Questions Jesus Asked - Week 3: March 8, 2026

Pastor Jamie Prescott

Transcript

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Well, I'm gonna keep going with our series that we started three weeks ago, Questions Jesus Asked. So you'll get to hear from me today. So, and as we go through this, um, you know, this is a series we're tackling because whether or not you know it, I mean, Maddie mentioned it in week one. Jesus, as he interacted with people, actually asked over 300 questions, right? I mean, we take in so much from him and his teachings and all the experiences and stuff, but what is it about these questions that Jesus asked? I mean, he's supposed to be all-knowing, right? He's the one that has the answers and shouldn't be asking the questions, but yet we find in scripture he did. He did ask some questions. And so there's really three things that we want to make sure that you uh you take a grasp of as we go through this series. One is as we tackle those questions, what does scripture have to say about them? We're gonna investigate what the Bible has to say. We've been doing that over the last couple of weeks. We're gonna do that today. Number two, is if the Son of God felt as though it was important enough to ask questions, then maybe it's okay that we do too, right? It's so easy that we would hear something and offer an opinion and say, well, let me say this about that, right? I mean, that's pretty easy to do. We do that. I mean, we do that all over social media all the time. We put things out there. But Jesus felt as though it were important to ask questions. Those questions revealed some things. Maybe we should be people, not that we should never give our opinions, but that should ask a lot of questions of ourselves, of God, right, and of others. Deep questions. And we have that board out there in the lobby that you can do that. And number three is we should we want you to do this, and that is to replace our foolish habit of airing our opinions, which I'm just referring to, right? With a spirit of curiosity and compassion that seeks both truth and understanding. So, what can we learn from these questions, right? That help us to find truth and understanding. And so to help us with that, in the very first week, Maddie challenged us to memorize a verse in the Bible, Proverbs 18, 2, as you're gonna see it on the screen here. And I want you to read this with me, all right? Read this with me. Ready? A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his or her opinion. Right? It's so easy like to just blurt something out, just to give our opinion before we actually ask questions and try to get a deeper understanding of what's going on. And so, what we want you to do throughout this series is get a deeper understanding. Not a bad verse to memorize, right? You got all the way to Easter to do it. The series is gonna go through Easter, all right? So, before we get into the question today, though, I'm gonna share a story with you. The year was 1997. It was October 4th, 1997. I found myself on the way to Washington, D.C. for a big meeting of somewhere between 800,000 to a million guys that were gonna be gathered there. There was an event that was happening in DC called Stand in the Gap, right? It was being put on by an organization called Promise Keepers. Heard about that from some guys at the church that I was a part of. I actually graduated college that year. I was at my first church, and they said, Jamie, we're gonna be going to this thing, and we would love for you to go with this. And so we hopped in a car, we drove to DC, we stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of DC, and we got up at the, you know, before the sun was even out, and we drive, we get on the subway, we ride in, and we get, and all of these guys are beginning to get off of the subway. And and as you look, you know, the mall area begins to fill up until all of a sudden later on in the day it looks something like this. And I found myself in that crowd, not able to get close enough to the stage myself, but having to watch this event on a jumbotron, right? And there it did end up being somewhere between 800,000 and a million guys there that day that were there to do three things. One was to be involved in prayer, a million guys praying together to sing worship songs, but also to help find and bring a solution to racial reconciliation. That was what the day was about. It was an event being led by promise keepers, right? Something I've never been in a crowd like that before in my life. Can you say you've ever stood, like maybe you have, maybe some of you were even there, stood in a crowd of almost a million people. Do you know what it's like to be in a crowd of a million people? Chaotic. I mean, there is just nowhere you can go to be alone. Like there is just people everywhere. If you look, like even beyond the trees, all the way to those buildings, what do you see? People, people, everywhere, people. And as the day progressed, like the it began to get warmer. You're standing in a crowd. When you're in a crowd, you know, like even before you came in this room today, this room was cooler. But as your bodies begin to just get in this room and your heat, you know, your body heat begins, this room warms up. Listen, when you're standing in a crowd like that, and it is unusually warm in DC in October, it was in the 80s that day. It should not be in the 80s in DC. Like it begins to get a little warm. It was beginning to be a little bit uncomfortable. But there was one thing that