A Tale of Two Daughters, Part 1
A “Touching” Story of Hope and Healing
Mark 5:21-34
Introduction: Jesus
had led his disciples into a storm and showed His power over nature. They
crossed the lake, it seems, to set one man free from the bonds of a demonic
legion, and to send Him as a witness back to his own people. Now they came back
across the lake, and in midst of the multitude, we see two more “divine
appointments.” As I considered the two
stories that are interconnected in this section of Mark, I thought of the
opening line of A Tale of Two Cities,
“It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times.” That is what two lives in this context of Mark must have
felt. For one, a touch, and a woman who
Jesus tenderly addresses as “daughter,” is healed—the best of times! And then, a father gets the horrible news, his
beloved daughter had died—Hope is shattered! The worst of times? Remember
the context in Mark, Jesus has been revealing His authority. Over nature, over
sickness, over demons, He is Lord! We see two lives inextricably connected: one
a dying child from a prominent family (we’ll see more about her next week).
The other, at the center of the message today, a woman whose disease would have
left her outcast and marginalized. The child was 12 years old. The woman had
been afflicted for 12 years. The only hope for both of them is Jesus.
The BIG Idea: Jesus came to give new life to all
who reach out to Him in faith.
I. A Desperate Prayer: “Touch my daughter”
(21-24a)! Look to Jesus for help.
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. 22 Then came one of the rulers of
the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 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." 24 And he went with him.
There was no lack of ministry opportunity when
Jesus got back across the lake: the people were waiting, and a desperate man finds
his way through the crowd to plead for Jesus’ help. Humility and sincerity are
evident as he “…fell at His feet and implored
him earnestly…” The word “implored
[earnestly]” is the same word [parakaleo]
that we’ve seen four times already in this chapter. The legion had “begged” not
to be tortured, and then “pleaded” to be sent into the herd of pigs. The people
of the land “begged” Jesus to leave, and the delivered man “begged” to go with
Him! And now this man, this synagogue ruler and desperate father, falls down
before Him as Legion had, and pleads
for Jesus’ help for his daughter! Recall
that in general Jesus has not been well received by those in authority
throughout his ministry in Galilee! Whatever this father’s position had been
about Jesus previously, he had seen enough to hope, in his desperation, that
Jesus would help his little girl. And so, in his brokenness and desperation, he
came.
“…Come and put your hands on
her…” Remember that Jesus has done considerable ministry throughout
Galilee, including miracles of healing. He had made a point of publicly healing
a man in the synagogue in Capernaum, and whether there or elsewhere there is a
good chance that this ruler had seen Jesus heal diseases and infirmities. And
even if he had not seen, there is no doubt that he had heard about the miraculous
healings that were happening as the crowds came to Jesus. There is no sign
of hesitation, the man asked, and Jesus “went
with him.” The Scriptures are full
invitations to come to God in prayer. We are to call on God for salvation (Rom
10:9,10). We are to ask Him for our daily bread. We are told to keep knocking,
seeking, and asking.
As I read this story, I thought of a prayer meeting in our church in NJ
about 35 years ago. One of the men in the church had never prayed aloud in
prayer meeting, or in any public meeting of the church as far as I know. In
that meeting, after learning that his brother had a tumor on his spine, he
prayed the most touching, profound, and concise prayer I’ve ever heard. From
the depth of his heart, he cried out and said, “Lord… touch my brother!” that was it. Four words. And you know
what? God answered that prayer. Not through bringing healing in this life, but
through leading his brother to a clear, life changing, faith in Christ as
Savior and Lord. The Lord touched his brother, and he was ready for heaven when
the time came. God hears our prayers, we can trust Him to do what is best. This
man begs Jesus to come and touch his little daughter and heal her.
It is good and proper to pray for healing in this life.
Sometimes, when it fits God’s purposes, He will do it. But when He does heal,
just as when Jesus healed so many during His earthly ministry, it is only
temporary, it is only a picture of what is to come. It is appointed unto men once to die… When He grants healing in
this fallen world it points ahead to the promises of the coming age, when,
according to Revelation 21:3,4…
"…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. 4
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 day will come for God’s people
when the curse is undone fully and finally. Jairus probably wasn’t thinking
about the future kingdom, or even whether or not Jesus was the promised Messiah.
