[0:00] We'll be finishing up the fifth chapter this morning. We'll be in Mark chapter 5.! We'll be starting in verse 21. And we'll make our way to the end of the chapter, which gets us down to verse 43.
[0:14] So Mark chapter 5, starting in verse 21. If you've been with us, you know that we have been taking our time making our way through the gospel of Mark.
[0:24] Mark is a rider that moves very rapidly, though we have taken time to slow down and see it in its depth and to see it in its clearness.
[0:35] We know that in Mark he is writing to a non-Jewish audience. He is writing to the Gentiles. And he is writing really following the preaching and teaching of Peter.
[0:46] Mark would have been a contemporary, one who traveled with Peter when he preached. That greatly influences Mark's writing style. Even his intended audience influences Mark's writing style.
[0:58] We know that in the gospel of Mark, from the very beginning, we are introduced to the reality, the certainty, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We find the other side of that bookend found for us in the 15th chapter, at the death of Christ on the cross, that when the centurion at the foot of the cross beheld the manner in which he died, said, surely this was, or this is, the Son of God.
[1:22] Christ has displayed his power and authority through great signs and wonders. He has veiled his teaching through the teaching of parables to the multitudes, but disclosed them to those around him, namely the disciples.
[1:37] He has displayed his power over the demonic, over the natural, and over even the supernatural. Christ has, without a shadow of a doubt, shown himself thus far in the gospel of Mark to be the Son of God.
[1:52] But yet there is much to be learned about him as we make our way through this gospel. We will find, even in our text this morning, Mark using the word immediately, repeatedly.
[2:03] That is his favorite word, straightway, or immediately, or right away, depending on the translation you read. Just like every other author of the gospels, when we get to that Passion Week, when we get to the crucifixion story, Mark slows down.
[2:20] But until that time, we're pressing forward and we're looking. In his Sermon on the Lordship of Christ, from which the excerpt, That's My King, by S.M. Lockridge is taken, he introduces that sermon in probably one of the best ways a sermon could be introduced.
[2:38] If you've never heard the fullness of that sermon, I would encourage you to do it. It's the greatest sermon I've ever listened to, and if you want to find it, just Google search S.M. Lockridge's greatest sermon, and it'll pop up.
[2:48] Now, it is lengthy, but it is worth listening to. Some of you, hey, by the way, the kids don't bother me. It's a wonderful thing to hear kids cry. Mother's like, oh, yeah, the kids crying's bothering me. It doesn't bother me at all. I love the sound of those kids because it means they're present, right?
[3:01] So it's okay. But S.M. Lockridge introduces his sermon in probably one of the most powerful manners after declaring the shortcomings of the world and the way man, in his own words, is forever chasing bubbles, trying to assume a position which he cannot attain.
[3:21] S.M. stops and he says, but I know where a poor man can find help. I know where a sick man can be made well. I know where a hungry man can be fed.
[3:32] I know where a bad man can be made good and a good man can be made better. It's all found at the feet of Christ. If there was an introduction to a sermon that was fitting for what we will see today, it would be that.
[3:46] I want you to see this morning the approachable Savior found for us in the Gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 5, starting in verse 21. If you are physically able and desire to do so, would you stand with me as we read together the Word of God from the Gospel of Mark?
[4:05] And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and so he stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing him, fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death.
[4:25] Please come and lay your hands on her so that she will get well and live. And he went off with him, and a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him. A woman who had a hemorrhage for 12 years and had endured much at the hands of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.
[4:46] After hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak. For she thought, If I just touch his garment, I will get well. Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
[5:01] Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, Who touched me?
[5:15] And he looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman, unfearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well.
[5:30] Go in peace and be healed of your affliction. While he was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, Your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher anymore?
[5:42] But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, Do not be afraid any longer, only believe. And he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James.
[5:55] And they came to the house of the synagogue official, and he saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And he entered in, and he said to them, Why make a commotion and weep?
[6:05] The child has not died, but is asleep. They began laughing at him. But putting them all out, he took along the child's father and mother and his own companions, and he entered the room where the child was.
[6:17] And taking the child by the hand, he said to her, Talitha cum, which translated means, Little girl, I say to you, get up. Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was 12 years old.
