Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is going to be a long introduction, for I want us to understand the setting of this miracle of Jesus. Our text says that Jesus went out from there, and that means He left Galilee. From there He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. We might ask why did He do that? The parallel passage in Mark gives us a clue. Mark 7:24 says, “He went away into the region of Tyre. When He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it.” He, as it were, hid Himself from the multitudes.

Jesus left the normal scene of His ministry because, it would seem, He wanted to have a time of rest for Himself and for His disciples away from the crowds, away from His intense schedule of preaching, teaching, and healing.

There were also some strong political and religious pressures that He would escape. Matthew 14 records Jesus feeding the 5000. John 6 in a parallel account, tells us in verse 15 that Jesus saw that they were about to come and to take Him by force to make Him king. That was some of the political pressure, the Jews wanting to use Him to achieve their own political aims, to free themselves from Rome and gain independence. Matthew 14 also records the hatred of Herod who has just recently beheaded John the Baptist. This event too, exerted some pressure on Jesus.

There was also the religious pressure of the scribes and Pharisees. Just one example is found in Matthew 12, where, when Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, we read, “then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.” His own town of Nazareth, a city in Galilee, rejected Him, and following His preaching from Isaiah 61 had tried to throw Him off a cliff.

There was more. And that more was simply the failure of the Jews of Galilee to repent. Listen to Jesus speak in Matthew 11:20, “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. “But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. “But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” “ (Mt. 11:20-24 NKJV)

But from what could they repent? Were they not Jews? Was not Abraham their father? What is the problem that Jesus talks about in their failure to repent? Hadn’t they heard the Sermon on the Mount? Didn’t Jesus teaching convict them of their failure to keep the law of God?

Just after that He said, “”Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”” (Mt. 11:28-30 NKJV)

“You who labor and are heavy laden?” What is He talking about? He’s not talking about us. “Find rest for your souls?” We have our own rest. Here was the gracious invitation, but so few in Galilee were interested. Hadn’t they heard Jesus say, ”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7-8 NKJV)

But, what if they thought, “Well, what shall we ask for? Do we lack anything? Not really.” So again, so many of the Jews of Galilee declined the wonderful promises Jesus made to them. Now Jesus was leaving Galilee. He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a region of the Gentiles, a region just to the northwest of Galilee. These were the people of whom He said earlier, “For if the mighty deeds which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

He is leaving then, the sons of the kingdom, for those outside the kingdom. He is leaving the region of cold and indifferent hearts, to a region where hearts were more receptive, more open to the grace of God.

And, let me pause here and ask, what about these United States of America. In this land lives the new Israel of God. Oh, not this country, but the church in this land. And unless we are totally blind, we have seen, over our history here, the stupendous, the mighty acts of Jesus Christ. The expansion of this land, the taming of the wilderness, the turning of deserts into gardens, the great cities stacked high into the sky, the astounding productivity of our farms and factories, 35 tons of potatoes per acre, 120 bushels of wheat, 180 bushels of corn, who ever heard of such a thing? The wonderful advances in medicine, the clean and healing hospitals, the peace and security, all these things, great and mighty wonders through the reign of Jesus Christ. This has all been the great goodness of God, which, said Paul in Romans 2, leads men to repentance. Repentance? What’s that? Have we repented? Have we turned away from our greed, our lying and cheating, our murder of innocents, our groveling at the feet of the god of money, our mad pursuit of sex and fun?

Well, it’s no wonder that anyone who wants to be a missionary would rather travel to the jungles of New Guinea, where miserable, poor, superstition-ridden, filthy natives know they have need, and realize so soon they need to repent than to the nice, decent, unrepentant, independent people of this land.

Jesus went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, and there met Him a Canaanite woman. A Canaanite woman; and perhaps we forget what that meant. Palestine was the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan was the land God promised to Abraham. The Canaanites were children of Canaan, the son of Ham, and it was Canaan who lay under the curse of Noah.

By the time Joshua led Israel into the land of Canaan, the Canaanites were so debased, such an obscene cancer on the body of humanity, so filthy in their sexual immorality that God said they had to be annihilated, everyone of them put to death. They were doomed to extinction.

Yet Israel had failed to wipe them out. This woman is identified as belonging to that race. A Canaanite. It is to this woman, then, that Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith.” “Great is your faith.” We get the word “mega” from the word Jesus used here. She had mega faith. The Bible speaks of little faith, strong faith, abiding faith, continuing faith, bold faith, rich in faith, obedient faith, steadfast faith, dead faith, precious faith, common faith, unfeigned faith, and working faith. But this time He speaks of great faith.

This is the second time Matthew records Jesus talking about great faith. The first time was of the centurion who came to have his servant healed. Jesus said of him, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.” Both of these times Jesus talked about great faith, He was talking about Gentiles, those outside the covenant, outside of Israel.

“O, woman, great is your faith.” It’s almost as if Jesus is standing before a wonder, a rare and awesome sight, such a sight as to make Him break out with that exclamation. So we have finally gotten to the theme of this sermon, and that is to learn what Jesus is teaching us about faith from His encounter with this Canaanite woman.

He teaches us that great faith is characterized by five qualities:

Great faith: Has Jesus as its object. Is repentant, reverent, persistent, and humble. Great faith has an objective, great faith has something on which to place full confidence, complete trust. This woman came to Jesus, and it was upon Him that she placed her trust. She was confident that He could heal her daughter. She was so confident that she didn’t even bring her daughter with her, but believed that even at a distance, Jesus could bring salvation, could make her daughter whole again.

Sometimes faith is characterized as a leap in the dark. They say that faith jumps into the dark void and expects to find a rock to land on. Is that faith? Is faith jumping from an airplane without a parachute? If you have a parachute you have something to believe in. If you don’t, jumping into the empty sky in not an act of faith, but an act of stupidity. What do you believe in? Some people believe in love. Or they believe in democracy. Or they believe in Reformed doctrine. Or they believe in believing. They believe in faith. Or they believe in prayer. Many believe in time. Many believe that in time it will all work out. Or they believe in goodness over evil. They believe that the good will finally triumph.

But all of that is a faith without content, it has no object really, only abstractions and shadows. Faith has a person as its object, and the only person worthy of faith is Jesus Christ. In Him alone all these other things have meaning. Prayer, like this woman made, is to Jesus. He alone is good. He alone will triumph over evil. He is the master of time. He is the content of Reformed doctrine. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.

“And behold a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him—cried out to Jesus— “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” She believed in Jesus. She believed He was Lord, He was Master, that He was sovereign, that He had power and authority even over the demons. She called Him the Son of David. She believed that He was the promised Messiah, the Redeemer. Her faith had content, her faith had Jesus Christ, the promised one of God, as her object.

How did she become aware of Jesus? How did she come to a saving knowledge of Him? First, we remember that Mark records that early on in Jesus’ ministry many had come from the region of Tyre and Sidon to see and hear Him. “and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.” (Mr 3:8 NKJV) So she was aware, either from first hand observation, or from reports from her fellow Canaanites, that Jesus performed mighty works.

Second, we see from the way that she addressed Jesus that she was aware of the words of the prophets, for she called Him Lord, and she identified Him as the Son of David. It was the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah who gave God’s promise of the coming of the Son of David to bring redemption.

Did she also know that the prophets promised that redemption would also come to the Gentiles, to the Canaanites as well as to Israel? Could it be that the heathen would be aware of the mighty acts and promises of God? Yes, the Bible tells us that even the heathen had long memories. You recall how in the time of Samuel the Israelites brought the ark of the Covenant into battle against the Philistines. Now listen to the Philistines as the ark arrives in the camp of Israel: “So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For such a thing has never happened before. “Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These [are] the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.” (1Sa 4:7-8 NKJV)

After nearly 400 years, the memory of God’s great redemption of Israel from Egypt was still vivid in the minds of the Philistines. So it is very possible that this woman knew of the prophecy of Isaiah who said, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,” (Isa 61:1-2 NKJV)

Yes, this was something for her. Her daughter was captive and the Son of David was the only one to release her. Was this for the Gentiles as well? Hadn’t Isaiah said, “The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isa 60:3 NKJV) “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” Her faith had Jesus as its object. Her faith was a faith of knowledge, of knowing who Jesus was because she had, as little as it might have been, knowledge of the Word of God, and because she knew the words of the Old Testament prophets, she knew Jesus, she came to Jesus, she believed in Jesus.

