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July 3, 2011 |
Cleveland, Ohio | MetroAlliance Church
Disovering
Jesus: A summer hike through Mark (4-6)
Who Is This Guy?
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(Slide 1)
INTRODUCTION
(Slide 2)
Series Theme Imagery
We’re currently on a trek through Mark
that will take us all summer to complete. Danny kicked it off last week
with a close look at Chapter 4, and a bit of 3. As he stated, we won’t
be going through every chapter and verse of Mark; you’ll need to work on
filling in the gaps.
This is not a day hike or walk around the
block after dinner. It will be a summer-long, arduous trek. You’ll need
the right gear. You’ll need your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace as stated in Ephesians 6, and the water
of life which is the Holy Spirit.
We’ll look to Mark to act as our guidebook
and compass, pointing us toward Jesus, revealing an ever-clearer picture
of who he is.
As we travel together, making camp now and
then, we’ll get to know each other better, and get to know Jesus better.
Just as a campfire in the dark of night
pushes back the darkness around us, we’ll encounter truth and insight
that will bring light to our own thinking and faith, as well as equip us
to bring light into our neighborhoods and communities.
So, get your compasses and guidebooks out,
make sure your hiking boots are laced up as we continue on this amazing
trek.
Today, using a passage from Mark, I want
to tell you a story about a man who was also God. His name is Jesus.
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(Slide 3)
Today’s passage
There are five distinct scenes in this
amazing story. But while each offers unique perspectives, they all share
similarities, and they all reveal a facet of who Jesus was, and who
Jesus is.
We’re going to be walking from Mark 4:35
all the way through Mark 6:6. I want to encourage you to follow along in
your own Bibles marking verses and taking notes in the margin. If you
don’t have a Bible, we have printed out copies of the NET version which
is an excellent tool; please take a copy and write freely in it; it’s
yours to use today and to study on your own whenever you want.
If you’d like to follow along in the NIV,
please feel free to use one of our copies, but please take notes on your
own paper.
By the way, these same stories are covered
in Matthew and Luke a little differently. The styles are different
because different men wrote them and they were addressing different
needs and different audiences. Because there are differences does not
mean there are contradictions or errors; it just means they present
different angles and perspectives.
And now on to Mark and our story.
(Slide 4)
What’s happened so far
Prior to the section of Mark we’re going
to walk through today, Mark has already reported quite a bit of very
interesting detail building up to our five scenes.
For example, Mark has explained that John
the Baptist came to prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus. In Mark
1:38, Jesus states that his ministry and mission is, in part: “[to] go
elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there
too. For that is what I came out here to do.” All of this pointed to the
cross and the culmination of the Old Testament prophecies.
Mark also shares how Jesus was baptized in
the Jordan River, received the Holy Spirit, was acknowledged audibly by
God as His son, and then successfully endured temptation by Satan in the
wilderness.
In addition, Mark reports how Jesus
selected his disciples, cast out demons, healed the sick, and set an
example of prayer.
Mark also describes how the Jewish
religious authorities questioned and challenged Jesus, accusing him of
getting his power from Satan and even being out of his mind.
Then, as Danny shared last week, Mark
reveals how Jesus radically redefines our thinking of family, and how he
began to teach his disciples, as well as preach to the crowds, using
parables.
In this way Jesus was challenging the
religious thinking of the day. He was throwing new light on their
scriptures, which is our Old Testament, and beginning to push back the
darkness in their minds and hearts.
He was revealing to them who he was. John
chapter 5 sheds even more light on this topic.
And this leads to our five-part story for
today.
(Slide 5)
Shifting gears
Jesus dramatically shifts from teaching to
doing things in a way never before seen by Mark’s generation.
While the people knew the stories of the Old Testament; the stories of
God acting and speaking into history; the stories of amazing miracles,
decisive judgment, the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden; …they knew
all about these things. But they had not seen or experienced this kind
of power for hundreds of years.
But that was changing.
As we go through our passage, I’ll be
reading from the NET version, but also recasting the passages to point
out intriguing facets of the stories. I’m doing this to help bring us
into the story, beyond just reading the words. My hope is that we can
experience each of these scenes in a very real and personal way.