I had not been able to see as I stood there in that crowd that day. You go to DC, you're seeing all kinds of things, people, you know, all kinds of experiences and stuff, all those museums are around. But there was one thing that I hadn't seen yet. And I was looking everywhere for it. And so I began to make my way through that crowd, and you're bumping into people, and I'm looking and I'm looking and I'm looking, and I was like, there it is. There it is. You know what I was looking for? You know what I found? This right here. No matter where you go, you gotta have that. You gotta have a porta potty. Because I stood in that crowd and I was a part of the prayer and the worship and all that kind of stuff, and and you know, that I had forgotten about. Oh, I kind of need to go to the restroom. So seriously, I did. I made my way through the crowd, but it when I saw it, I was on the back side of it. So I get out past there and I began to walk around it. And to my amaze, every line, I am not kidding you. There's 30 or 40 porta potties there, had 30 or 40 people waiting for it. And I'm like, no. So I got in the shortest line I could find, and I'm standing there like this, wiping the tears because I gotta go so bad. And I realized I I can't wait. I can't like what am I gonna do? I can't wait. And this is not a number two situation, it's a number one situation. Okay? Yes. But I'm thinking, okay, if if if I don't make it, it's unusually warm. Heat and number ones don't go well together. I would have to stand there all the rest of that day. I'm like, that ain't gonna happen. So I'm sorry. I'm just like, so you know what I did? I drummed up the courage to step out of that line, and I'm walking past all these people, you know, and I get to the front, and the gentleman that's right there in the front of that line, I look at him and he looks down at me, and I said, Sir, I know you've been waiting here a long time. And I said, But I'm about to have a problem here. Could I please go in front of you? I will go as fast as I can. And I think I probably even told him it was a number one and not a number two. So it was gonna go a little quicker. And he looks down at me and he says, I guess. I mean, it was people that were standing in that line, that was worse than the longest Walmart line you've ever been in. And you, you know, and things aren't going the way that you wanted to. And every time you would watch every person go in and come out, and and you were like, You took so long. It was it was a nightmare, right? It was a nightmare. Believe it or not, there's a reason I'm telling you the story, right? I'd never been so happier in my life than to see those porta potties, right? The one thing. But there is there is a reason for me telling you the story, right? We've all got our stories of of desperation. I mean, this one's kind of a comical one, but it was a real issue of desperation for me that day. But for some of us, the situation's a little bit more serious than that. They're a little bit more traumatizing than that. We've had desperate situations in our lives. And I could name some of the others that I've had in my life that were desperate, right? Frankly, that should have drawn more attention than a situation like that. We've all got those stories we could share. Now, there's a story that I want to look at today, a story of desperation that comes from Luke chapter 8, verses 40 through 48, as we begin to prepare to see what the question is that Jesus has to us. Let me set it up for you here, really quick. Jesus and his disciples had just been traveling the countryside. Jesus is speaking. People are amazed. They're gathering by the hundreds. Jesus has been healing people. People are amazed. They're continuing to gather by the hundreds to see what's going on with this guy and his followers. As a matter of fact, Jesus decides to leave one side of the Sea of Galilee, travel to the other side with his disciples, and yet when they get off the boat there on the other side, what do they find? A demon-possessed man who's living in a cave on the outskirts of the city. And so what do they do? They continue to do what they've been doing and they heal this man. And the demons that were in him say, Hey, put us in the pigs. The pigs go over the edge. It happens. The community that's there is amazed. They get back in the boat and they're heading back to where they just came from. But when they get back on the shore, what do they find? Hundreds of people waiting for them. They cannot get away from them. Right? That's where we find ourselves. Luke 8, 40 to 48. It says, when Jesus returned to Galilee, the crowds, they were overjoyed, for they had been waiting for him to arrive. And just then, this man named Jairus, the leader of the local Jewish congregation, he fell before Jesus' feet, and he desperately begged him to come and to heal his 12-year-old daughter, his only child, because she was at the point of death. And as Jesus started to go with him to his home to see her, this large crowd continued to surround him. And in the crowd that day there was a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years from slow bleeding. And even though she had spent all that she had on healers, she was still suffering. Pressing in through the crowd, she came up behind Jesus and she touched the fringe of his garment, and instantly her bleeding stopped, and she was healed. Jesus suddenly stopped and he said to his disciples, Somebody touched me. Who was it? And while they all denied it, Peter pointed