[6:29] And immediately they were completely astounded. And he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this. And he said that something should be given her to eat. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day.
[6:41] What a joy it is to be gathered together with your people in your house. And we pray now as we have read your word, Lord, that you would speak to us through it. We pray that every distraction, every hindrance would be cast aside, that our hearts and minds would be fixed upon the word of God.
[6:57] We pray that we would be open to hear your voice. Lord, our minds are subject to be led away in so many varying ways at different places and different times that, Lord, we want to be fixed on you.
[7:08] So speak, O Lord, to your people. Lord, Lord, would you by the power and presence of your Holy Spirit reveal the truth to us. Bring conviction where conviction is needed.
[7:20] Bring assurance where assurance is needed. But in all things, we ask that Christ be magnified and glorified. We ask it in Jesus'! Jesus' precious and holy name.
[7:31] Amen. You may be seated. This morning, as we look at an approachable Savior found in the Gospel of Mark, I want you to notice just a few things.
[7:43] It's really an astounding portion of Scripture. It's as astounding in its own context as it is in its greater context. Understanding the reality that in this fifth chapter, we have already seen Jesus go to the other side of the sea.
[7:56] That is why we're looking at him come back to the Jewish portion of the sea. We have already seen him go into the region of the Gadarenes where he met the demonic, encountered individual, the man who had a legion of demons within him.
[8:10] The other Gospel accounts tell us that there were two men that met him on that seashore. Mark focuses on the one that was in the worst condition, the man who had a legion of demons. We have found that when Christ landed on that side of the sea, this man who could not be bound by any, who could not be confined nor constrained by the forces of man, ran to Christ and fell at the feet of Christ.
[8:31] This man who desperately needed help saw Jesus from afar and pushed ahead to get to him and fell at his feet and begged out. Even the demons were begging for mercy.
[8:42] We have seen how Jesus gave the demons permission and they entered the herd of swine and the swine ran down the hill and the town people told Jesus to leave but Jesus left behind a witness, that man who used to be filled with demons.
[8:55] And he left him behind and he went into the region of Decapolis and began to declare all the things that the Lord had done through Jesus Christ to him. And now Jesus comes back.
[9:06] We were struck by the reality last week how Jesus must have crossed the sea just for that one man that he took his disciples across the sea that was going to be storm-tossed so that he could teach his disciples that he had the power over the seas so that they could be more fearful of he who was in the boat with them than the storms that were assailing them.
[9:25] Because isn't that what the psalmist says? He who created the mountains by his own might, he who tells the seas to hush and be still and all of the world will tremble in fear at him. Jesus was building a holy fear in the disciples about who he was.
[9:40] Friend, listen to us. May we never fail to fear the Lord God Almighty. But may that fear never remove his approachability from us.
[9:51] This is not a terrifying I am afraid of him but it is a fear of the holiness and reverence of who he is. It is a proper understanding of who this is that is among us.
[10:04] Being struck by his power, by his ability and then being equally struck by his availability. And that the only reason Christ went to the other side of the sea had to be to encounter that man because he who controlled the demons would not control the townsfolk and when the townsfolk begged him to leave he did.
[10:24] And he came back and now we find him on the shores of the Jewish side again. I told you last week when we were looking at this fifth chapter it is astounding because in this fifth chapter you find three different people falling at the feet of Christ.
[10:41] One of them a Gentile filled with a legion of demons. The second one a man named Jarius who is a leader in the synagogue of that area. And the third will be a woman that had a hemorrhage with the flow of blood for twelve years.
[10:54] And in it all we see the approachable savior. We are amazed because he who calms the seas he who built up the mountains he who spoke it all into existence I love what the word of God says by him all things were created and through him nothing has come into being that was not created through him and by him and for him.
