New Thoughts (8/6/07-8/23/07)
A bit of journaling (8/7/07-8/9/07)
Before I concern myself with this study, I need to write of yesterday. As I was waking up, I was hearing the most wonderful love song. It was nothing playing in the house, but solely in my head, in a style reminiscent of old R&B. Such a wonderful song, even if it wasn’t a style I would normally be involved with. Oh, how I wish I had stopped long enough to truly capture it yesterday, but first day on new job, studies to get in before I go, and all the usual rushing about left me with nothing but the memory. But, what a memory! The one thing that really sticks in memory was the line, “Don’t you know that I’ve always been with you? Don’t you know that I’ll always be there?” That line, sung with all the emotion that the style has to offer, was what I awoke to. Oh, to have just laid in bed and let the song continue, but I could not.
So, I come to my morning reading in Table Talk yesterday, and what do I find as the closing thought? Allow me to quote. “Do you face illness, failed plans, or hostility? Trust again in God’s goodness, for He will most certainly raise you up in His time.” Marvelous! Yes, I have been facing illness, or not facing it as the case may be. Yes, the shoulder has been aggravating me, and I have my wife’s much greater concerns weighing heavily upon me. Yes, there is the seeming failure of the CD project that I have spent so much effort on. I mean, the CDs are here, and selling like, well, rather like lemonade in February. I can’t seem to get together the team needed to be able to perform this stuff live. Just thinking about the logistics of it all is enough to near paralyze me, especially with all that’s been going on of late.
In short, yes. That’s me. And, oh! To see that reminder on the heels of such a song! Trust again. Don’t you know I’ve always been there and I always will be? He will certainly do all that He has planned in His own time. Do you really doubt what you heard so clearly, just because time has passed? Look at this Joseph that these studies have been considering. Look at the dream he had known, and the situation he has found himself in. And you think you have reason to doubt. Stuff and nonsense! Don’t you know?
Then comes today’s Table Talk lesson, writing of the unwavering love of God, the steadfast love, covenant love which was so important that a word was formed in the Hebrew to suit this particular love: chesed. Here, too, is an answer to doubts and fears (and again I quote the article): “How has the Lord manifested His chesed in your life? What problems and dangers have you been rescued from on account of His love?” And, there is this from Matthew Henry quoted in the same article: “God can raise up friends for his people even where they little expect to find them.” How often do we see this very thing in Scripture? How often do we see it even in our own lives? God is so incredibly good, so incredibly faithful. Yet, male of the species that I am, I forget all that as I pursue my own plans, my own ideas as to how the problem can be solved.
Oh, if only we would learn how to properly wait upon the Lord! No, not in such a way that we are immobilized unless we have waking visions and audible thunderclap voices telling us what to do. Rather, content to be led by the Spirit Who has promised to teach us the Way. Rather, to trust our Teacher to teach us well. It is a matter of training ourselves out of those habits and methods that we have learned from the world at large, and into the habits and methods that our Advocate has been training us in. I know I make it sound as though it is some simple thing, but of course it isn’t. It is hard to break a habit when you know that the habit is there and that it is harmful. It is harder still when you don’t realize the habit is even a part of you.
It is a particularly subtle problem, because so much of this is ‘just the way I think about things’. Hey, I’m an engineer. I’m used to looking at problems and figuring out a way to solve them. I’m the man of the house. I’m supposed to see to the security and well-being of everybody else in here. Like the lion guarding his pride. That’s the role man is given, right? There is, as well, that inbred urge to compete. We must show ourselves better than the man next to us, lest the pride desert us. We must do whatever it takes to come out on top. It has been a part of us for so long that we don’t even think about it, really. It’s just the natural response to whatever is happening. And yet it is almost completely counter to the ways of the kingdom. Before ever we can hope to behave as sons of the King, we are first going to have to unlearn all of these behaviors, for they constantly trip us up as we try to follow Jesus.
We are not the first to suffer from this problem, not by a long shot. It’s been there from the very first few disciples. Peter appears as the leader amongst them, even in this passage. How did he arrive at that position, though? Did Jesus appoint him to it? Not that we ever see. I suspect he got there much the same way we would, by competing, by making a way for himself. Look at James and John. Although their mother gets the blame for it, it is clear that they had their own ambitions. This is no condemnation of the Apostles. In Christ Jesus there is no condemnation! No, it is only to make it clear to us, lest we despair of our own hope and future, that every man who has ever come to Jesus, every one of us who has heard His call, has had to face these same issues. The good news is, we have the record of any number of men who overcame. When we see such men, it behooves us to follow Paul’s advice: “Do as you saw me doing, as I do what I see Jesus doing.”
And this morning [8/8/07] all I can say is, God, You have continued to show yourself faithful to me. That steadfast love of which I read yesterday is exactly what You displayed to me throughout the day. I thank You. I love You. I long for the day when the steadfastness You have ever manifested towards me is what I truly give back to You. This morning has seen the added question of whether I am waiting patiently for You or trying to force Your hand. Oh, I pray I have not tried to do that! Far be it from me to think my own ways better than Yours! No, Lord, but let me neither hang back when Your answer comes. All blessing, glory and honor to You, my God and my King.
As I was going through those things I have collected in this study, this one verse really caught my eye: Remember that to follow your own heart or your own eyes is to once more play the harlot (Nu 15:39). Now, this verse is given as somehow paralleling the introduction of this poor woman. Granted, if her condition is as many suppose it to be, then she would have been deemed Levitically unclean. It could not, however, be considered as a declaration of her present moral condition. Really, I can’t see why this passage was brought up here. The woman is unclean, but we have no cause to believe her a harlot.
Indeed, one could argue that she is most assuredly following her own heart in this moment, yet hardly in such a fashion as deserves the admonition of that verse! Perhaps they are trying to suggest that this curse has been broken as well in Christ, but that seems a stretch, too. In any event, it is not the appropriateness of the verse to the current passage that has my attention. It is more that it is of a piece with the things God has been speaking to me in those other places I have commented on. Indeed, if I look at the Table Talk study from this morning, with its closing question of “Do you patiently wait for our Father to act or do you try to force His hand?” and compare that to the point being made in Numbers 15:39, phew! This is a warning shot across the bow, isn’t it?
Were I to consider only that passage from Numbers, I would be inclined to limit the scope of its application. Oh, He’s talking about those who allow their lusts to consume them, who pursue sin with a passion unparalleled. Yes, I can understand that. We might suppose He is issuing a warning to those who are so quick to lose sight of the spiritual side of life; those He represented by the thorny soil in His parable (Mt 13:1-13). It would be very easy to brush the whole thing off with a simple, “well, thank God He’s not talking about me!”
But, then, consider that question: Have you been trying to force His hand? That’s a whole different problem. Now, we’re not dealing with the sort of sin that’s obvious. Now, we’re dealing with those things that weren’t bad, in the sense of being clear violations of morality. They’re just not good enough. It’s the right thing done for the wrong reason, or in the wrong time. It is, as often as not, really a function of us insisting on having our own way, even if we don’t see it in that light at the time. In fact, it is always an issue of un-faith when we refuse to leave things in God’s hands as to the timing and the means. If He calls us to action, by all means, we must act, but if we act before He calls us to it, woe unto us!
Just think of the examples that abound to both sides of this situation. Think of Abraham and Sarah, determined to bring about God’s promise when they had lost the belief to accept that He could still fulfill His word in them. He promised a son, and they were determined to help Him keep His promise. It was clear to Sarah that she could not bear that son, so she took it upon herself to provide one who could. Did He promise, after all, that it would be from her womb? Oh, but by forcing His hand she had left His plan, and the world has paid the price of her folly ever since.
As a study in contrasts, consider the cases of Saul and David, both proclaimed king over Israel by God’s command. Saul could never constrain himself to wait on God, it seems. Waiting made him nervous. He did not have sufficient faith in himself and he had no real faith in God. He had magic tricks and no more. He did not trust Israel to follow his lead, particularly when it came to waiting instead of going on the attack, so he tried to rush things. He knew the rules separating prophet and king, yet he violated them because he felt that God was late to the party.
Then, there was David, anointed the second king of Israel while still Saul sat the throne. Now, there’s a difficult blessing. Saul, like any other king, is determined not only to keep his seat, but to pass it on as a legacy to his children. David is a threat to this dream, and he knows it. Yet, he also knows the God who called and anointed him. So, how does he respond? Several times we see him with the opportunity to force God’s hand. There is Saul even at the tip of his sword, but he will not. “Far be it from me!” If God wants him on the throne, then God will put him there. In spite of the hardships and risks he has to face for years on end, he will be faithful to God, and he will trust the God of steadfast love to be faithful to him.
That is not to say that David never fell into following his eyes into sin. We know that is not the case. The Bible doesn’t try to hide it from us, but rather gives us the whole story in order that we might learn from his example. Yes, he falls and he falls hard. We would likely not forgive him. And yet, God, whose love is truly unconditional, having never found cause for love in us in the first place, does. What is most telling, though, is that even as he must suffer the consequences of his failures in spite of forgiveness, David does not try to force God’s hand. He understands those consequences and he would gladly do anything in his power to let that cup pass from his hand. He fasts and prays no end in hopes that God might, perchance, relent. Yet, no sooner does he hear that the judgment has been meted out, and his child is dead, than he arises from prayer and fasting, cleans himself up, and goes in to worship the very God who has brought this justice upon him. He knows God is good. Knowing that, he can accept even such a painful lesson from His hands. He knows, as well, what he deserved for his actions, and he knows he has not had to suffer anything near what justice unmitigated by mercy would have required.
Who kills a man must be killed by man. That is the Law of pure justice. Adultery was bad enough, for, as Paul writes, it is the one thing that so intimately pollutes the temple of the soul. But, murder! To have taken innocent life, particularly as it had been done to keep his prior sins from being found out; that, as God makes clear, is to destroy what has been made in the very image of God. The life of man is sanctified above all others because he bears the image of his Creator. There is only one penalty given: who would destroy this bearer of God’s image must himself be destroyed, and that by the hands of those who bear God’s image. It is mete and just that it should be so, and yet, David has not been required to pay that penalty. The fruit of his initial sin could not, in all conscience, be allowed to prosper, for that would set a horrid precedent, yet because God’s love is a covenantal love, an unchangeable love, he would not pay with his own life. Is it any wonder that we find him expressing in wonder, “If you should deal with us as our sins deserved, who could stand!”?
No, the whole message of the Gospel is that God has determined not to deal with us as our sins deserved, but as His love demands. He will have justice, for He is Justice, yet He will have mercy, for He is Mercy. He will not leave sin unpunished, for He is true in saying He hates sin. He cannot abide sin, and He abides everywhere. Therefore, sin must be abolished everywhere. It cannot be tolerated in His presence and it will not be. Yet, He knows man, that he is but a vaporous dust who is here for a day and then gone. He knows that we cannot bear up and so, He has provided the Perfect Sacrifice, the Sinless One Who died for our sins. He became a curse for us, that we might be made righteous in and by Him. That same One through Whom we have been saved is the One who has saved David, Who has made it possible for God not to deal with us as our sins deserved.
Again, I must give voice to my praises of You, my God, my Savior! Like David, I have had my sins and yet, You have forgiven me. More than that, You have taken upon Yourself the price of my sins that the price would not crush me. It is too wonderful! To know that You have loved me in spite of all that I have been, all that I still am… How can I really know it! I can scarce believe it! Yet, the God of chesed, of unfailing, unchanging, covenanted love, has called to me and said, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have loved you, and you are Mine.” How wonderful! How beyond understanding! How marvelous is this abiding love You have shown me, and how foolish my fears in the light of that love!
