[0:00] Well, let's turn back to Mark's Gospel, chapter 5, and we'll take the verses, Mark 33 to 36 as our text. 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.
[0:19] And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease. While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?
[0:35] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe. I started out looking at this passage with the intention of doing a compare and contrast, but as I looked at it and considered it, it became clear it had to be a contrast and compare.
[1:01] And what I'd like to do this evening is to contrast the backgrounds and the situations of the two people that we have here, the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus, the synagogue ruler, and then to go on to compare their faith and salvation.
[1:21] Now, Jairus and this woman with a hemorrhage, they could hardly have been more different from each other. They are different in status in their community.
[1:35] They are different in how they are identified in the story. They are different in their approach to Jesus, and Jesus ministers to them in different ways.
[1:45] One is a poor woman, a social outcast, and the other is a powerful, well-off man. They are really opposites on the social spectrum.
[1:58] But we'll see how these two strangers from completely different backgrounds and situations are both searching for this man named Jesus.
[2:08] And we'll see how they have such a need to be in Jesus' presence and to be with him. So what I'd like to do, just briefly under three headings.
[2:19] First of all, to look a bit more closely at their various circumstances. And then to consider, secondly, the power of faith. And then finally, to consider aspects of the joy of healing that they experienced.
[2:35] So first of all then, just to consider some aspects of their background and their circumstances. We'll begin with Jairus. Jairus was a synagogue ruler with a large household and many friends.
[2:51] And most of these synagogue rulers were Pharisees, and it's most likely that Jairus was a Pharisee as well. And this synagogue official, he held a position of honor, of power, responsibility in Israel and Jerusalem.
[3:10] He was a respected Jewish layman, and he had the responsibility of the upkeep of the synagogue and the worship services. He had been chosen from among the elders, and he would decide who would be called on to read the scriptures, who would preach the service of worship, and who would keep order during that service.
[3:36] He was most likely wealthy, and most likely as well a man of influence within his own community.
[3:47] But we meet up here in this passage, in a place where none of that mattered anymore. Jairus was in need.
[4:02] His little daughter was dying, and he came to seek out Jesus. His daughter was so ill when he left home that he didn't think she would be alive when he returned.
[4:19] Mark says that she was at the point of death, and Luke tells us that she was dying. In reality, all that the world had given him now meant nothing.
[4:34] Because death was coming to Jairus' house. Death was coming for his little daughter. The one that Luke calls his one and only daughter.
[4:46] She was his real treasure, and she was dying. And we can be sure of one thing. That Jairus would have traded everything at that moment to change the situation with his daughter.
[5:08] When we look at the background of this woman, we're not given this woman's name. We don't know what her name was. But we do know that she wasn't always like this.
[5:24] She was made poor by sickness. An incurable disease that doesn't kill, but what it does do is it forces and pushes its victim to the outer edges of society.
[5:41] She was chronically ill. The woman had an incurable hemorrhage that had wasted away her body over the years, and her condition had steadily grown worse.
[5:57] And now, all the people shunned her. Mark tells us here that she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors, and that she had spent all that she had trying to get healed of this disease.
[6:17] And yet, instead of getting better, she grew worse. Now, according to Jewish law, she was classed as being ceremonially unclean.
[6:31] In other words, she was an outcast. An outcast in society, and an outcast in every aspect of what we've done within that society.
[6:42] And anyone who came in contact with her would also have been considered unclean as well. This woman's illness, it had caused her to be ostracized from normal society.
[6:57] She was unable to have a relationship. She was unable to marry. And she was barred from worship in the temple unless she sat with the lepers.
[7:11] For the past 12 years, this woman has lived life on the fringes of society.
[7:24] And it's not just what it was doing to her physically, but surely we also need to consider what this would have been doing to her within herself as well, her inner pain.
[7:35] Because there's little doubt that the pain she suffered would also have been draining her emotionally and psychologically.
[7:47] This woman was down a path of real despair. And this would have involved great suffering for her, both physically, mentally, personally, and socially.
[8:03] Her friends, they had all disappeared long ago. They were lost to her, along with her money and her pride.
[8:18] She was in the worst position imaginable, really. Here she was, a female, in a male-dominated world, and now she's in poverty because of her illness.
[8:33] And isn't it interesting that for as long as Jairus' daughter has been alive, this woman has had this illness. So there we have their backgrounds, just a little look deeper into the backgrounds, and we see two completely different situations with Jairus and this woman.
[8:56] But let's consider the power of faith. Let's go back to Jairus at this point. And picture the scene. Jairus came to Jesus out of desperation for his 12-year-old daughter who was at the point of death.
[9:18] He came directly to Jesus even though the clouds were thronging around him. and he physically cast himself on him asking for mercy.
