 Today we're in chapter 9 of Matthew. We're going to be looking at verses 18 through 26, so let's begin reading together in Matthew chapter 9 at verse 18. I'll read to verse 26, and we'll get into our study. Matthew chapter 9 beginning at verse 18. Matthew writes, while he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live, so Jesus arose and followed him, so did his disciples, and suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched the hem of his garment, for she said to herself, if only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well. But Jesus turned around, and when he saw her, he said, be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well, and the woman was made well from that hour, and when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, he said to them, make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping, and they laughed him to scorn. But when the crowd was put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose, and the report of this went out into all that land. We've already seen that Jesus has returned to Capernaum by way of the Gadarenes, and he's once again ministering somewhere on the shore of the sea of Galilee. A relatively short time before the people of the Gadarenes that actually had a request of him, they had asked him to leave, but in this portion of scripture, we encounter someone who has saying to him, please come, and please help. In a moment, we're going to see that there is one person who is especially anxious to see Jesus Christ. This person is a synagogue official. We know his name, his name was Jairus. This time, I'm going to supplement, once again, I'm going to supplement Matthew's account with both Mark and Luke's record of this event, because Luke and Mark give us more detail that Matthew didn't present to us. I'm going to be looking at some of the things that are written in the Gospel of Mark as well as the Gospel of Luke, and tie them in here to help to build up this and give more clarity in this passage. As we look at this, we're going to see that it begins in verse 18 with Matthew saying, while he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him. Now, this event is taking place after, obviously, verses 11 through 17 here in the chapter, chapter 9. This is occurring after Jesus spoke with John's disciples as well as the Pharisees. And when we looked at those passages, we saw that Jesus was giving some basic information concerning his ministry. In verses 10 through 13, I pointed out to you that Jesus came to save those who were lost. And when we looked at the other verses after that, Jesus was making it very clear that the old way of life and the life of the Spirit were incompatible. So now what we have in this passage is another event that helps to clarify the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we have here in this passage is an account of a man, and it begins with a man who is a ruler of a synagogue by the name of Jairus, who's coming to Jesus Christ and is asking for help from him. Now, we know his name is Jairus, even though Matthew doesn't record that, because Mark tells us in chapter 5 verse 22 that his name is Jairus. Jairus means whom God enlightens. So a man by the name of Jairus is coming so that he might be enlightened by God. Jesus is going to teach him something and show him something that is going to actually make his name more apparent. He was a synagogue official, referred to as a ruler. So when you looked at the synagogue, you would see that they had officials there. This man referred to as a synagogue ruler, was an administrator. And so he had the job of overseeing order. He also had the job of inviting people to read or to speak in the assembly. So he was a ruling official. Being a ruling official probably would make it likely that he was aware of the opposition that had been mounting against the Lord Jesus Christ. He was more than likely a Pharisee. And yet the Bible makes it very clear that this man who more than likely is aware of the opposition because he is more than likely a Pharisee, this man comes to Jesus even though he knows that there's controversy surrounding this young rabbi. Now why would he do that? Well it was because he was at the end of his rope and he needed help desperately. Matthew is treating this as something unusual because notice with me in verse 18, he began by saying behold. And so this is something that deserves to be noticed. It's unusual when a respected religious official actually comes to somebody like Jesus Christ. It would seem that his concern for his daughter overwrote any misapprehensions that he had. This is a man who was willing to put aside anything that would keep him from coming to someone that he thought could be of help to him because as Matthew is writing he has left his home greatly concerned because his daughter is at the point of death. Our babies have an ability to weasel themselves if you will into our hearts. Any parent or grandparent knows exactly what I'm saying to you. There's just something about them that causes them to just find a home in our heart. There's their personalities, their silliness, the cuteness. And this man Jairus had a daughter and this little girl was the light of his life. This little girl meant everything to this man. It was his only little girl. She must have charmed him. She must have blessed him. She must have made him happy. There's just something about him. I have granddaughters now and grandsons and I have two sons and two daughters and I know something of this. My daughters weasel their way into my heart. My son's dead and now my grandchildren are doing it. I have now eight grandchildren. One of them's name is Zoe. Zoe's just a little bit over a year, about 16 months or so. And Zoe's got this idea that she can dance. So we'll put music on when she's in our house and just to watch her. Because we have to find the right. It has to have a beat. But when we find something with a beat to it, she'll stand there and she gets... She's very tiny. She'll stand there and then her body starts