Grace Given - Tewantin

1 Anglican Church Noosa JESUS in Galilee - Grace Given (Mark 5:21-43) Peter Bloomfield To interpret these two miracles properly we need to look beyond them. Jesus did not come to earth in order to focus on miracles. He was not here to ‘wow’ crowds and fascinate curious people. In fact he said “It is a wicked and adulterous genera3on that seeks a5er signs!” (MaJ 12:39). Jesus has nothing in common with the religious showmanship displayed by so many modern ‘faith-healers’. They enthral crowds with their ‘push-buJon’ miracles and their ‘hour of power’ broadcasts. So let’s be quite clear on why Jesus came … “ to give his people the knowledge of salva3on through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79). Jairus and the bleeding woman typify people living in darkness. They desperately need the tender mercy of God. They both desire the path of peace instead of their anguish. And amazingly they both regard Jesus as the rising sun from heaven to help them … they both have faith in his grace, mercy, and power. Christ’s miracles are signs of that gospel truth. Behind all human misery is the real cause – sin, our rebellion against God. There is no point miraculously healing the misery if the cause isn’t touched! Jesus came to deal with that cause. These miracles demonstrate the grace of God in the gospel. Let’s consider both cases. 1. Grace for the bleeding woman For a Jew her bleeding (like leprosy) made her ceremonially unclean (see Levi[cus 15). She was regarded as defiled – and so was anything she touched. Only the Priest could restore the outcast to normal life. Imagine how painful it was for her to know all that! Her condi[on would be intensely depressing. She had no status, no friends, and no hope. So she made many aJempts to change all that … spending all her money and consul[ng many doctors. But there was no improvement … she actually got worse! NB, the text is not being cri[cal of the doctors. Luke (a doctor himself) said “no one could heal her” (Luke 8:43). The point is that throughout history there are human disorders that no one can cure. There is no hint of negligence or incompetence here. Even with today’s vast medical knowledge there are s[ll illnesses where no amount of money, or diagnosis, or therapy, or prescrip[ons, will bring healing. Even the best human help is in vain. It typifies the gospel reality … humans can do nothing to remedy their sin. All this desperate woman had was an empty purse and a condi[on that made her like a leper – a defiled outcast. But again that’s so typical of the gospel! “Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me saviour or I die”. Jesus came to love the unlovely. He graciously eats with sinners and tax collectors. His contact with the defiled and the dead saves them. Despite her hopeless state this woman had no doubts about the power of Jesus. So she came to him – the great physician. Yes she came [midly – from behind the surging crowd, to avoid being no[ced. She didn’t even want Jesus to know, so she merely reached out to touch the extreme edge of his outer garment (the 2 tassel, a mere string hanging from each corner as prescribed in Deuteronomy 22:12). She depended on one thing only … grace! Sheer, undeserved, mercy. And she received it instantly. Why did Jesus ask, “Who touched my clothes?” Notice that even his disciples wrongly interpreted it. They were on a big learning curve here. They couldn’t understand why Jesus would focus on the touch of just one person. With crowds pressing all around him, many people would have made contact, so they thought it was a strange question. There are several important reasons for his question … First, Jesus was not talking about an ordinary touch – a mere inadvertent human contact. He is speaking about a deliberate and godly touch of faith. He knew power had gone out from him in response to that faith, and he wants that to be publicly revealed. So Jesus told the woman “Your faith has healed you” … not ‘your touch’ has healed you. It was nothing she has done since even her faith does not originate from her. The Bible is repeatedly clear about that. Faith is God’s gift. So in a sense she was healed before she was healed … she was healed spiritually before she was healed physically. Her faith in Jesus was evidence of God’s prior grace to her. It is grace upon grace, abounding grace. Second, the ques[on reveals that Jesus is her Priest, since Levi[cus 15 says that only a Priest could restore a defiled outcast. Christ is the great High Priest. Third, it reassured her about the reality of her healing. She already sensed she was healed – “Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering” (v 29). So Jesus confirmed she wasn’t deluded – it wasn’t just wishful thinking, something she merely ‘felt’. She was in fact healed – and Jesus wanted everyone to know about it (especially his disciples). Moreover, by calling her “daughter” (qugathr) Jesus regards her as his own beloved child, a member of his family. That’s another great gospel theme. True believers have the highest rank possible – we are the children of God, sons and daughters in his kingdom. “Who touched my clothes?” – a loaded ques[on full of gospel revela[on! 2. Grace for Jairus His situa[on was interrupted by the bleeding woman’s case, but we should no[ce how calm Jairus remained. Even though his daughter’s condi[on was serious he implicitly trusted Jesus. This is especially clear when messengers came from his house advising him not to bother Jesus anymore because his daughter had already died. They were convinced there was nothing he could do. There was nothing honourable in calling Jesus “the