1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:05,160 It's impossible to interrupt Jesus, right? 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:10,560 We shouldn't treat people like interruptions, because Jesus 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:12,400 doesn't treat people like interruptions. 4 00:00:15,380 --> 00:00:18,380 Mark Chapter 5, verse 21 will go until the end of the chapter. 5 00:00:18,380 --> 00:00:20,340 Usually we stand for the reading of God's Word before the 6 00:00:20,340 --> 00:00:22,060 preaching, but today we're going to skip that. 7 00:00:22,060 --> 00:00:24,180 I love that. Symbolically, it shows us that 8 00:00:24,180 --> 00:00:26,700 God's Word is higher than the preacher's word, but we're 9 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:28,060 skipping it this morning for a simple reason. 10 00:00:28,060 --> 00:00:31,700 And that's because I want to hide the ending of this amazing 11 00:00:31,700 --> 00:00:34,660 story from you. That way we can walk through it 12 00:00:34,660 --> 00:00:39,740 like a story, because this story is in amazing testimony to the 13 00:00:39,740 --> 00:00:42,220 mindblowing perfections of Jesus. 14 00:00:42,220 --> 00:00:45,060 And if you can stick with this sermon for the next 30 minutes, 15 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:48,580 I think that perhaps you'll see increased clarity, the 16 00:00:48,580 --> 00:00:52,460 perfections and the glory and the worth of Jesus in a way that 17 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,380 maybe you've never thought of it before. 18 00:00:54,380 --> 00:00:58,100 So my only ask of you over these next 30 minutes is that you try 19 00:00:58,100 --> 00:01:01,260 your best, regardless of what's going on in your mind, to stay 20 00:01:01,260 --> 00:01:05,660 locked into the roller coaster, stay locked into the drama, stay 21 00:01:05,820 --> 00:01:09,620 locked into the tension, stay locked into the roller coaster 22 00:01:09,620 --> 00:01:12,180 of this story to the best of your ability from beginning to 23 00:01:12,180 --> 00:01:14,300 end. And then we'll ask the question, 24 00:01:14,580 --> 00:01:17,500 are you an interruption? So let's start at the beginning 25 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:19,740 of the story, which is at verse 21. 26 00:01:20,220 --> 00:01:23,700 So Jesus has just crossed the he's just crossed the sea. 27 00:01:24,060 --> 00:01:26,660 When he got to the other end of the sea, he healed a demon 28 00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:29,380 possessed man. He was kicked out of that area. 29 00:01:29,460 --> 00:01:31,780 So he's crossed back over to the sea. 30 00:01:31,980 --> 00:01:33,820 And right when he gets back to the sea. 31 00:01:33,820 --> 00:01:37,700 What happens, verse 21, when Jesus has crossed again in the 32 00:01:37,700 --> 00:01:40,740 boat to the other side? Well, a great crowd gathered 33 00:01:40,740 --> 00:01:42,980 around him, and he was beside the sea. 34 00:01:43,660 --> 00:01:47,380 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Gyrus, my name. 35 00:01:47,620 --> 00:01:51,900 And seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, 36 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:58,220 saying, My little daughter is at the point of death, my girls at 37 00:01:58,740 --> 00:02:02,100 my girl is at death's doorstep, is the way one commentator 38 00:02:02,100 --> 00:02:05,340 translated it. My daughter is at the point of 39 00:02:05,340 --> 00:02:07,500 death. Please come and lay your hands 40 00:02:07,500 --> 00:02:10,580 on her so that she might be made well and live. 41 00:02:11,009 --> 00:02:16,050 And Jesus went with him and then a great crowd followed him and 42 00:02:16,050 --> 00:02:18,850 thronged all about him. Pause the story for a second. 43 00:02:19,690 --> 00:02:23,490 So just like his last trip at like, what is it about Jesus? 44 00:02:23,490 --> 00:02:27,170 Okay, just like his last trip, as Jesus, soon as he gets to the 45 00:02:27,170 --> 00:02:30,050 shore, somebody's already sprinting over to him. 46 00:02:30,050 --> 00:02:32,850 Exactly like the last time you went to shore, except this time 47 00:02:32,850 --> 00:02:37,050 it's not a demon possessed man, it's a religious leader, a local 48 00:02:37,050 --> 00:02:40,090 ruler of the synagogue. So if you want to draw kind of a 49 00:02:40,090 --> 00:02:42,570 modern comparison, the dude is like a pastor. 50 00:02:42,770 --> 00:02:46,370 He what we know about local synagogue rulers was that he 51 00:02:46,370 --> 00:02:48,690 ruled over the local synagogue in that area. 52 00:02:48,850 --> 00:02:52,890 His primary job would have been overseeing people, teaching and 53 00:02:52,890 --> 00:02:55,850 make sure that the teachings of the synagogue were Orthodox and 54 00:02:55,970 --> 00:02:57,690 in accordance with the Old Testament scriptures. 55 00:02:57,690 --> 00:03:01,690 And so this religious leader, this pastor, this this local 56 00:03:01,690 --> 00:03:04,250 leader immediately sprints over to Jesus. 57 00:03:04,370 --> 00:03:08,050 He's probably got crazy eyes, the swirly eyes that you see in 58 00:03:08,050 --> 00:03:10,930 cartoons. He's probably got snot running 59 00:03:11,010 --> 00:03:13,970 and out of his nose. He falls at Jesus's feet and he 60 00:03:13,970 --> 00:03:17,970 says, Jesus, my daughter is on the doorstep of death. 