But He had healed others, could it be that He could help his daughter and
rescue her from the brink of death? To say the least, the leadership of the
Jews had not warmly embraced Jesus and His message. But the big idea here is
that Jesus is no respecter of persons. A father was asking, and a child was in
need. Jesus came to give new life to all who reach out to Him in faith.
II. A Touch of Faith: A beggar reaching out to the King
(24b-29)! In contrast to the synagogue ruler, a well known and respected official,
there was another in the crowd, a deperate soul, a woman whose infirmity would
have left her “unclean” and isolated…
And a great crowd followed him and
thronged about him. 25 And
there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under
many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather
grew worse. 27 She had heard
the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his
garment. 28 For she said,
"If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." 29 And immediately the flow of
blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease.
The scene in v.24b shows the pressing needs of the people, “a great crowd followed Him and thronged
about Him.” Remember that Jesus is going with a desperate father to
minister to the need of his daughter who was sick and seemingly near death. Though some among the leadership of the Jews
were already plotting against Him, Jesus came to save, to offer true life.
Jesus held no animosity toward the man and we see no hesitation about going. He
is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
There was still time for them to repent and believe! So, He went.
Yet somehow, in
this crowd, a woman had worked her way near Him. Look at the description of her
in vv.25,26. She had been suffering with her condition for twelve years.
According to Leviticus 15:25, her condition would have meant that she was
ceremonially “unclean.” Think about what that meant. She was excluded from the
Temple grounds. She would not have been allowed even to enter a synagogue to
hear the reading of the Scriptures. Being out in public, and in a crowd like
this, would have meant that she would have rendered any people that she came in
contact with “unclean.” After twelve years, had she been alienated from her
family and friends? We don’t know. If she was married, had her husband by
now divorced her? The Bible doesn’t say. We do know that she was desperate. She
had seen many “physicians” and had spent all that she had seeking a cure, and
she had found none.
What a contrast between this woman, marginalized and outcast, and
Jairus, a respected leader of the people!
Yet we all are desperately needy. All have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. Did these two
understand the depth of their spiritual need? We don’t know. Jairus was
desperate, and this unnamed woman was, by any measure, a desperate woman… They both were looking for help to the One who
had come to be our Rescuer, our Savior.
A touch of faith… Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of faith is to
see what we believe.” It almost seems he was describing what we see in this
scene. The faith of this woman is explained starting in v.27. She had not, it
seems, been in the crowds that had seen the miracles that Jesus had done.
However, she “had heard the reports about
Jesus…” Others who had seen and heard Him were testifying about Him, and
word had gotten to her. And hope began to grow. No one else had been able to
help, but this man was not like anyone else!
It may be that she felt unworthy to speak to Jesus, to ask for His
healing touch. Maybe she knew that He
was going on an urgent “house call” and didn’t want to slow Him down. But as
she pressed closer, she said, “…if I even
touch his garment I will be made well…” She believed Jesus could help her
infirmity. It wasn’t a lot of faith. She seemingly didn’t understand much about
who He really was and what He came to do. It was like a tiny mustard seed…
I guess we could say she had a “touch of faith.”
Faith may start as a grain of mustard seed. More important than
the greatness of our faith, is the greatness of the One who is the object of
our faith. J. Gresham Machen, one of the founding professors of WTS, said “The more we know of God, the more
unreservedly we will trust him; the greater our progress in theology, the
simpler and more childlike will be our faith.” This woman reaches out,
hoping, believing, that this man of God who is passing through the crowd is
able to bring healing where no one else could. And she touches the edge of his
robe, and she is healed! Jesus is no respecter of persons. Rich or poor,
prominent or outsider, He is able to meet our deepest need. That is the Big
Idea: Jesus came to give new life to all who reach out to Him in faith.
III. A Revelation of Grace: Daughter, your faith
has healed you (30-34).
30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him,
immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my
garments?" 31 And his
disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you
say, 'Who touched me?'" 32
And he looked around to see who had done it.
