The Compassionate Christ
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· 5 viewsWe should trust in Jesus because He has power over disease and death.
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Introduction:
Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of . As we have been studying Mark’s gospel, we have been given snapshots in the life of Jesus. Mark is trying to show us the true identity of Jesus Christ. And today we get another glimpse as Jesus encounters a diseased woman and a dying daughter.
If you live long enough, you will have loved ones either get sick or die. In fact, maybe you might one day get sick and die. Disease and death are the topic of today’s message.
As a culture, we try to avoid the topic. Disease and death are things that should only be discussed in hospices or hospitals, not in everyday life.
But we live in a fallen world, and you already know people who have gotten sick and people you love dearly die. It is a reality we must all come to grips with.
For the secular mind, we must find a scientific cure to eliminate all disease and death. But even in finding cures, we are just delaying the inevitable.
But if you know Jesus, disease and death will one day be completely vanquished because He has absolute power over disease and death as we will see in today’s passage.
Main Proposition: Because we live in a fallen world, people we love get sick and die. And we too one day may get sick and die. But if we trust in Jesus, we do not have to be afraid because He has the power over disease and death. Disease and death do not have the final word because Jesus has power over them both.
I. Jesus has power over disease (vv. 25-34)
II. Jesus has power over death (vv. 21-24; 35-43)
Background:
You remember last time we were in Mark, we were on the eastern shore in the town of Gerasenes. Jesus heals a demon possessed man and he gets back onto the boat to travel to the western shore back into Jewish terriorty, probably in Capernaum.
Throughout Mark’s gospel, we have seen how Jesus is revealing his true identity in healing the sick and casting out demons. Mark is giving us snapshots in the life of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord of forgiveness. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the Lord of Nature. He is the Lord of demons. He is the Lord of diseases and death. And in our passage this morning we encounter two woman.
Contrasts
One at the prime of her life. One at the end of her rope. Both needed Jesus.
Two women. Women did not have the rights they have today in the ancient world.
A young 12 year old girl. An older woman with 12 year old disease.
Both were considered unclean: one with a debiltating disease, and one with an imminent death.
Both needed Jesus to make things right. So let’s see how Jesus displays his power in the lives of these individuals.
Scripture Reading:
Mark 5:
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.”
While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
The Setting (v. 21)
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.
Jesus gets into a boat with the disciples and crosses to the Western shore, probably back in Capernaum in Jewish territory.
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.
Already there is a crowd waiting for Jesus. Luke tells us:
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
And in the crowd there is a desperate father waiting for Jesus.
The Desperate Father (vv. 22-23)
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 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.”
Jairus, in the Hebrew Jair, meant “God gives light”. Jairus was a prominent man.
Mark
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark Authority to Heal—Even the Dead! (5:21–43)
In the NT ἀρχισυνάγωγος is sometimes used in the singular to denote the individual who carried overall responsibility for and authority in the local synagogue.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Faith that Defies Defeat (5:21–43)
The ruler of the synagogue, accordingly, was not a worship leader or a professionally trained scribe or rabbi but a lay member of a synagogue who was entrusted by the elders of the community with general oversight of the synagogue and orthodoxy of teaching. His responsibilities included building maintenance and security, procuring of scrolls for Scripture reading, and arranging of Sabbath worship by designating Scripture readers, prayers, and preachers.
He would be a prominent and respected man in the community. He would have been the board of the chair of elders. He would have the same status symbol as a local mayor.
And he sees Jesus arriving and the first thing he does is fall downs at Jesus feet and begs Him. He must have already heard of Jesus. He may have been one of the synagogue rulers where Jesus cast out a demon. And now his daughter is sick. This is one of the worst things a Father can hear if you have children.
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.”
My baby girl is at the point of death. She would have been at the CCU if she was in the hospital. She is in her final hours and minutes. Death is knocking at her door and this father is desperate for anything to get his little girl well.
Jesus goes.
And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
And Jesus doesn’t dismiss him. He doesn’t say I need to attend to other matters. Or maybe you should call a doctor. But he grants the request of the father and goes with him. And he has to get through the crowds to get to Jairus home. Jesus makes time for the man.
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.