moving to the music. It is so funny. I had her doing it yesterday. All of a sudden she'll... I'll tell Marie, I'll call Marie and Mama. I'll say, watch Mama. Turn the music on. And she's... All of a sudden she stops, like the music's in her. And all of a sudden she, with her left hand, starts to... And her left shoulder, she'll just... It's just the left side. She'll just start going like this. And before you know it. And then she's turning it around, doing that. And it makes me laugh. I have to tell you. Because me, it's my right. I wear this white suit and I do this. But anyway, that was from another era. But she has weaseled herself into my heart. It's not hard to do. That's a fact. But you have this love for these babies. They're charming, they're silliness. I have no doubt in my mind that Jairus adored his baby girl. He adored her. You know, again, I have sons, I have daughters. There's something about your baby girls that has a different kind of... There's a different kind of relationship that you have. And this man had a daughter that was the light of his life and she is sick to the point of death. And this, even though he's a Pharisee and even though he's... I'm sure he's aware of the controversy that Jesus is now stirring up. Because Jesus is doing a lot of miracles. He's doing a lot of works. He's making a lot of statements. You know, Jairus undoubtedly being a ruler of a synagogue undoubtedly is hearing of this carpenter from Nazareth who is out there stirring people up with words that nobody's heard in and with miracles that nobody has seen. And so he's hearing that Jesus is nearby and he leaves this house and he tells his wife, he says, I've got to go and I've got to speak to Jesus and that's what we're seeing take place here. He is there looking for the Lord Jesus Christ and as Jesus is ministering Matthew tells us a ruler came worshiped him saying, my daughter has just died come lay your hand on her she will live. Now we're going to look at that in some detail in a moment and give you a greater insight by combining Mark and Luke because when he left the house his daughter was still alive but during the process news comes to him. I'll show you that clearly in just a moment and get the chronology of that down so you'll see this. But this is a synagogue official he is a ruler and he's come to speak to Jesus. Matthew takes notice of it by saying, behold and as he comes before Jesus he worshiped him. That word worshiped is a Greek word proscanel means an act of homage and reverence. It would involve Jairus kissing his feet or the hem of his garment or the ground before him. What it is showing us is that he has humility and need. He is actually humbly throwing himself upon the mercy of Jesus and humility is something God regards. Psalm 147 verse 6 says the Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground. Proverbs 3.34 reads he mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble and so he humbly is throwing himself before the Lord because he has a need that he believes Jesus can meet. By comparing Luke's account we get more information concerning his situation. In Luke chapter 8 verses 41 and 42 Luke writes a man named Jairus a ruler of the synagogue came and fell at Jesus' feet pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter a girl of about 12 was dying. He loved this little girl with a great passion he is beside himself with anxiety. He was more than likely aware of some of the works that Jesus had performed. When you read Matthew chapters 8 and into chapter 9 it records that Jesus had healed a centurion servant he had healed Peter's mother-in-law so it's worth taking a risk. After all, what do I have to lose? So Matthew begins this portion after word has come that Jairus' daughter is dead but Mark points out that Jairus waited until the last minute to approach Jesus only when his daughter was at her worst did he approach Jesus Mark 523 says he begged him earnestly saying my little daughter lies at the point of death. I have no other hands on her that she may be healed and she will live so he believed that Jesus would move on his behalf and he humbly makes this request and the request contains a genuine element of faith that Jesus could and Jesus would help him. In Jeremiah 32 verse 27 God says behold I am the Lord the God of all flesh then he asks a question is there anything for me? In Hebrews 11 verse 6 the writer says without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him I am the Lord is there anything too hard for me seek me and you shall find me and that's what's taking place here so as we're looking at this we're seeing a couple basic things regardless of their station in life. Gyrus's advantages didn't exempt him from pain because both the rich and the poor suffer a loss and secondly in our time of sorrow and pain we should come in faith to Jesus for help from him because he came to Jesus he worshiped him he prayed to him and ultimately he trusted him. The Bible again gives us a promise Psalm 50 verse 15 where it says and you shall glorify me. In Hebrews 4 verse 15 and 16 we do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet was without sin let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need it only makes sense to come to the Lord for help he is able to do it and we ought to approach him even as Gyrus has and so Gyrus is convinced that Jesus can heal his daughter it's worth taking a risk after all what do I have to lose and he approaches Jesus Comey says lay your hand on her she will live verse 19 says so Jesus arose and followed him so did his apostles or his disciples to see that Jesus took time to minister to this broken hearted father and he goes with Gyrus to minister to the little girl but the crowd begins to press in all around him mark 524 adds Jesus went with him and a great multitude followed him and thronged him so as they walk you can get this picture Jesus is walking a crowd begins to form around him and they're desiring his attention in the midst of this if it were you and say that you had you had