Jesus Power Over Disease and Death Mark 5:21-43 Justin Deeter March 5, 2017 You need Jesus, no matter your social status. No matter your wealth, power, or influence, you still need a savior. Today, we will encounter two very different types of people, one an outcast the other respectable. The outcast is the woman with vaginal bleeding. This woman had been discharging blood for twelve years. Not only is such a medical situation incredibly serious, but it was socially alienating. This woman was ceremoniously unclean, forbidden from assembling at the synagogue for worship and forbidden to touch other people. This anemic woman was cast out by society, and did everything possible to find a cure. Over her twelve years, she spent every penny she had consulting doctors for answers. However, the physicians could not remedy her problem. The treatments she endured are ridiculous compared to today s standards. According to the Talmud, there were a few different remedies prescribed to a woman bleeding like this. One such treatment involved drinking a potion, a strange cocktail of rubber, ground metal, and a certain flower. Another treatment involved eating Persian onions cooked in wine, with the physician 1
crying out Arise out of your flow of blood as you eat the onion. Another physician prescribed carrying around the ash of an Ostrich s egg in a certain cloth to heal the bleeding. This woman has tried every possible solution to heal her medical dilemma, but yet she could not be cured. However, not only do outcasts need Jesus, the respectable of society, the movers and shakers of the world, also desperately need Jesus. Here is Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, wealthy and respected by his community. He too also comes to Jesus, desperate to heal his dying daughter. The account from the Gospel of Mark today describes how two unlikely people, coming from opposite ends of the social ladder, have their faith stirred in Jesus as their only hope and healer. Coming off the last few weeks in the Gospel of Mark, we ve seen Jesus power over nature, as he calmed the storm. We ve seen Jesus power over the spirits, as he frees the Gerasene demoniac from legion. Today we see Jesus power over sickness and death. Today we learn what it means to put our faith and trust in this all-powerful Jesus. So as we walk through this text this morning, I want to urge you to respond in three ways to Jesus. First, approach Jesus in desperate need. Second, cling to Jesus by faith. Third, receive from Jesus resurrected life. 2
1. Approach Jesus in Desperate Need (21-24) Jesus again crosses over the sea of Galilee. We are not entirely sure where he ended up, but he may be back in Capernaum again. Nevertheless, the crowd gathered as soon as he arrived beside the sea. This crowd was a cankerous bunch, large, passionate, and dangerous! To the shock of the crowd, and perhaps to the disciples, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue approaches Jesus and fell at his feet. We ve seen already in Mark how Jesus conflict with the religious leaders have become quite hostile. Yet, here is a respected and influential leader coming to Jesus and falling at his feet. He then implores Jesus, 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. Jairus had certainly tried everything he could to save his little girl. When parents love their child, that act exposes us to great joys but also great pain. Any parent whose had to watch their child fight cancer or be placed in a grave, knows the fear and desperation of Jairus. He is willing to do anything to save his daughter. So, Jairus comes to Jesus. He had of course heard about the miraculous healings of Jesus, perhaps he had witnessed a few of them himself. Nevertheless, in his final attempt to save his daughter, he goes to Jesus. What else does he have to lose? 3
In many ways, our story today is the story of faith. We shouldn t make too much of Jairus request of Jesus. He does not believe in Jesus, and is not one of his disciples (at least not yet!). He s just a desperate parent willing to do anything to save his little girl. It is his need that brings him to Jesus. He doesn t want Jesus for Jesus. But, yet God is pleased by our faith, no matter how small or mixed the motive. Sure, Jesus wants us to develop and grow into a mature and robust faith in him, that sees Jesus as the one who is our all encompassing joy. Yet, as we will see, Jesus is pleased by our frail, little faith. Again, most of us have started off this way in our Christian journey. We first come to Jesus because we have some sort of need. Perhaps there is a problem in our life and we hope God can fix for us. Maybe there is a crisis that leads you back into the church. Perhaps you just come to Jesus because your afraid of hell, and don t want to go there! Whatever it is, there is usually some sort of desperate need that leads us to come to Christ. Such faith is distorted faith, tinged with selfishness and self-preservation. Such a faith is what s displayed here by Jairus, but it is a faith that saves. And though Christ never intends us to have flimsy faith for ever, it is often where we start. When we first come to Jesus in faith, we often think all sorts of wrong thing about God. In addition, we might simply just want Jesus for what he can do to us, but such faith changes us and transforms us it grows over time into a mature faith. 4