Great faith has an object, and that object is the person of Jesus Christ, the sovereign Lord, the Son of David, the promised redeemer, the great Messiah. Is this Jesus the object of your faith? Do you know Him as your Lord and Master? Do you know Him the great Son of David, the Redeemer and Savior?

Great faith is repentant. Did this woman repent? We may clearly infer that from our passage. She came from the region of Tyre and Sidon. As a Canaanite she came from a culture and country that served Baals and Molechs, the filthy, horrible gods of Canaan.

Do you remember Jezebel? Most of us would. She was the wife of Ahab who introduced Baal worship as the religion of the state into Israel. Do know the name of her father? His name was Ethbaal, and he was the king of Sidon. Tyre and Sidon were cities in a region sometimes known as Phoenicia, and the Phoenicians were great businessmen, great traders whose ships sailed the seas. They established the great city of Cathage in Libya. Even in the time of Hannibal the people of Carthage worshiped Molech, burning their children to that loathsome god. Archeological studies in Carthage have uncovered huge mounds of the bones of little children and babies, all burned to this god. These Baals and Molechs were the gods of sex, sex without children, sex that brought death and not life, sex that was perverted into homosexuality and bestiality.

From these gods of death, this woman turned to the Prince of Life. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Great faith is marked by repentance. And it is from the gods of this world that Paul called the Athenians to turn, called the Thessalonians to turn. And he would later say to the Thessalonians, “how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” (1 Thess. 1:9)

Great faith is repentant. This is the first call of the gospel, isn’t it? John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles all cried, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Turn away from the gods of the self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, from the gods of the power of the Romans, from the gods of the wisdom of the Greeks, from the filthy gods of Canaan to serve the living God, and to place your faith in his Son Jesus Christ.

Great faith is repentant. Great faith is reverent. Reverence sees the great chasm that exists between a lost sinner and a holy God. She asked for mercy. “Have mercy on me,” she said. Lord, don’t give me what I deserve, don’t give me what is due me, don’t give me what I merit, but I’m here in spite of the fact that I don’t deserve anything. I have no plea but your mercy.”

Great faith is reverent. It is the essence of the right approach to God. For God Himself proclaims Himself to be the God of mercy. Jesus Himself said, “I will have mercy and not judgment.”

Throughout this narrative, throughout her relation with Jesus her attitude was always one of reverence. “Lord, Son of David.” What a contrast to the irreverence of the Jews, who instead of calling Jesus Lord and Son of David, called Him a drunk, a friend of publicans and sinners, one who was in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.

Great faith is reverent, great faith has always an attitude of respect and awe for Christ, and for those sent by Christ. “He who receives you, receives me,” said Jesus to his apostles, “and he who receives me, receives Him who sent me.” How is our reverence towards Christ shown today? Do you and I have the posture of this woman? A posture of reverence?

Great faith is reverent. Great faith is persistent. And this perhaps is the characteristic that stands out in this encounter. After she had made her plea, we read, “But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” Jesus met her prayer with silence. We may think this is terrible, but we need to understand that through this silence Jesus would not break down, but strengthen her faith. “He answered her not a word.” She made her prayer, Jesus heard her prayer, and Jesus chose to remain silent.

And so it seems is the case with many of our prayers, does it not? Has God heard? Yes, He had heard. Well? Well, God has chosen to remain silent, not to shut us off, but to build our faith, to bring us to be more persistent in prayer. For faith is the thing above all else that God treasures in his people. Faith is the essence of our relationship with Him. And our faith, which the apostles later describe as more precious than gold, faith, which our God wishes to display before the world on the great day of Christ’s return, is something God through Christ carefully cultivates.

“She cries out after us.” She would not be silent. She kept on so loudly that the disciples got really annoyed. “Send her away.” But Jesus answered, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And yes, of course, this was true. Salvation is and was for the Jews. The promises, all the great promises of God, from Genesis 12 through Malachi 4 were for the chosen people of God, they were for Israel. The Messiah would be born of Israel, the Messiah was announced as the one who would save His people from their sins. And who were His people? The Jews of course. It’s as though Jesus said, “Well, you’re not a member of this church. What do you expect?”

Not exactly seeker-friendly, was He? You know that term, “seeker-friendly?” Some churches use that term as a guide to the structure of their worship. They want unbelievers, the world, to find the church accommodating to them, friendly. For the church is the house of God in Jesus Christ.

No, Jesus wouldn’t fit the mold here. “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of Israel.” Yet, this woman, by her faith, by her repentance, by her reverence, by her pleading on the basis of nothing but mercy, showed herself to be a true daughter of Abraham. For Abraham was the father of believers.

“Then she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” Great faith is persistent. No demands, no arrogance, no arguments, only a plea for help. “But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Again, Jesus completely breaks the mold of the seeker-friendly God. “It is not good to take the children’s bread, and throw it to the little dogs.”

Jesus inferred that this Canaanite woman was a dog. Oh, the Jews would agree. What would you do? Are we surprised that this woman didn’t just leave? Perhaps we leave, we give up on God when He meets our prayers with silence, as Jesus did earlier to this woman. He called her a dog. Yet, although the Jews held dogs to be some of the lowest forms of life, the Greeks would often take little dogs as household pets. For that is the term Jesus used here, “little dogs,” puppies. It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies, the household pets.”

Yes, the bread did belong to the children, to the Israel of God. But, as we see later in the epistles, God drew the Gentiles into the people of God. They became one with the people of God. The bread of life, Jesus Himself, always belonged to the Israel of God, but the great work of God through the gospel, as Paul says so plainly in Ephesians, was to break down the middle wall of partition, and make them both one.

Did she know this? Perhaps not, but she knew Jesus, and she knew her need of mercy, and she knew that God was abounding in mercy, that He delighted to show mercy. This was the foundation for her persistence. And this must always be the foundation for our persistence, for if we are to have great faith, we must have persistent faith.

“And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” She was persistent. Some people have to struggle through their own doubts, but she had to struggle through the obstacles Jesus put in her way. People may say that it’s easy to be a Christian, but it wasn’t for her. “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” She didn’t argue with Jesus. She didn’t deny that the bread did belong to Israel. She accepts Jesus’ analogy. She doesn’t ask for a place at the table.

She pleads that her gain would not mean a loss for the children. She’s only asking for the crumbs that fall from the table. She’s not asking that bread be taken from the children and thrown to her, no, but only whatever accidentally falls from the table and onto the floor. Out of Jesus’ very words she weaves her plea. Yes, Lord, I am one of the dogs, I am one of the little dogs, the puppies. But then I am not really an alien, but I belong to the household, you yourself have implied that I am a household pet.

She catches Jesus’ in his own words, as Luther commented. Here is Jesus on Gentile soil, here is a short visit to the Gentile world, here is a little bit of Jesus, the bread of life. May she not eat of that crumb? Was her claim valid? Did Jesus reward her persistence. He did more than that, didn’t He? For His answer is really astounding, for, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is one of two times where Jesus referred to someone’s faith as great.

“Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is our faith. Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Again, it is as though Jesus stood back and marveled. It is as though someone took Jesus before one of the wonders of the ancient world. It is as though Jesus Himself stood in awe at such faith, great faith, always characterized by persistence.

