EXERCISE DYNAMIC FAITH IN JESUS

Transcription

1 EXERCISEDYNAMICFAITHINJESUS 5 21 When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side [of the lake], a largecrowdgatheredaroundhim.[while]hewas[still]bythesea, 22 therecameoneof therulersofthesynagogue,amannamedjairus.seeing[jesus],hefellathisfeet 23 and earnestlybeggedhim,mylittledaughterisatthepointofdeath;[ipleadwithyouto] comeandlayyourhandsonher,sothatshemayrecoverandlive. 24 [Jesus]wentwith him;andalargecrowdfollowedhim,andtheypresseduponhim. 25 Awoman who hadahemorrhagefortwelveyears, 26 andhadsufferedmanythingsatthehandsof manyphysicians,andhadspentall[hermoney],andwasnotatallbetter,butrather grew worse 27 having heard about Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd and touchedhisgarment. 28 Shethought,IfIcanonlytouchhisgarments,Ishallbehealed. 29 Andimmediatelyherbleedingstopped;andshefeltinherbodythatshewascuredof her illness. 30 Realizing that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, Jesus immediatelyturnedaroundinthecrowdandsaid,whotouchedmygarments? 31 And his disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing upon you, and you ask, Who touched me? 32 But he looked around to see [the woman] who had done this thing. 33 Andthewoman,fearfulandtrembling,knowingwhathadbeendonetoher,came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, Daughter, yourfaithhasrestoredyou;goinpeaceandbecuredofyourillness. 35 While he was still speaking, certain persons came from the ruler of the synagogue s [house] saying, Your daughter is dead. Why do you bother the Teacher anymore? 36 ButJesus,ignoringwhattheysaid,toldtherulerofthesynagogue,Donot beafraid,onlybelieve. 37 Hepermittednoonetocomewithhim,exceptPeter,James, and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue,hesawacommotion,[withpeople]weepingandwailingloudly. 39 Whenhe hadentered[thehouse],hesaidtothem,whyareyoumakingsuchacommotion,why areyouweeping?thechildisnotdead;sheis[only]sleeping. 40 Buttheylaughedat himscornfully.buthe,afterremovingthemall[fromthehouse],tookthefatherofthe child and her mother and those who were with him, and went in to where the child was. 41 Takingthechildbythehand,hesaidtoher,Talitha,cumi;whichmeans,Little girl,isaytoyou,getup. 42 Immediatelythelittlegirlgotupandwalked;forshewas twelve years old. And they were overcome with great astonishment. 43 He sternly charged them that no one should know about this. Then he told them to give her somethingtoeat. 6[Jesus]leftthereandwenttohishometown,accompaniedbyhisdisciples. 2 Whenthe Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, Where did this man learn these things? and, What is the wisdom that has been given to this man, and [what is the meaning of] such mighty works preformedbyhishands? 3 Isthisnotthecarpenter,thesonofMary,andthebrotherof James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? So they took offenseathim. 4 ButJesussaidtothem,Aprophetisnotwithouthonor,exceptinhis ownhometown,andamonghisownrelatives,andinhisownhouse. 5 Hecouldnotdo anymightyworkthere;althoughhedidlayhishandsuponafewsickpeopleandheal

