Mark Part 9: Two Healings (Mark 5)
Mark Part 9: Two Healings (Mark 5)
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Today we are going to see how Jesus has power over illness and disease.
So right after the story where Jesus calms the storm and casts out the demons, he gets back into a boat and heads to the other side.
Why is that interesting?
You know what that tells me about Jesus? Jesus will go through a lot of trouble even for just one person. Jesus will go through a lot just to reach you.
Right? Everywhere else Jesus goes he reaches thousands. But He gets there, only ministers to one guy, and isn’t disappointed at the turnout. Jesus isn’t about numbers. Jesus is about people. Jesus is about you.
Did you notice anything shocking about these verses?
This was a guy of a high position, now kneeling before Jesus. The rest of the leaders who were out to get Jesus probably didn’t like this. But Jairus wasn’t concerned about that. He knew he needed help. He knew he needed Jesus.
That’s why our first takeaway is: Don’t be too proud to ask for help
God isn’t asking us to have it all together- He’s just asking us to give it all to Him.
So now we meet this woman who has had this chronic issue of bleeding for 12 years. Not only has she had this issue but she has tried everything, seen every doctor, and spent all her money to try and get some relief- all in vain. In fact, it’s gotten worse.
Have you ever had an issue that you just can’t seem to get over? Relational, physical, emotional, mental? Just this thing that just keeps following you around and no matter what you do you can’t shake it?
If that’s you pay close attention to verse 27.
We could just stop there. That’s the sermon. That’s every sermon. I mean we are going to go on and read the rest of this chapter but that’s what it’s about. That’s what Crossover, our church is about. All the games, the fun, the worship the preaching, it all great but what it comes down to is:
Have you heard about Jesus?
Because this woman heard about Jesus. She had heard about all the stories we read in Mark 1-4, and those stories put this thought in her head. “Maybe Jesus can help me too. He helped all those other people. Maybe Jesus cares about me”.
And of course, He does, He just crossed a lake for one guy.
This woman not only heard about Jesus but seems to know about a prophecy in Malachi that has to lead her to a place of desperate faith, that if she can just touch Jesus’s cloak she knows she will be healed.
This woman’s desperate faith got her healing. I wonder, do we seek God with desperate faith? Like we know what faith is, yeah I believe in God, I believe the Bible, I know God can do these things.
Then there is desperate faith. Faith that says I know God will do this for me, and in fact, I cannot go on unless God does this, so I am going to seek Him, I won’t accept silence, I will continue to seek God till I find Him.
Do you have desperate faith?
I felt challenged by God the other day. Sure I have faith, but there have been moments in my life where I have operated in desperate faith, and I need to get to that place and stay there.
Where does faith come from? Faith comes from hearing about Jesus. If you want to build your faith you need to keep hearing about Jesus. And once or twice a week isn’t enough. You need to be hearing about Jesus every day, multiple times a day in your own prayer and own Bible.
That’s our second takeaway: Have a desperate faith.
So why is the woman afraid?
The Jewish people had these laws about cleanliness. Which were ceremonial about being Holy but some of them were also practical. One of them had to do with the spread of diseases and death. So if you touched a dead body, you weren’t supposed to be touching other people or going into the temple. That makes sense right?
The idea was God was Holy, and to be in His presence you had to be Holy. Which is true. But the question is how do you get made Holy? Is it something you can do? Earn? Gain? Learn? Practice? Get good at?
This story gives us a spoiler to the answer: no. You cannot earn Holiness or by association healing, it comes when your faith makes contact with Jesus.
This woman had this chronic issue, and for anyone to have this issue and go out into public, let alone into God’s presence would have been breaking the law.
We can see that this woman is afraid. She knows this. That’s why she tries to touch Jesus in secret. That’s why she doesn’t instantly reveal herself.
She is afraid that God is going to judge her. Be mad at her. Not accept her.
But she has faith in Jesus and touches Him, perhaps the first human contact she has had in 12 years, and Jesus says her faith made her well. Have peace.
She was afraid of judgment, but God responds with Grace.
That’s why our next takeaway is: Never be afraid to come to Jesus with anything.
