Please be seated. Lord Jesus, because you are precisely the one about whom we've just sung We would ask please that you would be our vision and in that vision we'd see your authority We'd see your compassion We'd see your humility and We'd see your triumph on the cross and through the empty tomb Our dear God and Father, please in your kindness in your grace Speak to us in your word and pastor and shepherd us by your word all for the sake of your Son our King Amen the American humorist garrison Keeler wrote Life is complicated and not for the timid You also went on to say that when we are finished with life It'll probably take us an awful long time to get over it Through the years my observation is that there are two extremes that people hold about life When I talk about extremes, of course, these are extremes and there are plenty of folks who hold positions in the middle between these two extremes on one extreme I suppose you could call it the people who look at life even with all its complications even with all its paradoxes and With all its pain and say yes, I see that but life is wonderful nonetheless Life is just rich and what's the expression you only go around once in life and you have to grab for all the gusto you can That's one extreme the other extreme Is someone who looks at life the same life that the other person saw and says I do see the pain I do see the difficulty. I do see that life is full of paradoxes. Yes, beauties but also ugly bits and I am scared to death and I don't see any hope two extremes One who says life is is wonderful nonetheless The other who says it is so complex and so chilling. I have no hope Now remember of course as there are extremes there are most of folks who live somewhere in between those extremes I'm taking you to Luke chapter 8 because I am increasingly convinced that Luke speaks not only to those at either end in those extremes, but to all who are in the middle He speaks to those who say life is simply wonderful. Yes, there are difficult times But nonetheless life is is rich and beautiful to the other extreme Luke speaks and Says there is hope even in the midst of a very painful life and not only to those extremes because perhaps you wouldn't place yourself at either end He speaks to every one of us in the middle this section of Luke Beginning in verse 40 that Neil read for us is on page 1038 Let me explain to you how I would like to look at it with you You know you can take light that comes through the window or through an intense beam and you take a prism And you can break the light apart or separate its components to blue Red purple all the other colors that was supposed to remember from science, which I can't for the life of me remember anymore You take a prism and you can take the what looks like one beam of light you can break it into its components Here's what I'm going to do. I want to look at the various components of verse 40 to the end of chapter 8 Now I want you to see some of the components of the intense beam of light that Luke is shining Here's the first one Jesus's authority Read it more closely with me. It begins Luke tells us in verse 40 now Jesus when he returned From where did he return? Earlier in chapter 8 and this will make so much sense of the section we are now going to read when Jesus returned You see in Luke chapter 8 Jesus had just returned Before being stopped by Jairus and in this woman He had returned from an extraordinary ministry encounter He had healed a demon possessed man I don't know whether you believe in such things or not what kind of 21st century explanation you might have But whatever happened here someone who was crippled With an abuse of power is immediately Transformed and healed by an authoritative Jesus One who speaks a word of authority who spoke in word Brings comfort and not simply comfort but liberation for this man That has just preceded our passage, but even a little bit earlier if you look at chapter 8 for example verse 22 All of which Luke is trying to prepare us to understand so that when we get to our section The authority of Jesus will jump out at us Yes, he had healed a demon possessed man But do you remember how Luke has told us earlier in verse 22 that Jesus now has authority over all the natural elements Wind and waves that which leaves his own followers terrified But terrified in fear and amazement not simply of the storm But notice Luke's account in verse 25 Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him It wasn't simply the storms of their life that Jesus calmed He commands All creation and orders it into well-being And then as we earlier mentioned he heals this demon possessed man So when Jesus returned in verse 40 is Luke's way of saying dear reader Pay attention to this The authority with which Jesus calmed the storm and heals a demon possessed man that has not been put on hold Now come with me into the account a crowd welcomed him for they were all expecting him Well, of course his word his reputation had already gone out and an immediately a man named Gyrus a ruler of the synagogue Comes and falls at Jesus's feet pleading in public now in public Please come because his only daughter a girl of about 12 Was dying What will the authority of Jesus the one who can calm storms and and heal demon possessed man? What will he do? Notice the phrase as Jesus was on his way Jesus goes the crowds almost crushed him now keep this in mind because Luke in this section is constantly underlying for you There are lots and lots of people And immediately a woman was there who had also been subject to bleeding for 12 years There were internal hemorrhages One says this delicately, but this would have been a particularly difficult and embarrassing gynecological problem