There were so many people that they were pressing on into Jesus. And Jesus has to navigate through a sea of people to get to Jairus home.
The Crowds (v. 24)
But then Jesus is interrupted by a diseased woman....which leads to our first point....
And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
I. Jesus’ Power over Diseases (vv. 25-34)
I. Jesus’ Power over Diseases (vv. 25-34)
In the crowd of people there emerges a diseased and desperate woman. Mark piles phrases upon phrases to show the pitiful state that this woman was in.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years,
She was a woman.
Woman in the ancient world did not have the rights women enjoy today. It was a patriarchal society. She was not even named in the story. She was a nameless woman and Jesus showed compassion.
Woman.
She was a diseased woman.
Discharge of blood for twelve years. Commentators do not know the exact type of disease it was, but it may have been some type of constant internal bleeding. Some type of hemorrhage. It may have been a disease of the uterus. And she was in pain for twelve years. It felt like torture to her. She probably could not have conceive children and get married because of her disease. She was cut off from relationships and society.
And she would have been considered unclean according to ceremonial law.
Leviticus 15:
“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.
She was a distressed woman.
She was a poversihed woman.
and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
She suffered much under many physicians. Now, some cures in the ancient world were more like superstition than medicine. There were no CVS where she could get over the counter medicine. They did not have the medical technology or machines we have.
Jewish Talmud listed eleven possible remedies for such an infirmity. These included superstitious prescriptions like placing the ashes of an ostrich egg in a cloth sack, or carrying around a barleycorn kernel procured from female donkey dung. Macarthur
She was a destitute woman.
She spend all that she had. She spent all the money she had on trying to find a cure. She spent her life savings only to get worse. She was not broke because there was no cure for her.
She was hopeless.
She was hopeless.
She grew worse. She was the end of her rope. She had no one to turn to. She was an outcast of society, financially destitute, and her life felt as she was cursed.
She was a desperate woman.
She was a desperate woman.
She heard about Jesus who is back in town. And she is not even suppose to be in the crowd, yet she comes because she is desperate to get to Jesus.
She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
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.”
Her Faith
For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”
She had probably heard about Jesus when he healed people earlier in Galilee. And now she heard Jesus was back in town and she wanted to push through a crowd of people to see Jesus.
Her Healing
Her Healing
And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
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?”
As soon as she touched Jesus, she could immediately feel healing from her. Something was different. And something had changed that only she knew.
The New American Commentary: Mark (4) The Healing of the Woman with a Hemorrhage (5:24b–34)
Mark’s use of tenses is significant. The verbs translated “stopped” and “felt” are aorists, which tense usually reflects a completed action. The verb translated “was freed” (literally “healed,” RSV, NRSV, NASB, GNB) is a perfect, which usually depicts the lasting effects of the action.
Both crowds and disciples did not believe in Jesus. The woman, and the Father belie
Jesus’ Question
Her
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”
Power is the same word we get the word dynamite from. And he has a searching gaze around the crowd looking for the woman.
The Rebuke
The Rebuke
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.
The disciples are giving Jesus a gentle rebuke. You see the crowd of people. Of course you are going to bump into people. What type of question is that?
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.”
She was healed and wanted to retreat into the private. She knew what she had done. She came in fear and trembling, probably because Jesus wasn’t an ordinary teacher or Rabbi. She was in the presence of someone who had great authority and power.
And she may have been afraid by touching Jesus. An unclean woman touching him would have made any other person unclean as well. But when she touched purity, she himself became pure.
She told him the whole truth.
And Jesus in terms of affection says Daughter your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
Jesus drew her out of the crowd so that she would openly confess what Jesus had done for her. And it affirm her and give her assurance that her faith is what made her well.
Go in peace means to go on continually be made whole. Be restored. Your faith has saved you. It wasn’t the touch of the woman that saved her, but her faith. We learn some important lessons about faith from this woman.
A. True faith will remove whatever obstacles necessary to get to Jesus.
For this woman, she made her way through a sea of people. Even potentially being ridiculed because she was not suppose to be there.
She
What obstacles do you need to remove in your life to get to Jesus? Sinful pattern in your life? A relationship that is keeping you from Jesus? Self-sufficiency? Others who are really indifferent to Jesus?