61 00:03:20,130 --> 00:03:27,250 This is a man who's at the end of his rope, moments away. 62 00:03:29,250 --> 00:03:31,650 And so Jesus, seeing the pain and suffering of a father on the 63 00:03:31,650 --> 00:03:34,890 verge of losing a child, goes with him. 64 00:03:35,330 --> 00:03:39,960 But as Jesus starts to walk with Gyrus to Gyrus's home for this 65 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,600 healing, there's a little detail that we need to remember. 66 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,680 And the detail is this. This little girl is on the 67 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,640 doorstep of death. Do you understand that? 68 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:56,720 There's a Jesus is he's on a ticking time clock right now. 69 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:04,960 There's not a second to spare. There's not a moment to spare 70 00:04:06,250 --> 00:04:10,090 and as they walk towards the religious leaders home with the 71 00:04:10,090 --> 00:04:13,570 hopes of getting there in time to perform the healing, the 72 00:04:13,570 --> 00:04:17,850 worst possible imaginable thing happens. 73 00:04:20,690 --> 00:04:24,410 An interruption. We don't have time for an 74 00:04:24,410 --> 00:04:30,690 interruption. 1st 25 They're walking towards Gyrus's home. 75 00:04:31,310 --> 00:04:35,550 And then there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 76 00:04:35,550 --> 00:04:39,270 years and who had suffered much under many physicians. 77 00:04:39,470 --> 00:04:42,150 That's a haunting phrase, suffered much under many 78 00:04:42,150 --> 00:04:44,150 physicians, depending on the commentator. 79 00:04:44,270 --> 00:04:47,510 Some people think that not only did the physicians not make her 80 00:04:47,510 --> 00:04:49,990 better, but they made her worse. Some academics think this might 81 00:04:49,990 --> 00:04:53,430 be a reference to abuse, others a reference to the physicians 82 00:04:53,430 --> 00:04:57,230 merely using her illness in order to make a profit, in order 83 00:04:57,230 --> 00:04:59,870 to make a buck wherever you fall in that spectrum. 84 00:04:59,990 --> 00:05:03,670 Either way, sad stuff. She had spent all that she had, 85 00:05:04,350 --> 00:05:08,830 and not only was she not better, but rather she grew worse. 86 00:05:09,310 --> 00:05:14,230 But then she began to hear the reports of Jesus and came up 87 00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:18,070 behind him in the crowd on his way to Gyrus's home. 88 00:05:19,470 --> 00:05:24,790 Reached out and just touched his garment. 89 00:05:25,990 --> 00:05:30,820 Touched it right for, she said. Even if I touch his garments, I 90 00:05:30,820 --> 00:05:35,540 will be made well and immediately the flow of blood 91 00:05:36,340 --> 00:05:40,420 dries up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her 92 00:05:40,420 --> 00:05:42,300 disease. Pause the story for a second. 93 00:05:43,740 --> 00:05:46,780 Let's think about this woman, this interruption. 94 00:05:48,020 --> 00:05:50,380 A discharge of blood is not a minor inconvenience in the 95 00:05:50,420 --> 00:05:52,180 ancient world. It's probably, it's not even a 96 00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:54,620 minor convenience even in the modern world, but doubly so, 97 00:05:54,620 --> 00:05:58,290 triply so in the ancient world. And it's certainly not a minor 98 00:05:58,290 --> 00:06:00,650 inconvenience when it's been happening for 12 years. 99 00:06:00,650 --> 00:06:04,530 OK, So a discharge of blood would make somebody ceremonially 100 00:06:04,730 --> 00:06:08,650 on clean in the Jewish world for up to seven days after the 101 00:06:08,650 --> 00:06:11,370 discharge had dried. So that means that if she's been 102 00:06:11,370 --> 00:06:14,890 struggling with this discharge of blood for 12 years, she's 103 00:06:14,890 --> 00:06:18,530 been ceremonially on clean for 12 years. 104 00:06:19,330 --> 00:06:22,340 You know what that's like. That's 12 years. 105 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:25,620 If she has a family of not being able to come into contact with 106 00:06:25,620 --> 00:06:29,980 her family, that's 12 years of being an outsider to the 107 00:06:29,980 --> 00:06:34,300 religious world as 12 years of being an outsider to society at 108 00:06:34,300 --> 00:06:35,980 large. Here's the point. 109 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:40,980 Just like the demon possessed man earlier in Chapter 5, this 110 00:06:40,980 --> 00:06:43,900 woman, for all intensive purposes for the last 12 years, 111 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:47,220 this woman is dead to the world, OK? 112 00:06:47,980 --> 00:06:52,230 And the world is dead to her. So when she reaches out in faith 113 00:06:52,470 --> 00:06:55,950 and touches Jesus's garment and believes for her healing and 114 00:06:55,950 --> 00:06:59,230 feels the flow of blood growing up, what she's just experienced 115 00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:01,550 is not merely a healing, although it is that. 116 00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:03,750 What she's just experienced is a resurrection. 117 00:07:04,110 --> 00:07:08,870 She got her life back. She got her friends back, right? 118 00:07:08,870 --> 00:07:10,790 If she had a family, she gets her family back. 119 00:07:10,790 --> 00:07:13,830 She gets her kids back. This coming Sunday, she gets to 120 00:07:13,830 --> 00:07:15,830 go back into the synagogue and worship God. 121 00:07:16,070 --> 00:07:21,770 This is amazing, but I want you to remember something as all of 122 00:07:21,770 --> 00:07:23,450 this is happening, Remember one detail. 