtain through, washings, and sacrifice, and ritual, which meant, you were set apart, for God's service, in a tabernacle, or temple, and people, or things, could be, holy, or clean, or unclean.

[13:23] Or you could be, clean, which meant, you could be part of, the camp, or part of society, of God's people, and you could actually, join in the worship of him, at the tabernacle, or at the temple. Or you could be, unclean, which meant, you were excluded, from society.

[13:40] You weren't allowed, in the camp of God's people, you were excluded, also from God's presence, unable to participate, in any of the worship, at the tabernacle, or the temple. Now, uncleanness is not synonymous, with sin, but it's an outward illustration, of an inward reality, of sin, and our fundamental, need for cleansing, that comes from God.

[14:00] It's a system, that God put in place, to show, just how much distance, there is between, us and God. Just how, inapproachable, he is, how bad, our sin is, and yet, his incredible mercy, that he would still, dwell among his people, and provide a way, for them to come to him.

[14:19] The big problem, with uncleanness, is that it's, contagious. Having a, discharge of blood, like this woman did, meant you were unclean, and contagiously so.

[14:33] Come with me, back to Leviticus 15, just to see the extent, of the problem, this woman faced. So, Leviticus 15, second book of the Bible. Leviticus 15, verse 19, and it's a, fairly lengthy, chunk that I'll read, and it gets a bit earthy, but I think it's, it's helpful, to understand the situation, she's in.

[15:03] When a woman, has a discharge, and the discharge, in her body is blood, she shall be in her, menstrual impurity, for seven days. And whoever touches her, shall be unclean, until evening.

[15:14] And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity, shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits, shall be unclean. And whoever touches her bed, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean, until the evening.

[15:25] And whoever touches anything on which she sits, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean, until the evening. Whether it is the bed, or anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean, until the evening.

[15:38] And if any man lies with her, and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean, seven days. and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean. If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness.

[16:01] As is the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which he lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which he sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity.

[16:16] And whoever touches these things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

[16:31] And on the eighth day she shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.

[16:47] Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst. Do you see the extent of the problems faced by this woman?

[17:01] She's unclean and anyone who touched her would be unclean as well. Anything she lay on or sat on would be unclean. Anyone even just touching that thing that she's lay on and sat on would also be unclean. So this woman is suffering much, has suffered much.

[17:14] She's in poverty and she's a social pariah. She's unable to join the worship of God at the temple. She's unable to be part of society. The curse has come personally to this woman, leading a poor, isolated life of suffering.

[17:30] But she's heard about Jesus. And she's got incredible faith that he can make her well. Incredible faith, isn't it? Faith that even if she just touches his clothes, she'll be healed.

[17:46] But there's a problem with that, isn't there? She's contagious. If she goes and touches his clothes, she's going to make him unclean. Anyone she touches becomes unclean, but here she is, planning on touching Jesus.

[18:01] So she goes into the midst of the crowd, secretly, furtively, and touches his clothing. Verse 27. She'd heard the reports about Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his garment. For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.

[18:16] And made well, literally, is, I will be saved. Saved from her physical condition, saved from her uncleanness, saved from being a pariah, saved back into the community of God, able again to worship at the temple.

[18:31] What happens? Verse 29. And immediately, the flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Mission accomplished. Her faith was well placed, wasn't it?

[18:45] She'd snuck up in the crowd, touched Jesus. Now she can just fade away, present herself to the priest in a week's time, live a new life as a healed, cleansed, saved person.

[18:57] Or at least, that seems to have been the plan. But Jesus notices. And he stops his journey to the synagogue ruler's dying little daughter. Verse 30.

[19:07] And Jesus, perceiving in himself, the power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? And so Jesus has now stopped and he's looking around. Certainly, Jairus didn't want him to stop.

[19:20] The woman didn't want him to stop. The disciples are super confused about why he stopped. But he keeps looking around. Verse 33. The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and taught him the whole truth.