2 them. 6 Hewasamazedattheirunbelief.Thenhewentaroundfromvillagetovillage teaching.(mk.5:21 6:6) Introduction Iwashavingtroublewiththebedroomlamptheothernight;itjustwouldnotgoon. Iclickeditonandoff,butnolight;Itriedshakingit,butnolight;Ichangedthebulb, butstillnolight! Iwasstumblingaroundinthedark,tryingtocopeasbestIcould,butnotdoingvery well.istubbedmytoeonthebedpost;ilaterdiscoveredthattheshirtandtieihad selected in the dark were a terrible mismatch I was not functioning very well in thedarkandididnothavethehelpofthelamp. Well,asthissamefrustratingroutinewasrepeatednightafternight,Igotmoreand more upset with that malfunctioning lamp, and I was losing confidence in it. The thingjustdoesnotwork!lampsmayworkforotherpeople,butnotforme!ifinally gaveuponit.ididn tthrowthatlampaway,mindyou;afterall,itwasaweddinggift from grandma, it had been in the family for generations. I couldn t just throw it away; it was a real antique (maybe that s why it didn t work, maybe it was outdated!) Thenoneeveningmysoncameintothebedroom,hesawmestumblingaroundin thegatheringdarknessandasked, Dad,whydon tyouturnonthelamp? Itriedto explaintohimthatthelampdoesn twork. Icanseewhy, hesaid, it snotpluggedin!thatlampisn tgoingtogiveanylightas longasit snotpluggedintothewallsocket.withouttheelectricalcurrentfromthe powersourcerunningthroughthewiretothelightbulb,thatlampisuseless!" So my son stooped down, plugged the cord into the socket, and I ve been living in thelighteversince! TheChristianfaithislikethatlamp.Itisonlydynamicwhenitis pluggedintothe powersource ofthelordjesuschrist.ifyou rehavingtroublewithyour lamp, if your Christian faith is lifeless and powerless, it may be that it is unplugged. If that s the case, you need to plug it in, you need to exercise dynamic faith in the LordJesusChrist,thekindoffaiththatacceptsHiswordandactsuponit. I.ExerciseDynamicFaithinJesus,theKindofFaiththatSeesChristWork (Mk.5:21 24,35 43) Having delivered the demoniac(s) in the region of the Gerasenes, Jesus and His disciples return once again to Galilee(Mk. 5:21.) As Jesus steps out of the little boat, amidst a great throng of people, there comes rushing up to Him a man named Jairus(an official of the local synagogue.) Jairus throws himself down at

3 Jesus feetandpleadsforthelifeofhisyoungtwelve year olddaughter:sheisat thepointofdeath,willjesuspleasecomeandrestoreher?(mk.5:22 23.) Withoutsayingaword,theLordJesusaccompaniesJairustohishome.Alongthe wayheisthrongedbyagreatmultitudeofpeople(mk.5:24.)astheyapproach Jairus housetheyaremetbyadelegationbearingthebadnews:thelittlegirlhas died. In courtesy to Jesus, they exhort Jairus to accept the outcome and stop troubling theteacher (Mk.5:35.) JesusoverhearsthereportofthedelegationthatcameouttomeetJarius,andHe quietlysaystojarius,don tbeafraid,justtrustme.(mk.5:36.)atthispointjesus commands the delegation, and everyone else, to stay where they are. He only allowspeter,jamesandjohntoaccompanyhimintojairus house;everyoneelse isshutout(mk.5:37.) When they enter the house they encounter the mourners: the relatives and neighborswailingoverthedeadgirl sbody(mk.5:38.)uponenteringthehouse, Jesus asks, Why are you all mourning? Then follows His startling announcement, The child is not dead, she is[only] sleeping. Note: Jesus is here usingtheterm, sleeping, inthesamewayashedoesinjohn11todescribethe caseoflazarus: Afterhehadsaidthis,hewentontotellthem, OurfriendLazarushasfallen asleep;butiamgoingtheretowakehimup. 12 Hisdisciplesreplied, Lord,ifhe sleeps, he will get better. 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, Lazarusisdead.(Jn.11:11 14) In both cases the persons were actually dead, but they would be raised back to lifebythelordjesus. Withthatstatementthemourningturnsintolaughter ascoffingderisionofthe LordJesusandthestatementHehasjustuttered.WhenthathappensJesussends them out of the house, permitting only Jairus and his wife, together with His disciples,toaccompanyhimtothelittlegirl sbedside(mk.5:40.)inthatintimate setting, the Lord Jesus gently raises the girl back to life; and then charges the familytokeepthisasecret(mk.5:41 43.) WhatistheLordteachingusthroughthisincident?Contrasttheconfidentfaithof Jairus with the unbelief of the delegation that comes to report his daughter s death.jairusacknowledgesthathisdaughterisatthepointofdeath,andindeed, hassuccumbedtodeath: Mydaughterhasjustdied.Butcomeandlayyourhand uponher,andsheshalllive (Matt.9:18b.)Matthewgivesonlyabriefsynopsisof this miracle, whereas Mark and Luke (8:41 56) present the full account. The delegationexhortsjairustostopbotheringjesus,(whomtheymerelyidentifyas the Teacher ), because the little girl has died. Here is an extremely limited

