Encounters with Jesus - The 10 Lepers

 

Today we are going to look at an encounter with Jesus that shows us how adding just one practice into our lives can draw us closer to Jesus and bring us added blessing.  Found in Luke 17:11-19, it is an encounter Jesus had with ten lepers.  

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

This encounter takes place as Jesus is headed to Jerusalem.  Jesus isn’t going to the city for a vacation or social visit, He is going to lay down His life by taking up a cross.  Jesus knows when He gets to Jerusalem He will be betrayed by Judas, arrested by the religious leaders, abandoned by His disciples, and die on a cross.  As much as Jesus is focused on all of this, He is not so preoccupied and self-absorbed that He doesn’t see the needs of the people who cry out to Him.  If we look at these 10 lepers as the crowd, then what we see is that once again Jesus loves the crowds.  Jesus always made time for people and here Jesus makes time for 10 lepers.  

When the lepers approached Jesus they kept their distance and this would have been required of them because of their disease.  Leprosy was a general term used for all kinds of skin diseases and since most of them spread quickly, anyone who was determined to have leprosy was forced to live in isolation.  They were forced out of their communities and away from their families and they were required to live with other lepers.  Among all these people with contagious diseases, there was no real hope of healing or new life.  

Lepers not only suffered emotionally from this social isolation but they experienced a lot of physical pain as well.  Many forms of leprosy were quite severe and people would often lose fingers, toes and the edges of the ears.  It was a horrible existence and at times painful existence and there was very little hope for healing.  These 10 men were desperate, but they believed Jesus could help them.  They cried out to Jesus because they had faith He could actually do something to change their situation.  

Jesus heard their cry and did do something.  He told them to go and show themselves to the priest.  To us this might seem strange, but it was the priest who determined whether or not someone had leprosy.  For these men to be declared clean and healed, they had to go to the priest.  But people would have gone to the priest AFTER they were healed.  

It would have been after a leper no longer had any signs of the disease, after their skin had been restored, that they would have shown themselves to the priest, but here Jesus asked them to go BEFORE they are healed.  They don’t question Jesus.  They don’t ask for the healing first, or even wait for the healing to start, while they are still covered with sores they go, and as they went, they were healed.  What faith and trust they must have had to turn and go to the priest before they saw any sign of healing.  It takes a lot of faith to move forward with God without any evidence that God is with us or helping us.  

This is the faith talked about in Hebrews 11:1.  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen.  These 10 lepers had faith.  The healing they hoped for was not yet seen, but they moved ahead knowing it would come.  They were convinced their skin would be restored so they went to the priest and it was along the way that they experienced healing.  All 10 lepers have amazing faith.  They all trusted Jesus.   

When it came to taking a step of faith - all 10 lepers passed.  But when it came to taking a step of gratitude - only 1 passed.  Only 1 leper returned to thank Jesus for what He had done and it is from this encounter with Jesus that we learn two important lessons about gratitude.  The first is that gratitude draws us closer to God. Look where the leper was when he returned to Jesus. He was at His feet. The first time he encountered Jesus it was from a distance, now he is at His feet.  Gratitude drew him closer to Jesus.  

Gratitude can draw us closer to God as well. Gratitude deepens our relationship with God.  When we give thanks to God we are making ourselves vulnerable because we are acknowledging that what God has done in our lives is something that we have not, or cannot, do on our own.  Gratitude humbles us, and it is that humility that draws us deeper into the presence of God.   

1 Peter 5:6, Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  

When we humble ourselves under God’s hand, God reaches out and lifts us up.  That is exactly what Jesus did.  The man drew near to Jesus in humility and thanksgiving and Jesus said, get up, your faith has made you well.  Now the leper had already been healed.  All 10 lepers had been healed.  So when Jesus says, your faith has made you well, He must be talking about something different, something more. 

 We don’t know what the added blessing was that the man received, we don’t know how his life was different from the other nine, but there was something more he received from Jesus.  Gratitude gave him an added blessing and that is the second thing we learn from this encounter.  Gratitude always comes with a blessing.  

One spiritual blessing that comes with gratitude is that because we are closer to God we have a better understanding of who God is and how God is at work in our lives.  This is the blessing of a deeper relationship with God where we have a more powerful sense of God’s presence and work in our lives.  Other added blessings of gratitude are physical and emotional.  

Studies continue to show that the simple practice of giving thanks can lower your blood pressure and improve the condition of your heart.  Giving thanks can help decrease anxiety, stress, and depression.  Physical and emotional wellness can come with the practice of gratitude.  Maybe that is why Jesus said to this man, you faith has made you well.  He had already been healed, now he was being made well emotionally and spiritually. 