Finally, great faith is characterized, has the quality of humility. Of course, every word this woman said gave evidence of her humility. Her willingness to accept Jesus’ analogy comparing her to a dog gave evidence of her humility. Great faith is humble. “I am a worm, and no man,” said David. “I am not worthy to untie Jesus’ shoes,” said John the Baptist. “Depart from me, Lord, said Peter, for I am a sinful man.” Humility is the recognition of the unbridgeable distance that lies between a sinner and a holy God. Humility expresses it self by silence in self-defense, and yet is always articulate, always speaks of the mercy and promises of God. Humility never speaks of our own actions but only of God’s acts. Humility is not only a characteristic of the heart, and not only is evident in words, but also expresses itself in action.

Our text says of this woman that in the middle of her conversation with Jesus, “Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me.” She came and worshiped Him. What does that mean? Well, what do you mean when you say that you have come here to worship the Triune God through Jesus Christ? We worship Christ, for those who honor the Son, honor the Father. But what would you say if someone from the world asked what you meant? You would probably say, “Well, we come to church, we sing praises to God, we give offerings to God, and we listen to his Word. That’s worship.” And you would be right.

But it’s good for us to recognize that the Hebrew idea which is here expressed in a Greek word is not abstract, it is not an idea really, it is an action. For the word “worship” here literally means to fall on one’s knees before someone else and place your forehead on the ground. So here then is the picture.

“Then she came to Jesus, and worshiped Him, she came to Jesus, went down on her knees before His feet, and placed her forehead on the ground before Him. And it was from that place, with her head on the ground, right where the little puppies ran around, that she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” And it is to that woman, kneeling on the ground, with her head pressed to the earth, that Jesus said, “O woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire.”

Now beloved, I hope and trust that through this encounter Jesus has filled you with the longing that some day Jesus will say to you, “O woman, O man, great is your faith.” That means, doesn’t it, that when you come to church, you come with a desire, with a longing, with a need for mercy. That you come with a great need, that you know of your great need, that you know where you are going to make your prayer, your plead. That means that the object of your faith is the Jesus, revealed through the holy prophets and the record of the apostles. That means that you know this Jesus to be sovereign Lord, and the Son of David who was promised to show mercy to the poor, to give compassion to the broken-hearted.

Great faith knows the barrenness of its own soul, and the fullness of Christ’s power and provision. Great faith is repentant, that you have turned away from the world and all the gods it offers, all its pleasures and follies, and that you recognize that life and joy are only found in Jesus Christ. Great faith is reverent, and you know and show, especially when you encounter Jesus Christ in this time in his Father’s house, that you know the great distance that separates you, yet, because Jesus Himself has bridged the gap and come down to earth, come down to you, you are persistent. Your faith is persistent in the face of the silence of God to your prayers, for you know Him, you know that He delights in showing mercy. And great faith is humble, that even the crumbs of grace that fall from the table of the Lord, are worth more than all the glory and riches this world can offer.

It is to this table that you as children of Israel are invited. Not to receive crumbs, but to receive, as we may say this woman did, the power, the glory, the mercy all bound up in the person of Christ Himself. For if the holy Supper proclaims anything at all, it proclaims that our faith rests and is fed only and alone in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Amen.

Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. . .many years ago my wife and I attended a creation conference in Seattle. During one of the question and answer sessions, I think it was following a lecture by Nancy Pearcy, someone asked whether the New Age movement was a conspiracy. This was during the time of conspiracy theories. The communist conspiracy, the Tri-Lateral Commission conspiracy, Council on Foreign Relations conspiracy, the Bilderberger conspiracy, the Jewish conspiracy, the Roman Catholic conspiracy, and perhaps half a dozen more. The questioner wanted to know whether all these conspiracies were organized and directed by one person. The answer was no, but a qualified no. there is no one holding all these conspiracies together. Yet, there was a person, and that person was Satan, the moving, directing force, the great adversary of all that is good and holy.

And yet. . .yet, if you remember the fear that gripped so many conspiracy theorists, they were needlessly alarmed. For the good new of the gospel proclaimed by St. John is this: That Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus Christ, as we see in our passage, bound the strong man. The good new of the gospel proclaimed by St. Paul is this: that Jesus Christ through death destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and released those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

My theme is: The Demolition of the Devil’s Domain, the Devil’s dominion. In Luke 11:21 Jesus compares the dominion, the kingdom of Satan to the palace of a strong man. Whatever that strong man has captured, whatever he owns is safe, kept under his control. Whomever the strong man has captured, cannot escape, for he is fully armed, his sword, spear, bow and arrows, sling, shield, all his armaments are at hand, there to defend him against all who would attack him, against all who sought to escape him.

But, in our Lord’s illustration, He talks about someone stronger than the strong man. First, the stronger man attacks the strong man, overcomes him, strips him of all his armor, and divides the spoils. That means that he takes all the goods that the strong man was guarding.

First then, I want to talk some about this strong man, this demon, Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. That’s Satan, of course, the great opposer, the great adversary, the great red dragon of Revelation 12, the serpent of Genesis 3.

Second, to see that Jesus is talking about Himself, for He said in verse 20, “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Third, to see what happens to people, and then to nations, when a demon leaves, but is not replaced by the presence of Jesus Christ, by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The strong man, the serpent, the dragon. You know, I would suppose that you are not that much different than I, in that you seldom think about the devil, about Satan, or about evil spirits and wicked dragons. They’re kind of out there somewhere in ancient history, or in fairy tales and among mythological beasts and characters. But in our day-to-day existence, whether old or young, we don’t think much about Satan and his demon-soldiers. In raising our children, in going boating or swimming, running to the mall, working out problems in the office, driving or walking, talking to our family and friends, to our co-workers or the JC Penney clerk, Satan isn’t really a factor in our minds.

Well, I’m not going to say that Satan should very often be in the front of our minds. There is certainly a danger in giving him too much attention, for we just might grow to admire him, as so many have today. Perhaps, as we begin this study of Beelzebub, of Satan, we should listen to a couple of New Testament exhortations. The first is from St. Peter. He had suffered by following the lure Satan feathered with pride. Remember what Jesus said to Peter before Jesus’ trial? “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” (Lk 22:31 NKJV) Later, as he wrote to Christians Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)

The apostle Paul speaks of the devices of Satan, that is, those tricks and traps he uses to get a hold on us. Paul says, “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Cor 2:11 NKJV) What is the implication? That we should be aware of the arsenal of tricks and traps, the lies and subtleties Satan uses to tangle up the unwary. So how do we become familiar with the tricks and lies of the devil? Let’s listen to God. He introduces us to Satan in the first pages of the Bible, Genesis 3.

The first thing the serpent said to Eve was, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ “ What was Satan doing? Satan was trying to bring doubt into Eve’s mind. And that is the first and great weapon of Satan. He wants to plant the seed of uncertainty into our minds. He wants people to doubt the words of God. He begins by attacking the truth of God’s Word.

Never forget that. Doubt is the enemy of faith. Doubt is the thin edge of the wedge. When Satan gets you to think that perhaps the words of God, the promises of God, either for yourself or for your children, are really not as sure as you thought they were, then there is a thin crack in your faith. Satan can work with that. That’s all the beginning he needs. With that little doubt in your mind he will reach for his next weapon, his next tool, and continue his work to destroy you.

“Has God indeed said?” So when Satan had got that far, Eve said, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” Satan responded, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Into that small opening of doubt, Satan hammers in his next weapon, the lie. God said to Eve, “You shall surely die.” Satan said to Eve, “You shall not die.” And then went on to build on that lie. “God is really protecting himself, he’s afraid that you will know as much as he does. If you eat you will be like God, you will know, you will determine for yourselves, what is good and what is evil.” Here we see another of Satan’s armor, the weapon of pride. Of course, for that is what precipitated Satan’s fall from heaven itself.