[11:18] He is the creator in the beginning God said isn't that what the word says in the beginning God said let there be light now this is why I believe scripture is the greatest commentary on scripture just so you understand did Christ really create everything when the beginning God said how do you say something you say it with words right you use the words that flow out of your mouth and in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory and we called him Emmanuel who is Jesus Christ John tells us that when God said it it was Jesus himself who was doing it see we see this savior who has come now to dwell among men but look at how approachable he is look at the people that are welcomed at his feet and be astounded at just how approachable he is today we see a number of things here number one we see the faith that moves us the faith that moves us and we'll clarify some things here in just a minute it says and when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side that is he came back to that region where the crowds were at he came back to that region where the multitudes he had taught on the seashore he had been sitting in the boat just the day before he had been teaching to them in parables and the crowd was waiting on him when he came back to the other side a large crowd gathered around him now there's this phrase and I almost passed over this phrase and I'll just be honest
[12:47] I read the text so many times in preparation for a sermon and you say well pastor how do you do sermon prep I just read the text and then what do you do well I read the text again and then I read the text again and I read the text again and I read the text again and I read the text again and I say God give me clarity help me to read the text again and every time I read the text I say oh I didn't see that look at what it says the crowd gathered around him and he stayed by the seashore you say well what does that matter he stayed or he was some translations say he was by the seashore The word was in your translation really can be translated to stay put.
[13:21] He stayed put by the seashore. So we have Jesus coming to the other side, and here's the question. Why would he stay there? The crowds are gathered around him, the multitudes, but the passage is not about the crowd, right?
[13:34] The passage is not about the multitudes, because, friend, in case you've missed it, it is not the crowds who gather around Christ that know him, but the individuals who are singled out by Christ that experience him.
[13:46] If you're crowding around Christ, then you're doing the wrong thing. It is the individuals that are called out by him that know him. And the crowds are gathered, and he wasn't trying to avoid the crowds, but he stayed by the seashore.
[13:59] Why? Because look at what it says. He stayed by the seashore, and one of the synagogue officials named Jairus. It tells us in the other gospel text that it is one of the synagogue officials of that area.
[14:12] Now, let's make sure we understand this, so that we can have a proper understanding of the faith that moves us. We are not saved by works, lest any man should boast.
[14:25] No, we are saved by faith. But the grand question that has plagued theologians for centuries, and still today, it is a great debate among people, and if you ever really want to spark a church bait or a Bible debate, you can spark it this way.
[14:40] Is your faith the initiative, or is God the initiator? Do you start your salvation, or does he start your salvation? And now, we're not here to split hairs, but I want you to understand what's going on, just so we can have a proper biblical understanding.
[14:57] Because there are two ways to see the text. The book of Revelations, Jesus says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and anyone opens the door and lets me in, then we will sit down, and we will eat together. Right? You say, right, that's what Scripture teaches, that if anyone will open, and I will affirm that to the reality of my being, that if anyone opens, he will come into them.
[15:13] And you say, see, it's the whosoever will. But my answer to that is, but Christ had to stand at the door and knock first. You don't open the door unless someone's knocking. Jesus says, I'm at the door knocking.
[15:27] He went to the seashore, and he stayed put, so that Jairus would know where to find him. He was in that region. Notice the approachability of Christ. He could have walked away.
[15:39] He could have went wherever he wanted to go. He could have walked across the sea if he had desired it. He could have passed through the multitude of crowd unseen if he had wished. Because when the crowds were gathered around him wanting to throw him off the cliff, it tells us in the Gospel of John that he passed through their midst, and no one could touch him.
[15:57] When they sought to kill him, but it was not yet his time, he passed among them, and he went where he wanted. But here, for a moment, he stayed put. Why? Because he was waiting on a man named Jairus. He knew that just as much as he knew that on the other side, there was a demonic who needed to meet him, he knew that there was a synagogue who was looking for him, a synagogue official looking for him.
[16:19] He stayed put. He only moved when Jairus came. Don't miss it. Jairus knew where he could find him because the crowd was gathered around him. He did not hide himself.
[16:30] He did not veil himself. He did not conceal himself. But he made himself available to the faith that would dare come upon him. And by faith, Jairus went to him. It says the synagogue official, don't lose the fact of where he is, one of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing him, fell at his feet.
[16:50] It is Mark who tells us his name. We are given his office and the other two synoptic Gospels. What is he? He is a synagogue official. Well, do you know what a synagogue official does?
[17:03] A synagogue official is the man that's in control of the local synagogue who is the one in charge of picking the people that will teach each and every week. So he is the one who would say, okay, this week you're going to teach, and this week you're going to teach, and this week you're going to teach.
