Explore & Discover: In the Footsteps of the Savior by Max Lucado.

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You have the same 24 hours in your day as the most accomplished people in the world. So why doesn't it feel that way? Follow along on this special 6 episode series as we take a look at how to make more time. By following biblical principles and taking a look at what you really want, Making Time shares the secret to having all the time you need... with a little help from some friends.

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If you got the chance to go to the Holy Land with Max Lucado, wouldn’t you jump on it? Join in with a group that did just that. In Session One of In the Footsteps of the Savior, our tour group is visiting the town of Capernaum, which was Jesus’ base of operations in the region of Galilee. Max Lucado zeroes in on the questions we have all had when we’re hurting: Do you think he can? Do you think he cares? Do you think he'll come?

 

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Creators & Guests

Guest

Max Lucado

Pastor and NYT bestselling author.

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Study Gateway's First Listens: Find your next Bible study! Join host Shelley Leith as she curates first sessions of Bible studies on various themes each season, taught by some of the world’s most influential Christian authors, teachers, and pastors. To learn more, visit https://StudyGateway.com.

First Listens Season 6: Episode 6
In the Footsteps of the Savior, by Max Lucado

[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: Welcome to Study Gateway’s First Listens, where you get first listens to the first sessions on Study Gateway so you can find your next video Bible study.
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So, we are in Season 6, which we have called Explore and Discover, where the studies we’re featuring take us on adventures. Today’s adventure takes place in the Holy Land! Now, if you got the chance to go to the Holy Land with Max Lucado, wouldn’t you jump on it? Today we get to join in with a group that did just that in the study In the Footsteps of the Savior. In this first episode our tour group is visiting the town of Capernaum, which was Jesus’ base of operations in the region of Galilee. Let’s listen in as Max Lucado zeroes in on the questions we have all had when we’re hurting: Do you think he can? Do you think he cares? Do you think he'll come?