B. True faith is needy and desperate for Jesus.
It is only when we come to the end of ourselves, we begin to find life in Christ. It is when we are at the end of the rope, we see Jesus with his hand extended to us.
C. True faith is personalized.
You can’t have someone else’s faith. For this woman, Jesus drew her out of the crowd to affirm her personal faith.
D. True faith openly confesses what Christ has done.
She told him the whole truth. Recognized His authority. And was indebted to Christ because He healed her .
E. True faith is what brings healing, even though it might be an imperfect faith.
Christian—Is your faith like hers? Removing obstacles in your life to get to Jesus? Needy and desperate for Jesus? Personal? Confessing what Christ has done in your life?
Church—This is why I love baptisms as pastor. It is when the candidate confesses openly and publicly what Jesus has done in their lives, and they have made their faith personal and decide to openly confess Christ.
Non-Christian—Christ will only be precious to you when you see that you cannot save yourself and come to the end of yourself.
Why doesn’t Jesus always heal?
Jesus didn’t heal everyone, but he did heal this particular woman to show her and us he had power over disease.
Jesus is giving a preview of what is to come. We live in the tension between the first and second coming of Christ. I am not saying Jesus can’t heal miracously like he did then, but I’m saying that healing does not necessarily come in this life. It will come when Christ returns.
Paul wasn’t healed. Timothy wasn’t healed.
Mark is just giving a picture of what Jesus can do. The point Mark is trying to communicate to us that we need to trust Jesus desperately. We must understand our condition and hope in Him.
Transition: Jesus displays his power over disease, but secondly, Jesus displays his power over death....
II. Jesus’ Power over Death (vv. 21-24, 35-43)
II. Jesus’ Power over Death (vv. 21-24, 35-43)
Keep in mind that Jesus was on his way to see Jairus daughter and he was interrupted by this diseased woman. If you are a medical doctor, you would have been accused of malpractice because the more urgent matter was the dying daughter and not the diseased woman.
But Jesus is not rushed. He is in absolute control of the situation. Jesus knows what He is doing. Jairus needed to trust Jesus even when He didn’t understand the timing of the situation.
Isn’t that true for us? When we don’t understand things, we are tempted to think that God doesn not know what He is doing and we think we know better than what God is doing and we even think we are in a position to tell what God should do! But that is not the way Jesus works. He is sovereign and powerful and in complete control of the situation.
“True faith grows by testing. The good workman tests his work to make sure that it will do all he intends it to do, and take whatever strains it may experience. For that reason, among others, Jesus stopped to speak to the woman he had healed—to test Jairus’ faith, as well as hers.” 76, Ferguson
While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
And the worst possible news had come. Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further.
You are too late Jesus! If you would have not delayed, she would have been made better. You don’t need to come anymore Jesus. The problem for the crowds and the people was that they just thought of Jesus as a teacher, and not more than that.
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.
Mark 5:36=
Jesus commanded Jairus. Do not fear, only believe. The same words uttered to the disciples when they were on the boat. Believe is a present imperative meaning keep on believing.
Jesus demands that we not only believe when we come to faith in him, but to continually trust Him when we don’t understand as we continue to follow Him.
And he takes Jairus, his wife, and the three inner disciples to the room of the girl.
The worthless mourners.
They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
In Western traditions, our funerals tend to be silent. But in the eastern cultures, professional mourners were hired to show lament and grief.
A poor person in Jewish culture was required to have at least one wailing woman and two flute players playing dissonant music as a sign of grief.
People would tear their clothes and even put ashes on themselves as a further expression of grief.
Jairus, being a rich man would have had even more people playing the flute and wailing.
It was a loud commotion.
We were a a Buddhist funeral for one of our family members. And even two men were hired and they make a processional throughout the day. And they would bang a loud cymbal to show signs of grief.
Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.
Sleep was a euphemism for death. The same word is used in .
The other gospel writers tell us that the girl clearly was already dead.
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Matthew
Once Jesus says this:
And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.
Mark
They ridiculed Jesus. This was a mocking laughter. And Jesus puts these fools aside and takes only five people in the room where the child was.
