Chapter 36, DA with DA, "The Touch of Faith."

All right, good morning Instagram, and good afternoon YouTube. Welcome, everyone, to Day 39 of D.A. with D.A. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Great to see. Oh, man, my hair is a mess. There we go. Good morning, everyone. So glad you are here. Day 39 of D.A. with D.A.

And I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Atlanta and then a little north of Atlanta, and got to hang out with some of the coolest people I know. My friend Tai, of course, who was on D.A. with D.A. uh, two days ago. Ty Gibson. My good friends Greg and Sherry. And, uh, I'm back now. I'm home. And it was a great trip, but, uh, it's always nice to sleep in your own bed with your own wife. Not that I slept with anybody else's wife, to be clear. Welcome, everyone. So glad you're here. People continuing to sign in for Day 39 of D.A. with D.A. Welcome, everyone. Man, look at that. The numbers just go up so quick.

All right, hello YouTube. Good afternoon. Just so you know, in case you're new to D.A. with D.A., the way that we do this is, and I suppose most of you at this point are probably inveterate followers of D.A. with D.A., but in case you're new, we do the live, typically in the morning, sometimes in the evening, depending on what my schedule is like. And then we do, uh, that later that day, it goes live on, not live, but it premieres on YouTube. And so, uh, here I'm speaking to Instagram, and here I'm speaking to YouTube. So welcome, everyone. If you're on Instagram, you're live. If you're on your YouTube, you are seeing it a little bit later. So glad you are all here.

So I'm just, just going to say hello to a few people this morning. Good morning, Sabine. Good morning, Aspen Girl 007. Good morning, D.A. with D.A. Sue. Ash15. Good morning, David. She says, good morning. The Nun Eleven. Good morning, Sharon Stokes. Oh, good morning from Newfoundland. Hey, Sharon, invite me to Newfoundland. I've always wanted to go there. Okay, let's see. What am I doing here? Leave me alone. Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. My phone just thought that I said, "Hey Siri." Okay. Okay. I'm not going to say that. My phone thought I said something, and then I did say something. Anyway, hello, everyone. If your name sounds like blank Siri, I'm, I'm not going to, uh, say your name. All right. Hello, Brady. Hello, Sharon Stokes. Yes, invite me to Newfoundland. I've wanted to go there my whole life. Please. The Newfoundland.

All right, everybody notices I've shaved my mustache. If you've been paying attention, that's because my only wife, my first wife, my beautiful wife, my amazing wife, Violetta, gave me permission to have a mustache for one week, and that week is now up. And when I come back from trips like this, uh, strangely, weirdly, she wants lots of kisses, and she does not like the facial hair. I actually wish, I wish she did. When I asked Violetta to marry me, I asked her, some of you might know the story, in just six weeks. So I met her, and six weeks later, I asked her to marry me. And listen, I'm, oh, I'm overwhelmingly positive and happy. I give her a 99.99 approval rating. But there were just a couple little details. By the way, we're coming up in four days on our 22nd anniversary. Four days. 22 years. This Sunday, April 4th, 1999, we were married. Anyway, I gave her a 99.99 approval rating. She's probably watching this right now. Um, but I, there was a couple things because I only had that six weeks that I didn't get to confirm with her. And those are things like, I didn't know she didn't like garlic. I didn't know that she didn't like onions. And I didn't know that she didn't like facial hair. So those have been the sources of some very interesting conversations in our marriage. But anyway, she's absolutely incredible. I came back, I shaved. We had a lovely afternoon yesterday. In fact, just a very quick story. Yesterday afternoon, Violetta and I are, well, we've been looking for a car. We've been borrowing a friend's car for like, weeks and weeks and weeks, and we're still looking for a car. And yesterday, we stopped into a dealership to have a look at a car that we might be interested in. And we met the nicest guy, um, a follower of Jesus, a beautiful man. And, and we spent as much time talking about Jesus as we did about a car. And, uh, it was just, it reminded me again that God has his, uh, all over the world, all different kinds of people. He was the loveliest guy. And, um, yeah, I hope it works out that I maybe I'll buy a car from him. He doesn't really care, but I just like meeting great people. And, uh, I didn't actually sit next to anybody on the plane yesterday because I had the, I got upgraded 1A. I got the upgrade yesterday, first class. And the plane was kind of a smaller place. There was nobody sitting next to me. Anyway, I could tell you some funny stories about that.

But anyway, welcome everyone. Day 39 of D.A. with D.A. I'll stop rambling. A couple quick announcements. Number one, uh, today we are actually supposed to be technically on chapter 37. I actually read chapter 37 this morning. Hopefully you did too. That is titled, "What the First Evangelists?" Yes, I read it this morning. But we're not going to cover it today. And there is a method to my madness. There's a reason for this. And the reason is, I've got a surprise that's coming starting tomorrow. And it's a surprise unlike our former surprises. Okay? So be prepared for that. And I'm purposefully saving today's chapter, which is technically chapter 37, "The First Evangelist," for tomorrow. Tomorrow, I think we're going to do two chapters. So tomorrow, we'll do 37 and 38. "The First Evangelists," and then chapter 38 is "Come Rest Awhile." Back to that theme of rest that we were just at in the chapter of "The Invitation." So anyway, we're going to have a little shorter session today. Short chapter, incredible chapter. Two stories. Two stories. Many of these chapters sort of have that two-story, um, sort of theme or motif. And so we're going to do two stories today. So we're, we're one chapter behind, but we'll make that up, I think, tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, the next day. So you definitely still should have read chapter 37 today if you're keeping pace, right, with us. But today, in our time together, in our live, we're actually going to do chapter 36 because we didn't do it yesterday. I had thought that I might have time to do it, but the way that the plane and the flight and then the stopping into the car and then meeting this really great guy and talking forever, I walked in my door last night at 9 p.m. And there's no way I was going to do a D.A. with D.A. 9 p.m. That's my bedtime. That's when I turn into a pumpkin is sometime around 9 or 10. So, um, that's announcement number one.

Announcement number two, don't forget that we have, only today's March 31st, 11 more days if you want to get a D.A. with D.A. t-shirt. I think they're pretty cool. But if you're interested in a D.A. with D.A. t-shirt, you can go look on my Instagram account. The information is there. If you don't have Instagram, what you want to do is just go to the, uh, conflict, beautiful, and then click on the shop link, and then it'll come up. And there's unisex design and also a female design in both colors, the red and the dark gray. And I think the designs are pretty cool. We've already had a lot ordered, and we're making this just a temporary thing. So they're not going to be available after April 11th. That's it. So if you want one, get one. I had several people reach out to me and say, "I got one in each color." And then I have my son reaching out to me from Australia saying, "Hey, I want one in each color." So I'm going to have to place my own order of like, well, I want two. My wife wants two. Both of my sons want two. That's going to be eight shirts. So, uh, anyway, that's the way it works when you have a family. Um, okay, so that's announcement number one about the t-shirts. Announcement number two was about the surprise. It's gonna show up tomorrow. Again, a different kind of surprise. I know you think you're on to me. You're like, "Oh, we know what it is. Every time he has a surprise, it's like Nathan Renner or D. Casper, Ty Gibson." I got a whole different kind of surprise showing up tomorrow. And I'm, it should arrive today. I'm hoping that it arrives.

Also, speaking of arriving, one more quick announcement for those of you that have expressed an interest in me signing your bookplate and writing one of my very favorite quotations from "The Desire of Ages" on a bookplate for you. I'm told by Mark at Types and Symbols that those are arriving this week. So as soon as those come to me, I'll be writing, writing, writing, writing, writing the personalized, um, letters of encouragement, not letters, but but words of encouragement and quotations for you. So if you signed up for that and you're like, "Hey, where's my bookplate? I want to put it in the inside of my D.A." It's coming. It is coming. Okay, that's all the announcements. We're in chapter 36. I'm going to start with prayer, and we're going to have a blast. We're going to have a blast. Welcome, everybody. So glad you're here. Estera, Christina, Dr. Imperio. Oh, we're so excited about your sermon in Poland. Yeah, about that. Yeah, I'm working on that. I'm working on that. I'm preaching a, a sermon for Poland. And I, I actually forgot about it, but I've been reminded by a lovely guy named Marek. And I'm on it. I'd much rather come to Poland. So why don't you invite me? I think I have been invited, actually. But, um, I'm happy to preach an online sermon as long as I get the promise that you will invite me to Poland and Newfoundland. I love to travel, as you might have guessed. Okay, let's pray and we're into this.

Father in heaven, what a beautiful day, Lord. Here in Colorado, the sun is shining. There's a crispness in the air. Spring is here. The birds are calling. Father, as I drove over today, I saw a flock of grouse. There's just this sense that the seasons are changing, and it's really great to be back in the United States and, and just feel the, the change, the shift of seasons. And Father, it's a reminder that that spring is coming, new life is coming. And Father, in both of the stories today, in our chapter, there's new life. New life emerges. And Father, what a great time to be doing D.A. with D.A. in that transition from winter through spring, heading into summer. Lord, be with us now. We want to experience new life. We want to experience healing. And, uh, we believe that you're going to bless us. We do believe that. So be with us now as we spend time in scripture, as we spend time in chapter 36, "The Touch of Faith." Is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. And amen.

