S - Gospel of Mark Pt. 17 (Mark 5: 21-43)

Why was the book of Mark written?

To prove that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who suffered, died, and rose again as Lord.

What was Jesus’ plan?

His plan is to save the world from its sin through His death and resurrection.

Jesus has been everywhere, healing people, reaching people. He has crossed the Galilee sea, calmed the storm. And last week He saved a man who was possessed by 2000 plus demons. We’ve learned this so far:

Jesus Has Authority Over Nature Because He Is God.

Jesus Has Authority Over satan Because He Is God.

We have learned some great things about Jesus. Let me ask you a question:

What would you do if I came to see you during lunch at your school? Would you sit with me? Would you pretend like you didn’t know me? Would you sit with me but feel like i’m embarrassing you? What would you do? I hope you wouldn’t be embarrassed of me although I understand. I am a little embarrassing. Let me ask you another question, what do you say when people ask you about your faith? If someone were to ask you if you went to church? Or what you think about Jesus? Would you claim God as your father? Or would you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior? or would you be embarrassed? What would you do? Let’s read what happens next in the book of Matthew:

Mark 5:21–24

“21 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. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 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.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.”

So Jesus and his disciples cross the sea of Galilee and comes back to this side. And when He arrives people start gathering again. Remember, last week the people that saw Jesus were afraid of Him. But this time, these people want to see Jesus. They want to listen to Jesus, they want to be healed by Jesus. Some people are there with good intentions and others are there to see what they can get for free. But while Jesus is teaching, a Synagogue leader or Ruler, came to Jesus asking for help. What was his name? Jarius. First of all, what a cool name. But secondly I want us to notice this about Jairus. He works for the Synagogue, but he is not called a pharisee. He’s called a leader or ruler depending on the version of Scripture you’re using.

Mark makes a distinction between Jarius’ role and the role of the pharisees. So how was Jarius different? well, He had a different job position. Jairus was more involved in the community. He made church services were run smoothly, he worked hard to make sure the community felt see and heard by the church. He might have worked on maintenance and would more than likely offer his services for free to the community as well. A Pharisee would spend their time using the bible as a weapon rather than make people feel seen and heard.

So Jarius was known in his community and loved by the people around him. So when Jarius shows up, he falls at Jesus’ feet and ask Jesus for help. How does Jairus know about Jesus? Because the people in the community told him about Jesus? Jairus knew about the healing because these people went to church with him. Jairus knew about Jesus’ teaching because people at church would to Jairus about Jesus. This man knew about Jesus because he was a friend to the community. So when he hears about Jesus being back preaching from His boat, Jairus runs to Jesus to tell him that his daughter was dying and if Jesus, you would just come and put your hands on her, she would be healed. And what does Jesus do in verse 24?

Mark 5:24

“24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.”

Jesus went with him. How many of you have called out on Jesus before? How many of you have prayed for someone in your family? Or for someone you know? I want you to hold on to this truth this morning, if you reach out to Jesus, He will go with you. This brings me to my first point today:

Jesus Hears Us When We Call Out To Him

Jesus will respond to you and walk with you if you reach out to Him. God wants to do that. I love that about my God. That He would involve Himself into my life. Jesus follows this man to see his daughter so that He can help. On Wednesday I put this quote on the screen from a man named Tim Keller:

The only person who dares to wake up a King at 3 am for a glass of water is his child.

That is the kind of access we have to the Father. If I need something at 3am I can call on Jesus, if I need something in the middle of the day I can reach out to Jesus. If I need something right now I can reach out to Jesus. The Bible says this:

James 4:8

“8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

if you would come near to God, God will respond and He will come near to you. Please know this morning you can reach out to Jesus at any moment and you can know with certainty that He will hear you.

But let’s take a look at what happens next:

Mark 5:24–34

“24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 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. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her,…”

Jesus is walking to Jairus’ house. He is completely surrounded by all these people. But suddenly Jesus feels power leave His body. Have you ever been outside and it’s real hot and you suddenly feel weak? like you need a Gatorade or something? This is not what’s happening to Jesus. Jesus has just healed someone with His power without saying anything. That is how powerful Jesus is. He didn’t need to hear that lady say anything. Here’s what everyone else doesn’t know.

