Let your Faith be bigger than your Fears

Introduction

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV 1900

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

If you still claim the message of Jesus as the one foundational truth of your life, even after the hurt that you struggle to comprehend, then your faith is bigger than your fear. You know that what Satan intended to destroy, God will use for good, even if we don’t actually ever get to see that played out. You know that God has a plan for your life, to prosper and not to harm you. You know that God hears you when you cry out, that His love holds us and comforts us, that His word is a light to our path, and that He is our strength. Faith is what gets us through that fear, yet, not on our own, as Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast”.

One of the worst things in the world is feeling like your faith is being overpowered by fear.

Don’t let your imagination run wild, or allow negative images to play like an old movie in your mind. If something happens that causes you to worry, refuse to give in to it. Rather, build your faith by replacing fears by verbally reciting God’s truths:

• God told Isaiah, “Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 40:31).

• David wrote, “The Lord is my light and my deliverer. Whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1).

• When Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, he focused on God and uttered, “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord.” (Jonah 2:7).

• The Psalmist said, “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all of my fears.” (Psalm 34:4).

• And Paul inscribed, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

I. If your faith is going to be bigger than your fears, Some situations will require you to go to Jesus for yourself (V. 21-24)

Jairus did not send a servant or representative, he came to Jesus for himself.

Sometimes it does not matter about our position, status, or money. Sometimes these things don’t amount to a hill of beans.

When the Apostle Paul came to Christ, he said he counted everything he had and knew as dung.

It wasn’t easy for Jairus to come to Jesus. He was willing to lose his friends rather than his daughter.

At this point, his position as a leader of the synagogue doesn't matter. Who he knows doesn't matter right now. Who sees him in this vulnerable state doesn't matter to him.

Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)

A synagogue ruler was an important and highly respected person. This ruler’s attitude toward Jesus contrasts sharply with that of some others (cf. Luke 13:14) and the scribes and Pharisees in general. Whether or not he had had previous contact with Jesus, he believed that Jesus could and would heal his daughter.

Verse 22 says that he fell at Jesus’ feet.

Mark Main Homiletics of the Paragraph.—Verses 21–43

Jairus saw beyond the outward poverty of Christ. He, a man of rank and position, prostrate before Christ, conscious of his own inferiority. No place on earth higher than the feet of Jesus. To fall is to rise. Those who lie at His feet shall hereafter sit on His right hand.

There are some situations in life that we have to handle on our own. They are more personal in nature. When it comes to family matters, we must take a personal interest.

Have you ever had a problem that was so personal you knew you had to take it straight to Jesus?

This was about a man’s child. This was about a father’s daughter.

He had enough faith to believe that only Jesus could help him and heal his daughter.

Verse 23 said he “besought him greatly.” This means Jairus begged for urgency, to request earnestly. This lets us know that he is in a desperate situation.

As we continue to observe verse 23, he explains why he is in dire straits. He tells Jesus why he is so anxious for Jesus’ assistance.

He says, “my little daughter lie at the point of death, come lay your hands on her that she may be healed and live.”

Jairus exemplified great faith in Jesus. Not as great as the ruler who came to Jesus and said, “I know if you just say the word my servant will be healed.”

Verse 24, Jesus agrees to go with him.

BUT.... There trip is interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood!

II. If your faith is going to be bigger than your fears, you have to keep the faith even in spite of interruptions (V. 35-36)

Many people’s faith will falter in the face of adversity. When trouble comes some will lose faith in Jesus. When things don’t workout like we think they should, we start doubting God.

There will be interruptions in life during the most sensitive and important moments.

When you are enjoying your mountaintop experience, something will knock you down in the valley.

When you are basking in the rays of the beautiful sunshine, here comes the torrential rain.

When you are right on the edge of your breakthrough, some interruption throws a monkey wrench in your plan.

This must be how Jairus felt that day! He finally caught up with Jesus, fought his way through the crowd, begged and pleaded his case concerning his near death daughter. Jesus agrees to go with him to his house. Then the interruption by the woman with the issue of blood.

Verse 35 says, While Jesus is still talking to the woman, one of Jairus’ friends show up and said, “Thy daughter is dead: why troublest the Master any further?”

Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)

5:35 One gets the impression the friends and/or servants of the ruler were not enthusiastic about his coming to Jesus. Here Mark indicated they rather sarcastically urged him not to bother, or bother with, Jesus any further.

Mark Main Homiletics of the Paragraph.—Verses 21–43

It is implied that death is incurable. Jesus, the Infallible Physician, can cure the disease of death. His power reaches to both sides of mortality—this and other side.

