Mark 2022

Mark chapter 5, and we're going to begin at verse 21. It'll be up on the screen as well. When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then 1 of the synagogue leaders named gyrus came. And when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.

He pleaded earnestly with him. My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him and a woman was there who'd been subject to bleeding for 12 years.

She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought if I just touched his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. And once Jesus realized the power had gone out from him, he turned around in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You see the people crowding against you is disciple ant disciples answered, and yet you can you can ask who touched me But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

Then the woman knowing what had happened to her came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him that the whole truth. He said to her, daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the House of Jairus, the synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead.

They said, why bother the teacher anymore? Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, don't be afraid, just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing?

The child is not dead but asleep, but they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took a child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Telisa Krum, which means little girl I say to you, get up. Immediately, the girl stood up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old.

At this, they were completely astonished He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat. Tom? Great. Thank you, Phil. Good morning, everybody.

My name is Tom. I'm 1 of the pastors here at the church and it's great to have you with us, whether you're new, whether you're visiting. Should we pray? Father, we thank you so much that we can and partnered together with other local churches who love the lord Jesus and who want to see the message of the gospel going out to this needy borough. And we do thank you for John and for all the team at Christchurch Services.

We pray that you bless them this morning as they gather together under your words. That they would be greatly helped there and would enjoy a time of worshiping you, our great God. We thank you for the other churches Grace church, New Malden and preemmanuel Tollworth. We pray that you'd in the same way bless them this morning as we've prayed already help heat preaching it Emmanuel Tullworth. We pray for Tom Smith and Rich at the URC Church in Tullworth and ask you lord that wherever the gospel is going out in this nation, in an arbora, that people would come for the first time to confess Jesus is lord and that those who really love him would be built up in their faith.

And we pray for our time together this morning now that you'd speak to us through these wonderful stories in Jesus name, amen. Amen. So we're in this section of Mark's gospel where Jesus is showing his amazing authority over the things which threaten us the most over the things which threaten us the most. And he's been doing it in in a perplexing way So if you think about the calming of the storm, in theory, what Jesus could have done with his disciples is waited until the next terrible storm came and swept its way across Lake Galleria, taken them up to a hillside and said, watch these brothers, peace be still. And just calmed it from a distance and showed them his power and his authority over the things which threatened them the most.

But he didn't choose to do it that way. He chose to take them out in a boat to put them into the eye of the storm itself and then to show his great and to demonstrate his great authority over 1 of the things which threatens us the most. And we know this was a perplexing way to do it because that's how the disciples sort of felt at the time. So if you just look back in your bibles, if you've got them open to mark 4 verse 38. He says Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.

The disciples woke at him and said to him teacher, don't you care if we drown. Now that word drown is the word parrot. And it actually means to violently, completely perish. That's what they're saying to teachers, don't you care that we are going to violently, completely perish. They can't believe that this is about to happen and that their lord is gonna let this happen to them.

It's as if they're saying Jesus, look, it's it's not wrong for you to have a nap. It's not wrong for you to have a nap in a boat. You can even have a nap in a boat, in a storm if you want to. But your lack of activity here is now a problem for us. Your timing and your action or your lack of action is now jeopardize in both our lives and the very mission you called us to.

You can imagine thinking that, can't you? Hold on. It wasn't so long ago Jesus that you'd said to us Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men, and now we're going to violently, completely perish. What's happened to calling, what's happened to that to that mission? Why is Jesus choosing to show his authority this way?

And it's a similar question that we're faced with here in chapter 5, isn't it? So Jesus is on his way to rescue this dying 12 year old girl and from nowhere out of the crowd comes this woman with a chronic health condition. And Jesus, not content with just a quick fire healing, spends really quite a long time drawing her out, wanting to sort of gently correct her and help her and grow faith in her. And the whole process seems to take quite a long time. And again, look with me at at verse 31 of chapter 5.

Just see what the disciples might be thinking. Jesus is turning around in the crowd and he's asking who touched my clothes. The disciples say, you see the people crowding against you and yet you can ask who touch me, who touched me. It's like they're saying, sorry, what are you talking about? Jesus.