All right, welcome everyone. This is D.A. with D.A. We are in chapter 36 of "The Desire of Ages," "The Touch of Faith." Now, this chapter is based on several passages again in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which we've noted. These are sometimes referred to as the synoptic Gospels. Right? Synoptic means same sight. And in, in these stories today, the healing of Jairus' daughter and also the healing of the woman, uh, who had a disease of bleeding, the, the accounts are similar, but again, as is often the case in the synoptic Gospels, there are slight differences. And I'm just going to say a brief, brief word about that. One of the reasons that we can have confidence in the life and story and sayings, teachings of Jesus is that there is enough difference to rule out absolute collusion in the Gospel accounts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There's enough difference to say, yeah, these guys clearly were not just copying one another. So that rules out collusion. And then, but there's also enough sameness to say, yeah, they're describing the same person, same event, same circumstances. And the illustration that is sometimes used, and it's a good one, is if you saw a car accident, and that car accident happened, um, say, in front of you. Well, you'd have a lot of different perspectives on that car accident. Let's say that you had the perspective of somebody who was in the car. Well, they would describe everything that they saw from the perspective of being in the car. Let's say there was somebody standing on an overpass, a bridge, looking down and saw the accident from above. They would describe the accident from their perspective. Let's say you had a person that was in an oncoming car that was heading toward the accident and they described what they saw. And then somebody who was maybe walking just adjacent to the road where the accident happened. So if you brought, as a good detective or as a good journalist, if you brought all of those, um, testimonies, all of those, those perspectives to bear on the action, there would be points. And this is key, especially through the experience, the sometimes traumatic experience, think of the person who was in the car. But through the individual perspectives, people would give an account that at times might appear to be contradictory. This is very important. They might appear like, "Oh, well, she said this happened, then he said this happened." But if you carefully sought, and as long as everybody was telling an accurate story, you would be able to detect the harmony within the stories, even though the stories are not identical. Okay? This is really, really a good example of what we have in the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke all tell very similar kinds of stories, but the differences are significant, especially from an historical perspective. Historians look at that and say, the differences are just the kinds of differences you would expect if, in fact, uh, the stories were, were genuine. Right? If we had absolutely identical stories, that would suggest collusion, and this would be regarded by historians as less than, um, desirable. But then you have like the whole John account, which is an entirely different outlook and perspective on the Gospels and on the life and ministry of Jesus. And so what we have today in, let's see, Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8, are similar stories, the same two stories, but similar accounts of those stories. But there are some differences. And I probably will highlight a couple of the differences. But I think just for ease this morning, I'm going to read the, I think I'll just read Matthew's account because I'm here right now. So Matthew chapter 9, and it looks like beginning in verse 18. Matthew chapter 9, beginning in verse 18. And, uh, this is what it says. Okay, here we go. Matthew chapter 9, beginning in verse 18. "While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, 'My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hands on her, and she will live.' So Jesus arose and followed Him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, 'If I may only touch His garment, I will be made well.' But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, 'Woman, be of good cheer; excuse me, daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.' And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, 'Make some room, for the girl is not dead, she is sleeping.' And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put out, He went in and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And the report of this went out into all the land."

Okay, I said I was only going to read the Matthew account, but I'm actually going to read the Luke account too. And the reason is, if we read them in just quick juxtaposition, you will be able to detect the overwhelming similarities, but also the important differences. Okay? So this is the Luke account. Luke chapter 8, beginning in verse 40. Here we go. "So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there was a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue, and he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house." Already several differences and several similarities. So one is, we know his name in the Lucan account, Jairus. The other is, um, he throws himself at His feet. I don't think the Matthew account had that part. And also, when Jesus comes back now, away from the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee to the western shore, the more Jewish shore, there's a crowd there waiting, right? They just resume. Remember Jesus had left because of the press of the crowd and he'd gone to the eastern shore, and instead of resting, he had this tumultuous, stormy experience, and then he found himself there in the land of the Gergesenes, and he was confronted by these demoniacs, and then they said, "Hey, leave, get out of here." He sent them away to Decapolis. So now Jesus has gone back across the lake, and he's on the western shore, and the people there greet him, they welcome him. So already, same story, similar enough accounts to say, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's not collusion, but those are the same stories." And so I'll just continue here. "Verse 42, for he had only, he had an only daughter about 12 years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes thronged him." As she was dying. Matthew's account, he says, "My daughter is dead." Now, you might be thinking, "Well, which of those is accurate?" The answer is, yes, they're both accurate. And I'll, uh, spend a little time explaining how a harmonization works when we're dealing with non-identical accounts, complementary accounts. Nothing here is contradictory. The accounts are complementary. And I might spend a little bit of time sort of showing how to harmonize, maybe, maybe not, we'll see how it goes. "Verse 43, now a woman having a flow of blood for 12 years." And I've never noticed until right now, never, that the woman was about 12 years old, and the woman had the issue of blood for 12 years. Very interesting. And I've read these stories many times. "Now a woman having a flow of blood 12 years, who had spent all of her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched Him on the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, 'Who touched Me?' When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, 'Master, come on, the multitudes throng and press You, and and You're asking, who touched Me?' But Jesus said, 'Somebody has touched Me, for I perceive power has gone out from Me.'" There's a new detail, right? That's not mentioned in Matthew's account. That's a new detail. "Power has gone out of Me." Some translations say, "Virtue has gone out of Me." "Verse 47. Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before Him. She declared to Him in His presence of all, in the presence of all the people, the reason that she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, 'Daughter, be of good cheer.'" We'll talk a little bit about that later. "'Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.'" "And while He was speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house and said to him, 'Your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the Teacher anymore.' But when Jesus heard it, He answered and said, 'Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid.'" By the way, just a moment ago, I mentioned that I'm preaching a sermon, an online sermon for Poland, and I've been asked to speak on that phrase, "Do not be afraid. Do not fear," which I'm looking forward to. "Jesus says, 'Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well.'" "When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and the mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her. But He said, 'Do not weep. She is not dead, she is only asleep.' And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand, and called, saying, 'Little girl, arise.' Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And commanded that she, and He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished. But He charged them not to tell, or to tell no one what had happened.'" Uh, what a beautiful, what an incredible series of stories here, right? Two women, uh, well, a young girl and a grown woman, a mature woman, both healed, both desperate situations. And there's a, there's a beautiful little tender detail. And remember that one of Ellen White's favorite words in describing Jesus, in describing His demeanor, His attitude, is the word "tender." She uses it over and over and over again. And there's a tender little detail in the Markan account where, when, in Mark chapter 5, when Jesus raises the little girl, He speaks in Aramaic. Mark makes this point. In fact, Mark does this three or four times in his gospel. He'll actually say, he'll transliterate the actual Aramaic words that Jesus said, and then he'll tell you what is translated. So in this case, in the Mark 5 account, Jesus says to the little girl, "Talitha cumi." "Talitha cumi." "Talitha" is little girl in Aramaic, and then "kumi," arise. "Little girl, arise." And there is significance to this. And I'll just briefly, briefly mention this. The fact that Mark, I'm not sure if it's, I can't remember if it's three or four times, has Jesus saying an Aramaic thing, and then he tells you what the Aramaic rendering means, suggests, some would say, proves that Jesus was often speaking Greek, right? That Jesus was often speaking the Greek language. So that when he purposefully shifted in certain circumstances into the Aramaic, Mark makes the point. Now, you might be saying, "Okay, well, we're reading in English, why would it matter what language Jesus was speaking?" Oh, okay. Well, one of the reasons, and there are many, but one of the most important reasons is, Greek was the language of everybody in the Greco-Roman world at this time. And if Jesus would have been wandering around place to place speaking Semitic languages like Aramaic, and Hebrew was primarily a written language at this point, then a lot of the non-Jewish-speaking peoples would have been crowding around saying, "Oh, this isn't for us. This can't be for us because this isn't our language. This isn't what, we don't know what he's saying." And so it's strongly suggestive, some would say proof positive, and there are other great little hints and indicators in the Gospels that Jesus often spoke the Greek language. But I just love the idea that that Jesus purposefully chose the common language that the most number of people could understand. It makes sense. He is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What are the purpose of words? The purpose of words is to communicate, to connect. So why would you purposefully speak a dialect that was known by fewer people if you had access to a dialect that was known by a great many people, right? In the Greek language at the time was what's called the lingua franca, which means it's kind of like the equivalent of English today, but even more so in a way because, well, maybe "more so" is the wrong word. Just like English is increasingly the lingua franca of today, the, uh, language. The Greek language was widely known and widely understood. And so there's that tender little detail there that Jesus, when he's in the chamber of death, he leans over to the little girl and he says, and I can just hear this in my, my mind's eye, "Talitha cumi. Talitha cumi." Little girl, arise. Which is very similar, of course, you'll remember back when Jesus raised the widow of Nain's son. Remember, she was a widow, she had an only son, and he touches the coffin and he says, "Young man, I say to you, arise." Okay? So just a brief note that in the Matthew account, the Luke account, and the Mark account, there are all slight differences, but the overwhelming trajectory of the story is the same. These are the same stories. The details are a little different. Why would they be different? Well, again, back to the car accident illustration. Where's the perspective? Where are you seeing this from? And we now know that even for those of us that believe strongly, believe heartily, believe that that objective truth is an actual thing, we now know that perception creates reality. Yes, there's objective truth. There are people that completely deny the existence of objective truth. They say it's all subjective, all relative. But, but that's not true. Even within the realm of objective truth, an event, a story, the way that that story is reported or related is is funneled through our own perspective, our own experience, our own unique personality. And then when we relay that story, it won't sound identical to somebody else's recitation of the exact same story. And that's what we have in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John. Enough consistency that we say, "Oh, yeah, this is the same Jesus, same stories, high level of historical reliability and dependability here." But collusion is ruled out. Okay, enough about that. Let's get into the story itself.