out, Master, everyone is touching you. Everyone is trying to get close to you. The crowds they're so thick, we can't walk through all these people without being jostled. And Jesus replied, Yes, but I felt power surge through me. Someone touched me to be healed, and they received their healing. And when the woman realized that she couldn't hide any longer, she came and she fell trembling at Jesus' feet before the entire crowd. She declared, I was desperate to touch you, Jesus, for I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your garment, I would be healed. And Jesus responded, Beloved daughter, your faith in me released your healing, and you may go with my peace. He is immediately in this interaction with Jairus. And so he is immediately now going to heal this 12-year-old daughter of Jairus. And yet still he gets sidetracked again by a woman who really didn't want to be seen. She just wanted to touch to be healed. And yet he notices that and is sidetracked and has to deal with that, right? And at the time, the thing about this is this woman's sickness wasn't something that was uncommon. It was a common thing that they were dealing with at the time. Actually, so common that there were 11 different cures, supposed cures, that never worked for what she was dealing with. And she had spent her whole life savings trying to get this taken care of. As a matter of fact, some of these things were something like this, like, you know, to actually carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen rag in the summer, but once it began to get cooler, right? To carry in a cotton rag in the winter. But another one was to actually even carry barley corn, which had been found in the mess of a white donkey. Aren't we so glad that medicine has changed? Seriously. Like, I mean, this is what she was facing. And none of these solutions were working. Twelve years. She was an outcast. She was considered unclean, and so nobody wanted to touch her. As a matter of fact, the church said to her, if something changes in your life and you are healed from this, then maybe you can come in and worship with us. But until then, you're not allowed to come into the temple to worship because of your problem. No relationships, no friends. But she was an outcast. I love how Mark describes it. If we were to look at his, and it's not on the screen, it says this right here. It says, when she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd, you know, and she just wanted to touch his cloak, but because she thought, if I touch his clothes, I will be healed. Can you see the desperation? I mean, she is breaking all the laws that day. I mean, the people that said, no touch, no touch, right? And yet she's walking in and she has to touch every person that's in that crowd that's trying to get close to Jesus. They want to get close to him because of the things that they have heard and because of the miracles that they've seen. I mean, he's famous. But to her, he was possibly a solution to what she was struggling with. If I could just touch him. If I could just touch him. You know what she was really reaching for? There was this cloak that they would wear, and on that cloak it had tassels. And the person that wore that cloak was was believed to be a person of God. And so she knew that much about him. And so she was reaching for that thing that gave him significance. And if I could just touch that, maybe I would be healed. That's what she was reaching for. And she did, and instantly her bleeding stopped. Again, I love the way that Mark puts the rest of the encounter. I love like this is Jesus turned around and in the crowd that day he asked, Who touched my clothes? Mark specifically says clothes, right? And Peter says, You see these people like all bubbled up against you? He's like, Jesus, it's like a mosh pit right here. I mean, we're being jostled. There's people, how are you even asking that question? There's people everywhere. But Jesus says, What? I know somebody touched me because I felt the power go from my body. And a healing happened in someone who touched my clothes. And this woman says, She can't hide any longer because Jesus is asking a question and she's reluctantly, it was it was me. And she comes up and she begins to share his story and she bows down before him. And what does Jesus say? Jesus says to her, daughter, your faith has healed you. Now go in peace and be freed from your suffering. Your faith has healed you. Jesus was in the midst of another agenda, but yet when this happened, he stops and he took the time to notice this woman and to begin to meet her need. Right? Jesus pursued her, asking what question? The question of the day. Come on, you know it already. What was the question? Who touched me? Who touched me? And he kept looking around until Peter said, Everybody. Listen, a while back I had a conversation with somebody. It's been actually quite a while back. They're not from this church, but they had recently gone through a divorce. And this person said that they had made plans with their best friend to go out for lunch. They were gonna go in and they were gonna meet with a judge that day. And they walked out, they just really needed to be with somebody. They needed to spend some time with somebody, you know, like they just didn't want to go through that alone. And so they had this set up. And yet, right before they went in, this best friend calls and said, Listen, I I I I I'm not gonna be there with you today. I'm gonna go and I'm gonna be with this other person, I'm