At Death’s Door | Mark 5:21-43

We’re talking about death today, particularly your death, and you might be thinking right now, Erica, it’s Christmas. What in the world is going on? Well, Christmas and Good Friday and Easter, they’re all linked, and it all adds up to the biggest hope you’ll ever feel in your heart. It adds up to, ‘You don’t have to be afraid when you close your eyes for the last time on this earth. When you take your last breath here.’ Got your attention? Let’s dive in for more.

Special thanks to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, for bringing us the Bible For Busy People this Christmas season!

Show Notes:

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Transcription:

May I ask you a personal question? Are you afraid to die? I know I used to be. I remember snuggling down as a little girl in my strawberry shortcake comforter and just thinking that one day I would die and fall into this black hole and just keep on falling and falling, and I was so afraid of that until Jesus, the Lord Jesus, came into my life when I was 16 years old and I realized at that point that he died for my sins, beat death hell in the grave and rose again and opened the door for me to live with him forever in a perfect place, and all I had to do was accept his love and forgiveness and I could walk through that door. This is the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica, your host, and I am here to give you hope today.

I want to invite you to check out this film documentary that’s been blowing my mind. I’ve watched it twice on Pure Flix. It’s also on Amazon Prime, but it’s called The Case for Heaven, and if you already believe, it’s just going to encourage you. It’s going to put you over the top about feeling excited to go to heaven. If you don’t believe yet, they present an excellent case. The whole film is hosted by Lee Strobel. He was an atheist and a journalist. Now he’s a Christian and an author. He actually set out to prove that Christianity was a false religion and wound up believing in the Lord. But this film, it covers heaven, how to get in, how it’s on Jesus’s score. They talk about hell, how it’s a real place, and they share all of these incredible near death experience stories. You’re just going to love it.

I bet you’re going to watch it twice like I did, but there’s a reason we’re talking about death today, particularly your death, and you might be thinking right now, Erica, it’s Christmas. What in the world is going on? Well, Christmas and Good Friday and Easter, they’re all linked, and it all adds up to the biggest hope you’ll ever feel in your heart. It adds up to, ‘you don’t have to be afraid when you close your eyes for the last time on this earth. When you take your last breath here.’ A pastor who I loved dearly, he’s with the Lord now used to say,

Your last breath here is your first breath of heaven’s air if you believe in Jesus.

Alright, without further ado, we’re going to hop right into Mark chapter five Today, beginning in verse 21.

Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”

You hear the heart of a father who loves his girl in those words, don’t you?

Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. 25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. 30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” 31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” 35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” 36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” 37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” 40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Oh, can you imagine the joy of that father of that mother? Oh, I want to talk to that little girl someday up in heaven. I really do. Well, these two stories are linked in my mind, as much as Christmas and Easter are linked, but I didn’t understand it so much till today. I’m not a theologian. I just love Jesus, love the Bible, and I believe the Lord would have me say to you today, my friend, who is afraid to die, that your suffering is over. Just as the woman with the issue of blood reached out and grabbed the hem of the robe of Jesus in faith, you can reach out to his hand today and say, Lord, I accept your love. I’m sorry for my sins. Please forgive me and your suffering, your fear of death, will be over. And if right now you’re struggling to believe, I believe the Lord would have me say to you what he said to Jairus, don’t be afraid. Just have faith. Trust him. Have the faith to reach out, to grab a hold of his nail scarred hand. When Jesus was born on Christmas, it was for a very specific reason so that he would grow up to live a sinless life and give his life for you and I on Good Friday and rise again on Easter Sunday. It is the greatest love story in the history of humankind, and you are in it because he did it for you. He did it for me. That’s what Christmas is all about. You don’t have to be afraid to die. Knowing where you’re going makes all the difference. Knowing who you’re going with, who’s going to be with you at the end and say, little girl or little boy, get up. That makes all the difference. Until next time, you are really loved.

Thank you for making space to study the Bible with me today. If you feel something stirring in your soul, that’s the God who made you, saying, I love you and I want to know you. It’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus came for you so that your soul would know its worth. He came to bring joy to the world, and to your world. It’s the most beautiful love story ever written, and it’s true. It’s the greatest rescue mission in history, and it was for you. If you want to respond to that stirring in your soul, to know Jesus a little better, please take a moment and check out our show notes, where you’ll find lots of hope and encouragement for your journey.

The Bible for Busy people is brought to you this Christmas season by Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Every day and every night, their team is on a mission to share the good news with our neighbors who are homeless. Like the angels who came on the night, Jesus was born. They make sure that every person who walks through the doors of the Mission knows that there is hope because Jesus came, and how much He loves them. Every person they meet on the street encounters the love of Christ through a friendly smile, a warm blanket, a cup of cocoa, and an invitation to take that next step toward healing from addiction or mental illness. If you want to be part of making sure every soul knows its worth in Seattle this Christmas, volunteer or donate at ugm.org. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

This podcast is one branch of a Christmas tree called Purposely, a network designed to connect you with life-giving conversations, and to inspire you to find and live out God’s purpose for your life. If you’ve got a pulse, you’ve got a purpose.