Choose: The Facts? Or the Truth?

 Rev. Will B Dunn was preaching about death. "Every member of this church is going to die!" On the front row. Little Billy started giggling. Will didn't like it. So, he increased his volume. "I said, EVERY member of this church is going to die!" Little Billy started laughing out loud. Will stopped. "Billy, what's so funny?" Little Billy said, "I'm not a member of this church!" In a way, they're both wrong. If Billy is a member of Christ's church, with or without a certificate he's already a member of the one He attends. (The NT has no non-members.) Rev. Will forgets. For Christians, death has been defeated! No longer is death a dying. It's a doorway into our eternal life with Jesus! Not sure? Let's look at Mark 5:21-43. A day earlier, Jesus left Capernaum (E side of Lake Galilee) to rest. No rest. Instead, he met a town reject. Demon-possessed for 12 years. Jesus cast out a legion of demons & let them go into a nearby herd of pigs. They ran into the lake & drowned. Locals asked Him to leave. 21aJesus again crossed over by boat to the W side of lake Galilee. 21bImmediately, large crowd gathers around him. Jesus starts teaching & healing. Later that day, 22aJairus, a synagogue ruler, came to see Jesus. Rulers aren't priests. But they are part of the establishment. No faith in Jesus. None would come to Jesus. Why now? He's desperate. 22bFalling at Jesus' feet 23ahe kept pleading earnestly with Jesus. Why so desperate? 23b"My little daughter is dying. Any father would be desperate! 23cPlease come & put your hands on her so she'll be healed & live." Just as today, people thought they needed a healer's touch to be healed. 24aJesus went with him. Many standing in front of Him also wanted His touch. No glance them. Jesus just goes. That's our 1st lesson. We're busy. Maybe we're even doing Kingdom business. Now, suppose someone comes to us. Their need is dire. What do we do? Put their need over the need of the many? How many of us would do that? Jesus would! Every time. We'll see that. 24bA large crowd followed & pressed around him. They still clamor for his touch! 25And there was a woman in the crowd who'd been bleeding for 12 years. She'd tried many doctors. 26aShe'd suffered a great deal under their care. Physically & financially. 26bShe'd spent all she had. Nothing helped. 26cInstead she kept growing worse. 27aShe'd heard about Jesus. Maybe He could help. She'd come. 27bAs the crowd walked toward Jairus' house, 27cshe crept up behind him. Unclean for 12 yr., she's afraid. If someone notices, they'll make her leave! Fearfully, she 27ctouches the tassel of his cloak. What is she thinking? 28"If I just touch his clothes, I'll be healed." Now that's faith! And the Spirit in Jesus will respond to faith. Always! 29aImmediately her bleeding stopped. Just 1 touch. 29bShe felt it in her body. She was freed from her suffering. Jesus the son of man hadn't noticed her. Until her touch. 30aAt once Jesus realized power had gone out from him. The instant she received her healing, Jesus Son of God did notice. 30bHe turned around in the crowd. "Who touched my clothes?" Healing wasn't automatic. Yet the Holy Spirit in Jesus responds to faith. Even if Jesus isn't consciously aware of it. The disciples looked at the crowd. 31"You see the people crowding against you. Yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " Many are touching Jesus. How can He notice one touch?!! 32aJesus is unfazed. 32bHe kept looking around to see who'd done it. 33aThe woman knew what'd happened for her. Now, she's caught. 32bTrembling with fear, she came & fell at his feet. The jig's up. 32cShe told him the whole truth. Is she afraid He'll reject her? Afraid He's now unclean because He touched her? Afraid He'll rebuke her because she was stealthy about it? No matter. Jesus welcomed her, healed her, & made her clean. 1st time in 12 years! 34aJesus said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." This is our 2nd lesson. We enter into God's blessings by faith. We don't need much. Just offer Him the mustard seed-sized faith we have. Faith is a verb. Trust Jesus. He's more than willing to heal than we are to ask! Just trust Him. When we do? 34b"Go in peace." Shalom! Receive the peace that passes understanding. Everything needed to be whole. Restored health, welfare, social life, & prosperity. 