gonna do something different. And you know, that person was like, Yeah, okay, I get it. And yet, when they walk out of that meeting, after going through this big moment, I mean this huge life change for them, and they walked out of that building, they told me they said, I felt alone. I felt alone and I felt abandoned. I get it. And this woman that day, because of everything she'd experienced, right? She needed healing, she needed solutions, she wanted relief because she felt alone. She felt abandoned by what she was going through, didn't she? Many of us in this room we can sympathize. We felt alone, we felt abandoned with this person who had gone through this divorce, but even with this woman, right? There are things about us that's kind of our junk and right when amid this woman's desperation, Jesus sees her and he asks the question, Who touched me? Three words that reveal so much about us, and yet so much about him. We're gonna find out what those are. What does it reveal about us? What does it reveal about him? And here's the bottom line today, if you remember one thing today, this is the word you need to remember: value. That question says everything about value. I mean, we all know what it's like to give value to something, right? I mean, there's things in your life, there's things hanging on the walls in your home that are valuable to you. There's there's pieces of the the floor from Allen Field House in some of our houses, right, from the past that's valuable to us. If you love basketball, it is. But if you don't, nope, not valuable to you, right? There's a folder right here that I thought of as I was preparing for this. Sits in my file cabinet in my office. This has no value to you, but to me, so much value. Twenty-six years ago, when I started ministry here, for some reason God began to tell me, Jamie, when I would get letters and different things from students and people that I interacted with in ministry, I would begin to put them in this folder. And every once in a while I look back and I actually brought this out, you know, for a men's ministry thing a while back. But in this folder, there are stories of life change that have happened in people. There are stories of brokenness and how God got them through it and all these different kinds of things. But most recently, there's even something like this right here: a colored snowflake, right? From a little girl named Natalia from back in the kids' area. This was about Christmas time. But I remember that day because the little girls were painting, you know, coloring these with their markers, and this little girl she takes hers and she slides it over to me and she says, Would you write your name on my paper? And I'm like, Okay. So right below the little heart here, you can see my name, Jamie. And then she says, It's yours. And I put it in my folder. You wanna know why? Because I realized that little girl that day was seen. She's her, she doesn't have a disastrous life. But God reminds me, you know what? Every little person matters. Every big person matters. She was seen. There's other stories in here. There's a picture that a student drew of Jesus one time. Jesus is crying, you know, why that student drew that picture? Because they'd given their life to Jesus. And they knew that Jesus was happy that they did. It's in here. There's letters. Again. There's a letter from a student who had a child went through a very disastrous time and yet talks about how important it was, how much how meaningful it was that we walked with her. Through that, it's in here. It's got value to me, not so much to you. This woman that day had value for Jesus. As I think back to this question Jesus asks, what does it reveal? And there's this quote from David Gizak. Here's what he says. He's a pastor and an author. He says Jesus asked the question so that this woman, so that she would know her healing was permanent, but that others would know that she was no longer unclean and that she would really understand why she was healed. It wasn't stolen or accidental power, but it was a gift received through faith. You hear that word? It was a gift received through faith. What is faith? I was spending some time with somebody this week and as we watched this video and it actually was talking about faith they gave this definition and it's not you're not going to see on the screen but this is what it said. Faith is this it is a reasonable a reasonable step based on good evidence. It's a reasonable step based on good evidence. We want the best. We want it to be the for sure thing. But that day when that woman decided to touch Jesus clothes she did not know for sure if it was going to work but she knew there was reasonable evidence everything that she had seen the other people that she had healed the things that she had heard him say that doggone it I'm going to give it a try because I've tried everything else there was reasonable evidence she had faith. A hundred percent faith I don't think so but enough enough listen there's a line in a song that I hear in one of my favorite radio stations I listen to on my computer and it's from a band called wrongdoers and this is what that line says it says we make love to the same mistakes this woman was tired of making love to the same mistakes she had tried everything she had spent every dollar that she had had she tried to talk and find every solution that she could she was tired of making love to the same mistakes and so she goes up and she does the one thing that she hadn't done yet and that is