I'm in, um, "Desire of Ages," page 36. And we're on page, let's see here, 398 of the "Types and Symbols." And you'll notice I don't have a word here yet. I'm going to tell you why that is. I normally write my word right there. No word yet. Um, and I'll tell you why at the end, because I'm actually going to look for suggestions. I have a word that I like, but I don't love my word today. I like it, but I don't love it. Maybe through the course of our time together, I will come to love it. But I'm going to ask you if you guys have got some words that might even be better. There's no point in putting them up right now because I won't read them all. But a little bit later, I want to hear what your words are, and, uh, we'll see how I feel about mine. Okay, chapter 36, paragraph one. Here we go. "Returning from Gergesa to the western shore." Right? So from a primarily Roman, non-Jewish eastern shore, more remote, that's where Decapolis is located, the ten cities. The demoniacs have been healed. They've been sent out as missionaries. Jesus has now come back over to the western shore, which is largely Jewish. And the immediately, he's pressed, he's thronged. And if you notice how many times she uses the word "press," "press," "pressed," "pressed" in this chapter, and she's done that again and again and again. Jesus is so wildly popular. And part of the reason he's popular, again, we've noted this, is because there is a grand misunderstanding about the nature of Messiah and what he will do. This anticipation, this electric anticipation of the coming Messiah and what the Messiah is going to do, what they think he's going to do, is going to reach such a fever pitch that when we, in the very near future, actually just a few chapters away, we're going to be back in the Gospel of John, John 6, and they're just going to, after the feeding of the 5,000, they're just going to take him and just try to make him king because they think he's modest, they think he's demure, they think he's too humble, he's too accommodating, too acquiescent. And so they're just going to say, "No, no, we know how to deal with this guy. He's too humble. We'll make him king." And so, yes, the crowds are thronging him, but they're, in many cases, thronging him for the wrong reasons. They might not even know that. And there's a key point here. Jesus receives people even when their motivations are not pure as the driven snow. I want you to hear that. Jesus receives people even when their motivations are not perfectly pure. Jesus, how else would our motivations become pure than by spending time with Jesus, in the presence of Jesus? This is why we come to Jesus, just as we are. In fact, Jairus, who's going to come to Jesus right now, he's not coming to say, "Hey, Jesus, tell me about the kingdom of heaven." "Hey, Jesus, you told that parable, I want to better understand your perspective, where you're coming from." No, he's not coming looking for, for information, theological information. He probably believes that Jesus is flatly wrong about many of the things that he says and does. But this is key. When he comes into Jesus' presence, Jesus knows who he is. She actually calls him a "haughty rabbi." In other words, under other circumstances, if his daughter's not sick, if his daughter is not ill, if the physicians have been able to cure his daughter, he's not reaching out in desperation to Jesus. But this is key. Jesus doesn't hold him hostage for his less-than-noble motives. And he doesn't do it with you or I either. Jesus knows what we are, he knows what we aren't. And when we come to Jesus, he begins that incredible, transformative process of refining our character, refining our thoughts, our feelings, and our motivations. So people are thronging Jesus, and yet Jesus is fully aware that a high percentage of the reason that he's so popular is that people are funneling all of the things that he's saying and doing and teaching through the lens, the incorrect lens, of a military Messiah. And he receives them anyway. Absolutely crucial point to grasp. Okay, yes, motivations matter, but the Messiah can transform our motivations. But how does that happen? Not by staying away from him. He knows that by coming to him. Okay. All right. So, uh, returning from Gergesa, I'm right back in paragraph one, to the western shore, Jesus found a multitude gathered to receive Him, and they greeted Him with joy. Right? And again, a misplaced joy, but they were happy to see Him. They loved His tact, they loved His tone, they loved His demeanor, they loved His healings, they loved His teachings, so far as they understood Him. They just thought He was being modest and a little slow on the uptake with regards to finally declaring Himself the Messiah. But they were happy to see Him. And He remained by the seaside for a time, teaching and healing. And they went to the house of Levi, Matthew, to meet the tax collectors at the feast. Here Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, found Him. Now, this is very important. We've made this point several times before, that in "The Desire of Ages," Ellen White is not setting out an exact chronological harmonization of the Gospels. And this is a great case in point. We had our chapter on Levi Matthew. Let's see, we're here in chapter 36. Let me just look at the table of contents. The Levi Matthew chapter was eight chapters ago, right? Eight chapters ago. That's back when I was in Pennsylvania with D. Right. Levi Matthew. Well, what's happened is all those chapters in between, so chapters 29 to 35, have all happened in "The Desire of Ages." But when you read the Matthew account, it literally happens at this story of Jairus approaching Jesus. It happens at Matthew's feast. Okay? So here again, back to the point about how there is, it's not easy to put together a complete harmonization of the Gospels. There is probably 90% agreement if you look at what are called harmonies of the Gospels, um, with a few, like, "Okay, well, does this go here or here?" But the Bible writers are telling the story. Generally, the Gospel writers generally chronologically, but not strictly chronologically. Especially Matthew. He will often, and I should say especially John, but of the synoptics, especially Matthew, he deals with things thematically and with a rough chronology. Okay? When it comes to strict chronology, I could be wrong about this, but I think that that Mark is kind of considered the gold standard, right? Like, like Mark, just straight through 16 chapters, very short by comparison to the other Gospels, and just, this is the order that things happen. But then there are events that happen in Luke and in John and in Matthew that you're like, "Okay, well, where does that fit into the Markan chronology?" And it's fun. It's fun. But our point for, for this, for our purposes here, is this. Think about this. Remember when Jesus called Levi Matthew? This was scandalous for a religious man, a rabbi, to be so easily, freely, socially mingling and fraternizing with sinners and the vilest of society, as they were regarded, was considered scandalous. Okay? Why does this matter? Think about the scene now. Now think about the significance of the scene. Jairus is desperate, like beyond desperate. Number one, he's the leader of a local synagogue. So already there's an antagonism. In the next paragraph or two paragraphs later, she calls him the "haughty rabbi." And when the situation with his daughter finally gets so crucial, so critical, that in desperation, he goes to the renegade rabbi, Jesus, the renegade troublemaker, Jesus. Where does he have to go? He has to go to Levi Matthew's party. This scene happens at Levi's. How embarrassing. How galling would this have been for the leader of the synagogue? Get this in your mind. There's a sermon here. There's an incredible sermon here that I'm going to have to preach one day and tease out that that at the very moment where the situation becomes so crucial for his daughter, he has to go, not just to the rabbi that everybody thinks is off base and a troublemaker, and at this point, some are already plotting his demise, he has to go in the middle of a party that is socially awkward and unacceptable on all kinds of levels. He has to go into the presence of all of these tax collectors, all of these sinners. And the Bible says he throws himself at the feet of Jesus. This is sheer desperation. Sheer exasperation. There is no way under normal circumstances that this guy is coming to that party to talk to that guy. Not happening. Okay? And Jesus knows all of this. Jesus knows all of this and receives him anyway. Yes, yes, he receives him anyway. And he knows that he's not coming and saying, "Hey, about those parables? Hey, about the kingdom of heaven?" He probably thinks Jesus is wrong about those things. But he's desperate. And a desperate man will grab for anything. And this isn't just his own sickness, this is his child's sickness. As the Gospel account says, his only daughter. It's a desperate, desperate man. A man who's willing to endure humiliation, a man who's willing to humble himself to throw himself at the feet of Jesus at a tax collector's party. Get that scene in your mind. Okay? Get that scene in your mind. This is, this would have been particularly galling. And again, I cannot emphasize this point enough. Jesus would have known that the motivations were not perfectly pure and magnanimous. Receives him anyway. Friends, remember what we talked about when I was with Tai? The prayer, "God, help, help, save me." Always is heeded. God cannot, there's too much tenderness, too much kindness, too much love, too much grace in the heart of Yahweh when a person cries out in desperation, even if their motivations are not pure and perfect. God cannot ignore that cry. He cannot. And he will not. And so this person comes to Jesus. Does Jesus hold a grudge? No. Does Jesus say, "Oh, well, this is rich. Oh, this is rich. Okay, so you want to be dismissive of me? You want to be, uh, in the inner circle of those that are plotting my, you know, demise, perhaps even? But now that you have a need? Oh, I see how it is." And friends, this is how we are. Come on, be real now. Be real. This is how we are. Oh, now you want to come? Oh, I see how it is. Not Jesus. Not Jesus. I, I spent, I just mentioned a moment ago, I'll just say a brief word about this. I mentioned that I was spending time when I was just, whirlwind trip in Atlanta with, um, Tai and two dear friends, Greg and Sherry. And one of the things that we did is, um, Jordan Peterson, several weeks ago, maybe two weeks ago, two or three weeks ago, Jordan Peterson, if you know who he is, he wrote a book called "The 12 Rules for Life," and he's a wildly popular public intellectual, very interesting, God, fascinating person. And he's recently had a very, he's actually still in the middle of having a very serious illness. Not going to go into all the details, but I've listened to several interviews with Peterson after he's now come back publicly because he was extremely, uh, popular, very public, and then he got sick, and he basically disappeared for a year. And then now he's kind of coming back, and he's doing a lot of these interviews. Well, he did an interview with a fellow by the name of Jonathan, I think it's Peugeot or Pagio, who is a Christian man, a Christian man. And in the course of this interview, it's a fascinating interview. And we watched it. Ty and Doug, Doug, Ty and Greg and Sherry, we all watched this interview together. And it was like, we watched an hour of it. It took us like three hours because we kept pausing, making a comment, pause, make a comment, pause, make a comment, pause, make a comment. It was an, it was a great experience. But here's the point. The guy is desperate. Jordan Peterson. And you can see it from a million miles away. He's broken, he's hurting, he's in pain. And at one point, listen to this. At one point in the interview, he starts talking about the ideal that is Christ. In fact, they talk about that a lot. But at one point in the interview, Peterson, when he's talking about the ideal that is Christ, he says, "It's also oddly plausible." And he says, "I'm, I'm afraid I might actually believe it." And then he starts to cry. Then he starts to cry. He starts to cry. Tears. He's an intellectual. He's a, he's a psychologist. He's a clinician. But when he talks about Jesus, especially in his broken, diseased, pain-filled state, tears coming down his cheeks, and he has a difficult time composing himself, recomposing himself. Now, here's the point. When people reach that level of desperation, they will reach out for Jesus. I've seen it myself many, many times. And number, that's number one. Number two, Peterson describes in this interview that Christ is the ideal. He's the uninventable ideal. He is the perfect personification of what humanity is supposed to be. And here's my point. In this circumstance, if you were in that circumstance, or I was in that circumstance, there is a high possibility that when that religious leader came, one of the religious leaders who could not have been more hostile, more antagonistic, more dismissive of my ministry, my person, my identity, that person comes into my presence and now needs help. You know what I'm going to say? I'll be like, "Oh, okay. All right. So now, so now you need some help." Not Jesus. And this is the point. He's the uninventable ideal. He's like, "Oh, here's a person. And help. How can I be of assistance?" I want you to feel the beauty of that. I want you to feel the beauty of the uninventability of Jesus. The Messiah. Sinful human hearts could not have crafted this story. I want to say that again. Sinful human hearts could not have made this story up. We don't have the capacity to make up this story. When Jesus arrived, it's almost like we saw a new color. Right? Like we were accustomed to all the colors that you and I know. And, and, but when Jesus showed up, it's like there was a new color that we hadn't seen before. Just imagine that. What if all of a sudden there was a new color, a color that no one had seen before? You couldn't say, "Oh, well, that color was created by another person." No, no. This is a new color. No one could have created this. We've not seen this. It's in the light spectrum outside of what we were accustomed to seeing before. When Jesus showed up, he was so different. The stories of Jesus, so radically dissimilar to the story of every other human being that the sinful human heart couldn't have crafted this. Could not have. No one's creative enough to write this story. When human beings write stories about heroes, they very, very often end up in a car chase, or a, or a gun battle, or a knife fight, or a sword fight at the end of the movie, and the person that's the most violent wins. The story of Jesus is the person that received the greatest violence wins. Okay? There's just so many aspects and, and there's so many elements of the story, person, character, life, ministry of Jesus that are so radically dissimilar to the heroes that we're accustomed to. No one could have written this story. And if they could have, they wouldn't have. Jesus doesn't look like a hero. He is the quintessential anti-hero. Okay? So this guy comes into the presence, "My daughter's, I need help." Throws himself at the feet of Jesus, humiliating, galling, at a sinner's party. And look at this. "This elder came to Jesus." I'm reading now in paragraph two. "This elder of the Jews came to Jesus in great distress, desperation, and cast himself at His feet, exclaiming, 'My little, my little daughter lies at the point of death; come and lay Your hands on her that she may be healed, and she will live.'" Okay, this is crucial. In both of these stories, both Jairus and his daughter, and the woman that's bleeding, they both exercise faith in Jesus. And when they, because he doesn't say, you know, "Could you come and see what you can do, please? Could you just have a look at her? Could you see if maybe you could do anything?" There is no tentativeness about his approach with Jesus. "You come, you come, that she may be healed, and she will be healed." Total desperation. This man has gone through every straw, prayed every prayer, brought in every physician, and now there's just one straw left in the hand, and that's Jesus. And he's just casting all of his reserve, all of his faith, everything, unto Jesus. Again, this would have been humiliating on one level, but on another level, who cares? Who cares what people think when your child is desperately ill, and there might be just the slimmest hope that this man could heal her? Beautiful. By the way, I'm going to point out a number of similarities in the story, in the stories, and you might just want to make note of them. I didn't write them down like in a numerical fashion, but one of the similarities is, both are desperate situations. Another similarity is, both exercise faith, tremendous faith and belief that Jesus can do what they are asking Him to do. And number three is, did you notice that both of them cast themselves at Jesus' feet? One before the healing, the other after the healing. Okay? So, so a lot of similarities here, and I'll point out some others that are also quite interesting as we go on. Um, he exercises incredible faith in the midst of desperation. Third paragraph. "Jesus set out at once with the ruler for his home." I want you to feel that. I want you to feel that again, to return to the point that we've been making. Jesus doesn't make him suffer. He doesn't hold out. Say, "Well, okay, all right, nice to see you. None of them. Oh, somebody's in hell. Somebody's in need. Somebody needs help. Okay, let's go. Let's go." Immediately. "Hey guys, sorry, I can't stay at the party. It's been great. It's been real. Somebody needs my help. Okay, just feel the immediacy of Jesus' response." Okay? And by the way, the accounts note this, "immediately." They say "immediately." Notes that Jesus' response was instantaneous. Instantaneous. "Jesus set out at once with the ruler for his home." Though the disciples had seen so many of His works of mercy, now listen to this. This is the insight into what, how we would think, how we would feel, how we would have acted. "They were surprised at His compliance with the entreaty of the haughty rabbi." You feel that? Why were they surprised? Because they thought, at some level, Jesus should not have gone. But at some level, the disciples think, "Why are you helping this guy? This guy's not helping us. Yeah, this guy's the head of all the people that are actually working at cross-purposes with us." So this further buttresses my basic point that Jesus responds here in a way that's remarkable. It's unique. It's a color we haven't seen. It's uninventable. Yeah, yeah. "Oh, you need help? Let's go. Let's go right now. There's not a moment to lose." Do you feel that? I just love this. "Yet they accompanied their Master." So they go along, doubting, probably murmuring to one another as they're making their way, like, "What are we, what are we in such a hurry to help this guy for? You and help us, the people followed."

