SERMON ON MIRACLES OF JESUS

Power over Sickness

Luke 8:40–56

First there is Jairus, who falls at Jesus' feet, begging him to come and heal his twelve-year-old daughter, who is on the verge of death.

But Jairus will have to wait! This scene belongs to a poor sick woman who has her own reason for desperation. She has been bleeding for 12 years: according to the law, this makes her ceremonially unclean; effectively excluded from all religious life. She is helpless and powerless, no-one can cure her.

Only, she's heard about this man who heals. She dares to fight her way through the crushing crowd and merely touch his cloak. She's not bold enough to demand his attention. She believes, and desperately hopes that a touch will be enough.

But Jesus notices. He feels the healing power flow from him: despite the crush of people, and the urgency of his journey, he knows that a desperate soul has made contact with him.

So he stops: he makes sure that everyone knows this woman is healed; she is no longer unclean. And he makes sure that they know that it is his power that has done it.

Jesus has power over sickness.

Power over Death

In scene four, we're back with Jairus. While Jesus delayed, his daughter has died. Jesus may have power over sickness, but no-one has power over death. For this little girl it's too late.

I think Jesus' delay was deliberate, just as in John's gospel, when he hears that his friend Lazarus is sick and close to death, he deliberately stays away for two more days so that Lazarus dies.

In this little sequence of power-plays, there is no value in showing once again that he has power over sickness. Jesus is going for the big one. He has power over death itself.

So, to everyone's incredulity, Jesus presses on. And with a mere two words of Aramaic, he brings this little girl back to life.

Nothing and no-one on Earth has power over death, yet for Jesus it is effortless.

So there we have four scenes of desperation, and four demonstrations of power. If I were the kind of man to use alliteration, I would say that Jesus demonstrated power over destruction, demons, disease and death. In these scenes we see Jesus exercising power in every sphere of fallen creation.