You are so You are being touched on every ant by by everyone all over the place. What do you mean who touched you? What about this little we're men we're meant to be going to see this little girl. She's dying. You heard what the cynical leader said, don't you care if she drowns?

Don't you care if we drown? So this timing, this action This lack of action is causing the disciples and the people around him to question why Jesus is doing the things that he does. And perhaps, we've felt something similar in our lives. Perhaps you found yourself asking that question. The things that Jesus is doing or not doing in my time of great need just feels strange to me.

We may never have had the had the courage to actually say, teacher, don't you care if I drown. Or my family drowned. But when another disappointment comes our way, when we face another setback, When that thing which troubles us just doesn't seem to be getting better, we do find ourselves saying, teacher, I know something about you and I know something about my situation. And it's hard to see why this is the best thing for me now. And there's a sense in which when you are not the sovereign ruler of the universe, Those questions are are are kind of natural.

But faith, and we're gonna see this together this morning. Faith reaches through the delays and it reaches through the appointments, and it reaches even through the tragedies and the confusion, and it lays hold of a Christ. Who is sovereign and good and who really is working all things to his glory and to the good of those who love Even if we can't see how it's all gonna work out, faith lays hold of Jesus in the delays and in the trash and we're going to see that together. And we're going to look at this amazing passage under 4 headings. We're going to look at the desperation.

We're going to look at the deliverance we're gonna look at the delay and then we're gonna look at the decision. Okay? So let's first look at the desperation. Okay? A desperation, which is just so plain, even as we had it read to us.

Let's look firstly at versus 20 21 and 22 and meet the first person in desperate need. When Jesus had a gain crossed over by the boat to the other side of the lake, A large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then 1 of the synagogue leaders named Jairus came and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, he pleaded earnestly with him. My little daughter is dying. So who is Jairus?

Well, clearly, he was a known and important man His name is recorded for us here in the story, and we're told that he was a synagogue leader. Now a synagogue leader was basically just a very respected, well known religious person who would have responsibility for things like taking care of the service times making sure everything ran smoothly at the synagogue, that was his job. And from what we learned about him in this story, it seems like he wasn't Exactly the same as some of the other religious leaders we met. It seems like he did actually have a genuine devotion and faith and concern for god and for god's glory. So that's joyous.

He's very respected. I mean, if you if you were invited to his house for dinner, it would be an honor. If he accepted an invitation to your house for dinner, it would be an honor. He's a respected well known religious man, but where is he now? Verse 23, he pleaded earnestly.

He fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly. My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. So Jesus went with him.

Luke tells us in his account that this is gyrus' only daughter. And the word dying that is used here is the words from which we get eschatops or eschatom, which means really in the end times. So if you've heard of the phrase eschatology, the study of the last things or the study of the end times, that's where she is. She's in the esketon. She's in the last days.

She's coming to the end. This is it. She's at the end. And so this is a bit like those dreaded phone calls, which some of you will have will have had in your lives. From nursing homes or from the hospital and they'll ring you up and they'll say, look, we're not we're not sure now how much longer they've got left.

We think it's time for you to come in. We think you should come in now. We're not sure if they're gonna make it through the day through the night. And what they're really saying there is that your loved 1 is in the esketon as far as we can see there in the last days. And we think you should come now.

Jairus is desperate. He loves his family and he loves his only daughter And so he is now at this point ready to risk everything. His status, his reputation, and he goes and he falls at Jesus' feet and he says, please come and help. Her. And, you know, to do that, we've got to understand was a costly thing for him because as we've seen in this gospel, some of the leaders were beginning to hate Jesus with a passion, he belongs in that camp.

And so he may well be risking his livelihood, risking his job risking the future security of his family. But he's he's at his last it is his last option. And so he pleased with Jesus is come lay your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. It's pretty desperate situation. Now let's look at the other desperate person in this story.

It's desperation all over the place. Verse 25 to 26 and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had. And yet, instead of getting better, she grew worse. 12 years.

For as long as gyrus' daughter had been alive, she had been suffering with this issue. Now Mark doesn't tell us exactly what the condition was, but most commentators, many commentators think this was some kind of chronic flow of blood from her womb. For 12 years, she had been experiencing that. And as you can imagine, that would affect every single aspect of her life. Religiously, she would be an outcast.