4 conceptofthepersonandauthorityofthelordjesuschrist,andanexaggerated concept of the problem that is being presented to Him. This delegation fails to perceive the true identity of the Person before whom they stand. If they had rightly understood who Jesus truly is, hopefully they would have responded to HimwiththewordsofJeremiah, Ah,SovereignLORD,youhavemadetheheavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you (Jer.32:17.) Having considered the contrast between the confident faith of Jairus and the unbelief of the delegation, consider the reward of faith. Jesus encourages and supportsjairus faithwhenitisseverelythreatenedbythedelegationandtheir unbelieving counsel (Mk. 5:35 36.) Jairus faith is rewarded by witnessing and receivingagreatworkofgod(mk.5:43.) Finally,considertheconsequenceofunbelief.Everytimeunbeliefmanifestsitself, Christ turns His back and walks away from it (Mark 5:35,37,39 40,43), and excludestheunbelievingcrowdfromevenwitnessinghismightywork. LetusexercisedynamicfaithinJesus,thekindoffaiththatseesChristwork.Let ustakeheedtothewordsthelordjesusspoketomarthaastheystoodatthe tomb of her brother Lazarus, Then Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believed,youwouldseethegloryofgod? (Jn.11:40.) II.ExerciseDynamicFaithinJesus,theKindofFaiththatReally Touches Christ(Mk.5:25 34) AsJesus,surroundedbyagreatthrongofpeople,makesHiswaytoJairus house, somebodytoucheshim.itprovestobeapoordesperatewomanwhohasbeen suffering from an issue of blood for the past twelve years. Her case was incurable.shehadbeentomanydoctors,hadspentallofherlifesavings,butall tonoavail;herconditionwassteadilygrowingworse(mk.5:35.)havingheard of the miraculous healing power of Jesus, this woman, with desperate determination,worksherwaythroughthecrowd,reachesout,andtoucheshis garment.herreasoning andherfaith arerevealedtous: IfIcanonlytouch hisgarments,ishallbehealed (Mk.5:28.)Maywelearnfromthispoorwoman thatthesoundestformofreasoningisthatwhichproceedsfromfaithinchrist andisbaseduponfaithinchrist.sureenough,whenthiswomantouchedjesus garment,herhemorrhagingceased,andsheactuallyfeltherbodybeingrestored tohealth. AssoonasshetouchedHisgarment,Jesusimmediatelystopped,turnedaround, and confronted the crowd with the question, Who touched me? Note that the womanmerelytouchedhisgarment;shedidnotgrabhisrobeandhangonto it. But when she touched Him in confident and even desperate faith Jesus perceived that power had gone out from him (Mk. 5:30.) The disciples are

5 dumbfounded. A great multitude of people are pressing upon Jesus, and He wantstoknow, Whotouchedme? Whenthewomancomesforwardandconfesseswhatshehasdone,Jesuspoints toherfaithastheinstrumentofherhealingandsalvation.thenhepronounces Hisbenedictionuponher. Contrast this one desperate woman with the whole multitude. The crowd surrounds Jesus, they press against Him, but they receive no personal benefit from their contact with Him. Nothing happens in their lives; their lives remain untouched. This woman merely touches His garment with confident, even desperate,faith andthepowerofjesustransformsherwholelife! Let us exercise dynamic faith in Jesus, the kind of faith that really touches Christ. Consider a modern day example of a woman who reached out and touchedchristwithsincereandevendesperatefaith: Renee still believed in God s existence, but for many years she didn t trust Him Finally,IsurrenderedtoaGodIdidn teventrust, shesaid. Myfoundation wascrumblingsofastthatiheldontotheonlyshredofhopeicouldfind God! HerespondedbymakingtheBiblecomealivetoher.Christianfriendscame into her life, one of whom was a pastor who cried with her and counseled her. Since that time, much healing has occurred in her life. She says she has learned that God is always there to see her through. (Our Daily Bread, 7/29/94) III.ExerciseDynamicFaithinJesus,theKindofFaiththatDoesNot Hinder Christ(Mk.6:1 6) Following the miraculous incidents recorded in Mark 5:21 43, Jesus comes to Hishometown.OntheSabbathdayHeteachesatthelocalsynagogueandthose whohearhimareastounded. They are overwhelmed by Him in the sense of being offended. They cannot comprehendtheconnectionbetweenhiswisdomandmiraculouspoweronthe onehandandtheirfamiliaracquaintancewithhimontheother:isnotthisthe carpenter, is not this the son of Mary? How is he able to teach with such wisdomandworksuchmightymiracles? Theytookoffenseathim (Mk.6:3.)

