Title: When I Hold on to the Lord
Contents
Title: When I Hold on to the Lord
Text: Luke 5:25-29
“There was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhage for twelve years, and she suffered a lot from many doctors, and wasted all she had, but there was no effect, and when she heard the news of Jesus, she got mixed up with the crowd and came back and touched his clothes. This is to say that if I touch only his clothes, I will be saved. So immediately the source of his blood flow dried up, and he knew in his body that he was healed” (Luke 5:25-29).
I. background of the text
A woman with a hemorrhagic disease met Jesus while she was living without any hope and was freed from the deep darkness of her life. This case does not just deal with the story of the healing of diseases, but it also conveys the fact that Jesus is God and that Jesus' power is given without discrimination to those who believe in him.
II. A woman with a hemorrhage: a desperate disease, a lot of suffering
Hemorrhage is a type of gynecological disease that does not stop bleeding. According to the law, a person suffering from a bloodbath was unclean and could not go into the air or go to the temple, so it must have been a great psychological pain as well as physical pain for her. She went to many doctors to cure her disease, but to no avail. Among those members, not only did they cure diseases through scientific methods, but there were also many who used folk remedies or methods close to superstition. He suffered a lot from such many lawmakers.
In it, the woman realized that her illness was insurmountable. He suffered a lot from the doctors and wasted all his wealth, but there was no effect and the disease only got worse. In the process, the confidence that she could now be cured of the disease had disappeared, leaving her in a very desperate state.
Ⅲ. Jesus in despair
1. The woman's behavior: "After hearing the rumor, she came back and touched her clothes."
First, the woman heard rumors about Jesus. She couldn't go out in public or go up to the temple, but someone told her about Jesus, and the woman who heard the news caught Jesus. Therefore, we must become those who preach the gospel of Jesus. So that the gospel of Jesus can be preached to those in despair so that they can return to God. Second, the woman came after Jesus. This was an expression of her humility, and at the same time she considered the law that a person with a hemorrhage would become unclean if he came into contact with others. Nevertheless, she touched Jesus' clothes for the third time. Because it was the last option she had.
The 12 years of long painful years were hardships that the woman wanted to erase. But through that long night, she met Jesus. If she had not suffered from blood clots, she would have been loved by people and enjoyed what she had, but through the dark night of suffering, he actually met Jesus. The moment a woman who lived in the agony of being abandoned by her family meets Jesus and is healed, we acknowledge that it was God's plan for her to meet Jesus through 12 years of despair.
2. Belief in absolute dependence
The woman who met Jesus held him tight. We find here that God requires faith in absolute dependence before he can deliver us from this great misery. Had she met Jesus in the first place, she would not have been so desperate. However, for 12 years, she was tormented and wasted all she had, and now she had nowhere to turn to. So God sometimes lets us go through the dark nights of life to make us realize that we cannot live without Him. God is with those who depend on God and do not trust themselves like a child, do not believe that they can replace God even if they give riches and prosperity, and live dependent on the Lord. So they don't go through the dark nights of life. Because they have no reason for God to let them go through that path. No matter where we are in our lives, what God requires of us is a heart of absolute dependence on the Lord.
3. Jesus Healing
The problem is not that God's resources are lacking, but that God's power is not there, but that our attitudes do not change. For a moment there is a dark tunnel before us, but even in that tunnel, we can never lose hope, as long as we hold on to the Lord's hand and rely on Him, and we are sure that He will lead us in the best way. Because He leads us out of that tunnel of suffering and makes us live in the light. May we become believers who absolutely depend only on the Lord in the dark night of life...
2004-12-05