[9:33] And don't underestimate the impact that this would have had that day to these people. Here was one of the ruling Pharisees, one of the leaders of religion within Israel, coming to Jesus and pleading with Jesus to help him.
[9:54] This would have been a massive shock to everyone around him at that time. Because what Jairus had stood for previously was what the Jewish leaders controlled.
[10:09] And that also included a hatred for Jesus. So the crowd here were witnessing a remarkable act. Especially as the Jewish leaders thought of Jesus as an imposter.
[10:25] And they were plotting against him all of the time. And ultimately they plotted against him and told a pack of lies that led to him being put to death. These religious leaders.
[10:39] But yet here Jairus fell at Jesus' feet. feet. And with his face in the dust and all of his pride gone he begged Jesus to come with him.
[10:57] To come quickly. To come now to his home to save his daughter. So now in this situation it's very clear that there's no going back for Jairus now.
[11:12] he's made his decision. He's made his move. And everything now depended on Jesus. And I think it's worth noting the way that Mark writes this and the other and Luke as well.
[11:33] The confidence and the assurance that Jairus had in Jesus. here's a man now humbling himself before Jesus and making his plea for help.
[11:50] Somehow Jairus sees that everything depends on trusting in Jesus. If we look now at the woman this woman also made a very important decision.
[12:12] It was huge. She had also heard of this man Jesus of Nazareth. She was determined to get to him. Now the action she took was huge.
[12:27] It was monumental in her circumstances. it was a monumental action in her life as well.
[12:40] But for very different reasons. Because she had to make sure that she was well covered up. The very opposite of Jairus really. She had to make sure that no one recognized her.
[12:53] And she made her way through that crowd. Because she knew that if anyone did notice her, then she would have been pushed to the back and out to the fringes again and away on her own.
[13:07] And yet like Jairus, she knew that this might be her only opportunity ever. And what a plan she adopts.
[13:21] She decides on a very different course of action from the very public profile of Jairus. And we're allowed to listen in to this woman's personal thoughts.
[13:33] And she keeps telling herself that if she could just touch his garments, she would be healed. And then what she planned to do was to slip away and observe and that nobody would ever know.
[13:51] And she would then get on with the rest of her life. That was her plan. we might ask her to do this way because she was an outcast.
[14:04] Was she too ashamed to ask the Lord to heal her? Or she may have been thinking who am I to stop the Lord on his way?
[14:19] There was probably some combination of all these attitudes. we don't really know except this one thing. There was faith.
[14:32] There was faith in there somewhere and that's very clear. That's a key commodity. You must have true faith in Jesus Christ to be saved.
[14:47] Now the promise of salvation does not say that the only people who will be saved are those who have a giant faith. And the promises of God are not addressed to those who have a mighty faith.
[15:06] But God's promises are given to those who have a real trusting faith. faith. You see, a little faith is faith.
[15:21] And a weak faith will lay hold of a strong Christ. Whoever trusts in Jesus, they shall not perish, but they shall have everlasting life.
[15:38] See, Jesus said elsewhere, I have not come to save the righteous or those who are self righteous, but I have come for sinners who need to be saved.
[15:53] So we see there aspects of the faith of both Jairus and that woman. We can look now at the joy that they experienced with the healing.
[16:08] I will carry on with the woman at this point. The last thing this woman wanted to do was to attract attention to herself.
[16:22] And yet, with whatever faith that she had, this sick woman made her way through the crowd until she came close enough to Jesus to stretch out her hand and touch his garment.
[16:40] she had her plan and she thought that she could do it her way, but yet, with only a glance from Jesus, she's on the ground before him, on her knees, trembling.
[16:59] Because the touch of faith was felt by Jesus, even with such a big crowd around about him. this was a special touch and Jesus felt it.
[17:13] He felt it and he asked, who touched me? And even the disciples, we read there, they can't believe that Jesus is asking this because of the huge crowd and there will be people bumping into him all the time.
[17:30] pain, but Jesus senses in himself that power had gone out from him, not merely by being touched, but most importantly, by being touched by someone who has faith that he can heal her.
[17:47] the woman didn't just brush against Jesus and she wasn't just inquisitive about who he was or what he did.
[17:59] This woman, she reached out in faith and she deliberately touched him. And when she realized that she had not escaped notice, she fell at Jesus' feet, trembling with fear.
[18:19] Not a fear of being terrified, as we understand fear, but with a godly fear, sensing who Jesus was, that he was Lord.
[18:34] So she fell at Jesus' feet, trembling with fear and she told him the whole truth of what she had done.
[18:44] she presented herself before him, not knowing what his reaction was going to be. But yet we see from Jesus' reaction, from his response, that she may well have expected a rebuke for what she had done, and as most likely she did, but it wasn't a rebuke at all from Jesus.