Satan is a fallen angel, a creature of God’s creation. In Revelation 12 we read of war between Michael and his angels and the devil and his angels. And lest you doubt the identity of this serpent in Genesis 3, turn to Revelation 12:19: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev 12:9 NKJV)

Sometimes Satan is called Lucifer. That name is really quite beautiful, for it describes Satan’s position before his fall. Lucifer means “morning star.” Turn to Isaiah 14. In that chapter Isaiah is describing Nebuchadnezzar. However, many Bible students throughout history have found this description to fit Satan. Isaiah 14:12-15: “”How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” (Isa 14:12-15 NKJV) Satan had the beautiful name of “Son of the morning.” But, not satisfied with the place God had given him, he wanted to take the throne of God himself.

The armor of Satan: the weapon of doubt, the deathblow of lies, and the final battle-axe of accusations. In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren, who accuses them day and night before our God.” There was a time—although we see from Revelation 12 that that time is past—there was a time when Satan took his final weapon and swung it, not on earth, but in heaven. He came before God one time and accused Job of serving God because it paid. He asked God for permission to take everything away, for then, said Satan, “He will curse you.”

If only Satan could induce Job to sin, then Satan could seal Job’s condemnation. Then God himself would have the evidence to condemn Job. The sins of God’s people, that is the great arsenal of weaponry Satan so carefully hoarded. Sins that defile, sins that pollute, sins that disqualify anyone from appearing before God and survive that appearance. After Israel’s return from exile, the prophet Zechariah one time saw a vision, and in that vision Joshua the high priest standing before the throne of God clothed in filthy clothes, and there was Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. Yes, there was the representative of God’s people, and he carried with him all the ammunition Satan needed to shoot him down, and remove him from the presence of God.

Let me return for a minute to Genesis 3. Satan seemed to win here, for Adam and Eve ate of the tree, and were condemned to die. But God intervened and made the promise of Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

For the salvation of mankind God drew a line between the serpent and the woman, between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Here began the two great kingdoms on earth, the kingdom of the seed of the woman, and the kingdom of the seed of the serpent. Those who believed the promises of God, and those who disbelieved. Those who were friends of God, and those who were friends of Satan. This began the great conflict that determines the rest of the course of the history of this world.

As the great battle continued, the people of God began to look for a champion, one who would contend directly with that old serpent, with Satan. Would it be Noah? In a time when it seemed that the seed of the serpent would overwhelm the seed of the woman, Noah stood alone with his family against those hordes of Satan. God intervened with the flood, but as a champion Noah failed. And Noah died. So it was with all the champions, with all the great men God raised up for his people. Abraham failed, Moses failed, the judges failed, David failed, his sons as kings of Judah failed. They all sinned, they all provided Satan opportunity for the fatal blow, the accusation before God. Finally Isaiah cried out in anguish, “Oh, God, that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” The help of man was vain. There was no one who could stand in the breach, no one who could contend with and overcome this great demon, Satan.

In that setting of conflict, in that setting of the failure of man, the failure of Israel’s great men, and in the setting of Isaiah’s cry, that God sent his Son into the world. That forms the background, the setting of the scene of our passage. “The kingdom of God has come,” said Christ to the Jews.

Jesus cast out a demon from a man, who because of that demon, was mute. He could not talk. When the demon had gone out, the man spoke, and the multitudes marveled. But, says our text, some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

“The ruler of the demons.” So there is no doubt that this is the name the Jews applied to Satan, he was Beelzebub. This is an old name, and you will find it mentioned during the time of Elijah. 2 Kings 1. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab had fallen down and was severely injured. He sent messengers and told them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.” Elijah told Ahaziah, “Thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.”

Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, and during the time of Jesus, the name given to Satan, as ruler of the demons. The meaning of that name is not certain. Baal means lord, or master, and Zebub means what? Some say that Beelzebub means the lord who flies, and others say it means the lord of the flies, or even the lord of the manure pile. Well, manure and flies go together, and they both bring the image of filth, the filthiness of sins.

Some of you may remember that a book quite popular in college English courses some years ago was called just that, “The Lord of the Flies,” by William Golding. It is a horrible story, and illustrates, basically without hope at all, the depravity of man.

But getting back to these Jews, they too, by their statement about Jesus, give evidence that they had totally abandoned their faith in God. The only power they seemed to think was effective in ridding a person of a demon was the king of demons himself.

What a sad state of affairs. When the leadership of Israel under Ahaziah rejected God, they had recourse to the devil. When the leadership of Israel in Jesus time rejected God, they began to believe only the devil had ultimate power. As our society today rejects the Triune God, they too will, and have begun today to place confidence in the power of the evil one.

Jesus responded by pointing out the obvious, and yet those who are blinded by the deceit of Satan so often miss the obvious. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.”

Your sons. There were those, praise God, among the Jews who believed. There were those who followed Jesus. In Luke 10 we read that Jesus sent 70 of His disciples out to preach the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that the kingdom of God had come. That meant that God Himself had come into the world for the salvation of His people. That meant that God was setting His king on His holy hill of Zion, who would declare the decree, “You are My Son, this day have I begotten you.”

So we read in Luke 10:17, “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

“If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.” “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Then Jesus went on to say, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides the spoils.”

For those who heard, the meaning is obvious. Beelzebub is the strong man, Satan, who is fully armed, guarding his own palace, his kingdom, his armor. Jesus is the stronger man who overcomes Satan, takes his armor from him, and plunders his house. “Divides the spoils,” says our text. “Spoils” is a word that is used after the battle is finished, and the victors go to the slain, strip all their armor, and take all their treasures from their tents and houses.

Jesus is announcing the climax of the coming of the kingdom of God. For the coming of the kingdom of God meant the coming of the great King God had promised, the great King who would be called, Wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, the prince of peace. Jesus is announcing that the war of worlds, the stupendous collision of two kingdoms, the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God, was happening. Jesus was announcing that the great invasion of the kingdom of God into the kingdom of Satan was happening.

“I cast out demons,” said Jesus, “with the finger of God.” The finger of God. We see this image before in a great conflict between two kingdoms, the kingdom of Israel led by Moses, and the kingdom of Egypt, led by Pharaoh. When God brought the third plague upon Egypt, Pharaoh’s magicians said to him with quivering voices, “Pharaoh, this is the finger of God.” To free His people from their slavery to Pharaoh God brought judgment upon Egypt and upon their gods. To free His people from their slavery to Satan God brought judgment upon Satan, He brought His only begotten Son into the world to destroy the works and power of Satan.

“When a stronger than the strong man comes upon him, and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted.” Jesus stripped Satan of all his armory, all his weapons. Remember what they were?

Doubt. Jesus declared the certainty of the Word and promises of God. Jesus was the certainty Himself, for He was the Word made flesh. In Jesus Christ, all the promises of God became Yes, and Amen. Jesus declared that not one jot or one tittle of the Word would be erased until all was fulfilled. Jesus came to bring the Words of God into reality in this world.

Jesus stripped him of his weapon of the lie. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Satan is the father of lies, when he speaks, he speaks the lie, for he is a liar from the beginning.” Jesus stripped him of his lies, for Jesus said, “I am the truth.”

Jesus stripped him of his ultimate weapon, the sins of God’s people. The sins that made God’s people a complete anomaly, people who were called saints, holy ones, and yet people who were defiled with sins. People who were called the children of God, and yet because of their sins bore more resemblance to Satan than to God. People to whom Satan could so easily lie and say, “You think you are the people of God, the children of God? You church people really think that you belong to God? What a joke. You belong to me, for I am the father of sin and lies, and that is your life, isn’t it?”

Jesus stripped him of all those accusations. Jesus took all those accusations upon Himself, took upon Himself all the punishment pronounced against all of God’s people, and so erased the handwriting that was in evidence against us. All those accusations that Satan so carefully stored up, all those secret sins that Satan so carefully hoarded to present to God as prosecution, Jesus plundered them, Jesus bound this strong man, and took them all out of His house, paid the penalty for all of them, and presented the full payment before the throne of God. So that God then pronounced His people fully justified, innocent of any and all transgressions.