Eager and expectant. Well, why are they expecting? Of course, they're expecting. So now, all this, this is kind of funny. The people follow. Well, I guess that would be some of the people from the party. Then get this scene in your mind. Some of the sinners. Yeah, a cadre of sinners, a posse of sinners, eagerly, expectantly on their way to the house of the ruler of the local synagogue. Oh, this is, this is, this is a cool scene. There's a sermon here, right? There's a sermon here.

The ruler's house was not far distant, but Jesus said, "His companions, advance slowly." We've seen this again and again. Jesus tries to move quickly, but there's just too many people pressing him. For the crowd pressed him again. There's a key word. We're going to come back to that word in just a second. Key, key word, on every side. The anxious father was impatient of delay, of course. But Jesus, pitying the people, stopped now and then to relieve some sufferer, some suffering one or two, or comfort a troubled heart. Feel that, feel that. Not only when Jesus is enjoying himself at a party that's thrown in his honor, and there's a need, does he immediately go? While he's on the way to one need, when other people have needs, he helps them too. That's the God we serve, friends. The God we serve is a God who's not too busy for you. You're not too busy for me. Especially, I mean, Jesus in his incarnation was limited by time and space and the physical constraints of being a man. But God in his infinitude, God and his, his with his omniscience and his omnipotence, with all of that capacity, the resources of the Almighty at his disposal, is not too busy for you. Feel that, feel that. Yes, he has very important things to do. God's got a long laundry list of things that need to be accomplished. And when you come and say, "Hey, Jesus, I really need to find a parking place so I'm not late for my appointment," Jesus can, Jesus can do that. He's like, "Oh, a parking place? Mindy needs a parking place. Mark has lost his keys." Are you feeling this, right? But we come with tiny little things, we come with medium things, we come with big things, and we come with gigantic things. And God's like, "Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep." This is the point that's made when the gospel writers say, when Jesus says, rather, "A little sparrow doesn't fall to the ground. Not even a little bird that you think nothing of. A little sparrow doesn't fall to the ground, but that that throbs the heart of the Father, but that your heavenly Father takes notice." Feel that. Beautiful, beautiful.