[19:36] Like the man with the legion of spirits, like Jairus, she falls down before Jesus as well. Like the disciples, like the people from the region of the Gerasenes who have seen Jesus' power, she is afraid.

[19:48] She comes in fear and trembling. She knows she's been caught. So many in the crowd have probably touched her as she's come to Jesus. And then she's touched him.

[19:59] She shouldn't have been there in the crowd. She's spread uncleanness. She's even defiled Jesus by touching his clothes and he's walking with a synagogue ruler on the way to the synagogue ruler's house to heal his daughter who's dying.

[20:14] And now, oh no, has she messed that up? Has she made it impossible for Jesus to go into Jairus' house because of her uncleanness that she's passed on to him? Made it so that he can't heal the dying child of the synagogue ruler?

[20:25] Now she's exposed before everyone. Jesus is delaying and calling her out to be publicly exposed to humiliation and condemnation and blame. Right? She comes with fear and with trembling.

[20:38] Prostitrates herself before him and tells Jesus and Jairus and the crowd the whole truth. And what's Jesus' response?

[20:50] Verse 34. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. I think there's three things to note in this healing.

[21:03] Firstly, isn't it interesting? Jesus has just performed an involuntary miracle. He didn't mean to heal this woman. He didn't consent to healing this woman.

[21:16] But he knew it had happened. What do we make of that? It tells us more about who Jesus is. You see, anyone who touches this woman would be made unclean like she is because this uncleanness is contagious.

[21:31] Right? If you've got a clean shirt and a dirty shirt and you rub them together, what do you end up with? Two dirty shirts. Right? But what happens when this uncleanness encounters Jesus?

[21:42] It doesn't pollute him. It doesn't rub off on him. In fact, he reverses that uncleanness spreading. He spreads wholeness and healing, life and salvation.

[21:55] He can't be corrupted by uncleanness. Rather, he reverses the curse. He undoes it. He comes amongst us to bring life and blessing, to bring a kingdom that we can all be part of by faith in him.

[22:10] then he dies to take our sin away. Jesus didn't choose to heal this woman but her faith in him was not misplaced. He is the source of life and salvation and healing and her faith in him healed her.

[22:29] And with that point, secondly, we need to clarify what made her well. Well, her faith made her well and literally Jesus says, your faith has saved you.

[22:41] It wasn't that Jesus' clothing was magical or anything like that. It was her faith and it wasn't just she's got incredible faith that if she does some amazing thing she'll be healed and so she does that thing and then she's healed but it's the object of her faith, isn't it?

[22:57] That her faith was in Jesus. So, if you jump out of an aeroplane and you've got all the faith in the world, you're going to make it down safely it doesn't matter if you're wearing a Winnie-Pin-the-Pooh backpack, it's not actually going to help you.

[23:11] The object of your faith is important and the woman's faith saved her precisely because it was faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of God's Kingdom who's come to reverse the curse, to bring life and to bring blessing.

[23:27] She was made well, she was saved through that faith. And then thirdly, do you notice the compassion in Jesus' response? Daughter, go in peace, be healed.

[23:42] There's no condemnation or judgment, but rather mercy and peace and kindness. Jesus hasn't cursed her for what she's done, but rather sent her off with a blessing. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.

[23:55] And that's the Jesus we've come to. In all our uncleanness, our unpresentableness, the filth of our sin, we come to Jesus and we don't want to be exposed, condemned, rather just, you know, secretly to receive the salvation.

[24:10] But Jesus does expose us and we need to confess our sin to him and he has compassion on us as we do. He heals us, he gives us blessing in place of curse, saving from our uncleanness.

[24:23] He's gentle, he's kind, he reverses the curse. So don't hide from Jesus, but come, come to him with the whole truth and receive blessing and salvation from his hand.

[24:37] But then while Jesus is still speaking these words of comfort and blessing to this woman, comes news of the curse of death at work. Verse 35, while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, your daughter is dead.