MAX LUCADO: Hello. This is Max Lucado. And I am so glad you've chosen to join me on this study. Over the next six weeks, we will walk in the footsteps of the Savior, visiting several important locations in the Holy Land where Jesus taught, performed miracles, and invited people from all walks of life to join the Kingdom of God.
Our first stop will be the city of Capernaum, Jesus's base of operations for his ministry in the region of Galilee. Now, when I call Capernaum a city, that might be a stretch by today's standards. Scholars believe there were about 5,500 people living in Capernaum in Jesus's day. It was certainly a much bigger place than the little hamlet of Nazareth where Jesus learned the carpenters' trade. But it was no London or Paris.
Capernaum was a fishing sort of town. Fishing was the main industry. And located on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, it was bursting with bait and needled with nets. I'm sure people got used to the smell. Given the town's proximity to the sea, it's little wonder Jesus encountered a number of fisher folk along its shores, men like Simon Peter and Andrew, and James and John.
Each set of siblings received the same call from Christ: Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people. Beyond fishing, or maybe because the fishing was good, Capernaum was also a popular trading post. It was important enough to house a garrison of Roman soldiers as arbiters of the peace.
The city even had its own synagogue, a place of worship and education for Jewish residents. Actually, that synagogue is central to the story that we are going to explore in this session, for one of the leaders there was a man named Jairus. He was an important man, a wealthy man, and one who loved his daughter very much.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Do you think he can? Do you think he cares? Do you think he'll come? The questions emerged from the mother's heart and fear drapes the mother's face her husband stops at the door of their house and he looks back into her tired, frightened eyes and looks over her shoulder at the figure of his sick daughter who is lying on the pallet. The girl shivers from the fever. The mother weeps from the sorrow. And the father shrugs his shoulders in desperation. And he says, I do not know what he will do, but I do not know what else to do.
The crowd outside parts as he steps out the door. They would any day. He's the city leader. But they do especially on this day because his daughter is dying.
"Bless you, Jairus," one of them offers, but Jairus says nothing in return. He only thinks about those three questions of his wife. Do you think he can? Do think he cares? Do you think he'll come?
Jairus steps quickly down the path through the fishing village of Capernaum. The size of the following crowd increases with every person. They know where he goes. They know whom he seeks. Jairus goes to the shore of Galilee to seek Jesus.
And as they near the water's edge, they spot the teacher, the teacher already encircled by a throng of people. A citizen steps ahead to clear the path so that Jairus can pass. The villagers comply. And a red sea of humanity opens, walled by people on either side. And Jairus wastes no seconds.
When he sees Christ, he falls to his knees beside himself as he begs, "My daughter is at death's door. Come lay hands on her so she will get well and live." Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him. Jesus's instant willingness moisten the eyes of Jairus. And for the first time in a long time, a sun ray of hope falls upon his shadowed heart. And he dares to think, Jesus can help. Jesus does care. Jesus will come. People scatter out of the way and then step in behind. And servants rush ahead of Jairus to tell his wife the good news.
But then just as suddenly as Jesus came, Jesus stops. The people stopped when Jesus did. Jairus, unaware that everyone has stopped, has taken a dozen steps before he turns and looks and realizes that Jesus is no longer following him. He can't see what's happening through the crowd of people. We can see what is happening because we follow the lens of the gospel writer as the lens turns and focuses on a lady who has crab-scurried her way through the crowd, eye level at waist at the highest, maybe knee level. And she has threaded her way through the legs of the crowd. And in her mind is this thought: If I can just touch the hem of his.
For twelve years, she has been untouchable. For twelve years, she's been unapproachable. For twelve years, she's been turned away from her own home, from every synagogue. She's gone from doctor to doctor to doctor until she's dead broke and has no hope. She is not allowed, according to her law or to the law of her people, to come into contact with people. But what else can they do to her? And so, when she hears that Jesus has come to Capernaum, she creeps along the edge of the mob of people until there's a slight opening, just enough. And we don't know if it's faith or desperation or a combination of them both.
She weaves her way in, and she reaches out and she touches the hem of the garment. The divinity of Christ is ahead of the humanity of Christ because he feels a rush go out and she feels a rush go in. And Jesus stops and says, Now, something just happened. Such a fascinating moment. "Who touched me?"
The disciples think he's kidding. I mean, it's kind of like being in a crowded elevator, everybody squeezing up against one another. Somebody said, "Who touched me?" Well, everybody touched you. But then there is touching and there is touching. And somebody touched Jesus. And the compassion of God was so overarching that she said not a word aloud and the healing came.
And finally she has enough courage to inch her way toward Christ. And I love that translation that says, "Jesus waited as she told him her whole story." I wonder how long it had been since anyone cared enough to listen to her story. But Jesus wouldn't budge until he heard everything that had happened.
Jairus is growing impatient. He's on the outside of the circle. Seconds are passing. His daughter is passing. He doesn't know whether to interrupt what's happening or to give up on Christ. But before he even has an opportunity to make a decision, a servant comes up and places a hand on his shoulder and says the words that no parent bear hear. "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" Jairus has an answer to the questions, I wonder if he can, I wonder if he cares, I wonder if he'll come. And he doesn't like the answer.

[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY: Have you thought about what it must have been like for poor Jairus as he’s standing there, impatiently waiting while the Master delays and stops to talk with this woman? At that moment when he finds out it’s too late—how crushing that must have been! We’ll pick up the story in a moment. But first, are you curious to see the places in Israel Max takes his group? Well, as a bonus for our listeners we have unlocked Session One on Study Gateway, so you can go there and watch the entire first session for free! In the Footsteps of the Savior is published by HarperChristian Resources and it streams on Study Gateway. For our First Listens listeners, when you use the promo code PODCAST15 at studygateway.com, you’ll get any size of plan – for yourself, your small group or your whole church, at a 15% savings for life! And, for a complete experience with In the Footsteps of the Savior, take advantage of our publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide designed to be used with the videos. This study guide gives you the discussion questions for your group and the personal exercises to dig deeper into the Scriptures on your own between sessions. Get all the details at Studygateway.com.
And now, let’s get back to the story of Jairus.

