Faith's Power

 

Text: Mark 5:21-43

Focus: faith

Function: to build our own faith

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea. ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet ²³and pleaded with him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” ²⁹Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴²And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.

Good morning!

I read this passage and I just say wow! It is the story of two miracles, that happen during the same time period. One is a person of privilege and another is desperate woman who has lost all she owned trying to find a cure for her disease.

Let us imagine the story together.

Jesus keeps crossing the sea of Galilean Sea after he has fed the crowds and they see an opportunity for relief from the misery that has been their lot in life ever since the Roman occupation. A desperate crowd is following Jesus and Jesus is making himself available to more and more people.

In the middle of this popularity, with crowds around him, he gets the request to heal the daughter of Jarius, the Synagogue official. An important person. And the man has a level of faith where it is necessary to him for Jesus to be present with his suffering in order to understand and heal it. He could have, like the Roman Centurion, asked Jesus to heal him from a distance like he healed the official’s slave.

I wonder how that felt to the Jewish people when Jesus was healing their enemies?

But in this instance, after constant begging Jesus agrees to go with the man to the house.

And on the way, with a crowd pressing around them waiting to see the next amazing thing that Jesus does or says, another miracle happens.

Now I imagine that the Synagogue official is desperate knowing that his daughter is soon dying and I imagine that the crowd causing Jesus a delay is disconcerting to him.

And I imagine the story happening whereby Jesus is interrupted again, and this time, it is a “zap” of power going out of him.

He stops the crowd, who is already touching him and asks them who touched him.

And this poor desperate woman comes forward. She realizes that her reaching out to Jesus in faith has succeeded and she feels better and she tells Jesus that it was her that made the power go out of him.

The woman is different from the synagogue official. He needs Jesus’ physical presence in his suffering for his faith to work. She relies on a form of superstition.

The Jews had an ancient custom called “Tzitzit” It refers to special tassels sown on the four corners of the hem of the garment. And these tassels, Tzitzit, were placed there to remind them of the commands that God has given them in the Torah.

And again, she has the kind of faith that is more hands on, more tactile. She needs to touch the magical part of Jesus’ robe in order for her faith to work.

And the cool thing I find in this story is that Jesus is there, or here, present in the midst of everyone’s suffering to help them bear their burden. He said that he would never leave us or forsake us. He will not leave us as orphans. In his love he has carved us on the palm of his hands, his feet and his side.

We belong to him and we need to remember that he cares for our suffering and our needs.

So, although Jarius is fearing for his daughter, Jesus doesn’t mind the interruption with this woman.

Again, I imagine that by this time Jariusl is losing hope. And I can imagine that just as that hope is fading he sees the men who are bearing the bad news of his daughter’s passing. His plan to save his daughter has failed.

They men take him aside and tell him the bad news and and Jesus is eavesdropping on the conversation. He tells them to believe.

And I imagine again that this time, Jesus senses Jarius’ urgency and instead of walking with the crowd of disciples, he asks them to leave and they oblige him.

James, John, Peter, Jesus, Jarius, and the bearers of the bad news then quickly proceed to the house.

Perhaps now, seeing Jesus’ response to his suffering gives him some hope. Jesus tells him to have hope and to believe. I am convinced that those words of assurance from Christ himself build his faith.

I find those same words of comfort and assurance when I read through the Psalms, or the promises of God given to us in Romans chapter 8 about life lived in the Spirit of God.

The small group gets to the house and there are professional mourners wailing in order to help the family express their grief, it was their tradition. And Jesus tells them the girl is merely sleeping.

I don’t know if the girl has indeed died or is in a coma, either way, a miracle happens when Jesus says in Hebrew “Talitha Kuom” and the girl miraculously raises.

I can imagine again, the joy of this man and his wife at the restoration of their daughter.

And again, this story just blesses me to no end when I see the diversity of ministry of Jesus. He reaches out to the high and the lowly, to the enemy and the friend. Jesus indeed taught us how to love our neighbor as ourselves.

This is a Lord worth serving.