Thank the Lord that he is pleased by our paltry displays of faith, such faith is like a mustard seed, small and insignificant but grows into a strong and mighty tree. This morning, you might not know what to think about Jesus, and you may be skeptical of him. But if you have need this morning, approach him in faith. You may have lingering questions and doubts, but the compassionate Christ is willing to receive you. But not only must you approach him in your need, but secondly, you must ling to Jesus by faith! 2. Cling to Jesus by Faith (25-34) So Jairus leads the way along with Jesus and his disciples. They are pushing through the massive crowds like Disney world in the middle of the summer. There are people everywhere reaching out, trying to get Jesus attention. Yet in that crowd was the woman suffering from the discharge of blood for twelve years. She had heard about Jesus, and like Jairus she was desperate for healing. Exhausting every other option, she thought that if she could just touch Jesus garment she would be healed. Like Jairus, her faith is a bit infantile. She doesn t even know who Jesus is, and has no interest in following him. She thinks he has some sort of magic, and heard the rumors swirling around this man. She fights her way through the 5
crowd just to grab the hinge of his coat. Yet, even her little faith brought her healing. As soon as she touched his garment, the blood dried up. She instantly became whole again, and she felt it. Jesus, recognizing the power had gone out from him, stopped and turned to the crowd. Who touched my garments? The disciples, being disrespectful, rebuke Jesus. You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, Who touched me. After all, they are on a mission to save Jairus daughter. Time is of the essence, there is no time for delay! And, here is Jesus wondering who touched him! Yet, Jesus stops not for himself, but for this woman. He is not content to let this woman attribute this miracle to some sort of sorcery or magic. He stopes, and peers into the crowd to give this woman an opportunity to speak. And speak she does, she fesses up to what she had done. She came before Jesus with fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. Sweet, compassionate Jesus turns to her and said, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of disease. Jesus wants to make sure that she understood that it was her faith in Jesus, no matter how meager and selfmotivated, that saved her. And he speaks to her with such tenderness and gentleness, Daughter, your faith has made you well. This woman had the courage, the faith to cling to Jesus, to reach out and grab him by faith, in hope that she would be made well. And Jesus certainly has 6
the power to heal. He is Lord over disease. He is the great physician. Typically, when a woman bleeding like this touches another, she makes that person unclean. But here this unclean woman touches Jesus, and she becomes clean. You may be sick, but you have a sickness that goes beyond infection and organ failure. You are a sinner, defiled, unclean, and unfit to enter into the presence of God. With this disease you are deathly ill, no doctor or psychiatrist can fix you, no pill or shot. It is only Jesus who heals us from the disease of sin. In our sin, we deserve judgment and condemnation, but yet for those who have even a little faith in Jesus, can reach out to him and grab him. Reach him and be healed. Touch him and be clean. Salvation comes through faith, which proves itself in action! The gentleness of the savior is eager to make you whole, to heal your disease, to cleanse your soul, if you but stretch out in faith to him. So we must approach Jesus in our desperate need and cling to him by faith, and when we do, thirdly, we receive from Jesus resurrected life. 3.Receive from Jesus Resurrected Life (35-43) Not only were the disciples frustrated with Jesus delay, but you can imagine Jairus frustration. Anxious for the life of his precious daughter, this costly delay might be the difference between life and death! Yet, during the commotion of this woman, someone from Jairus house came to him with 7
sobering news: Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further? Both the messenger and Jairus, thought it was all over. They didn t make it in time. It was too late. Jesus couldn t do anything now. Yet, here Jesus takes the opportunity to dig deeper the faith of Jairus. Hearing the messenger, Jesus said to Jairus, Do not fear, only believe. Jairus is paralyzed with grief at the news of his daughter death. Perhaps his angry at this obstinate fool of a woman who delayed Jesus from healing his daughter. Or, perhaps the pain of sorrow caused his face to go blank in shock. Yet, nevertheless Jesus presses him to deeper faith. Jairus, keep on believing. Don t give up, don t fear your daughter s loss. Just believe. Have faith! Jairus musters enough faith, and pulls himself together enough to continue the journey to his house, eager to say goodbye to her daughter while her corpse was still warm. As they arrived at Jairus house, Jesus only allowed his inner circle to join him, Peter, James, and John. As they came into the house, the weepers were already at work. During Jesus day, when someone died it was customary to hire people to wail and shed tears in honor of the deceased. Seeing the commotion, Jesus spoke to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping. Their pretend crying quickly turned to laughter. Surely Jesus was joking, either that or he was insane. Didn t Jesus know that this girl was dead? Jesus cleared the room, kicking out the 8