This encounter with Jesus shows us that the simple practice of giving thanks has the ability to draw us closer to God and improve our lives with added blessings.  So how can we develop a heart of gratitude?  How can we practice giving thanks on a regular basis?  Let me share a few attitudes and actions that can help increase our gratitude.  

The first thing we can do to change our thinking and acknowledge that all we have belongs to God.  When we look at our homes, our bank accounts, and all our belongings, do we see it all as belonging to us or God?  Our jobs, our families, our time and energy, do we see it all ours or all God’s?  If it is all ours, then we tend to think about the hard work we put into getting it and how we can manage and use it.  If we see it all as belonging to God, then it is all a gift that we didn’t earn or deserve, which moves us to give thanks.  Last week we saw that we can become more generous when we see everything we have as belonging to God, but this change in perspective can also help us become more grateful.    

I wonder if the one leper who returned saw that his healing and new life was truly a gift.  If it hadn’t been for Jesus, he would have had nothing.  All he had was from God and his life now belonged to God, so he stopped to give thanks.  When we take the time to look at what we have in life and see it all as a gift, and that it all belongs to God, it can help us stop all that we are doing and give thanks.

The second thing that can help shape a heart of gratitude is to avoid comparisons and complaining.  Most of the time when we compare ourselves to others we are focused on what they have and we don’t.  Other people have better jobs, nicer houses, more fashionable clothes, and they get to go on more exciting vacations.  When we start comparing our lives to others, it can quickly lead to not only disappointment and envy, but complaining.  We will complain to God and anyone who will listen that it’s just not fair that we don’t have what others have.   

Maybe this is what happened to the 9 lepers who didn’t return to give thanks.  As amazing as their healing was, maybe they started comparing their healing to the healing of the others.  Was one person healed in more complete ways than another?  Did one find pink skin emerging more quickly?  Did someone have their hair restored while someone else didn’t?  After they went to the priest and started talking about going home, did one have a better home to go to or more family? Did comparisons and complaining keep them from seeing all that Jesus had done for them?  

Comparison and complaining are the enemies of gratitude, so how can we avoid comparisons and stop complaining?  One place where we can easily get caught up in comparisons and negative thinking is on social media.  Please hear me when I say that not all social media is bad, but it can be a place where comparisons and complaining can gain a foothold.  While there are some wonderful aspects of being able to stay connected or share our lives with one another online, and social media can often be a tool of encouragement and even faith sharing, it can also quickly lead us to compare and complain.  

When we see all the beautiful pictures of what other people have, it’s easy to start thinking that they have it better than we do.  Instead of complaining when we are on social media and see all that others are posting, how about we celebrate with them what they have.  We need to give thanks for what they have, and what we have, and not allow envy or bitterness to gain ground in our hearts.  

The third thing we can do to grow in gratitude is give thanks often.  1 Thessalonians 5:18, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  

Paul also says in Colossians 2:7 that our lives should be overflowing with thanksgiving.  

Giving thanks needs to be an ongoing part of our lives and if it’s not, we need to work to make it that way.  Find a time or place each day to stop and give thanks.  The simple act of praying before each meal, giving thanks for our food, can help begin to shape a heart of gratitude.  It not only reminds us that our food is from God but that all we have is from God.  

Every day try to identify one thing that you are truly thankful for and then actually stop and thank God for it.  Keep a thanksgiving journal to help you identify and list all the gifts God has given you.  Send a thank you note to at least one person every week or month.  Set a timer on your phone and when it goes off stop and give thanks.  There is a Sunday School class that is going to study gratitude in April and that could be a great way to give thanks more often.  Finding ways to give thanks more often will lead to a heart and life that is overflowing with thanksgiving. 

One final thing we can do to grow in gratitude is to reach out to help others.  Nothing helps us see the gifts and blessings in our lives like reaching out to those in need.  It doesn’t matter what the need is, every time we reach out to someone else, we grow in gratitude.  Taking the time to listen to someone in need can help remind us of all the good things going on in our lives.  Praying for someone who is struggling can remind us to thank God for the ways we might not be struggling, or to thank God for the struggles He has seen us through.  Helping others gives us a perspective on life that is important to a heart of gratitude, and it can do more to increase our gratitude than maybe anything else.  

Reaching out to help those in Ukraine, or those impacted by storms, or those who are hungry in our community, or those we can help with our toolbox ministry, reminds us of how blessed we are and how much God has truly given us.  

What I love about gratitude is that there are very clear and practical steps we can take to develop it in our lives.  Gratitude is not a feeling that we have no control over, it is an attitude of the heart and a practice of our lives that we can shape and grow in.  We can all make ourselves into the one leper who returned to Jesus.  His story can be our story if we will learn how to give thanks in all circumstances.  Find one way you can grow in gratitude this week.  Take the time to return to God and give thanks.  