Scene one is actually the scene that Danny
ended on last week. It occurs at the end of chapter 4, verses 35-41.
(Slide 6)
SCENE 1: The Storm (Mark 4:35-41)
Jesus had been teaching all day to a
predominantly Jewish audience on the western shores of the Sea of
Galilee in what is part of modern Israel today. He was addressing people
who had a pretty good grasp of their religious history and followed
Jewish law, much of which is described in great detail in the book of
Leviticus.
As Danny pointed out, in order to create a
sort of outdoor auditorium, Jesus moved away from the crowd and stood in
a boat to teach.
Think about being down at Edgewater Park,
with the waves lapping into shore, on a hot day, teaching from a rocking
boat. The sun goes down, the midges come out, and it’s time to move
along.
So, Jesus says, “Let’s go over to the
other side of the lake.” The Sea of Galilee is smaller than Lake Erie,
but it’s still a very big lake. It’s about 8 miles across and 13 miles
long, a little over 100 square miles, surrounded by cliffs and steep
shoreline.
Let’s read the passage:
(Slide 7)
4:35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus
said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.”
4:36 So after leaving the crowd, they took him
along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him.
4:37 Now a great windstorm developed and the
waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped.
4:38 But he was in the stern, sleeping on a
cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we
are about to die?”
4:39 So he got up and rebuked the wind, and
said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then the wind stopped, and it was
dead calm.
4:40 And he said to them, “Why are you
cowardly? Do you still not have faith?”
4:41 They were overwhelmed by fear and said to
one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!”
It was not uncommon for squalls to pop up
on the lake. But, the first four disciples Jesus selected – Peter,
James, Andrew, and John – we all experienced fishermen. They knew how to
sail and they knew the lake. A few other hangers-on followed in their
boats.
It was night. Jesus was tired. He slept
while the disciples took turns at the sails and rudder. Perhaps the four
experienced disciples took turns working with one or two of the others.
I’m sure that they discussed the events of
the day, especially the part where Jesus had challenged their ability to
grasp the meaning of the parables.
Suddenly, things changed as the perfect
storm materialized in the darkness. The disciples are terrified for
their lives.
Obviously something about this storm was unique.
Perhaps it was Matthew the tax collector
that led the panic, not having any experience as a sailor or fisherman.
But “they” – many of the disciples – went to Jesus in fear for their
lives, waking him and asking. “We who are about to die, awake you!” Or
something to that effect.
Perhaps the storm was larger than anything
that had occurred in the experience of the fishermen disciples. Perhaps
Satan was at work attempting to instill fear and doubt in their hearts,
in the darkness – it was pitch black since the storm clouds covered the
moon and stars. Perhaps it was all part of God’s plan to provide the
platform for Jesus to demonstrate very dramatically who he was.
Jesus wakes up, stands in the rocking
boat, and calmly, authoritatively, and definitively tells nature to shut
up and get quiet.
“Be quiet! Calm down!”
Immediately the winds stop and the waves
go flat. There is no winding down of the storm. As the NET puts it, “it
was dead calm.” The whole 100 plus square miles of raging lake is now
smooth as a mirror, and there is no wind.
If you were there, what would be going through your mind and heart in
that moment? What would you be feeling? What would you be thinking?
Just as in chapter 4, verse 13, as Danny
shared last week, where Jesus bluntly stated, “Don’t you understand this
parable? Then how will you understand any parable?” Jesus calls the
disciples to task here, in even stronger terms in 4:40, “And he said to
them, ‘Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?’”
Did he just call them cowards? Wow. And
then, I’m guessing, Jesus went back to sleep to leave them alone to
ponder what was going on.
Remember all that Mark has reported as to
what they have seen Jesus do and heard Jesus say up to now. And,
remember too, these men were familiar with the powerful stories of
Genesis and the Old Testament.
This was one of what would be many moments
where the disciples probably avoided eye contact with Jesus, looked
around, mumbled under their breath, “I don’t know. I was scared. I’m new
here ….” But thinking, “We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
There it is.
