Jesus Heals

Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

1. Intro

a. Good morning

b. One Bible teacher begins his introduction to the fifth chapter of the book of Mark by saying that it is the St. Jude chapter of this gospel. If you have a Catholic background, you might know that St. Jude was the saint of hopeless causes. This is why Danny Thomas named the children’s hospital he founded St. Jude, because he desired to help those children who other medical facilities would have deemed “lost causes”.

c. So when we come to this fifth chapter, we see Jesus interacting with people to whom the world at that time deemed to be “lost causes”. Last week we saw Jesus liberate a man who was in bondage to a legion of demons, something no one thought was possible! And this week Jesus deals with a woman who has suffered from 12 years of bleeding and a little girl who is at deaths door.

d. But as we will see, we humans are far too quick to judge someone as a lost cause because in the hands of Jesus, there is no such thing as a lost. We have seen He is the Creator God who has the power to speak commands to the wind and the waves and now we see that He is the Great Physician who has the power to heal all wounds, to cure every disease, both physical and spiritual.

e. And you may think well, we have doctors and psychiatrists who can do similar things!

f. But you see, what truly separates Him from earthly physicians and practitioners of any sort of psychiatric help, is that He is the Great Physician who can even raise the dead to life both spiritually and physically. Ethan is a wonderful doctor, but not even he can do that.

g. So that is what we want to explore today. But first let us pray.

2. Jairus

a. Last week we saw that after Jesus cast out the demons from the man who had been suffering at their hands for some time, the people who saw this miracle occur and watched the demons enter into the herd of pigs that were near by, instead of thanking Him, begged Jesus to leave. They wanted nothing to do with Him!

b. So Jesus and His disciples set sail once again and crossed to the other side of the sea of Galilee. And since the word was out of all the miracles Jesus had been doing, as soon He got the shore, it did not take long for Jesus to once again be surrounded by a very large crowd who had come to see Him and perhaps even witness a miracle!

c. Now we read in verse 22 that one man fought through the crowd desperately so that he could throw Himself down at the feet of Jesus.

i. Let’s take a look, “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Him, he fell at His feet.”

ii. Now Jairus wasn’t just anyone. He was a man of high esteem. As we read in our verse he was a ruler of the synagogue. The rulers of the synagogues were not rabbis but were those who tended the synagogues and essentially ordered the services held by the synagogues. And this position was one that came with great esteem and honor.

iii. And yet this man who was looked highly upon by his peers flung himself in humility at the feet of Jesus. And we find out why in verse 23, “he implored 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.”

iv. The grk. Word used in this verse for “at the point of death” is the word eschaton. It is the same word where we get the word eschatology, which in Christian terms simply means the study of the End Times. The word eschaton means, “the end or at the utmost extreme”

v. So what Mark is trying to get across is that this girl is not just sick and she is not just severely sick, but she is at the extreme end of her short life. If you have ever been around someone who is at the end of their hospice care, than you have seen what sort of state this poor girl was in.

d. And so the heart of our Lord Jesus was moved with compassion and he began to follow Jairus to his home.

3. The Bleeding Woman

a. Now the crowd still had not died down. They were following after Jesus and His disciples as they were lead by Jairus to his home. But as they were making their way, something happened that caused the disciples irritation and must have caused Jairus to be overcome with anxiety; Jesus suddenly stopped.

i. He had felt something, something different than the pushing and shoving and touching of the crowd that had come up around Him. He felt some of His divine power flow out of Him.

ii. (Maybe add Holy Spirit communicating Christ’s power)

iii. And Jesus asks in verse 30, “Who touched my garments?” And the disciples, what kind of audacity do they have?? They are a bit exasperated and were thinking Jesus was being ridiculous! And they say in verse 31, “You see this crowd pressing in all around you, don’t you? Now why in the world would you ask something as ridiculous as “Who is touching me?” The real question is who isn’t touching you?!”

iv. Well, luckily for the disciples, Jesus ignored there somewhat snide remark and continued to look around for who had touched His clothing.

