Mark 5:21-43
Introduction
In this passage we see:
• The power of Jesus over sickness and death
• Two healings involving touch
• And we have two lost causes
Bear this in mind as we make our way through this passage.
Verses 21 to 23
We now see Jesus returning to the Western side of the Sea of Galilee after the incident with the Gadarene Demoniac.
As a synagogue official, Jairus was a man of status in the Jewish community. Despite his status, Jairus humbles himself and begs Jesus for help. His 12-year-old daughter is ‘at the point of death’. She’s dying. She’s at death’s door.
Jairus asks Jesus to lay hands on her so that she will be healed. When we pray for someone to be healed, we can lay hands on them too. Notice how Jairus is clear about what will happen to his daughter when Jesus lays hands on her. She will get healed. This is how we should pray for healing.
Verses 24 to 29
As Jesus sets off to the home of Jairus He is interrupted by someone else who needs healing. And we are told that a large crowd is pressing in on Him.
Jesus is interrupted by a woman with a flow of blood. Under the Law she is unclean for as long as the blood flows. She could not marry or take part in worship with the rest of the community. Anyone who touched her or her clothes would become unclean as well. People would avoid her. She was isolated. She was just as much an outcast as lepers were. She doesn’t just suffer physical misery; she also suffers social and religious misery. In addition to the issues I have just described, she was destitute. See verse 26.
Try to put yourself in her shoes. She had done everything she could do to get cured but to no avail. She was a lost cause.
Despite all of this, she made her way through the crowd and touched the cloak of Jesus. She did this because she had heard about Jesus. She had heard that He miraculously heals people.
Notice in verse 28 that she had the same attitude as Jairus about what Jesus would do. We need to follow her example.
Bear in mind that by touching Jesus, she was making Him unclean according to the Law.
When she touched the cloak of Jesus she was ‘immediately’ healed.
Verses 30 to 34
Notice in verse 30 that Jesus knew that power had gone out of His body. But what did He did not know was who had touched Him. What does this tell us about Jesus? That in His humanity He is not omniscient.
In verse 31 Jesus is addressing His question to the woman who touched Him. Notice how the disciples mock Him for asking this question. The woman who touched Jesus responded to the question by telling Him the whole truth. She was totally honest and frank with Him. Once again, we should follow her example when speaking to Jesus.
After listening to the woman, Jesus said to her, “Your faith has made you well.” He doesn’t say that touching Him has made her well. And He doesn’t say that His garments have made her well. Think about that for a moment. No, He says that her faith has made her well.
What does ‘your faith has made you well’ mean? That it was Jesus who made her well and it was her faith that led to Jesus healing her.
Do not fall for the false teaching that your healing depends on how much faith you have. Your healing does not depend on how much faith you have.
The second thing that Jesus says to her is, “Go in peace and be healed.” This woman had not known peace for 12 years. Please note that the use of the verb to ‘be healed’ means that the healing was ongoing. It was permanent.
Verses 35 to 43
Now we get back the issue of Jairus’ daughter. In verse 35 we see that the messengers think that, because the girl is dead, it’s over. She has become a lost cause.
Have you ever felt this way about a situation and decided not to trouble God about it anymore? Be assured that there is never a time when you should stop troubling God.
Upon hearing that the girl has died, Jesus comforts Jairus by telling him not to be afraid and believe instead. As far as Jesus is concerned, it’s not a lost cause. Nothing is ever a lost cause to Jesus.
In verse 37 Jesus only allows His inner circle to go with Him. He doesn’t want any detractors. This is an important practice when laying hands on people for healing.
The people in verse 38 are professional mourners, hired by the family. This was the normal arrangement in those days when someone dies. These people were death experts.
In verse 39 Jesus tells them to stop wailing because the child has not died but is asleep. The girl really was dead but Jesus was playing with words. In those days being asleep was another way of saying that they were dead.
The mourners mocked Him and Jesus kicked them out. He only allowed the inner circle and the parents into the room of the little girl to witness what He was going to do. The professional mourners would have been detractors.
In verse 41 we are told that Jesus took the hand of the girl. He touched her. Earlier in this passage the woman touched Jesus, now Jesus touches the little girl. Both the woman and the girl were unclean but that doesn’t matter to Jesus.
Jesus raises the little girl from the dead by His voice. Do you remember how Lazarus was raised from the dead? He was raised from the dead in the same way - by the voice of Jesus (See John 11:43).
Immediately the girl got up. In verse 42 we see that the little girl was healed ‘immediately’. Notice the instructions that Jesus gave in verse 43.
And Finally
In this passage we have seen that Jesus has power over death and that should encourage us.
We have also seen that there are no lost causes for Jesus.