They’ve heard the stories of God acting in
the history of the Old Testament, and now they are seeing it come to
life in front of them through Jesus, the Son of the Creator.
(Slide 8)
And as the light begins to dawn in their hearts and minds, they solidly
face the crucial question: WHO IS THIS GUY? WHO IS THIS JESUS?
This is a question we all must answer!
WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? TO ME?
Jesus wasn’t the only teacher of the day
who had followers. A teacher with disciples was nothing new. But, still,
they had sensed something different about this man. There was more to
him than the others they had seen and heard.
Possibly, until this moment, they had not
truly thought about exactly why they had both chosen and felt compelled
to follow this particular man.
In life, storms of various kinds, as scary
and awful as they may seem, can be catalysts for change and insight.
This storm forced the disciples to get even more serious about what they
were up to, and it began to reveal exactly who Jesus was to them.
Their darkened understanding, a sort of
cluelessness, was being pushed back as the truth began to dawn and sink
in.
Since they were in the middle of the lake and they needed to get to the
other shore, they probably had to row the boat now that there was no
wind. And, while it may have crossed their minds, no one was going to
wake Jesus again and ask for just enough breeze to fill their sails.
They’d had enough chastising for one day.
As their adrenaline levels returned to
normal and their fear subsided replaced by awe, Jesus sleeps, and the
disciples have some time to think and talk about this new revelation:
(Slide 9)
Jesus reveals that he is Lord over the natural world and that nature is
subject to him.
Scene Two: The Legion (Mark 5:1-20)
(Slide 10)
As dawn breaks, they pull into shore on the east bank of the Sea of
Galilee. They are entering what is part of Jordan today. This is the
land of the Gentiles; those who are considered unclean and unworthy of
God by the Jews. Basically, us! If you’re not a Jew, you’re a Gentile.
The good news is Jesus loves Gentiles and
came so we, too, can receive the Gospel.
True to Mark’s fast-paced journalistic
style, Jesus immediately gets out of the boat and is immediately
confronted by a man horribly afflicted with demons.
In fact, Mark implies that there are
actions taking place simultaneously in rapid fire.
(Slide 11)
5:1 So they came to the other side of the
lake, to the region of the Gerasenes.
5:2 Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat,
a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him.
5:3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could
bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
5:4 For his hands and feet had often been
bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken
the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5:5 Each night and every day among the tombs
and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
(Slide 12)
5:6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran
and bowed down before him.
5:7 Then he cried out with a loud voice,
“Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God – do
not torment me!”
5:8 (For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of
that man, you unclean spirit!”)
5:9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And
he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
5:10 He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send
them out of the region.
The demon-afflicted guy is coming to
Jesus, calling out to him, and announcing that he knows who Jesus is!
At the same time Jesus, who knows who the
demons are, is rebuking them and telling them to get out of the man.
In part, this is something the disciples have already seen Jesus do. In
fact, it was normal practice of the day for Jewish Rabbis to also cast
out demons.
But something very different is happening
here.
The demons, or at least the spokes-demon,
is addressing Jesus. He is crying out, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of
the Most High God! I implore you by God – do not torment me!”
(Slide 13)
Just as a side note, you may have questions about demons and the
influence of evil and would like more information on how to deal with
these. I encourage you to attend the Truth Jam when it comes around
again this fall. The Truth Jam covers many of these issues. In the
meantime, you may want to take a look at books by Neil T. Anderson, such
as “The Bondage Breaker.” Or, for a different take, “The
Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is very insightful. Or, “Preparing
for Battle: A Handbook on Spiritual Warfare” by Mark Bubeck from
Moody Publishers is useful and one I had a hand in helping to write.
The bottom line is, if you are in Christ,
as James 4:7 states, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.”
Okay, back to the story,
So here is this crazed, demon-wracked man
who is running to Jesus. He is unclean by Jewish standards because,
among other reasons, he lives with the dead in the tombs. He is clearly
under the power of the demons.
So why is he running to Jesus?
