Mark 5:21–43

0:00 A few months ago, my family went on spring break to Florida and left me at home. It's not like a home alone situation. It wasn't on accident. They meant to leave me at home. And while they were enjoying nice weather on the beach, Louisville was being barraged by thunderstorms. So one night, about 5 p.m., I get a text from Mel that somewhat humorously says, and I quote, I hear Nader's are coming. Tornadoes, not like Ralph Nader's family.

0:42 Me, sitting on my couch, looking outside the window. I mean, it is pristine. It's sunny. it's calm so I respond lol looks nice outside to me okay a half hour or so passes uh and then my phone alarm went off you know what that's like when there's like a severe warning or whatever and it's annoyingly loud and it says thunderstorm warning Jefferson County like whatever I mean like 1.2 million people live in Jefferson County like I'll be fine and then I pull up Twitter and I check my favorite meteorologist, a fellow named Mark Weinberg, Mark with a C, in case you're looking for it. He works for WDRB and he says again, severe thunderstorm warmings in Jefferson County. A few minutes later he tweets, if you live in northeast Jefferson County you need to be on high alert.

1:42 And I'm not very well very good at geography, but I was like northeast. I think I live in northeast, but like come on, like a lot of people live in northeast Jefferson County. I'll be okay. But then I look outside, and I realize that the, like, sunny, pristine calmness had given way to this ominous, thick, swirling gray. A few minutes later, I check Twitter again. This is what I do for information. That's why I just prayed for the news media. Mark Weinberg says, if you live in Prospect, take shelter immediately.

2:22 Now, that's pretty concrete advice. And then I get a friend who texts me like a minute later that says, hey, they just mentioned Hunting Creek on the news as like being in the center of danger. And that's my neighborhood. And then the power went out. Now, at this exact moment, I started to feel a feeling that I rarely feel, total desperation. I run downstairs to the basement, I huddle in there, I peek out from the basement bathroom to look outside, and I see tornado-like winds rip off the electrical panel that is on the side of my house.

3:06 I thought to myself, wow. Not done yet. Thought to myself, wow, this is how I'm going to die. Holding my laptop, checking Mark Weinberg tweets. I'm such an idiot. Now, thankfully, I survived. My electrical panel and a part of my roof did not. So because I survived, I get to be here this morning.

3:39 Okay? And this morning, we are going to think through a simple question. Simple question. What does it look like to follow Jesus? What does it look like to follow Jesus? Well, I'm going to answer the question for you already. It looks like desperate faith. Here's what I want to convince you of this morning. That's my way of saying main idea. Here's what I want to convince you of this morning. No matter who you are, no matter what you look like, following Jesus always looks like desperate faith.

4:20 Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 5. There are two points to this sermon. Mark chapter 5, we're going to be beginning in verse 21. Two points to this sermon. The first point is this. two very different people, one very big problem. Two very different people, one very big problem. That's the first thing that we're going to look at. That's verses 21 to 28. So, if you would, please look down at your copy of God's Word to me. We're going to read Mark chapter 5, 21, all the way down to verse 28.

4:58 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him. He was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet. If you're using your own Bible, you should highlight, I mean, you can highlight the pew Bible, it's fine. You know, just highlight, he fell at his feet. Put that away for later. Jairus implored Jesus 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.

5:35 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians. She had spent all that she had. She was no better, but rather grew worse. She'd heard the reports about Jesus. So she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.

6:06 For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well. Okay, let's talk for a second about these two very different people. Person one, first person we read, what's his name? His name is Jairus. Okay, what is Jairus' job? Jairus, Mark tells us, is a ruler of the synagogue. Now, this makes the whole story surprising, because so far in the Gospel of Mark, amidst the divided response to Jesus, there has been one consistent response from one consistent group of people, which would be Jairus' co-workers.

6:40 These guys, these rulers of the synagogue, had seen Jesus' miracles, they had heard his blasphemous teaching, and they all, at least so far, have had it. Now, let me briefly defend my claim. I understand we're not in a series of Mark, so let me just very briefly give you a few notes to jot down. Here we are. When Jesus, in chapter 2, heals a paralytic and in the process claims to forgive his sins, these guys are ticked off and full of doubt. That's Mark chapter 2, verse 7. They say, who can forgive sins but God alone? This man is blaspheming.