[MUSIC PLAYING] MAX: It's fallen to me on a few occasions to carry out the role of the servant—maybe it has to you—to inform someone of the passing of someone they love. I recall telling a father that his son had passed in an accident. I recall telling my three siblings of the death of my own father. I recall telling a little girl that her father had taken his own life. In those moments there is always a pause. After a few moments there will be wailing. There will be denial. There will be anger. But there's always, isn't there, there's a pause, a heavy, sad silence, as if the heart does not know what to say or the heart does not want to say.
And I wonder if there was such a silence. And into that silence is when Jesus spoke, because Jesus takes over here. He trims his team down to fighting size—only Peter, James, and John. He permitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
And I love Verse 39 when he tells the mourners to shut up. "When He came in, He said to them, 'Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.'"
And they mocked him. They mocked him. They mocked him. I would not like to have been that person who made fun of Jesus. They mocked him.
And then Mark says, "He had them all put outside." That's a wimpy translation. Ekballo, E-K-B-A-L-L-O, used later to describe what Jesus did to the money changers in the temple, same verb. Jesus cleared out the atmosphere. He cleaned out the room. He wanted the presence of faith.
And then he turned his attention to the body of the girl and with the confidence of Einstein being asked, what is 2 plus 2, with the confidence of Ben Hogan over a one-foot putt, with the confidence of Beethoven being asked to play Chopsticks, he walks in, he kneels over the body of this girl. And the questions surface again. Does he care? Does he care?
Dare we believe that God can be both mighty and tender, mighty and tender, have muscle and mercy? Does the plight of a 12-year-old girl in Capernaum, Podunkville—does the plight of a little girl whose name did not even make its way into the story, does that matter to God?
Really the answer to that question appeared earlier in the story. You might have missed it. Go back to the crowd. Go back to Jairus, the synagogue leader, as he with frustration is looking from the outside in, and that moment in which the servant came up and then capped him on the shoulder and said, "Don't bother the Teacher any longer. Your daughter is dead."
Go back to that moment, because here's what happened. Jesus, as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken—now, Jesus was in the middle of that crowd. He was listening to the story of the woman who had just been healed. He was surrounded by his disciples. He was surrounded by all the people of Capernaum. But look, he was still listening to what was happening to Jairus. He had not forgotten Jairus. As soon as he heard the word that was spoken, he said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Now don't be afraid. Only believe."
Oh, how kind and pastoral of Christ. No one had to tell him about the girl's death. Though separated from Jairus, though occupied with the case of the woman, though encircled by a crowd of villagers, he never took his ear off the girl's father. He heard. He cared. And so he went directly to the house. "And He took the father and the mother of the child who were with Him. And He entered where the child was lying. And He took the child by the hand and He said to her, 'Talitha, cumi,' which is translated, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.' And immediately the girl arose and walked."
You know, a pronouncement from the path would have worked. A declaration from afar would have awakened the girl's heart. But Jesus wanted to, I think, do more than just raise the dead. He wanted to show us that he not only cares and he not only can, but he wants us to know that he comes. He comes. He comes in the form of encouragement. He comes in the form of help. He comes in the form of kindness.
I wonder what Jesus would like to say to you through this story. Don't be afraid. Just believe. Look what I did for the woman, who had been turned away and shunned for twelve years, I did in an instant. I restored not only her health, I restored her place in society. I restored her dignity. I gave her her name back. And Jairus and Jairus's wife and Jairus's daughter, they wondered if I cared. They wondered if I could. They wondered if I would come. Yes, yes, yes. Is he? Saying to you he still does?
We took our family to Hawaii a few years back. Three-and-a-half-year-old Rosie—you know grandparents get to tell grandchildren stories in sermons. Three-and-a-half-year-old Rosie had never, of course, been to Hawaii. And she had never seen the ocean. And so, the first morning we all woke up early because of the time change. We all went down to the beach.
And as the sun came up, she began to see her first waves, her first waves, one after another after another after another after another. And we all wondered, what was she thinking? And would she say anything? And after some time, she finally looked at her dad and she asked the question, “When do they turn it off?”
We all ask that question about the affection of God. Is it going to get turned off? Am I going to do something so bad, am I going to have a problem so big that finally they'll just have to turn off the compassion? And to those concerns, the Scripture says, "For as high as the heavens are high above the Earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear Him, as far as the east is from the west. So far He has removed our transgressions from us and as a father pities His child, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”

[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY: I hope you enjoyed this session from In the Footsteps of the Savior, a video Bible study by Max Lucado, published by HarperChristian Resources and streaming on Study Gateway. And, if you go to StudyGateway.com, you’ll find this first session of In the Footsteps of the Savior is unlocked, so you can watch it and enjoy the views from the edge of Capernaum, for free!
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