No one could heal her She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak and immediately Her bleeding stopped she didn't even ask permission Jesus didn't speak anything Immediately she is healed Who touched me Jesus asked when they all denied it Peter said master the people are crowding and pressing against you And you want to know who it was But Jesus has response someone touched me. I know that power has gone out for me Then the woman seen that she could not go on notice came trembling and fell at his feet in the presence of all the people She told why she had touched him And how she had been instantly healed Then Jesus said to her daughter your face is healed you go in peace while Jesus was still speaking someone from the house of Giores the synagogue ruler came and said your daughter is dead He said don't bother the teacher anymore hearing this Jesus said to Giores do not be afraid Keep on believing and she will be healed When he arrived at the house of Giores he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter John and James and the child's father and mother Meanwhile all the people were wailing in mourning for her stop wailing Jesus said She's not dead, but a sleep They laughed at him knowing that she was dead But he took her up by the hand and said my child Get up her spirit returned and it once she stood up then Jesus told them to give her something to eat her parents were astonished But he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened We take that prism to the light of Luke chapter 8 and we see the first Component of this brilliant light his authority Jesus speaks Jesus has authority over not only the natural elements not only over demons But now has authority over death a Little girl of about 12 years old Perhaps in that culture and not as esteemed as a 12 year old son, but the esteem Helped by culture is irrelevant for a father is grieving over the potential loss of a child whom he loves
death Is indiscriminate as one person put it none of us gets out of here alive She was dying publicly The man pleads for help from Jesus. Key word is publicly publicly Jesus's Honor his reputation his standing is in one sense placed in jeopardy. What will you do? Oh great master Jesus Well before that question's answered this woman comes to him subject to bleeding for 12 years But no one could heal her in fact other manuscripts say and perhaps this is Luke's irony She had suffered much from the hands of physicians if indeed Luke was the beloved physician as Other parts of the New Testament describe him to us as being You can almost sense Luke's painful frustration Someone who had suffered much from the hands of many physicians and they could not heal her But she touches Jesus's cloak in immediately She is healed Jesus comes into the home of Gyrus now having been told by a messenger that Gyrus's daughter is dead In fact, perhaps with great courtesy don't bother the teacher anymore the teacher can't be bothered with dead people because death is death To which Jesus responds not by saying yes death is scary yes death is triumphant yes death has the last word but says Do not be afraid Well, why wouldn't the father be afraid? Because death is that definitive death is that definite death is that final not for the King Jesus She will be healed And as you know the story he comes into the room takes her tenderly by the hand and says my child get up He speaks no histrionics no drama no CNN cameras His authorative word Now hang on to that Notion of his authorative word because there's a disturbing aspect of his authority And I want to leave you with that disturbing aspect because I'm going to come back to that We've seen his authority. Yes for Gyrus's daughter We see his authorative word for the woman who's healed but isn't there a nagging question in your mind? I'll plant the nagging question in your mind and then come back to it at the end the nagging question is But master what about you fill in the blank? That's the first Part of the white beam that we've broken namely his authority. I want you to look secondly at his compassion
Gyrus falls publicly at Jesus's feet and pleads for a daughter Do you notice that Jesus does not rebuke him does not say listen? I have an a busy agenda here Do you realize what I'm doing? He's willing to be interrupted. He's willing to go on his way a way which in one sense He allowed to be interrupted by this father And then we come to the woman With whom I want to spend a bit more time a Woman was there who'd been subject to bleeding for 12 years I've said it before and perhaps you may think that I'm overemphasizing the point But I want you to understand what Luke is telling us this is all public This is not in the privacy of a doctor's examining room This is full of compassion She comes to him in public with so many people around him and because she is rightfully concerned Not to bring shame to Jesus Because you see a bleeding woman was considered to be unclean She wouldn't want to acknowledge publicly not only her own illness, but to shame the master Again, culturally you may not be able to relate to that But here's the glorious thing doesn't matter whether you can relate to it Jesus can who touched me? Jesus asked they all denied it Peter said again Luke doesn't want you to miss it Master the people are crying and pressing against you, but Jesus has said someone touched me I know that power has gone out for me and here's where the compassion comes Verse 47 then the woman seen that she could not go unnoticed King trembling and fell at his feet in the presence of all the people She told why she had touched him Can you imagine that I say this very respectfully and tenderly to other to women here? You know full well the sense of