 

Next Steps

Encounters with Jesus - The 10 Lepers  

Gratitude does two things:

1. It draws us closer to Jesus.

2. It blesses us in new ways

Read Luke 17:11-19

How does gratitude draw the one leper closer to Jesus?

What was the additional blessing he may have received?

How does gratitude draw us closer to Jesus?  When have you experienced this in your life?

What physical, emotional, and spiritual blessings can come with gratitude?  Have you experienced any of these?  Do you need to experience this “added” blessing?

What one practical step can you take to grow in gratitude?

Acknowledge that all you have belongs to God

● Ask God to show you that all you have belongs to Him.

● Give thanks for the gifts you see around you at home. 

Avoid comparisons and complaining

● If you tend to compare and complain on social media, limit your time online.  

● Each time you start to compare yourself to someone else, celebrate their life and give thanks for them.  

● Avoid negative and critical people who drag you down.

Give thanks often

● Set a gratitude alarm on your phone.

● Start a gratitude list or journal.

● Pray each morning or before each meal.

● Send a thank you note to one person this week.

● Join the new Sunday School study on gratitude.

Reach out to help others

● Identify one person who needs your help right now and bless them with your prayers, presence, or service.

Encounters with Jesus - Feeding the 5,000

If you are just joining us in this Lenten season, we are looking to deepen our faith and trust in God by examining some of the encounters people had with Jesus. Many of the people who met Jesus walked away with their lives changed. They walked away healed or full of hope. They walked away knowing God loved them and a little bit more about who God created them to be. There is a lot we can learn from these encounters if we are willing to apply their life story to our own life story.  Today we are going to look at one encounter that is found in all four gospels.  In fact, it is the only miracle found in all four gospels. Luke 9:10-17.

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”  He replied, “You give them something to eat.”  They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

If you have heard this story before, what was missing?  The boy. One of the things that makes this story so enduring is that in John’s gospel it is a boy who gives Jesus his lunch.  The boy is only mentioned in John’s gospel and for some people this causes them to think that the bible can’t be trusted because they don’t all line up.  But for me, that they don’t always line up tells me that these accounts are more believable.  

If I asked each of you to describe what it was like walking in this morning and share it with those worshiping online, you would all share something just a little different.  Some would talk about the people you saw, or the bulletins on the table.  Some of you might mention the offering station or the people getting coffee.  But did anyone notice the stuffed owl on the windowsill?  All our kids adopted a Bible Buddy and they are reading to them this Lenten season and I had one up here to show everyone a few weeks ago.  I liked it, but gave it back to the children, but then a few days later, I had one of my own.  A wise old owl who is slightly gray.  

If everyone had said exactly the same thing to those online, they would think that all of you had worked together to tell the same story.  They might not have believed you if everyone said exactly the same thing, but the differences in details made it believable.  The different details in the gospel stories help me see them as true eyewitness testimonies that have been shared with others.  It helps me trust the story more and want to make it my story as well.  

This story is very familiar, in fact it is a miracle of provision we looked at in our last series, but there is more we can learn from it today and, there are going to be three prayers we will learn from this story.  I want to invite you to make one of those prayers your prayer for this week, or maybe the rest of this Lenten season.  

In the story we once again see crowds who have followed Jesus to a remote place.  The disciples want Jesus to send the people away to get dinner because there is no food where they are, but Jesus said, you feed them.  They remind Jesus that they don’t have much food, just a few loaves of bread and fish, which Jesus then blessed and gave to the people.  Over 5,000 people ate and were filled. 

Last week we talked about 4 groups of people who encountered Jesus and today we are going to talk about 3.  The first group is once again the crowds.  Jesus and His disciples were trying to get away from the crowds to have some time alone, so they went to the city of Bethsaida, but the crowds followed along.  Instead of being irritated by this, it says that Jesus welcomed them.  Once again, Jesus loved the crowds.  He loved the people in the crowds.  While it must have been difficult to never have time to Himself, Jesus knew the people were looking to Him for help and hope.  

What we need to notice about this crowd is that they were willing to chase after Jesus, even to this remote place.  Whether it was desperation or desire, they were willing to go out of their way to be close to Jesus.  Some may have rushed ahead to get there before Jesus, others may have followed behind, but they all wanted to be with Jesus.  How much do you want to be with Jesus?  

During this season of Lent, are we chasing after Jesus?  Are we desperate for Him?  Do we desire to be near Him?  Are we anxious to hear His word, feel His presence, and experience His power?  Are we looking to Jesus to have our needs met?  We talked about this last week, but sometimes we just don’t turn to God and ask Him to meet our needs, and what this crowd teaches us is that there is a blessing that can be ours if we will run after Jesus.  

