In this sermon, the preacher discusses two stories from the Bible: the healing of Jairus' daughter and the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. He emphasizes the compassion of Jesus towards both Jairus and the woman. The preacher also highlights the crowds that followed Jesus, some out of curiosity and others out of genuine interest. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the everlasting power of Jesus and how he never fails.

Mr. Magiño led us in prayer this evening. He's a member of the board here, and he was best man at my wedding. So believe me, I'm glad to see him again and have him here in a meeting with us. He says he's going to check up on him. It's a good thing to have old friends to check up on you. We were just singing in the song, Jesus Never Fails, and I didn't tell the song leader to use this. The song said, in light dark and bitter hour, love will still prevail. Trust his everlasting power, Jesus will not fail. That's what I'm going to talk about tonight. So it's real nice that the song has the subject in it, you know, sort of gets us ready for it. In the gospel of Mark, there are a lot of these episodes about the Lord Jesus. Mark was given to just telling the things that happened. In the fourth chapter of Mark, we remember that there was something that took place. The Lord Jesus had gone to sea with the disciples, and a great storm had come up. It had filled the boat, and everybody was scared half to death. They woke the Lord, who was sleeping in the back of the boat, you remember, and said, Let's do something about this. So the Lord Jesus got up and said, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm, and the people said, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Well, then after that, he went over, and they got on the other side of the sea after this ride. And he met the man who was possessed of a legion of demons. And there's a wonderful story about that. We're not going to be able to touch on it during this series, but Oh, what a wonderful story where the Lord Jesus showed that he had power over the demons and could cast them out. Then he came back. He came back across the sea after he had cast the legion of demons out of the man who was possessed. And as soon as he landed back on the other side, there was a great crowd of people waiting for him. Tremendous crowds. And in these crowds of people, there were two particular people. And it's these two sorrowful folk that I want for us to consider this evening. Now, it's the story of two people, and in a sense it's two stories, but it really is one story. And the whole purpose of this story, in my estimation, is to show us the sensitiveness of the servant of God to human sorrow. Last evening, we spoke of the mystery of human suffering. Tonight, I want for us to learn something of the sensitiveness of the Lord Jesus to human sorrow, and his ready and his eager response to human sorrow. These stories have come to us across the millennia, and we, as we read them, we enter into them, and we sort of feel the heartbeat of the Lord Jesus. We have an empathy with him here that in many of the episodes we don't find. In this one, we get right next to his heart. And we learn something, or we should learn something, of the appreciation of the tenderness and the strength of the attitudes and activities of the Lord Jesus. And as a result of that, we should enter into the peace and the joy that can displace turmoil and sorrow in our hearts. This is why these stories, or this story, was told to us, to reveal the fact that the Lord Jesus feels our feelings. He enters into our lives. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. So, let's begin our reading in chapter 5 of Mark, and at verse 21, shall we? Mark, chapter 5, and verse 21. And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay hands on her, that she may live and be healed. And Jesus went with him. And much people followed him and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. Behold of thy plague. And while he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith to the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter and James and John, the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talithicum I, which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished, with a great astonishment. And he charged them straightly that no man should know it, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat. Now, this is quite a story. And it's a story we all love. It's a story we are all very familiar with. But it is a story that has a perpetual message for us. It comes right down to where we live. So we begin with the crowds. Oh, the crowds. The crowds that always thronged around the Lord Jesus when they knew where he was. Crowds, crowds, pushing and hauling each other, almost pushing him into the sea on one occasion. And here it says he was near the sea. Crowds, crowds, crowds of people. Curious people. People had heard about this man, and they wanted to see him. Interested people. People that were concerned about what he had to say, and wanted to be close by so they wouldn't miss a word. But most of these people, totally ignorant of what was within his heart. Interested, curious, yes, but not really involved with him. They were the crowd around on the outside. And the disciples? Oh, there were some of them around all the time. They went everywhere he went. Loyal-hearted fellows. Loyal-hearted women. But very largely ignorant of what was in his heart, really. It struck them as a strange thing for him to say, They didn't know what it meant to him to have somebody come up and touch his clothes. They were astonished at the things he did, but they didn't really understand. Now, I'm concerned this evening about three people who were involved in this story. Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. The woman, the unnamed woman. And Jesus. Let's begin with Jairus, shall we? He was the ruler of the synagogue. He was a Jewish man. He was a leader in his community. He was the kind of man that when he wanted something, he went straight through to the point to get it. So, when he came to Jesus, he came directly to him. There's somebody else you have to think of when you think of Jairus. That's his wife. She's not mentioned in the story, but she's there. Where's she? She's at home. She's sitting at the side of the little girl, unquestionably. She is the concerned mother who stayed home while the father left the house practically in a panic. Left the house and thought, The prophet is near somewhere. I'll find him. And hurried away and found the crowd and broke through the crowd and came to him and manifested his parental love by saying, My little daughter. And Luke tells us something here that Mark doesn't tell us, and that is, that was his only daughter. She was ill. She was 12 years old. 12 years old. Anything in this world more lovely than a little girl 12 years old? There had been 12 years of sunshine and music in the home of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. This little girl growing up in the home. Lovely little girl. And the bud was just about to blossom into womanhood, and he says she's at the point of death. The music has stopped. The cloud has come over the home. There's silence there. People walk softly in that house. She's at the point of death. Now let's think about the woman. I mean the unnamed woman. The woman who came in the crowd. She had an issue of blood, it says. And of course, this doesn't mean anything special to us unless we know the context. She's sick. She's very sick, according to the story. But do you know what was involved in having an issue of blood? If you're acquainted with the 15th chapter of Leviticus, you know what was involved. For written into the law of Israel in Leviticus chapter 15, it tells all about women who have an issue of blood. The first thing is they're to be turned out of their home. So she was divorced. Her husband had put her away, according to the law. She had lost her home. That isn't all. She has no more social life, because anyone with an issue of blood was ostracized from society. She not only lost her family, her home, she lost her friends. She was an outcast. But not only that, that almost seems enough, doesn't it? But not only that, she had no religious life, because anyone with an issue of blood was to be excommunicated from the religious community. No home, no friends, no comfort in her religion. Twelve years of this. Twelve years of this. Twelve years of agony. What is the testimony about this? She'd had a little substance when it all started. She hadn't been turned out without anything, but she had spent everything she had on physicians. And it says she rather grew worse. So it was getting deeper and deeper and deeper every day. Jairus, twelve years of sunshine. Devastated. The woman, twelve years of suffering. And they both came to Jesus the same day. Isn't that interesting? What about Jesus? He was the other one we wanted to be concerned about tonight. Well, we've been with him this week several times. We've heard him call a publican from the tax collector's office to come and walk with him and be a disciple. We've seen his power raise a man from a pallet on which he had been lying for thirty-eight years. Here in Mark, as I said just prior to this, he had demonstrated his power over the forces of nature, so that even the wind and the waves obeyed him. And he had demonstrated his power over the demons in ordering the legion of demons to leave the man. Now what? Now, what about him in this circumstance? What will he do now? Now, both of these people came to Jesus, but they did not come the same way. Did you notice that? They both came the same day, but they did not come the same way. One came privately. The other came publicly. One came openly and definitely. The other came quietly and just caught at his clothes. Well, what does the story tell us? That when Jairus came, he said, my little daughter, Laius, at the point of death, please come and lay your hands on her and she'll be healed. And oh, the agony and oh, the appeal in this father's voice as he calls on the Lord Jesus, of please come. And so it says Jesus went with him. His heart immediately responded. His compassion was immediately seen. His compassion for whom? Well, for Jairus, of course, not for the little girl. His compassion was for the parent. He understood this father's heart. It was for Jairus' sake. He has no pity for the little ones who die. They don't need his pity. It's for those who live that he has pity. He's