[17:17] So that's a good way of understanding that no matter how much teaching or no matter how much law this man had heard, it could not solve his problem. He had probably heard more teaching, more instruction from the Old Testament than anyone else.
[17:32] He was the man in charge of choosing who would be the next teacher. When Paul was on his missionary travels and he went into the synagogue, it would have been the synagogue official who gave him permission to teach.
[17:43] When Jesus stood up in the synagogue and he quoted the book of Isaiah, it was the synagogue official for whom he said, can I speak? He said, yes, here is a man who was very familiar with teaching.
[17:54] Here is a man that was very familiar with the law, but here is a man that all of a sudden had a problem the law couldn't address, but the good news is he knew where to find the man who could. He was staying by the seashore, waiting on him to get there.
[18:08] And it was by faith he went to him with this problem that no teaching, no instruction, no recording from the Word could solve his problem. His only daughter, we're told in the other Gospels, his only begotten, his precious daughter was dying.
[18:23] Mark tells us that she's in the process of dying. Luke, the physician, says she's near death. Matthew tells us in a very condensed version she's already dead. The word there means she is as good as dead.
[18:37] And he goes to Christ and he falls at his feet by faith, knowing that he didn't need more teaching. He didn't need to be in the right place. He needed to find the right person. And then we meet the woman as Jesus is going with Jairus.
[18:51] Here is this woman who has this hemorrhage and the flow of blood for 12 years. I love the way Mark tells it. She had suffered much at the hands of physicians and it had only made her worse.
[19:04] Now this is why we need the synoptics, right? Luke, the physician, tells us that her disease was incurable by medicine. Mark says all the physicians, all the doctors just made her worse.
[19:14] It's all the doctors' fault. Luke says we didn't make her worse. There was nothing we could do. Help as much as we try. All the medicine and all the men that were around her only could make it worse because it was an incurable disease.
[19:30] But yet she knew where she could go because she heard about Christ. And she pressed in. She said, if I just touch the hem of his garments, it is the faith that moves us.
[19:42] It is the faith that comes to the reality that I have a problem that no amount of teaching, and no amount of man's power, no amount of ability, and no amount of instruction can take care of my problem.
[19:55] I have to go somewhere else. And where does it find itself? At the feet of Christ. It is the faith that moves us. Secondly, we notice the fears that are dispelled.
[20:10] The fears that are dispelled. The lady gets in the crowd, and she presses in as the crowd is pressing around.
[20:21] You see her there. Notice the contrast. There's a synagogue official, and there's a woman who can't even walk into the synagogue. The synagogue official is leading Jesus to his house, and here's a woman who is so unclean, she cannot go near a religious teacher.
[20:37] And she presses in, and she touches the hem of his garment, and it tells us that immediately she knew within herself the flow of blood had stopped, and she was healed.
[20:49] Now, the literal translation for this to be healed is she was saved. She knew in that moment she was saved from the flow of blood, that which had plagued her, that which had only been made worse.
[21:02] Don't lose sight of this. As soon as she touched him, the problem was taken care of. It says, and then Jesus stopped.
[21:13] Because, see, there's a greater problem than a flow of blood. Leprosy wasn't the greatest problem the ten lepers that encountered Christ had. You know that story, right?
[21:25] When the ten lepers cry out to Jesus, his son of David, have mercy on us, and he declares them to go to the synagogue officials and present the offering that would declare them to be clean, and while they were on their way, all ten became clean, and one turned around and fell at the feet of Christ.
[21:40] You remember that? And Jesus is where are the other nine? And they went on their way, but it was only the one who came back and fell at the feet of Christ that Jesus declared his sins had been forgiven. All ten had been cleansed of leprosy, but only one left fully clean.
[21:55] Leprosy wasn't the greatest problem. They had the flow of blood wasn't the greatest problem this woman had. Jesus knew she had been healed. He felt the power go outside of him, so he stopped and he said, who touched me?
[22:06] Now, here is a conundrum we must ask ourselves. If he knew that he was going to the other side to meet an individual with a legion of demons, and if he knew he had to stay beside the sea to wait until Jairus got there, and if he knew that the power had come out of him and healed an individual, though the crowd by the disciples said, everybody's touching you, why do you ask?
