Mark 5.21-end
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to
the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. 22Then one of the leaders
of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him
repeatedly, ‘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.’ 24So he went with him. And
a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who
had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years.26She had endured much
under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better,
but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him
in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, ‘If I but
touch his clothes, I will be made well.’29Immediately her
haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her
disease. 30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from
him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ 31And his disciples said to
him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ 32He looked all round to
see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her,
came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her,
‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your
disease.’
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s
house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ 36But overhearing what
they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only
believe.’ 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter,
James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the
house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and
wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you
make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ 40And they laughed at him.
Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those
who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand
and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ 42And immediately the girl
got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were
overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know
this, and told them to give her something to eat.
When
Jesus returned from his time in Gerasa where he had healed the man possessed by
demons, there was a large crowd waiting for him. One of these people was a
synagogue leader named Jairus. Because so much opposition had arisen from
within organised Judaism, it must have required both courage and humility on
his part to make the approach.
Jairus
had known the joy of having his daughter with him for 12 years. But now she was
close to death. He came to Jesus - desperate - because he knew that there
was nothing anyone could do to save her. In Jairus therefore, we see a
beautiful image of faith and humility. This great spiritual leader and highly
respected member of the community kneeled down before Jesus and begged him to
come to his home.
Another
person who was waiting for Jesus was a woman - we are not given her name. In
contrast to the 12 years of joy that prefaced Jairus' encounter with Jesus,
this woman had known 12 years of misery - for she had experienced constant
menstrual bleeding in this time. This had dire consequences for her. In
addition to the physical discomfort, this ailment made her ceremonially
unclean. This meant that she became an outcast in society, because according to
Levitical law (Leviticus
15:19-22)
a woman with her problem was considered ritually unclean. She was therefore
denied access to worship or fellowship. In essence this meant that she was
denied access to God. She was financially destitute because she had spent
everything on doctors, but to no avail. She too, was desperate.
The
woman had heard about Jesus and how, when he touched people, or when people
touched him, they were healed. She was nevertheless a bit concerned. She was so
embarrassed about her ailment that she did not want to go public with it. So,
she decided to touch Jesus secretly. She thought that it would be sufficient if
she just touched one of the tassels of his robe. The minute she touched the
tassel, she was healed and she knew it. She now wanted to slink away secretly.
The woman's reasons for not openly coming to Jesus seemed valid. According to
the Levitical law, if she touched Jesus, she would also make him ritually
unclean. But Jesus forced her to come into the open because he had important
lessons to teach both the woman and the
crowd. Wiersbe comments:
To begin with, this public confession was for her sake. It was an
opportunity for her to confess Christ and glorify God. Had she stolen away in
the crowd, she would have not met Jesus personally or heard His words of
assurance and comfort.[1]
Miller
adds:
She seems to have had a rather magical idea that a touch of his
garment was all that was needed to restore her to health. And this it did! But
Jesus wanted to lead her to a faith which rested on a personal acquaintance and
open confession of him. Then she could go with a deeper "peace" than
that which mere recovery of health could bring.[2]
It
is amazing how many people receive great blessing from God. Some receive
miraculous healings like this woman, but they never really accept Jesus
personally and therefore never receive his gift of enduring faith. Like the
people in the parable of the sower, who are like the seed that falls on rocky
ground, when the going gets tough - they give up. All of us have received great
blessing from God. If we look at what we have, we see that we are blessed with
far more than we really need. But so many of us are willing to throw in the
towel when things get hard?
Jesus
wanted the woman to be able to stand firm no matter what happened to her in the
future. Jesus therefore insisted that she have a personal encounter with him
and so receive a deep and significant faith.
The
crowd also needed to learn a lesson. Wiersbe continues:
You can be part of the crowd and never get any blessing from being
near Jesus! It is one thing to "press Him" and another thing to
"touch Him" by faith.[3]
How
many of us crowd around Jesus as we gather Sunday after Sunday to worship, but
never really take the step forward in humility and faith. How many of us see wonderful
things happening to others and resign ourselves that it will never happen to
us, simply because we do not reach out, by faith, and touch our Lord? Faith
only comes when one has a personal encounter with Jesus by faith. And faith
grows when it is tested.
Jairus
knew that Jesus could save his child. He had faith. But his faith was tested.
While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, a messenger came from Jairus' home
with the news that his daughter had died. Jesus overheard and spoke words of
comfort to him. We read in verse 36:
When Jesus heard this, he told Jairus, "Don't worry! Have
faith, and your daughter will get well."
Morris
suggests that this verse could be translated 'make and act of faith' or 'put
your trust in Me'. Jesus meant that he should never give up, but keep
believing.[4]
The
scene when they arrived at Jairus' home must have been depressing. One can
assume that the professional mourners would have arrived, and the friends and
neighbours would also have gathered around. Jesus stilled the people and said,
"The child is not dead. She is just asleep." They laughed at him, because they knew that
the child was dead.
Jesus
emptied the house of all save a chosen few. He took the girl by the hand and
said, "Child, get up!"[5] Mark records
Jesus as using the Aramaic words: "Talitha cumi! Little girl, arise!"
These are the words her mother would have used each morning to waken her
daughter.[6] The
tenderness of this moment cannot be captured using words. 'She came back to
life and got right up'.[7]
The
incident ends with Jesus exhorting the parents not to spread the news of what
had happened. Jesus did not want to attract a large following of curious
onlookers who were only seeking to get what they wanted out of him. This is why
he taught in parables - so that only those who were really committed would
follow him.
And
so, the lesson on faith that began with the parable of the sower is now
complete with the practical demonstrations of the storm, the healings and
finally the raising of Jairus' daughter to life. The secret behind a full and
wonderful life is to have faith in Jesus Christ. Unless our faith grows to
maturity even the small traumas that come our way will often get us down. We
all need to pray - "Lord, make our faith stronger!”
There
are many painful things that can happen to us, because we live in an imperfect
world where the majority of people choose to reject Christ and His law of love.
Satan is also active. The result - suffering is a fact of life. Without faith,
we will become easily discouraged. The only thing that can lift us up and give
us hope is an abiding sense of Christ's love, His wisdom and His care for us.
So, when the tests come and with God's help our faith endures, we feel lifted
up and encouraged. As Ryle comments:
Faith can sit still and wait for better times. Faith can see light
even in the darkest hour, and a needs-be for the heaviest trial. Faith ... can
sing songs in the night in any condition.[8]
The
prophet Isaiah writes:
You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm
and put their trust in you. Trust in the Lord for ever; and he will always
protect you.[9]
Have
we all received the free gift of faith offered by Christ to all - or are we
just members of the crowd? We have all heard the message. Are the seeds of
faith falling on the road, on rocky ground or amongst thorn bushes? Let us
rather be those who are like the good ground, who hear God's word and are
willing to obey it and so see our faith grow, flourish and mature - especially
when it is tested - so that we might be mature and complete never lacking
anything.[10]
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