Title: Your Faith Will Make You Well

Scripture Reading: Luke 8:49-50
“While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”

Main idea: To follow Jesus is to make big commitments and believe.

Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came to Jesus to heal his twelve-year-old daughter. As a father of two daughters, I can tell you, a father of a twelve-year-old daughter will do almost anything to save his sick daughter’s life. As Jesus is going to Jairus home, a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years presses through the crowd to touch the hem of our Lord’s garment. She reasoned that just a touch of the Lord’s garment would be enough. That’s faith. Just as the father coming to Jesus was an act of faith.

Delay of the Lord
Jesus was speaking with the woman He had healed, Jairus was waiting with impatience. His little girl was dying, and there was not a moment to lose. Why did Jesus keep stopping to help people? Every minute He delayed was another minute his daughter suffered, and another minute that brought her closer to death. “While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher” (Luke 8:49). It was too late now. Jesus had waited too long. The girl was dead, and all that anyone could do was to mourn her death. As the messenger said, there was no reason to trouble Jesus any longer.

Only Believe
When Jesus heard what the messenger said, He immediately answered him, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” Now we can see why these two miracles are placed together, and perhaps also why Jesus took so long to get to Jairus’s house. It was all in the providence of God. The first miracle that Jesus performed would help Jairus trust in His power to perform the second. There were two miracles, both of which call us to faith in Jesus Christ. In the presence of Jairus, the woman had been commended for her faith. Here in the presence of the woman, Jairus was told to have faith. The woman became a model of faith for Jairus. Using a woman to illustrate faith would have been unheard of in that man dominant society. What did Jesus want Jairus to believe? Perhaps he simply wanted him to hold on to the faith that had driven him to Jesus in the first place. He had believed that Jesus could heal his daughter; our Lord wanted him to continue to believe that she will be healed. The fact that his daughter had died did not change anything for Jesus.

Faith and Fear
Faith and fear always stand in opposition. This means that we have a choice to make: either we can be afraid of all the things that might go wrong, and have gone wrong, or we can trust Jesus to see us through. We face this choice all through life. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). Let us hear the word of God and believe. Christ is the Sower of God’s word. May the seed of the word find fertile soil in our hearts. We trust Him for spiritual healing from the wounds we have suffered in a fallen world. We trust Him for the grace to endure trials with patience and perseverance. We trust him for the reconciliation of broken  relationships, and for the salvation of the people we love.

Application
When you experience grief over the loss of a loved one, breakup of a marriage, or loss of a job, don’t abandon hope. Don’t turn away from the one Person who can help you. Do what Jairus did, and cling to the hope found only in our resurrected Lord, the one with power over life and death. When He raises the dead-He calls and they hear His voice.

Let’s pray together
Heavenly Father, You are our hope and our strength. When we go thru joy and sorrows we worship You. You are the same yesterday today and forever. We trust in You Lord. In Jesus Name Amen.