b. And as He was looking, a sad and pitiful woman stepped out of the crowd and approached Him, so afraid that she was shaking. We don’t know whether she fell before Jesus because of her knowledge of who He was or simply because the fear had her shaking so fiercely, she could no longer stand. I believe it was a combination of the two.

c. This terrified then told Jesus a heartbreaking story of twelve long years of misery. And her story is given to us in verses 25 and 26, “And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and who had suffered much under the physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

i. Last week I mentioned the dread that was felt by any Jewish individual who was declared to be unclean in the sight of God. And if were to turn to the book of Leviticus and open it to chapter 15, you would see that a woman in this condition was considered to be unclean.

ii. So this woman’s suffering was not simply physical, but it was social and spiritual. Because of her condition, she was an outcast.

iii. And not only that, but she was destitute, spending every last penny she had going from physician to physician seeking some sort of relief from her never ceasing hemorrhage. But instead of finding a cure that would not just make her physically whole again, but social and spiritually whole, the problem only worsened, driving her deeper into despair.

iv. And what a picture of the human condition this is. There is an innate human understanding that we in and of ourselves are not whole. We are missing something. And when we experience physical suffering of various kinds this just intensifies that feeling, knowing this is not the way it is meant to be.

v. And we often search and search for something to bring us into that wholeness. To either fix us physically or emotionally or socially or spiritually. So we spend untold amounts of money on self-help books, we obsess over the right filter to put on our photos to post to social media to gain some recognition, we consult religious gurus, get tarot card readings, we send in money to the televangelist who promises to send us manna from heaven that has been dipped in angel tears that is gift wrapped in the leather from the apostle Paul’s left sandal, and we even go to church, and we do all of these things and go to all of these places so that maybe we can feel that wholeness, to feel at peace!

vi. Now remember, going to all of the physicians not only left her bankrupt, but it made her condition worse. And just like that, all of these things that we attempt to do in order to make ourselves whole leaves us bankrupt, and not just financially. Because no matter how hard we try, we always feel worse off than before. There might be temporary relief, we might feel good for a while, but eventually those good feelings where away and we feel further isolated socially, or our physical condition gets no better, but ultimately, we feel further away from God than ever before. And just like the woman in this story, we find that nothing works.

d. And so we read in verse 27 that she heard Jesus was coming into town. And she had heard of the miracles He could perform and so in desperation she thinks to herself, “If I could touch even just His garments, I will be made well!” And even though it was against the OT Law, she goes to Jesus in the midst of this crowd, and she reaches out and touches His robe. And verse 29 says that immediately the flow of blood dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. After 12 long years of misery, she was now beginning to feel whole!

e. And just as she thought she had touched Him unnoticed; Jesus stops and she comes before Him terrified, knowing though she had been healed, she had broken the law. And yet she bares her soul to Him, not leaving out a single detail.

f. But look at the way Jesus spoke to her in verse 34. Not with anger, not with disgust or indignation but with a gentle, loving kindness. He says this, “Daughter (how wonderful it must have been for her to hear those words of intimacy! Daughter!) your faith has made you well;”

i. He first wants her to be sure she understood what happened. You see there was a sort of mysticism that existed in this day that if you could get near a healer or some alleged miracle worker, you could gain power from them by simply touching their clothing.

ii. And this persists today. There is an innumerable amount of people who visit the Vatican every year to see or even touch relics that are supposedly either connected with past saints, such the bones of Peter, or even with Jesus Himself, such as fragments from the cross. And they go to the Vatican or other places these relics are held in, so that by touching them they can gain some sort of extra grace or extra merit of righteousness!

iii. But Jesus is telling this woman even the very robe Jesus wore carried no power, it was a powerless piece of fabric! But it was Jesus Himself who healed her through her faith!

iv. And friends that is true for us! No amount of work we do, no matter how many supposedly holy relics we touch or how many church services we go to, our complete wholeness comes through faith in Jesus Christ!

v. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:1, “For we maintain that a man is justified (which means to be declared righteous before God) by faith apart from the works of the Law!”

