“Jesus, come quickly, I’ve got a problem that I need you to solve…” Perhaps you can think of a bible story that a statement like this could come from. It was what Martha was thinking when her brother Lazarus had fallen ill.  It’s what Jairus was saying when his daughter took a turn for the worse. It’s what Peter must have thought as his wife’s mother lay in bed with a fever. “Jesus, come quickly, I’ve got a problem that I need you to solve…” is at the heart of dozens of Jesus’ healing stories. And in every one of these stories, Jesus power solved the problems. What a tremendous Savior!

 

“Jesus, come quickly, I’ve got a problem for you to solve… “ It’s a statement we make every time we gather for worship. It’s at the heart of what we call “the Confession of Sins,” in which we say:  I am altogether sinful from birth. In countless ways I have sinned against you and do not deserve to be called your child…” This is the problem that we share in common. Every one of our sins separate us from the love of God. Every one of our sins earns eternal death for us. Ever one of our sins is impossible to solve on our own.

But there is a tremendous Savior who can cure the curse of our sin, and so we call on him each week as we enter his presence: But trusting in my Savior Jesus, I pray, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. And then the miracle comes quickly after: we hear the promise of “the Absolution,” the the true promise that our sins have been taken away by Jesus’ sacrifice and death. We enjoy the same relief that Martha, Jairus, and Peter must have felt. We do not need to fear sin and death, because our problem-solving Savior saves!