Notice a bunch of people were touching Jesus. The disciples point this out. But they weren’t touching Him in faith. Something happens when you seek Jesus with Faith. You get your miracle. Don’t have faith? Where does it come from? Hear about Jesus more. Have desperate faith.
The whole time this is going on though Jairus is tapping his foot, “Jesus, come on, my daughter is dying remember?”
Jesus gets there and the girl is already dead, But Jesus isn’t deterred. People laugh and doubt, they have no faith. He throws everyone out, even some of the disciples, except for 3 and the girl’s parents.
That’s why our last takeaway is don’t listen to the haters.
Where does faith come from?
Where does doubt come from?
When you hear about Jesus and others’ faith, your faith will be built up. But when all you hear is people who doubt or speak negatively, that’s going to rob your faith real quick.
Now I’m not saying we don’t be honest and say when there is a real problem, but you know the difference between faith talk and doubt talk.
Faith says here is this issue but God can handle it, doubt says we are all going to die.
Right? You know people who when you are around them just build up your faith. And you know there are other people who just leave you empty.
We have to be careful not to be our own hater either, and not speak doubt over us.
“I’ll never be good enough. I suck. No one cares.”
You can either hear faith, and be built up, or hear doubt, and be torn down.
That may mean you will have to try hard to make a new habit about the way you talk. You may have to catch yourself and say nope. God is good, I will trust Him.
You may have to change the people you surround yourself with. If you are surrounded by doubters you may have to let go of some friendships.
Just tell them God said we can’t be friends anymore. It worked for Michelle.
So that’s Mark 5. We see that Jesus is truly Lord over illness and disease, even death. None of those are problems for Him. And through faith, us neither.
Mark 5:21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake,
So right after the story where Jesus calms the storm and casts out the demons, he gets back into a boat and heads to the other side.
Why is that interesting?
- Because you get this huge narrative about them crossing the lake, and they go through all that trouble to get there, and the only thing Jesus does there is minister to one guy.
You know what that tells me about Jesus? Jesus will go through a lot of trouble even for just one person. Jesus will go through a lot just to reach you.
Right? Everywhere else Jesus goes he reaches thousands. But He gets there, only ministers to one guy, and isn’t disappointed at the turnout. Jesus isn’t about numbers. Jesus is about people. Jesus is about you.
Mark 5:21-23 21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 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.”
Did you notice anything shocking about these verses?
- Remember in previous chapters we saw how much the Jewish leaders disliked Jesus.
- Now we are told that one of the Jewish leaders comes to Jesus, and not only that he bows before Him. Jairus is the first Jewish leader we see who not only acknowledges Jesus but actually respects Him and isn’t out to kill Him.
This was a guy of a high position, now kneeling before Jesus. The rest of the leaders who were out to get Jesus probably didn’t like this. But Jairus wasn’t concerned about that. He knew he needed help. He knew he needed Jesus.
That’s why our first takeaway is: Don’t be too proud to ask for help
God isn’t asking us to have it all together- He’s just asking us to give it all to Him.
Mark 5:24-26 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. 25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 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.
So now we meet this woman who has had this chronic issue of bleeding for 12 years. Not only has she had this issue but she has tried everything, seen every doctor, and spent all her money to try and get some relief- all in vain. In fact, it’s gotten worse.
Have you ever had an issue that you just can’t seem to get over? Relational, physical, emotional, mental? Just this thing that just keeps following you around and no matter what you do you can’t shake it?
If that’s you pay close attention to verse 27.
Mark 5:27 She had heard about Jesus,
We could just stop there. That’s the sermon. That’s every sermon. I mean we are going to go on and read the rest of this chapter but that’s what it’s about. That’s what Crossover, our church is about. All the games, the fun, the worship the preaching, it all great but what it comes down to is:
Have you heard about Jesus?
Because this woman heard about Jesus. She had heard about all the stories we read in Mark 1-4, and those stories put this thought in her head. “Maybe Jesus can help me too. He helped all those other people. Maybe Jesus cares about me”.
And of course, He does, He just crossed a lake for one guy.
Mark 5:27-28 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
This woman not only heard about Jesus but seems to know about a prophecy in Malachi that has to lead her to a place of desperate faith, that if she can just touch Jesus’s cloak she knows she will be healed.