vi. Faith in Jesus, gifted to us by God Himself, is the only way to access the true wholeness we seek. Our social wholeness will be filled as we can commune and have an intimate relationship with God Himself! Our physical wholeness will be more fully realized than we can possibly imagine when Christ comes again and we receive our redeemed and fully sanctified bodies! And most importantly, we receive our spiritual wholeness as, through faith, we are forgiven our sins and given the very righteousness of Jesus and indwelled with the Holy Spirit!

g. This is why Jesus says to her, “Go in peace.” Another way to translate the grk here is, “Go into peace”. And man, I love that! He is telling her that because of her faith, she can enter into peace. Whether you have been struggling for a day, or 12 years or your entire life, whether you are a believer or not, faith in Jesus opens the door that leads to peace!

h. How beautiful is that? If you want a wholeness that allows you to enter into a peace that completely envelopes you in all of life’s difficulties, than reach out to Jesus in faith! Get this, faith in the most violent act in history (and I know that there has been just as if not more violent acts in history, but I say THE most violent because it was done to Jesus the Creator of the Cosmos), but faith in the most violent act in history, the murdering of Jesus on the cross and what He accomplished there, the forgiveness of sins, brings you the peace and joy that surpasses all understanding! How amazing is that? How precious is that wonderful gift of faith!

i. Listen to these beautiful words by J.C. Ryle, “Of all the Christian graces, none is so frequently mentioned in the New Testament as faith, and none is so highly commended.—No grace brings such glory to Christ. Hope brings an eager expectation of good things to come. Love brings a warm and willing heart. Faith brings an empty hand, receives everything, and can give nothing in return.—No grace is so important to the Christian’s own soul. By faith we begin. By faith we live. By faith we stand. We walk by faith and not by sight. By faith we overcome. By faith we have peace. By faith we enter into rest[1]”

4. The Power Over Death

a. But this joyful moment for this woman quickly turned into one of despair for Jairus. In verse 35 we are told that while Jesus was still speaking to the woman who had just been healed, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further.”

b. Now among other things, this was a moment of testing for Jairus faith. His friends encouraged him to not bother Jesus any longer because it was too late, his daughter had died. In fact, the fact that they used the word teacher is evidence that they did not understand the true identity of Jesus.

i. They may have heard Jesus teaching in the synagogue and surmised that all Jesus was is a good teacher who may have done a miracle or too, but no matter how good of teacher He was there is no way He could bring the dead to life.

ii. And so as Sinclair Ferguson points out, here was a real test of Jairus’ faith. What did Jairus really think of Jesus? Was He, as Jairus’ servants seem to indicate, just another teacher? Would Jesus be just as helpless as anyone when face to face with the ultimate reality of death? Was faith in Jesus only useful in this life only?

iii. Well Jesus overheard the word’s of the servants and spoke directly to Jairus, giving him two commands, “Do not fear! Only believe!” What a thing to say to a father who just learned his daughter died! But it was precisely what Jairus needed to hear and do! By telling Jairus not to fear, Jesus was telling him that even death was not stronger than Him. And He implored Jairus to trust in Him implicitly, unconditionally!

iv. He wanted Jairus to follow in the footsteps of Abraham, who was faced with an impossible situation! You see Abraham and His wife Sarah were well beyond childbearing age. Being in their 90’s. And yet God had promised them a son!

1. And Paul tells us in Romans 4 that though Abraham knew the facts of the situation, he did not allow his actions or thoughts to be determined by his situation. Instead, Abraham kept his eyes fixed on the promise of God!