Because at this time, and in the old testament, if you'd had a flow of blood like this, you would be religiously unclean for 7 days. Unable to rejoin the worshiping community for 7 days, she'd been like that for 12 years. She who's religiously an outcast. In terms of hope, it's all but vanished. We're told that she's gone from GP to GP, from specialist to specialist, from practitioner to practitioner, from counselor to counselor.

She has worked her way through the list of cures, worked her way through the list of professionals and instead of getting better, she has grown worse. In terms of resources, she's depleted all her money is gone, thrown into trying to find a cure for herself. Gyrus, we guess, from this story, would have been able to enjoy family life. She couldn't have married like this. And she couldn't have had children in this condition.

And even if she had them before this illness started, this would greatly affect all aspects of family life. In fact, her husband, according to some traditions, could actually divorce her for having a condition like this that would be so preventative in their relationship. And so do you see how desperate these 2 characters are. They are different in terms of gender, different in terms of status, different in terms of identification in the story, different in terms of their method of approach, but they are uniting by a need for emergency help. That's the thing about a and e, isn't it?

When you go to the emergency room or when you go to A and E, you can be sat next to someone on 1 side who's an investment banker. On the other side, you can be sat to someone who's been on the London Living Wage all of their lives. But in that moment, they are united by a need for emergency care. Even if you've got private health insurance, and all of your other non emergency operations can be dealt with like that. When it comes to emergency frontline care, there is leveling that happens in the A and E room.

Well, here's the investment banker, Jairus, sat next to this woman on the basic wage and they are united in their desperate need and yet somehow or another they have made it to Jesus. And given what we've learned about him in this gospel so far, that's that can only be good news. And it is and it is good news. And so we've seen the desperation. Now let's look at this beautiful deliverance that takes place.

And then we're going to come back to the delay. So we're looking at both the a sandwich. We're looking at 1 bit of bread, other bit of bread, and then we're gonna come back to the delay in the middle. Okay? So the desperation, let's look at the deliverance.

Verse 23, have a look at verse 23, what Jaira says, my little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live. Verse 27, when the woman heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his quote because she thought if I just touched his clothes, I will be healed. Verse 34, Jesus said to her daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from you're suffering.

So here in this story, we find the repetition of the word healed, verse 23 healed, verse 28 healed, verse 34 healed. And the word actually means much more than just physical healing. It is the word to to save or to be saved. And that's why the ESV and some other translations translate it, made well, so that she might be made well, come and lay your hands so she will be made well. And what they're getting that there is that the salvation that Jesus is gonna provide is much more than just the healing of the body It would be so limiting just to think of it in that sense as wonderful as necessary as kind as that is.

It is much more than just a healing of body, it is to become sound in every way. Some of the older translations say, go be be sound of your be made well, be sound in every way. And so what that tells us is that the deliverance Jesus provides in this story is all about a holistic salvation. It's since forgiven, its body restored, and 1 day, its resurrection the dead. It may not all happen now in this life, but it's all in this story and it's all part of the great deliver which Jesus provides, a holistic soundness which he brings to his people.

And you can see when the deliverance comes, it is just it's so beautiful, isn't it? Verse 27, when she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because be thought. If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediate late. Her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was free from her suffer First 38, when they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly.

He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep. But they laughed at him. After he had put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in whether child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Telifa coup, which means little girl I say to you get up and immediately.

There's that word again. The girl stood up and began to walk around. At this, they were completely astonished You see, firstly, this woman, 12 years a slave. She's been bound by this dreadful condition for 12 years and immediately she feels in her body that she is free from her suffering. And then you've got this little girl who Jesus takes by the hand and she is raised up to life as easily as if it were a normal school morning and she was just being woken up for her breakfast.

The deliverance is so wonderful. And how does it happen? Well, it's interesting in verse 30. Jesus feels that power goes out of him. You notice that's quite curious phrase, isn't it?

He felt power go out of him. And we're not to think there that Jesus is like a battery, you know, whose power can be drained into depleted and he might even have a power cut where he's unable to to do anything sometimes. Rather we to see this as as a picture of what salvation is like. It involves a kind of substitution done by the power of God. You see that in the story, can't you?