33 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. 34 And he said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of
your disease."
Perhaps this illustrates the interplay between the deity and the
humanity of Jesus during His earthly ministry. It seems that at times He
manifests his divinity, like when he commanded the wind and the waves to be
still. On other occasions, it seems that in His humanity He responds as a man
filled with the Spirit, sensitive always to presence of the Spirit and the
Father, acting in obedience and submission to His will. The woman touches
Jesus’ garment, and “He perceives that
power had gone out of Him…” In His divinity,
He knew all about the woman, but in His humanity, He sensed that something had
happened, and so He asks, “who touched
me?” Think about that for a moment. Why stop to ask this question? For
Jairus, it was a delay that no doubt was testing his faith. His daughter was
desperately sick, dying, and Jesus stops and asks such a question! Even the
disciples were stunned, “Look at this crowd, how can you ask that?” He did not need to identify the woman. But it
seems He wanted her faith to extend beyond mere physical healing. He wanted
her to have a better sense of who He is, and hopefully to trust Him for her
spiritual needs as well.
Notice, first of all, the woman responds to Jesus’ question. She was
afraid, but she came and confessed it was her who had touched Him. Could it be that her immediate healing had deepened
her faith, helping her to understand more fully who this man is? She fell down
before him and “told Him the whole truth.”
The disciples were afraid when Jesus stilled the storm, the people
across the lake were afraid when they saw the authority of Jesus in
casting out the legion. Now this woman, falls before Him, in fear and trembling, and tells the
whole truth. And Jesus calls her “daughter.”
What a tender address! As far as I
can find, this is the only place in the gospels where Jesus addresses someone
this way. Jairus had come asking for help for his beloved daughter, could it be that Jesus’ words were not only
for the woman, but for the others that were there as well? She had been
outcast, unclean, rejected, but Jesus says “you, daughter, are part of my
family!” And then he says, “your faith
has healed you.” The word “healed,” is the verb sozo, which can also be translated “saved.” Your faith has saved you.
By the way, Jesus hadn’t forgotten about Jairus and his daughter. We’ll
get back to that next week. But Jesus took the time to lead this woman to a
deeper faith. Our destination is the new heavens and the new earth, but God is
also interested in the journey. He will use even our struggles in this fallen
world to grow and mature our faith, to lead us deeper in our walk with Him. Does
the depth of suffering we see people face in this this life grieve you? But God
will use the trials we go through to grow us. George Mueller, one of the great
men of faith in the modern age of the church, said,
God
delights to increase the faith of His children...I say, and say it
deliberately--trials, difficulties and sometimes defeat, are the very food of
faith...We should take them out of His hands as evidences of His love and care
for us in developing more and more that faith which He is seeking to strengthen
in us.
Jesus is no respecter of persons.
Regardless of class or position, all people are equally important to Him. A
synagogue ruler, or an unclean, outcast of a woman, it didn’t matter. They
equally reflected the image of God, and they equally needed deliverance from
sin. That is the “BIG Idea” in this
passage…
What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus is no respecter of persons. Remember
who He is. Remember why He came: He came to give new life to all who reach
out to Him in faith.
What would God have me
to do in response to this passage? It is not wrong for us to cry out to the Lord for our
temporal needs. Jesus said elsewhere, “…ask
and you will receive…” (John 16:24; cf. James 4:2,3). We are to pray for
our daily bread, and for forgiveness, and for deliverance from temptation and
evil (Matthew 6:11-13). The effects of the fall are all around us. He,
the sinless Son of God, came to rescue us from the curse that Adam’s
disobedience brought on humanity.
We need to
believe He is God, the Son, we need to trust that He paid the price for our
sins and that He rose the third day. Like the woman, in this scene, we need to
reach out our unclean, unworthy hand to touch the hem of His garment. For
Jairus, for the woman, for the people who were watching this encounter, the
disciples and others, this was an opportunity to grow their faith. It forced them,
it forces us, to answer the question the disciples had asked on the boat, “Who
is the man?” It invites us to consider why He came. It calls us to follow
Him.
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