123 00:07:24,010 --> 00:07:29,130 Gyrus's daughter is at the doorstep of death. 124 00:07:32,290 --> 00:07:37,210 They don't have time to spare. We don't have time to spare. 125 00:07:38,130 --> 00:07:41,680 This woman just brought her problems out of nowhere and have 126 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,640 slowed down the Messiah from where he needs to go and what he 127 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,120 needs to do. This woman, in her uncleanness, 128 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,440 has just slowed Jesus down and it makes the person wonder 129 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,480 what's going to happen to the young girl. 130 00:07:53,560 --> 00:08:01,040 What's Gyrus doing right now? OK, can't this wait for like 131 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,890 another eight hours? Jesus, let's go right. 132 00:08:05,890 --> 00:08:08,250 This is not the time to be slowing down. 133 00:08:08,250 --> 00:08:10,250 Did these fatal few seconds cause the difference between 134 00:08:10,250 --> 00:08:13,330 saving a life and losing a life? There she is. 135 00:08:13,490 --> 00:08:16,130 She's experienced this profound healing. 136 00:08:17,290 --> 00:08:19,890 But then things go from bad to worse. 137 00:08:19,890 --> 00:08:23,530 She reaches out, touches the garment, experiences healing, 138 00:08:23,530 --> 00:08:29,530 and then things get even worse. Jesus stops walking, turns 139 00:08:29,530 --> 00:08:35,080 around. No time to spare, not the time 140 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,640 for interruptions. And Jesus, what's going on? 141 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,640 He just stops walking. Look at this verse 30. 142 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,360 Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from 143 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,320 him, immediately turned around in the crowd and said, Who 144 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,960 touched my garments because I was like we. 145 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,220 We talking about everybody's touching you right now, right? 146 00:09:01,460 --> 00:09:03,940 The disciple said to him. You see the crowd pressing 147 00:09:03,940 --> 00:09:06,260 around you and yet you say who touched me. 148 00:09:06,660 --> 00:09:08,300 You could think about that all week, right? 149 00:09:09,340 --> 00:09:11,020 Turns out you can bump into Jesus. 150 00:09:11,020 --> 00:09:13,980 You can touch Jesus and not touch him. 151 00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:18,060 You understand? Everybody's touching you. 152 00:09:18,060 --> 00:09:19,340 What do you mean? Who touched you? 153 00:09:20,100 --> 00:09:23,860 And then Jesus, you got to love this, looked around to see who 154 00:09:23,860 --> 00:09:26,060 had done it. Right? 155 00:09:26,060 --> 00:09:29,660 Now is not the time to be a teacher, but here's Jesus going. 156 00:09:37,250 --> 00:09:41,490 We don't have time for this. We're on a shot clock right now. 157 00:09:41,890 --> 00:09:45,290 And so the woman, knowing what had happened to her verse 33, 158 00:09:45,570 --> 00:09:49,130 came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told 159 00:09:49,130 --> 00:09:50,890 him the whole truth. Pause the story. 160 00:09:51,690 --> 00:09:54,770 What's happening right here is that this woman fears that she 161 00:09:54,770 --> 00:09:57,090 has just taken something precious from Jesus without 162 00:09:57,090 --> 00:09:58,810 asking. And you don't do that in the 163 00:09:58,810 --> 00:10:00,690 ancient world. You certainly don't do that in 164 00:10:00,690 --> 00:10:02,730 the ancient world in Rome if you're a woman. 165 00:10:02,890 --> 00:10:06,810 And Jesus just stops, turns around and he asks who touched 166 00:10:06,810 --> 00:10:09,970 my garment and he dramatically looks around and waits for an 167 00:10:09,970 --> 00:10:12,810 answer. He scans the crowd around him. 168 00:10:14,370 --> 00:10:16,890 Remember, right now is not the time to be scanning around 169 00:10:17,090 --> 00:10:18,850 what's happening to Gyrus's daughter. 170 00:10:18,850 --> 00:10:22,570 What does Gyrus think right now? She's on death's doorstop. 171 00:10:22,570 --> 00:10:25,010 These fatal few seconds could be the difference between life and 172 00:10:25,010 --> 00:10:27,970 death. And this woman breaks down, snot 173 00:10:27,970 --> 00:10:30,290 and everything, confesses that it was her. 174 00:10:30,610 --> 00:10:32,970 And here comes the public rebuke from Jesus. 175 00:10:32,970 --> 00:10:36,130 Right here comes the public rebuke from the Messiah. 176 00:10:36,290 --> 00:10:38,890 How dare you take something without asking? 177 00:10:40,090 --> 00:10:45,830 How how dare you slow me down? How dare you interrupt me? 178 00:10:46,150 --> 00:10:49,750 Don't you know that I've got things to do? 179 00:10:50,750 --> 00:10:55,390 Don't you know that I've got to go heal a little girl so that 180 00:10:55,390 --> 00:10:59,070 she doesn't die? Don't slow me down, right? 181 00:11:00,750 --> 00:11:06,150 Is this your view of Jesus? Because while she's expecting a 182 00:11:06,150 --> 00:11:14,180 rebuke, A rebuke doesn't come. Jesus looks at her knowingly, 183 00:11:14,180 --> 00:11:22,940 nods, probably smiles, and says verse 34, Daughter, your faith 184 00:11:22,940 --> 00:11:28,780 has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your disease. 