mourners, servants, and other family. All that remained in the room was Jairus, his wife, Peter, James, and John, and the dead little girl lying on the bed. Remember, as we walk through this Gospel, Mark is recording the thoughts and memories of the apostle Peter, who was there in that room. With that in mind, Peter shares with us eyewitness detail of this event. Jesus went and took the little girls hand, and Jesus spoke in Aramaic, Talitha cumi, which is Aramaic for Little girl, I say to you, arise. No doubt, as Peter shared this with Mark he heard in his memory the tender words of Jesus that day. Talitha cumi, is the equivalent of saying, Honey, get up or Darling, arise. And at the savior s instruction the twelve year old girl opened her eyes, seeing the face of Jesus. She stood up and began walking. Immediately, all in the room were astonished. The soft voice of the savior brought the girl back to life, and with a bit of realism, told them to get the hungry girl something to eat. We ve seen both in the case of the woman and this little girl, Jesus power over sickness and death. The Lord is the one who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases (Ps 103:3). Behold the power and authority of this Christ! He is Lord over nature, Lord over the spirits, and Lord over sickness and death. By his word the storm calms. At his command, the demon departs. In his tender words, he heals and resurrects. As we ve spent the last three weeks walking through these three events in Mark, we cannot help but be astonished at Jesus and fall on our faces before him in worship. How great is this God, and how 9
majestic in power! This is the Christ whom we are gathered here to worship this day. Yet, in this raising of Jairus daughter, we a proto-resurrection. A lesson for those in that room of what Jesus has ultimately come to do, vanquish our great enemy death itself! For it will be at the cross, by his own death, that Jesus would defeat death for us all. It is through his own resurrection from the grave, that we too will experience resurrected victory! We ve witnessed Jairus journey of faith through this account. At first, he was a desperate father who turned to a miracle worker named Jesus as a last resort. As they traveled to his house, Jesus is stopped and interrupted as he recognizes a woman s faith who had received healing by touching his garment. Seeing the power of Jesus and the testimony of this woman s faith, Jairus is called to have that same faith as he hears the news of his daughters death. Perhaps still suspicious, he still had a little faith, and brought Jesus to his daughter anyway. Yet, there his little faith would be ever resolved as the tender hand of Jesus raises his daughter from her death bed. There in that upper room we understand what Jesus means when he said, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives in me shall never die (Jn 11:25). 10
Final Thoughts But I must ask you, do you believe this? Perhaps today, you have the courage to approach Jesus in some sort of desperate need. Who knows what sort of problems you may have? After all, we all have problems. But as you come to Jesus with your need, you begin to realize that you have a bigger one. Bigger than physical disease, you have a spiritual disease. You are a sinner unfit to stand before Almighty God. Yet, you must approach Jesus with what little faith you have and cling to him. Grab a hold of his garment and do not let him go! Fight through the crowds to get to him if you must, cast aside all fear of shame and approach him. Though you know little about Jesus, you are desperate for help from anyone, from someone! You ve tried everything to fix what s wrong with you, and your last ditch effort is to try Jesus. Come to him anyway, in foolishness grab the hinge of his garment and he will call you to faith. He will call you to stand before the crowd and attest to what you ve done. And there as you confess your sins and your shame, you will not hear the condescension and derision of the savior s voice. No! No! There before the crowd you will hear him call, Daughter, son! Your faith has made you well, go in peace, be freed from the disease of your sin. But this good news of this story goes beyond a simple healing of disease or forgiveness of sin. There is greater news. But by faith you can receive resurrected life. Your death is coming, and one day it will be your corpse cooling in the bed as 11
your mourners gather about you. Death is the harbinger of absolute finality, guaranteeing your fatality, due to your total depravity. But Jesus Christ brings death to your mortality. He is the resurrection and the life! And though we all die the first death, those in Christ will not die the second death. But at the end of the age, when Christ returns we will hear the tender voice of the savior calling, Talitha cumi; son or daughter arise! There death will be swallowed up in victory. Tears will be no more. Christ will reign and we will dwell with him in resurrected glory in our physical bodies for all of eternity! Such healing and resurrected hope is yours, if you would but turn from your sin and trust in Christ this day. He heals the diseased and raises the dead this proven for us on the cross and assured by his resurrection. Perhaps like Jairus or like this bleeding woman, you may be at the tope of the social ladder or the bottom. Either way, you have little faith, ignorant and skeptical of Jesus. Yet, if by the Spirit s power you take the step of faith today, more will be given to you. Approach Jesus today in your need, cling to him in faith, and receive ressurected life! 12