of awkwardness. It would be can you imagine publicly explaining Not only to other women, but let's put a sharp point on this to other men Would have been going on in your life with your body and Jesus speaks to her words of deep tenderness daughter The English translation is so unhelpful there. It is a word of such compassionate tenderness He doesn't publicly shame her He doesn't publicly say this is too awkward for me. I am a male. I am a male rabbi Men rabbi's don't deal with the the yuckiness of such illnesses But with deep compassionate he says to her you are healed your faith has healed you go in peace One of the glories of the New Testament is that it tries to speak with compassion as well as authority to you and to me stressing that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow this Jesus is deeply compassionate and Remind ourselves why compassion is so important in a world like ours For me personally on the night that my dad died He had to be transferred from one place back to hospital because it was obvious that the cancer was killing him and Where he was in one point they could not handle that medical emergency so we had to move him from That place to the hospital and they called an ambulance crew and They had already been giving him morphine so his breathing was calmer and his vital signs were all right I was riding in the ambulance with my dad and the ambulance workers In that kind of scary situation, I was struck almost physically with the compassion of The woman who was attending my dad in the ambulance she spoke to him You have been in hospitals. I'm sure and you know that sometimes busy nurses busy doctors dealing with that day in day out sometimes Forget to treat us as human beings She spoke my dad's name She said John now I'm giving you another injection John I'm now going to put an IV a drip to rehydrate you Your son says you would like it to be Zinfandel wine, but it's sailing solution She treated my dad with dignity, but she also treated him and me with compassion Compassion in a difficult times of life is critical Look at the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ Don't bother the teacher because your daughter is dead Compassionately Jesus comes He comes into this situation and speaks words of deep compassion Takes her by the hand. There's no magic mumbo jumbo. Again. There's no calling in of of TV cameras and press reports Takes her by the hand as a father would as a mother would and Says my child Get up passionate to both the parents and to the child, but hang on to this Because doesn't this raise a niggling question? Just as if we had a niggling question about Jesus's authority Isn't there a niggling question about Jesus's compassion? Because don't we want to also say? Yes, Jesus, but what about Lastly is we take that prism of that light and take the prison We've broken it into its components and we've seen his authority his compassion, but thirdly now his humility
Where is Jesus heading to in Luke chapter 8? It's described for us in chapter 9
Luke is telling us that Jesus is heading for Jerusalem Nothing less than that He is going to die and in his humility he dies in that same humility. He's willing to be stopped By a father in his humility. He is willing to be stopped by a woman in his humility He raises someone from the dead In his humility He orders the parents in verse 56 not to tell anyone what it happened Why is it simply that Jesus is self-effacing? Is it that Jesus is is one of those people who is just reserved and retiring? Or is it that his humility is a mark actually of his kingly authority? The whole context of this account in Luke 8 is set within the context of one at the end of chapter 9 Who explains I am going to Jerusalem? I am going to die this humility is likewise The mark of this Jesus the son of man must suffer many things chapter 9 verse 22 and be rejected by the elders chief priests and teachers of the law and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life This humility therefore is a mark of his authority. It's a mark of his compassion. His humility is not something which every now and then kicks in and It's in him down His humility is the constant mark of his authority and his compassion So let's take that prism again, you know how a prison breaks apart the components of the light into various colors We've taken the prism over Chapter 8 and we've seen one band of color namely his authority One band of color namely his compassion and one band of color his humility But put all the colors back together again and all our niggling questions because here's the first niggling question Lord Jesus you may be authoritative and you were authoritative in gyruses daughter's experience and in the woman's experience But Lord Jesus what about your authority With respect for example to Nathan Joe and Tudor's son Where was your authority then Lord Jesus? Lord Jesus where is your authority when my wife died when my husband died Lord Jesus where was your authority When this person is healed of cancer, but this person isn't healed of cancer Lord Jesus where is your authority is it indiscriminate? That might be the question that some of you are brave enough to ask But think about his authority and perhaps a slightly different way Because you see the truth is that gyruses daughter did die The truth is that woman who had internal bleeding did die You know that don't you? They didn't live forever Even the astonishing authoritative power of the healing of gyruses daughter raising her from the dead She eventually did die She doesn't live forever. She's not still walking in Palestine That woman whose bleeding was was killing her she was healed immediately She did eventually die So Jesus where is your authority?