34c"Be freed from your suffering." Jesus healed her. It was His Father's will. What's the Father's will for us in our need? All the while, Jairus is waiting. Imagine his aguish! His daughter is dying. Nothing less would make a synagogue leader ask Jesus for help. Jesus left the crowd to help Him, because His need was so dire. But just as Jesus stopped for him, He stops for this woman! 35aWhile Jesus was still speaking, men came from Jairus' house. 35b"Your daughter's dead." His heart? Broken. His hopes? Dashed. 35c"Why bother the teacher anymore?" We think this is being courteous. It's actually disbelief. The opposite of faith. "Why bother Jesus with my need? Why bother God? What's the use?" Where's faith in that? It's the opposite. It's disbelief if we don't trust God to care. And it's idolatry to think God is limited by what's humanly possible! Jesus 36aignored what they said. Others won't always have faith for what God wants to do. That presents us with an opportunity. Can we have enough faith for both of us? Jesus did. And He knows what the Father wants to do. 36bHe told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid. Just believe." Jairus didn't have much hope or faith left. But he had enough to let Jesus keep going to his house. They headed to Jairus' house. Jesus 37didn't let anyone follow him except Peter, & the brothers James & John. They'll be His witnesses. 38When they came to Jairus' home, Jesus saw a noisy commotion. Paid mourners. This little girl's death wasn't just likely. It was expected. Mourners were ready the moment she died. As flutes play, they sing, clap their hands, cry, & wail loudly. 39aJesus went inside. 39b"Why all this commotion & wailing? 39bThe child isn't dead but asleep." 40aBut they laughed at him. 40bHe put them all out. Why? Their disbelief? No. Jesus isn't limited, whether they believe or not. Jesus wants faith that wants Him, not what He can do. So, 40cHe took the child's father & mother & the disciples who were with him & went in where the child was. 41aHe took her by the hand. His touch? That's for her parents. Touching her can't defile Jesus. And her healing? 41b"Talitha koum!" ("Little girl, get up!"). Jesus heals with only a word. Just as He spoke Creation with only a word. 42aImmediately the 12yo girl stood up & walked around. Her healing? Instant. 42bThey were astonished. Who wouldn't be? A minute ago, she's dead. That's fact. But to Jesus, she's only asleep. Just as He said. 43aHe gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this. Crowds already flocked to Jesus because He healed them. What if they knew He could raise the dead? Jesus didn't want that kind attention. Still, He's concerned for the girl. 43bHe told them to give her something to eat. What are our takeaways? Look at the facts of each story. Just before our verses, a man is demon possessed. He's a Gentile. A town reject. A social outcast. No faith. For 12 years, forced to live at a cemetery. No hope. No faith. Unasked, Jesus delivers & restores him to his people. His stigma? Gone. The point? Jesus welcomes those outside the camp. Jesus has power over all demons. His faith is sufficient, whether or not we have faith. In Jesus, there's always hope. The woman was a Jew. Bleeding for 12 years. Unclean. Cut off from her people. A social & religious outcast. In faith she came & touched Jesus. He stopped for her, even on the way to Jairus' house. Jesus welcomes & stops for His people. He wants to heal so much, at her touch it looks automatic. In reality, the Spirit did it & Jesus confirmed it. Jesus has power over all illness. 12 years of doctor failures don't limit Jesus. It only took a word. In Jesus, there's always hope. Jairus' daughter? Despite previous leanings against Jesus, Jairus had faith to come. When told his daughter had already died, his heart broke & his hope died. Still, he stayed with Jesus. In response to his little faith, Jesus raised his daughter from the dead. Death didn't defile Jesus. He overcame death. That's power! And He's more than willing to use His power for us. What's the point? We may know the facts. But Jesus is the Truth. He can change the facts with a word. There's always hope. What will you trust? The facts? Or the Truth? Choose! Choose: The Facts or the Truth? - Mark 5:21-43 Page 1 of 1