to see and to touch Jesus. And when she does Jesus turns around and he says to her daughter your faith has healed you now go in peace and be freed from your suffering can you imagine how she felt in that moment I mean Jesus didn't just say you know like uh lady woman I mean that would have been okay but but he looks down at her and he says daughter I see you your faith has healed you her reasonable act gained her more than what she was looking for that day. She just wanted to be healed of her physical illness and Jesus gave her so much more he gave her value. Not just a physical healing but he gave her value so what was behind the question that Jesus asked there's three things that I want us to see number one is to show the woman that she has value. That's what we saw. Right? And that value comes because she was tired of making love to the same mistakes over and over right what about us when we get out of bed and our feet hit the floor is it the same thing every day and we and we put our head on the pillow with the same attitude every night is it can we do something different? Are we tired of making love to the same mistakes? And if you do I can promise you right that you will see the same value it will the same value that Jesus gave her will come to you there's nothing in the world more viable to the Father than you are. Jesus asked the question who touched me right it also did this number two is it showed the world that everyone has value. There were so many people there that they were shoulder to shoulder it wasn't just that woman in Jesus although I think when when Jesus calls out and and he and he's talking directly to her maybe in her mind it was just a her and him moment that would be awesome right but the reality is there were onlookers that day people everywhere that saw that this same woman that they had pushed away and made an outcast Jesus the one that they wanted to get close to too but not for the same reason that she did Jesus saw her beyond them and they were spectators of a very very incredible moment she felt invaluable but they saw that day that she was incredibly valuable to Jesus. Some of us as we sit here today right we feel it we don't need the world to necessarily tell us how invaluable we are you want to know why? Because Satan tells you already enough before your feet ever hit the floor it's already in your brain right you're not good enough you're going to continue to be broken. Don't go to church today because you did this last night or whatever you know what I'm saying? Those are the things we hear in our head let me just tell you today that that's all a lie. I mean Satan's purpose is to do what? Still kill and destroy. Still kill and destroy every day that's his purpose for you completely opposite of what Jesus' purpose for you is. Still kill and destroy. That's what he wants to happen in you to take you away from Jesus as much as he can listen I wrestle with things like that just like you do. I wrestle with insecurity you have heard some of the stories of things that I've dealt with in my past that that affected me because of decisions that people have had made the last thing I ever thought that I would ever get to do is to be able to be on a stage like this, getting to share God's word. One, I was so shy, but number two is I never felt like I would be worthy enough to do that because of what I'd faced. But yet I revel in the fact that God still chooses to use me and has allowed me to be a part of Connect Church for 26 years. Listen the reality is this there is no one too far gone for Jesus to use society had literally made the disciples illegitimate the very disciples that Jesus went and called they had already made an outcast and said you are not good enough to be an understudy of a rabbi but Jesus went out and he says I want you I want you I want you and what did he do? He changed the world forever and we're still talking about it today to the point that hundreds of people will gather and sit and listen to a message we have value everyone has value. You see in the crowd that day they were enlightened by the question that that Jesus asked and the answer that he gave because of the faith that she had in him. So I want to read two paragraphs that I wrote they're really important because I believe that they talk about the value that Jesus sees in everyone this is what I want to say may we never lower the value of others that we seek to make ourselves comfortable the church had done that day. They had said if you get healed one day then you can come in and you can come worship with us. But until then they were trying to be comfortable that day the crowd saw that every one of them had value from the lowest to the most elite even a naked demon possessed man that lived in the caves on the outskirts of a town became valuable to Jesus. Let me be clear that no matter what side we stand on with everything that we're facing today, when it comes to borders skin color you name it, Satan still wants this to be something that divides and limits our own growth. He was doing it then and he's doing it today. May we always see that everyone has the same value that Jesus gave the woman that day the value that enlightened a community of people that day to see others as Jesus saw her the same way he sees you and me with our own brokenness and scars there's value in everyone there is value in everyone and finally Jesus asked the question who touched me to show our value comes from him our value comes from Jesus right what is it that's determining your