7:14 Jesus then heals a demon-possessed man, and they say, I'm not quite sure of the logic, but they say, Well, you must be possessed by demons, by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. It's Mark chapter 2, verse 22. Then Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and they are angry. And did you know, as early as Mark chapter 3, verse 6, these religious leaders, Mark tells us, are plotting already to destroy Jesus.

7:47 They do not like him. and then we meet Jairus. He's one of the rulers of the synagogue, Mark tells us. He's part of this religious elite. He is cronies and perhaps even co-workers with Jesus's haters. Okay, so how then would we expect him to respond to Jesus if we're reading Mark consistently? How would we expect? I think we would expect him to respond angrily, full of accusations. Jesus, I hate you, I do not like what you do, I want you to die.

8:21 But instead, he falls at his feet with a bold, audacious, shocking, yet confident request. My daughter's about to die. Help. Now, how does Jesus respond? Again, we might expect him, because he can read minds, knows what's going on.

8:53 We might expect him to be like, get out of here. I know what you guys are up to. We might expect him to smell a trap. Say, listen, I don't believe what you're going to do. You're trying to kill me. I know you're trying to kill me. But instead, I love how simply Mark tells us, he went with him. So the question, what does Jesus see in Jairus that provokes this response? Well, the word's not there, but the action is explained as clear as day. The Lord sees desperate faith.

9:24 I mean, look at what Jairus says. Look at what he expects Jesus to do. He expects Jesus to turn hopelessness into hope, life into death, despite his high status, despite likely many of his friends and co-workers being in league against Jesus. Jairus sees Jesus, and he believes that he is not only willing, but able to save his daughter. And in doing so, I think Jairus is very clearly a model of faith for us.

9:57 Jairus confidently comes out of the crowd, falls down on his knees, and asks Jesus for help. that's person number one. Let's try to remember person number two. It's only three verses. Let's look again. Look down at Mark chapter 5, verse 25. Person number two. Refresh our memory. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians.

10:32 She spent all that she had. She was no better, but rather grew worse. She'd heard reports about Jesus, came up from behind him in the crowd, and touched his garment. For she said, if I touch even his garments, I will be made well. Okay, remember, two different, two very different people. What's her name? No clue. Anonymous. What's her job? Doesn't have one.

11:03 How would we characterize her approach to Jesus? Lots of words you could throw out. here's one word, tentative. Why? Look down at verse 27. Do you notice how she doesn't see Jesus and approach him from the front? She hears about him. It's almost like she sneaks up to him from behind. She hides behind the crowd as long as she can. I would not characterize her as confident. She is afraid. She's afraid to even speak.

11:35 She's only willing to silently reach out her hand and touch. Okay, so how does Jesus respond to her? Let's hang on for a second. I'll answer that in a second. I hope that you see already that we have two very different people, Jairus and Nameless Anonymous Woman with the issue of blood. But they have the same problem. In Jairus' case, his daughter is nearly dead. It's very straightforward. Verse 23, again, if you're the writing down sort, underline it.

12:10 Verse 23, Jairus says that his daughter needs to be made well and live. And this woman, again, it doesn't say it explicitly, but she is as good as dead. In fact, Mark wants to flag the similar problem. Look at verse 28. She needs to be, quote, made well. life and live. Live's not in there. I'm adding it. The only detail we know about this woman is that she has had what Mark tells us is a discharge of blood for 12 years. Now, that is not a common way to speak these days, so let me just briefly try to explain how dire her situation is. Again, we do not know the specific medical problem that she's suffering from, but because we have the Old Testament, I think we know with quite a bit of certainty how she would have been treated in her world, which I think would explain why she is basically, quote, as good as dead. So you don't have to turn there. I'm just going to read a few verses from Leviticus 15. Leviticus 15

13:12 verses 25 to 27, and then I'm going to also read verse 31. Leviticus 15. Here's what Moses says. If a woman had a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity.

13:50 Pay attention to this. Everything which she sits on shall be unclean. as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. Whoever touches these things, the things that she makes unclean, shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. Skipping ahead to verse 31. Here's sort of Moses' argument. What's the result of this? Thus, you, that is the people of Israel, shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness.