The Miracle (vv. 41-42)
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
And in compassion, he took this little girls hand and and said, “Talitha cum” which is aramaic, and says “Little girl I say to you arise.” Little girl is a term of affection. It is like saying “honey” of “baby girl.” Jesus was bilingual.
And Jesus simply speaks! Arise! And the girl was raised from the dead. She was twelve years of age so she was going to be the prime of her life where she was entering womanhood.
And the mother and father and the disciples were all struck with amazement. Translation: their minds were blown away. Jesus did it again and was revealing that he had power over death itself.
Jesus was giving a preview of what is to come in the future for all who trust in Him. Every disease and death will be no more when He comes again.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The New American Commentary: Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)
The resurrection of the girl is therefore a preview of the resurrection of believers.
Christian—Christian does not end life at grave, but begin a new life, eternal life. Christians will be raised from the grave. But before that would happen, Jesus himself would too be needed to raise from the grave.
Mark: An Introduction and Commentary iii. Two More Healing Miracles (5:21–43)
The central miracle of the Bible is therefore the resurrection of Jesus, because it is the central fact of all Christian experience, here and now as well as later.
Authority of Jesus Christ.
“He was driven to trust Jesus in his utter helplessness. That is what true faith means” 76, Ferguson
He was a prominent man who knelt because he did not want to see his baby girl die.
He wanted Jesus to touch his little daughter so that she should maybe saved from death.
He has power over demons. He has over over nature. He has power over disease. He has power over death itself. This was a climatic miracle. And we are to trust Him who has power over death. We are to continually trust Him when life seems dark and bleak.
Jesus was pushed aside in all directions. If it as if you were at a music concert and ask “who touched you?”
“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.
2. Faith in Jesus Christ.
Both Jairus and the woman were desperate for Jesus and had no resources of their own to help themselves. No one could help them except Jesus.
Do not fear. Only believe. Do not fear disease or death. Keep believing in Jesus. Keep trusting in Him when it is difficult. Trust His timing and trust that He is absolute control of situation.
3. Hope in Jesus Christ.
Two people. One prominent. One outcast. Both desperate. And both having faith in Jesus.
There was fear and trembling over who Jesus was in the presence of divine power and authority.
Facebook gives you snapshots or instastories of what takes place in a person’s life.
Will Mark gives us two instagram stories of the life of Jesus.
Faith admits we are utterly helpless to help ourselves.
3. Hope in Jesus Christ.
Go in peace permanently.
“They safeguarded the scrolls, cared for the facility, organized the synagogue school, and supervised the readers, teachers, and those who prayed.” MacArthur 255
According to Jewish tradition there was to be two flute players and one wailing woman.
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark Authority to Heal—Even the Dead! (5:21–43)
The essential scenery for the following narrative is put in place: the return to the west bank, the lakeside location, and the familiar crowds (in contrast with the one lonely and tormented man who met him on the other, Gentile, side of the lake, v. 2). The setting is presumably back in Capernaum, Jesus’ regular lakeside base, from which he will set off in 6:1 for a visit to Nazareth, up in the hills.
The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Mark Authority to Heal—Even the Dead! (5:21–43)
In the NT ἀρχισυνάγωγος is sometimes used in the singular to denote the individual who carried overall responsibility for and authority in the local synagogue.
The New American Commentary: Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)
The Mishna (completed about A.D. 220) quotes Rabbi Judah that for a burial “even the poorest in Israel should hire not less than two flutes and one wailing woman.”
The New American Commentary: Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)
The resurrection of the girl is therefore a preview of the resurrection of believers.
The New American Commentary: Mark (4) The Healing of the Woman with a Hemorrhage (5:24b–34)
Mark’s use of tenses is significant. The verbs translated “stopped” and “felt” are aorists, which tense usually reflects a completed action. The verb translated “was freed” (literally “healed,” RSV, NRSV, NASB, GNB) is a perfect, which usually depicts the lasting effects of the action.
Mark: An Introduction and Commentary iii. Two More Healing Miracles (5:21–43)
Jair’ was of course a familiar name from the Old Testament (Num. 32:41) meaning ‘He (i.e. God) gives light’.
