Desperate Sinners and the Great Physician

Let’s dive back into our study of the Gospel of Mark. The last time that we were together, we finished up in Mark 5:20 and Jesus had just finished casting out thousands of demons in the country of the Gerasenes. While you would think that this would be a great cause of rejoicing for the country, it was only a great cause of rejoicing for the person that had the demons cast out of him because the rest of the country begged Jesus to leave. What we saw in those verses by these countrymen was desperation in a negative sense. They were desperate for Jesus to leave but tonight we are going to look at desperation is a positive way. Now when you think about desperation, what do you think about? Do you think of it as a good thing or a bad thing? I think that in the 21st century that we tend to think of desperation as a bad thing. We think of that guy that is so clingy and needy for a girlfriend that we think of him as desperate. We think of desperation as the path that we take when we have ran out of other options but as we are going to see tonight, desperation is a crucial thing when it comes to the Gospel. Desperation is a crucial thing when it comes to Jesus and we are going to see this in the lives of two very different people. One is a well-respected leader and the other is an unclean outcast of society yet what is incredible is that at the root, they are both facing the same exact problem: a problem of life and death. What’s amazing about these verses that we are going to look at tonight is that everyone in this room will be able to relate some element of this narrative to themselves. Rich or poor, man or woman, adult or child, what we are going to see is that regardless of who we are, we need Jesus. We desperately need Jesus and the way that we come to Jesus is incredibly important. Let’s pray and then we will read Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21–43 NASB95

When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him. A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came 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 affliction.” While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

What I want us to do tonight is look at four people: A desperate father, a desperate woman, a desperate child, and a compassionate Savior. Let’s look first at Jairus, the desperate father.

A Desperate Father

Now there are quite a few things that we could make note of about Jairus and before we really dive in, in what ways does the desperation of Jairus reveal itself to us. If you were to read this story on your own, how could you tell that he was a desperate father? We could easily see his desperation based on the health of his daughter but a dad that is worried about his dying daughter, while a great example of desperation, does not show us the lengths that this man is going to. Look at verse 22. We see that Jairus is an official at a synagogue. Some translations say that he is the ruler of the synagogue which means that he oversaw the religious services and anything that took place in the synagogue. If he was a teacher or a rabbi at the synagogue, chances are he would have been introduced as such so we know that while he was not one to teach, he still was an important and well respected member of the synagogue. Jairus was a man that was well-respected in the entire community. As a high ranking official of the synagogue, he was someone that knew the Old Testament and someone that was well trusted by the community. Chances are that Jairus was more well-respected within the synagogue than Jesus was even though we know that Jesus was worthy of significantly more honor than any other person. At this point in Christ’s ministry, while the masses were amazed at His teachings, the same could not be said for the religious rulers and teachers of the day. All of this is to say that for Jairus, a leading official of a Jewish synagogue to put his reputation and perhaps even his livelihood and career on the line was a significant sign of desperation. Beyond even that we see at the end of verse 22 that Jairus, this great religious leader falls at the feet of Jesus. Now if you were a pharisee or a rabbi, this would absolutely blow you away because in your eyes, Jesus failed to have the religious education that someone like Jairus would of had. Many synagogues had likely already rejected Jesus and yet here is this synagogue official that is willingly and desperately throwing himself down at the feet of this man. Not only does he throw himself at the feet of Jesus, in verse 23 we read that he “implored Him earnestly” to come heal his daughter. This is not an ordinary amount of begging. This is pure desperation, this is begging and weeping at the feet of Jesus. What’s also important to note is that their is not hint of doubt in Jairus’ request of Jesus. He does not say in verse 23, “please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she might get better.” No, what does he say? He says, “Lay your hands on her, so that she WILL get well and live.” Whatever Jairus has heard about Jesus from the synagogue or religious elite has not discouraged him from seeking Jesus out. Jairus has enough faith to believe that Jesus is willing to heal his daughter and also able to heal his daughter. As a dad with a daughter, there is nothing that I would not do for her. I remember when Lora was about to have her that the doctor was keeping an eye on Eden’s heart rate and I remember hearing the number and I don’t remember exactly what the number was, but I knew it wasn’t very high and I was very nervous. I remember walking around thinking, “God I would do anything for her to be ok.” Here we see a man that is saying, “I’m out of options. My daughter is dying and the only source of rescue is Jesus and I do not care what it will cost me in the eyes of the world, I need to get to Him.” What we see behind all of this is the exact mindset that you and I must have. Jesus may cost you your reputation, He may cost you your job, He may cost you your friends, but He’s worth it. Will you be like the Apostle Paul and count all things as lost for the sake of knowing Christ? Jesus leaves with this desperate father but something happens along the way right? Before they get to Jairus’ house, a sick and desperate woman finds Jesus.