185 00:11:29,100 --> 00:11:31,660 Jesus knew the whole time who touched his robe. 186 00:11:33,020 --> 00:11:36,780 He's got in the flesh. He knew that it was her. 187 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:41,950 What he's doing right now is he's strategically singling this 188 00:11:41,950 --> 00:11:46,230 woman out, not to rebuke her. He's singling her out in order 189 00:11:46,230 --> 00:11:50,070 to honor her and praise her. Not only does she not get 190 00:11:50,070 --> 00:11:53,550 rebuked, she gets put forward in front of this entire crowd of 191 00:11:53,550 --> 00:11:57,990 people as the model of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. 192 00:11:58,630 --> 00:12:00,310 That's what he's doing. By singling her out, he's 193 00:12:00,310 --> 00:12:02,750 saying, hey, this is what faith looks like. 194 00:12:02,910 --> 00:12:06,030 Your faith has made you well. Your faith is awesome. 195 00:12:06,230 --> 00:12:09,070 I love this kind of faith. He's saying this is what faith 196 00:12:09,070 --> 00:12:11,650 looks like, right? He's saying to the entire crowd 197 00:12:11,650 --> 00:12:14,570 of people, Hey, right here, what this woman just did. 198 00:12:14,890 --> 00:12:18,530 This is Christianity. This is this beautiful, 199 00:12:18,930 --> 00:12:21,530 beautiful moment. They're having this amazing 200 00:12:21,530 --> 00:12:23,730 moment. Your faith has made you well. 201 00:12:23,730 --> 00:12:26,090 I love your faith. But remember, now is not the 202 00:12:26,090 --> 00:12:30,210 time for amazing moments. The clock's ticking. 203 00:12:33,730 --> 00:12:35,290 What's going on with Gyrus's daughter? 204 00:12:35,810 --> 00:12:38,450 Did these precious few moments did this one interruption make 205 00:12:38,450 --> 00:12:39,770 the difference between life and death? 206 00:12:41,070 --> 00:12:45,150 And just then, while Jesus is celebrating this healing, 207 00:12:45,390 --> 00:12:50,110 smiling over this woman and honoring and celebrating her 208 00:12:50,110 --> 00:12:59,510 healing, the worst imaginable news comes verse 35, while he 209 00:12:59,510 --> 00:13:02,150 was still speaking there came from the ruler's house. 210 00:13:02,150 --> 00:13:08,030 Some who said your daughter is dead. 211 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,960 Stop bothering him. Why trouble the teacher any 212 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:20,040 further? OK, So what happens? 213 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:31,280 The little girl dies and man I it just makes you want to pull 214 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,480 your hair out, right? We could have prevented this, 215 00:13:37,170 --> 00:13:38,290 right? Gyrus has got to be thinking, 216 00:13:38,290 --> 00:13:43,730 Where were you like last year? I have a buddy of mine who's a 217 00:13:43,730 --> 00:13:48,330 pastor and a church planter and and he lost his wife to suicide. 218 00:13:49,850 --> 00:13:57,370 And I remember going to the funeral and seeing him walk in 219 00:13:57,370 --> 00:14:03,770 with his kids without his wife. And I remember seeing him walk 220 00:14:03,770 --> 00:14:06,990 to his chair. And then he sat down with his 221 00:14:06,990 --> 00:14:12,590 kids. And I just wanted to ball my 222 00:14:12,590 --> 00:14:16,630 fists up, just be like, God, where were you we doing? 223 00:14:17,670 --> 00:14:21,510 He gets to his seat with his kids at the funeral, puts his 224 00:14:21,510 --> 00:14:23,190 hands on his kids, and he prays for him. 225 00:14:24,510 --> 00:14:32,750 I'm just like, man. All I could think was I couldn't 226 00:14:32,750 --> 00:14:34,940 do that. Like I would just. 227 00:14:34,940 --> 00:14:38,020 I would just be lost. I would be lost. 228 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:44,300 I'd be irreparably broken. He was his man, praying for his 229 00:14:44,300 --> 00:14:46,780 kids and leading them in worship at his wife's funeral. 230 00:14:48,420 --> 00:14:51,700 He just filled me with rage. I was just like, Lord, what are 231 00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:54,380 you doing? Like this dude gives his life to 232 00:14:54,380 --> 00:14:57,940 you. Preaches about you. 233 00:14:57,940 --> 00:15:02,420 Every Sunday. Blended church for your glory. 234 00:15:04,710 --> 00:15:10,750 You just let his wife die. And like, Gyrus has got to feel 235 00:15:10,750 --> 00:15:13,590 that way, right? He's like, you could have done 236 00:15:13,590 --> 00:15:16,150 it. You could have done it. 237 00:15:17,070 --> 00:15:21,310 And instead you let this woman with her problem of a bloody 238 00:15:21,310 --> 00:15:25,550 just charge slow you down. And now my daughter's gone, 239 00:15:25,550 --> 00:15:27,150 Right, Well, like, where were you? 240 00:15:27,150 --> 00:15:29,110 That's got to be what he's feeling right now. 241 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,600 If you had gotten there in time, my little girl would still be 242 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,360 alive. And then the story, just this 243 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:43,200 story, is unbelievable. Verse 36, Jesus hears what they 244 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:50,080 said, but over hearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of 245 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:55,040 the synagogue Do not fear, only believe. 