God, You are indeed blessed above all things. You are my own true Love. You are everything to me and more. Words cannot possibly suffice to really express what I should say. I am not even certain the soul can truly comprehend it fully. Does it really get even better when I shall see You face to face? Will the soul finally come to understand the full depth and width of Your great love? Will I then finally find the way to give voice to what the soul comes to understand? Or will I be left speechless, as the song suggests? No, never that! I do not see a silent heaven spread before Your throne, but rather a choir that cannot cease from rejoicing in Your presence, that cannot cease to sing the praises that are due Your name, my King. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty, Righteous and True, Who was and is and is to come!
Well, I had thought to start in on the actual study this morning [8/9/07], but it seems I must once more pursue this beautiful theme of God’s love. As is my habit, I left my studies yesterday and went rather directly to the shower to prepare for the day ahead. Now, I have heard God most clearly in the shower in the past. This time, however, it was really as I was leaving that place that I found a few thoughts cropping up which rather struck me. I considered them briefly as I dressed, and wrote them down that my wife might have a look at them as I left. I don’t think they hit her quite the same, which really shouldn’t surprise me. When God speaks, it’s often like that. We are so awed by what He has shown us that it comes near to overwhelming us. But, when we try to share it with another, that power just isn’t in it, whether because our own excitement limits our ability to explain or just because the message is not for them, it’s for us – at least at this time.
I tell you, though, that the whole way to work yesterday, I simply could not stop singing the praises of God. The radio was off, which is actually pretty rare for me. There was no accompaniment. In large part, the songs I sang were nothing I had heard, although some known songs worked themselves in. One in particular was a song long familiar to our church. That song, my feelings, the direction Pastor’s sermons have been going in of late; all of it seemed to converge, leaving the strong sense that God would like to hear this song from more voices come Sunday. I’m sure He would like to hear it sooner, from voices in earnest longing for Him, but there it is. At any rate, I left word with our worship leader, requesting that we add that particular song to our list for Sunday, which is not something I am generally inclined to do. We shall see…
Meanwhile, let me turn to those two thoughts that were planted in me in that post-study seed time. The first was this: God so loved the world. Now, we know, of course, that this opens the great declaration of John 3:16. For my own part, and I suspect for most people, that verse is so familiar that I immediately move on in thought to the fact that He gave His only Son. It is that point which tends to grab my attention, and the reason for it is lost in contemplating the result. Such sacrifice is bound to capture our attention. We were designed that way and so, God took action in a way fit to our design. He is the Designer, after all.
But stop short of that point. Just look at the reason, and let what follows sit for a moment. God so loved the world. Just that. God is still deeply in love with this old world. That, in isolation, is simply amazing! Indeed, it runs somewhat counter to what we think we should feel, as sons of God. We are trained to hate the world. Oh, it’s so full of evil. Jesus tells us we are in the world, but not of it. But, He has never stopped loving it. He never will. How could He hate the work of His own hands? Of course, this does not mean that He loves the situation that the world has gotten into. He is not in love with the fallen condition of His work. But, come on! When your son or your daughter does something wrong, even terribly wrong, do you stop loving them? I tell you, even though you may feel you must remove them from your household, so badly have they gone wrong, still you will love them. They are yet flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone. Father God, looking upon the world He brought into being, is no different.
Do you remember the cry of love He expressed over Ephraim? Look at these thoughts God has for His child! “I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born” (Jer 31:9). “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly remember him. My heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him” (Jer 31:20). Look at that! “I have spoken against him.” Of course He has, for how could He leave His child to sin? No, when His child wanders in the ways of sinfulness, He will speak. He will chastise. He will rebuke. Yet, there is always this behind it: “My heart yearns for him and I will certainly have mercy on him.” So soon as Ephraim wakes up from his foolishness, Father will be there, waiting to take him back, to help him heal from his wounds, to lavish His love upon His child once more.
It is this same love that comes near to overwhelming our God as He looks upon the world. God so loves the world – with that same Fatherly love that He expresses for Ephraim. God so loves the world – with the same promise of mercy, the same longing for restoration. God so loves the world that though He cannot ignore or deny its present condition, yet He can look with longing to the day when that condition has been put firmly in the past. Paul tells us that all creation groans under the burden of waiting for the children of God to be revealed. In other words, creation has fallen along with us, for we yet have the dominion over this world and as the leadership goes, so go the followers. Creation groans in sorrow for what it must suffer by our folly. It also groans with anticipation, knowing the day must come when God’s love wins through. The world so loves God, yet is imprisoned by the effects of man’s sins. And here, as John speaks of God’s love, I see that the feeling is quite mutual. God groans with the anticipation of that day when He can declare the whole restoration complete, the day when all His enemies are once for all put under His foot.
Why, if He is so hungry to see that day, does He wait? Is He not Ruler over all things? Yes, He is. He is also the Wisdom of all things. Though He is longing for that day, yet He also knows that the time that He has set for that day is the right time, the perfect time, and His longing will not cause Him to settle for less than perfect timing. That may not satisfy us as an answer, but it’s the best my limited wisdom can offer at this time.
Now, that thought was followed immediately (in post-shower time) by this one: All of creation has been a love song. It is a love song that God has been singing since He began the work, a song that He has sung in spite of knowing what must happen in His creation. It is hard for us to fathom that this God of perfect goodness would create this world and all that is in it and then allow its corruption. I will point back to the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13:24-30) at this point, and remember that by whatever mystery of His ways, He can still declare that He did not do this thing. “An enemy came by night.” At the same time, though, I must surely stand on the fact that God was not taken by surprise in that. No, from the beginning, from before the beginning, He had already put in action everything that would be necessary to restore His creation after that enemy had done his worst.
We talk about that scarlet thread that runs through the whole history that the Bible gives us of God’s work in creation. That thread is the love song of God. It is the promise of His devotion, the evidence of His chesed, His steadfast love for us. It is the same thing He sang to me those few short days ago, “Don’t you know I’ll always be there?” That is the promise of the cross, the promise of salvation. It is no promise that we shall suddenly be perfect, that we shall never again know sin. It is, however, the promise that a day is coming when this shall be our reality. In that day, when we finally see Jesus as He truly is, when we are finally able to feel God’s love for us as it truly is, we will know as He knows and we will love as He loves.
To keep us until that day, He continues to court us. We are, after all, His bride. We may not be wed, but we are surely betrothed! It awaits but the consummation when our Bridegroom comes for us. In the meantime, He sits, as it were, beneath our window. He strums His lyre and sings to us of His undying love. He calls us to wait for Him, to be pure and chaste, to keep ourselves for Him alone, never giving ourselves to another. It strikes me that as He sings this, He knows we have been impure. He knows we have cheated on Him already. But, His love for us is so great that He sets that aside. It is something in the past, and He shall not speak of it again, nor shall He suffer it to be spoken of. God is not looking backwards. He is looking forward to the day of His wedding feast. That desire, the desire for you and for me, is so powerful in His greater love that it overwhelms all else.
We speak of how love is blind. It is not so much blind as it is determined to leave behind the bad, the disappointments. Love is not blind. It is only doing as it should. “Love is patient and kind. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love never fails” (1Co 13:4-8). That’s what love is supposed to do. It only looks blind to us because we have forgotten how love is. God hasn’t forgotten, and He never will.
Waiting
Well, it seems I can turn to this study once again this morning [8/10/07]. The first thing I turn my attention to regarding this passage directly is that the crowd had waited all that time. Now, I don’t know how long it would take to cross the Sea of Galilee, but I would presume that at the very least several hours have passed. Those on shore had surely seen the storm that came down upon the boats, had surely seen most of those boats turn back. There must have been some doubt as to whether that last boat, the one Jesus was in, could have survived. And yet, they waited. For hours, they stood about there on the shore waiting, wondering when or if He might return.
Now some may have stayed out of concern. This is, after all, a sea-side, fishing community. Those who work upon the seas have a great respect for the dangers of the sea, and an abiding mutual concern for those who work as they do. Any man’s loss at sea is everybody’s loss. So, yes, there are likely many in that crowd who would have been waiting there for news of that last boat no matter whose boat it had been that was caught in the storm. It’s just the right thing to do, to support those who may be awaiting the terrible news of a loved one gone down in the deep.
Others may have hung on out of their own desperation. Either He would return and they would seek His healing, or He would not and all hope of healing was gone with Him. How desperate they must have been, though! Consider that nobody even knew His plans at that point. He had not said, “I’ll be back in awhile.” He had simply said, “Let’s go.” He hadn’t even been all that specific about where. The only reason that people might have to expect His return is that this was still His home base. I suppose the fact that He went by boat might suggest a swifter return, too. But, all of this was no more than observation and supposition. He might have gone anywhere for any length of time. He might have put to shore on the southern end of the Lake and walked on to Jerusalem for all they knew. And yet, they waited.
They waited and they were rewarded for their waiting by being there to see Him returning, the boat safe and no hands lost. They still knew nothing of where He had gone or what He had done while there, but they knew this: the boat was returning. It is clear that they did not simply keep this news to themselves, either. I get the sense that some, perhaps many, had wandered back into town after awhile, the crowd had perhaps shrunk somewhat. But, those who left had not gone all that far, and when that boat was seen on the horizon once again, word went quickly to announce the sighting.
What makes me think this? Well, it comes down to Jairus’ arrival. I grant that it is not said explicitly that he came to the shore after Jesus had returned, but something in the narrative makes me think this was the case. This was, after all, a desperate man. His only child was at death’s door and he was running out of options for saving her. Now, if his daughter, his only daughter, lay dying abed in his house, he was not likely to depart unless he had good cause to do so. A group of people awaiting the possible, maybe sometime today maybe next week, return of Jesus was not good cause. Seeing Him rowing for shore, on the other hand, was reason to hurry down. If that is the real case, then somebody had to have gone into town announcing the sighting of that boat.
Jairus is clearly desperate to save his daughter. At this stage of Jesus’ ministry, there may not yet have been such resistance shown Him by the temple hierarchy, but we have already seen some signs of the reaction to come. At the moment, though, particularly out here in the back country, it was probably less of a political suicide for Jairus to come down and for him to show Jesus the honor he deserved. Even so, to do so in the midst of such crowds had to cost the man some pride. He was, after all, an official of the synagogue. He was the one to teach these people Who God Is and how to worship Him. He was the one who stood week after week and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lord our God, He is One.” He was the one who taught them the Law of Moses, with its fundamental tenet that we shall worship no other before or beside God. So, what was he doing here, bowed down on the beach before Jesus? People would talk! But, he was desperate. If his daughter lived, people could talk all they wanted. Of course, if his daughter lived, then his actions were proven right and the talk of the people would truly be as nothing, so long as he was right with God.
I need to back up for just a moment to something I wrote in that last paragraph. “Jairus is clearly desperate to save his daughter.” OK, so there is ever that great instruction Pastor Schoonmaker gave us: if you haven’t found the moral application, then you haven’t yet understood the passage. Well, let me apply that to this point about Jairus. He was desperate to save his child – his only child. Now, it would be easy, and theologically impressive, I suppose, to make some statement about how God could commiserate with this man, given that His Only Child was also nigh unto death, but that’s not the point I need to pursue here. My point is more a question, a question for myself and a question for whoever else may happen on these studies. Jairus was desperate to save his child from physical danger. What about us? What about the spiritual danger?