different from other men in this way. And so, as soon as Jairus asked him to come, it says he went with him. But then he delayed. He showed his compassion by the immediateness of his response. And then he stopped. Why did he stop? To talk to a woman. And Jairus must have thought, hey, Zay, come on. But it was for Jairus' sake he stopped. For Jesus knew that Jairus' daughter had already died. And he paused to lead Jairus into an atmosphere in which Jairus could be leased. He paused so that he might lead this father into an atmosphere in which the father might be leased. And just about then the messengers came from Jairus' house. Just about then. Not quite then. This woman had stopped him. And this woman had clutched at his clothes. Tremendously dramatic situation this. She clutched his clothes. Oh, the agony. The long years of total frustration. The pain and the tears that were racked up into this woman's clutch of his clothes as he went by. For she had said in her own mind and heart, hearing that he was to come by, if only, if only, I could touch his clothes. I've seen him do some wonderful things. If only I could touch his clothes. And so she came through the press. Through the throng. She made her way. She elbowed through until she came to where he was. And scooping down, she clutched his clothes. And then he stopped. But as he stopped, she felt the strength come back into her body. She knew that she was well. And then he said, who touched me? Of course, this threw everybody into a sort of a, well, what do you mean? Just people all over the place. A lot of people have touched you. No, he said, one has touched me. And he turned. And he looked. He looked at each one. He looked at the crowd. Who touched me? He knew who touched him. But he wanted her to come out. He wasn't going to put the finger on her. He wanted her to come out to him. And it says she, fearing and trembling. And you can understand this, can't you? Here she has been brought front and center. She thought she was going to stay in the background, in the wings. Way back where nobody would see or hear or know anything about it. Just clutches clothes. And now she's brought right out in front of this whole crowd. And she came fearing and trembling. And fell down in front of him. And she told him all her story. And here's the crowd standing around. And listening to this woman tell of her 12 years. And here's Jairus standing. And for all his agony, and all he is so anxious to give home, he listens to all that is transpiring here. He hears the testimony of 12 years of agony. He sees it healed. And he hears the words of Jesus as he says, Go into peace. Go into peace. Because that's what he said. How could Jairus believe? Remember, Jesus said to him, don't be afraid, only believe. How could Jairus believe? By hearing the words of the Lord Jesus say, Go into peace. My, how wonderfully the Lord deals with people. And then the messenger arrived and said, Thy daughter is dead, why botherest thou the master any further? The uttermost desolation. And then he hears Jesus say, Don't be afraid, only believe. The uttermost consolation. Here he had seen a demonstration of the power of the one who said to him, Only believe. He had heard him say to this woman, Thy faith has made thee whole. What strength in this man's sorrow. So you see, one of the lessons that we learn here, it seems to me, is that there is method and purpose in the halting of Jesus. There is meaning in his delays. I think this is a lesson we all need to learn, don't you? That sometimes he waits. Sometimes he doesn't come quite as quickly as we in our concern feel that he ought to come. But there's meaning in it. If he delays, it is to do us good, just as it was to do Jairus good. So, as soon as he had given the demonstration, and he had told Jairus, Don't be afraid, Jairus, only believe. There was no more cause for delay. He said, Now the rest of you people stay right here. Peter, James, John, come on, let's go. And away they went to the house. Quickly, on our way. And they hurried to Jairus' house. And as they came to the house, they hear the sounds of mourning, Eastern mourning, Wailing, crying out loud, Tearing of the hair, Crawling upon Gordon, Wailing, wailing, wailing. And when he came into the house, he said, What's all this to do, what's all this to do? She isn't dead, she's asleep. Well, it says, They railed on him, They laughed him to scorn, Because they knew a dead person when they saw one. What a, what a melee this turned into. Jesus comes into the house, A house full of wailing people. He says, Be quiet, now get out. When he had put them all out, Can't you just see Jesus saying, Outside, and his disciples, Peter, James, and John, Taking people and saying, Come on, get out, outside with you. Leave the place. And people saying, What a funny way to treat us. What's the matter with Jairus? He allows this kind of thing to go on. All going on, all this hubbub all the time. Jesus finally got the house empty. The place is quiet again. And taking the mother by the arm, Slipping his other arm through the arm of Jairus, the father. He walked quietly through the door, Into the room where the little girl slept. And the disciples followed him as well. And they five stood and looked down on the bed, And saw her