This is why Paul could say, “Who shall bring anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns?” “But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.”

“Divides his spoils.” What are spoils? We know what it means in physical combat. But what does it mean in spiritual combat, what did it mean that Christ divides the spoils, the property, the treasures of Satan? It means that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. It means that the many in Israel who were in bondage to sin and slaves of Satan now belonged to Christ. It means what you and I confess in the first Lord’s Day of the Heidelberg, “I am not my own but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins and delivered me from all the power of the devil…” You see the cause and effect here, don’t you? Satisfied for my sins by His blood, and as a consequence, as a result, delivered me from all the power of the devil.

It means that the word of Christ’s victory over sin would be preached throughout the world, and thousands and millions of Gentiles, those who had been held captive by Satan, would be freed, and now belong to Jesus Christ. Those are the spoils. Jesus spoiled kingdom of Satan, and He continues to spoil him today.

Does Satan still labor today? Yes, indeed, and one of his great lies is that Jesus hasn’t really won, that Satan hasn’t really been conquered, that his armor is still with him. But these are all lies. Here is the truth of the matter: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”” (Re 12:10-12 NKJV)

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” The church today, although faced with the great wrath of the devil, is not to quietly endure his assaults, but to lay siege to hell itself. The church must take the battering ram of the gospel, for it will shatter the gates and walls of Satan’s realm. You know what a battering ram is, don’t know? This is a heavy pole with a head of brass or iron. It takes many people working together to lift it and swing it against the foundation stones of castle walls. One blow won’t do it, but with continuous blows, blows in regular cadence, a vibration rhythm sets up in the walls, until suddenly the whole structure collapses. And that is the work of the church, your work, together, shoulder to shoulder, swinging the battering ram of the gospel, blow after blow, until the kingdom of Satan is shattered.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” They—that’s the church—overcame, just like Christ overcame. “By the blood of the Lamb,” that’s the blood you drink every Lord’s Day. “by the word of their testimony.” That’s the Word of the Gospel you receive each Lord’s Day. Go!

Finally, we need to see that this last paragraph is important in this context. What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that a man may be freed from demons, and yet if he remains empty, the demon will return with seven demons more wicked than himself and the last end of the man will be worse than the first.

Jesus implies here that demons may be removed from the lives of people, from our own lives as well, and if our lives, our bodies, our persons, are not occupied, are not lived in by God Himself in the person of the Spirit of His Son, we are open for worse demons than those that left us, or those we got rid of. This applies to persons, to families, and to societies.

Let’s look at demons in the sense of the demons of sin. The demons of drugs and drunkenness, the demons of sexual sins, adultery, fornication, lust, homosexuality, lesbianism, pornography, the demons of greed, covetousness, the demons of anger and murder, the demons of envy and hatred, the demons of depression and fear.

What are some ways one can be rid of these? Well, one great idol today is education. Sex education. Teach them about the dangers of drugs. Psychiatry, counseling, various programs to deal with these problems, as they are called. And of course, the great cure for all ills, pass a law, and budget 15 billion dollars, and surely the problem will be solved. And there is some measure of success to some of these means. I won’t argue that. You shouldn’t argue that either. That’s not the point.

What other means are there? Your own pride may cause you to rid yourself of these things. On a personal level, in families, in society, on the international scene, how are the problems of sin addressed? With many of these programs there is some measure of success. Yet, when they are finished the house is sill empty. What then?

For you, my brother and sister, for your families, for this church, for society, for the nation, any success in dealing with the problem of sin, in getting rid of it, without Jesus Christ is doomed to a worse state than at the beginning. “Take unto you Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” Take unto you Jesus Christ. Receive him. It is Christ alone who will protect us, who knows all the devices and tricks of the devil to instill doubt, to make us vulnerable to Satan’s lies. For it is Christ alone who has overcome the strong man, stripped him of his armor, and plundered his house. So, beloved, take Him. He comes to you in Word and Sacrament. Believe. Receive. And let the Word and Spirit of Christ dwell in you richly, fully, completely. Amen.

     Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Genesis 2 God said, “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” And Adam ate, and Adam died. And thereafter death pursued the sons of men, for no matter how many years they kept death at a distance, death finally laid them by the heels, and, even after 969 years read of Methusaleh, “and he died.”

     Surely that will be true of you and of me too, whether you are 75 or you are five, death is a fearsome bloodhound, Adam gave him our scent, and he will dog our tracks until he overpowers us at the end of the trail.

     Yet our old fathers in the first covenant raged against the dying of the light. The howling hound of death bayed close to young David for many years, prompting him to write: “The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.” (Ps 18:4-5 NKJV)

     For, cried David, what profit is there in my death? “Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will give You thanks?” (Ps 6:4-5NKJV)

     But the promise was there, for Isaiah wrote: He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. (25:8)

     The Lord God had spoken the Word, and the Word became flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, who in this passage confronted death and defeated death.

     Jesus had crossed the lake from the country of the Gadarenes, and was probably in the region of Capernaum, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jairun, who approached Him, was a ruler of the synagogue. Shall I review for a minute what a synagogue was? It was not the temple, for the Lord had told His people that only at the temple at Jerusalem could they bring their offerings, and that was where they brought their worship. However, when Solomon’s temple was destroyed about 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar and he brought the rest of the Jews into captivity, in all the lands where they settled they began to make meeting houses. The word synagogue is from the Greek and means to lead together, an assembly then, a congregation. Just like our word “church” which not only means the gathering of the body of Christ, but also means the building where they meet, so the same became true for synagogue.

     In the synagogue the Jews came together every Sabbath, they offered prayers together, sang Psalms, read from Moses and the prophets, and had the passages explained to them. As a ruler, Jairus watched over the congregation, kept order, regulated the schedules of reading, and carefully listened to the explanations of the law given by the scribes.

     This was the man, then, who came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his daughter, who was seriously ill. Jairus made an urgent request, for, he said, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her that she may be healed, and she will live. Jesus agreed, began to walk towards Jairus’ house, and then was interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood. When she had been healed, exposed, and Jesus was still talking to her, somebody came from Jairus’ house and said to him, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any longer?”

     His daughter was dead. What now? If Christ was like other doctors he comes too late. While there is life there is hope, hope that some means may be found to bring a cure, to keep life going. But when life is gone, what’s the use? It’s past recall. All the skilled doctors in the world can only work with a life that is there; but when it’s gone the doctor’s job is done.

     So what was Jairus to think? Ordinarily for a child of God the thought may be, “The issue has been determined, the will of God is done, and I’ll just have to accept that. The Lord gave, the Lord took away.”

     Or perhaps like David when the little baby boy of Bathsheba was lying sick. David fasted and wept, and prayed passionately that the Lord would b e gracious. But when the baby died, he stopped weeping. He said to His servants, “He is dead. Why weep anymore? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

     Or perhaps Jairus’ thoughts were a little harsher. “If the Master hadn’t stood around like this with this woman, He probably would have made it to my house in time to heal her before she died. Why did He stop anyway? He knew the woman who touched Him was healed. Why did He have to go through all that conversation? It didn’t change anything, except that in the meantime my darling daughter died. She’s dead.”

     So what was Jairus to think? Ordinarily for a child of God the thought may be, “The issue has been determined, the will of God is done, and I’ll just have to accept that. The Lord gave, the Lord took away.”

     Or perhaps like David when the little baby boy of Bathsheba was lying sick. David fasted and wept, and prayed passionately that the Lord would be gracious. But when the baby died, he stopped weeping. He said to his servants, “He is dead. Why weep anymore? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

     Or perhaps Jairus’ thoughts were a little harsher. “If the Master hadn’t stood around like this with this woman, He probably would have made it to my house in time to heal her before she died. Why did He stop anyway? He knew the woman who touched Him was healed. Why did He have to go through all that conversation? It didn’t change anything, except that in the meantime my darling daughter died. She’s dead.”