[24:53] Why trouble the teacher any further? Jesus' delay, his words of compassion have diverted him from his previous mission. The outcast, unclean woman sneaking to touch Jesus, unnoticed to be healed, has now robbed Jairus the chance to have his daughter restored and she's gone.

[25:11] She's dead. Can you imagine the anger, the horror, the pain at hearing such a message? The hope that Jairus had that Jesus is coming, Jesus will sort this out, the faith that he had in Jesus, gone.

[25:24] Why trouble the teacher any further? Comes a time when it's too late. Death's final. But verse 36, overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe.

[25:44] Do not fear. Again, fear is a big factor in this story, as it has been in all the others. Jesus is calling for faith in the face of that fear.

[25:54] Faith, even despite the curse of death and all the finality that comes with that, having already fully come to his little daughter. So now the crowd, not allowed to follow, only Jesus, Peter, James and John go with Jairus to his house and when they get there there's a commotion of people weeping and wailing as they did when someone died.

[26:14] And Jesus says to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping. And they laugh at him. They laugh at him because they know death when they see it.

[26:26] They've confirmed with many witnesses this girl is dead. But Jesus says, no, no, she's not dead but sleeping. Why is that? Two reasons. Firstly, because as the epistles do, death is called sleep because we're going to awaken from it.

[26:41] And Jesus is declaring she's soon going to get up again. And secondly, Jesus wants to keep this resurrection secret. I remember back in chapter 1 when he healed the leper and he's told that leper don't tell anyone but he couldn't go into towns openly anymore because the news did spread.

[26:58] Imagine what would happen if it was heard that Jesus could raise the dead. People would be carrying corpses from miles around just to come and have them touch Jesus' clothes or whatever it is.

[27:09] But Jesus didn't come to clear out the cemeteries. Jesus didn't come to clear out the hospitals. I remember in John 5 Jesus went to the pool of Siloam and there were all kinds of sick and crippled and injured people there.

[27:24] He healed one guy and then he slipped away into the crowd. Jesus didn't come to bring healing and to do miracles. He came to proclaim the kingdom. And the healings and the raisings of the dead that he did do they're signs of the kingdom that is to come.

[27:40] They're showing what kind of a king that he is and what his kingdom is like. So he says to the people she's not dead but sleeping so that when she's seen alive a little later on well he's right.

[27:55] She's up she's alive she's walking around again she must have been sleeping. So he goes into the child's room there's seven people there Jesus, Peter, James, John the father, the mother and the dead child.

[28:07] And what does Jesus do? He takes her by the hand. Again, normally touching a corpse makes you unclean. But not in Jesus' case. Verse 41 taking her by the hand he said to her Talitha kumi which means little girl I say to you arise.

[28:24] And we've got the Aramaic Jesus said here not as magic words or anything like that but as words in her native tongue calling the girl to arise from the dead. And immediately she gets up and she walks and everyone is immediately overcome with amazement or kind of literally astonished with the great astonishment or out of their minds with being out of their minds right?

[28:42] You see the extent of this. This is huge. Someone who's dead has just got up and started walking around again. Unbelievable. Impossible. What does it mean if death can be undone?

[28:55] Who is this that can undo it? Jesus wasn't made unclean by touching a corpse the corpse was made alive by touching Jesus. He's reversed the curse the final ultimate problem that we all face and Jesus can undo that?

[29:13] Consider that. Doesn't that make hope burn in our hearts? There's hope even over our worst fears. Hope even over the worst of the curse that we've had since the beginning.

[29:31] Verse 43 strictly charged them no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat. Don't tell anyone because I'm not here to raise everyone yet. I'm here to proclaim this is what my kingdom looks like.

[29:46] He died on the cross to take our sin away to undo that curse. He rose from the dead as the first fruits of a resurrection to come. This is a sign pointing to the greater resurrection that's to come.

[30:01] So what does this passage teach us? So much in there but firstly the big question in Mark is well who is this man? He's the king he's the son of God he's goodness he's life incarnate he's the curse breaker he undoes sickness and uncleanness and sin.