Baptism is where we confess openly and publicly what Jesus has done for us.
Mark: An Introduction and Commentary iii. Two More Healing Miracles (5:21–43)
The central miracle of the Bible is therefore the resurrection of Jesus, because it is the central fact of all Christian experience, here and now as well as later.
Mark: An Introduction and Commentary iii. Two More Healing Miracles (5:21–43)
The one condition of God’s working is that we trust him: this is not an arbitrary demand, but a demand necessarily springing from the very nature of the relation between Godhead and humanity. We are called to trusting, dependent love and obedience, for this is the biblical meaning of faith, not merely intellectual assent. Such faith is the only fitting expression of our helplessness, and the only fitting acknowledgment of God’s power; and so it is an essential to salvation, though it is only the means of God’s working, and not the source.
Whether a prominent man or a namless woman. Jesus can heal all who come to him in a needy and desperate faith.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: The Servant Conquers! (Mark 4:35–5:43)
Yes, God’s Servant is the conqueror over danger, demons, disease, and death. This series of miracles illustrates how Jesus met and helped all kinds of people, from His own disciples to a pair of demoniacs; and it assures us that He is able to help us today.
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Bridging Contexts
Faith enables all, honored and dishonored, clean and unclean, to tap into the merciful power of Jesus that brings both healing and salvation.
All of us our diseased. All of us have inherited a sin nature. And that sin leads to death and the grave. All of us will have loved ones who will either get sick or die. But for those who trust in Jesus, disease and death don’t have the final word.
Jesus was able to touch unclean people and make them clean because at the cross he was treated unclean so that we would be clean before a Holy God.
And he died so that we may live eternally.
And Jesus took our infirmities or diseases upon himself. And rose from the grave to defeat death.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
All who repent of their sin and trust in Him will overcome the grave because He has overcome. We are therefore to trust in Him even in a fallen world where sickness, disease, disaster, and death abound. He is the Lord of disease and death itself. Will we trust in Him?
Summary:
Faith saves.
Faith heals.
Faith brings wholistic healing.
Hygiene. Be sound of body.
Mark is unveiling the identity of Jesus Christ. He is showing his authority throughout his gospel.
Believing is present imperative.
Alala is a wailing word.
Jesus has power over disease.
Chinese medicine.
Jesus has power over death.
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Conclusion:
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: The Servant Conquers! (Mark 4:35–5:43)
Yes, God’s Servant is the conqueror over danger, demons, disease, and death. This series of miracles illustrates how Jesus met and helped all kinds of people, from His own disciples to a pair of demoniacs; and it assures us that He is able to help us today.
There was a story of Martin Luther when his daughter also died of an early age.
Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Mark (Revised Edition) A Sufferer’s Last Hope
The Talmud itself gives no fewer than eleven cures for such a trouble. Some of them are tonics and astringents; but some of them are sheer superstitions like carrying the ashes of an ostrich-egg in a linen rag in summer and a cotton rag in winter; or carrying a barley corn which had been found in the dung of a white she-ass.
Mourners at Yoli’s funeral.
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Bridging Contexts
Faith enables all, honored and dishonored, clean and unclean, to tap into the merciful power of Jesus that brings both healing and salvation.
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Contemporary Significance
Faith, however, is able to hold on in the face of death, knowing that God has conquered death in the resurrection of Christ. George recalls one of the lowest points of Luther’s life: His beloved daughter Magdalena, barely fourteen years of age, was stricken with the plague.
Brokenhearted he knelt beside her bed and begged God to release her from the pain. When she had died and the carpenters were nailing down the lid of her coffin, Luther screamed out, “Hammer away! On doomsday she’ll rise again.”
Mark 6:1–6a
The NIV Application Commentary: Mark Contemporary Significance
His beloved daughter Magdalena, barely fourteen years of age, was stricken with the plague.
Brokenhearted he knelt beside her bed and begged God to release her from the pain. When she had died and the carpenters were nailing down the lid of her coffin, Luther screamed out, “Hammer away! On doomsday she’ll rise again.”
When we experience pain and grief in this world either through disease, disaster, or even death, we still can trust Him because he rose again. And we will rise again if we trust in Him.