The reason that this crowd chased after Jesus was because they trusted Him to meet their needs. They trusted Jesus to be looking out for them, to have their best interest in mind, and to care for them. Do we trust Jesus? Do we trust Him enough to set everything else aside and chase after Him?  Here is the first of three prayers we can learn from this story, God, give me the faith to trust You.  

The crowds had faith.  They trusted Jesus to help them and so they chased after Him.  If we aren’t chasing after Jesus then maybe the prayer we need to pray is, God give me faith to trust You.  Give me the faith I need to run after You because I trust you to meet my needs.

The second group of people we see in this story are the disciples.  While Jesus wasn’t irritated by the crowds, the disciples were.  They wanted to spend time alone with Jesus but Jesus kept welcoming and engaging the people.  Finally the disciples tell Jesus that He needed to send them home.  To the disciples this was a great plan and they looked to Jesus to solve their problem the way they wanted.  Unfortunately for them, Jesus wanted them to be part of the solution.  You feed them.  

How often do we look at a problem and want God to solve it our way?  We ask God to help us, or our family, or our work situation, and then we give God directions on how to do it. We are looking for God to do it all our way while God is saying, I want you to do it my way.  

When I worked in Yellowstone National Park I had the opportunity to take on a new position that I thought would be great.  I got the job and quickly realized it was not what I wanted and I asked God to change my situation.  Move me back to my old job.  What I clearly heard God say was, you do it.  Actually, what I heard God say was, you got yourself into this situation and you can get yourself out.  God wanted me to explain to my supervisor that I wanted out of that job because it was interfering with the work I was doing with Christian Ministries.  God wanted me to talk about my faith and share the struggle I was having.  He wanted to use me for His purpose and glory, but I didn’t want to do the hard work.

There are times when God wants us to step up and become active in administering His miracles.  Yes, God could do it alone, but then we don’t learn, we don’t grow, and we don’t experience the joy and power of being part of something big that only God can do.  When Jesus said, you feed them, He was inviting the disciples to be part of a miracle that would be shared throughout history.  God wanted to use them in ways they never thought possible.  God wants to use us in ways we never thought possible.    

Here’s the second prayer we might want or need to pray this week.  God, how can I be used by You?  I want to invite you to pray this prayer, but I am going to warn you that if you do, God will show you how you can step up and be part of His purpose and plan.  Stepping up won’t be easy, we will need that faith and trust we prayed for earlier, but when we ask God to use us, God will give us opportunities to serve Him.  

If we pray this and are shown how and where God wants to use us, God will already be there waiting to help us.  Jesus knew the miracle to come.  He knew the disciples couldn’t feed all those people on their own and He was already working to make the miracle happen, but He needed and maybe more importantly, He wanted the disciples to be part of it.  God wants us to be part of administering His miracles.  How can we be used by God?  

So now we come back to the one who is missing from the story in Luke, the boy.  We don’t know why he isn’t mentioned in Luke. Maybe John was the one who found him, or it was important for John to include him, we don’t know.  What we do know is that he was the only one who gave what he had to Jesus.  

There were 5,000 men there and I can understand them not thinking to bring along any food, but not the women.  Women think of everything.  Moms never go on a trip without snacks.  It was always my mom who had the peanut butter crackers in the car.  It is still my mom who wants to make sure we take something to eat in the car.  This boy couldn’t have been the only one with food, but he was the one who gave his food to Jesus. Maybe it was because he didn’t see what he had as his, but Gods.  

And this our third prayer.  God, help me see that what I have is not mine but Yours.  Whether we have a little or a lot, it all belongs to God, and God is asking us to share what we have with Him.  If we will share what we have, God can then bless it, multiply it, and use it for His glory.  

As we look at the images from Ukraine, we can all feel very blessed.  We have not had to flee our homes.  We have food on the table and beds to sleep in at night.  We aren’t living in fear of gunshots or missiles.  Our community is at peace and even though we have problems as a nation, we have so much! 

From a place of blessing, and even abundance, can we see what we have as not ours but God’s.  Can we give to God what we have trusting that God will use it and us for His glory.  When we give God what we have, we will actually get more in return.  And let me be clear, I’m not talking about giving God our money, I’m talking about giving God all we have.  Our time, our talent, our experiences, our abilities, our wisdom, our willingness, our service.  It all belongs to God so can we give God what we have trusting that He will use us and bless us?  

We see three distinct groups of people here who encountered Jesus, and Jesus needed them all.  He needed the crowd if He was going to do a miracle.  He loved the crowd and wanted to honor their trust in Him.  Jesus needed the disciples to show the world that God’s power can flow through God’s people. And Jesus needed the boy and his lunch.  He needed those resources placed in His hands so that He could show the world the abundance of God.  

Which story is your story? Which prayer will you make your own?  

● God, give me the faith to trust You.  