Okay, let's keep going here. Um, so he stops to comfort a troubled heart. I love that. Uh, while they were still on the way, a messenger pressed through the crowd. There's our word, pressed again, bearing to Jairus the news that his daughter was dead. "It was useless to trouble the Master further." The word caught the ear of Jesus. Probably Jairus lets out an excruciating scream. No, no. Jesus is immediately alert to it. He's attentive to it. He turns to Jairus and says, "Do not be afraid." The most frequently repeated command in all of the Bible. "Do not be afraid." Some 400 occurrences. "Do not be afraid, only believe. She will be made well." Do you feel that? That man would have been an absolute storm of emotions. The, the humiliation to go, the desperation to throw himself at the feet of Jesus. I mean, Jesus of Nazareth. Then the little glimmer of hope as they make their way, but it's all happening so slow. And why can't these people get out of the way? And Jesus is stopping to talk to people. And then the news comes, she's dead. Leave Jesus alone. It didn't work. Your last desperate attempt didn't work. So his spirits are then crushed. And then, in that moment of crushing defeat, Jesus says, "Don't be afraid. Believe." What? The guy's a wreck. They had an absolute wreck at this point. He's thinking about his wife back home, cradling the body of their dead daughter. I mean, it's a, it's just such an ugly scene. And it's a scene that so captures the dead, the utter desperation of the human predicament. Friends, we don't need enlightenment. We don't just need some life coach. Not that a life coach couldn't help or be a blessing. We're in desperate need. In desperate need. In fact, make a note of this. Write this down. Go find the song "Desperate Man" by a personal friend of mine and an incredible singer-songwriter. Maybe, maybe my very favorite songwriter in the entire world. And that's saying a lot because I love a lot of great songwriters. His name is Andy Gullahorn. Write this down. Write this down. Gullahorn, G-U-L-L-A-H-O-R-N, like goal, uh, horn. Andy Gullahorn. His music's incredible, by the way. Like a 10 out of 10. Every album is phenomenal. But go find the song "Desperate Man." Just go find it. Turn it up as loud as you can bear it. And just sit there in quietness and realize you too are in desperate need. This man is absolute desperation. And humanity's desperation. We don't need only a coach, only an advisor. Now, friends, we need a Savior. We need a Savior. And this picture here is just so emblematic of the absolute tempest of emotions that we experience, the desperation, the highs, the lows. That it might be, maybe it'll work out. No, it's not going to work out. No. This story is incredible. "Do not be afraid, only believe, and she will be made well."

Now, here's our word. Remember I told you we'd return to this. Next paragraph, I'm just going through this. It's such a short one. I'm just reading through it. "Jairus pressed closer to the Savior." Okay, okay, okay. This is one of the candidates for the word of the day. I'll just let you know right up front. Press is one of my candidates because in both stories, both the story of Jairus and the story of the woman, they have to press near to Jesus. Key in other words. Think that through. The word has just come, she's dead. "Don't trouble the Master anymore." Jesus hears it. Oh, no. He quickly responds, "Do not be afraid, only believe. Your daughter will be made well." Well, what are you gonna do at that point? Can't you just see him in the throng, in the crowd? He just draws close to Jesus and says, "This guy's my only hope." I cannot believe I'm doing this. Three weeks before, a month before, I was on committees that were trying to figure out how to decrease this guy's influence. Some were even advocating for taking him out. And not on the dinner date kind of way. And now he's just thrusting himself into the arms of Jesus, pressing close to Jesus. Friends, in our most desperate moments, there is no place that it is better to be than pressing into the presence of Jesus. You have to press into his presence, not his physical presence, of course, but into the presence of his Spirit, into the presence of his grace, through prayer, through surrender, through submission. We press in to the presence of Jesus. By the way, back to the Jordan Peterson video, that's what's happening there. He needs to be pressed into the presence of Jesus. And I just have to say, and I might actually do a reaction video to that video. Ty and I talked about, Ty Gibson and I talked about doing a reaction to that video because I could not have been more disappointed, communicably disappointed, at the Christian man. I'm not doubting his Christianity, but the way that he interacted with Peterson in these moments of incredible vulnerability and brokenness. I'm only going to say this, and it's really stirred me up. I was angry, actually. The word "grace" that's an hour and a half long. So I only watched the first hour and five minutes. So maybe in the last 25 minutes, he redeems himself. But in an hour, not the word "grace" was not used one time. The word "forgiveness" was not used one time. The word "mercy" was not used one time. The word "gospel" was not used one time. What? That is the story. The story of the gospel is the goodness, the grace, the mercy, the forgiveness of God in Christ. And how you could have an hour-long conversation with a man who is clearly being moved by the exemplary ideal that is Jesus Christ, and who has a sense of his own frailty, and not start talking about forgiveness and mercy and grace and the gospel? I, I don't know. I have no idea. It was just on and on about saints and theosis. And I just, Ty and I were like, ready to, and Greg and sure, we're like, ready to throw something at the television. Here's the point. What Peterson needs, what Jairus needs, what you need, what I need, is to press into the presence of Jesus. The more desperate, press closer, press tighter, because it's not, it's no better out there. Still life is difficult. Life is hard. But it's easier with Jesus. Press into the presence of Jesus.

Okay, here we go. "Jairus pressed closer to the Savior." And I love this. "And together they hurried." Oh, I underlined that. I underlined that. I love that. I love that. Remember that. As they're making their way, the impatient father is like, "We need to get going, my daughter." And then the word comes, she's passed away. "Don't trouble the Master anymore." Oh, no. And then Jesus says, "No, just believe. Don't be afraid. Believe." And then they, together, hurry. I love that. Wow, do I love that? I can see in my mind's eye, Jesus holding the hand of this desperate man, his, his increasingly limp body. He's just bringing him along. "No, no, no. Come, come with me. We've got to get going. Let's go." I mean, what a, what a scene. "Together they hurried to the ruler's home. Already the hired mourners and flute players were there, filling the air with clamor. The presence of the crowd, the tumult, jarred upon the spirit of Jesus. He tried to silence them, saying, 'Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead.'" Now, this is super awkward. I just wrote the word "awkward" right here in the margin. Talk about awkward, right? Like, I mean, just feel the awkwardness of this moment. We had an earlier awkward moment where the ruler of the synagogue goes to the party of the tax collectors and the sinners and the vilest of society and throws himself at the feet of Jesus in desperation. That's awkward. And now this is like mega awkward. Jesus shows up at a funeral. I mean, like minutes, probably, or, you know, just less than an hour after the girl has died. It's not difficult to diagnose when somebody has died in most cases. And the rabbi who was supposed to be the last desperate hope shows up late. By the way, Jesus is always showing up late. But it's not late. And then he has the temerity, the audacity, to say, "She's not dead." Oh, no, no, no. She's not dead. And you can just, can't you just feel the people rolling their eyes? Like, "This guy, right?" And it says they ridiculed him. They laughed him to scorn. "The woman, the, the child is not dead but sleeping." They were indignant at the words of the stranger. Like, "Who, who, who do you think you are coming in here in this situation? The mother is a heap on the floor. The father is absolutely crushed. And you've hurried him here. You're late. You couldn't have done anything anyway if you had been here. And then you have the audacity to say, to ridicule." Is this some sort of a cruel taunt that the girl is not dead? She's only asleep? What are we idiots? What are we imbeciles? We don't know a dead person. Do you feel that? They laughed him to scorn. They had seen the child in the embrace of death. And they laughed him to scorn. "Requiring them all to leave the house." And I like that. Requiring. This suggests that Jesus had a little moment of divine authority because clearly he's outnumbered here. He's hugely outnumbered, right? Like, you got to get the scene in your mind. Like the crowd is, you know, now finally all arriving. Some of them tax collectors. And it's a big mess. It's a giant mess. It's a stormy, difficult mess. And in the middle of it all is Jesus and a dead child. And yet Jesus, somehow here, even in the throng, even in the noise, even with the music and the wailing, Jesus asserts his authority and says, "Get out. Get out." He requires them to leave. Oh, I like that. He requires it. Jesus' authority on display here. Jesus took, took with him the father. Took with him. He's got it. He's holding his hand. Took him. The man is the man. He's done. He's cooked. He's over here, you know, just in, just desperation, sheer desperation. So Jesus has to take him. Friends, Jesus will take you. He will grab you. He will take you to the blessing. Come on. He took him. Jesus took with him the father and the mother of the maiden and the three disciples, Peter, James, and John. And together, right? Just like together they hurried. Together he takes them. Oh, I really like this. "And they entered." And this is very dramatic. "The chamber of death." Don't you feel that? Don't you see that? They enter the chamber of death. Whoo. Jesus approached the bedside. It's all quiet now. All the mourners are outside. They're talking, "Who does this idiot think he is?" Inside there, "What in the world? Sleeping?" All collectively rolling their eyes. The tax collectors saying, "Well, maybe, maybe the sinners." They're all outside. The tumult is outside. The crowd is outside. The doubters are outside. And it's just Jesus, Peter, James, and John, and the mother and the father with their dead, beautiful daughter. Get the scene. Jesus approaches the bedside. And taking the child's hand in his own. Remember, Jesus has no fear of contamination. Touching a coffin, no problem. Touching a leper, no problem. Touching a dead girl, no problem. Jesus is not going to receive contamination, ceremonial, social, or otherwise. Taking the child's hand in his own, he pronounced softly, and I love it here in the Markan account, in the Aramaic, "Talitha cumi." "She says, in the familiar language of her home, 'Talitha cumi, little girl, I say to you, arise.'" Instantly. Instantly. Hallelujah. A tremor passed through the unconscious form. The pulses of life beat again. The lips unclosed with a smile. Oh, come on, come on. This is too good. The eyes opened widely, as if from sleep. And the little girl gazed in wonder at the group around her. "Mom, what's wrong? Dad, what? Why are you crying? Can't you see it?" Oh, man, I'm getting, getting moved here just thinking about it. "She arose, and her parents clasped her in her arms and wept for joy." This is now the second time that Jesus has come into the very presence of death itself and has been victorious. Amen. And now here at Jairus' house. Now, Ellen White does the story by telling the first story all the way through, and then she goes back, she circles back, and tells the story of one of those encounters of Jesus relieving a suffering one and comforting a troubled heart. She goes back and tells the other story. The other story. Before we get into that, I just want to say, friends, that Jesus is exactly as described here in the gospel accounts and in "The Desire of Ages." He is ready, instantly, to help, to come to the aid, to assist, to grab, to encourage, to command, to require. "Do not be afraid. Get out." I mean, and just imagine what that scene looked like when they opened the door. They opened the door, and all the crowds peering in, right? And the little girl is let out. She's like, "Mom, what are all these people doing here? What's, what's right?" So there's no question that Jairus, when it says in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 6, verse 7, that "many of the priests went on to believe." No question. Jairus had to have been, had to have been one of those rabbis, one of those priests that responded positively to the resurrection of Jesus. I mean, he had already, he could believe in the resurrection of Jesus because he'd already seen Jesus come face to face with death in the chamber of death, and he was victorious. So he could believe. He could absolutely believe. What a story.