[19:11] in fact it was quite the reverse. And this is so beautiful, he said, daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
[19:28] Now we need to take that in. This woman who was ostracized in society and Jesus said, daughter, what does that mean? it means that she is now a child of God.
[19:44] It means that she now belongs to a family yet again, the family of God. What a transformation in this woman's life.
[19:56] And Jesus tells her something of crucial importance in that response. He said, your faith has healed you. it wasn't the hem of the garment that healed her.
[20:11] It was her faith and her trust in Jesus Christ. Because you see, the touch that she made, it was a token or an expression of her faith.
[20:26] And she was healed because of that, because of her faith. for every one of us, you might ask the question, what do we contribute to this salvation?
[20:44] Well, all we contribute is our need and our trust and our obedience to do what God says. That's saving faith.
[20:56] That's a faith that gives honor to Christ. Our contribution to salvation is a recognition of our need of him. And then to trust in him for all of our good and to be obedient to his word.
[21:16] That's the kind of faith that gives honor and praise to Jesus Christ. And we can also consider here that this woman thought that she could be healed by some sort of private act.
[21:35] A private act that she could do and then get on with her life. For a woman who has been a social outcast for many years, for the last 12 years, the healing is only complete when Jesus has publicly identified her.
[21:55] father. And that's interesting. Because what he's done is, what Jesus has done is, that he has called this woman to center stage in front of all of the crowd that were around him.
[22:12] And he commends her faith to everyone present there that day. In fact, he commends her faith to us here this evening as well. declaring to everyone that she is healed and that she is cleansed.
[22:31] My goodness, what a testimony to this woman. And what an example to everyone round about her that day and to ourselves here this evening.
[22:44] She's been taken from one position in society and now completely translated into another as part of the community, as part of God's family, daughter, Jesus called her.
[23:02] And now, here she is with Jesus as her Savior because of her faith and her trust in him. And it leaves me now to ask the question, what are you here this evening?
[23:20] have you ever been in this woman's position? I don't mean having her illness or that she was an outcast in society, but what I mean is, are you moving through the crowd just now trying to get to Jesus?
[23:43] Have you started doing that, knowing that you need to get to Jesus to be healed for this salvation that you so desperately need?
[23:57] Perhaps you are, perhaps you are working your way through the crowd. Perhaps it's just been for a very short time moving towards Jesus through the crowd, or maybe even it's been for a long, long time, time, but you haven't reached Jesus yet.
[24:17] Whether it's a short or long time, it doesn't matter, because this woman knew that only Jesus could heal her, and you know that as well.
[24:32] I can only plead with you to make a sincere effort just like this woman did. you need to push your way through. You need to reach Jesus at all costs.
[24:45] You need to get to him, and reach out to him, and touch him, and grasp hold of him by faith. Only he can save you, and give you eternal life.
[25:03] You know what joy of healing there must have been for this woman that day. Must have been enormous. So we look to Jairus now once again.
[25:20] With Jairus, it's a very different story. As we know, he had already publicly made his desperate plea to Jesus to come at once to heal his precious daughter.
[25:32] But then while we were on the way, we're told in verse 35 that even worse news arrived by messengers from Jairus' home. And they told him, your daughter has died.
[25:43] Don't trouble the teacher anymore. Your daughter is dead. There's no point anymore. Don't bother him any longer, they said.
[25:58] What does scripture tell us? Jesus? But Jairus walked by the side of Jesus. And his faith may also have been a faith that was trembling, imperfect, and full of questions.
[26:19] Yet he walked side by side with Jesus. There was nowhere else to go. where else could he go to now? Whatever it was, Jairus didn't listen to these people who were trying to discourage him from his belief.
[26:40] And he wasn't sidetracked from this path at all. He walked side by side with Jesus. And look at the way that Jesus stimulated and encouraged Jairus on that journey.
[26:52] what did Jesus say to him? Do not fear. Only believe. In other words, don't listen to them.
[27:07] You trust me. And in the face of death, this must have been a supreme challenge for Jairus.
[27:18] it must have been. And even as they arrived at Jesus' home, they could hear the people weeping loudly and wailing.
[27:30] The professional mourners had already arrived there. And Matthew tells us that the flute players were there as well. What happened in that culture were these people who were weeping and wailing and mourning loudly.
[27:50] These were professional mourners and they were required in that culture at all funerals. It must have been because of some made up law or other that demanded it.
[28:03] But they were there, these professional mourners. And Jesus was told, entered the home and he said to the group who were assembled there, why are you making a commotion?
[28:14] Why are you weeping? the child has not died but is asleep. And what did this same crowd do? The crowd laughed at him.
[28:28] They were jeering him. They were mocking him. So Jesus he put them all out. They all had to go out of the house and he took the child's father and mother and his three close disciples and entered the room where the child lay.
[28:48] He took the child by the hand as we read there and said little girl I see to your eyes and she was brought back to life. She was brought back to her parents. She was brought back to her family.
