Light on the Hill

James Kaddis: Fear drives a lot of the things that we choose to ignore in the world that we cannot see. Emotions back us into a corner oftentimes and cause us to react in a way that is not correct because we don't discern what it is that's really happening. I think that when desperate times come to people, it causes people to do very desperate things.

An overwhelming majority of the time when people react in desperation, it's because they're incapable of seeing through the physical into the spiritual. Jesus sees everything that's going on and how it plays out and he says, "Hey, listen, don't allow your fear to overwhelm you. Just believe. Don't allow the fear to direct you. Just trust."

Guest (Male): When we're in desperate times, fear can so easily grip and control us, but that is the time that God says, "Just believe and trust in me." Those words are loud and clear in the passage before us today on Light on the Hill. We'll hear about a man whose daughter is about to die and a woman who had a chronic illness. These true stories contain very powerful lessons. Here to reveal them to us is Pastor James Kaddis in Mark chapter five.

James Kaddis: Look what it goes on to say, verse 23. "And he besought him greatly saying, 'My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live.'" And Jesus went with him and much people followed him and thronged him. In other words, Jesus starts heading that way.

Just understand, this isn't the same kind of day that we have today where you can get in a car, get on a helicopter somewhere and be the other side of town in 10 minutes or 12 minutes or 15 minutes or 5 minutes. This is the kind of world where if you're going to the other side of town, that could be a day's journey. That could be two days' journey.

If you think about what's happening here, this isn't just an instant five minute, I was here at one point now I'm over there. Doesn't work that way. Pretty interesting how time travel works, how much we have been able to compound the time that we have in traveling today.

You can leave the state of California and fly to Hawaii and show up in Hawaii, depending on what island you go to and what plane you're on, earlier than you left California. That really does happen. You can leave some place on an airplane like Texas, for example, and you can fly into California and arrive at the same time that you left.

We have that kind of technology. We have those tools. They didn't have any of that kind of stuff. There was no such thing as any of that kind of thing. So if Jesus is headed there, this man knows that Jesus might not be able to beat the clock. Nonetheless, it's still a very desperate situation.

Verse 25. "And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years and had suffered many things of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse." So we're talking about a woman who basically is a very sick woman. She has some kind of a problem related to bleeding.

We really don't know what that is. There's all kinds of people that write in medical journals and give you all kinds of assumptions as to what's going on. We just don't know what's going on. But we know that this was a woman who was chronically ill. We know that this was a woman who was facing a lot of very difficult circumstances.

By the way, it's bad when you start talking about a loss of a lot of blood because when you lose a lot of blood, that changes a lot of other things. You have iron problems. There's all kinds of—it's a very ugly picture to think about how much suffering this woman is probably going through at this point. It's not a good situation.

So when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind and touched his garment. For she said, "If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." That's some pretty significant faith. That's a woman who basically understands the idea that if she can make some point of contact with Jesus, Jesus will meet her where she's at.

I really wish we would all think that way. In all honesty, I wish that was something that we all developed and understood very well, that we would in every way that we live, every day of our lives, we would look for ways to make points of contact with Christ. Because if we would learn how to make points of contact with Christ in every part of the day that we live, we would find his healing touch in every single part of those days.

We would find his supernatural empowering in every part of those days. We would find his help and his direction in every part of those days. Verse 29. "And straightaway the fountain of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague." And Jesus immediately, knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

By the way, when it talks about turning away in the press, he's not talking about the media, the paparazzi. That's not what it's talking about here. This is a King James way of saying that the crowd is just pushing. The crowd is just pushing and Jesus stops and he resists and he turns around and he asks, "Who is it? Who did this?"

He knows, by the way. Jesus is not ignorant of what's going on here. He knows exactly what's going on. Verse 31. "And his disciples said unto him, 'Thou seest the multitude thronging thee and sayest thou, "Who touched me?"'" In other words, can you picture the circumstance? Jesus is walking away from the Galilee area. The crowds are just pushing into him.