6 Jesus wordsanddeedsdidnotfitintotheirconceptionofhim.theytherefore take offence at Him; and this leads to unbelief. Rather than adjusting their conceptionofjesusinthelightoftheevidencehepresents,theyrejecthimand distancethemselvesfromhim. Theirunbelief hindered Jesusfromworkingpowerfullyamongthem.Wemust not draw the conclusion that Jesus ability to perform mighty works was not absolutely dependent upon the faith of the people; note the case recorded in John5:1 9whereJesusperformsaworkofhealinguponamanwhoexpressed nofaithinhim, Sometimelater,JesuswentuptoJerusalemforafeastoftheJews. 2 Nowthere isinjerusalemnearthesheepgateapool,whichinaramaiciscalledbethesda andwhichissurroundedbyfivecoveredcolonnades. 3 Hereagreatnumberof disabledpeopleusedtolie theblind,thelame,theparalyzed. 5 Onewhowas there had been an invalid for thirty eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying thereandlearnedthathehadbeeninthisconditionforalongtime,heasked him, Doyouwanttogetwell? 7 Sir, theinvalidreplied, Ihavenoonetohelp meintothepoolwhenthewaterisstirred.whileiamtryingtogetin,someone elsegoesdownaheadofme. 8 ThenJesussaidtohim, Getup!Pickupyourmat andwalk. 9 Atoncethemanwascured;hepickeduphismatandwalked.(Jn. 5:1 9) ThemightypowerofGodisnotdependentuponthefaithoffinitemanforitto operate;but,nevertheless,godhasordainedthatfaithshallbetheinstrument through which we experience the saving power of Christ. With regard to the people of Jesus hometown, their unbelief limited Jesus to merely a teaching ministry among them; they were not permitted to witness or experience His savingpower. Let us beware of Faith Quenchers. One such Faith Quencher is the fear of change:thetraditionalbecomescomfortable,even sacred. Anexampleofthis is seen in the previous passage of the Gospel of Mark, the Garasenes found Jesus savingpowertobetoodisturbingforthem Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demonpossessed man and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to pleadwithjesustoleavetheirregion.(mk.5:16 17) Another Faith Quencher is the fear for personal safety: an unwillingness to follow Jesus out of our comfort zone. We need to follow the example of the ApostlePaulwhotestified: Iconsidermylifeworthnothingtome,ifonlyImay finishtheraceandcompletethetaskthelordjesushasgivenme (Acts20:24.) Athird FaithQuencher isthefearofrelinquishingcontrolofourlives.rather thanallowthatfeartocontrolus,maythelordenableustobecomelikejesus

7 Himself.AsHehunguponthecross, Jesuscalledoutwithaloudvoice, Father, intoyourhandsicommitmyspirit (Lk.23:46.) A fourth Faith Quencher is the fear of the unknown. May we follow the exampleofabraham,ourforefatherinthefaith,ofwhomwearetold: Byfaith Abraham,whencalledtogotoaplacehewouldlaterreceiveashisinheritance, obeyedandwent,eventhoughhedidnotknowwherehewasgoing (Heb.11:8.) A fifth Faith Quencher is the fear of suffering loss. We need to heed the counselofourlord: Jesussaidtothem, Itellyouthetruth,attherenewalofallthings,whenthe Son of Man sits on his glorious throne everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receiveahundredtimesasmuchandwillinheriteternallife. (Matt.19:28 29) A sixth Faith Quencher is the fear of failure. May we be encouraged by the exampleofmoses: ByfaithheforsookEgypt,notfearingthewrathoftheking; andhesurvived,almostseeinghimwhoisinvisible (Heb.11:27.) Let us exercise dynamic faith in Jesus, the kind of faith that does not hinder Christ.TheApostlePaulpraysthatwemightknow theexceedinglygreatpower [made available] to us who are believing (Eph. 1:19); that is, we who are exercisingdynamicfaithinthelordjesuschrist thefaiththattakeschristat Hiswordandactsuponit. Conclusion If you have been having trouble with your lamp, if you are finding that your Christianlifeisdeadandpowerless,itmaybethatithasbecome unplugged froma vital connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. If that, indeed, is the case, plug it in: exerciseadynamicfaithinjesus.exercisethekindoffaiththatsimplyrestsinjesus, takinghimathisword,andreceivesfromhimlifeandgraceandallthatyouneed. ExercisethekindoffaiththatplacescompleteconfidenceintheLordJesusChrist, acceptinghiswordandactinguponit.