Healing and Restoration
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today we are continuing our series on the Gospel of Mark, and we are going to look at a passage that contains a story of healing and restoration.
The passage we are going to read is Mark 5:21-43.
Jesus has just returned from the other side of the Sea of Galilee, where He had cast out a legion of demons from a man who lived among the tombs.
He had also encountered a storm on the way, which He had calmed with a word.
Now He is back on the Jewish side of the lake, where a large crowd is waiting for Him.
Among them is a woman, and today we are going to consider life from the perspective of this woman.
We are also going to see how Jesus restores even the greatest of outcasts.
And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea.
Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet
and implored him earnestly, saying, “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.”
And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years,
and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”
And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
The Woman with the Issue of Blood
This woman, who has been bleeding for 12 years, has a huge problem.
See, her issue with blood was not only a physical problem, but also a social and spiritual one.
According to the Jewish law, she was considered unclean, and anyone who touched her or anything she touched would also become unclean.
This meant that she was isolated from her family, friends, and community.
She could not worship in the temple, or participate in any social or religious events.
She was an outcast, a nobody, a nobody who had no hope of healing or restoration.
She had tried everything humanly possible to get better.
She had gone to many doctors, spent money on treatments, but nothing worked.
In fact, she only got worse.
So imagine for a moment that you are this woman.
You have heard of a man who heals people and you see an opportunity to finally be rid of this physical malady.
Suddenly, you see him.
This woman knows that something in this man is powerful…more powerful than any earthly authority or healer.
For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”
Think of this for a moment, friends…
Simply touching Jesus’ garments is a far more powerful cure than all of the worldly help and advice.
Can we not all claim that we have experienced similar things in our life.
We’ve listened to the wisdom of the world, sought healing in all manner of worldly means.
But there’s something different about Jesus, isn’t there?
We can see in her that God often uses our points of desperation to bring about all manner of healing.
So, she reached out and touched His cloak, and immediately she felt a change in her body.
Her bleeding stopped, and she felt a surge of health and vitality.
She was healed, after twelve long years of suffering.
She was free from her affliction.
Now, she hoped to slip away unnoticed.
Daughter
Daughter
But Jesus noticed.
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
This woman had every reason to be terrified of Jesus.
See, according to Jewish law, anyone who touched her or anything she touched would also be unclean.
So, could not freely so much as shake a hand.
Not with friends, not with family.
In a sense she has no family at all.
She was hoping this one time, though, that she could simply touch Jesus’ garment and, that nobody would notice.
But Jesus noticed…
So he roars at her in shock, right?
“How dare you make me unclean!?”
“What RIGHT do you think you have to make your uncleanness mine?”
No.
Jesus did not rebuke her, or scold her, or shame her.
He did not make her feel guilty, or unworthy, or unclean.
He doesn’t even gently chide her.
Instead, despite the fact that he was now ceremonially unclean by Jewish law, he calls her “Daughter.”
Think of this, friends.
Jesus cares for this woman so much that he is willing to be made an outcast himself.
This one woman.
Nobody in the eyes of her culture.
But for the first time in 12 YEARS she was not only somebody…
She had a family.
She was the DAUGHTER of God incarnate.
How easy it is to skip over that word without deeply understanding the implication.
He made her part of His family, and He gave her peace.
He showed her that He cared for her, and that He valued her.
He showed her that He was not too busy, or too important, or too holy, to notice her, and to touch her, and to heal her.
He showed her that He was the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God, who had come to seek and save the lost, the broken, the hopeless.
He showed her His love, as a loving Father would do.
It almost seems in this story like Jesus is saying you can never be too dirty or unclean to come to him.
It seems like Jesus is even willing to TAKE YOUR UNCLEANNESS UPON HIMSELF.
It seems like Jesus is willing to take any uncleanness, brokenness, sickness, or sin…all for the privelege of making you his son or daughter.
Application
Application
What can we learn from this story?
How can we apply them to our lives today?
I want to suggest three points of application that I hope will encourage you.
Point One: No matter what you are going through, no matter how long you have been suffering, no matter how hopeless your situation seems, Jesus sees you and cares for you.
He knows your name, He knows your pain, He knows your need.
He is not too busy, or too distant, or too indifferent to notice you, to touch you, to heal you.
He is not put off by your weakness, or your sin, or your shame.
He is not limited by your circumstances, or your doubts, or your fears.
He is the compassionate and gracious Savior, who loves you with an everlasting love, who died for you on the cross, who rose for you from the grave, who lives for you in heaven, who intercedes for you at the right hand of God, who is coming back for you soon.
He is the Son of God, who has all authority and power, who can do all things, who can do the impossible, who can do more than you can ask or imagine.
He is the one who sees you and cares for you.
So never fear coming to Him with faith and expectation, with humility and gratitude, with honesty and sincerity.
Come to Him as you are, and let Him touch you, and heal you, and restore you.
Point Two: Jesus invites you to believe and not be afraid.
Sometimes we face situations that seem to be beyond hope, beyond help, beyond healing.
Sometimes we wonder if Jesus can really do anything.
Sometimes we are tempted to give up, or to walk away, or to lose hope.
But Jesus invites us to believe and not be afraid.
He invites us to remember who He is, and what He has done, and what He can do.
He reminds us that He is the resurrection and the life, that He is the one who conquered death and sin and Satan, that He is the one who gives life and hope and peace.
He invites us to remember that He is with us always, that He will never leave us nor forsake us, that He will never fail us nor disappoint us.
Point Three: Jesus calls on us to share this sort of love with others.
This is not just some woman, or a Biblical story.
This is a human being who was a cultural pariah for 12 long years.
To walk in the footsteps of Jesus is to share His love with those who are lonely, and rejected, and forgotten.
To share His love with those who are sick, and broken, and dying.
To share His love with those who are lost, and blind, and dead.
To share His love with those who need Him, and who need you, and who need us. To share His love with the world, and to make His name known, and to make His glory shown.
To share His love, and to be His love, and to live His love.
We are reminded by Jesus in Matthew 25…
I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Conclusion
Conclusion
This story invites you to come to Jesus, to believe in Jesus, to follow Jesus, and to share Jesus.
Will you accept His invitation today?
Will you let Him touch you, and heal you, and restore you?
Will you let Him fill you, and empower you, and use you?
Will you let Him be your Savior, your Lord, your Friend, your Lover?
Will you be His daughter and His son?
Let us pray.