It's just unbelievable. By the way, if you've never seen what this looks like in the Middle Eastern world, it's very different from what you see in the United States of America. The way that people push themselves on those that are regarded as celebrities. I remember when I flew into Egypt, it may have been the first time I ever flew into Egypt. I flew into Cairo.

As we stepped outside of the airport to go into the car of the guy that was waiting for us, we saw this crowd of people that looked like a literal angry mob. It was very uncomfortable. And these people were leaning on each other to the point where the whole crowd looked like they were just leaning forward. It was a very weird looking look. They just all looked like they were leaning in and it looked like a wave.

It was just a very weird thing. And I'm like, "What in the world are they doing?" And my dad is telling me that's the Pope. Like the Pope? This is Coptic land. What are you talking about? No James, this is the guy who is like the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He's a very popular guy.

We can see that this man who's dignified looking, slightly older, wearing a bunch of garb, the crowd is literally making this leaning wave and they're doing everything that they can, the people behind to climb on the people in front of them and they're almost like making a wave that's moving so that they can somehow touch him.

Then I watched the craziest thing that I've ever seen. I'd never seen anything like this. They take him and they throw him into the car because these people are all trying to get a piece of him. And the driver, the guy tells in Arabic the other guy, he says, "Yalla yalla, let's go, let's go." And what basically happens is the car then starts plowing through the crowd.

The crowd of people is so tightly interwoven that you can hear the RPMs on the car just like they're going and the tires are almost losing traction. Finally, somebody has to tell them all to break away and they all break away like a rubber band that just snapped. Just pop. And you can see these people just flying to the left and flying to the right.

Not in the air, but almost like a rubber band that snapped. None of them got ran over, but the car just pushed through the wave and it was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen. Nobody appeared to get injured, but it was just wild. Absolutely wild. I can picture that happening with Jesus here.

No car, but I can picture the crowd just pushing so hard against him. And the apostles, when he asks that question, "Who touched me?" the apostles are mocking him. They're almost mocking him. They're like, "Really? You're asking that question when there's a crowd of people? Everybody out there touching you? What kind of a question is that?" It's hilarious. They're looking at that going, "What in the world?"

Look what happens next. "But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told him all the truth." If you think about this, think about the reaction that this woman has. Think about the humility that came as a result of the change that had taken place in her body. Let me just read this to you again because it's important.

They're like, "Are you crazy?" They're asking Jesus, "Are you crazy?" But look at the next verse. He looked round about to see her that she had done this thing. He knew. As I said before, he knew. And she knew that he knew. She knew what was going on. He knew what was going on.

Look what happens. She's fearing, she's trembling. And look at what Jesus says. Verse 34. "And he said unto her, 'Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague.'" Can you imagine what that must have felt like to that woman in that moment? Who knows what kind of emotions she was having?

She could have been scared of the fact that Jesus was able to discern that she had touched his robe. She could have been worried about what Jesus' reaction might be. But after she gets healed, Jesus gives her some of the most comforting words that anybody in her position could hear. Number one, you've been made whole because you've put your faith and trust in me.

And then guess what? You don't have to worry about it ever again. Why? Because that's what Jesus said. "Go in peace and be whole of thy plague." Look what happens next. "And while he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, 'Thy daughter is dead. Why troublest thou the master any further?'"

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, "Be not afraid, only believe." It's interesting when you think about that. Fear drives a lot of the things that we choose to ignore in the world that we cannot see. Emotions back us into a corner oftentimes and cause us to react in a way that is not correct because we don't discern what it is that's really happening.

I think that when desperate times come to people, it causes people to do very desperate things. And an overwhelming majority of the time when people react in desperation, it's because they're incapable of seeing through the physical into the spiritual. Jesus sees everything that's going on and how it plays out and he says, "Hey, listen, don't allow your fear to overwhelm you. Just believe. Don't allow the fear to direct you. Just trust."

These might be some of the most powerful words that I think I've ever read in the Bible because I think that this has driven a lot of my life on a lot of levels. I find myself in a place where on a regular basis I feel like God is leading me to do something. And boy let me tell you, doing those things are very fearful.