     What are our thoughts when we cry to the Lord to save us and it seems that He delays and delays and delays. We are in physical or spiritual, or emotional anguish, and at times find ourselves at the point of crisis, and yet. . .no deliverance. And we may cry with the Psalmist, “My God, why have You forsaken me?” Where is the God of promise? Where is the God of salvation? Why do You hide Your face, Lord?

     Yes, these were the anguished prayers of godly men and women of old, and perhaps these are the prayers and cries that are wrung from our hearts today. Does God hear? Are His mercies locked up somewhere? Has He forgotten us?

     The child was dead. Cut off in the flower of her years. Just twelve years old. Amazing isn’t it? In verse 25 Mark tells us that the woman with the issue of blood was sick with it for 12 years. For 12 years she had lived in the gloom of impending death, and suddenly, when she touched the hem of Jesus’ robe, she was healed, the gloom and darkness was past, and the sun had risen in her life.

     Jairus’ daughter had lived for 12 years in the wonderful sunshine of joyful childhood, loved and loving, carefree and healthy. Now suddenly, sickness had come upon her, and the sun of life and health that had shone on her so brightly was setting, and now had gone below the horizon, and she had gone into the blackness of death. The joyful sunshine in Jairus’ life had gone out. There is something so tragic about the death of a young child.

     As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” Fear not. . .only believe.

     Jesus had delayed, but Jairus was to believe that no one is the loser by the gain of others. Because Jesus took the time to bring this woman into a personal relationship with Himself, because Jesus took the time to say to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” Because He took that time, He didn’t steal that time from Jairus. It is not as thought when God shows mercy and kindness to others we know, that somehow they were first in line and we have to wait our turn, and wait and wait until it seems to late. Our crisis has passed, our troubles are past the point of recovery. It’s too late. . .no one is a looser in the mercy of the Lord because others are gainers.

     “Do not be afraid, only believe.” Only believe! Jesus was speaking to Jairus, still an Old Testament saint. We live after Jesus had died and risen from the dead. But what was Jairus to believe? Does the Old Testament speak of the resurrection?

     Well, yes, of course. And if I was in our Bible Study time again I would ask someone to tell me where God’s promises of life from the dead are found in the Old Testament. One, of course, is in Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel sees a valley of very dry bones, the whole house of Israel. God asked Ezekiel, can these bones live? Ezekiel answers, “Lord, you know.” God commanded Ezekiel to speak to those bones, God commanded the wind to come into them. Through the Word and breath, Spirit of God, they arose from the dead. Yes

     Old Testament? Yes, Jeremiah records, “Thus says the LORD: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” Thus says the LORD: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that your children shall come back to their own border.” (Jer. 31:15-17 NKJV)

     Yes, do no be afraid, only believe. Believe in the promises of God, for faith is the only remedy in times of utter hopelessness. Faith is informed, nourished, fed, grows, on the promises of God.

     For us, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are exhorted by St. Paul, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (1 Thes. 4:13-14 NKJV)

     Do not be afraid, only believe. Faith hopes in the future during the present on the basis of the past.

     “Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took and father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.” (Mk 5:38-40 NKJV)

     What shall we make of this? It would seem that in Jesus day when someone was so sick that death was near, the professional mourners stood ready to begin weeping and wailing, playing funeral music on flutes, tearing their clothes, throwing dust on their heads. Our passage says there was a tumult. It was a crowded scene. Jesus said, “Why make this commotion?”

     Did the Jews mourning for the dead degenerate into heathen wailing and weeping, as those who had no hope? Had their funeral practices copied those of the world?

     And what of ours today? More Christians today omit reference to the 11^th Article of the Christian Faith, “I believe in the resurrection of the body,” content themselves with taking comfort that the soul of the departed has gone to heaven, and now we can cremate the body, because, after all, it’s the soul that counts, the body is nothing. But that is pagan.

     When Jesus came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”

     Of course the Bible often refers to the dead saints as sleeping. When Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, died, He told the disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I go to awake him.” The disciples said, “Well, Lord, if he is sleeping, he is getting better.” Then Jesus told them plainly, “He is dead.” What Jesus was telling Jairus and others in saying that she was sleeping, was that death is not final for God’s children. Death is like sleep, for when we see a child sleeping we have no fear, but expect to see the child wake up again. To sleep means to surrender consciousness in the simple faith that we will wake up.

     Death seems so final for us too, doesn’t it? It’s hard for us not to think of it that way. The end of everything. Death always seems to be creeping up on us, sometimes at a distance, and sometimes close at hand.

     I think there was a book named Peter Pan, and a movie made after it. In the movie Captain Hook was called that because he had lost one hand to crocodile, and had a hook instead. The crocodile though, having tasted how good that hand was, wanted to eat the rest of Captain Hook. The crocodile had swallowed an alarm clock, and because of that where ever he went you could hear that tick tock of the clock. So whenever Captain Hook heard that tick tock, he was scared to death. The crocodile was after him again, and was close by. That fear was always with Captain Hook. For a time he heard nothing, and could finally relax, but suddenly, as he was dozing, there was that horrible sound again, tick tock, tick tock. So that terror never quite left him.

     The crocodile is the dragon, that old dragon. And it would seem to us, that he is never that far behind us. At times, when there is a threat of cancer or some other dreaded disease, the tick tock comes so close. . .horribly close.

     But listen to St. Paul in Hebrews 2, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb. 2:14-15 NKJV)

     There it is. . .exactly what we are talking about. Jesus came to destroy him who had the power of death, and release us from fear.

     Fear not. . .only believe. “The child is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. Perhaps they too, as so many today, took the notion of the Greeks, that the body was just a ragged piece of garbage enclosing the soul, and that the resurrection of the body was something to ridicule. You remember that the Greeks at Athens laughed when Paul spoke of the resurrection of the body. And I’m afraid that many Christians today are in danger of falling into that heresy.

     “I believe in the resurrection of the body.”

     “And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.” “He put them all out.” And that is a rather tame translation of the original, for what it means is that Jesus threw them all out. He cast them out. He expelled them, banished them. It carries with it the idea of violence.

     There is simply no place near Jesus, nor near any of His wonderful works for those who are skeptics, for those who ridicule, who scoff and scorn the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself expels such people. Jesus only took Peter, James, and John with the child’s mother and father, and went into the room where she was lying dead. Then, says our text, “He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked.

     He took the child by the hand. Again, Jesus is touching the unclean, touching a dead body, and that made someone unclean for some time. But this is Jesus, the Son of God, whose holiness is so complete, so perfect, so powerful, that nothing can pollute it, nothing can contaminate it, but instead of receiving uncleanness, He radiates holiness and life. Nothing of sin flows into our Savior, but He gives righteousness and holiness.

     What comfort for the sinner coming before a holy God. We need have no fear that the horribleness of our sins, the filth of our minds and hearts are a barrier to coming to Jesus. We will not effect Him, but if we come to Him in faith, He will effect us. He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha cumi, Little girl, I say to you arise.” Here again we have what we saw earlier, and that is that the word of Christ’s command carries with it the power to obey that command. Jesus spoke to a dead body, a girl hearing, sight, feeling, everything was gone. No blood flowed through her veins. No messages traveled along her nerves. She was dead.

     The command of Jesus gave life, and in giving life gave the power to obey. And so it is for you and for me. Do we find Christ’s commands so often impossible? Read the Sermon on the Mount again, and see how impossible it seems to obey what Christ commands.

     St. Augustine struggled with that truth. In his confessions he said, “Domine, da guod iubes it iube quod vis.” “Lord, give what you command and command whatever you want.” “Do not fear, only believe.” Christ works while He commands; He commands while He works. “Talitha cum, Little girl, I say to you arise.” Immediately the girl arose and walked.