Okay, now looping back. On the way to the ruler's house, Jesus had met in the crowd a poor woman who for 12 years had suffered from a disease that made her life a burden. Just to pause there. There are people who have physical, emotional, mental, family, even financial conditions that make their life a burden. Life is hard. Life is hard. And for some people, particularly, it's really hard. And for those of us that enjoy happiness and health and some modicum of financial stability and blessing, we need to continually be aware that life is hard for people. And even for people that have a lot of things, life is hard for them too. It's a different kind of hard. I'm not even sure it's a, it's an easy or hard. Life is hard for everybody. Everybody has to deal with the great existential questions of meaning and morality and destiny. And we all have to come to grips with that. And in our own spheres of influence, we all, in our own spheres of existence, rather, we all face a hard life. Difficult pain comes to everybody. Death comes to everybody. Adversity comes to everybody. And I know that it's easy for us, especially in the world gone mad of celebrity idolization, we can think, "Oh, those people have it so much better." Oh, yeah? Then why do so many celebrities end up addicted to drugs, commit suicide, die premature deaths? Because money doesn't make for happiness. And fame doesn't make for happiness. It actually creates the illusion of security and happiness. And no, people, life is hard for everybody. And the sooner that we sort of reconcile, and I'm not saying that everybody has it equally hard. What I'm saying is, is that we all are dealing with life and its vicissitudes, its ups and its downs, and its adversities, within our own skin and from our own perspective. Okay. And so this line here, "her life was a burden." Right. Now, somebody could come along and say, "Well, somebody had it worse than her. I mean, all she had was a disease. Or at least she could walk. At least she could." There were people that had it worse. Of course, there's always somebody that has it worse. But that doesn't mean you don't have a bad. We are all disconnected from the life that God intended for us, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, physically. We are not living. We're living a shell of a shell of a shell of the life that God intended for human beings to live. We weren't programmed for this. We weren't made for this. We talked about that in the chapter with Ty. The stress, the anxiety. That we weren't, this isn't for us. This is part of the reason when God looks upon illnesses and diseases and difficult times. Yeah, I love what Megan says. "Their pain is not a competition." Yeah. God looks down and he knows uniquely. In fact, we're going to get to that.

All right, here we go. "She had spent all of her means upon physicians and remedies. She was pronounced incurable in weakness and suffering." I'm just reading a little bit here. "She came." Look at this. "And she tried to press through the crowd." Okay, so just as Jairus pressed into the presence of Jesus, she presses into the presence of Jesus. Now, I'm on the next page, page 400 in "Types and Symbols," 344 of the original. "The golden opportunity had come. She was in the presence of the great Physician." And Ellen White has done this again and again and again in this book. The presence, the presence of Jesus. Jairus pressed into the presence of Jesus. She presses into the presence of Jesus. But it's a little awkward. The crowd is there. Jesus is obviously in some kind of a hurry. And so she just, in desperation, ah, desperation, she just reaches out and touches the hem of his garment. Now, this is incredible. It says she pressed forward, saying to herself, "If I may only touch his garment, I will be made well." As he was passing, she reached forward and succeeded in barely touching the border of his garment. But in that moment, she knew that she was healed. And that one touch was concentrated the faith of her life. And instantly, as with Jairus' daughter, instantly. I love that. Her pain and feebleness gave place to the figure of perfect health.

Now, here's a very cool thing that you may not have heard before. Let me read to you a very interesting promise. So I turned right there. Look at that. A very interesting promise from the last book of the Old Testament. The last book of the Old Testament. This is Malachi chapter 4. The last chapter of the Old Testament. Speaking of Messiah and the coming of Messiah. Malachi, who's going to be the last prophetic voice before that large inter-testamental period of 400 years before the arrival of John the Baptist. He says this: "But you, but to you who fear my name, the Son" (not s-o-n, but s-u-n) "Son" (capital S) "of Righteousness" (capital R) "will arise with healing in his wings." And you will go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. Prosperity, health. That was a very agricultural way of saying you're going to grow up in all of the. If you've ever seen two, especially young calves out in a field, they're playing, they're butting heads with one another, they're leaping around, they're kicking their legs, they're just coming into their bodies and realizing, "Well, this life is fun, right?" And yet, that phrase there, "the Son of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings." Healing in his wings. Now, what's so interesting about that is that the word "wings" here is actually the Hebrew word *kanaph*. *Kanaph*. And if you look up that word, *kanaph*, it can mean wing, like the wing of a bird. But it can also mean the, the edges, the fringes, even the border. And there was an expectation, rabbinical, messianic expectation, that something about the Messiah's edges, his fringes, his borders, even the edges of him, could bring healing. Well, plug that into this story. Both Matthew and Luke make the point that he touched, she touched the hem, the border of the garment, and instantly she was healed. This is a fulfillment of Malachi chapter 4, verse 2, that the Son of Righteousness will arise with healing, even in his borders, even in the edges, even on the fringes of Messiah, there is healing. Isn't that incredible? This is Malachi chapter 4, verse 2. Look it up. *Kanaph*. Border, fringes, edges. Incredible.