14:21 Situations like this. Lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst. Let me just summarize in case you were like, checked out Leviticus 15, check back in. This woman would have been, in a word, entirely unclean. Okay, here's another word. She would have been cut off. Here's another word. She would have been separated. She would have been, here's a phrase, as good as dead. Again, did you notice how her uncleanness is contagious? Everything she sits on becomes unclean.

14:56 everything that touches the thing that she sits on becomes unclean, infected by her, defiled by her, cast off with her. Brothers and sisters, it is not an exaggeration to say that this woman, whoever she is, whatever her name is, whatever her life was before these 12 years, She is in the moment of this passage at the mercy of a social catastrophe.

15:27 She is helpless. She is cut off from the religious and social fabric of Israelite's life. She is vexed. She is lost. And again, Mark goes at great lengths to explain this. I mean, I'm going to read it for the third time, verse 26, because he just wants us to see how desperate this woman is. And she had suffered under many physicians. She'd spent all that she had. She wasn't better. She was worse.

16:02 This poor, poor woman had no one and nothing. She would have been better off dead. how would we expect Jesus to respond to her? Don't touch me. Stay away. Two very, very different people.

16:35 Jairus is at the top of the food chain. She's at the bottom. Jairus approaches Jesus out of the crowd, confidently asking Jesus for help. She uses the crowd as cover, trying not to be embarrassed, silently grasping at his garment. But they're facing the same problem. They're staring into the face of an undefeated foe. Death. And they need to be made well.

17:12 Let's see what happens next. Second point, two resurrections, one big Savior. Two resurrections, one big Savior. Verse 28, she said, even if I touch his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments?

17:50 His disciples said to him, You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say who touched me? I mean, they're making fun of Jesus. Like, you say who touched me? He looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, and fell down before him. Again, we've underlined that. It's the same thing that Jairus did. And told him the whole truth. And Jesus said to her, verse 34, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.

18:31 I love how Jesus just heals her right on the spot. He needs no extravagant ritual, no magical incantation, no abracadabra. He heals the woman without a word. Why? Because the woman had faith. Just like Jairus, she had faith. Now, some so-called teachers will look at moments like these as proof that we can somehow handcuff the Lord to heal us or that we can bind him to bless us with miracles like health and wealth and happiness. I'm not going to spend a long time on this, but if you hear someone say something like that, change the channel or turn off the radio or leave the room or never go back to that church again.

19:06 That is obviously not as what's happening here. It's just obviously not true. In fact, next week, Mark chapter 6, we're going to see a humorous aside that proves that that's not true. But for now, just know that the emphasis of this passage is not the amount of faith. It's the object of our faith. And so Jesus honors this woman's faith by making her well, by releasing her from the grip of the dire disease that has ruined her life.

19:40 But that's not all he does. In fact, I would say that the medical miracle, however it happened, was actually the preview before the main attraction. Okay, so let's look a little bit more closely at the passage. And to explain what I mean, let me ask a question. When is this anonymous woman's faith most clearly demonstrated? When is her faith most clearly demonstrated? Now, if this were a youth group, I would field answers. Some of them would be humorous. Some of them would be correct.

20:11 Some of them would be incorrect. But we would encourage each other. I already asked. I can't do that this morning. So let me just give you the best two possible answers, okay? Here's the first one. Verse 28. When she silently, tentatively reaches out her hand, to touch his garment. Of course that's faith. She says, she believes that when she touches Jesus' tunic, he will make her well.

20:45 This woman is not like the Pharisees. She has heard the rumors of Jesus and they thrill her. They do not threaten her. She believes them. I mean, that's faith, right? Okay, that's option one. I'm not denying that's faith. But if I were to answer my own made-up question for the purposes of this sermon, which I'm about to, I would say that actually the better answer, the answer where her faith is more clearly demonstrated, even in the silent lurching out toward Jesus, is verse 33.

21:28 Verse 33. When she comes out of the crowd in fear and trembling and falls down before the one who has saved her. She tells him, I love this phrase, no idea what it means. She tells him the whole truth. How do you do that in a moment? No idea. But she does it. She does it. Brothers and sisters, I hope you see, even after Jesus healed her, this woman wanted to remain anonymous.