It is one thing to do everything in our power to preserve the physical safety of our children. Yes, and we will often go to great lengths to do just that. We will gladly pay the doctors to save them. We will do everything in our power to ensure their physical safety. But, what about their spiritual safety? Are we as diligent to protect them there? See, there’s really nobody we can pay to do our job in that area. There are no spiritual doctors, no mental medicines for them to take. There is only the instilling of Biblical truths, of God’s love and love for God to guard them. In many ways, there is only the diligence of two parents to guard them, and there’s a whole world of folk seeking to break through that guard.
Case in point: we do our best to limit media access in this house, for that very reason. I, for one, do not see how a man of God can watch the things that pass for entertainment, or even for advertising in this age of decadence. Even trying to keep up with the news exposes us to things that one used to have to go to dirty, hidden theatres and bookstores to see. Advertisers, having no moral compass other than profit, play to this. We often hear that sex sells. The bigger picture is that sin sells. Sin is enticing. If it weren’t so, it would not be an issue. As we mature, we (at least theoretically) develop resistance to that enticement. We know better, or at the very least, we dread the consequences of being found out rather more. Whatever we may attribute that wisdom to, we have learned some resistance, developed some character.
Yet, in spite of our every effort, we know full well that our children are still exposed to these things. We can cut out the television, but those same shows are almost as accessible on the computer now, and we either can’t or won’t cut that off completely. That would be crippling our child’s chances for the future, after all! Well, far better crippled in a skill they can learn later than in a morality and spirituality that may be formed for life! If they are not computer-savvy by the time they leave home, they can still learn that skill later. If they have lost their moral compass, if they have begun dabbling in things that ought not to be tried, they may be decades trying to undo the damage. They may be doing things that can never be reversed.
The damage of sin is almost always irreversible. Certainly, a merciful God grants us pardon for those sins through the effort of the Son. Certainly, He can and often does mitigate and even heal the ills and the evils that sin has caused in us. Yes, in that sense, the Fall and its aftermath is not irreversible, for nothing is impossible with God. However, when I look at the effects of sin on men and women around me, it is clear that however much God has pardoned, however much He has healed, there are still spiritual and emotional scars that remain, if not physical ones. We are not capable of completely forgetting our past, nor are we expected to. To completely forget the past is to completely lose the benefit of anything we have learned from that past. It is the past that teaches us as adults to stop doing the foolhardy things we did as children. It is the past that teaches us to evaluate risk and to proceed with wisdom.
But, turn back again: Jairus was desperately concerned for his child. In this day and age, we, too, must be desperately concerned for ours. Our children are in great danger, and the danger is insidious. Inasmuch as we seek to protect them, we are doing well. But, we are not doing well enough. The truth is that we cannot protect them, and we know that. If we don’t, we learn it soon enough. Cut off as much media as you like, and you will soon find that they are still perfectly aware of it. We cannot protect them around the clock because we are not with them around the clock. Protection isn’t the way to protect them. Scripture says, “Train up your child in the way he should go.” It doesn’t say, “Hide them from the world. Don’t let them see it as it is.” No! Our job is quite the opposite, to make sure their eyes are truly open and their thinking clear enough to discern the tricks of a wily enemy. Our job is to give them survival skills, not to lock them up for their own good.
I, for one, know that I have not done as well as I should in this regard. Not hardly. That said, the primary means I can see to correct that lays in prayer, open, earnest, voluble prayer – in my daughter’s presence and for her well-being. It lies in living out the things I study out. That’s hard. But, you know, it’s going to do more for her if I live the way I know I ought to, then if I tell her how I think she should live. All the teaching in the world will not amount to training if I, as the teacher, do exactly opposite of what I teach. That’s hard. Paul could say, “Do as you see me doing.” I’m certainly not there yet. I’d be a fool to tell my daughter I am, because she knows better. But, that’s where I need to be if I am truly desperate for her well being.
I must again break in here and note God’s timing [8/11/07]. This very matter of how best to guide a daughter who is too old now for training wheels came up as my wife and I were out walking last night. Our daughter may be too old for training wheels, yet it is clear to both of us that she still needs training. She is of an age when the right thing and the clearly wrong thing are in constant conflict for her attention. Of course, as her parents, we tend to take every choice of the wrong thing rather personally. It is evidence of our failure, at least in our own eyes. So, what are we to do? Do we put all our efforts into trying to force her back to right choices? Do we try to eliminate every opportunity for her to err? Either of those options would soon prove impossible, has already proven impossible. What remains is largely that which God was speaking to me in the morning: to do our utmost to live as we have taught her we should live. Either that, or we must change our teaching to match how we really live. Anything else will prove utterly ineffectual.
Of course, there remains the primary means of prayer. We will never cease praying for her, never leave God alone when it comes to her salvation. Oh, she has made the confession of faith, and she is confident of the reality of that confession. But, many a soul has arrived in hell with equal confidence that they were headed heavenward. So, we pray that the confession she has made will become a living, vibrant reality within her. We pray that the power of worldly influences will be broken off from her in time. We pray that she will learn from the mistakes she will surely make, and that those mistakes might not be allowed to be so severe as to leave life-long scars. We pray that friends who pull her in the wrong direction will be pulled away, and that those who pull her in the right direction might be more closely bonded to her. We pray for her joy, but only as that joy is found in the right things. We pray that God has our backs for all the myriad mistakes we have made in raising this child of His creating.
This comes first, but example cannot be far behind. See, she may hear our prayers. Indeed, I pray she is well aware of them. But, if our lives are nothing but hypocrisy, always in contradiction to the things we tell her she ought to do and to be, those prayers are going to seem like nothing but the silly, self-important chatter of fools. We must, absolutely must, seek to live as we preach or all preaching goes to waste. That is not to suggest we shall get there in perfection, but we must give it our all. This is the training that prepares us for spiritual battle, after all. These are the small victories that give us the strength for the big ones.
Jairus
OK, let me turn now to a new thread of thought. As near as can be determined, it would seem this Jairus was from the tribe of Manasseh. The history of the name, and the location of these events both tend to support such a determination, but so what? Is there anything to be recognized in this? I don’t know, but let me make a brief survey, here, and we’ll see. First, we can note that Manasseh was Joseph’s first-born (Ge 41:51), yet we know that it was Ephraim who received the blessing that belongs to that status, at least as men measure things (Ge 48:13-14). Later writings express how clearly God was behind that, how deep was His love for Ephraim.
As Israel encamped, Manasseh was to the west, between Ephraim and Benjamin (Nu 2:18-24), and these combined were the third portion of the army on the march. Now, something strikes me in this. Ephraim and Benjamin were both objects of particular love. Israel had made that display toward Ephraim in blessing Joseph’s children, and it had long been clear before that how he felt about Benjamin, whom he supposed the only remaining child of his beloved wife. That raises another point. All three of these were the tribes descended from Rachel, but that is likely another point for another time.
Manasseh’s descendents included Gilead, where later would be found the balm thereof, and Shechem, one of the first places in which God encamped (Nu 26:29-34). It was also the descendents of his line who brought the case for a daughter’s inheritance, lest any of God’s gift to the people of Israel be lost for lack of sons (Nu 27:1-11). Machir, of this lineage, drove out the Amirites who were in Gilead, and Jair, namesake of this one we are considering, took the cities of that region (Nu 32:39-41). Neither Manasseh or Ephraim were required to set aside lands for Levi, only a few cities, apparently because they were but half-tribes themselves (Jos 14:3-4). As they settled into that land, an altar was built, much to the consternation of the other tribes (Jos 22), for they saw it as a turning away from God. However, those across the Jordan explained that the altar was built more with an eye toward having a permanent reminder that their removal across the river was not a removal from their rightful place in the faith of Israel. It was an altar of witness. This satisfied the rest.
Gideon was another descendent of Manasseh (Jdg 6:15). He, of course, is famous for doubting his call, and requiring several signs of God before he would believe it. Many still resort to such methods to convince themselves they have heard God. Whether or not it should be so is questionable.
Jephthah caused the men of Gilead to rise up against Ephraim and attack their brothers, though he is still considered as a judge of Israel (Jdg 12). This action was taken because Ephraim threatened those who had fought against Ammon without them, apparently a matter of profits not shared.
Well, here’s a dark note on that tribe: when the sons of Dan set up their graven image, it was Gershom from Manasseh’s tribe who served as priests to that image ‘until the day of the captivity of the land’ (Jdg 18:30). That day of captivity came when “God stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria”, known as Tilgath-pilneser (1Ch 5:26). It is also noted that when Judah went into exile in Babylon, men descended from Manasseh were among those who moved into Jerusalem (1Ch 9:3). Men from Manasseh were also ready to join David in his attack against Saul with the Philistines, and some of these remained with him when his help was rejected by the Philistines and he returned to Ziklag (1Ch 12:19-20). In the end, that tribe sent some 18000 men to proclaim David king (1Ch 12:31). During Asa’s reign, many from Manasseh had defected from the northern kingdom to join this one whom God clearly supported (2Ch 15:9). When Hezekiah called the people back to God at Passover, his couriers met with scorn in Manasseh, yet in spite of that some from that area did humble themselves and come to Jerusalem (2Ch 30:11). However mixed their history, God still says, “Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine” (Ps 60:7). It occurs to me to wonder if this wasn’t penned in that time when the men of that region came to proclaim David king.
This is interesting. David cries to the shepherd of Israel particularly on behalf of Joseph, whom He leads like a flock. He calls upon God on His throne to shine forth. “Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy power and come save us!” (Ps 80:1-2). Now, these are the children of Rachel, of course. They are also those who encamped to the west of the ark. Is there something to that? Isaiah points to the in-fighting between Ephraim and Manasseh, and how they join together against Judah, and sorrows that God still does not turn away His anger from the nation (Isa 9:21).
So, is there anything in all of this which is important for us in understanding who Jairus is? Not that I can see. As the history of Israel goes, I don’t see that Manasseh fared any better or worse than the others. What shall we say except that this was perhaps the lesser, or at least the neglected son of Joseph, by some measures amongst the least of the tribes of Israel. After all, it was only a half-tribe, and Ephraim, the other half, had the blessing. It is clear that this caused some degree of jealousy. It is also clear that Manasseh was not without blessings of its own. To Manasseh belonged Gilead, and the balm of that region appears to have been valued for its healing benefits (Jer 8:22). Jeremiah advises Egypt to go to Gilead for that balm, because apart from it, all its other multiplied remedies are in vain, bringing no healing (Jer 46:11).
Here, if there is any connection to be seen, is the connection, I think. Israel had once more come to a time when there was no balm in Gilead. Here is the representative of that region, God’s representative at that, and he finds no healing there. Instead, he has come to Jesus. Well, is it not the case that this Jesus is the Balm of Gilead? Is it not the case that apart from Him, all other remedies are in vain? Here, as we look at Jairus of Gilead and this woman who comes to touch Jesus, we are seeing very plainly just how worthless are the efforts of man when Jesus is not present. Jairus knew that nothing in Gilead would save his daughter, so he came for the One who could. That woman had spent all her money pursuing vain efforts by doctors who did more harm than good. She knew the futility of her search until she came to the Healer Himself.
I think, too, we must measure this on the spiritual scale. What Jeremiah writes of those Egyptian remedies might be written of our great advances in physical health, healing and therapy. Those are all fine, but they are worthless if the Balm of Gilead has not come and healed the soul. Death will still be the end result, and apart from Him, it is death eternal. One could also look at this from the opposite direction and say that where the spiritual remedy of salvation has been applied, physical healing or its lack don’t mean a thing.