Watch this. Um, with a grateful heart, she tried to withdraw. She just could feel that she was well. She could feel. And I just have to say this, she obviously had, in the Bible here, in typical Middle Eastern modesty, portrays her feminine problem with very veiled language. But she had a, she was a, she was bleeding. She was continually menstruating. And I just want to pause here and say, women are heroes. Okay? Like, as a man, being married to a woman, coming up on 22 years in four days, my wife is a hero. I mean, on so many levels. As a mother, she's phenomenal. I tell people, when I went in, I loved my wife a 10 out of 10. When I went in, we'd been married for, what, three years when Landon was born. And I loved her a 10 out of 10. And somehow, when I saw her go from being not just my wife, but the mother of my children, my love went to an 11. She had a new beauty. My wife used to laugh at me because I was like, "You look so beautiful pregnant." I know there are a lot of men out there that would agree with me about this. Seeing my wife pregnant made her so beautiful to me. And I would tell her all the time, "Baby, you have this glow. You look..." You know, people used to joke about Violeta because she's very small-framed, that she looked like a toothpick that had eaten an olive, right? When she was like, fully eight, nine months pregnant, she has like a little toothpick with an olive stuck on it, right? Because she's had this giant belly. And she felt awkward. And I, you know, especially women who are very conscious about their looks. And then to have this giant bowling ball sticking out of you. But I can say as a man, and I know there are a lot of men that I've talked to that agree, when you see a woman that's pregnant, it's a beautiful thing. And when you see your own wife pregnant with your children, it's an incredible thing. Beautiful, wonderful. And again, she was my wife, and I loved her a 10 out of 10. But somehow, when she became not just my wife, but the mother of my children, I loved her an 11 out of 10. Well, she instantly went into mother mode. I mean, she's like, people that know Violetta know she's an incredible mom. Like, she is so tender, she's so kind, she's so sweet, like so dutiful. So womanhood is, I just, I just want to say, women are heroes. And I'll just say one little word about this. In Genesis, some people aren't going to like this. In Genesis chapter 1, the Genesis narrative moves from chaos to completion, right? In the seven days of creation, from chaos to completion. And things get more ordered, more complete, more beautiful. This is why when God saw everything that he had made, behold, it was very good. So from chaos to completion, from disorder to order, from chaos to beauty. And it just gets more and progressively, sequentially, incrementally more beautiful, more complete, more amazing, more awesome. So that even God looked out and said, "Wow, this is very good." Now, what was the last thing that God made? I can feel the discomfort. Some are going to say mankind. That's true. That's true. Mankind. But the last thing that God made was a woman. If we are to follow the trajectory of creation, that things go from less to more beautiful, to increasingly beautiful, to increasingly amazing. Friends, I want to tell you something. You might have heard this before. Women carry little babies in their body. In their body. Another human being. A human being. Somebody recently reached out to me and said that there was a, a young student that was going to, to, um, college. And they brought them forward because they graduated from high school, they were going to college. And, um, the pastor prayed because I think it was like her 18th birthday as well. And the pastor prayed, and I thought this was so awesome. The pastor prayed, "Father in heaven, let's say her name was Rebecca. Father in heaven, thank you for Rebecca, and thank you for watching over her and keeping her safe and in your arms these last 18 years and nine months." That's right. That's right. Not just 18 years. These 18 years and nine months. Because another human being lives inside of a woman. It's a miracle. My good friend Nathan Renner, who's been on DA with DA. There's a whole group of us, a whole group of friends that, and we all got pregnant. Not we, but the girls, the ladies, all got pregnant at the same time. We're having babies. And Nathan's was the first to come. Nathan's was the first to come. Little Levi was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And we were there waiting in the, in the emergency room, not the emergency room, the waiting room of the hospital in Grand Rapids. And Nathan came out. Becky was the first one to give birth of all of our little community of friends. And we were young. We were young and on fire and traveling and preaching. And man, the best times of my life. Anyway, Nathan came out of the, of the delivery room. And we were just looking at him with, you know, expectancy. And said, "How is it?" And I'll never forget this as long as I live. He looked as white as a sheet. And he said, "If that didn't happen thousands of times every day, I think you could prove on paper that it's impossible." [Laughter] Right? Like, what? Okay. What? There's a, there's a baby inside of another person. And then the baby comes out and is alive. It's a miracle. It's incredible. By the way, there are some that believe, and I think they're on to something with this, that one of the reasons that women could not participate in the priestly duties was not about hierarchy. It wasn't about, "Oh yeah, women aren't allowed because this is too important work, this man work over here." The priestly duties. It's because the woman, by virtue of her femininity, which would have included menstruation, but also pregnancy and life-bringing, life-giving, that the, the woman herself is Eve. She's the mother of all living. That that association of life with death, because the temple was all about death, right? Like the sanctuary services, dead animals and blood and death. And that the, the inappropriate mingling of the life-giver with death. God said, "No, no, no. She is separate. She is different." We've often seen this as like, men and then women. This is man work. Actually, she was precluded from doing it because she was so uni. Some believe this, and I, I think there's some truth to it. A lot of truth to it. So uniquely blessed with life-giving capacity, she couldn't be spending all that time around death. And so the, the lot of a woman is uniquely hard. Uniquely, um, wonderful. Can I say that? And, you know, men, we're like, you know, we have a baby. And but we don't get to nurse the baby and give birth to the baby. And there's a heavy price to pay for that. Like, basically, what, 30 plus years of menstruation. It's hard. It's hard being married to a woman. I, I just tell her, "Monthly, baby, you're a hero. You are a hero." God bless you. And, uh, I can't relate. I'm just an ophe, ignorant, uninitiated man. I couldn't do what she does. One time, she's going to do it for 30 years plus. Now, now imagine this woman. The very thing that makes her uniquely feminine, uniquely life-giving, capacitating, has become a source of disease and illness for her. She's desperate. Oh, desperation. Total desperation. And of course, in Jewish society, the bleeding also makes her unclean, makes her unapproachable. And so there's a lot of bravery here. There's a lot of courage for this woman. And a lot of desperation, as with Jairus, to press into the presence, to touch the hem of the garment. Immediately, she's, she can tell. "I'm healed. I'm healed." She's reached out. The Son of Righteousness. The healing. The healing in the, in the hems, the borders, the fringes of Messiah.

