Have you ever noticed that the heroes we most admire—in the books we read and in the films we watch—always combine the paradoxical traits of grit and grace?
And the paradox of those traits is important. It’s easy to be strong and grow hard and calloused. It’s easy to be sensitive and grow soft and battered. In other words, choosing one side of the paradox is the usual course of things. But to put both sides of the paradox together, therein lies true heroism.
In chapter eight of the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus embodying this kind of paradoxical heroism. Not only is He mighty and strong, but He is also tender and compassionate, full of mercy and care.
Let’s walk slowly through these three stories, each of them in the care of Jesus.
- A Distraught Father
- A Desperate Woman
- A Devastated Child
1. A Distraught Father (Luke 8:40–42)
- Jesus hears our heart’s cry.
- Our Triune God is quick to respond to our heart’s cries with deep compassion.
- Won’t you bring your heart’s cry to Jesus?
2. A Desperate Woman (Luke 8:42–48)
- Jesus knows our deep pain.
- Just as Jairus is concerned with his daughter, Jesus always has time for his daughters.
- Won’t you bring your deep pain to Jesus?
3. A Devastated Child (Luke 8:48–56)
- Jesus wipes away our tears.
- As Jesus healed the women and raised this young girl, we’re getting a sneak preview of what Jesus will do for all who believe in Him when He returns and makes the world new again.
- Won’t you bring your tears to Jesus?
Takeaway: Jesus is making everything sad come untrue.
- Jesus is the Hero we yearn for.
- He heals a precious daughter of a secret wound that is draining away her life and tenderly lifts a little girl from the clutches of death.
- He’s the Hero all our other heroes are pointing to.