Now, that might seem like a convenient escape for a weak faith, but I don’t think it really is; particularly when that position is held by one in need of such physical healing. See, there are those who look upon physical suffering as a sign of faith’s absence. If only your faith was strong, you would not suffer as you do. Yet, that denies God’s sovereignty, and indeed highly overrates the believer’s position. Oh, we are able to enter the throne room with great boldness. Yes, and we are assured that our petitions are heard by Him Who sits on the throne. What we are most certainly not in a position to do is to demand that the King do as we please. We will be told how we have the promise that whatever we ask for He will do. That promise, however, comes with a condition: that our petitions are in accord with His purposes. He remains God, and His will remains perfect. So, rather than look at the weakness of a faith that hasn’t obtained healing, look at its great strength! See, in spite of circumstance, in spite of the evidence of this kingdom of the senses, faith continues strong. Their physical suffering has not led to a life of unbelief. They know that they have Life, so they can join Paul in proclaiming that the momentary suffering of this life, even if it should last a lifetime, are as nothing to them, because their eyes are already upon that eternity of Life which lies ahead.
Lord, I am shocked, just now, at how quickly I lose hold of faith. When I consider all that You spoke to me last week, how fully You expressed Your love, and Your faithfulness, and then I look upon how I have responded the situations which have arisen in the last few days: it is as though You had never spoken. How can that be? Am I yet so enamored of circumstance, so driven by the immediate? Father, forgive me. For, I know what I do, that it is wrong, and yet the cycle continues. Break it, Lord!
Indeed, it is clear to me, at this juncture that Your household is in a battle royal. Everywhere I look today, Your children are being dealt physical and emotional blows. Oh, my God! Stand Your guard about them! Gird them with Your strength, Lord, and keep them ever mindful that however harsh the situation has become, the battle yet belongs to You. My God! Get this through our heads, through my own head! If I will not cease from fighting in my own strength, I will surely be beaten and bloodied. Oh, Lord! I look, then, at all these battles raging around me, and I declare that they are not my fight.
No, my fight is with powers and principalities, and my weapons are the Word of God, which is enough. So, I come to my Strong Tower, and I proclaim that in all these things not I, but we shall be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. Oh, when the enemy comes in, the power of God comes in like a flood to block his way, lest he destroy us. So, yes, to my friends whose joy has been stolen by another attack on their daughter’s health, I send prayer. May You, my God, stand for that child. May You, my God, strengthen that family to keep faith with You even through this difficult time, and may it please You, my King, to preserve once more that young life to Your glory.
To our missionary in Tanzania, who struggles through the pain of infection and pressure in the ear to prepare a much needed lesson on Your Word, send Your power, Lord! I know your son, that he is strong in youth, yet it is not the strength of youth which upholds him, but Your strength. So, Lord, strengthen him to the battle! Be his sword and his shield. Give him, first and foremost, as is his own desire, the clarity of mind to prepare and to teach Your word in spite of this battle. And again, Lord, I ask that it might please You to make swift work of the affliction itself, knowing that it is You who will have the glory at its removal.
To my sister whose family deals with a relative lost, it may be that Your enemy has won some small victory here, for it would seem that the soul of that one who died has been lost. But then, we are not privy to the dying thoughts. You alone know if even this small victory was gained. This is the thing I know: You work all things for good to those who are serving You. This is the thing I know: The family that feels the pain of this one’s loss is indeed serving You. This is the thing I know: You are faithful to all that You declare. If You have said a thing, You have meant it, and it shall surely, surely, surely come to pass. Therefore, I ask with great confidence that You make of this loss a great victory for Your kingdom. If this death must be counted as one less for heaven, then let it serve as a warning to those that have known this young man in life. Yes, Lord, and may those who are warned thereby pay heed. I pray, my Father, that You would see many lives saved because of this one who was lost. Job’s sons, my God, were just as dead in spite of Job’s faith. We must accept that this is in accord with Your plan and Your purpose. Indeed, we must accept that this is good, for You are good and You have permitted it. Again, my God, I would say that we are not given to know the eternal state of those sons. We see only the temporal loss. But, Lord, this I know: You are able, my God, to raise up children from the very rocks of the earth. Surely, the stoniest heart is no obstacle to You, then!
So, Lord, save them! If this is what it takes, so be it, but save them! Let them choose life. Give my sister courage to speak life even in this time. Let her family, her husband, her children, join faith with hers. Let them all, even the youngest, walk in the confidence of a well founded trust in You. Let the faith that pervades this family prove powerful to the tearing down of strongholds in those who come I sorrow. Oh, let their mourning be turned into dancing as they see Your Life arise in the ashes of this death.
Father, so many others, I know, are likewise facing trials. I pray for our young worship leader, who is seeking to do so much for Your name. Lord, I see and I hear what You have laid out before him. I see and I hear how You are seeing to it that he not fall into walking in his own strength. Yes, and I know he faces particular challenges just now to provide for the family over which You have placed him. Well, my God. You have not changed. You are more than able to provide for Your children. Indeed, You have never failed to do so. So, Lord, provide marvelously. Let his next housing be so much greater than is his lot now. I ask this not that he may lose sight of you in his comfort, never that! No, I ask this that Your name might be all the more magnified. For, Lord, it is said of You that You never close one door without opening another; that You never take something from Your children without giving them something far better in return. I may not be able to attest to a Biblical foundation for this belief, but I do rather see it in keeping with Your character nonetheless. So, yes, Lord! Provide marvelously for this young man. Ensure, my King, that he is left free to pursue Your kingdom purpose, that work that You have prepared specifically for him to fulfill. Do not allow these distractions, Lord, to weigh upon him, but let his faith in You continue strong, indeed grow stronger.
In all these things, my God, we dare not trust in chariots and horses. No, we trust in nothing but Yourself. We trust that You are Who You say You are, and we know our trust is not in vain. So, whatever comes: whatever pain, whatever monetary loss, whatever emotional challenges; my God, keep us strong in faith, that we may not lose sight of the goal. Oh, God! With all that is in us, let us hold fast to the promise; let us hold fast to the certain knowledge that in Your house there are many rooms, and for each of us, one has been prepared by our dear Bridegroom. Oh! Speed the day, my God!! Speed the day! But, until that day, I pray You keep us strong to persevere.
Twelves
One other curiosity I should like to glance briefly at is this matter of twelves. I will certainly with Fausset’s warning against pushing the issue to hard, insisting on finding meanings that aren’t there to be found. However, isn’t it interesting that a God in Whom there is no such thing as coincidence chooses this particular moment to bring these two particular cases to His Son? The daughter, Luke tells us, was about twelve. The woman who interrupted the walk to her sickbed to touch Jesus had been suffering her condition for twelve years. Two immediate points, if I may: First, as Pastor Najem is wont to say, if all Scripture is written for our edification, then every detail is there for a reason. Second, it is Luke who brings up the age of the child. Neither Matthew nor Mark make any note of her age. Isn’t it interesting that it is Luke, the beloved Physician, perhaps the most ‘scientifically’ minded of the bunch, who brings this up? It may just have been professional curiosity, I suppose, that caused him to ask the age of this child, but Who prompted him in that regard? Who spoke to his heart that this was important to record as part of the story of Jesus?
Well, according to the references, where there is a symbolic sense to the number twelve, it tends to indicate unity or completeness. By one source, it is said to indicate that which God has elected and which He has determined is finished. Add the that the duplication of that number present in this story, where such repetition is often a means of emphasizing a point, and is there a point we should see here? Is there something about this that God wants us to pay attention to that is more than the surface of the story?
After all, it is certainly amazing enough to see that this woman is healed without any obvious attention on the part of Jesus. Of course, God is not unaware of this woman’s presence and her need. Jesus, in His humanity, I could not say that so certainly of. Yet, I would suspect He was as aware of her as the Father in heaven was aware of her. It is clear from other examples that even in His humanity He could discern the heart and the thought of man. In support of that being the case here, I would note something about the way Mark relates this story. “He looked around to see the woman who had done this” (v32). Now, she hadn’t yet come forward to confess. She was as yet one face amongst the crowd. But, He turned, it would seem, to her specifically. In other words, He already knew the answer to His question, even as He knew that healing had taken place.
If I might be so bold, I would say it were impossible that the power of God went forth from the Son of God except it went out at His command. As much as we like to make the whole thing somehow a matter of our own actions, this is ever the case. We cannot, in honesty, even say that He will not so command except we ask. For, He says of Himself that He sends His sun to shine upon both good and evil. Has He done this because the evil asked it of Him? I think not. The evil are too busy trying to convince themselves that He doesn’t exist. For all that, the sun comes upon the good whether they happen to ask for it or not. While we are encouraged to come to the Father with our petitions, we are also to be anxious for nothing, knowing He provides. Those petitions we are to bring, I think, are intended to be such petitions as are particularly concerned with moving His kingdom forward. If we take Him at His word, that He is our Provider, then our prayers for daily bread are not about supplying food for the body, but about providing the means of blessing. It’s not “Give me my bread,” but “give us our bread.” It is a call for provision of a sort that we can use to act as His servants ought to act, behaving as the manifestation of His purpose to those around us.
We have a problem when all of our prayers are found to be about ourselves. We are off course, and no longer serve the Master. We fall into the trap of self-centered behavior. That is not to say that we cannot bring our personal concerns and desires to the Father. He is the Father! Of course, He is pleased to hear the desires of His children, at least where those desires are not counter to His character and teaching. He is far more pleased, though, when He sees that His children’s desires are giving evidence of His own. It is a sign that His teaching is starting to have an effect.
At any rate, the woman has not taken Jesus unawares to receive her healing. It is just that God has determined that her time of suffering is completed. The time of preparation is over for her. There were things that needed to happen in her soul, amongst them breaking off that dependence on worthless quacks, before she was really ready for the Jesus she would meet. As so often is the case, I find myself wondering what became of this woman after this scene was completed. Her faith had been strong enough to believe unto physical healing, but that would be a vain and empty victory if she had not also been possessed of faith to believe unto salvation.
So, in her case, there is a sense of completion, of the time fulfilled. But, what of the child? Well, I suppose we could say that had Jesus not intervened, her time would have been fulfilled as well. On the other hand, there is that sense in which her time is fulfilled, as the woman’s was, by the coming of the Healer.
I don’t know. Perhaps I am trying too hard for a meaning here. The crowds that followed Jesus were not all that likely to be aware of the girl’s age, nor would they have known the length of the woman’s suffering except she had brought it up. Yet, there remains the fact that all Scripture is for our edification. So, what are we to see in this confluence of twelves? Is it simply a symbolic declaration of fulfillment? Perhaps. I suppose if there is more to it than that, I shall have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit to explain it in His time. For my part, this is becoming a case of ‘caught up in the technicalities,’ so it’s time to move on.
Laying Hold
So, I’m going to jump forward to that moment after the woman has been healed, when Jesus stops and asks, “Who touched Me?” It becomes clear, looking at the Greek, that this translation really doesn’t do justice to His question. There are, it turns out, at least two words for touching in Greek. The one, pselaphao, describes the superficial touch one might expect to apply here, given that question. So many were touching in that crowd. So many had doubtless touched Jesus. It was crowded. These things happen. This is that sort of touch which means little or nothing.