Mark Outlines and Comments on the Verses

1. There is the human view—the child is dead, trouble not the Master. Men see the outside; they deal with facts rather than with principles; they see the circumference, not the centre. 2. There is Christ’s view—only believe; man is called beyond facts, he is called into the sanctuary of God’s secret. We often put the period where God Himself puts only a comma: we say “dead,” when God Himself says “sleepeth.”—J. Parker, D.D.

So now that Jesus has helped the woman with the issue of blood and struggled to get through the thronging crowd, Jairus receives news that his daughter has died.

Can you imagine the heartbreak he must have felt?

If it had not been for that bloody unclean woman, my daughter would still be alive! If she had not touched him, we would have made it in time! If she had waited her turn to get healed, I would be holding my daughter right now!

Jesus heard the message and said to Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe” (V. 36).

In other words, Don’t let this news discourage you, keep believing as you did before. You believed I could heal her before, so keep believing that. Don’t let this seed of doubt be planted in your mind and heart.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

III. If your faith is going to be bigger than your fears, you can’t be distracted by the unbelief of others (V. 37-40)

Mark (3) The Raising of Jairus’s Daughter (5:21–24a, 35–43)

5:37 Peter, James, and John constitute the so-called “inner circle” of the disciples

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: The Servant Conquers! (Mark 4:35–5:43)

The word of hope (v. 39). When Jesus and Jairus arrived at the house, they saw and heard the professional Jewish mourners who were always summoned when a death occurred. It was traditional for them to wail loudly, to weep, and to lead the family and friends in lamentation. The presence of the mourners in the home is proof that the girl was actually dead, for the family would not have called them if there had been even the slightest hope that the girl was still alive.

“The child is not dead but sleeps!” were our Lord’s words of hope to Jairus and his wife. To the believer, death is only sleep; for the body rests until the moment of resurrection (1 Thes. 4:13–18).

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.” Of course, the ruler of the synagogue was not likely a poor man.

Mark D. Raising the Dead (5:35–43)

5:40. The mourners’ laughter at this point seems out of place. If they were truly grieving and expressing concern for the family, we would expect them to be angry or outraged over the hurt being done to the family. But they laughed. It was the laugh of unbelief, and this unbelief kept them from witnessing Jesus’ great miracle. He ordered them all out of the house. Jesus never performed for the unbelieving crowds. The only ones who would witness this miracle were three of his disciples, Jairus, and Jairus’s wife.

During the terrible days of the Blitz, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a shell hole. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Terrified, yet hearing his father's voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, "I can't see you!"

The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings, called to the silhouette of his son, "But I can see you. Jump!" The boy jumped, because he trusted his father. The Christian faith enables us to face life or meet death, not because we can see, but with the certainty that we are seen; not that we know all the answers, but that we are known.

Donner Atwood.

IV. If your faith is bigger than your fears, you can witness Jesus solving all your problems (V. 41-43)

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Four: The Servant Conquers! (Mark 4:35–5:43)

The word of love and power (v. 41). Unbelief laughs at God’s Word, but faith lays hold of it and experiences the power of God. Jesus did not make a spectacle of this miracle. He was sensitive to the feelings of the parents and grieved by the scornful attitude of the mourners. Talitha cumi is Aramaic for “Little girl, get up!” Jesus added, “I say unto thee” (with the emphasis on the I), because it was by His authority that her spirit returned to her body (Luke 8:55). The words were not some magic formula that anybody might use to raise the dead.

Mark Outlines and Comments on the Verses

Ver. 41. “Talitha cumi” was a common term of endearment, used by loving mothers to wake their children. The old familiar words were what Jesus used.

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary iii. Two More Healing Miracles (5:21–43)

At once Jesus proved himself stronger than death. Other similar miracles involved the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:15) and Lazarus of Bethany (John 11:44), although neither is recorded in Mark.

Mark 4. Jesus Raises Jairus’ Daughter from the Dead (37–43)

Romans 4:17 says that God gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. (Acts 9:40)

John 5:24–25 KJV 1900

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Jesus asked the parents not to reveal intimate details of the resurrection and to give him time to get away before it became evident the child had been brought back to life so there would be no acclaim in his presence. The final part of the verse serves two purposes: to show Jesus’ concern for physical need and to show that the girl really was alive.

Conclusion:

Many accounts of people being raised from the dead...

1. Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-22).

2. Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).

3. A man was raised from the dead when his body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20, 21).

4. Many saints rose from the dead at the resurrection of Jesus (Matt. 27:50-53).

5. Jesus rose from the dead (Matt. 28:5-8; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5, 6).

6. Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-15).

7. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55).

8. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).

9. Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41).

10. Eutychus was raised from the dead by Paul (Acts 20:9, 10).