value right now right that woman had tried everything else to find her value you see the woman wanted to be healed but much more than that what she really really wanted was to be seen accepted loved and to be part of a community I think when Jesus healed her that day was she joyed about overjoyed about it? Yes she was but more than that she's like this guy just saw me and talked to me see when we turn to the right place when we put our faith in Jesus right we find value. When she turned that day when she reached out and she touched him listen the thing that amazes me is Jesus didn't turn around and say oh somebody wants to be healed but it says when she touched him instantly she was healed because of what her faith Jesus didn't have to turn around say Alakazim boom you're healed but it says when she touched his clothing she was healed. That's just that's the how what that's the question we need to be writing on the board out there. How does that happen? How is somebody healed and Jesus didn't even look at her Jesus didn't spit and rub it in the mud and throw it on her body you know all these things that we read throughout scripture but she was healed because of what? He says her faith listen our value comes how does something like this happen listen because it's why he came that's why it's why he came from the time that he was born till the time that he died and even today as we sit in this room it is why he came to bring value and healing to us did it in different ways but that day he did it to show that if we have faith in him listen we're going to get more than we asked for she wanted healing but she found value and eternity she didn't even know it till it happened and I'm giving you the answers to the quiz listen when I think about that and I thought back to John 316 I read that verse with completely new eyes it's gonna be on the screen here. Here's what it says for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him whoever has faith in him shall not perish but have eternal life for God so loved this woman that he gave his one and only son that if she would believe in him now Jesus hadn't died yet right but it happened later on right for each and every one of us that if she would believe in him she would not perish but have eternal life. Listen the reality is that woman was not mentioned in the Bible as one who went to heaven without dying you know what that means? She died. She died an earthly death at some point in her life but that day she didn't you want to know why? Because Jesus was to be glorified and so many people saw and experienced value that day. But later on she did. But you know what happened when she died the value that she found gave her an eternity to be with Jesus right listen she found value where everybody else had failed the church had sent her out the community had abandoned her all these different things. Listen where are we looking for our value? Because the reality is marriages fail our kids make decisions that frustrate us at times they're gonna grow up and you know what that's okay right races are meant to be won but you know what races are also meant to be lost we lose people are great one minute but annoying the next we're broken we live in a broken world that's that's like where are we finding our value? I wish we could have a conversation with Lindsay Vaughan today right the great downhill skier was supposed to be the greatest comeback person of the Winter Olympics this year if you watched him at all I love watching the Olympics but she went down and her greatest nightmare happened and she broke her leg. And it was the most tragic story of the Olympics that we'd heard if she found her value in that she's sitting completely lost today where do we look for our value but if she finds her value in Jesus she's like what you got for me now God what's next right are we tired of making love to the same mistakes right I want to tell you two things the worship team's gonna come out here let me give you some hope how can we do this number one stop making love to the same mistakes stop what are we gonna do different and the second thing is this right here and it's as easy as this right reach for Jesus where's your faith you're in a good place today to be sitting right here to be in his presence of to hear this right it's a good great start but continue to reach for him more what would what would he ask how can we connect with him stop and reach stop and reach two things we can remember today if we do those we find our value in him so don't forget about the board that's out here in the lobby go write your questions on there I kind of made a fun joke with the ladies this week and I put a question up there don't write stupid questions like mine how much is that doggy in the window that's that's what I wrote up there don't write that go write something that's really serious and deep serious second thing is maybe you realize this morning that you know what you have been making love to the same mistakes and and you're tired of it and you're done and you're ready to go a different direction and if that's you there's some people that are going to be in the student room you just walk across the hall when the worship even begins you can get up and you can walk across that hall right where it says students walk in those double doors and there are people ready and waiting to just pray with you and get you on the right track this morning. They would love to do that for you don't let Satan tell you not to do it. Do it stand with me if you would