Then, there is the word Jesus used: heepsato. Now, we are looking at a purposeful grasping. This is not just touching, it’s taking hold. It’s seeking to get a grip on something or someone that we wish to manipulate. That is not to suggest manipulation in its negative, coercive connotation. Think of it like this. I might pselaphao a screwdriver that happened to be set at the edge of a table as I walk by. Perhaps it stuck over the edge, and my sleeve happened to catch on it. I have no particular interest in the screwdriver at that point, nor even any particular awareness of it. But, later, when I see that the hinge of the door is loose, I will likely return and heepsato that screwdriver – take it firmly in hand and tighten that hinge by manipulating the screwdriver I now hold.
So, think about that “Who touched Me?” Initially, I was thinking perhaps it should be closer to “Who grabbed Me?” Even that, though, doesn’t really capture the point. It’s more like, “Who sought to hold fast to Me, to appropriate Me, to move Me to their purpose?” No, even that does not seem to suit. “Who lay hold of me with purposeful intent?” Maybe that gets a little closer to it.
There is certainly an aspect of intention to this. It is not the jostling of the crowd, it is the reaching out with clear intentions, with a clear goal in mind. If I might return to my screwdriver analogy: when I heepsato that screwdriver, my intentions are clear. I have a specific goal that I seek to accomplish, and – here’s the point that I want to emphasize – I know that I have the right tool in hand to do what I seek to do. There is, in a sense, faith rising up that given this screwdriver, I can fix the hinge. In this woman’s case, there is faith rising up that if she can but lay hold of this Man, even just the least edge of His robes, she can be healed. I cannot say with certainty that this confident faith is there in the word itself, but it is certainly there in the efficacy of what she has done.
Here, too, if it were just the intentionality of that grasping, this woman would still not be singled out by the question. Look, those people weren’t just waiting for Jesus because they had nothing better to do with their day. These were people in need. They knew what He could do. They knew they needed what He could do. But, not all of them had that confident faith that He would do what He could do. These were desperate people, and desperate people, seeing the slightest hint of hope, will grab it as best they can. So, no, I don’t think for a minute that this woman was the only one who had been grabbing at Jesus as He walked. Yet, confronted with that question, “all were denying it.”
You know, to those who had not received as this woman had received, that question probably came across as meaning little more than, “Who has been grabbing at Me?” Oops! Jesus must be getting annoyed. So, all those who had been grabbing at Him all along denied it. Safety in numbers, I suppose. You can see them backing away just a bit, hands up in the air to show that it couldn’t be them. No, no. Yet, as I have already pointed out, Jesus already knew the answer to His question. The one whom He had healed knew the answer to His question, and understood that it was more than the grabbing that He was talking about. I wonder if she understood that her healing had not come by her impertinence, but by His grace. I wonder if she knew that this had been a gift to her, not a result of her works.
By way of explanation, and yet without singling out this woman, Jesus declares that He perceived power going out from Himself for healing. He knew it full well, and He knew it accurately. In particular, He knew it because the ways of healing were something very familiar to Him. He had, by this point, healed so many that He understood every detail of what healing power felt like. In Him, there was no thinking maybe His prayers for healing would work. In Him, there was no thought that perhaps that tingling in His hands meant somebody could be healed, or perhaps it was just nerves. No, He was intimate with this. Healing is an integral part of Him.
Again, let me stress my certainty that Jesus already knew who had been healed. Indeed, I have no doubt but that He knew it before she was healed. This was a man, even in His humanity, who was in constant contact with the Father, always checking in at home, doing only as His Father showed Him, as His Father instructed. As certainly as He knew there were a pair of demoniacs in Gadara that needed His attentions, so, too, He knew this woman would be coming today. His handling of the situation is not a display of surprise. It does not suggest that we can sneak up on God and steal a blessing from Him while He’s not looking. No, He is simply using the situation to fullest advantage – not for Himself, but for those He would attract into the Kingdom. By drawing this woman out of her hiding, He has obtained an unsolicited testimony to faith, and far from responding in anger at her impertinence, He blesses her faith.
Knowledge and Belief
Returning to that matter of perceiving, it struck me as interesting that the word Jesus uses here for His intimate understanding of healing power is used on another occasion by Peter. When he was sent to the centurion’s house by the prompting of the Spirit, he had this to say to the man who would be saved. “You know of Jesus of Nazareth” (Ac 10:38). More specifically, “You know how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power. You know He did good wherever He went. You know He healed all who came to Him oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” All of that is laid up as that same sort of perceptive knowledge. In other words, You know full well. You’ve seen it so many times, heard the report from so many sources. You cannot fail to recognize all these things for what they are. You cannot miss the implications, because the weight of evidence for the Christ of God is so great. The faith this man had to send for Peter though he was a Gentile and Peter a Jew, the faith he had to seek this Jesus though as a God-fearer he must have been aware of the disapproval this Christian movement suffered amongst the priests; that faith was no more blind than God’s love is blind. It had its foundations in that perception. He would soon be able to say, “I believe because I know.”
These two are so intimately connected, knowledge and belief. Where they are not connected, belief is powerless. We suffer from any number of proud fools today who profess belief in matters of which they have no knowledge. Indeed, one might suspect that what knowledge they do have stands opposed to their professed beliefs. The fool proclaims there is no God. He speaks what he believes, but his beliefs are set upon no knowledge. It is this which proclaims him a fool, as much as his subject matter. The power of Christian testimony is that it always comes down to “I believe because I know.” I know what God did in me. I know who I was and who I am now, that these are in no wise the same. I know where my character has sprung up from. I know Who saved me from foolish youth. I know Who has been working to guard me until the day I should recognize His hand and acknowledge His Lordship. I know these things because I have been intimately involved.
No amount of expert testimony from scientists around the world can change that knowledge. Whatever data they may have, I have my own life, my own experience. I have a foundation of intimate knowledge at the base of my faith. They have what upon which to stand up their own faith in the salvific power of science? They have what evidence to show of the goodness of man? They have what evidence to support the outcome of all these varied attempts at social engineering? If anything, the evidence stacks up against them, but they blind themselves to it and continue ranting against the power of God to save where science and every art of man has failed.
Faith, real faith in a real God, is aroused and heightened by hearing what arises from faith. That is a portion of the power this woman’s testimony has. As she relays the details of her history and of the startling change of her present condition, faith is speaking, faith is being memorialized. There to hear it all is Jairus. His faith has been sufficient to bring him out to seek this Jesus, but is it sufficient to the trial immediately ahead? See, he has heard about what Jesus has been doing, but he has not been there to witness it. Now, he stands witness to such a power to heal that Jesus does not even have to do anything to bring healing into the place of need. Healing is so much a part of Him that, like it overflows Him, pours out of Him. It is a River of Life within, overflowing the banks, and watering the desert of fallen humanity.
Now, Jairus has seen with his eyes. Now, the report this woman gives becomes a strengthening force for his own faith, a strengthening he will need very shortly. Consider, once again, the ‘coincidence’ of this event. At home lies his daughter, only twelve years old and near to death. Here before him stands this woman whose health has been threatening her life as long as his daughter has been alive, if not longer! Think about it, daily she has been losing blood, perhaps at a rather alarming rate. She has bankrupted herself seeking help from helpless, so-called physicians. So, not only has she been losing blood, but she has likely been shorting herself on sustenance to pay for these medical services. Between her illness and her choices, she has weakened her body to a dangerous extent. And yet, by God’s grace she has lived. She has lived to see this day when that which was impossible to twelve years’ worth of doctors was shown possible for one Man. Not only possible, it was a matter of such little consequence to His power that He expended no effort, only that power that is His flowed from Him. Here is something to excite faith!
None of these vague, “I’m feeling a little better, now” sorts of testimony this! Nothing halfway, nothing that might or might not be a cure, time will tell. No, this is immediate, complete, and powerful! If Jesus was intimately familiar with the power to heal, this woman was just as intimately familiar with the pain of her suffering. Just as Jesus knew in the moment it happened that power had been applied, so this woman knew in the moment that suffering had ceased. This is the report that faith gave. This is the report that faith heard. And, that faith which heard was aroused and increased by that faith which testified.
Now, when Jairus received the report that his daughter was already dead, he has but to think about what he just heard as Jesus told him to believe (Mk 5:36). He had just seen what this One could do, and in spite of the tremor of unbelief that must surely have passed through him when they brought news of her death to him, that simple command, “only believe,” from Jesus was enough to set him back on an even keel. Yes! He has healed that woman without so much as lifting a finger. He can heal my daughter, certainly!
Oh! Faith arise! He has done such great things already! What is there that You cannot do? There is nothing! Who is there that is beyond Your power to save? There is no one! What sin is so great that You cannot forgive it? What sinner so far gone that You cannot create something new and upright in that sinner? What is there that can turn Your love from me? You, who loved Paul enough to save him from his own blindness after You revealed his blindness to him! Shall You let me go? No, not ever! Are You yet able to save this daughter of mine from her choices? Of course You can! You did so for me, did You not? Yes, and though it hurts to see her pursue her rebel way, though it tears the heart out of her parents to see her choose so consistently wrong, to fight for the right to sin, yet she is not beyond Your hand. Faith arise! She shall yet take her place in the kingdom. She shall yet fulfill her purpose for You, for You are my God, You alone are my strength. You are powerful to save, Lord, and I trust her salvation to You. Praise be Yours today, my God and my King! And, thank You for arousing faith in me this morning!
I recall reading something C. S. Lewis had written which pointed out how much we had lost in losing our sense of things mythical. He was writing of those creatures of imagination which populated our childhood and which populate his most popular books. Today, many Christians advocate completely avoiding anything of the sort, for fear of somehow honoring demons. I suppose it’s rather like the meat offered to idols thing, that if this is one’s conviction, then he had best live by that conviction. However, I could as easily argue that those who go to such great lengths to keep these materials out and away from their kids are honoring those idols more than the ones who read and enjoy the books. After all, those who are reading them do not do so, generally speaking, out of any interest or belief in the things characterized in those books, but for the entertainment and for the story line that is woven through the actions of these mythological creatures.
The point Lewis was making, and it is a valid point, is that as we become more and more unwilling to invest our imaginations in the tales of the mythological – not our beliefs mind you, but our imaginations – the more incapable we are of reaching out to God. These creatures, whatever their foundations may be, are things to exercise the mind. They have their lessons to offer, at least as man has laid them out in his stories. Those lessons may be by way of positive example or negative example, but they are there. It’s not about trying to make demons look acceptable by their positives. Not at all! One might as well say that portraying a mass murderer who is nonetheless faithful to his wife is attempting to make him look acceptable. No! We are all in this state of mixed results. We all of us have our evils as well as our good side. In fact, if we’re going to take the Bible at its word, we all of us have nothing to show on that good side except what Christ has accomplished thus far in us.
Now, this may confuse us, but you know what? Christ began accomplishing His purpose in us before our birth. It may have taken me thirty odd years to recognize that fact, but that doesn’t change the fact. Looking at those others around me who are not professors of faith, I need to constantly bear this in mind. They may not look like believers. They may not look like candidates for becoming believers. Neither did I. I dressed to cause concern. I swore with a frequency that would do a navy man proud. I drank to excess whenever I could, and used other means as they were available to me. Life was a party, and nobody’s concerns had anything to do with me. Yet, God was working on me. Even then, He was working in me, preparing for the day of my salvation. Nobody could have looked at me and imagined my presence being welcome in the church. Certainly, nobody would look to me to be teaching the truth of God as best I can. And yet, here I am. So, how shall I assess that one at work? How shall I assess that one on the street? Whatever his or her state at present, candidacy for heavenly citizenship is not beyond the possible. Even if God has sovereignly determined to exclude them from His household, they still bear His image, and He is determined that He should be honored even when seen only in such poor likeness.