[28:58] her and she and she said to her and she leads me to ask you another question here. Have you even started walking side by side with Jesus yet?
[29:16] And if you have are you ignoring the crowd because you can bet that this crowd won't be much different to the crowd that Jairus had round about him saying don't bother the preacher anymore she's dead.
[29:33] It may be that there may be family or there may be work colleagues, there may be friends, there are people saying to you don't bother going that way. Come back to us. It's not worth it.
[29:45] What's the point? Don't walk with Jesus like that. Don't get interested in his word. just come away and come back to us. There's no point. That's the way the crowd shouts today as well.
[29:57] It may well be that there may be a voice within you or it may be out with you that's saying don't walk with Jesus. Come away from him. If that's happening and if there is someone or people or even a voice in your own head of the devil is getting at you trying to go off that road, you have to ignore them.
[30:22] You have to ignore that voice. You have to ignore these people or persons whatever it may be. With this caution do not leave Jesus aside.
[30:34] Keep walking with him and obey his voice, the voice that is saying to you, do not fear, only believe. What joy there must have been in Jairus' house that day.
[30:52] Imagine the joy that Jairus himself had with all the turmoil he had. He must have gone through mentally in that short time, in that short walk with Jesus. But what joy now at the healing that Jesus had brought and the salvation that had come to his household.
[31:13] Look at how Jesus can change and transform lives. Jairus here, he had power, a house, family and money.
[31:25] This poor woman had nothing, nothing. But both fell at Jesus' feet and both believed and both committed to Jesus in faith.
[31:38] And we need to, I think, take a note of this as well. so that we all have this understanding that first of all, they moved towards Jesus, believing.
[31:54] And it was after that that they received the blessing. So many people are looking for the blessing first before they move towards Jesus, but it's not the way it works.
[32:05] And any of God's people in here tonight will tell you exactly the same thing. We need to move towards Jesus first, believing, and then the blessing comes.
[32:18] Perhaps you're saying to yourself, here this evening, I would love to be a Christian, but what will people think about me? What will others say about me? We can all understand that.
[32:32] You make your way through the cloud, and you reach out to Jesus. you keep walking with Jesus, and you'll be surprised how he will take you through every worry and concern that you might have about things like that.
[32:52] Here in this passage, as it is with all of God's people, faith is the key. But I hear some of you perhaps saying, but I don't have this faith, how can I get this faith?
[33:09] The short answer is, you need grace in your life. Pray to Jesus to gift you his grace. The grace of Jesus is an enabling grace.
[33:25] And it enables you to really believe. And it enables you to have a sincere and trusting faith. that's the starting point for everyone.
[33:37] Pray to Jesus to gift you his enabling precious grace. Right through this passage, faith is that key commodity and the poor woman was as capable of possessing it as Jairus was.
[33:58] Because with Jesus, there is no distinction. salvation. It doesn't matter whether you are young or old or rich or poor. It doesn't matter who or what you are or what you have said in the past or maybe what you have done in the past.
[34:12] That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether you have been hearing the gospel for years. It doesn't matter that perhaps even tonight is the very first time you are hearing the gospel.
[34:22] That doesn't matter. God, this salvation is offered to you. It's offered to you as well right here and right now.
[34:34] And Jesus is holding out his hand for you to go and grasp hold of him and to walk side by side with him. Jairus and this woman, they knew what to do and they knew where to go.
[34:52] What have we do? you also know what to do and who to go to. Will you not go to Jesus as well?
[35:04] May God bless these thoughts to us and our consideration of that passage and may it truly be blessed to each one of us personally.
[35:15] Let's conclude then we'll sing in Psalm 36 from Sing Psalms and you'll find this on page 44 of the Blue Psalm books.
[35:26] Page 44 we'll sing the verses from 5 to 9, four stanzas. Psalm 36 from Sing Psalms on page 44 verse 5 Look at the words in verse 7 How precious is your steadfast love.
[35:59] That's how precious is your grace O Lord. His steadfast love that is continually upon all of us beloved people. That's God's grace that has enabled them to put their trust and faith in Jesus.
[36:16] Let's sing these words with true thankfulness to the Lord. Amen. Your steadfast love is Catholic soul which is heaven high.
[36:37] Your faithfulness is wonderful extending to the sky.
[36:52] Your righteousness is every great, like my dead in my own sea.
[37:09] Your justice is like ocean air, both my man and me, surely.
[37:24] How precious is your sin, God, what confidence it brings.
[37:41] But I am no find sheltering the shadow of your name.
[37:57] They please play in your arms and dreams from streams of your delight.
[38:13] For with you is the source of life in your light, please be mine.
[38:32] Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, rest upon and abide with each one of you now and always. Amen.
[38:43] Amen.