Doing those things involve me stepping out on a limb, taking a risk, doing something that isn't all that comfortable. And God tells me every single time, "Don't be fearful, just believe." I can't tell you how many times God told me to do something where we didn't have the resources to do it.

I can't tell you how many times God put something upon my heart to do that seemed literally impossible to do. And when things got worse, what did God say? God said, "Do not fear, just believe." Don't allow your fear to control you. Don't allow your fear to make you somebody that I never intended for you to be. Just trust in me.

I remember, I think Mason can even tell you this story because he was part of this. It was in one of our board meetings when we were facing the issue of not knowing whether or not we were going to have another dime to pay for stuff going on in the church when we realized that nobody was going to come to church anymore because the government told them not to come to church.

I think my first error was assuming that nobody would still come to church. But when we were given an opportunity to put a lot of money in our pockets so that we could carry the church through a very difficult time, we all looked at one another in that board meeting when we saw the opportunity, staring at the computer, looking at everything that was involved in all the money that was going to be made available to us for free.

This overwhelming peace came upon all of us that just basically said, "Do we believe the things that we teach people or do we not? We just need to trust the Lord." We're not going to let fear speak to us. Well sure enough, boy God blessed us in ways we never thought possible. He blessed us beyond anything that we could possibly ever imagine.

But you want to talk about coming full circle. You've been hearing all this controversy with Elon Musk and Doge and all this other stuff going on right now. Do you know one of the areas they're beginning to find lots of fraud in right now? A lot of fraud? Religious organizations taking money during COVID.

And they're calling some of these people out on the carpet. Imagine. Imagine. You know what we get to tell everybody? We get to tell everybody that our names are not on any of those lists because we chose to trust in God and not allow fear to control us. I think for each and every single one of you God is wanting you to know this. God is wanting you to understand this. Trust in him. Don't be afraid. Just believe.

Verse 37. "And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter and James and John the brother of James." This is interesting by the way because look what happens here in verse 38. "And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and seeth the tumult and them that wept and wailed greatly." In other words, she was dead.

They're walking in there and these people are wailing. And there's a lot of disorder in the room. It's a very difficult circumstance. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, "Why make you this ado and weep? The damsel is not dead but sleepeth." And they laughed him to scorn.

But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel and them that were with him and entereth in where the damsel was lying. One of the most substantial aspects of this spiritual world that we live in that we oftentimes don't understand or choose not to understand or that we don't pay attention to when we need to is faith always comes before the action.

Faith always comes before the result. And the words that we share oftentimes put into cement the faith that we choose to have in God. And I think sometimes the one thing that we have to learn to do when we're in a situation where we're filled with fear and we're really concerned about the circumstance is to know that we know that we know that we know that God wants us to be where we are and then trust him instead of allow the fear to move us.

But then at the same time, make the proclamation. Make it clear. Create the line of demarcation. Say this is exactly what it is. Jesus makes it clear. She's not dead. She's not going to die. You look at her and you say she's dead. But you know what? She's going to be resurrected.

I actually believe that this woman did die. I believe that she literally expired like anybody else does when their soul leaves their body, their spirit leaves their body. I believe the very moment that Jesus said that she sleepeth was the very moment that God had already taken her from the state of death that she was in.

I think they were weeping and mourning and going crazy and Jesus at that very moment basically said, "No, she's fine." Can you imagine? I would bet you if you could do the medical workup, that's probably what happened. This was a woman that Jesus with the snap of his finger was able to bring from a place of being very dead.

Jesus even said it. "She's not dead. She's sleeping." Meaning he had touched her. They don't make mistakes like this folks. A lot of people spend a lot of time saying all the people that were crying just made a mistake and they were so busy mourning that they didn't realize that God had already healed them days prior. No, I think she died. I think she really died, but I also believe that Jesus healed her.

My guess is her body came back to life at the time that Jesus said, "Don't have fear, just believe." That's my guess. May have been at the time where he said she's asleep. So they laugh at him, they scorn. And look what happens in verse 41 as they're laughing at him. I mean you want to talk about the ultimate "shut your mouth" moment, right? Look at this.