22:02 She doesn't feel the healing happen and sort of jump out for everyone to see her. She wants to remain anonymous. She didn't want Jesus to see her. She didn't want others to see her, which is not surprising because for years this woman has been unclean and cut off. She's certainly not used to close-knit crowds training their attention on her. She's certainly not used to telling anyone the whole truth. But I love how gently Jesus treats this woman.

22:36 He not only wants to cure her medically, he wants to hold her up as a trophy of his grace. This is not surprising, but when Jesus says, who touched my garments, don't be like the dumb disciples who make fun of him. He's not actually, he's not unsure of the answer. It's not because he doesn't know the answer, It's because he does know the answer, and he wants to lovingly single this woman out. We often use that phrase, singled out, negatively. Oh, I hope you see.

23:09 By singling her out, it is not an act of unkindness. It's the supreme act of kindness. Because it enabled this now healed woman to be known and acknowledged and restored. More than medical clarity, this woman receives Christ's mercy. Indeed, her faith had made her well. But now, she is known by others as a follower of Jesus.

23:43 Known by others as a trophy of his mercy. She is no longer a stranger. He calls her daughter. Her faith has made her well. And Jesus' response to that faith has made her welcomed. Did you notice how Jesus' merciful touch redeems the logic and reverses the momentum of Leviticus 15?

24:15 I mean, again, under the Old Covenant, when an unclean thing bumps into a clean thing, the uncleanliness sticks and spreads. I have three little kids. I understand how uncleanliness sticks and spreads. You should not look at my office upstairs. In fact, I shouldn't have just told you where my office is. Maybe I'm also guilty of this. But when Jesus comes on the scene, when the perfect, unblemished Son of God shows up, This process is redeemed and reversed.

24:57 Did you notice she reaches out, touches the Lord's garment, and the unclean one becomes clean. The one who was better off dead, she's now alive. as Christians, we should all know how this works. We should understand how, oh, it's so merciful, how the Savior's cleanliness sticks and spreads.

25:33 Because it's happened to us. We were all unwell and cut off. We were all as good as dead. And then the powerful mercy of Jesus changed everything. We told him the whole truth. I'm a sinner. I need your help. You've died on the cross for sinners like me. You've rose again. I believe everything you say, Jesus. I'm going to turn from my sin and trust in you. And we've been restored. If you're here this morning and you're not following Jesus, like intentionally, like you do not believe yourself to be a Christian, you might be wondering to yourself, okay, can this Jesus guy really change someone's life like this?

26:13 Here's my answer. Of course he can. Yes. Sometimes it happens this fast. I know of people who open the Bible, not a Christian. God converted them in that moment. Their life changed. I know a few situations like that. Sometimes the change is slow. But I hope you see that whenever anyone turns from their sins and trusts in Jesus, their life always, always, always, always changes. They're made well, and then they're made welcomed into the church. Here's one application for all of us.

26:49 It is impossible, not difficult, it is impossible to be an anonymous Christian. It's impossible to believe in Jesus and stay hidden in the crowd. You see, following Jesus doesn't just mean that you've had some kind of private experience that improves your life. Following Jesus requires coming out of the crowd. sometimes with fear and trembling, and saying, Jesus, I trust you with everything.

27:25 You are who you say that you are. This is what it looks like to follow Jesus. This is what our beloved sister Eliana Schaefer, I told you I was going to do this, is about to do in a few minutes when she gets baptized. Eliana, my friend, your faith has made you well. Praise God. You didn't catch it from your parents. It's impossible. We're going to talk about that next week. Your faith has made you well. And because Jesus loves Eliana, he hasn't just left her by himself. He has ushered her and will usher her into a church full of repenting sinners who are just going to help you follow Jesus as you help us follow Jesus.

28:02 We are so glad to have you. Wow, what an amazing story. Oh, hang on. What happened to Jairus? Remember, his daughter was at the point of death. You can forget this stuff. Okay, well, let's see what happened. Look with me at verse 35. Why he, that's Jesus, was still speaking. I love the way Mark gives us these little details. While he's still speaking about the faith of the woman who's been healed, there came from the ruler's house somebody who said, your daughter is dead.