246 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,120 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and 247 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,340 John and their brother of James. And they came to the House of 248 00:16:02,340 --> 00:16:06,180 the ruler of the synagogue. And Jesus saw this commotion, 249 00:16:07,540 --> 00:16:09,980 people weeping and wailing loudly. 250 00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:17,860 And when he had answered, he said to them, only Jesus could 251 00:16:17,860 --> 00:16:21,620 do this right? Why are you making a commotion 252 00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:24,300 and weeping? The child's not dead, but 253 00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:27,140 sleeping, and they laughed at him. 254 00:16:29,420 --> 00:16:33,780 So pause the story. The people who are weeping and 255 00:16:33,780 --> 00:16:36,260 wailing in the story right now, they're they're probably not 256 00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:38,260 family members. Most commentators think that 257 00:16:38,260 --> 00:16:41,260 these are mourners okay. So this is going to help put 258 00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:42,780 things into perspective here a little bit. 259 00:16:43,100 --> 00:16:46,220 In the ancient world, mourners were a professional Guild of the 260 00:16:46,220 --> 00:16:50,140 careerist opportunist okay. So even the poorest people in 261 00:16:50,140 --> 00:16:53,020 the ancient world, when a loved one died, they would pay at 262 00:16:53,020 --> 00:16:55,020 minimum 2 mourners for the event. 263 00:16:55,420 --> 00:16:59,100 These people would be paid to come to the event, the death, 264 00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:04,260 and the funeral, to weep loudly and wail loudly at the death. 265 00:17:04,619 --> 00:17:06,780 Because by doing this, that would encourage the people 266 00:17:06,780 --> 00:17:09,740 present at the death and present at the funeral to engage in 267 00:17:09,740 --> 00:17:12,940 weeping and wailing too. And so essentially, when you 268 00:17:12,940 --> 00:17:16,260 think about these people who are weeping and and wailing, these 269 00:17:16,260 --> 00:17:21,060 are these are mourners who have built a career that's dependent 270 00:17:21,060 --> 00:17:23,540 on death. And so when Jesus says that 271 00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:26,579 she's only sleeping, they feel threatened, right? 272 00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:29,700 So they do what? They laugh at them. 273 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:34,340 I was struck by this note in a commentary on Mark on these 274 00:17:34,340 --> 00:17:37,900 mourners. This commentator said quote, the 275 00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:42,700 professional mourners here represent the hardcore cynics of 276 00:17:42,700 --> 00:17:46,020 every age who decide when empirical realities have 277 00:17:46,020 --> 00:17:50,620 foreclosed on. Divine possibilities, maybe. 278 00:17:50,620 --> 00:17:53,420 You know some mourners. It's okay to mourn. 279 00:17:53,540 --> 00:17:56,020 Jesus is not tearing into people who are mourning. 280 00:17:56,380 --> 00:18:00,520 He's ripping into the mourners, the professional cynics, right, 281 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,800 who love to laugh in the face of divine miracles and fill people 282 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:11,400 with the poison of cynicism. They laugh at Jesus, but who 283 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,440 ends up being right, Jesus or the Cynics? 284 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:26,200 Verse 40. They laughed at him, but he put 285 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:32,450 them all outside and took the child's father and mother and 286 00:18:32,450 --> 00:18:34,330 those who were with them. And when and where the little 287 00:18:34,330 --> 00:18:38,090 girl was taking her by the hand, right? 288 00:18:38,730 --> 00:18:39,850 Takes the little girl by the hand. 289 00:18:40,770 --> 00:18:44,810 He says to her it's Alitha Kumi, which means little girl I say to 290 00:18:44,810 --> 00:18:48,410 you will rise, right? It's like it's like this little 291 00:18:48,410 --> 00:18:51,930 child. It's time to get up. 292 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,400 That's what it sounds like to the Greek ear, right? 293 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,360 Or the Hebrew or whatever. It's time to get up, verse 42. 294 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,520 And immediately the girl gets up and she begins walking. 295 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,520 For she was 12 years of age and they were immediately overcome 296 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,560 with amazement. And he strictly charged them 297 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,720 that no one should know this and told them to give her something 298 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:18,880 to eat. Oh, it's like, woof. 299 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,390 What a story, right? And you listen to a story like 300 00:19:23,390 --> 00:19:28,830 that, and you can't help but wonder where you go with that, 301 00:19:29,310 --> 00:19:30,790 right? We could talk about Jesus as the 302 00:19:30,790 --> 00:19:32,790 resurrection, and that would be great. 303 00:19:32,790 --> 00:19:34,350 And we could do that for another 30 minutes. 