When 1 daughter takes hold of Jesus, he loses power so she could gain it. When Jesus lays hold of another daughter, he takes death so she might live. That's what he's getting at. In order for this holistic deliverance to come, it must be by the power of God who will even substitute himself, we'll lose power, we'll taste death so that we might gain power and gain life. And doesn't that just take us into the heart of the mystery of the gospel?

Isn't that what has when the great exchange takes place on the cross that the lord Jesus Christ as he hangs there at the end of his ministry dying for us sin. There is a sense in which he loses power so that we might gain forgiving, life giving power. There's a sense in which he tastes death for us so that through faith we might live. That's what we're seeing here. This desperate need is met by the power of the Savior who will even substitute himself so that we might be healed and so that we might live.

This whole salvation is a work of god's power. 1 But of course, in the story, as we've read it, it doesn't happen quite like this. It doesn't go desperation for gyrus, deliverance for gyrus. Doesn't doesn't happen like that. There's this whacking chunk of 10 verse delay in the middle between Jesus' gyrus' desperation and his deliver And I just want us to focus on that now because it's a very interesting part of the story.

And so thirdly then, we've looked at the desperation and the deliverance. And now let's look at delay. Let's look at the delay together. I'm sure you'll be able to sympathize with this. I'm sure you've all been to restaurants where you've you've gone in and you've sat down, you've had your order taken, you've spent time choosing from the menu what you would like.

And for some reason, there are but it just takes a really long time for your food to come out. Okay? If you're hungry and angry, you know, that is not a pleasant place. For you to be. The only thing that is actually worse than that is when somebody arrives after you, orders after you, and gets their food before you.

You've all been there, haven't you? Incredibly frustrating. Okay? The only thing worse than that is if as if you happen to be in A and E at that time. So you've come in with a need.

There is an there is emergency care that you require From your assessment, I mean, you're no doctor. But from your assessment, it looks pretty serious. And somebody comes in after you, again, you're not a doctor. But from your assessment, they look in better hell and they go through to be treated before you. Okay?

You struggle to work out in your how am I going to phrase this complaint in a way which is both generous, but also they get the point? That's what you're thinking at that moment, isn't it? Yeah? And that's kind of what's going on here. I mean, you think about it in in in any emergency room, the dying girl would not be in second place.

She she wouldn't She would be treated. She'd be rushed through. She'd be treated first. And look at verse 30 to 32. Look what what happens you can sense this.

Once Jesus realized the power had gone out from him, he turned around in the crowd and asked who touched my clothes So I mean, why is why is he delaying it? You see the people crowding against you as disciples answered, then yet you can ask who touched me, and we're sort of on their side. Don't we? Why are we going on about this? But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

He's not gonna move on. You see, he's willing to take the delay here, and we don't know what gyrus was actually thinking at this moment. But as readers, we're thinking, hold on a minute. This woman has been waiting 12 years already. I don't want to undermine the suffering that she's going through.

But she can wait a little longer. Can't she? This little girl is dying or at least, let heal her quickly and Jesus because your God, you should be able to find her again. You'll know where she is if you wanna do the whole faith thing with her You can go back and do that another time. We'll find her.

But he waits and he keeps looking. And he takes the delay. And then in verse 35, while Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the House of Jarrah as a synagogue leader your daughter is dead. That delay at this point has proved catastrophic it. I think I mean, I don't know how these things work, but I think if this was a real hospital and I think if this decision was made by medical practitioners and the daughter died.

I don't know how it works, but I think there would be some kind of review in I think there would be a review into that. Why was that decision? Who was assessed these bit. Who made that choice? And the question we're meant to be asking is, what what is he's just doing here.

How are we supposed to think about and process and apply this part other story. Well, have a look over 35 to 36. I think the key is in what Jesus says to Jairus. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the House of Jarrah's a synagogue leader, your daughter is dead days set. Why bothered the teacher anymore.

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, don't be afraid. Just believe and the word there means more like don't be afraid, keep believing. In other words, It says, if he's saying to Jairus, Jairus, remember when you came and threw yourself at my feet and pleaded earnestly with me. You believed there. Believe now.