gone to get a doctor and your child at home was in need and you went and picked him up to bring him home for some reason and yet the freeway is jammed and you can't get anywhere you're just stopped there in the flow of traffic there's no longer moving Gyrus must have felt as he's walking with Jesus he's approached him come and help and Jesus is coming with him to his house and yet the crowd sees it taking place and now they're all surrounding him and Gyrus has got to become frantic at that moment the little girl is in need and yet the crowd is pressing in one of the things we see in this then is that we're not the only ones in need of help from the Lord even though we may feel sometimes that we are the only ones but during this time verse 20 through 22 tells us suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched the hem of his garment for she said to herself if only I may touch his garment I shall be made well but Jesus turned around and when he saw her he said be of good cheer daughter your faith has made you well the woman was made well from that hour so the multitude following Jesus are pressing in around him he has no room to walk freely but there's a woman in that crowd who's been hemorrhaging for 12 years she may have had a disease of some sort a tumor and Jewish religious law has rendered her ritually unclean you see according to the law of Moses in the Old Testament according to her condition her illness exempts her from any physical contact with other people she would be regarded as what is called ritually unclean according to the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter 15 verses 25 through 27 when a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues for a period she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge just as in the days of her period any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean as is her bed during her monthly period and anything she sits on will be unclean as during her period whoever touches them will be unclean he must wash his clothes bathed with water he will be unclean until evening so while in her present condition she was unable to be part of the Jewish community she was cut off she was separated and yet she has heard that crisis passing by and she makes her way into a crowd undoubtedly she's contacting other people because of jostling and yet in her mind she simply has to get to him no matter what you see she had done all she could to be healed and she too is at the end of her rope Luke tells us in chapter 8 verse 43 that she had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any Mark in chapter 5 verse 26 says that she had suffered many things from many physicians she had spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse one Bible commentator spoke concerning the medical practices of that day and he writes that there were 11 different cures prescribed in Jewish writings for example he said well if you want to the doctors would say if you want to have this particular malady doubt with well you should carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen bag in the summer and in a cotton bag in the winter one of their other cures was that you're to carry around a barley corn kernel that had been found in the dung of a white female donkey so no wonder she's getting sick even worse she had done all that she could she wanted to be healed medicine knew no cure for her illness she's declining in her health sometimes our best efforts simply are not enough she had not only lost her health she lost her wealth and now she's seeking Jesus Jesus again is her last resort as he's passing by she really approaches him she comes from behind touches his garment saying repeatedly if only I may touch his clothes Luke 844 tells us that she came from behind and touched the border of his garment now during the time of Christ every Jewish male had four tassels on the hem of their shawl to remind them of the law of God in Numbers chapter 15 verses 38 through 40 we read speak to the children of Israel tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners you shall have the tassel that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined and that you may remember and be holy for your God and so they had blue thread and so you could see this person and you would know that this was a Jewish male which gives you some insight into the conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well the woman of Samaria when she was looking at Jesus and said to him how is it that you being a Jew are having a conversation with me being a woman of Samaria and John says because Jews have no dealings with Samaritans when you looked at a Samaritan and you looked at a Jewish person they would physically look the same and it was a Jew undoubtedly it was the tassels that he had in his garment and so they would wear these tassels to remind them of the law of God and so during that time there was a belief that when Messiah would come there would be special healing powers in the hem of his garment now where did they get that from it appears almost to be superstitious well when you look in an Old Testament book called Malachi the prophet Malachi makes an interesting prophecy prediction about the coming Messiah it's found in Malachi 4 verse 2 where it says there to you who fear my name the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings the son of righteousness was another way of speaking of Messiah so to you who fear my name Messiah the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings now the word wings when it says shall arise with healing in his wings the word wings is a Hebrew word kanah it is the same word that refers to the border of the garment where the tassels were fastened and so she believed that by reaching up to that portion it was a fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy concerning Messiah who rises up with healing and that's the reason why she was reaching to touch the hem of his garment so as this is taking place verse 22 Jesus turned around and when he saw her he said get out