28:40 Why trouble the teacher any further? Okay, think about Jairus for a second. What must he have been feeling in this exact moment? A few minutes ago, he was thrilled at the thought of his nearly dead daughter being resurrected. Now she's gone. Can you imagine the anguish that he felt?

29:14 Can you imagine the anger that he may have felt? The jealousy. I mean, his friends say, listen, there's no reason to make this guy make the trek to your house. He's dead, dude. Just give up. Nothing can be done. Nothing can reverse death. Right? Verse 36. Overhearing what they said, Jesus turned to Jairus.

29:48 Now I want you to see, I think what's about to happen is that Jesus is putting the pressure to Jairus in the exact way that he put the pressure to the woman with the issue of blood. He's testing her faith. Same as who touched me. Is this woman going to go home alone, not tell anyone what happened? Or is she going to continue forward in faith? I think the same thing is happening here. Jesus says to Jairus, whose daughter's dead, don't fear, believe.

30:24 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue. Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when Jesus had entered, he said to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child's not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. You notice Jesus often gets mocked right before his most merciful miracles. They laughed at him. He put them all outside, took the child's father and mother, and those who were with him, I think that's Peter, James, and John, and went in where the child was.

30:59 Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Talitha kumi, which means little girl, I say to you, arise. Immediately, the girl got up. She began walking. She was 12 years old. They were immediately overcome with amazement. He strictly charged them that no one should know this. Told them to give her something to eat. Nothing can stop Jesus.

31:36 Not the death of a 12-year-old girl. Not a 12-year-old disease. In just a few moments, this girl goes from dead to dinner. From lying there lifeless to getting up and walking as if nothing ever happened. Friends, brothers and sisters, nothing can stop Jesus. And Jairus had desperate faith. Despite terrible circumstances that screamed at him to give up.

32:06 That everyone around him was agreeing with, give up. some of y'all just need to hear that this morning. Your circumstances are screaming accusations about the untrustworthiness of Jesus. And you need to stop listening to them. Your circumstances say, he's not worth that sacrifice. He won't really forgive you for what you've done. He can't handle your problems. You're hopeless. It's helpless. He will leave you or forsake you. There's nothing Jesus can do about that. Don't listen to your circumstances.

32:39 listen to Jesus believe me for who I am let your faith endure like Jairus because Jesus is trustworthy one final thing and then we'll close the strength of your faith doesn't save you the object of your faith saves you earlier I said I wanted to convince you of something I said I wanted to convince you that no matter who you are and no matter what you look like following Jesus always looks like desperate faith so consider this like an anti-application The worst lesson you could take from this is that, okay, I need to feel more desperation.

33:38 I need to grit my teeth more. I need to do more Bible studies. I need to pray harder. I need to fast more, or at least fast ever. I need to squint my eyes in worship and reach my hand into the heavens. I need to feel my desperation. don't do that. We're saved by Jesus, not the strength of our faith in Jesus. I mean, I love Jairus' confidence. It never seems to waver. He walks up to Jesus, doesn't care about the consequences, believes in him, doesn't even seem to waver when he hears the report that his daughter is dead. He goes with Jesus, despite the mocking laughs of his friends.

34:24 We need people like that in our church, whose lives are models of Christ-centered, steady confidence. It is beautiful. I also love this woman's faith. It's beautiful. The best she could muster is a hidden and wordless lurch at the hem of Jesus' coat.

34:59 But brothers and sisters, she believed. We need people like that in our church. Those who are willing to say, even on Sunday mornings, I'm here. but barely. I'm struggling. Life is hard. I'm afraid. But I believe. If you're more like Jairus right now, praise God.

35:35 Find someone who seems to be struggling and help them. Why? Because I assume if you stay here long enough, One day, you'll need their help. And if you're more like the anonymous woman right now, then praise God. I encourage you, never, ever, ever think that your weak faith in Jesus somehow threatens his grip on you.

36:08 In fact, if anything, it's the opposite. It strengthens his grip on you. He will hold me fast. Keep clinging to Jesus. Find someone as best you can who seems not to be struggling and simply be their friend. Y'all can cling to Jesus together. Because who knows, one day soon, they may look for you for help.

36:43 Let's pray. Father in heaven help this church be full of all sorts of different kinds of people who all look the same because of our desperate faith in Jesus I pray all this in Jesus name Amen