Well, that’s rather a long introduction to my real point, but anyway, as averting our eyes from the mythological has reduced our ability to comprehend the truly Spiritual, so the harsh ‘realities’ of science in our day make faith a much harder thing to come by. Consider this woman before us. She had a daily reality of medical failure. It would have taken almost as much faith to believe these yahoos could heal anybody of anything worse than a sneeze than to believe what Jesus could do. This was a people who still had the benefit of general beliefs. They believed there was a spiritual realm, that demons were a real problem and gods a real benefit. To move from this to belief in the One True God was but to focus what was already understood. They believed there could be these less sterile and surgical forms of healing that were more spiritual in nature. In part, that was but an outgrowth of their acceptance of the spiritual realm as a reality. In part, perhaps, it was shear desperation. If they couldn’t believe this, then all hope was gone.
They were closer to the truth than they knew! This is part and parcel of the problem of western society today. We, who have such a rich history in Christ, indeed dwelling in nations often thought to have been founded by the particular blessings of His hand upon the founding, have lost that necessary sense of wonder. We don’t really believe in the spiritual realm in this age of science. Worse still, the much vaunted knowledge based rationalism of modern science has failed to provide us with anything more believable. We threw away the moral compass that spiritual understanding had provided and threw in the rational compass instead. Except we are slowly discovering that the rational compass has no concept of true north, nor really of true anything. Indeed, we are discovering that the rational compass is irrational. It is corrupt. It pursues its own ends, too often, with no concern for the truth, only for the bottom line. Inconvenient facts are constantly being erased from the data set as this one or that seeks to promote his profitable ‘truth.’ Truth isn’t in it.
I remember hearing how people were more and more turning to history now to provide the compass that science failed to give us. There’s a movement doomed to failure! History, without a true moral compass by which to navigate its lessons, cannot be a guide. The answer is to return to what works, to the true moral compass of the True and Moral God. Instead, we are pounded by pundits spouting off their own moral judgments of He Who sets the morals. See, it’s harder to believe.
It’s harder to believe because so much of the environment we live in is geared towards killing faith and belief. In an age where medical successes of truly wondrous proportions are more the norm than the exception, it becomes harder to maintain belief that God can do even more than these medicos, and He can still do it without their intervention. Yes, God can use doctors to heal. Of course He can. But, what when medical knowledge fails? What when faced with things that doctors remain clueless to cure? Can God still heal if medical science can’t? It’s harder to believe. And yet, the truth is that yes, He can. Did you see any medical procedures performed on this woman? Did you see any procedures at all? No! Not a one. And yet, healing happened.
We are plagued by our rationality. That is not to say, believe me, that I promote irrationality. No! But, our rationality must remain cognizant that there is still a higher Logic, that however smart we may be or become, there is still One Who is smarter and wiser. However advanced the race, He remains much further advanced. However capable the ways of man, man remains limited in his ways and God remains limitless in His. If He finds it suits His purposes to heal with a touch of His hand, then He can do so. If He is pleased to use the arts of man to accomplish His purpose, fine. If, indeed, He does nothing which senses or sensors can perceive to accomplish that end, it is surely in His power. It is just that we have brought ourselves to a place where real belief, real faith in God to be God, is a much harder thing than it once was.
Truth is, faith and science can coexist. They did so for many years. Faith reminded science of its boundaries. Faith reminded science of the larger moral questions. Science has revealed to faith the greater extent of God’s wonders. This has not always been a comfortable coexistence. Each has been threatened by the other in its time. And yet, as much as one camp or the other may shout about their mutual exclusivity, it is need not be so. Nor is it. Men of faith still pursue the sciences alongside their atheistic coworkers, just as any other trade. Sadly, in making that last statement, I must include the clergy.
It is harder to believe, but it is not impossible. Even the presence of faith healers who turn out to be charlatans need not destroy faith. Our faith was never intended to be in the faith healers anyway. Our faith is reserved to God alone. No true man of God, certainly none whom the Scriptures puts forth, has ever accepted such unfounded faith in themselves. Look at Paul and Silas. Look at Peter and John. If men began giving them the tokens of faith, they utterly refused those tokens. No! We are but men! We are nothing. It is Christ Who is all. If you have faith to give, give it to Him. Never, never, never let us, as men, think to receive the praises that are due God alone! You know, I’m not sure you could even find an example of the apostles saying, “Trust me!” Paul may perhaps come closest in suggesting we emulate his example. But, I would note that even there he qualifies himself, saying, “as I emulate Jesus.” The implication is that, should you find me going astray, don’t follow me, turn me back.
Faith is harder, but it is still aroused and strengthened by the witness of real faith. Even religion cannot remain a barrier to such a faith, nor prevent one from receiving real, salvific faith. Some have this sense that religion and faith are dire enemies one of the other, but that’s not the issue. The issue is fallen man, seeking to look righteous. The issue is man seeking to please God in his own power, but God proclaims that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). So, yes, where religion is devoid of faith, there is an issue. Dead religion, like dead faith, is worse to the soul than no religion, because these are things that deceive us into thinking we’re doing all right when in fact we’re still as dead as ever we were.
Recognize that it was not every scribe or every Pharisee or every member of the Temple hierarchy that Jesus spoke against. It was those of a particular mindset, a particular set of characteristics. When all was ritual and nothing was personal, when all was play acting with no honest belief behind it, then there was a problem. When one could look at the ritual of the Temple and still feel a personal connection with God, could still see past the image to the reality behind, there was no problem. Think about it. Some of the first folks to bless Jesus were strong adherents of the Temple life. Think about John’s father, Zacharias. Where was he, after all, when he heard what his son would be, and what he would proclaim? He was serving in the Holy of Holies. Why? Because he was as much a part of that Temple hierarchy as one could be. He was the very image of a religious. But, he was real. His faith was not in the Temple of God but in the God of the Temple. His faith was not in his own obedience to the Law of God, but in the God who gave that Law. He was not convinced of his own steadfastness, but of God’s.
Religion need not be a barrier to honest faith. It was never intended to be. It is but the ceaseless interference of fallen man that makes it so. The enemy still sows his seeds of sin in the fields of God. That is just as true in the very house of God. Sin takes hold, and man thinks to turn God’s house to his own purposes and his own advantages. To the deceiver’s children, this is an opportunity not to be missed! Look how the people flock to these places to meet with God! Look how obedient they are to their leadership! Why, all that remains is to set oneself amongst that leadership and that same obedience can be bent to your own ends. Sadly, it works. We see it over and over again. We see churches and denominations that have been powerful supports for the work of the kingdom of heaven on earth hijacked over time, turned to humanistic, man-centered programs that do nothing but fill the coffers of an unconcerned leadership.
Perhaps the scariest aspect of our difficulties with faith in this age of reason and empty religiosity is what we lose of our birthright as sons of the kingdom. Consider this: There is that occasion when a Roman centurion came to Jesus, seeking the healing of a favorite slave of his (Mt 8:5-7). Many a church today would be ranting against his abuse of power, telling him that such a killer as he must surely be has no business being in such a holy place. Many a church would launch into a fiery sermon against the societal evils that allow slavery to persist. They would be so caught up in their social causes that they would completely skip over the real concern that this man expresses. They would completely miss the fact that his concern was not for himself, not for whatever financial impact the loss of this slave might have on him. No, his concern is strictly and properly for the well-being of this one who is in his charge.
Done as You Have Believed
What is most striking, though, is the answer this man has from Jesus. “It will be done as you have believed” (Mt 8:13). Do you know, I’m beginning to think this is what happens to so many of our prayers when they seem to go unanswered. We have become fine prayers. Oh, yes, we can storm the gates of heaven, making sure God has no rest from our supplications. But, too often, we pray like the professional mourners mourn. We can display all the right emotions, make all the right sounds and gestures, and everybody around us will feel the appropriate feelings for the occasion. But, the truth is, those professional mourners aren’t mourning in themselves. They are expressing somebody else’s sorrow. Our prayers can get into that same problem. They aren’t really our prayers, they don’t express our beliefs. At best, they are expressing somebody else’s faith. Can we really think God is pleased to hear such empty chatter from us?
Look! He has given us the right to come to Him any time we desire. He allows us free entry into His throne room. Surely, when we come before Him in honesty – as David came to Him, as Moses came to Him, as Job came to Him – He is so pleased to see us, so pleased to answer us according to our need. But, here is a key factor in these three. They truly believed God to the best of their ability. They may not have known God fully and perfectly, but what they knew they believed, and they believed it unshakably. So, when they came to God, God was pleased to say, “It will be done as you believed.”
By the same token, when we come with our empty prayers, things prayed because we feel we must, because civility or ceremony seem to demand it I think we get the same answer. If we believe, prayer can accomplish much. If we don’t, if we are offering God words that are not our own, what reason have we to expect anything of Him? “It will be done as you have believed.” Whatever your words may have said, whatever formulaic prayer you may have spit out, whatever ‘repeat after me’ you may have repeated, it is not the words you uttered that matter. It is what you have believed. All the prayer in the world will not move God if we don’t believe what we’re saying. God isn’t interested in professionals, he’s interested in real and earnest profession.
Too much of our prayer life, even – or maybe particularly – in Charismatic circles, has become formula. Oh, if you’re seeking deliverance, you must include these phrases, these motions. You mustn’t forget to proclaim opposites. Yes, and if it’s a matter of demons (and when isn’t it), you must make sure to send them off to the dry places. Why? Because Jesus mentioned the dry places once when He wasn’t in the middle of chasing out demons. Of course, He seems to have implied that they won’t stay in such places, that they’re bound to come back, but we’ll ignore that part. It’s a formula. Just say the magic words, and God is bound to honor your request. You have authority, after all! Yes, but your authority is not found in incantations and rituals. Your authority is found in Christ. That authority cannot exist apart from faith believing. “It will be done as you have believed.”
If you can honestly say within yourself, never mind the verbalizing, that you truly and fully believe God can do, and would gladly be willing to do the thing you are seeking, then nothing else really matters. God is far more interested in honesty than in formality. Look at David. Look at the songs of prayer we see from his hands. These are not religiosity and ceremony, they are the earnest expressions of the full range of human emotion. David was honest with God. He also fully believed God. What God said went with him. Yes, he had his failures, but the overarching path of his life proclaimed what he knew, “God is right.” Even when he had spent long days praying that his son’s life might be spared in spite of his own sins, his prayers were offered from that founding principal: God is right. Do you know, it is because of that principal underlying his prayers that even in the loss of his son he knew his prayers had been heard. “It will be done as you have believed.” David believed God is right. Thus, when he learned his son had died in spite of his pleas, he did not rail against God, he went and worshiped Him. It had been done as he believed.
Occasionally, we come to our own recognition of this. But, it is only occasionally, at least for most of us. We pray in earnest that God would develop some characteristic or another in us that we know we are lacking and we know He desires. We come to a moment in life where that desire is really and truly ours and yet, we also know we cannot become what we desire apart from some powerful assistance from God. So, we pray, and we mean it. Of course, before long, we probably forget it. Then one day it happens. Something comes up, and as often as not we find ourselves really annoyed by events. The trial is on, and we don’t much care for it. Then comes the quiet reminder: This is what you asked Me for, this is the training you petitioned Me for. It has been done as you have believed.