of here no he didn't he said be of good share daughter your faith has made you well and the woman was made well from that hour her faith was immediately rewarded she was instantly totally and recognizably healed mark 529 says immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction where all other help had failed her trust drove her to reach the one who could help her and immediately when she had reached to touch him she sensed that within herself the healing had taken place she also sensed that something had taken place somebody had reached out and touched him by faith and he responds to that once again mark gives us greater information in mark 530 Jesus immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him turned around in the crowd and said who touched my clothes Jesus sensed someone touching him in faith and demanded a confession but it's a confession of praise that he is demanding like it says in psalm 107 verses 8 and 9 oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness for his wonderful works to the children of men for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness when blessings descend from heaven we take the time to thank the one who gave them the disciples are oblivious to what's actually taking place and they actually question him one of the reasons why I feel so drawn to the disciples is because I see myself in them because as this is all taking place and put yourself once again in the scene Jesus is walking a crowd is jostling him as he's trying to get past there are people making demands of him then he stops and he asks the question who touched me and you've got these men around him his men around him and so naturally they begin to wonder what's going on how come you don't understand what's going on he once says his disciples said to him you see the multitude thronging you and you say who touched me there are times when the Holy Spirit is doing a work that others can't see there are things that may be taking place that somebody can see that somebody else can't see there are things that Jesus obviously would know that his disciples didn't know so they're asking a question that they don't have an answer for so by asking him why are you saying the crowd they're bouncing into you there are so many people reaching out to you how do you know when one person touches you and somebody else didn't why are you saying that well as this is taking place it's interesting to note that Jesus is in no hurry but I'm wondering what Jairus is thinking because Jairus is the one who's trying to get the master to get to the house and as he's bringing the master there he can't move and he has to have some anxiety that's growing within him well Mark 5 31 and 32 says that Jesus looked around to see who had done this and she fearfully came forth Luke 8 47 says the woman seeing that she could not go unnoticed 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 now she misunderstood the Lord she thought she was in some kind of trouble but he just wanted to bless her not to scold her so notice Matthew 9 22 when he saw her he said to her be of good cheer daughter your faith has made you well he speaks to her lovingly like a father he praises her for the faith that she exercised she became an evidence of the grace of God Psalm 114 says he has made his wonderful works to be remembered the Lord is gracious and full of compassion now as this is occurring Jairus is still waiting for Jesus and bad news arrives he receives the words that stagger you Luke 8 49 while he was still speaking someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him your daughters dead do not trouble the teacher how do you handle that when you hear words that stagger you how do you handle that what do you do with the pain what do you do with the grief what do you do with the sorrow what do you do when somebody says something like that to you when something painful happens where do you turn Marie gave birth to Korean she gave birth to my David and then when David was several months old she speaks to me and she says I'm pregnant then I say again who's the daddy again and me I'm just going man I've already got two children I don't know that I'm ready for a third and I go through that like oh I don't know how to feel right now kind of thing that I went through and then I embraced wow we're going to have another baby God God will provide I know he will and one day I'm in the front room at our house and my wife goes to the bathroom and she comes walking out a moment later with her face ashen and in her hands a baby that she had just miscarried some of you know or don't know that we had another pregnancy I have four children alive and one in heaven and I still remember my little wife walking out with her hands like this and she said oh no how do you respond how do you respond where do you go when you have pain like that I'm in the hospital room and the doctor comes out and says we did our best we couldn't do anymore I get a phone call from my sister Rebecca several years later sobbing on the phone mama died in my arms where do you go when you're hurt when you're in pain when everything around you is spinning what do you do when somebody walks up to you and says to you the light of your life has just been extinguished don't bother the master any longer your little girl is dead what do you do Jarvis had already done what he was supposed to do but could he for a moment start getting angry at the Lord you stopped you had to take care of that woman could he have gotten angry at the crowd how come you stopped him he was on his way to my house I came to get him and you stopped could there be anger in him yes could there be frustration in him absolutely could there be such sorrow I mean what do you do when you hear somebody say don't bother him any longer your daughter is dead the pain must have been an instantaneous kind of thing the hope is dashed and what am I going to do he was reeling there's no doubt he heard this news but Jesus also heard and he immediately spoke to him Luke 8.50 says when Jesus heard it