This echoes Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
This woman’s desperate faith got her healing. I wonder, do we seek God with desperate faith? Like we know what faith is, yeah I believe in God, I believe the Bible, I know God can do these things.
Then there is desperate faith. Faith that says I know God will do this for me, and in fact, I cannot go on unless God does this, so I am going to seek Him, I won’t accept silence, I will continue to seek God till I find Him.
Do you have desperate faith?
I felt challenged by God the other day. Sure I have faith, but there have been moments in my life where I have operated in desperate faith, and I need to get to that place and stay there.
Where does faith come from? Faith comes from hearing about Jesus. If you want to build your faith you need to keep hearing about Jesus. And once or twice a week isn’t enough. You need to be hearing about Jesus every day, multiple times a day in your own prayer and own Bible.
That’s our second takeaway: Have a desperate faith.
Mark 5:29-34 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
30 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?”
31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 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. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
So why is the woman afraid?
The Jewish people had these laws about cleanliness. Which were ceremonial about being Holy but some of them were also practical. One of them had to do with the spread of diseases and death. So if you touched a dead body, you weren’t supposed to be touching other people or going into the temple. That makes sense right?
The idea was God was Holy, and to be in His presence you had to be Holy. Which is true. But the question is how do you get made Holy? Is it something you can do? Earn? Gain? Learn? Practice? Get good at?
This story gives us a spoiler to the answer: no. You cannot earn Holiness or by association healing, it comes when your faith makes contact with Jesus.
This woman had this chronic issue, and for anyone to have this issue and go out into public, let alone into God’s presence would have been breaking the law.
We can see that this woman is afraid. She knows this. That’s why she tries to touch Jesus in secret. That’s why she doesn’t instantly reveal herself.
She is afraid that God is going to judge her. Be mad at her. Not accept her.
But she has faith in Jesus and touches Him, perhaps the first human contact she has had in 12 years, and Jesus says her faith made her well. Have peace.
She was afraid of judgment, but God responds with Grace.
That’s why our next takeaway is: Never be afraid to come to Jesus with anything.
Notice a bunch of people were touching Jesus. The disciples point this out. But they weren’t touching Him in faith. Something happens when you seek Jesus with Faith. You get your miracle. Don’t have faith? Where does it come from? Hear about Jesus more. Have desperate faith.
The whole time this is going on though Jairus is tapping his foot, “Jesus, come on, my daughter is dying remember?”
Mark 5:35-42 35 While he 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.”
36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
40 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. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.
36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
40 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. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.
Jesus gets there and the girl is already dead, But Jesus isn’t deterred. People laugh and doubt, they have no faith. He throws everyone out, even some of the disciples, except for 3 and the girl’s parents.
That’s why our last takeaway is don’t listen to the haters.
Where does faith come from?
- Hearing about Jesus
Where does doubt come from?
- Hearing doubt, hearing negativity
When you hear about Jesus and others’ faith, your faith will be built up. But when all you hear is people who doubt or speak negatively, that’s going to rob your faith real quick.
Now I’m not saying we don’t be honest and say when there is a real problem, but you know the difference between faith talk and doubt talk.
Faith says here is this issue but God can handle it, doubt says we are all going to die.
Right? You know people who when you are around them just build up your faith. And you know there are other people who just leave you empty.
We have to be careful not to be our own hater either, and not speak doubt over us.
“I’ll never be good enough. I suck. No one cares.”
You can either hear faith, and be built up, or hear doubt, and be torn down.
That may mean you will have to try hard to make a new habit about the way you talk. You may have to catch yourself and say nope. God is good, I will trust Him.
You may have to change the people you surround yourself with. If you are surrounded by doubters you may have to let go of some friendships.
Just tell them God said we can’t be friends anymore. It worked for Michelle.
So that’s Mark 5. We see that Jesus is truly Lord over illness and disease, even death. None of those are problems for Him. And through faith, us neither.
- Don’t be too proud to ask for Help
- Have a desperate faith
- Don’t be afraid to come to Jesus with anything.
- Don’t listen to the haters.
Posted in Crossover