In this big crowd of people there is a lady who has problem with bleeding. I do not know what that means, and I will not pretend like I know what that means. Many people believe it was a bleeding that never stopped, many believed it was a disease of some sort. All we know for certain is that it was a bloodflow issue. If I can know anything is that this lady was sick and no doctor could help her. But she thought to herself, if I could only touch Jesus’ shirt, I can be healed.

This brings me to my second point:

Jesus Hears Us When We Call Out To Him

Jesus Knows What Is Going On In Our Lives Even When We Don’t Tell Him

This lady recognized how powerful Jesus was. I don’t need to ask him for help, but if I could just be where He is that will be enough. And sure enough it was. This lady was healed instantly and all she did was reach out to Jesus. You may see this as an accident. Oh, Jesus is so powerful he accidently healed this lady. No friends, that is not at all what happened. Jesus is so powerful He healed this woman without her having to say anything. Jesus knew her. Jesus saw her. And Jesus heard her heart. This teaches me something incredibly important about what it means to believe.

Belief is way more than just words, it is mostly action

This lady believed in Jesus power, and she didn’t have to say anything to be healed by Jesus. But Jesus puts her faith to the test in the following verses. He wants to see if she will claim Him and not just try to gain some benefits from God. Jesus does this:

Mark 5:30–34

“30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.””

Jesus turns around and asked: Who touched me. The disciples are all confused like: Jesus, look at all these people. Everyone has bumped into you. It’s ok. But Jesus kept looking around the crowd. Let me make something clear, Jesus knew who it was. He was not asking for Himself, He was asking for her. And that woman stands up in the crowd and falls down at Jesus’ feet and claims that she was the one who did it. Can you imagine the joy on Jesus face when one of His children claims Him as Father?

Think of it this way, If you are a mom, dad, or an older sibling. How would you feel if you went to pick up your son, daughter, younger brother or younger sister at school and as soon as they see you they light up, smile real big, and run to give you a hug? How would you feel? happy? Excited? Proud? Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her and that she could go in peace.

Do we claim Jesus like that? Do we see what He does for people and think to ourselves: That’s my God right there. When God gives you a gift do you thank Him? Do you praise Him for it? When you see someone else get saved do you celebrate what God has done? When I see God do God things I think to myself, that’s my God right there. Only He can do that. But what about in public? Do you claim Jesus for yourself in public? Or do you keep quiet. Do you reap the benefits of salvation and the church while you are here, and are ashamed of Jesus in public?

Father, I pray that we are not ashamed of you and what you have done for our lives. This is one of my favorite verses:

Romans 1:16 “16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

I pray that you are not ashamed of the Gospel. I pray that you are not ashamed of God.

But let’s keep reading what happens next:

Mark 5:35–43 “35 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?” 36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 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. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let…”

Jesus just performed this amazing miracle but the good news of that miracle seems to be cut short because the Jairus gets the news that his daughter has now passed away. I won’t go into a recap of the whole story becuase I want to show you a video of what it could have looked like. But I do want you to consider this: Jesus has just healed this woman and Jairus just saw that happen. I feel like Jairus’ faith has proably just increased. He’s probably thinking to himself, if Jesus can do that, then He can heal my daughter. But then he hears that his daughter has passed away. Let’s take a look at this video:

Show Video from the Chosen

In the video it happens exactly as it is pointed out in Scripture. And I want my last point to be reflected on what we have been learning over the last 2 weeks:

Jesus Has Authority Over Nature Because He Is God.

Jesus Has Authority Over satan Because He Is God.

Jesus Has Authority Over Death Because He Is God.

Guys Jesus is showing us, and His disciples, and Jairus that one day He is going to beat death. in the same way Jesus defeated death in this small battle by bringing this little girls back to life, He is going to win the way against death on the cross. Isn’t that someone you can put your trust in?