Bring the lights together and the colors together into one dazzling beam of white light and what do you see? The authority of Jesus here isn't simply limited To a healing here and now or only now the raising of dead people The authority of Jesus is Easter Sunday The authority of Jesus is this King Jesus about whom Luke is speaking will one day raise all the dead One day will solve all the problems of sickness and death and sin and These signs of Luke chapter 8 are a foretaste of authority They're not the last word How can I say this reverently? Jesus has even more authority than simply Healing a emerging woman or raising one dead child He has the authority and is pledged to have the authority to raise all the dead and He'll all who are bleeding? What about his compassion? Jesus, you are deeply compassionate publicly to this man whose daughter is dying Jesus, you were so tenderly compassionate to this woman who was bleeding but Jesus, there are other people who have asked you for help in some ways more fervently than gyros or this woman who believed more who knew more Yet Will you compassion less to them? Do you ever struggle with that question? Where is Jesus's compassion for you? Expressed in its supreme expression nothing less than his own willingness to die
Master show me your great love for me show me your compassion for me because I don't feel it Do one or two of you ever ask that? Over and over and over again the compassionate Savior Says In effect by his display on the cross is sin-bearing death on the cross. I ache as much as you ache and more My compassion is not simply and could this not be a very clear word for you? My compassionate says King Jesus isn't simply for gyros' daughter. Isn't simply for this woman bleeding? Because you're not bleeding You're not dying yet But Jesus's compassion is there on the cross scene. I break I bleed I wound for you There is no limit to my compassion and I Demonstrate this limitless compassion for you publicly on the cross You see all these lights come together when we take the prism away and we bring the the various colors together We see a dazzling beam of light namely the cross of Christ and we see his humility his supreme humility which then seemed to speak words that astound us That Jesus your authority over illness over death over demons over storms is exercise with such humble authority in exercise with such humble compassion That our breath is taken away There seemed to be two extremes in life There are those who Look at life and say yes, it's got its difficulties. It's got its sadness is but still Life is a wonderful life I was at a funeral recently and One of the songs played at the funeral was that song by Louis Armstrong? What a wonderful world. Do you know that song? That song was played at My father's request And I thought how tragic His wife has Alzheimer's his daughters are grieving He's died of the ravages of cancer and he wants us to listen to Louis Armstrong seeing what a wonderful world That's one extreme Criticize it if you will Of course the other extreme is looking at that Looking at life and seeing its pain seen his brokenness seen its ugliness and being chilled to the bone saying there is no hope Luke speaks to both extremes I Have no idea whether you are at either extreme But I have good money that most of us are somewhere in the middle and Luke speaks to us About Jesus's authority about Jesus's compassion and Jesus's humility and Luke does this as the whole of the Bible does this to assure you and me That Jesus is the same yesterday Today and tomorrow Let's pray gracious Jesus in your authority in your compassion and your humility As you know each in every one of us inside and out You know where we are Would you please in your grace and in your mercy? But also in your kingly authority displayed on the cross Would you please speak to us And for those of us who are frightened those of us who are indifferent those of us who think life is wonderful or those who are frightened by life By your grace and spirit Increase our faith Should that we might hear from you Daughter your faith is healed you go in peace or that we might hear from you my child get up