● God, how can I be used by You?  

● God, help me see that what I have is not mine but Yours!

These prayers all lead us closer to Jesus.  They help us experience more of God’s presence and power, and they lead to actions that help administer God’s miracles in the world.  

What needs can you meet?  

What miracle can you make happen?  

What prayer will you pray?  

Next Steps

Encounters with Jesus - Feeding the 5,000

Read this encounter with Jesus in all 4 gospels:

● Matthew 14:13-21

● Mark 6:31-44

● Luke 9:12-17 

● John 6:1-14

What similarities and differences do you see?  

Does the fact that these stories are not identical help or hurt your confidence in the Bible?

What do you learn about the three groups found in the story:

● The crowds

● The disciples

● The boy

The crowd:

How are you “chasing after” Jesus?  

What is one thing you could do this week to follow Jesus more faithfully?  Are you eager to hear God’s word? 

Make this your prayer: God, give me the faith to trust You.

The disciples:

Where are you asking God to solve a problem in your life without wanting to be involved?  

How could you step up to be part of God’s solution?  

Make this your prayer: God, how can I be used by You?  

The boy:

What resources do you have that you can give to God?  

How could God use these for His purpose and plan?

Make this your prayer: God, help me see that what I have is not mine but Yours!

Encounters with Jesus - The Sick Woman

During this season of Lent we are looking at some of the different encounters that people have with Jesus.  As Jesus traveled from city to city He met with at least four distinct groups of people.  First there were the crowds.  These were the people who gathered to listen to what Jesus had to say, see the miracles He performed, and get a free meal if Jesus was in the mood to multiply some loaves and fish.  These people weren’t sure if Jesus was the Messiah but they came to see Him for themselves.   

Then there were the curious.  These were the people who came and asked Jesus questions about life and faith.  Some invited Jesus into their homes and others asked Him to bless their children.  Many of the curious came looking for healing or help.  They came wondering if Jesus could fill a void in their lives.  They were searching for something more and thought Jesus might have the answer.  

From that group came the converted.  These are the people who found in Jesus what they were looking for.  They found healing and hope and so followed Jesus.  These people gave up old ways of thinking and living to embrace and embody the teachings of Jesus.  Some converted because Jesus healed their bodies, others converted because He healed their hearts and forgave their sin.  Many people turned and followed Jesus because He had restored their hope that there was a God who cared for them and loved them.  Hundreds of people had their lives changed by Jesus and began to experience the fullness of life Jesus talked about.

From these converts emerged a fourth group of people who gave Jesus all they had.  They were the committed.  These were the disciples who left everything to follow Jesus.  These were the fishermen Pastor David talked about who left their nets and followed Jesus, and the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support His work out of their own resources.  They truly committed to placing Christ at the center of their lives and were willing to reshape everything to live for and serve God.   

Looking at these four groups of people, where are you?  Where are you on your faith journey?  Are you part of the crowd?  Please know that there is nothing wrong with being part of the crowd!  Jesus loved the crowds.  For many it was their first step of faith.  These people were drawn to Jesus for some reason and so Jesus reached out to them and loved them.  His heart was so moved by the crowds that He fed them in body and in spirit.  Today you may not be sure about Jesus and you might just be here to check things out and see for yourself who Jesus might be.  If you are part of the crowd, it’s ok, Jesus loves the crowd and He loves you.   

Some of you may be truly curious and looking to Jesus for more.  Maybe your life hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would and you are wondering if God has something different for you.  Maybe your marriage or family is hurting and you are looking to God for hope and help.  Maybe your job isn’t fulfilling and you are looking to find more purpose in your life and what God created you for.  Maybe you are just looking for something more and you think God might have something to offer, so here you are.  

Many of you I know are converts.  You have given your life to Jesus and you are actively seeking to place God at the center of all you do.  You are deepening your relationship with God, the church, and the world, and you are signed up for the DWELL class because you want to deepen your prayer life and learn how to read the Bible for yourself.  You are on the path of faith and you are finding joys and challenges all along the way.  

And some of you are truly committed.  Not that you need to be committed, but you are truly committed to God, the church, and the world.  God is at the center of all you do, you sacrificially serve God’s people, and you boldly share your faith, and resources with the world.  To the world you might look like you need to be committed, but to God you are sold out and fully following Him.

Where are you in your own personal journey of faith?  Again, please know that there is no shame in being in any one of these categories.  Every relationship with God is a journey and we all find ourselves in different places at different times.  My hope, however, is that no matter where we are today we will want to go deeper with God and take the next step.  What will it take for you to take that next step?   