Okay, let's rush through this quickly, quickly. Um, so here's another socially awkward moment. Okay, so we've talked about some of the similarities. Both stories have very socially awkward situations. Jesus has two socially awkward situations with Jairus. Number one, where Jairus comes to the Republican tax collector party in the first place. And number two, when he has the audacity to say that the woman is, the little girl is just asleep. Well, this is super socially awkward because Jesus turns around and says, "Hey, someone touched me." And people are like, "What? What did he say? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Someone touched me." And I love this. Peter, ever ready to speak, right? Peter, of course, the loudmouth. It's a nice way of saying the loudmouth. He said, "Come on, Jesus. I mean, really, Master. The multitudes throng and press you. How can you say, 'Who touched me?'" But Jesus answered, said, "No, no. This was different. Somebody touched me." And then she says this. I'm quoting directly now. "The Savior could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng." Oh, there's so much goodness there. He could tell something had happened. How did he know that? I don't know. I don't know how he knew that. He was in touch with his heavenly Father. He was God in the flesh. He had access to information and power and insight that you and I do not possess. But he knew. Somehow, he knew something had happened. I mean, just a brush across the fringe of the garment, the wing of the Messiah, the fringe of the Messiah. And such trust should not be passed out, passed by without comment. He would speak to the humble woman words of comfort that would be a wellspring of joy for her, words that would be a blessing to his followers to the close of time. What are those words? "Woman, your faith has made you." "Be of good cheer. Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace. Go in peace." The very thing that was a source of humiliation to you, that should have been a source of life-giving and life-bringing and a unique stamp, a wonderful and difficult stamp of femininity, is now healed. Go in peace. What a beautiful story, man. The way that Jesus treated women, the way that he affirmed women, the way that he interacted with women. Again, no first-century Jewish person could have written this story. Not like this. No way. He's uninventable. Can't make this story up. Looking toward the woman, Jesus insisted on knowing who had touched him. Touched him. He insisted. He wanted to know. He exercised his divine prerogative and authority, just like he did at Jairus' house when he said, "Get out." That little flash of divinity, that little flash of authority. Jesus was humble. He was tender. He was kind. He was approachable. He was affable. But he also could be firm when he needed to be. He said, "Okay, I need to know who touched me." And the woman just feels like every eye is staring at her. Of course, it's not, but that's the way she feels. You always feel that way when you're under conviction. Everybody's looking at me. And so she comes forward. Jesus exercises his authority. She comes forward. And what does she do? The same thing that Jairus had done. Casts herself at the feet of Jesus. Both pressed into the presence of Jesus. Both had socially awkward situations. Both were desperate. Both cast their feet at, cast themselves at the feet of Jesus. Both cried tears of incredible joy. Of joy. It says here, "with grateful tears, she told the story of her suffering." Grateful tears. What does it say about Jairus' parents? "They clasped her in her arms and wept for joy." There's so many cool similarities. I identified at least 10. At least 10 similarities in these stories. Both are women or girls, females. I'm in love with Jesus, man. God is so good. "Daughter, be of good cheer." And you might remember, going back to what was our chapter where our word was "cheer"? That was chapter 27. "Make me clean." Remember with the, with the, uh, leper. "Far be it." "Be of good cheer." Jesus here, "Tharseo." And you know what I love? He looked at her. He looked at her. He, he, he expressed individual. He looked at her. And then she makes this point. Jumping over to the last second, to the last page. Listen to this now. This is application. I think I've done the story. "There she pressed close." Okay, so then Ellen White, in the last one, two, three, four, five or six paragraphs, she's just all application of the stories. So she tells the stories beautifully, I might add, dramatically, beautifully, wonderfully. And then she gives application. And here, this is so good. There's only been four times, friends, four times. One, two, three, four times in "The Desire of Ages" up to this point. We're on page 400 in "Types and Symbols" that I've written the phrase "all time" in the margin. I've only done this four times. And this is another one of them. Those "all time" statements, like the top of the top of the top of the heap. Actually, I think this is the fifth time. The fifth time. And I want to read you this. She says, um, "Our confession." This is the paragraph that begins, "Our confession." "Our confession of His faithfulness is heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world." What does this sound like? This sounds like the two demoniacs that were just healed a chapter or two before, who would go out and show what great things God had done for them. They bore in themselves the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah. Yeah, they weren't theologians. They hadn't been to seminary. So what? They had been healed. They bore in themselves the testimony, the evidence. So here's this application. This is an "all time" statement. Top five so far. "Our confession of His faithfulness is heaven's chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old, true. But that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God, as we reveal in ourselves." Here's what she's saying. She's saying, "Yes, scripture is amazing. And yes, God moved of old. God moved anciently. But something that's even more powerful than just telling ancient stories of God's faithfulness is telling a very personal, modern, contemporary story of God's faithfulness." Whoo. "We are witnesses for God, as we reveal in ourselves the workings of a power that is divine. Every individual has a life distinct from all others." Ooh, that's great. She makes this point again, twice again. "And an experience differing essentially from theirs." That's the second time. Something about individuality. "God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him." I love this. I've always loved this. "Marked with our own individual." These precious acknowledgements to the praise of the glory of His grace, when supported by a Christ-like life, have an irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls. Three times she says individuality, individuality, individuality. Yes, when you're in a congregation and everybody's singing, and you're singing, it just sounds like you're one voice among a hundred or two hundred or a thousand or fifty. And you think, "Well, my voice isn't, you know." But God hears that song, that prayer, that testimony through you, through the conduit, the unique, wonderful, irreplaceable individual vessel that you are. Yeah, it might just sound like congregational singing, but God hears 200 individuals singing. Yeah, there might have been a million people that have told a testament, a testament about how their lives have been changed. But God hears your testimony. Your individual testimony. You are a unique, and not just unique, you are an irreplaceably unique person. And God desires your individual attention, your individual worship, your individual praise, your individual testimony, your individual prayers. God desires all of that for you personally. This is not just corporately and collectively that God looks on some sort of amorphous blob called humankind or humanity. God looks at you. You. He loves you. He wants you to praise Him. He wants you to love Him. He wants you to reach out to Him. You are uniquely, wonderfully valuable to the Almighty. Irreplaceably wonderful. And so when Jesus looked at her, she would have felt that she was the only one. And in a way, she was. Because all the others were thronging about, but she had the touch of faith. I love that line. That he can distinguish the Savior could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng. Friends, don't settle for the casual contact of the careless crowd. Don't settle for the casual conduct of the careless crowd. Reach out with individual faith to Jesus. Press into his presence in your desperation. Throw yourself at the feet of Jesus and say, "I believe you can heal. You can save. You can help. Even me." A lot of similarities here, and the stories are both wonderful. They're remarkable. Here's what I wrote. I didn't write my word yet. We're going to get to the rubric in one second. But let me just read you what I wrote here. "Both are stories of desperate people expressing faith in humiliating or potentially humiliating social situations. Both also have awkward moments related to the healing events. Both are tales of desperation. Both cast themselves at Jesus' feet. Both weep tears of incredible joy. Both were women." It's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And, um, my, so my word, and I'd love to see some of your guys' words here. Um, so my word, I love the word "press." "Press." And I also love the word "desperation." And, you know, I've tried to have primarily positive words, you know, I don't like negative words if I can avoid them. Oh, "touched." "Touched." Nitro says, "Touched." Yes, that's the word. That's definitely the word. "Touched." Yes, yes. And it's got a, thank you for that, Nitro. That's a great word. I'm sorry, there's probably other great words coming in too. "Revived," "faith," "healer," "whole." These are all great words. I'm going with "touched." "Believed." Oh, great word. "Pressed." Yeah, I'm oppressed. I'm with you on that one. "Gratitude." Great word. "Touch." Oh, Libertas says, "Touched," "cleansed," and "pressed." Yep, yep. I like "press." I like "press." I like "desperation." Both are. There's a lot of great words here. I'm going to go with "touch" because one of the things, and I wonder if Nitro, if you had this as well, there's a double layer here. You know, I love those meanings, like the way we had the object, right? Remember the Sabbath? The object of the Sabbath, and they objected to his, um, healing on the Sabbath. So I like the words with the double meaning. And "touch" has one because Jesus was touched by these stories, right? Like when, when Jairus threw himself at his feet, he was touched by the, the heart of the Father, and that overcame any possible grudge that he could have had that he was the leader of the synagogue. So not only the physical touch where Jesus takes the woman by the hand, the girl by the hand, and not only her touch of Jesus, but Jesus was touched by our great needs. Yeah. That's the word. That's the word. I'm going to write it down right now. "Touched." Thank you, Nitro. I was, um, I wasn't sure. And I'm, again, lots of other great words came in there. But "touched." No, I love it. And I love the double meaning. I'm going to make a note of that. The double meaning. That's too good.

Okay, let's quickly do our rubric. And, uh, then we'll be done with today. And tomorrow, as I've said, we've got a whole different kind of surprise. Get ready for that one. Probably be at, probably 9 Mountain Standard Time tomorrow. I think. I don't know. We'll just, it'll depend. I was on the Eastern Time Zone, so I was up really early this morning. Okay, here we go. The point: to tell the stories of two desperate people reaching out in faith to Jesus and experiencing healing and new life. That was a point. I didn't, I forgot to mention. Both stories result in new life, right? The woman got her life back, literally. The bleeding woman got her life back. And Jairus' daughter, literally, got her life back, right? So not just healing, but a whole new life stretching out in front of you, right? Her life up to that point, remember, was a burden. The bleeding woman, she has her life back. Okay. Number two, um, the person. What do we learn about the person of Jesus? Number one, that Jesus holds no grudges. He receives us even with less than pure motivations. Number two, he desires individual praise, individual faith, individual testimony, individual prayer. Jesus desires you, you, you. He desires you. He desires me. Not just, again, some amorphous collective called humanity. Not David Ashcraft. He desires you. Okay. Number three, the prayer. "Father, help me not to keep the blessings and benefits that you give to me to myself, but to spread them abroad." She makes this great point. I didn't read it, but in the chapter, she makes this great point that Jesus doesn't give us blessings so that we can keep them to ourselves. This is why I say, "Hey, who touched me?" And it was actually good for her to testify publicly of her healing experience with joyful tears running down her face. So when Jesus blesses me, when Jesus benefits me, like Psalm 103, the psalmist says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Friends, when God has given you His benefits, when He's given you His blessings, and primarily the blessing of His presence, and the blessing of salvation, and the blessing of a life well-lived and a meaningful life, when God blesses you, let the world know about it. Don't keep that to yourself. Do not keep that to yourself. That's my prayer. God, when you pour your blessings upon me, help me to be bold in letting people know I serve the living God. Yeah, I know we live in an increasingly secular, sensual, hostile world. I don't care. I serve the living God. Let the world know, friends. Let the world know. Okay. Number four, finally, the practice. Um, for me, this is an easy one. I want to go to Jesus first in my desperate, exasperated moments. Too often, when I get myself into a pickle or a situation, or a situation has happened in a family, not family really, but like a ministry-based situation, I'm like, "I gotta fix this." And that instinct is in me to try and remedy it, to try and fix it. But I've got to remember, Jesus is not a last resort. He should be our first option. Oh, I like that. Jesus is not our last resort. He's our first option. So Jesus, in those moments of exasperation and desperation, teach me to go instinctively, reflexively to you, not as a last resort, but as a first option. Oh, yeah. Jesus is my first option. And I've done this before where I've been in the middle of a difficult situation and then I think, "I haven't even prayed about this yet." And then you pray, and all of a sudden, God comes through in a marvelous way. And I can just feel the, the internal rebuke. Like, here I am, a pastor, I'm a Christian, a long-time follower of Jesus, and, oh yeah, even I forget. So don't be too hard on yourself. Just remind yourself, Jesus first, not last. All right, let's pray. Father in heaven, this has been a great session of DA with DA. What a story, what a tale, two tales. And Father, these are tales of desperation that result in healing and new life. And we are so thankful that you are not a God that holds grudges. You are not a God that says, "Oh yeah, now you come to me." Father, you receive when that cry goes out, "I need help." The desperate cry of help. Father, you show up in wonderful and varied ways. And Lord, help us in our own situation, in our own circumstance, to receive the salvation, the help, the healing that you are offering. Father, not always physical healing, not, not in this world, but physical healing is coming. And spiritual healing is ours for the taking, right here, right now. And we receive that in the powerful, saving name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen. And amen. All right, God bless you all. That was Day 39. Tomorrow, we're in the fours. Day 40 of DA with DA. Big surprise coming your way. Stay tuned to Instagram, and I'll give you the exact time. It'll probably be 9, I think, 9 Mountain Standard Time. Uh, one 45 minutes later than we were today. God bless you all. Have a great day. And remember, do not keep Jesus to yourself. Go, let the world know what great things God has done for you.