What is ‘Faith’ and where does it come from? How do you practice your faith, act in faith and live by your faith? When I think of practicing my faith this is what it looks like, trusting God can change things that seem unchangeable. You need a firm foundation: God’s Word. Faith comes from God’s hand, we are gifted by God with the faith to believe in Him. We can ask God for faith but we cannot create it ourselves.
Faith is the belief in a reality that we cannot completely document or prove, something for which there is incomplete evidence. Yet it is not a belief founded in nothing.
This passage shows that when we believe in Him as the All Everything God, amazing thing, unexpected things, long hoped for things… will happen in our lives!
Luke 8:40-56
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
- People are tracking Jesus’ movements and are waiting for him (Capernaum)
- A Jewish Religious leader, more like an Elder than a Pastor in our context
- Meets Jesus at the shore, wants Him to come with him to his house (faith act)
- Big deal for such a man to fall at Jesus’s feet (it was all for someone else)
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
- Picture Jesus walking through town being mobbed by people in the street
- Some manuscripts include: though she had spent all her living on physicians V43
- What it meant to have bleeding for 12 years!
- The desperation she must have experienced…she had exhausted human means
- She approached Him in faith
- She was like: “If I can just touch Him”
- Mat 9:21 & Mark 5:28 She said to herself, If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed
- BAM! Instant healing
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
- Jesus’ healing power is accessible by faith
- Peter talks to Him like He is just a man who can only have finite knowledge
- All God / All Man, Jesus invokes His divinity here and is ‘All Knowing’
- He knows who the someone is, He wants her to tell her story
- Christ wants you to tell your story
47 Then 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. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
- Even after Jesus had healed her she tried to hide…then she publicly testified
- Her story leaves no doubt divine intervention had occurred (Miracle)
- Jesus proclaims it’s her faith that caused the healing (Faith In Jesus to heal her)
- We know God does the healing but our faith
- She is to go in peace because she knows 1st hand who Jesus is
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
- One of Jairus’ people come to tell him that his daughter has died (human view)
- With Jesus there He says “no point having the ‘Teacher’ come” (underestimating)
- Jesus says: Don’t listen to fear, trust ME! Believe in ME!
- Putting your faith in Jesus for ‘Others’ (praying for others)
51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
- Why only the three & the parents? Did Jesus only want faith in the house?
- Faith in Jesus for who He truly is plays some role in God’s healing process
- The people were convinced she was dead based on what they knew & could see
- When Jesus claims He can change the situation, they laugh (Pure Pride)
54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
- By HIS WORD He changes what was thought to be unchangeable
- Dominion over life & death, proven by The Resurrection, 4 details see next week
- The eating is to demonstrate the restored life is same as before, human
- Why does He order them to not tell? He tells the parents not to tell, but the girl…
Summary:
Jesus responds to acts of faith with miracles.
Christ has a healing agenda of His own that is not always clear to us.
Our faith is part of the process God uses to bring healing to our lives.
If we trust Jesus and relinquish control, we will see miracles for ourselves others
Application Questions:
How can & do you specifically approach Jesus Christ in faith for your own needs?
When was a time you acted in faith on someone else’s behalf? What did you learn?
When God is not doing something on your timetable how do you react?
Are there things in your life you are convinced God can’t change? What & Why?
Make the most of this Holy Week and get ready to celebrate Easter next Sunday!