Father God, is that what is going on even this week? Oh! How we have been looking for answers in one direction, but are You working in another? We have been so wrapped up in physical issues, and they are huge issues as we measure things. You know that. They are huge and the leak so terribly into areas of emotion. Can it be, though, that You are answering a different prayer, perhaps an older one? Is this the thing, Lord, that You are working on those areas of our lives that are more critical in the eternal scheme of things; that You are indeed answering our prayers, just not the ones we’ve become so focused on?
Oh, God! If our eyes have been turned to things that don’t matter so much to such a degree that we have been ignoring the things of Your kingdom, forgive our self-centered foolishness! Let our hearts once more be turned to You, to Your plans and Your priorities. Let our eyes be on You, and not the things of the earth. Let our first concern be for Your kingdom, and Your righteousness, knowing – truly knowing – that You’ve got the rest covered.
Fear of God
This woman’s testimony, powerful as it was, came primarily from fear. She knew she couldn’t hide from this One Who knew His own power, and she was afraid of His displeasure. She was trembling because she was so afraid of having upset this one. That is, after all, the basic point of fear. It is to be afraid of somebody. In particular, it is to be afraid of having displeased somebody who has it in his power to do us harm. The greater that power, one supposes, the greater the fear that ought to infect us if we risk crossing him. So, given a God of infinite power, how greatly ought we concern ourselves with displeasing Him?
That is clearly something this woman understood. The same Power that had brought about this instantaneous healing in her body could as easily set itself in opposition to her wellbeing. If the Lord had caused His face to shine upon her, He could as easily turn away. She knew she had been healed, but now, seeing His reaction, she fears that the moment of healing may have brought on an eternity of condemnation.
This is a sort of fear we would do well to remember. We have this sense that we aren’t supposed to be afraid of God. God is Love, and Love is kind and forgiving and all that, so we figure we don’t have to worry about Him so much anymore. That is not a sound understanding of God. We might as well suggest that children ought have no fear of their parents, knowing that their parents love them. Love does not mean that we don’t correct, nor that correction will no longer include punishment. In fact, the love of God which we are called to emulate take the opposite tack. The love of God is such as is willing to suffer your own displeasure when it does for you what you need even when your need is not your want. The love of God will do right by you in spite of your offense. It is that same parental love that we are to display. I will do what’s right by my daughter even when every fiber of her own will wants something completely opposed to her best interests.
My daughter knows that if she breaks with my instructions there are going to be consequences when she is found out. She has figured out, I think, that however she seeks to hide things, she will be found out. If not, it’s only by willful blindness, because she’s seen it happen too many times to think otherwise. She knows that dad’s love for her includes punishment. She knows that dad’s punishments are not designed to be pleasing to her. I trust she also knows that those punishments are both deserved and fair. So, she has a degree of fear for her dad. It is not the fear that dad will cease to love her. It is the fear that he may know the truth and that knowing, he will do something about it.
Quite frankly, fear is at the base of most if not all of our willingness to comply with rules and regulations. The government that lacks either the will or the power to enforce its rule can no longer govern. It becomes meaningless. A speed limit that is never enforced, to borrow the much overused example, no longer limits. It becomes powerless to constrain because we are keenly aware that the powers who enforce that rule care little or nothing for it themselves.
We come to that same place with God, to our own detriment. We see that we have ‘gotten away with’ something, at least that’s our immediate impression, so we begin to convince ourselves that we can just keep on doing it. We know God forgives, so we begin to become unconcerned with His displeasure. Ah, He loves us. He’ll get over it. Nothing will come of it. We have lost sight of God! We do not remember His power. As hard as we find it to believe in His power to heal, we do not really even believe in His power at all! Oh, we say our little bits about how He created everything, how apart from His constant intervention nothing would continue to exist, but we don’t really believe it. How can I say that? I mean, after all, we confess these things all the time, right? Oh, we confess them, all right. We confess them like the Pharisees practiced righteousness – all ritual and no substance. If we really believed what we said about God, our least sin, our most insignificant slip of the tongue, our briefest out of line thought would have us in a state of collapse. We would not dare to joke about that old lightning bolt out of heaven coming to deal with our insolence. In short, we would never dare to take God lightly, to presume upon His goodness.
We may think that the fear of God is supposed to be something holier, something less fleshly. We may think that, but I think we think wrongly in doing so. If ever there was a One we should fear to displease, it is the God of all Creation. If ever there was One who can do us harm, it is He. Fear the One Who has power over your eternal soul! Yes, I say, fear Him! That’s the instruction and the warning we have from the very One Himself (Lk 12:5). Yet, we continue to think, “Oh, Dad… Of course you won’t do anything to trouble me. You love me too much.” Like a spoiled child, we are convinced we have Him wrapped around our finger. Woe to us if we fail to shake that foolish nonsense out of our heads!
Jesus Responds
Another shift of thought now. I would turn my eyes to the response Jesus gives to that woman’s confession. That response differs slightly in each telling of it. From Matthew, we hear Jesus saying, “Take courage.” This seems to be the standard response of heaven to those who have really understood its presence. Hmm. Perhaps, the shift in thought is not so sudden after all. Those who have understood the presence of heaven in their vicinity have always found the only proper reaction was fear. Here is something utterly beyond experience. Here is something that comes as proof of whatever vague beliefs we may have held. Here is the profound declaration that all that we have heard about God is true, and now, His presence is in our presence. Woe is me! I am undone! What other possible response is there to discovering one’s sinful self before the Righteous One? And yet, His response is invariably, “Take courage!” No, He has not come to destroy you for your wickedness, but to heal you from your spiritual disease.
Now, if I may trust some of the less literal of the translations, this is not just a command for the moment. I rather like the phrasing that Wuest gives to this verse: “Cheerful courage, daughter, be having it constantly.” Notice a couple of things about that. First, it is not the stoical courage of those who face near certain destruction that is called for, it is a cheerful courage. It is courage founded on the certainty of a good outcome. That is a much different thing. That is not the courage to face a foe, but the courage of knowing that this One Whom you rightly fear, Whose power over you is absolute, is well disposed towards you. Glory to God! He is well disposed towards you. As Paul shouted out, if this be so, who can stand against us?
See, also, that the courage she is called to is to be a constant in her life from this point forward. “Be having it constantly.” What should we understand from this, if not that this God who is favorably disposed toward her in that moment is proclaiming that His disposition is not subject to change! I am right back at that steadfast love which God was talking to me about at the start of this passage. That is what He is proclaiming when He says, to have this confident courage constantly. That courage is not based on our present circumstance. It is not based on us at all. It is a courage we can have because He has given us a reason for courage, and the reason He has given us is not subject to change. Whatever may come, however severe our trials may be in this life, the Source of our courage is unchanging. Whatever troubles we may face, we yet have cause for cheerful courage, for nothing – no height or depth, no rise or fall, no power in heaven or upon this earth – nothing can separate us from the Love Who has given us reason to be cheerfully courageous. His Love is not fickle. His Love, unlike my own, never changes, never waivers, never questions itself. It is steadfast, and so our courage has cause to be steadfast.
Neither Luke nor Mark note this particular command. They do, however, concur on the message that “Your faith has made you well.” That is the one common thread of Jesus’ message that comes through in all three accounts. I am tempted to say that this is not precisely a true statement, but then I have to acknowledge that what comes from the mouth of Jesus is surely more authoritative than I. It seems incorrect. If her faith had been the source of her healing, then surely we are back at works. At its core, that healing comes because Jesus, the Son of God, has provided healing for this woman. It was not something she wrested from Him, nor something she had tricked out of Him by sneaking up on Him. The Son of God, even as the Son of Man was not, I don’t suppose, to be taken by surprise. So, at the most essential level, it seems her healing flows not from her faith, but from His essence. Yet, He attributes it to her faith.
What shall we say to this? Well, we could turn to Paul, I suppose, and recognize with Him that even the faith that we possess is ours by the grace of God. In other words, it is not we who work up faith in ourselves, but God who places faith within us as a gift. It is nothing we earn, but something we find in our accounts quite by surprise. Is it even possible, I wonder, that where God has implanted this gift of faith that the one who receives such a wondrous gift would not respond? Here, once more, is that struggle to hold fast to both the sovereignty of an almighty God and the seeming certainty of man’s free will. If God is sovereign, and He has sovereignly determined that a man shall have faith unto salvation, then it is impossible that even the most willful and rebellious man could refuse what faith reveals. Yet, if man is free to choose, then doesn’t that possibility remain? The best I can offer is what, if memory serves, Martin Luther offered: the will of man was never truly free until faith revealed the choice. Prior to that point, no possibility was presented to man except to continue in sin’s bondage. It is only when the option of righteousness and pardon, the option of reunion with his rightful homeland is made evident that free will has anything to choose. With clear eyes and a mind unfettered, it should be evident that given such a choice, a will that is free will inevitably choose the better option. Perhaps, then, we should accede that there is no conflict between a sovereign God and a truly free man.
So, return to this statement. “Your faith has made you well.” Is this not of a piece what that command to take courage? That same God who has so surprisingly given her sound cause for courage gave her the faith he now commends in her. Well, as that courage which is commanded her is founded on the realization of God’s unfailing love for her, so, too, is the faith she has found. See, although it comes as a free gift of God, it is now declared “yours.” He is not going to take it back! This is just as wonderful a piece of news as the fact that His attention upon us is not going to be to our destruction!
OK, before I turn to the last part of Jesus’ message to this woman, there is something I feel pressed to address. Too often (and to my thinking, once would be too often) I have heard people come away from passages such as this, where the connection between faith and healing are so evident, with the opinion that where healing is missing, faith must be missing, too. They somehow manage to conclude that this correlation between faith and healing is some sort of absolute, and in so doing, they fall into the same error Jesus corrected in His disciples, if they would but read that passage as well. They fall into giving the same sort of foolish counsel that Job’s so-called friends had for him.
The simple evidence of life experience should be sufficient to show up the foolishness of this attitude. Are we really to suppose that every person who has ever been to hospital and emerged healthy is automatically declared a person of real and earnest faith? Are we to suppose that physical recovery from ailment is the one certain sign of salvation? It would be foolish to suggest such a thing, and yet this is but a natural conclusion to reach from such a starting supposition. It is as reasonable, on that basis, as the idea that those whose illnesses continue must somehow lack faith. If these folks intend to hold to the one conclusion, they must also accept the other. If they refuse the other, they must also refuse the one. The simple truth is that, yes, God is the source of all healing. The truth is that God showers His blessings upon both good and evil. So He says of Himself. The problem that lies at the root of this misconception is that we tend to assign more importance to the physical than to the spiritual.
That returns me to the end of that command Jesus gives to this woman. First, there is that message of “Go in peace.” This again confirms the simple truth that what God has done He is not going to now turn around and undue. But then, as Mark relates it, there is this odd message: “Be healed of your affliction.” OK, well, wasn’t she already healed? Wasn’t that kind of the point, here? She had already felt the change, and Jesus had felt the power. So, what sort of command is this? Well, of first importance, perhaps, is that this command, much like that command to have courage, has that constant, continual aspect to it. The Amplified Bible has it as “Be continually healed.” Yet, on a physical level this doesn’t make a great deal of sense. If healing has happened, it has happened. There is nothing much more for us to do about that, nor for the doctor. The job is done, there’s nothing to continue.