[30:19] This woman has come bleeding and unclean and goes away healed and saved and blessed. The dead girl is raised up alive. Jesus rules over the chaos of the wind and the waves he cleanses out the uncleanness that's out over there he deals with the curse that's right in the midst of God's people.

[30:37] Jesus didn't come as a healer or a travelling dead raiser he came to proclaim the kingdom. These signs show what his kingdom is like.

[30:49] And so what's his kingdom like? Two things firstly it's a kingdom of healing and of life. Jesus raises the dead. It's a kingdom that reverses the curse where death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away.

[31:06] Where no one is excluded because of uncleanness there's the reality that's been pointed to sin has been taken away. There's a kingdom where there's no one who's suffering no one who's impoverished there's no sudden tragedies of a daughter dying because Jesus is king of the kingdom and he's the one who raises the dead.

[31:28] And secondly this kingdom how do we be part of it? We take hold of this kingdom through faith. Like the woman who knew Jesus was salvation she was right.

[31:41] We come to him not seeking healing just in this world from our chronic issues or asking for immediate miracles but trusting him with the greater reality of those things pointed to.

[31:53] We come in faith looking forward to the kingdom that is to come because he's the risen king and he's promised that we're to rise with him. So what then?

[32:05] We do live in a world that God has cursed very effectively. There's so much pain and suffering so much frustration and futility and decay and death and we grieve in the midst of it.

[32:19] And I don't know what's happening in your life necessarily but this passage teaches us we don't need to fear the curse.

[32:31] We don't need to fear the sickness and the death because Jesus has conquered them all. There's no power or chaos or effective sin or curse even death itself that Jesus cannot do and he will undo it.

[32:49] So come to him in faith. Do you believe that Jesus has power over whatever situation you're in in life and that he will do something?

[33:02] Or where is your hope? Do you see the signs that Jesus performed here and kind of just wish that he would just do that in your life now and just that miracle to get rid of whatever it is or to undo the thing now but actually it's for this life that your hope is in?

[33:22] Or are you looking forward to the promised kingdom to come? Do you feel like the resurrection is actually just a cold comfort to the experience of life that you're facing now?

[33:35] Or do you see that's what Jesus has ultimately promised and it is going to be glorious and it is good and that's what it is to have faith? What do you fear?

[33:49] What is it you're truly afraid of? Do you see in these four miracles that Jesus has done that he's got authority over the very elements his authority over the evil and uncleanness that threatens out there? He rules over sickness and cleanness within his people.

[34:00] He rules over death. What is it that we fear? What is it that Jesus doesn't know about, can't deal with, hasn't promised to sort out? See that Jesus has conquered that fear.

[34:14] So come to him in faith. We live in two ages, this world is cursed and yet the conquering king has come. Everywhere he went, he undid the curse just a little bit, didn't he?

[34:25] Healing, blessing, raising the dead, showing us a glimpse of his kingdom and now he's defeated sin on the cross, he's raised from the dead, defeated death itself, there's a time coming when this curse, this age of curse will be no more and all that will be left will be resurrection, life and blessing for those who have faith in Jesus.

[34:50] How do you live in such a cursed world? Now the conquering king has come but his kingdom's not fully realised yet. will we live the same way that that woman did?

[35:02] With this great faith in Jesus, in the midst of suffering knowing he is the one that heals, he is the one that saves, he is the one that gives life. How do we live in such a world as this?

[35:15] With the same words that Jesus gave Jairus, do not fear, only believe. So let's pray together. Father, we do live in a world with suffering, with pain, where things are hard, where there's much frustration, where there's death and all the pain and the grief that goes with that.

[35:47] Father, we pray that you will please help us to see Jesus clearly, that he is the conquering king who has conquered all the things that we might be afraid of, that he's made us incredible promises, that he's risen from the dead, that there's a resurrection and life to come.

[36:04] We pray that we might live in this world, not fearing, but believing, living with faith in the Lord Jesus who conquers the curse. Amen.