One reason many people take their next step of faith is because they find themselves in a desperate situation.  They have come to the end of themselves, their own strength, power, and wisdom, and have nowhere else to turn but to God.  I had a friend who liked to say, Jesus won’t be all you need until Jesus is all you have. Sometimes it is in the desperate times of loss, pain, confusion, or emptiness that we reach out to Jesus and find that He is right there to help us along.  

Today we are going to look at two people who both encounter Jesus out of their desperate situations, and they both grow in their faith.  In this story we also see these four different groups of people who encounter Jesus.  We find the story in Luke 8:40-42.  

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.  Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.  

First we have to notice the crowds.  They greeted Jesus everywhere He went and Jesus is always looking to care for them.  While at times Jesus sent the crowds home or left them behind so he could be alone with God, He also embraces them and the many different needs the people brought to Him.  He loved the crowds and made himself available to them.  Out of this crowd, a man came to Jesus who was desperate.  His only daughter was dying. 

Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue which means he probably lined up more with the teaching of the Pharisees than the new teaching of Jesus.  Many religious leaders were part of the crowds that came to listen to Jesus, but not many followed him.  They were skeptical because Jesus challenged their teaching and their religious practices.  What made Jairus different from the other leaders was that he was desperate.  His only daughter was dying and he was coming to Jesus for help. His desperation moved him from being part of the crowd to being curious enough to ask for help.  

But Jairus wasn’t the only curious one in the crowd, there was also a woman who had been sick and bleeding for 12 years.  She had gone to every doctor for help, which means she probably had spent all her money, and nothing had changed.  Her sickness also kept her isolated and alone. Her physical bleeding would have made her unable to be around others.  She had become an outcast.  She is desperate for healing and help and hope.  Luke 8:43-44

 As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 

In her desperation she also reached out to Jesus and when she does she is taking a huge risk.  It was against the law for a woman who was unclean to touch anyone let alone a man who many considered to be holy.  If she was noticed, she could have been punished, even stoned, but in her desperation she has nothing left to lose.  Her desperation moves from being part of the crowd to being truly curious.  

Can Jesus change her life?  She believes He can so she takes the next step and reaches out to touch the edge of his cloak and when she does, she is healed.  But her healing is not finished, Jesus has more for her and calls her to take another step of faith.   Luke 8:45-48

Who touched me?” Jesus asked.  When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”  Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.  Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”  

Jesus called the woman out of the crowd because her healing was not done.  Remember, for 12 years she has been isolated and alone. She had been cut off from family and friends, and she had been cut off from God.  Jesus didn’t just want to heal her physically, He wanted to heal her completely.  He does this by calling her to come forward and when she does He calls her daughter.  This one word tells her she has been restored, she is a child of the king.

But calling her out has also helped to restore her place in the community.  When Jesus calls her out and says she is healed, it means that she is also clean and can return to worship in the synagogue.  She can also now go into people’s homes.  She can return to her family and friends.  Life has forever changed because Jesus was willing to stop and call her out from the crowd.  This was not only good for her, but it was good for the crowd because not only could they see Jesus' power, but they could make this woman part of their lives with confidence.  

What we learn from this encounter is that all we have to do is reach out to Jesus in faith and our lives can be changed.  If we are willing to step out of the crowd and reach out to Jesus, we will be blessed, maybe healed, but always forgiven and restored into a relationship with God.  This encounter tells us that blessing, and wholeness, and life is found when we are willing to step out of the crowd, or maybe take a step of faith and put our trust in Jesus, or take the next stop of faith and surrender more of who we are to Jesus.  

While God is the one who changes us, we have to do our part and be willing to step out of the crowd.  We can go through all the motions of following Jesus and never really encounter the living God.  We can attend worship our entire lives and never know the joy or power of Jesus because we just stayed part of the crowd.  If we are willing to step out of the crowd, or step out in faith, this encounter tells us that God will bless us.   

This woman’s story was an interruption of what Jesus was doing.  He had been going to heal Jairus' daughter, and when they started out again, people from Jarius' home came and said, your daughter is dead.  Luke 8:49-50

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”  Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”  

Can you imagine how Jairus must have felt when he heard this?  Not only was he filled with grief but maybe he was also a little angry and frustrated.  If Jesus hadn’t stopped along the way, maybe they would have been able to save his daughter.  No matter what he was thinking, his situation has just become more desperate and in his desperation Jesus calls him to take another step of faith.  

Jairus, just believe and she will be healed.  Jesus is asking Jairus to go from being curious to a convert.  Trust me Jairus.  Believe.  Keep your eyes on me Jairus, keep me in the center of your heart and life, and things will be ok.  No matter where Jairus might have been in his faith, Jesus is asking him to take another step.  In your desperation, just believe.  In your desperation keep walking with me.

Jairus does, and Jesus went to his home, took the girl by the hand and said, “My child, get up!”  Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.  Luke 8:54-55  

Jairus took a step of faith and God honored that step by healing his daughter.  God will always honor our steps of faith, the outcome might not be what we want, but God will always honor and bless us as we step out in faith.  