A Desperate Woman

Just how desperate is the woman that we meet in verses 25-35? Just how bad is her situation? It’s here where we see the narrative switch from what could be called the spiritual insider to the spiritual outsider. We see a switch from a respected and presumably wealthy leader to a unclear, poor, societal outcast. The problem with this poor woman is that she has had a hemorrhage for twelve years. What this means is that for 12 years, she has had an internal bleeding issue that is likely incredibly painful not just to the person but also to the wallet. In verse 26 we read that while she sought the help of many physicians or doctors and spent all that she had, she wasn’t helped at all. Not only was she not helped, we read that the problem actually got worse. What a discouraging situation to be in. I have been fortunate in my life to not have a major medical issue like this where not even the doctors could find a way to fix it. The reality is though, at some point in our lives we all get to this point. At some point we reach the moment where no matter what we do, our lives, unless God allows it, cannot be prolonged any further. Every single one of us is confronted with the issue of life and death and we will talk about that more in a few minutes. This woman has reached a point where she really can’t do anything else. How could she? She has gone through doctor after doctor and they have only made things worse and even if she found a new path to take, how could she afford it? She’s spent every cent that she had. And mind you that this has not been a short battle, this has gone on for 12 years. For 12 years she has suffered and on top of all of that, according to the Law of Moses, this woman was unclean and we see this in Leviticus 15:25-27. This woman should not even be around people. This internal issue likely caused the people that were around her to think that God had cursed her and cast her away. For 12 years, this woman could not take part in any religious service. In the eyes of those around her, she wasn’t just an outcast of society, she was an outcast in the eyes of God. But notice a similarity between her and Jairus. Both of them approach Jesus with absolute confidence that He would be able to do what they wished. She doesn’t think, “If I touch Him, maybe that’ll work, it seems to work for others.” No she says, “If I just touch His garments, I WILL get well.” Here we see a woman that is so desperate that she doesn’t even approach Jesus from the front. Instead she sneaks in behind Him and touches the fringe of His cloak and we see in verse 29, Mark’s favorite word: Immediately she is healed. As Jesus looks for the person that touched Him, the woman comes up to him with fear and trembling and falls down before Him and tells Him everything. Why is she so afraid? I can think of at least 2 things: the first is that this ceremonially unclean woman has done something that was totally unacceptable in the first century. To intentionally make a clean man unclean was potentially a death sentence in this culture. Could she be afraid that Jesus knew of her condition and would have retaliated? That’s certainly one possible explanation of her fear. But I think the clearest reason that she is afraid is because she recognizes that Jesus is no ordinary man. She has taken the path of ordinary men before and it has only made her worse and cost her what she had. Here before Jesus she recognizes that she is on holy ground because divinity in human form is before her. Jesus stops and talks to this woman so that she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God made her well and not some magic piece of clothing. In sickness and in health, you and I both need to be desperate for Jesus. We should not be afraid to cast our cares on Him and we should not be afraid to go against the cultural tides in order to get to Him. We’ll talk about this more next week. There are going to be times in your life where your devotion to Jesus is going to be called into question by those around you. People will look at you as weak and they will look at you as if what you are doing is absurd. Will that stop you? The way that you approach Jesus is of utmost importance. Every single one of us, believer or unbeliever, will find ourselves approaching Jesus in one way or another. We’re forced to confront this. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “If you approach Jesus in the mere spirit of curiosity He will not reveal Himself to you; if you come with your own ideas and conceptions in order to judge and to estimate and to try Him, He will confound you by holding forth before you a standard of life to which you can never attain and an example and a pattern which make our highest and noblest efforts trivial and childish. Approach Him as if He were merely a man among men, albeit the greatest and best and noblest, to whom you are prepared to show great respect and whose example and pattern you propose to follow- approach Him in any one of these ways on your feet, and relying even to the slightest extent on yourself and your own power, and you will not know His blessing. You may persuade yourself of many things, and even persuade yourself that you are happy and that you are living a wonderful life, but you will never know what He really does to and for His own and what He is waiting and ready to do for you. He only blesses those who come on their knees those who, looking at Him and conscious of their own sinfulness and helplessness, realize that this is the very Son of God come on earth to deliver us.” So how are you approaching Jesus? Are you confident in yourself or are you falling at His feet as the sole point of rescue? Let’s look at Jairus’ daughter.