lying there. And Jesus said, And here he slipped into the Aramaic. That's what this language change means here. That's why it says here, Which being interpreted means. He slipped into the household language. He slipped into the language that Jairus would use With his twelve-year-old girl. Not the commercial language of the day. And he said, Now we interpret that, it says, Which being interpreted is, But this is a harsh interpretation. What this really means is, Little lamb. Little lamb. Wonderfully revealing about the way the Lord Jesus felt about this situation. He came into the room with the father and the mother, And they looked down on the little girl, And he said, Little lamb, arise. And she jumped right up out of bed. What it says, it says, She rose and walked because she was twelve years old. That's the way a twelve-year-old gets up out of bed. And he delivered her to her parents. He gave her back to parents, To tears, To pain, To sorrow. But he gave her back because his compassion was for Jairus, And the mother. It was the father's heart and the mother's tears that moved him. She didn't need the compassion, the little girl. Now let's watch him with the woman again. Who touched me? Who touched me? There were many people thronging him, Many people thronging him, Pushing against him, Touching him. They are like the people who come to services, And like to hear about him. They're interested, Some are concerned, Some are curious. Lots of people come. They say that they, quote, Enjoy the service, unquote. But in almost every group that comes, There's someone who wants to touch them. Someone who senses a need. Someone who would like to get through, Like this woman needed to get through. May I say that if there is somebody here like that tonight, He knows about this. You have a need, And you need him to help. He knows this, And he knows if you really want to get through to him. He's waiting for the clutch. But having clutched him, she's got to come out. He needed her testimony. He needed her testimony. And he said to her daughter, And that's the only time this word is used in the Bible, Is on this occasion. It is an endearing epithet. Jesus said it to this woman, Daughter, go into peace. Go into peace. Behind this woman, There was twelve years of wilderness, Away from home, Away from society, Away from church. But now, wherever this woman went, I don't know where she went. Presumably she went back. But wherever she went, She went into peace. She was at rest in her soul, And in her heart. What a word. What a word from the Lord Jesus, After twelve years of agony. Well, that's the story. When we began, I said we wanted to look at a story tonight, An episode tonight that would tell us something Of the sensitiveness of the heart of the Son of God. Have you felt it? Have you sensed something of his understandingness Of how his heart responds To human sorrow? Have you been making application to your own circumstances? Have you thought of the times in your life When you really needed help? He was there. Are you thinking of your need of him tonight? He's here. He's waiting to respond. He's sensitive. Now I told you the other, I don't know whether it was in the morning or in an evening service, About the fact that my wife and I had a little girl. And she was born with a spinal bifida. And after three months, the Lord took her home. Jairus got his little girl back. We didn't. And as some of you have been listening to me this evening, You've been thinking, Well, it always seems like when you read these stories in the Bible, Everything comes out so great, But it didn't work that way with me. My pain persists. My child was taken. But do you know what this story says? This story is about his understandingness, His understanding heart. If our pain persists, If our circumstances remain, And our disability endures, We may know from what we've read tonight, He understands. We know his heart, His sympathy. We know his best. And if our pain persists, And in our circumstances we are called upon to endure, We may be sure the Lord who called back Jairus' daughter, And gave this woman peace, Will do the very best for us. And in his wisdom, We may count upon it, He's doing what is best. Against the ability of his actual power, Because he can do anything, He could have brought our daughter back. This story shows he can do anything. If, against the ability of his actual power, He does not choose to change our circumstances, Then we may know that we are faced with the disability Of some larger meaning of his grace. He cannot do what we would like to see him do, Because there's something better. He's saving for us. That's the kind of God we have. And that's the kind of Lord our Savior is. Shall we pray? Oh, we bless thee, our Heavenly Father, For such a Savior as the Lord Jesus. We thank thee that we know that he is sufficient For all of our needs. He is able to do what is best. But not only is he able, He is determined to do what is best, Because he loves us. We do not understand the way sometimes, But we thank thee for this record That helps us to understand his understanding. We thank thee, our Father, For thy word and for the way it speaks Deep down into our hearts. Do thou give us to understand. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.