2. And Jesus was encouraging Jairus to do the same! “Do not fear, only believe! Keep your eyes fixed on me!”

c. We then read in verse 37 and 38 that Jesus continued on His way to Jairus’ home, but He allowed no one to follow except Peter, James, and John. And when they arrived at his house, there was a great commotion! People were wailing and weeping loudly!

i. Now it was the Jewish custom that when someone died, the family was to hire professional mourners. And these mourners come out to your home and tear their clothing, weep, and wail as loud as they could to signify the tragedy that has just come to the household! And so these people in verse 38 were in all likelihood, not friends and family, but professionals!

ii. So Jesus says to these pros in verse 39 says to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? This child is not dead but sleeping.”

iii. Now Jesus is not saying that this girl is really just taking a hard nap. He was doing a play on words. You see, “sleeping” was a common euphemism for death. But Jesus is not saying here, “This is girl is not dead, she is just dead!” What Jesus is saying here is that to the power that Jesus possess, death is as permanent as a short nap. Though she was dead, next to Jesus, she might as well just be sleeping.

d. And when He said this they mocked Him. They thought they knew better. They thought that all hope was gone for this little girl and the family that loved her.

i. And what a picture of the unbelieving world who mock God, who turn Jesus into a punchline without having any understanding of His mighty power.

ii. But in verse 40 and 41, Jesus clears them out of the house, and He took the child’s father and mother and those who were with Him and went in where the child was. And takes this little girl by the hand and says, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

iii. And verse 42 tells us, “Immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was 12 years of age, the same number of years the woman suffered from bleeding), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

e. At Jesus’ command, life returned to this girl’s lifeless body. We have seen the power Jesus commanded over nature when He calmed the wind and the waves of the sea. We saw last week saw Jesus power over demonic forces when He rescued the man possessed by a legion of demons. We saw few moments ago Jesus power over disease and now! Now friends we see that even death itself cannot match the power of Jesus, the Son of God!

i. Can you even imagine the incredible change that took place in that house! From weeping to rejoicing! From mourning to celebrating! From death to life!

5. Pointing to Four Things

a. And friends, this account also points us to four more wonderful realities!

i. The first is the foreshadowing of Jesus’ own resurrection. Jesus here displays the same power that brings Him back from the grave after His death on the cross. And His resurrection served as a proof that Jesus had accomplished His mission on the cross to save His people! 1 Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

ii. The second flows directly from this! This story points to what He can do for spiritually dead souls! Scripture testifies that we, before faith in Christ, are by nature spiritually dead beings. Let me say that again, because we often believe that people can be “spiritual” apart from Christ, but Scripture testifies that without faith we are a spiritual corpse.

1. Ephesians 2:1, “You were dead in your trespasses and sin.”

2. Col. 2:13, “When you were dead in your transgression”

3. 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

4. But through the resurrection power of Christ, through faith in Him, which Ephesians reminds us is a gift from God, He breathes life into our dead souls!

5. Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—”

6. brings forth in us a spiritual resurrection of our souls!

iii. Lastly, it is a picture of our own future bodily resurrection when Christ comes again! Jesus says in John 6:40, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” We look forward to a day of unspeakable joy when the souls of those who have placed their faith in Christ who have died will be reunited with their newly glorified bodies!

1. And this day was even prophesied all the way back in the OT! Isaiah 26:19, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

2. But our new bodies will not be able to be touched by illness, they won’t be tainted by sin, they will not grow weak or tired.

3. And so let us rejoice like the household of Jairus because just as his faith in Jesus was not misplaced, neither is ours!

b. I quote again from J.C. Ryle, “Let us beware of sorrowing like those who have no hope, over friends who fall asleep in Christ. The youngest and loveliest believer can never die before the right time. Let us look forward. There is a glorious resurrection morning yet to come. As 1 Thessalonians 4:14 says, “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” Those words shall one day receive a complete fulfilment, as Hosea says in chapter 13:14, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave: I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction.” He that raised the daughter of Jairus still lives. When He gathers His flock around him at the last day, not one lamb shall be found missing.”

6. Conclusion

a. Oh friends, what a hope we have in Jesus! We have a resurrection hope!

b. And if you are here this morning, and you through faith in Jesus and His work on the cross and His resurrection, you have not experienced this wonderous resurrection power that brings eternal life, peace and wholeness, then I implore to believe in Christ. And just like Jairus, your faith will not prove to be in vain!

c. There is so much more to be talked about here, so many wonderful things this account points to! But for now we must leave it here.

7. Let us pray.

[1] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark (London: William Hunt, 1859), 102.