[22:28] He was looking for a specific one. If he knew that, don't you think he knew who it was? The answer ought to be yes. Emphatically, Jesus knew who it was. Before she was born, he knew the number of her days.
[22:41] He was there and knit her together in her mother's womb and counted her days. He saw her before the foundation of the earth was laid. He knew who she was because it tells us in her text that he was looking around for her.
[22:55] He was looking for her. And what she wanted to be was a secret believer, to come in and touch him, only him, and to have her problem cured.
[23:06] But she didn't want to make public knowledge of what had happened. Why? Fear. Fear. Fear. She's not supposed to touch a religious leader.
[23:18] Here's the greatest rabbi walking on the face of the earth. She's not even supposed to be among the crowd. She is unclean by the standard of the law. She would have been ostracized.
[23:30] She would have been judged. Maybe rebuked. Jesus calls her out, and she comes and tells us that she came and fell at his feet, fear and trembling. And then she did the most amazing thing.
[23:43] She declared, she knew she had been healed. She declared from what she had been healed of. She made public confession. It tells us that she's told it all in the other gospels.
[23:56] She spoke of the reality that she was unclean when she came upon him, but in that moment, in an instant, she had been healed. See, her greatest fear was not that she would not be healed.
[24:06] Her greatest fear is that she would be cast out and ostracized if she tried to be healed. She didn't have the boldness of Jairus to run up to the Savior. She didn't know if she would be welcomed in his presence.
[24:19] She didn't know if she could dare ask him to heal her. She didn't know if she could touch him because she's unclean. She's not supposed to. But Jesus stops, calls her out, not to make a public spectacle out of her, but to remove the fear.
[24:35] To remove the fear of unacceptance. It says that when she came, she fell down before his feet. And the woman with fear and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
[24:51] And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well or saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your infliction.
[25:06] Now, this bears our thinking through. She has already been healed of the flow of blood. What affliction was he telling her to go and be healed from?
[25:19] More than likely, the fear of being unaccepted. Of being unwelcomed at the feet of this wonderful Savior.
[25:33] She had heard about him. Notice what he calls her daughter. Jairus had come because he had a daughter that was dying. He had a daughter that needed help.
[25:44] And now Jesus declares her, You are my daughter. What a welcoming, encouraging, what an amazing, astounding thing.
[25:57] Because he declares to her, You are worth being near me. That fear is dismayed in a moment. That fear is dispelled and it's cast aside.
[26:12] I tell people, and I actually told someone this morning, sometimes people were waiting on me and I said, you know, I say there are a small group of people that can interrupt me.
[26:22] And when that interruption happens, it just has to be accepted. My wife can interrupt me, my daughter can interrupt me, and my granddaughters can interrupt me at any given time. And it's just part of it.
[26:34] And some people look at it and say, well, you must show a little favoritism. It's not favoritism, but friends, men, let me tell you something. I'm going to speak to the men for just a moment. If the Lord has blessed you with daughters and granddaughters, you love them differently than you do your sons and grandsons.
[26:49] It's not favoritism. It says for husbands to live with an understanding way with their wives, that men are to treat young ladies differently, understanding that they are weaker vessels.
[27:05] You say, oh, some of you want to say, I'm not weak. I'm not telling you you are weak. I'm just quoting scripture. Some of you ladies are stronger than I've ever seen. But with understanding that there are weights that they're not supposed to carry, that's the admonition to husbands, and how much more so to fathers.
[27:21] It's not favoritism. It's intentionalism. Right? It's living differently. So when Jesus says, you are my daughter, he is showing her his worth.
[27:37] You are worth stopping and declaring that you are given. The fears are dispelled. But while he stopped, while he delayed, people came from the synagogue official's home and said, don't bother the teacher anymore.
[27:50] So now he has to calm the fears of this synagogue official named Jairus. He says, do not be afraid, but keep on believing.
[28:02] Do not be afraid, but keep on believing. At the feet of Christ, our fears are dispelled. Third and finally, notice the favor that is shown them.
[28:16] The favor that is shown them. It's amazing to me in this passage that if we just pay attention through it, that Jesus is asked and then does touch the unclean.