You trusted me then. Trust now. Keep believing. Now how is he going to do that? Only if he sees the healing of this woman, not as a distraction, but as a pledged him.

What Jesus has done here? I mean, it is a word of assurance to Jairus. Not a delay. What he has done here is taken this bleeding woman and he has turned back the curse in her life. The lord Jesus Christ has reached his hands into the esketon, into the last days, into the death days, and he has pulled this bleeding woman from death back into life.

And if gyrus can just look at that scene, with the eyes of faith, he will see that delay as a promise to him. Gyrus. You need to keep trusting what we have done here. What I have labored over. What I have chosen to do is a promise to you and it is a promise to your daughter.

She will come back from the end times. See, often when we're struggling with just disappointment after disappointment, setback after setback, suffering after suffering, we can get this idea of of we know what the next big thing Christ should do or fix in our life. And we can begin to measure his grace and power by that. Lord Jesus, you Prove you there. Show me that you love me.

Display your power. Calm this storm. Heel this girl. Fix this now. Fit my timing, prove you care.

But if we do that well, firstly, it could be a short road to unbelief. But also, we're gonna miss the hundreds of little pledges of kindness. God makes to us every single day, even in the delays, the way he sustains us each and every day, the way he provides what we needs. The way he forgives our sins and enablers us to forgive others. The way he sustains our very lives.

All of this in a sense is a pledged to us even in the difficulties and the delays that you're loved by Christ, that resurrection is coming, that I'm still with you, that you can trust me. Jairus needs to see this delay as a chance to trust and grow. And so do we? See, it might be that you can remember a time in your life and you think about your faith at that time and you think, to be honest, I think I could have handled anything at that point. I mean, my faith was so strong.

I was plugged into the word of God. I was playing a vibrant role in my low church, whatever happened, I think I would I think I would have had the faith to navigate and survive that. But then a time comes and another delay hits and another disappointment hits and we start to wonder what it's all about. What Jesus says to us as he says to Jairus, you believed at first, keep believing. Keep believing.

You might think that what you need now is a healing. But maybe I'm preparing you to see a resurrection. That's the message that Jarrah's had. You might think you need an instant healing that I'm preparing you for a resurrection. You need to trust me.

You need to keep believing and for you and with you. You need to walk with me. And that takes us to our last point. We've had the desperation. We've seen the deliverance.

We looked at the delay and now comes the decision. How are we to respond to a Jesus like this. And there seems to be in this passage 3 different responses to Jesus There's those who laugh in scorn, there's the option of living in fear, and then there's the option of coming by faith. Laugh in scorn, live in fear, come by faith. Verse 39 to 40 He went in and said to them, why all this commotion and wailing?

The child is not dead but asleep, but they laughed at him. All 3 of the gospel sports Matt, well, Matthew Mark and Luke, they all record this story. And 1 of the details they all focus in on is this laughter that Jesus has met with. When he says a phrase like this. Now why do why are they laughing?

Why are they laughing at him? Because they think that they know more than he does, and that breeds a sense of superiority, doesn't it? Jesus, We've been here. We've seen what's going on here. This this girl has don't we live in the real world, Jesus?

She's died. Nothing supernatural can be done now. We're in a closed box world. All that is real, is natural processes. Nothing can reach in now.

No supernatural thinking act. She's dead. The story has reached its conclusion and they laugh at him. Because they think they never walk. Well, fair enough, that you notice in the story that they miss out on the resurrection.

Them. What does Jesus do with them? He puts them out. He puts them out. They miss out on their resurrection.

First response is to laugh at scorn. Secondly, is to live in fear. Have a look again at verse 36. Overhearing what they said, Jesus told gyrus, don't be afraid. Just believe.

So at this point, fear for gyrus would seem to be the opposite of faith. Now why would that be? Well, because in this story to live in fear would be to accept the worst news as the last news. To live in fear is to take the worst news as the last years. Your daughter is dead.

Why bother the teacher anymore? Fierce says, okay, that's it. I won't. Sick. That's it.

Story over. The worst news is the last news. There's nothing more that can come now. I may as well go home. But faith says, this is tragic, this is unexpected, but the last word is going to be the best word.

