THE MAIN IDEA
The eternal life that Jesus came to give us is nothing to laugh at.

JESUS IS OUR ONLY HOPE
In our passage today, we see two very different people with two very different problems coming to Jesus for help. For a wealthy leader of a synagogue, an upstanding pillar of the community who probably had access to the best medical care that money could buy, Jesus must have been his last resort. Indeed, Jesus was his only hope. And for the woman with no authority or power or wealth and her condition getting worse, she probably spent what little she had looking for a cure or a treatment. Just as with Jairus, Jesus was her last resort. Jesus was her only hope too. No matter what the struggle is that we may be facing (or even if we are not facing any struggle at all), Jesus is our only hope! Jesus Christ needs to our only hope and our first resort, because Jesus Christ is our Lord and our God.

JESUS IS OUR ONLY HOPE FOR ETERNAL LIFE
For Jairus, the curse of death was the problem. Jairus says that his daughter is dead already. And instead of rejecting Jairus’s “ridiculous” request for help, Jesus simply gets up and follows Jairus to his house. When Jesus gets to Jairus’s house, Jesus tells everyone to leave and says that the girl is only asleep, at which everyone laughs at Him. The point that Matthew is making is that death does not mean the same thing to us as it does to Jesus. For us, death is the thing that we fear the most, even though we all have to face it. For Jesus, death is not something to fear or to mourn. Death is the curse of sin that He came to overcome. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the world, and along with it, every bad thing that happens in our lives—every disaster, disease, disappointment, and, ultimately, every death. But God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross to atone for the sins of all humanity across all of time. And then God resurrected Jesus from death to eternal life as a promise of the eternal life that is awaiting us through faith. And one day Jesus will return, and for those of us who believe in Him and follow Him as Lord, we will be resurrected to eternal life together with Him—no more disasters, disease, disappointments, death, or sin. That’s how Jesus thinks about death, and so should we.

JESUS IS OUR ONLY HOPE FOR LIFE
Our souls are immortal. We don’t have to do anything to live forever. What matters, though, is how we live forever. The woman’s bleeding was not a life-threatening condition. Her main problem what that she was cut off from participating in the life of her faith community because of her condition. Also, she was cut off from participating in fellowship with God. She couldn’t enter the temple for any reason. Faith must be expressed in worship or it’s not faith. This woman wasn’t living out the fullness of life. She was just existing under the curse of sin, living without any hope, but that’s not living. But Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). And this is significant, because the word that the woman and Jesus used for “healed” also means “saved.” Jesus came to save us so that we might experience the fullness of life. And what that requires is faith. Faith in Jesus is what matters most in our lives. Faith in Jesus is the difference between the fullness of life and broken existence. Faith in Jesus is what saves us, what heals us, and what gives us life. So then, we ought to live faithful lives—lives that are filled with faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning. Because of faith, may Jesus be the only hope for our lives.

DISCUSSION QUESTION
Assume you’re going to heaven and think for a moment about eternal life. What one area of your life right now do you think is most impacted by eternal life? How so?