Faith & Fear, Belief & Unbelief

Intro- Do you know what a watershed is? It’s a high area, a ridge or mountain range that forces water to drain one way or the other. It’s a dividing point that divides the water that drains to streams and rivers on one side of the watershed from the water that drains to the streams and rivers on the other side.

Take the Continental Divide for example. It runs from Arctic Alaska down through Canada and the United States along the Rocky Mountains all the way down into Mexico and ends at the Southern tip of South America. And it separates the water that flows into the Pacific Ocean from the water that makes its way to the Atlantic ocean.

That is what Jesus is like. He is a watershed... a dividing point. During Jesus’ lifetime, when people came face-to-face with Him and saw His power firsthand and they heard His teaching with their own ears, they were forced to decide how they would respond to Him. Would they turn away in fear or unbelief or would they run to Him in faith? That’s the dynamic we find playing out in today’s passage in Mark chapter 5 beginning in verse 21 (page number). And what I want you to take particular notice of this morning is that how these people responded to Jesus had a major impact on how He interacted with them.

Transition: Let’s look first at a man named Jairus.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. Mark 5:21-24a

1. Jairus

Jairus was a lay leader at a local Jewish synagogue. [John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 124.] In Jesus’ day, Jews that lived outside Jerusalem would gather at local synagogues on the Sabbath and only go to the temple in Jerusalem on special occasions. Jairus was an influential man in his local synagogue but he had a serious problem. His beloved daughter was sick. Very sick. Now, Jairus had likely already tried the medical doctors of his day, and nothing had worked. His daughter grew worse by the day and Jairus grew more desperate.

But then Jairus heard that Jesus was coming to town. Now, I think Jairus likely knew that him turning to Jesus for help wouldn’t be popular with everyone in his synagogue. It might have really caused some problems for him. But that didn’t matter, because Jairus had faith that Jesus could heal his daughter.

Look at how he comes to Jesus. He falls at Jesus’ feet and pleads with Him. He says, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” Jairus doesn’t say, “Heal her if you can.” He believes that Jesus will heal his daughter! This was Jairus’ watershed moment. In his moment of crises, in his time of desperation, he believed that Jesus could do what no one else could do. So, he went to Jesus with a bold request and asked Him to heal his daughter.

And how did Jesus respond to Jairus’ faith? The passage simply says, “Jesus went with him.” Jesus honored this man’s faith, because that is what God always does. The ESV translation of Matthew 21:22 says, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” That’s the kicker. You have to have faith. You have to ask in faith. The book of James tells us the same thing in James 1:6–7 where it says, “When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

So, if you are asking God for something but you don’t really believe He is going to do it... if you’ve been praying for something but you don’t really have faith that He can or He will... if you keep asking God but you are doubting; then you can’t expect to receive what you ask for. When you get to your watershed moment, in your moment of crisis, will you doubt or will you run to God in faith like Jairus did?

Transition: The next person to respond to Jesus in this passage is an unnamed woman.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Mark 5:24b-34

2. The Unnamed Woman

We’re told that this woman had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. Think about that 12 years! Although the passage doesn’t explicitly say that her bleeding was feminine in nature, it’s often assumed that it was. And if it was, then according to Jewish law she would have been ceremonially unclean and anyone she touched would have become ceremonially unclean as well. This would have kept at arms length from Jewish society for this entire time. So, if her health issue was feminine in nature, it’s hard to fathom how difficult the past 12 years must have been for her. In many ways, she would have been living almost like a leper.

Add to that the fact that the passage says “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors...” I did some research this week and found out that ancient Roman medicine was a curious mixture of science and superstition. Romans often used amulets to ward off diseases. They believed sneezing would help the body expel your disease. So, every effort was made to make sick people sneeze, but if you needed to stop sneezing for any reason all you had to do was kiss the nose of a mule. [factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub369/item2054.htm] But, more to the point, if her issue was feminine in nature, then based on what I read this week (and without going into detail here) I can assure you that the treatments Roman doctors would have prescribed were monstrous. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynecology_in_ancient_Rome] We truly can only imagine how much this woman suffered at the hands of these so-called “doctors.”

The passage tells us that in spite of all the money she spent and all the suffering she endured, this poor woman only grew worse and more desperate. But then came her watershed moment. She heard about a man who could heal every disease with a touch. She had already suffered so many disappointments. Did she dare to believe this Jesus could heal even her? She did. She believed that Jesus could do what no one else had been able to do for 12 years. She said to herself “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” So, she found out where Jesus would be. She worked her way through the crowd and came up behind Him and reached out her hand in faith and touched Him. Actually, she didn’t even touch Jesus, just his cloak. And that was all it took! Scripture says that her bleeding stopped immediately. She was healed.

Now, many people touched Jesus that day, but she alone touched Him in faith. And that made the difference, because God responds to faith. He has, by His own Divine decree and character, determined that He will honor those who come to Him in faith. The Bible Knowledge Commentary points out that “The healing seems to occur without overt participation by Jesus.” [John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 125.] Her touch seems to have called it forth automatically. How? The key is that she touched Him in faith. No one else was healed. Surely some of those other people in the crowd who brushed up against Jesus had bad backs and sore knees, but they weren’t healed because though they touched Him they didn’t touch Him in faith.