"And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, 'Talitha cumi,' which is being interpreted, 'Damsel, I say unto thee,' or 'I say unto thee, arise.'" It would have been incredible to be a part of that whole dynamic, to be able to watch that in the time that it was happening. It would be the greatest video in the world to watch.

Could you imagine being somebody present in that room to watch that? To show you evidence of how spiritual so many of these things are, one of the men that was in the room that watched this happen was the same man that a short time later was swearing to a girl up and down, left and right that he didn't know Jesus because he was too scared.

Funny how that works. When the spiritual is abandoned, the failure in the physical is imminent. That's what happens. "And straightaway the damsel arose and walked, for she was of the age of 12 years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment." And he charged them straightly that no man should know it and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

Don't tell anybody about this, but just feed her. She's hungry. Talk about a substantial moment. You know the other thing that it also tells me that this was spiritual and all of it was spiritual and every bit of it was spiritual and nothing about it was physical? Was when Jesus finished what he finished, he didn't really care about the crowd knowing.

It was not one of those accolade moments although this was groundbreaking news. Jesus said, "Feed her and I don't want anybody to know." Why? Because there were issues going on that the Lord could see in the spirit that nobody in the physical was able to see. I don't know about you, but lately I've been trying to spend a lot of my time navigating through these stories in the Gospel with a deeper understanding of the unseen issues that Jesus was trying to deal with rather than the things that were happening in the very front.

Most people look at the stories of people being healed and they spend a lot of time focusing on the healing itself, but they don't spend a lot of time focusing on the spiritual issues that drove the conditions that came when they came and drove away the conditions when they left.

So much of this world needs to be looked at through the lens of God because if it was, you would find yourself in a place where you would be more victorious in every day of your life and in every place that you lived and in every way that you lived. I cannot tell you enough. I cannot tell you enough how critically important it is for us to look at things through these eyes.

If you don't believe me and if you don't think I'm making a good enough case for this, wait until we get to the point next week where we get into Jesus's people, his own countrymen, the Jews that he grew up with, literally hating him and completely mocking him and not acknowledging him for who he is. If you don't think that it's a spiritual world yet, you'll get lots of evidence of it next week.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. What you just heard is one part of a study in Mark's Gospel from Pastor James Kaddis. You can hear it again at lightonthehillradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Not long ago, Pastor James released his new book on the first half of Revelation. It's entitled "The Last Book."

He points out that Revelation isn't a book of fear but rather a book of hope. Pastor James will help you understand the world we live in and current events through a biblical lens, preparing your heart for what lies ahead. Get a copy by going to lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. We're so grateful for your support.

Each donation that's sent in is an investment in what God is doing over the radio and internet. Lives are being impacted daily for the glory of God as a result. If you'd like to stand with us through providing either a one-time donation or ongoing monthly support, please visit lightonthehillradio.com. While you're there, you can also send us an email. It would be great to hear from you and have you share the station you listen to as well. Just visit lightonthehillradio.com and then click on contact.

Pastor James, I'd like to emphasize a memorable statement from Jesus: "Don't be afraid, only believe." As you said, those words have had a tremendous impact on your own life. Some listening right now needed to hear them. They are afraid and desperate. Would you pray for those people as we close?

James Kaddis: Sure, of course. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we just thank you for your goodness and your faithfulness, Lord. And we thank you, God, for the fact that during times of fear, we can rest in you, knowing, Lord, that you are not the realization of those fears. Rather, you're the one who overcomes them.

And we thank you, Lord, for the fact that you have overcome them, Lord. We pray that that would be exactly the case in the lives of all of those who stand worried, Lord, stand filled with fear, Lord. Remove it from them. Give them strength and ability, Lord, that they might be able to experience all that you have for them, Lord, and walk in the fullness of victory and conquering, Lord, more than conquerors for your glory.

So, Lord, we love you and thank you. We look to you and we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Thanks, Pastor James. Remember, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.