     “Talitha cumi.” These were Aramaic words, words that Mark left in the original and then translated for his Greek readers. Aramaic was the common language spoken among the Jews, and “talitha cumi” was a home phrase, a family sentence. The little girl had heard it so many times. As a toddler, when she fell down, mommy reached down her hand, took the little girl’s hand, and said, “Talitha cumi.” Little girl, get up.

     When the little girl had slept through the night, mommy came into her bedroom, saw her there all rosy with eyelashes laid against her cheeks, and mommy said, “Talitha, cumi.”

     So Jesus used the same words, “Talitha, cumi.“ Wonderful words, aren’t they? And some day, some day soon or distant, you will sleep the sleep of death. And then the day will come when Jesus comes to your bed room, the place where your body is resting, and to you, whether you went to sleep a fair flower at the age of 12, or whether you go to sleep when you are 95, aged, wrinkled, stooped and white-haired, He will say to you, “Talitha, cumi.”

     And you too, like this young girl, will immediately arise and walk, and leap, and enter into a life of endless day with your Savior. And for the many of our loved ones whom we have laid to rest, hear St. Paul again: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of god. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1Thes. 4:13-18 NKJV)

     And for you and I, who sometimes are still paralyzed with fear at the prospect of what men call a fatal disease, hear again the words of the Spirit of Christ explaining why Christ did come into this world in our flesh and blood: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Heb 2:14-15 NKJV)

     Fear not, do not be afraid, only believe. “Fear not” is a command, and we may and must believe that with that command Christ works in us the power to obey it. Let me finish with a poem by John Donne, Elizabethan poet and preacher, and as you may know, John Donne is a favorite of mine. This is a sonnet, Holy Sonnet No. 10.

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,

For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,

Die not poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell’st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

AMEN.

     Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are at a great distance in space from our lovely Savior, Jesus Christ. He is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God, and we are yet on this earth. He was on this earth at one time, but we are separated by a great span of time. . .20 centuries, from that time He was in the world.

     However, when your Lord and Savior was about to leave this world and return to the Father, He promised to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and especially the Spirit of the Son, who would bring the presence of the son to the hearts and lives of believers of every age and every place. St. John tells us in his gospel, chapter 16:14 that Jesus said about the Spirit, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.”

     What is Christ’s, is the love and compassion He showed to His people while here on earth, and what is Christ’s is that same love and compassion, as He sits upon the throne of His Father.

     What the Holy Spirit does for the church, for you and for me, beloved, is to bridge what we can’t bridge, to make a living connection between us and Jesus. He connects us to the works and miracles of Jesus while He was on the earth, and the love and power of Jesus as He is in heaven. This is the promise of the spirit Peter mentioned in Acts 2, the wonderful promise that the spirit reaches across the vast distance of time to bring us through the Word, this miracle of Jesus. At the same time the same Spirit assures us that through Him we have a living connection by faith to Jesus right now in heaven.

     So let’s praise God for this blessing, and pray that through the preaching of the Word of this miracle our connection to Jesus Christ by faith may be widened and deepened.  I want to consider this miracle under the theme: The Faith Connection.

     Not only Mark, but Matthew and Luke record this miracle. These first three gospels are sometimes called the “synoptic”, a word coined in specific reference to these gospels. It came from two Greek words, sun meaning “together”, and optsis, meaning “seeing”. It means that Matthew, Mark, and Luke generally told the same stories about Jesus and have many parallel passages.

     Our passage begins with Jesus crossing back by boat to the other side. He had been in the country of the Gadarenes where He had cast out the legion of demons. So He crossed the Sea of Galilee and a great crowd of people followed Him. Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, and falling at Jesus’ feet begged Him to come to heal his daughter who was at the point of death. He asked Jesus to come and lay His hands on her, that, said Jairus, “she may be healed, and she will live.”

     Jesus answered his request by going with him towards his house. As He went the entire great crowd of people went along, and, says the Bible, “thronged Him.” That means the crowd was pretty tight, they pressed against one another and against Jesus as He went along.

     “Now,” says our text, “a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.”

     Perhaps the first thing we should note here is that because of her constant flow, discharge of blood, she would be considered. . .unclean. Indeed, the law of Moses specifically labeled her as “unclean.”

     In Leviticus 15 God instructed Moses to tell the people: “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, other than at the time of her customary impurity, or if it runs beyond her usual time of impurity, all the days of her unclean discharge shall be as the days of her customary impurity. She shall be unclean. ‘Every bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her impurity. ‘Whoever touches those things shall be unclean; he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.” (Lev. 15:25-27 NKJV)

     God went on to say, “Thus you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My tabernacle that is among them.” (Lev. 15:31 NKJV)

     Does not this woman really represent Israel? Did not Christ pronounce woe against the scribes and Pharisees because although they were clean on the outside just like whitewashed gravestones, yet inside they were full of abominations? Ezekiel many years before said this of Israel: “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.” (Ezek. 36:17 NKJV)

     Indeed, Israel was like an unclean thing to the Lord. They washed the outside of the cup, but left the inside dirty. They defiled the temple of the Lord with moneychangers, making God’s house of prayer a den of thieves. Yes, this woman represented Israel in all her uncleanness. Though you wash yourself with water, said God through the prophets, your uncleanness is still with you. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin; can a leopard remove his spots? Then, said the prophet, shall you Israel, be able to remove your iniquities from you. Yes, just like this woman, Israel had gone in vain for help.

     This woman had, says our text, “suffered many things at the hands of the physicians”. She had spent all that she had, but instead of finding any relief, instead of getting better, she became worse. But this, beloved, was the way of our fathers. You should know their history. They went to Syria for help. . .they went to Assyria for help. . .to Egypt, to Babylon. And each time they purchased the assistance of these kingdoms, these nations, by robbing the treasuries of the temple, by finally cutting off the gold from the doors of the temple. But instead of providing help, instead of coming to the aid of Israel, these nations were the curse of Israel. Israel became defiled through their contact with these nations.

     Israel had a God, the great God of Abraham, but Israel forsook her God and went to a man. But vain is the help of man. Yet she was not yet finished, even at the time of Christ. For as a final and devastating attempt, she appealed to Rome. She finally said, “we have no king but Caesar”. but Caesar did not cure her but kill her. Caesar destroyed her.

     And what of today? At every level we have forsaken the fountain of living waters and dug out for ourselves cisterns that hold no water at all. On the national level and for the sake of our oil supply we have allied ourselves with such a filthy nation as Saudi Arabia, and we are polluted because of it.

     We drain our resources exploring Mars for signs of life when the God who created all things is near us. We take men and women whose lives are emotionally and physically wrecked, and spend millions treating them with psychiatrists, and for all that, they become worse. How many defiled, unclean, people walk this land today? Unclean because of drugs, because of drunkenness, because of sexual sins. And where do we send them?

     There is a fountain, says Zechariah, opened for the house of David for sin, and for uncleanness. To this fountain the woman in our text came. “When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.’ “

     There are commentators, and Calvin is among them, who think that this woman’s faith was mixed with error because, instead of coming right to Jesus and asking to be healed, she kind of snuck up behind Him. Why, was she afraid of offending Him if she was convinced of His power to save her? Other commentators think that she was somewhat superstitious, thinking that there was some kind of magic power in Jesus’ clothes.

     I’m not so sure. It would seem to me that she was reluctant to come before Jesus because she had for twelve long years been considered an unclean person. Perhaps her reverence for Jesus, the Holy One of Israel, kept her from confronting Him.

     If these commentators are right, there is a lesson to be learned here. Did this woman want the power of Jesus and not the person of Jesus? Did she want the benefit of health without coming into a relationship with Jesus? What about you and me? Do we think that Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus is some king of impersonal power that brings us blessings? Is the power of Jesus something like electricity, that if you can make a connection, you will be able to tap unlimited power in your life? But Jesus in not a power. He has power. . .but He is a person, and you and I must come into a personal relationship with this Jesus. We must know Him. . .and we must be known by Him. Does He know you? Does He know you by name? does He know you by need?