I so want us to understand here that the issue is not her physical healing, it is the spiritual healing that underlies the physical. That is ever and always the focus of ministry. Physical healing is less than worthless if the spiritual healing has not taken place. Perfect health is a curse if it prevents us from seeking the kingdom in spirit and in truth. At the same time, the most debilitating of illnesses is as nothing – it is but a light and momentary affliction – so long as the soul knows its rest. That is the healing that matters. That is the import of John’s prayer. “I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” (3Jn 2). If the soul does not prosper in accord with a heavenly prosperity then all other respects are meaningless and good health proves nothing. Yet, where the soul prospers, it is certainly desirable that the body should reflect the soul’s condition. It is certainly desirable that our providence in life manifest what God is doing internally. It is desirable, but it is not a necessary matter. It is not something that we can demand of God as our undeniable right. We can pray that it be so, we cannot insist. And whether it be so or not, His command to us, as to this woman, continues unabated, “Have cheerful courage constantly, knowing My Love does not change. Be healed in spirit constantly, whatever your material situation. Do not, under any circumstances, allow your physical condition to dictate your spiritual condition.” Hold fast to that faith which has been delivered to you, for it is My gift and I shall not take it back.
One other aspect of the message deserves a special degree of consideration. That is the word ‘Be’ that is used here. At first glance, it seems rather absurd to tell somebody to go and be healed. You may as well tell them to go and be a bird, for all that the thing commanded lies in their power to achieve! However, the command is not to go heal yourself, it is to be healed. To be, in this case, might best be understood as to possess as one’s own property. With that understanding of the term, this command fits well with the whole of Jesus’ message. Have a constant cheerful courage, knowing that the faith God has given you is yours, and will remain yours. Go in peace, knowing God’s steadfast love for you is not going to change. And be continuously in possession of this healing you have obtained. It shall not be rescinded. Like faith, it was given to you as a gift from your loving Father, Who changeth not. He shall no more rescind the physical gift than He shall rescind the spiritual. Chesed does not allow for such a thing.
The gifts of God, be they the gift of faith, of healing, of the Spirit, or of any manner of talent or passion that He chooses to impart to His children, are always of this nature. They are ours to possess. By His giving of them, He has made them our own property. He has, in some wise, relinquished any hold upon them, and also to some degree, He has relinquished His say as to their use. But, His gifts are good and perfect gifts. His best gifts are reserved unto those who will incline themselves to their right use. He seeks good stewards to whom He can entrust those gifts, knowing that they will be used to best advantage in the hands of those good stewards.
Of course, any suggestion of a limiting of God’s power, even when self-imposed, has to have caveats. God always retains the right to overrule. Yet, does He exercise that right? I don’t see that He does, but this, too, is of His own choosing. He may, however, opt to provide another with an opposing and superior gift to rein in the one who would abuse His gifts. That is evidenced in the life of King Saul, is it not? He was given the gift of rule over the people of God and, though he abused his power and refused his God, still that gift was left in his hands. Even when God moved on and selected the next king to rule over Israel, He selected one who would heed His own restraint. He selected one who would not force the issue, but would await that previous king’s removal by other means. Likewise, the empowering of the Philistines was as much by God’s will and to His purpose as was the anointing of David. Power, wherever it resides, resides only as God determines, and it remains only so long as He is served by its being where it is.
How was God served by leaving power in the hands of Saul? This is difficult to say. I suppose that in part, at least, He is served by the evidence it gave of David’s faithfulness by way of contrast. It also gave evidence to His own sovereignty in that Saul was removed from the throne despite his every machination. Over and over, we come across the record of those who thought to somehow cheat God out of what had been prophesied of them. The saddest part of those records is that every one of those men could have easily avoided the prophesied result by a simple and earnest repentance. Instead, they determined in themselves to continue in their rebellion and thus fulfilled the prophecies of their own accord. One need look no further than Jonah to see that the prophecy is not so much a mandate of future woe as a warning to change course. Those who change course change the result. Those who refuse can only expect the prophesied end of the story, however much they seek to rewrite the intervening chapters.
So, yes. Even as God relinquishes His gifts into the hands of men (and we must recognize that many, if not most of these gifts are given to good and evil alike), He retains the right of control. If He restrains Himself from exercising that right, well, that, too, is His right and His choice. It does not change His authority, only His exercise of that authority. How like this is Paul’s example. He told the Church that of course he had the right of their support as he ministered to them. Of course he would be within proper bounds to request payment. It was within his rights, but it was not within his habit. No, he would prefer to support himself, that the Gospel of the kingdom not present a burden to any man. His rights had not changed. The right of any other minister to require what he, himself did not had not changed. They were as free to require support as he was to neglect that support. Authority is not limited by its exercise.
So, too, as God gives us these gifts, He gives us a certain responsibility over those gifts. What becomes ours becomes our responsibility. When He gives us the gift of children, it is quite evident in very short order that the gift carries a great weight of responsibility with it. It may not be quite so obvious with other gifts. Responsible faith, for instance, is not something that makes immediate sense to us, and yet the gift of faith brings a certain responsibility to its recipient. The gift of the Spirit certainly bears with it a great responsibility. Paul makes note of it. “You are the temple of the Spirit. Keep it clean!” All of these gifts, at the very least, bring the responsibility of caring for the gift.
There was an adage given on one of the tapes my daughter used to listen to, that said, “the more you have, the more you have to take care of the things you have.” That is just as true in things spiritual. That is just as true of those gifts that God showers upon us. They have to be taken care of. The physical training we have in such matters is but preparation for the more significant matters of the spirit. Has He given faith? Take care of it. Nurture it. Protect it. Has He given healing? Feed it. Shelter it. Has He given talents? Put them to work, but not for sordid gain. Put them to work to support the kingdom which is, after all, your inheritance. Has He given salvation? Oh, then, give all diligence to working out that salvation! Yes, never take it for granted, but let your every fiber be devoted to treasuring and guarding that salvation! It is yours, now. If it is allowed to tarnish and fade (were it possible), it shall be nobody’s fault but your own.
Testify
Here’s another critical gift that God bestows to His children: their testimony! Look at this woman. She has received a testimony and yes, at the first, she fears to speak of it. Yet, she knows it is there. She knows what has happened, and the reality of it cannot be denied even if it cannot be explained. So, when once that fear is mastered, she simply can not stop the flow of her words. Once that testimony is given a chance to be heard, it will not be stopped. Nor can we suppose that this was the last time that story would be told!
There is a kingdom principle at work in this, although it may not be the one we think. I know many who hold that we must vocalize our prayers, our faith, our whatever, in order for there to be power in what is said. However, this example runs counter to that position. The woman has already obtained what she desired of the Lord, and not yet said a word. I have no doubt that if she had chosen to walk away in that moment, her physical healing would have been just as real in spite of her never speaking of it. I also have no doubt that somebody somewhere knew this woman, knew her plight. They would not be unaware of the change in her. If she had not spoken here, there would yet be other occasions where she must. Yet, because she chose obedience, the impact of her words were great.
Notice the principle I have in mind, though: The power of her words was not in obtaining what she wanted, but in accomplishing what the King wanted. The power of her words lay in their expressing a real and profound faith. “That which arises from faith arouses faith.” That’s the whole point of testimony. Every real testimony is an expression of faith. It may be of faith rewarded or faith newly discovered, but it expresses faith. Because it expresses faith, and because it displays the truth that the faith it expresses has good foundations, it has the power to stir up faith in those who hear.
Words are not necessary between man and God, at least not in audible form. He Who knows the mind of man can easily meet with man there. I’m not even that certain that audible speech is of particular necessity in dealing with principalities and powers. What I do know is that the spoken word is a powerful tool to the changing of men’s minds. Why do you suppose advertising works? Why do you suppose we listen to those who would govern us? We listen so as to form an opinion. We also recognize that the more personal – or at least seemingly personal – the message we hear, the more fully involved the speaker is in his message, the more impact it has on us. This is what testimony should be! It is the Gospel message, but on its most personal, most fully involved level. It is therefore one of the most potent tools of ministry that any man can have.
This is hardly the only example we have of the power of testimony. But, one other shall suffice for the moment. In the book of Acts, we read about Crispus, another leader in another synagogue. He heard the message of Messiah, and He believed. He believed in the Lord, and his belief was sufficient to bring his family along. Indeed, not just his family, but his household. Even those who served as servants or slaves in his household were impacted by that change in him which was expressed in word and deed. But, the impact of his faithful testimony goes even beyond that. The record shows that “Many in Corinth heard of this and believed themselves” (Ac 18:8). Well, clearly they could not hear what he didn’t testify! No, he heard and he believed, and believing, he spoke and many believed.
So, the question comes down to us. Never mind who has believed our report. Who has heard it? In much the same way as my method of study is to provide the Holy Spirit with material to work from, to do a bit of legwork so that He can bring the pertinent parts before my eyes; so with testimony. When we testify, we give God an opportunity to show His power to others, as well as to ourselves. Putting these studies up on the web is one small way of doing this. More powerful by far is the personal, face to face communicating of what God has accomplished in us. It’s not just about delivering the message to unbelievers that they might believe, as important as that is. It’s also about delivering the message of faith to the faithful, that faith may be aroused by what a risen, active faith has received.
Occasionally, in these studies, I have stopped to write a bit about what God has been doing most immediately in my life. The beginning of this particular portion of study was interrupted, as it were, for several days as God expressed to me in no uncertain terms just how unfailing His unfailing love for me was. The weeks since have been of the sort that I really need to remind myself of that fact over and over again. How wonderful, then, that He took the time to prepare me. Oh, there have been days when I lost sight of the Truth again, but He has prepared my mind, and He has been faithful to His word, reminding me of those preparations when circumstances and trials seemed certain to overwhelm me.
How wonderful, then, how confirming, that I should hear the current Tape of the Month from Ligonier Ministries coming at the end of this same study. As I drove to work Monday, I put that tape in and what should I hear R. C. talking about as his key point for the message? The chesed of God! That same, steadfast love, that same loyalty, the faithfulness of our covenant God even to us covenant breakers. As I continued listening to that tape over the next few commutes, I heard many things from this favorite teacher of mine that reflected the same observations I had explored in considering that chesed of God.
I think, in particular, of that scene of Jesus asleep in the boat as the storm threatened His disciples. Granted, that is a study that came somewhat farther back in time for me, but as I had been teaching that portion in home group, it coincided with the beginning of this study, and that deep revealing of God’s love. So, the two had collided in what I presented, for along with that steadfast love of God comes the certainty of salvation, another theme we had been exploring of late. It is that difficult matter of accepting God’s sovereignty. But His sovereignty and His love are inseparable one from the other as they apply to the child of God. I suppose they are just as inseparable even when He is dealing with His enemies. Even when He must express His wrath, His steadfast love never changes. His mercy always shines through even His worst judgments on sinful man, and so, we are assured of a place amongst the remnant. So, we are assured that in His love for us, we shall indeed persevere; we shall indeed be preserved and we shall most assuredly come to that day when we shall see Him as He truly is.
Glory to God! Glory to the Father Whose unfailing love for us is our hope and our strength! My God! It is that love which gives me strength and confidence like David’s to stand, no matter what might happen. It is that love which gives me the confidence of Paul to proclaim that nothing, no matter how powerful, can separate me from Your love. It is no bragging in my abilities, but only the bold declaring of Your own Truth and of Your great Power. It is only because of Your chesed expressed over me that I can claim any certainty. Oh, but I shall sing the praises of Your certainty! What has ever been more true of You, my King, than what is written: ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never changes.’ This is my confidence, Lord. This is the foundation upon which You have lain my faith, and I know myself secure in You. Thank You. Bless You. May my life be, in some small way, worthy of the attention You give it.