304 00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:37,550 We could talk about the divine possibility in the face of grim 305 00:19:37,550 --> 00:19:39,870 reality, and that would take another 30 minutes. 306 00:19:40,230 --> 00:19:42,670 So instead of going one of those two routes, here's what I'm 307 00:19:42,670 --> 00:19:44,670 going to do. I'm going to say what I feel 308 00:19:44,670 --> 00:19:47,230 like saying this morning and pray that it's what God wants to 309 00:19:47,230 --> 00:19:49,590 say to our church this morning. Here's where I want to go. 310 00:19:51,430 --> 00:19:53,190 Don't treat people like interruptions. 311 00:19:55,950 --> 00:19:59,430 Notice the shape of this text. There's a desperate story about 312 00:19:59,430 --> 00:20:02,510 somebody at the end of their rope unfolding, and then 313 00:20:02,510 --> 00:20:05,990 somebody interjects themself into the story, seemingly as an 314 00:20:05,990 --> 00:20:08,790 interruption. But instead, Jesus treats the 315 00:20:08,790 --> 00:20:12,310 interruption like a human and after giving this person his 316 00:20:12,310 --> 00:20:15,290 attention. Then Jesus tends to the original 317 00:20:15,290 --> 00:20:17,850 problem and solves it. This is what scholars call a 318 00:20:17,850 --> 00:20:20,370 sandwich story, and many commentators have commentated 319 00:20:20,410 --> 00:20:23,690 endlessly about how the shape of the story influences the meaning 320 00:20:23,690 --> 00:20:26,290 of the story. And here's what I take from this 321 00:20:28,090 --> 00:20:31,930 It's impossible to interrupt Jesus, right? 322 00:20:32,010 --> 00:20:37,330 We shouldn't treat people like interruptions because Jesus 323 00:20:37,330 --> 00:20:39,170 doesn't treat people like interruptions. 324 00:20:40,710 --> 00:20:43,030 And so, like, I spent a lot of time thinking about what my 325 00:20:43,030 --> 00:20:45,350 daughter said to me earlier this week, because when she said it 326 00:20:45,350 --> 00:20:48,310 to me, I hadn't even started prepping for the sermon. 327 00:20:48,590 --> 00:20:50,350 So I think maybe Della is a prophet. 328 00:20:50,350 --> 00:20:52,510 I don't know. She said that to me. 329 00:20:52,670 --> 00:20:53,950 I've been thinking about it all week. 330 00:20:53,950 --> 00:20:57,390 Right, Dad? Why don't you ever laugh at my 331 00:20:57,390 --> 00:21:00,310 jokes? And again, inside my soul, the 332 00:21:00,310 --> 00:21:02,390 hard thing was that I knew the answer. 333 00:21:03,870 --> 00:21:07,710 It's because I'm busy and because I treat you like an 334 00:21:07,710 --> 00:21:15,060 interruption. Sweetie, we just need to, honey. 335 00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:15,980 Right. We just need to. 336 00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:20,180 We just need to get to the car. We just need to get to the 337 00:21:20,180 --> 00:21:22,180 grocery store. I just. 338 00:21:22,180 --> 00:21:24,420 I just got to do XI. Got to get my servant done. 339 00:21:24,820 --> 00:21:28,100 Got to do scheduling. I got to do this right, honey. 340 00:21:28,100 --> 00:21:32,210 Just just got to get X done, got to get Y done, got to never slow 341 00:21:32,210 --> 00:21:34,530 down, don't stop. And you end up treating your 342 00:21:34,530 --> 00:21:36,210 daughter's attention like an interruption. 343 00:21:36,530 --> 00:21:39,490 And ironically, it's it's unbelievable because the best 344 00:21:39,490 --> 00:21:41,770 part of my week, this last week, was when I said yes to the 345 00:21:41,770 --> 00:21:44,450 interruption. You know, like it's just amazing 346 00:21:44,450 --> 00:21:46,690 the way it works. It was like later later that 347 00:21:46,690 --> 00:21:48,850 week, my son, my older son came up to me. 348 00:21:49,210 --> 00:21:52,450 It was like 15 minutes after bedtime and and we needed to go 349 00:21:52,450 --> 00:21:55,480 to bed. And he starts poking me, right? 350 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,560 It's like 815. He starts poking me. 351 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,000 I'm like, dude, now it's not the it's not the time to wrestle, 352 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,360 right? He wanted a rough house. 353 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:02,680 He wanted to throw some punches with me. 354 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,560 He wanted to wrestle around. He starts poking me. 355 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,640 Everything in me was like, everything in me was like okay 356 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,080 bud. But we got to get to bed, pack 357 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:12,400 it up. I'm not telling you how to pair 358 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,200 okay. You put your kids down whenever 359 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,120 you need to. He starts poking me. 360 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,640 I see it as an interruption. And I I I felt like I heard the 361 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,760 Lord just be like, hey, what if it's not an interruption? 362 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,550 What if it's an opportunity? So I was just like, all right, 363 00:22:25,550 --> 00:22:28,310 let's do this and we start wrestling around for the next 10 364 00:22:28,310 --> 00:22:32,190 or 15 minutes and I'm telling you highest point of my week by 365 00:22:32,190 --> 00:22:35,590 a mile. It's just like laugh laughing so 366 00:22:35,590 --> 00:22:39,990 hard that we ended up crying like just delirious joy and and 367 00:22:39,990 --> 00:22:42,670 it just it struck me like was as I was thinking about the story. 