Context:
Jesus has been staying in Peter’s house in Capernaum, a fishing town on the north shore of Galilee and generally causing all sorts of ruckus. He was upsetting the local religious leaders by healing people - sometimes on the Sabbath, forgiving sins and not falling into line with their expectations.
His most recent exploits involved telling a storm on the sea of Galilee to be quiet because it was scaring his disciples. It obeyed.
That scared the disciples more because someone more powerful than the storm was in the boat with them.
Then he cast out the demons from a possessed man living among tombs on the eastern shore of Galilee in the region of the Gerasenes.
Were the locals glad Jesus saved the man? Sure they lost some money on some pigs, but at least Tom, or Joe, or Seth, or whatever his name was was healed and in his right mind now.
That’s good, right?
The people celebrated this wonderful deliverance by begging Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
So here we are back in Capernaum and now we come to a tale of two daughters, faith and Jesus. An encounter that has been at least twelve years in the making.
First, for clarity, let’s establish a definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” | Hebrews 11:1 ESV |
Faith accepts as fact that which is not revealed by the senses.
So we pick up our story back in Capernaum as a man named Jairus approaches Jesus in Mark 5 starting at verse 22:
Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” | Mark 5:22-23 NLT |
LESSON 1 - Assume the appropriate posture and speak plainly.
Let’s watch him come. The first thing to note is Jairus’ stride is not timid. This is a man on a mission. His robes billow behind him as he fixes His eye on Christ and approaches quickly. The expression on his face is resolute, perhaps a bit grim.
Jairus’ faith in Jesus is so great, so desperate, that it drives him from the side of his dying child in search of the only One who can help her.
See also how he doesn’t kneel carefully with dignity. Dignity is for other men who aren’t facing the loss of a child. The words he speaks are not so politely put together in the original greek. There is no “please”. These are the words of a father begging for his daughter, not with careful phrasing, but with humility. He is at the feet of Jesus speaking in ragged sentences: My little daughter is dying. Come touch her so she’s healed, touch her so she lives.
You can pray when you’re kneeling, sitting, lying down, standing, running, driving, etc. But let the posture of your heart be one of humility. Let your words be simple and honest and speak in faith, accepting as fact that which is not revealed by the senses.
| Mark 5:24 | “Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. ”
LESSON 2: There are no hoops to jump through.
No trappings of religion stood between Jairus and his only hope. A father petitioned Jesus, the Word of creation, for help and the Word responded with the heart of a father Himself. Immediately he walked with the man to go see his daughter. Just because you don’t have the privilege of seeing Jesus walking in the direction of your trouble doesn’t mean He isn’t moving. Choose faith.
| Mark 5:25-26 NLT | A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
Let’s follow this new character for a bit. How can we better understand her?
We’re in Capernaum, a Jewish town. According to Jewish law, if married, the woman’s husband could not touch her while she’s bleeding. In fact, everything she touched was unclean. Anyone who touched her would be unclean. Anyone who touched anything she touched would be unclean. She would have to move out of her home to protect her family from the thing that was happening to her over which she had no control. She couldn’t even enter the place of worship because she was ceremoniously unclean.
Have you ever been quarantined from those you love? Fresh memories of a pandemic likely loom large for many of us. What if instead of eleven days, you had to spend a month separated and alone? What about a year? Can we even realistically fathom the emotional and mental anguish of being alone, sick, and broke for over a decade?
Scripture says she suffered a great deal from many doctors and had only gotten worse.
Terrible loneliness and hopelessness must have been her constant companions. But whether it was with her always, or just now, for today at least, she also had faith.
LESSON 3: Untried faith is unreliable faith. Actively pursue God.
What could she do?
Well, there was this healer in town. Word had spread about Him, it seemed to be good news. Here was a man who could make sick people well. He had healed an official's son, driven a demon out of another man and healed the mother-in-law of a rough fisherman named Peter; all right here in Capernaum.
Maybe this healer could help her. He was called Jesus. The stories about him were easy to corroborate, being local and in a small town. She believed them. What to do though?
She could have faith that He could heal her and just be satisfied with continuing to live as a suffering outcast. But that would yield nothing but continued suffering and eventual death.
Or she could pursue Him.
| Mark 5:27-28 | She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
How can she get to him?
How would you?
You are ostracized from society because of your illness. You're not going to approach openly and stand in front of Jesus like Jairus did. You're a diseased woman, nor a respected leader of the synagogue. No. You won't get anywhere near him that way.
How would you get to Him?
Would you call out to him? Who would hear you? The crowd is loud. Everyone wants his blessing. Everyone demands his attention. He'll never hear you over the crowd. Plus, there’s Jairus walking with him already. He’s on His way somewhere that’s away from you. Not to mention, as we've established, you have no place here. You dare not draw attention to yourself. Your very presence here is taboo. Reveal yourself and the crowd may turn on you.
How to approach him then?
Chase Him.
She reaches the same conclusion we do and we watch as she struggles through the crowd. It’s clear she's never going to make it, after all, just look at her; she's anemic and has been wasting away for years. There is clearly no strength in her body. This small sickly slip of a woman cannot possibly muscle her way through this mass of humanity all clamoring for the attention of Jesus.
Don’t forget though, desperation has a role to play in this drama. The woman’s faith motivates and directs her, but it's desperation that drives her. Our sick woman joins the shoving crowd and works her way up close behind the master of creation. and she reaches out and grabs hold, ever so briefly, of the hem of his garment.