Did you realize that faith really does matter in the Christian walk? A person can come down this aisle and pray a prayer of salvation but if they don’t pray it in faith they won’t be saved. A believer can come to church week after week, but if they don’t come with faith, expecting God to do something, asking Him to do something, then it will profit them nothing. You can open your Bible to read it, but if you have no faith, it will only lie lifeless before you.

So when you come to Jesus, when you come to church, when you come into your quiet time alone with God... come with faith. Don’t just brush up against Jesus like the crowds did. Reach out and touch Him in faith! I’m NOT saying that if you have faith all your problems will go away. I AM saying that faith really does matter, it counts for something in the Christian walk.

Transition: Now, we begin to see a different response to Jesus. So far both Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood have responded with faith, but now we begin to see those who respond with unbelief.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Mark 5:35-43

3. Back to Jairus

Messengers are sent to tell Jairus that his daughter is dead. But somehow they seem less concerned with comforting this grieving father and more concerned about separating him from Jesus. They have no faith that Jesus can do anything to help his little girl now and they are intent on convincing Jairus of the same. This is a major test for Jairus’ faith. His world has just come crashing down on Him. Is it possible that even Jesus can help him now?

Jesus turns to Jairus in this moment of crisis and says, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” In the face of unbelief and an impossible situation, through Jesus’ encouragement, somehow Jairus’ faith stood up under the test. We know that Jairus continued believing because he continued leading Jesus to his home in spite of what it might cost him socially.

I want to encourage you to memorize those 5 words of encouragement that Jesus spoke to Jairus. “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” People say to me, “Pastor Lance I can’t memorize Scripture. I try and I just can’t do it.” I bet you can memorize 5 words. This is a great motto for the Christian life because there will be countless situations throughout your life in which you will have to choose between fear and faith. Will you give in to fear or will you keep believing in God? Will you waste time worrying about worst case scenarios and fearing possible outcomes, or will you believe that God can bring something good out of your situation?

Well, Jairus, didn’t give in to fear but led Jesus to his home where they were met with more unbelief. By the time Jesus arrives at Jairus’ home, it is already filled with the professional mourners who were common in that day. People who were paid to mourn and wail loudly over the deceased even though they never knew them. As Jesus enters the house He is met by these people who make their living off of death, and He tells them that the girl isn’t dead but only asleep. And Scripture says that they laughed at Him. Again, we see that Jesus was a watershed, a dividing point. He forced a response and they chose disbelief. And what was the result. Just shut these unbelievers out of the house, while Jairus’ faith was rewarded when HIs daughter was restored to him.

Notice here too Jesus’ authority over creation is so absolute that even dead things must obey His word. When that little girl heard Jesus’ voice, though she was truly dead, she had to obey her Creator. And the great Christian hope is that one day Jesus will work this same miracle for the whole world, that one day He will say to us “Arise.” And on that day, some of us will rise to eternal life and some will rise to judgment. That will be another watershed moment, and the dividing line on that day will be based on how you responded to Jesus. Did you respond with faith or fear, with belief or unbelief? That will determine your eternal destiny.

Transition: There is one more little episode at the beginning of chapter 6 that ties a bow around this discussion of faith.

Mark 6:1–6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

4. Jesus’ Hometown

Have you ever heard the saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt?” That seems to capture the dynamic at play in these verses. Jesus returns to His hometown and teaches in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The congregation probably included some of His old friends and even family members, but they took offense at Jesus. They responded with unbelief.

And Scripture says that “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” Matthew 13:58 perhaps makes it a little clearer when it says, “He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

Their lack of faith limited the miracles Jesus could work among them not because it limited Jesus’ power, but because Jesus would not honor or reward their disbelief with a performance of power. Jesus’ miracle working power was self-limited by His commitment to honor faith and not honor unbelief. The notes from the Geneva Bible published in 1560 capture the point nicely. They say, “Lacke of faith maketh us unable to receive Gods benefites.” [Geneva Bible: Notes, vol. 2 (Geneva: Rovland Hall, 1560), 19.]

We need to be careful to ensure that familiarity with Jesus doesn’t breed contempt among us as well. There are people who know much about Jesus and yet lack saving faith. There is a way to be very familiar with Him and still not believe in Him. And what we learn from Jesus’ time in Nazareth is that your lack of faith may be limiting the work Jesus is doing in your life. He will not honor disbelief. He will not reward those who tread Him underfoot and treat Him with contempt.

Conclusion:

How are you responding to Jesus? With faith or fear… with belief or unbelief? Are you laying your requests before Him with faith or do you doubt when you pray? Are you reaching out to touch Him in faith or just brushing up against Him aimlessly with the rest of the crowd? Are you like the messengers? Do you discourage the faith of others and try to separate them from Jesus? Are you like the mourners? Do you laugh at Jesus and those who believe in Him? Do you treat Him with contempt?

Maybe this is your watershed moment… your crisis of faith? How will you respond... with faith or fear, belief or unbelief?

PRAY