The last word is is going to be healing and resurrection. Despite what I'm in now, I know that Jesus saves the best till last. He brings out his best words last. And so I'm gonna walk with him. And that's the last response.

You can laugh in scorn, you can live in fear, or you can come by faith. And let's just focus in on this woman and have faith as we closed. Verse 27, when she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought if I just touch his clothes, I will be healed. Immediately, her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him.

He turned around in the crowd and asked, who touched my clothes? You see the people crowding against you, his disciples, aren't you can also touch me, but Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. And then the woman knowing what had happened to her came and fell at his feet, trembling with fear at him the whole truth. And he said to her daughter, your faith has healed you, has made you sound. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

Some writers suggest that this woman's faith was more like superstition. You know, that she kind of had this weird idea about his clothing, you know, that it was kind of laced with magical power. I can just grab hold of it. If I can just touch it, I'm gonna be healed. And there might be something in that, but it's still Jesus she wants to see.

It's not just a robe in a cabinet in a museum. She's heard of Jesus. She wants to go to Jesus. She knows Jesus. Is the 1 that could help her, and so she goes to him.

And even if her faith is mixed with super stition. Jesus sees something genuine and something beautiful in her. Daughter your faith has healed you. It might be that you're hearing you're not a Christian and you're still investigating the Christian faith and wondering what it's all about. And lots of people I think in that position worry that they can't really trust in God until every single question has been answered.

Every eye has been dotted and every tea has been crossed until until literally every barrier and objection I could possibly think of has been dealt with, I can't I can't I can't trust in Christ. This woman says, no, that doesn't have to be true. She doesn't have a grasp of everything, the she. Her faith might even be mixed up with a bit of weird stuff. But 2 things she's sure of, she's got a desperate need and that Jesus is powerful and and he can do something about it.

And so she goes to him. And that is all it takes. The grace of Jesus Christ is phenomenal in this passage. Even if our faith is mixed with weird stuff, even if we've tried a hundred other cures before him. That's what people that's what we do as an We'd go around looking.

Maybe there's satisfaction to be had here. Maybe there's healing to be had here. Maybe there's wholeness to be had here. Maybe I can be made sound by this. We try a hundred other cures before we come to Jesus.

But this story tells us that Jesus is a sure refuge even to those who make him their last refuge. What a wonderful God. She tried every cure possible. Jesus was her last refuge and yet she finds him to be a sure refuge. If you're a Christian, maybe you're in 1 of these storms, maybe you find yourself in the middle of this passage in the delay and you can't work out what Jesus is doing and what this tragedy is all about, this is what Christ wants to grow in us as we go through that that sort of faith and confidence in him.

See, it's interesting sometimes a bit like this woman really. We kind of we kind of want come to him for the miracle and then want to run back into the crowd and disappear. You know, we want to sort of go back to our old life safe in the security of the crowd. And quickly leap out if we need a miracle and then quickly hide ourselves away because we don't really want God to do business with us. We don't really wanna sort out our hearts.

We just want the provision and then to run. But Jesus loves us too much to be content with that kind of faith. He keeps looking. He wants to draw the woman out because he wants not just to provide a miracle but to grow this kind of confidence. In him the sovereign God of salvation and resurrection.

And let's pray together now that goldwood growth has sort of faith in us. Just give you a moment to reflect on some of the things we've heard and looked at. Heavenly, father, we thank you for this wonderful story, and we thank you for what it means for us that if we will but see and acknowledge our desperate need for Jesus. And if we will come to him and lay hold of Him by faith, then we will find ourselves altogether safe that you will make us whole and sound in every way that you will cleanse us of our guilt. You will forgive us of our sin.

And 1 day, you will totally restore our broken bodies as call us out of the grave. Lord Jesus help us to keep trusting you and we pray that when we find ourselves in the moments of delay and in the moments of tragedy. And we feel ourselves like the disciples saying, don't you care if we drown? What are we doing here? That you would help us to remember stories like this and to see the delay, not as a distraction, not as a sign that you've forgotten us, but the we would see it as a pledge of your commitment to us, that we would look at the millions of ways at which you express your faith promise and kindness to us, and we would trust you even in these most difficult times, and we pray it all in Jesus' name.

Amen,