LESSON 4: Your sin doesn’t make Jesus dirty. His grace makes you clean.
| Mark 5:29-30 | Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
Remember, everything she touched was unclean. Anyone who touched her would be unclean. Anyone who touched anything she touched would be unclean.
Except Jesus.
The One who knit her together in her mother’s womb could not be contaminated by her. But she could be made clean by Him.
But she couldn’t know that. She’d only heard stories of a healer. There was no sense of His identity. If her scheme had failed, then Jesus, and everyone she shoved past to reach him, would now be unclean. How would she be treated for such a transgression? Better to hide.
One second she's secretly reaching for a stolen healing and the next she's vanished. We scan the crowd, looking for her.
How crazy is it, by the way, that Jesus asked who touched Him?
What are you talking about Jesus? Look at this crowd! A lot of people are touching you. They’ve been smooshing up against us for the last block and a half.
| Mark 5:31-32 NLT | His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.
LESSON 5: Reach for Christ in faith
Long before I began preparing for this sermon, this particular crowd broke my heart. How many people in church buildings all over the world are like this crowd? They press up against the life-giving presence of God on a Sunday morning and walk away unchanged because even though they were close enough to touch him, they didn’t reach out in faith to do so?
God is clear that we all sin. The only thing the very best of us earn is eternal damnation. It is only the powerful grace of Jesus Christ that can rescue us from that certain and terrifying fate. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and no man may come to the Father except by Him. If you have not yet surrendered your life to Christ, don’t wait. Do it immediately.
Don’t be like the crowd frozen in time on this page of scripture. The heart-wrenching idea of standing in front of Jesus Christ, able to touch him and then to see his gaze sweep past me because I haven’t set aside my own thoughts and reached out to Him in faith takes my breath away. Never allow yourself to be missed by the loving and searching gaze of the spotless Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Always approach him with the faith that He alone is sufficient to carry you into eternity with Him.
| Mark 5:31-34 NLT | His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
LESSON 6: Jesus doesn’t wait for you to understand before He acts.
Let’s dwell in the grace of this moment.
What notions might she have had about the man she was pursuing? Had she walked away healed in her body but never encountering Jesus, how would she know what had healed her? Was it the man? Or the robe? Was the sickness really gone? Or would it return? Would people believe that she was healed? To whom or what would she attribute this blessing?
The woman reached out in faith and ignorance. There was no special quality about the edge of Jesus’ robe. The healing lies with the Man Himself. He alone had the power to give that gift. And in His great love and mercy He forced the encounter and changed her future from uneasy questions, to joyous affirmation.
LESSON 7: Jesus will take you as you are, but not leave you as you were.
By publicly revealing her action and its result, Jesus testifies on her behalf. Those nearby bore witness. She is healed. She is clean. The Healer said so. He confirmed for her that it wasn’t the robe that healed her. The robe was destined to be won in a game of dice by a Roman soldier. It had the power to save nobody. The Son of Man did the healing. And because He called her clean and identified her faith as the effective agent in reaching Him; He strengthened not only her faith, but that of any present who heard and believed. He also gave her the assurance of peace. Go in peace. Don’t be afraid. Your suffering is known, and handled. You are well.
There have arisen traditions and ideas over the centuries as to the woman’s identity. I’m not telling you any of the proposed names. In fact, don’t ever look them up. They all sound ugly next to the identity Jesus gave her. Daughter.
Let’s not forget the other daughter in this story though. Let’s look back to Jairus. The word daughter spoken by Jesus must sound loudly in his ear. After all, that’s why he’s there. Hope must be rising within Him. Certainly he was right in leaving his daughter’s side to come find the healer. The evidence was still kneeling before Jesus, flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes. Certainly Jesus was going to come and heal his precious daughter. After all, look at the grace and mercy he showed this unclean woman who risked so much to touch him without consent.
| Mark 5:35 NLT | While he [meaning Jesus] was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
Any of you who have experienced the loss of that bright blessing of a child will understand the visceral reaction that must have occurred within Jairus at this announcement. If you have not suffered that unique and terrible pain, there simply are no words.
| Mark 5:36-37 NLT | But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).
LESSON 8: You can choose faith
It may not be easy. In fact, there are days it feels impossible, but faith is indeed a choice. We can always choose it. And that is what Jesus is calling Jairus to do. Have faith, Jairus. Accept as fact that which is not revealed by your senses. You have heard from a messenger your daughter is dead. You have heard from Jesus that you have reason to hope. You can choose faith.As we continue the story it seems that Jairus did just that.
| Mark 5:36-43 NLT | When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koumi,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.
LESSON 9: Jesus is Lord
Twelve years prior to the events of this passage of scripture a daughter was born. At the same time, someone else’s daughter fell ill. The younger daughter tried nothing. The older daughter tried everything. Eventually, they both came into contact with our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, the Son of God the Son of Man and both daughters came out the other side forever changed for the better.
Jairus and the precious woman Jesus called daughter both acted on their faith. They didn’t just believe in Jesus; they pursued Him. What does an active, relentless faith look like in your life at this moment? Whether you have been in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ for seventy two years or just heard about him for the first time this morning, where is God inviting you to take a step forward? This week, commit to praying bold prayers, loving others with Christ-like compassion, and walking in expectant faith—because you serve a God who still moves in power.
Amen.
Comments