Are the demons driving him to Jesus,
knowing who Jesus is? Or, is the remnant of the man afflicted, who,
underneath the torment sees a glimmer of hope, and that spark of hope is
driving him to Jesus? Or both?
If you’ve watched some of the Star Trek
series and are familiar with the Borg, who are robot or cybernetic
creatures whose motto is “resistance is futile,” you’ll be familiar with
the episodes where Jean Luc, the captain, is captured by these cruel
aliens.
He is “possessed” by them as they “absorb”
him into their machinery. He eventually breaks free and describes the
experience.
He felt the mind of the Borg and, in a
sense, thought their thoughts; he knew their true purpose was to steal,
kill, and destroy. But at the same time he retained a sense of himself
as a human being. He was like a spy in their head.
I wonder if this was what this man, afflicted with what appeared to be
thousands of demons, experienced?
He likely felt self-loathing, lost, dirty,
alone, hopelessly oppressed, and ashamed. Have you ever felt like that?
At any rate, he comes to Jesus and the demons beg for mercy. This is the
only time recorded in the New Testament that Jesus actually engages in
conversation with a demon.
Jesus asks his name and he states it as
Legion. Legion is a military term indicating a large contingent of
soldiers. It could be 2,000 or 6,000 – but it’s a big group. By using
this term, it gives the encounter a military feel. This is a battle,
although it’s pretty one-sided.
Why is this Legion begging for mercy and
asking to be sent into the pigs? Because this time has been preordained
for Jesus to visibly demonstrate yet another aspect of who he is.
The demons, knowing they are going to be
dealt with, beg to be sent into the herd of pigs abiding in the fields
nearby. Sounds a little bit like the Christmas story!
Apparently, for demons, it’s better to
live in the pigs than go wander in the wilderness. Pigs, for Jews, are
unclean animals.
Anyway, did you know that Satan and his
demons know that they are doomed to destruction? They know it! Here,
they’re trying to buy a little more time.
Jesus gives them permission. Let’s jump in
again:
(Slide 14)
5:11 There on the hillside, a great herd of
pigs was feeding.
5:12 And the demonic spirits begged him, “Send
us into the pigs. Let us enter them.”
5:13 Jesus gave them permission. So the
unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down
the steep slope into the lake, and about two thousand were drowned in the
lake.
(Slide 15)
5:14 Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the
news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had
happened.
5:15 They came to Jesus and saw the
demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind – the one
who had the “Legion” – and they were afraid.
5:16 Those who had seen what had happened to
the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs.
5:17 Then they asked Jesus to leave their
region.
The demons leave the man, enter the pigs.
The pigs jump in the lake and drown and the pig-herders who had been
watching their “flocks” by day, run into town to share this news.
Again, a little reminiscent of the
Christmas story. But with a twist.
For the man, what’s happened is great
news. For the pig-herders, this is horrible news!
So, what’s happened here?
The man is sitting there, completely free
of demons, in his right whole mind, soaking in what has just happened.
The darkness has been completely cleared away in his head and heart.
The disciples and the other hangers-on who
crossed the lake with them are observing and absorbing what they’ve just
seen. And, of course, what they’ve just heard – the demons referring to
Jesus as the Son of the Most High God!
Dead pigs are littering that corner of the Sea of Galilee, and the
people from the nearby town are arriving on the scene, taking it all in.
They see the man who had been afflicted
with demons for years and years, sitting there unlike they had ever seen
him before. There was a dramatic change in his demeanor. This was new.
This was different. This was radical change. This was scary in a
different way.
For years they had, in a sense,
accommodated the evil in their midst because it didn’t respond to
anything they did. Chains didn’t work, so the man was made an outcast to
be avoided. And now what were they supposed to do with him?
Then there were the pigs. All dead. This
was an economic disaster. This was scarier to them than the demons had
been. This was personal to them! It wasn’t just about the demon guy
anymore. And how could they be sure the demons wouldn’t come back as
zombie pigs?
Their response? “Please, Jesus, whoever
you are, go away!”
Wow. Jesus was rejected. Isn’t there a
prophecy about that?