A Desperate Child

It should not be lost on us that Jairus daughter is revealed in verse 42 to be 12 years old. We go from what Sinclair Ferguson refers to as 12 long years of weakness to 12 short years of life. Whatever this girl is sick with, she’s on hospice care and as Jesus is talking to this woman, a group comes from Jairus’ house to inform them that his daughter has died. If we were to go back to Jairus, imagine what he might be feeling right now. He wasn’t even there to say goodbye to his daughter. One of the greatest sources of grief in the world is when a parent outlives their child. The thought of burying one of my children, I can’t even imagine what that feels like. Put yourself now in Jairus’ shoes, you went to Jesus to help, you’ve seen firsthand that He is able to heal but He gets stopped by this woman and Jesus actually takes the time to stop and talk to her and hear her story and as this is happening, your daughter dies! How would you feel? Something I hadn’t thought about that I heard from Tim Keller was that it seems totally irrational that Jesus would stop and talk to this woman who has been sick for 12 years when this 12 year old child has a condition that is much more dire. This woman does not seem like she is at death’s door but in the eyes of Jairus, she gets healed and his daughter doesn’t. Keller notes that in the medical world, if Jesus was to heal this woman first over the child that is dying, He could be sued for medical malpractice. Doctors have to address the more fatal issues first in hospitals. That’s why a man with a bullet wound will always be seen before the man with the broken arm. What does Jesus say though? He says, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” And what does Jesus do? He takes the child by the hand and says, “Little girl, I say to you get up.” And in classic Mark fashion, she immediately gets up and immediately everyone is completely astonished. The key to understanding all of what has taken place is faith. It is faith that drives the father to Jesus, it is faith that heals the woman, and it is faith that death will be brought to life. In all of this, we see a compassionate Savior.

A Compassionate Savior

Tell me, in what ways do we see Jesus show compassion in these verses? He heals not one but two daughters. He stops and talks to a woman that had been looked down on for 12 years. He ignores the slander and the laughter of the onlookers because He knows what He is about to do. He shows compassion by being patient with the bleeding woman and with Jairus. One of the greatest signs of compassion that Jesus shows is His patience. He knows the needs of the hour better than we do. Tim Keller said, “When Jesus looks at Jairus and says ‘Trust me, be patient,’ in effect he is looking over Jairus’ head and at all of us and saying, ‘Remember how when I calmed the storm I showed you that my grace and love are compatible with going through storms, though you may not think so? Well, now I’m telling you that my grace and love are compatible with what seem to you to be unconscionable delays.’ It’s not, ‘I will not be hurried even though I love you’; it’s ‘I will not be hurried because I love you. I know what I’m doing. And if you try to impose your understanding of schedule and timing on me, you will struggle to feel loved by me.’” If you say that you trust Jesus, this means you must trust His timing. You have to trust that He knows better than we do and He will not be rushed. In the Lord of the Rings, there’s a moment where Frodo says to Gandalf the Wizard that he’s late but what is it that Gandalf says? “A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.” God is the same way. Never late, never early, always perfectly precise. When we wait, we must remember that it is God Himself who makes us wait. Everything that happens in our lives happens according to His perfect timing. Our lives are in His hands and because we His people are in His hands, are we willing to take Him at His word that we should not be afraid any longer but only believe? In these verses we also see a picture of how the Christian should view death and Christ’s second coming. To every believer of Christ, death is nothing but sleep. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” Jesus Christ died and rose again so that death would be nothing more but a sleep to us and those that go to sleep wake up. Those that belong to Jesus when they die go to sleep and in a sense wake up better than they were before. That’s the beauty of the Gospel. Our souls immediately go into the presence of Christ when we die but there will also be a time when Christ will say to our bodies, “Get up!” and they will be resurrected. It will be immediate and it will be glorious. How can we make sure that this happens? How can we know that the last enemy death can be nothing more than sleep to us? It is only by faith in Christ that we will be made well. If you have Christ, why make a commotion and weep? You have in Christ everything you truly need. But if you do not have Christ, what hope and peace do you have? If you do not have Jesus, know that He will never cast out those that come to Him. May you have the willingness to say, “Have mercy to me Lord Jesus, a sinner!” Don’t allow sickness or 12 years of suffering be that which drives you to Christ. Don’t let your death bed be that which forces you before the Savior. Go now to Him. As we have read tonight, He is a Savior to the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor, the spiritual elite and the spiritual outcasts. In all of this, He is our compassionate and perfect Great Physician and Savior. Let’s pray.