     This woman believed, though that contact with Jesus, even if it was only contact with His clothes, would be a healing and restoring contact. “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well”. Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘who touched my clothes?’ Immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him”.

     The Old King James says that “virtue” had gone out of Him. We think of virtue as goodness, and that’s a wonderful thought to connect with power. For how often do we think of power and goodness together? There is a famous saying by Lord Acton, I think that it goes like this. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” But the power of Jesus, although it is unlimited and absolute is the power of God. The power of God. . .the omnipotence of God, is an attribute of God, and is always and forever totally filled with all the other attributes of God. That means that His power is always a Holy power, a power filled with goodness, a power filled with mercy, a power filled with justice, a power filled with grace.

     “Jesus, immediately knowing that power had gone out of Him.” Jesus was, and is today, the great Physician. There are some doctors today, and there are other people too, who seem to have special hands. What I mean is that their hands almost seem to draw the pain out of their patients. If you are in sympathy with someone in pain, whether that pain is physical or emotional, you want to touch them, and as if were, want to draw that pain out of them and into yourself. You reach out to them and touch them with the strong desire, the great longing that you could just pull the pain out of them. The Bible tells us that Jesus, not just 2000 years ago, but today, is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” Hebrews 4:15, OKJV. Then if you remember that Matthew quoted Isaiah 53, saying: “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’ “ (Mt. 8:17 NKJV)

     “Power went out of Him.” This woman, whose contact with Jesus was only with her fingertip touching the edge of His clothes, received in her body the power of Jesus, and her sickness left her. Jesus, through His power as the great physician, drew it out of her and into Himself. He was touched with the feeling of her infirmity. Jesus, asked, “Who touched me?” but His disciples said to Him, “you see the multitude thronging you and you say, who touched me?”

     Let us see, my friends, that there are countless people like this crowd, all thronging about Jesus, all in some sort of contact with Him, and perhaps all needing some form of healing. Yet for all their contact, in spite of the fact that this pushing and shoving crowd whose shoulders and bodies came into contact with Jesus, none of those contacts resulted in power going from Jesus.

     What is the difference? The difference is ‘faith’. There are countless multitudes of people today who are aware of Jesus. There are many who have His name on their lips. There are many who, like the crowd walking with Him on the road to Jairus’ house, have through the Bible watched Him, seen Him, and even had some kind of contact with Him. Yet how many have only a superficial contact? The essential contact is by ‘faith’ alone!

     The difference is believing that Jesus is really, and especially today, touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The hand that reaches out to Him, your hand, weak and trembling, fearful, full of the anxieties that you know you shouldn’t have. . .when that hand of yours touches Jesus in faith, power, great good and merciful power goes from Him to you. And from you He takes all your sorrows, your cares, your worries, your shame too, and lifts your burdens.

     Do you believe that? What else did Jesus mean when He said, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” What happens to all that heavy load, except that He takes it upon Himself, and releases you? What else does He mean when He says, “Cast all your cares upon me?” Ah. . .Lord. . .if we only had the faith to do so.

     Jesus said, “Who touched me?” Did He know who touched Him? Of course He did. Why did He say that then? He said that so that the woman would come to Him and say what had happened to her. And so she did, for she came fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, fell down before Jesus, and told Him the whole truth.

     Perhaps it is as the commentators say, that this woman’s faith was of a small and faulty kind. Yet the promise always holds sure, “the one who comes to Me, I will never cast out.” Whenever you come to Jesus in faith, even a faith that is poor and small, He will not send you away empty. Jesus deals kindly and gently with His people, and accepts their faith though imperfect and weak.

     A small faith, perhaps a misshapen faith, but, as one of the commentators said, the mercy of God flows like a river. That means it is like water, and water takes the shape of the containing vessel. Your faith may be as small as a thimble, yet God’s mercy will surely fill it. Your faith may be like a tin can, dented and bent, but God’s mercy will surely fill it. Your faith may be battered and twisted out of shape, but God’s mercy like water, will fit, will take the shape of your faith.

     This woman, although perhaps her faith was placed on externals, placed on the power of Jesus garment, yet had an absolute confidence that the touch of her finger-tip on the edge of His robe was enough.

     One of the commentators on this passage was Alexander MacLaren, a 19^th century Scotsman, a Baptist of the Calvinist and Reformed persuasion. His expository preaching was famous and the twelve volumes of his sermons are still in print today, you can get them from Barnes and Noble. Anyway, he made what I think is an amazing statement for a Calvinist to make, “She was attaching undue importance to externals, thinking more of the hem of the garment and its touch by a finger than the heart of the wearer and the grasp of faith. But while we avoid such errors, let us not forget that many a poor worshiper clasping a crucifix may be clinging to the Savior, and that Christ does accept faith which is tied to outward forms, as He did this woman’s.” End of quote.

     Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” “Daughter.” What a wonderful word Jesus used in addressing her. She is the only woman in the gospels Jesus called “daughter.” What a wonderful sense of joy and relief must have flooded her soul. For what a wonderfully intimate and tender relationship is given in this word “daughter.” She, who had been for 12 years unclean, is now made clean by Jesus. She who had been impoverished and pained by helpless doctors, is now declared to be a daughter of the living God.

     Beloved, let us recover again the joy and peace the Lord gives us by calling us sons and daughters of the living God. The One who is holy, who is just, who is righteous, who is eternal, calls us who are yet struggling with sins, who are so often of little faith, who yet bear the image of the earthly, who stumble and fall, yet never does He stop calling us sons and daughter. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when Jesus comes, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.

     Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Oh, she wouldn’t misunderstand Jesus. She would not think that there was something in her that made her well. She knew that it was all in Jesus. His was the power, His was the mercy, and His was the grace that called her “Daughter.”

     Yet, let us consider carefully. Jesus didn’t say, “Daughter, I have made you well.” That was true enough. But that’s not what He said. What He said, He said for her, and He said for us. “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” Her faith, and we have seen in the miracle we considered last week, her faith was visible. Her faith was demonstrated in action. She reached out her hand through that thronging crowd, and touched the edge of Jesus’ robe.

     This too is what Jesus is saying. You must reach out, you must take. I realize that as Reformed we emphasize the sovereignty of grace, the fact that we don’t come to God, but He comes to us. “Tis not that I did seek Thee, for Lord that could not be. No I was found, was found of Thee.” So we sing, and so we believe. And so we may continue to believe. But our faith is in the words of Jesus.

     We may mock those who talk about accepting Jesus, we may disagree with those who say that we have to take a step, we need to reach out. But, while maintaining, while confessing, while believing that the grace of God, that the act of God is first, at the same time we much believe what Jesus said here. “Your faith, your act of faith in reaching out to touch the edge of My clothes, that faith has made you well. If you hadn’t done that, you would still be unclean.”

     That is the call of the gospel, isn’t it? We don’t tell people. . .just keep on sitting there in your sins, and wait until the grace of God comes upon you. No. . .we preach what the apostles preached. Repent – that is faith in action. Repent, means to turn away from your sins, to stop doing them. That’s action. Then the gospel calls men, “Come and be baptized.” That’s action too. They must come. Then it is that God acts upon them, for the water of baptism unites them to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

     And then again, the call for action, for faith in action is given. Take eat. . .take drink. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” So here is this miracle. Jesus is on a mission to save the daughter of Jairus, the great crowd around Him, hustling Him, elbowing their way to stare at Him. But His heart detected the touch, and His heart went out with healing power.

     So we may be sure, though a universe waits before Him, and the closed ranked hosts of heaven stand around His throne, we can reach out hands through them all, and find that He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, touched with the feeling of our struggles, our tears, our anxieties, our burdens of shame and guilt, our weariness. We will find our faith, however shrunken and meager, filled with the power of His mercy.

Amen.

June 15, 2008

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12