368 00:22:42,670 --> 00:22:46,270 It struck me that if we look at people through the the eyes of 369 00:22:46,270 --> 00:22:52,270 the flesh, we always see people as interruptions. 370 00:22:55,500 --> 00:22:58,460 But by faith, through grace, if we can look at people through 371 00:22:58,460 --> 00:23:03,620 the eyes of Jesus, we see interruptions as possibilities 372 00:23:04,670 --> 00:23:09,110 and everything unfolds itself and everything changes, and you 373 00:23:09,110 --> 00:23:12,270 end up experiencing these incredible invitations to joy. 374 00:23:12,270 --> 00:23:15,790 And so all week long I've been feeling God saying to me through 375 00:23:15,790 --> 00:23:19,830 these stories, Cole don't treat people like interruptions. 376 00:23:20,110 --> 00:23:22,350 And that's that's important because Jesus, this is what 377 00:23:22,390 --> 00:23:24,230 Jesus is like. And we should be like Jesus. 378 00:23:24,430 --> 00:23:26,630 And being Christ like is really, really important. 379 00:23:26,830 --> 00:23:30,230 And as important as this is, it's actually not the bottom of 380 00:23:30,230 --> 00:23:33,580 the story. There's something one inch 381 00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:37,860 deeper in this story than just a moral platitude. 382 00:23:38,060 --> 00:23:41,020 No matter how true the moral platitude is, and the thing 383 00:23:41,020 --> 00:23:44,340 that's one inch deeper in this story, then don't treat people 384 00:23:44,340 --> 00:23:46,940 like interruptions. The thing that's at the bottom 385 00:23:46,980 --> 00:23:50,580 of this text is this. You're not an interruption to 386 00:23:50,580 --> 00:23:54,260 Jesus. You're not an interruption to 387 00:23:54,260 --> 00:23:57,980 Jesus. In fact, you can't interrupt 388 00:23:58,100 --> 00:23:59,690 Jesus. Think about that. 389 00:24:00,210 --> 00:24:03,650 Jesus has never been interrupted. 390 00:24:04,690 --> 00:24:09,850 He's too divine for that, too perfect for that, too sovereign 391 00:24:09,850 --> 00:24:11,490 for that. And this is going to take some 392 00:24:11,490 --> 00:24:13,450 getting used to, I think, because we've all had well 393 00:24:13,450 --> 00:24:15,730 meaning. Religious people beat it out of 394 00:24:15,730 --> 00:24:17,970 our heads, right? Like it usually comes like this. 395 00:24:17,970 --> 00:24:20,770 You ready? You think God cares about your 396 00:24:20,770 --> 00:24:24,450 cold while there's world wars out there? 397 00:24:25,650 --> 00:24:32,020 It's like, well, gosh, certainly not right. 398 00:24:32,020 --> 00:24:34,060 You think. You think God cares about your 399 00:24:34,500 --> 00:24:38,900 football game or your volleyball game when there's demons and 400 00:24:38,900 --> 00:24:41,980 murderers out there? We all hear this kind of 401 00:24:41,980 --> 00:24:44,820 religious crap and we walk away thinking, I mean, yeah, if Jesus 402 00:24:44,820 --> 00:24:50,400 had to choose between my little problems and cosmic problems, of 403 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,640 course my little problem of depression or sadness or sorrow 404 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,880 or struggle with sin or cold or flu, of course my little 405 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,240 problems are nothing but a mere interruption to Jesus. 406 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,960 I think God cares about your sadness. 407 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,920 Well, there's people starving all over the world. 408 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,920 And when I read this story, I think, yeah, I do. 409 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,920 I do think he cares about that. In fact, I think the reason why 410 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,600 he cares about that is precisely because of his character. 411 00:25:20,340 --> 00:25:24,580 He is sovereign, and because he's sovereign, he never has to 412 00:25:24,580 --> 00:25:28,020 choose about what to care about. Jesus has never had to choose 413 00:25:28,020 --> 00:25:32,620 about what to care about. He's so sovereign that he can 414 00:25:32,620 --> 00:25:35,620 care about the cosmos and the hairs on your head. 415 00:25:35,620 --> 00:25:40,620 He can care about the Hurricanes and care about things that only 416 00:25:40,620 --> 00:25:43,540 a microscope can see. He can care about all of 417 00:25:43,540 --> 00:25:48,380 humanity while caring about little unimportant you. 418 00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:51,660 Since he's God, he doesn't have to choose. 419 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:55,500 You've never I don't care what your request was. 420 00:25:55,620 --> 00:25:57,100 I don't care what your prayer was. 421 00:25:57,260 --> 00:26:00,420 No matter how trite it seemed to you, no matter how trivial it 422 00:26:00,420 --> 00:26:04,340 seemed to you, you have never interrupted Jesus. 