Jesus encountered two people who needed God working in their lives.  They were desperate for help, and desperate for hope, and when they reached out to Jesus, He reached out and helped them take the next step of faith.  If we can identify where we might need some help or hope, and then reach out to Jesus, we might just find ourselves taking our next step of faith.  

Where in your life are you feeling desperate?  Where do you need some help?  Inflation is hurting many people right now, so maybe it’s a financial need.  Maybe your marriage or family is hurting and in need of healing or hope.  Maybe it’s a physical situation where you need healing and are trusting God for it.  Maybe it is the situation in our world right now that is robbing you of hope and joy.  Where do you need help?  Have you reached out and asked Jesus to help you?  

I know that sounds really simple, but have we asked Jesus to help us?  Think about how many people were in the crowd that day who needed help, or needed their own miracle, and they never reached out to Jesus.  How often do we face problems alone instead of asking God to help us through?  Every problem we face is an opportunity for us to turn to God.  Every problem is an opportunity for us to experience God’s power if we will reach out to Him.  Taking the next step in our journey of faith might be as simple as asking Jesus for help in a time of need.  

We don’t have to wait for a problem to reach out to Jesus.  We don’t have to wait for a desperate situation to take the next step of faith, we can take it today.  Step out of the crowd.  Allow Jesus to meet your needs and fill your life.  Give Him all you have.  If we take this next step of faith, Jesus will be right there with His power, and His grace, and His love.  

Next Steps

Encounters with Jesus

Define these four groups of people who encountered Jesus:

● Crowds

● Curious

● Converts

● Committed

What group are you in?  Where are you in your own faith journey?

Read Luke 8:40-56. 

● What do we learn here about the crowds?

● In what way is Jarius and the sick woman curious?

● What risks did they take in reaching out to Jesus?

● How did their desperation push them to Jesus?

● What happened when each of them trusted Jesus?

What desperation in your own life might push you to Jesus?  

How can Jesus meet a need you have today?

What is keeping you from reaching out to Jesus?  

Where do you need to be more “committed” to Jesus and God’s will for your life?

One next step to help you experience the fullness of faith is to participate in one of our Rhythm Workshops.

● Dwell: Growing in prayer and scripture. March 13 & 20

● Share: Talking about your faith. April 3 & 10,

● Design: Finding your ministry. May 15 & 22

Encounters with Jesus - The Devil

 

During this season of Lent we are going to walk through the Gospel of Luke and look at different encounters that people had with Jesus.  The way that Jesus interacts with people tells us a lot about God and what our relationship with God should look like.  Some encounters might really hit home for us as we see ourselves in the story, and some might challenge us to dig deeper or step out in new directions in our faith.  It’s my hope we will work to see ourselves in these encounters and then find ourselves walking more faithfully with Jesus by the time we get to Easter.  

Tonight we are going to start by looking at the first encounter Jesus has after His baptism.  It is an appropriate encounter for tonight because it happened during the 40 days Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and pray.  It was those 40 days that helped us set aside 40 days as the season of Lent.  During his 40 days, Jesus fully surrendered to God and turned away from all sin and self and that is exactly what we are called to do during our Lenten journey.  The encounter Jesus has is unusual because it is His encounter with Satan.  Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.””

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”  Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”  When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.  

From this encounter we see 3 things Satan tries to do to Jesus and if he tries these things with Jesus, he will definitely try them with us.  The first thing Satan tries to do is deceive Jesus.  Jesus is in the wilderness to fast and pray.  He is there to commit Himself fully to God’s will and rely completely on God’s strength and power.  After a few days, Satan knows Jesus is hungry so he showed Jesus all the stones and said, turn them to bread Jesus and you can eat. 

The deception here is that Satan is telling Jesus that He doesn’t need to depend on God.  Satan is saying, You have the power to turn stones to bread, so you can meet all your own needs and trust in your own strength. Do things your own way. You don’t need God. 

Satan loves to deceive us into thinking that we also don’t need God and that we can trust in our own strength, our own wisdom, and our own goodness.  In so many ways the world has bought into this way of thinking and it’s easy for us to buy into it as well.  We tell ourselves that we don’t need God to live a good life and that we can do things on our own.  Yes, we can do things on our own, but we were never meant to live without God.  We were created to be in a relationship with God and so it is only in Christ that we have the fullness of life.  Alone we are dust - but with Christ we have all the fullness of life in this world and in the kingdom of God.  Don’t be deceived, we can’t live on bread alone, we need the grace and mercy and love of God.  