he answered him saying do not be afraid only believe she will be made well don't be afraid hold fast to me Jarvis you can choose how you're going to react to this news you can make a choice trust me even in the midst of your pain now that may be a bit easier to do in as much as he just saw the Lord do a work in a woman and yet it's a woman who is saying that she was dried up and the fountain of her blood was no longer flowing Jarvis more than likely didn't know her but the Lord had done something for her and Jesus turns and gives his word to him do not be afraid only believe she will be made well and so it says in verse 23 when Jesus came into the ruler's house he saw the flute players he could hear the noisy crowd Jarvis has Jesus come to his house even though everyone is saying it's too late don't bother him Luke 8.51 tells us that Jesus brought with him Peter James and John as well as the parents of the little girl he brought his men to encourage their faith in him because he was about to do something that would strengthen them and he walks in and he makes a statement verse 24 he says make room for the girl is not dead but sleeping and their response when he said that is they laughed him to scorn you see as they walk in the ritual the Jewish ritual mourning is being observed they would tear their garments they would hire professional mourners they would cry loudly they had professional musicians who would play loud disconcerting music that was intended to reflect emotional grief as well as confusion so if you would to walk in there you would hear people crying and making loud wails and you would hear this music that was all not in any kind of tune and the confusion would have been amazing you know if you were a person with a lot of honor and wealth you would have a lot of people show up to show you special special honor in that and so that's what's going on when they walk in you can almost hear the confusion in the chaos that's going on because that happens that'll happen in the midst of things there'll be people who are making noise and causing disruption when it ought to be a time of peace I've had that happen more than once in various ways maybe even had that happen in a wedding I can still remember I was performing a wedding this was over 30 years ago now I was performing a wedding and the young bride was in the bridal room and I always when I do weddings will come into the bridal room and I'll spend time with the bride I'll pray with her and speak to her and encourage her and all of that and that's my habit and that's what I'll do and so as I walked into this room on one occasion on one side of the bride was the mother-in-law to be on the other side was her biological mom her mama was there and as they were there they were standing over her and they were talking loudly and they were arguing and they were making demands of her as I walked in and I stood there and the room had several others in it as I'm looking at this mother and this mother-in-law to be as her you need to where's this and then I look at the bride and as I look at the bride her makeup is running now she's crying because the stress she's going through with these two women it was like two vultures you know so I walked in I was like 33 years old not even that and I saw what was going on and I walked up to moms both of them and I said you're going to need to leave you're going to need to leave the room well there's you're going to need to leave the room they flew away and I looked at this little girl and the tears that she's and I said listen baby you're beautiful this is going to be a beautiful time don't let the stress and pressure get to you you need to let that out of this room and you need to breathe in the spirit and what God wants to do you're gorgeous it's going to be a beautiful day and I encouraged her in the Lord because you have to get rid of the disruption sometimes so that the peace can fall and when all of these people are making all of this noise and they're mourning loudly Jesus says she's only sleeping and what they do is they just all these tears stop it shows you how phony it was and then they they're laughing at him to his face they are actually attempting to humiliate him it says in Luke 8.53 they laughed him to scorn knowing that she was dead so Jesus put the crowd outside he went in he took this little girl by the hand and said to the ministers to the little girl Luke 8.54 simply says he put them all out and in Mark 5.41 it says that he took the child by the hand and said to her which is translated little girl I say to you arise and immediately she was brought back to life Luke 8.55 her spirit returned and at once she woke up now what's interesting is can you imagine how stunned you would be at that moment and Jesus speaks Luke 8.56 says he ordered them not to say what had been done but Matthew 9.26 says the report of this went out into all the land they could not keep this to themselves and they spoke about it Jesus brings life to the dead and tears of sorrow were turned into tears of joy as this little girl their baby has been returned to them it's interesting that Jeres had great joy for 12 years as he had this little girl loved this little girl and raised her but in the same 12 years there was a woman who had an issue of blood who was in nothing but sorrow and so the Lord Jesus Christ was able to restore joy to both of them to the woman with the issue of blood her she received a miraculous healing to the little girl who was dead she was given life once again both of them ended up with great joy and it illustrates to us something Jesus said in John 11 25 when he said I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die yet shall he live Jesus is the one who brings life and in these two stories that are intertwined you see the Lord reaching down to touch one and you see somebody else reaching up to touch him and I see that very often that just works together because as I reach my hand up to him he has a way of reaching his hand down to me and we connect we connect and he brings me joy