423 00:26:05,860 --> 00:26:09,900 You don't have that power. Jesus has never been 424 00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:12,700 interrupted. And man, I think if only one 425 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:16,340 person this morning walked away from the sermon thinking, you 426 00:26:16,340 --> 00:26:20,220 know what? All of my problems matter to 427 00:26:20,220 --> 00:26:22,540 Jesus. All of my prayers matter to 428 00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:25,700 Jesus, no matter how small, no matter how trivial they are. 429 00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:28,100 And so I think I'm just from here on out, I think I'm just 430 00:26:28,100 --> 00:26:30,860 going to voice it all to Jesus. If one person walked away from 431 00:26:30,860 --> 00:26:33,700 that this morning, the whole sermon would be worth it, right? 432 00:26:33,700 --> 00:26:35,580 If one person walked away thinking, you know what? 433 00:26:36,210 --> 00:26:38,610 I'm actually not in an interruption, right? 434 00:26:38,610 --> 00:26:41,450 Because of the gospel of Jesus, I am forgiven. 435 00:26:41,570 --> 00:26:44,370 I'm covered in his blood, I'm covered in his righteousness. 436 00:26:44,530 --> 00:26:48,330 And that means that everything about me, every little thing in 437 00:26:48,330 --> 00:26:51,570 my life, matters to Jesus. In fact, when you approach Jesus 438 00:26:51,850 --> 00:26:55,210 like the woman with the bleeding problem or gyrus with his 439 00:26:55,210 --> 00:26:58,990 daughter on the doorstep, or you with your issues, right, 440 00:26:58,990 --> 00:27:01,950 whatever, it is when you approach Jesus with any sort of 441 00:27:01,950 --> 00:27:06,390 request because of the gospel, the King of Glory hands, he 442 00:27:06,390 --> 00:27:09,630 holds up a hand to all the angels around his throne and he 443 00:27:09,630 --> 00:27:16,870 says, shh, my daughter is speaking, shh, my son is 444 00:27:16,870 --> 00:27:19,310 speaking. That's how important you are 445 00:27:19,470 --> 00:27:23,960 because of the gospel of Jesus. But I I deeply believe I've just 446 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,640 become convinced of this this week, that in the deepest part 447 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,960 of my heart, that even while Jesus is saving sinners and 448 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,480 casting out demons and exercising sovereignty over 449 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,760 every square inch of the cosmos and upholding the world with the 450 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:43,480 word of his mouth, he's still the type of God who laughs at my 451 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,960 daughter's jokes. So bring it all. 452 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,920 Your bleeding problems, your bloody nose, right? 453 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,640 Being at the the doorstep of death, Your sadness, your 454 00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,240 sorrow, bring it all to Jesus. You're not an interruption. 455 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:06,480 And to quote one of my favorite TV characters of all time, let's 456 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,880 address the larger than average size elephant in the room. 457 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,640 And then we'll be done. Here's the elephant. 458 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,200 Why doesn't Jesus always bring back people from the dead today? 459 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,170 Maybe you've lost somebody that you love and Jesus didn't bring 460 00:28:22,170 --> 00:28:28,930 them back from the dead. Why didn't Jesus bring back my 461 00:28:28,930 --> 00:28:34,690 pastor friend's wife? And the answer to the question 462 00:28:34,690 --> 00:28:38,970 is actually profoundly simple. I don't know. 463 00:28:42,450 --> 00:28:48,610 Because in loss we end up asking questions to which there are no 464 00:28:48,610 --> 00:28:54,870 answers, and a broken heart refuses any cold, logical, 465 00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:59,870 detached answers that logic could ever give, right? 466 00:29:00,310 --> 00:29:04,590 And that's why Jesus's response to suffering seems to be less 467 00:29:04,590 --> 00:29:08,630 about giving an answer and more about giving us himself. 468 00:29:09,790 --> 00:29:11,550 And so I don't have an answer to that question. 469 00:29:11,550 --> 00:29:14,750 And if I did give you some logical tidied up answer, you'd 470 00:29:14,750 --> 00:29:16,110 probably want to punch me in the mouth. 471 00:29:18,300 --> 00:29:21,780 The heart refuses cold, detached logic, and Jesus knows that. 472 00:29:22,620 --> 00:29:25,980 So why doesn't he bring our loved ones back from the dead 473 00:29:25,980 --> 00:29:29,740 all the time? Today let's throw our hands up 474 00:29:29,740 --> 00:29:32,340 in the air and say I don't know because we don't know. 475 00:29:33,500 --> 00:29:35,380 But there's one thing I do know from this text. 476 00:29:36,780 --> 00:29:42,060 Death is merely an interruption, and there will be a day when 477 00:29:42,140 --> 00:29:45,020 Jesus comes back to Foley and finally defeat the powers of 478 00:29:45,020 --> 00:29:47,940 darkness. And in doing so, he will cast 479 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:51,940 death into the lake of fire and finally create a perfect and new 480 00:29:51,940 --> 00:29:54,780 world, free from pain and free from suffering. 481 00:29:55,220 --> 00:30:00,100 And on that day, he'll take your loved ones by the hand. 482 00:30:03,100 --> 00:30:07,420 He'll take you by the hand, take you by the hand. 483 00:30:07,780 --> 00:30:11,700 And I'll say the child, it's time to get up.