The second thing Satan tries to do is dominate Jesus.  I will give you all the world if you will just worship me.  Let me control you, let me dominate you, and you will have everything you will ever want or desire.  Satan would love to dominate our lives as well and he often promises us all kinds of things if we will just give in to him.  Satan says to us, you don’t need to work hard to get ahead, cut some corners, cheat and steal a little along the way, you’ll be fine. Satan says, you want to feel good now, just go ahead and do it, there won’t be any consequences.  Satan would love to dominate us and yet he can’t unless we allow him to.  It’s important to remember that Satan has no power over us except the power we give him, but once we give him a foothold, he can step in and dominate our entire lives.

The third thing Satan does is try to distort the truth.  Jesus has been using scripture to resist Satan, so now Satan tries to use that same scripture to get Jesus to do things his way.  Satan quotes Psalm 91:11-12  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

While the passage makes clear that God will guard His chosen one, there is nothing about testing that promise.  Jesus even knows that there will be pain and suffering coming that God will not protect Him from because He knows that the cross is part of God’s divine plan.  Satan is distorting the truth here and Satan loves to distort God’s truth in our lives as well.  

It’s Satan who says, yes, God loves everyone but He can’t love you.  After all, look at all you have done.  Or else he says, God’s love is unconditional so just keep on sinning because it doesn’t matter.  Satan is a master at distorting God’s truth by clouding God's word.  Satan distorts God’s truth by filling our hearts and minds with doubt and fear and confusion.    

In this encounter with Jesus, we see Satan working to deceive, dominate, and distort things so that Jesus will turn from God.  

Jesus' response, however, is to stand strong and we can learn how to stand strong in our own faith.  If we want to commit ourselves to God at the beginning of this Lenten season, here are three things we can do that Jesus did in His encounter with Satan.  We can resist, we can respond with God’s word, and we can rely on God’s strength and not our own.  

Resist.  We first have to be willing to resist Satan and self and sin.  James 4:7-8. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.  

Resistance is repentance, it is a turning away from sin and self and turning back to God.  The season of Lent is to be a time of reflection where we confess not only the ways we have allowed Satan to deceive us, distract us, and get a foothold in our lives, but also a time for us to confess that we might be trying too hard to do things on our own.  Either way, it is time for us to turn and trust God.   

For some of us, the first step in resisting Satan, sin, and self, might be to ask God for the desire to resist.  Let’s be honest, a lot of times we don’t want to change, we don’t want to resist temptation or deny ourselves what we want.  Sometimes the hardest prayer to pray is, God help me want what You want. Help me want to repent.  Help me want to resist. If that is where you are tonight, pray that prayer.  

Respond with scripture.  Jesus was not alone when He encountered Satan, He had with Him the word of God.  Ephesians 6 tells us that scripture is the sword of the Spirit.  It is a weapon and it can be used to defeat Satan.  Use God’s word during this season of Lent to help you both resist Satan and draw near to God.  

God’s word not only speaks truth to us but it reminds us of who we are in a relationship with, God.  We are His children.  We are forgiven.  We are loved unconditionally and redeemed through the grace and love of Jesus Christ, but we are also given power to become more like Jesus.  We are not helpless in our fight of faith because the one who resisted temptation and defeated Satan is with us.  And we have one of the greatest resources ever given, the word of God.   

I want to invite you to read the gospel of Luke during this season of Lent.  One chapter a day will get you through the book before Holy Week.  Read all the encounters Jesus has in the book and learn from them how to stand strong in faith and grow closer to God.  

Rely on God’s strength.  On our own we can’t stand strong.  On our own we will fail and give in.  Peter thought he could stand on his own when Jesus talked about being arrested.  Without thinking, Peter said, I’ll stand with you Jesus.  I’ll die with you Jesus.  But just a few hours later he was denying that he even knew Jesus.  On our own, we will fail. In our own strength we will give in to temptation.  So stand firm in God’s strength and draw upon God’s power.  

One way we rely on God’s strength is through prayer.  We need to ask God to help us.  We need to ask God to strengthen us.  We need to remember that we are dust and therefore we need God’s grace and power to help us stand strong.  We need to pray and then we need to remember who we are IN CHRIST.  In Christ, we are God’s children. In Christ, we are more than conquerors.  In Christ, we can do all things.  In Christ, we have the strength to become more like Jesus.  While we are dust, in Christ we become children of God.

The encounter Jesus has with Satan is important for us to understand because Satan still works to attack us.  Satan works to deceive us, to dominate us, and distort our thinking and our living.  He is out to destroy us, but Jesus has come to give us life, and we can experience the fullness of this life if we will resist Satan, respond with God’s word, and moment by moment rely on God’s strength.  This is what the 40 days of Jesus in the wilderness was all about, and this is what the season of Lent is all about.  Self-denial, spiritual growth, and finding our strength and power in Christ alone.