teacher”. That merely puts him on the same level as Jairus – he was also a teacher, a synagogue leader. It betrayed a low view of Jesus since it strongly implies that raising the dead is beyond him. But it was also a thinly veiled insult to Jairus. Why? Because it begs the question of why he was so keen for Jesus to reach his daughter. Why would one teacher implore another teacher to visit his dying child? What did he hope Jesus would do – merely teach her something (a good Sunday-school lesson)? How could that cure her? Their underlying insincerity and sarcasm in calling Jesus “the teacher” is revealed when he spoke his profound lesson to them – “The child is not dead but asleep.” How did they respond? They mocked him! 3 They knew even the slowest learner in town would know the child was really dead … the loud noise of crying and wailing made it obvious. The funeral had already begun. The professional musicians were already playing their mournful dirges on flutes (see MaJhew 9:23). So they treated Jesus as the ‘village idiot’ and mocked his teaching as laughable nonsense. Even a liJle humility would have made them wonder if they were the problem. They had no idea of the profound spiritual truth Christ was announcing. He is about to raise this girl from the dead. But the pride of sinful humanity always misinterprets the greatest teacher. “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing they do not hear or understand” … “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (MaJ 13:13, & Eph 4:18). That should answer any ques[ons about why Jesus got rid of them. He refused to give such cynics a front row seat to witness the power of God he was about to show. We saw the same godless audience just a few sentences earlier, where Jesus healed a man from a legion of demons. How did the locals react? “The people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region”. UJer spiritual blindness! But what a contrast Jairus is! He didn’t fall to pieces. He didn’t regret the delay or beat himself up with ‘if only’ regrets … ‘if only we’d reached the house more promptly’. He s[ll knew Christ could heal her. His faith was not governed by mere circumstances. So Christ encouraged him – “Don’t be afraid; just believe” – just keep on with the faith you have already shown. Jairus did exactly that, and his reward was marvellous. Jesus took the little girl by the hand and (in Aramaic language) told her to stand up – “Talitha koum!” And she did. The grace and power of Christ raised her from the dead. Why did Jesus give the witnesses strict order not to tell others about raising her from the dead? The answer is based on several factors … here are four of them: 1) It would hinder Christ’s teaching ministry by aJrac[ng even more crowds. Mark has already told us about this … “Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him” (3:9). The same problem happened when Jesus healed a leper, warning him not to tell anyone, but – “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places” (1:45). 2) Crowds are not reliable advocates. They cannot be trusted to spread the truth. Even when crowds see miracles with their own eyes they can still tell lies about it. Crowds saw Jesus drive demons out of a poor wretch, but their leaders said “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons” (MaJhew 12:24). Can you read their placards? This man is from hell, not heaven! He works by Satanic power! Other crowds saw undeniable proof that Jesus had no faults, but they s[ll shouted, “crucify him”! Crowds prove nothing. You s[ll see modern proof everyday … all over America boisterous crowds support a convicted felon as their leader! 3) A third factor has already been noted. The main reason Jesus came to earth was not to focus on miracles. He was not here to ‘top the charts’ with large crowds of curious people. He despises the ‘Jesus 4 Christ Superstar’ mentality. He wants nothing to do with the religious showmanship of crowd pleasers like Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Robert Schuller and others. On videos every day gullible people are deceived by their ‘push buJon miracles’ and ‘hour of power’ broadcasts. They ignore our Lord’s warning – “False messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (MaJhew 13:2). 4) A fourth reason is even more important – sin is not cured by miracles. Jesus made that clear when he said, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31). Even the first line is powerful … “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. In the beginning God made everything out of nothing! If you don’t believe the enormous things God has already said and done in Scripture, another miracle will make no difference. Miracles will not and cannot change the deadly unbelief of sinful humans. We all need to born again to even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it. Yes, miracles display that kingdom, but un[l the Holy Spirit opens our blind eyes we’ll never embrace it. Conclusion Although Jairus and the bleeding woman lived 2000 years ago they teach the main truths urgently needed today. Christ is s[ll performing his ministry of grace. Death is not an enemy too great for him to overcome. In fact that’s the whole point of his ministry. He gives life to the dead, hope to the hopeless, and everlas[ng joy to those oppressed by the ravages of [me. I encourage you all to trust him like Jairus and the afflicted woman did. Regardless of your circumstances remember this … “Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. He is able to save to the uSermost all who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25). Hallelujah, what a saviour!