[28:35] the Lord. When the synagogue official came up to him, he said, my daughter is at the point of death, but if you will just come and touch her. The lady with the flow of blood just wanted to touch him.
[28:50] And when Jesus went into the upper room, he touched the little girl on the hand. I did a series, one of my earliest messages.
[29:01] it's probably poor doctrine and even poor preaching. Some 20 years ago now, called the untouchables, how Christ touches the untouchables.
[29:13] I will never forget the title of it, though I have forgot the bulk of the message. But it's amazing how much we find in scripture where Jesus touches the untouchable.
[29:26] Those that the religious leaders would pass by on the other side of the road. those that would dare not touch them because it would make them unclean and unfit to worship. We find Christ touching them.
[29:38] And what a favor. And yet then he goes and he overhears this and he takes along with him Peter, James, and John. He's not showing favoritism, but again, there is an inner circle to the twelve.
[29:50] He takes them with him and he takes along no one other than them three, those three, and the mother and father of the daughter. When he gets into the house, the professional mourners are there.
[30:00] People would pay people to come and mourn and they're making such a loud outcry. He tells them to leave. The girl is not dead. Now he knew that she was dead. He understood that, but she is not eternally dead.
[30:11] It is the body that is dead, but the soul lives on evermore. And all he had to do was reunite the two. He understood that. He had a greater understanding than they did. The word tells us that they began to laugh at him.
[30:23] The word is a laugh to scorn, like he has no idea what he's talking about. And rather than arguing with them, because people, friends, listen to me, it is not always worth a debate. Sometimes you just have to remove the problem. Sometimes you just have to cast out the doubt.
[30:35] So Jesus escorted them out and said, it's time for you to leave. And so they left. And after they left, he said, now let's go upstairs. So he takes the mother and the father and the people with him, his own companions, and he goes to the room and he grabs a little girl by the hand, this body that is dead.
[30:49] He takes her by the head and his hand says, little girl, I say to you, arise, get up. And just like with Lazarus, he had to be intentional. He couldn't just say, all you dead people get up, because everybody would have got up.
[31:02] He had to say this one, the one he's talking to, and the girl gets up. It is the first resurrection that Christ offers.
[31:16] It's this 12-year-old daughter of the synagogue official. Up to this time, we know he has the power to heal the lame. For the withered hand becomes whole.
[31:29] We know that a man who is crippled and lying on a pallet can pick it up and go home. We know that demons can be cast out, but do we know that he can raise the dead?
[31:41] For, as S.M. Locker said, and I know where a dead man can be made alive. We found that person. We have found that approachable Savior who can come and now say, though the body is dead, dead, they're not dead.
[31:58] I have the power to reunite the two. Some of us, our bodies are still alive, but internally we're still very much dead. And he who could raise a dead body can surely resurrect a dead life.
[32:12] Some of us, we think that we're too unclean to come before him, and for those of us there, he stops and says, don't be afraid. You say, well, how do I come to him? He's always the initiator.
[32:24] He makes himself accessible. It is the faith that approaches him where he's at. For he does not veil himself, he says, whosoever comes to me.
[32:37] But the only reason we can come is because we know where to find him. And we can cry out to him, and we can fall at his feet just like these, and we say, what an amazing individual. Here is one that meets every one of my needs, one astounding, approachable Savior.
[32:57] He shows so much favor to those who come and fall at his feet, and it's a wonder that so many of us are so hesitant to do so.
[33:11] For when the man with the legion of demons fell at his feet, he was made whole. When a synagogue official whose only daughter was dying fell at his feet, his daughter was brought back to life.
[33:23] And when a woman who had suffered much at the hands of the physicians for 12 years fell at his feet, in an instant she was made perfectly well. I wonder what he'd do if we fell at his feet.
[33:38] And we say, Savior, thank you for waiting and staying where you were so that I could come and find you. I'm going to bring you my problems, I'll bring you my burdens, and I'll bring you the things that the world cannot answer.
[33:52] And say, Savior, what can you do with them? And we stand astounded at the favor he shows. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity we've had to be together.
[34:07] And we thank you for your word. We pray now as we have heard it, that by the power and presence of your spirit that you would work it for its purposes in our hearts and minds.
[34:19] And we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.