They were amazed by what He did for the
man, but they are terrified of what they perceived as damaging to their
livelihoods. Dealing with this guy could be risky; it might cost too
much. But this isn’t the end of this part of the story yet. Jesus is
going to give them time to believe.
Jesus and his disciples get back in the
boat and the man who had been freed of the demons pleads to be allowed
to come with Jesus.
(Slide 16)
Side note: Jesus shares a story in Matthew 12 (Luke 11) "When an evil
spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and
does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'
When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in
order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked
than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of
that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this
wicked generation."
Why is the condition worse in this little
sidebar? Because once the evil or the demons were gone, the cleansed
heart did not take in the new resident – namely Jesus.
In this case with the
freed-demon-afflicted man, his heart has been ignited with the reality
of who Jesus is and he wants to share this good news. The demons are
gone and Jesus has taken up occupancy.
What Jesus does here is remarkable and a
clear lesson for us. Let’s jump back in at 5:18-20. Keep in mind that
Mark is writing this after the fact, and is reporting on what happened
after they left Jordan:
(Slide 17)
5:18 As he was getting into the boat the man
who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him.
5:19 But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to
your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you,
that he had mercy on you.”
5:20 So he went away and began to proclaim in
the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.
(Slide 18)
Jesus sends this man, whose name we never learn, into Jordan (Decapolis;
the yellow shape on the map) as an evangelist! He is the first
missionary to Jordan! He has no religious training, no idea of theology,
no familiarity with Jewish scriptures.
All he has is the story of his powerful
encounter with Jesus, and his personal experience of mercy and grace.
Without hesitation, the man obeys, spreads
the word throughout the vast area of Jordan, and people are “amazed” by
his story. As Danny talked about last week, this man prepares the soil
for the full Gospel that comes to them later. His story amazes them. It
intrigues them. It leaves them open for more. He is making camp and
lighting campfires all along the trail that begin to push back the
darkness as he points people to Jesus.
As they sail and row back across the Sea
of Galilee, the disciples ponder what they have witnessed.
Unlike any other encounter with demons
they have seen or heard of, Jesus spoke with authority and thousands of
demons were sent packing.
(Slide 19)
Jesus reveals that he is Lord over the spiritual realm and that evil
cannot resist him.
(Slide 20)
Scene 4 introduced: The little girl (5:21-24)
Mark is reporting chronologically and
introduces what is actually scene 4 at this point. He sets up the scene
and then, with dramatic flair, puts it on hold. It’s a great way to
build tension and interest.
(Slide 21)
5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in a boat to
the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea.
5:22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named
Jairus, came up, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.
5:23 He asked him urgently, “My little
daughter is near death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be
healed and live.”
5:24 Jesus went with him, and a large crowd
followed and pressed around him.
Jesus, his disciples, and the hangers-on
sail back across the Sea of Galilee, back to where they had left the
night before. Perhaps they land ashore in the late afternoon. The people
they left behind were still there. As soon as Jesus leaves the boat,
he’s thronged by the masses.
They’ve waited all night and all day for
Him to come back. They have sicknesses they want healed, they want to
see signs and wonders, they want entertainment, and some are even
interested in what he has to say. A few have only bad intentions.
Parting the crowd, a ruler of the local
synagogue comes through. The crowd makes way. Jairus, a prominent Jewish
leader, is the executive manager of the local Jewish church. His job is
to make sure everything runs smoothly and that all the elements of the
law are followed to the letter. He would be considered a righteous and
clean man, someone who would shun and pull away from anyone who was
considered unclean or who had touched another unclean person or thing.
He approaches Jesus on behalf of his
daughter who is sick. And he comes to Jesus in reverence, respect, and
awe. He bows. He acknowledges Jesus as a superior falling at his feet!
Perhaps he had heard Jesus teach the day
before, and his heart was good soil into which faith had sprung up and
taken root! At any rate, there he his, a prominent Jewish leader, bowing
before Jesus, the man other Jewish leaders are already plotting against!
Jairus has faith that Jesus can heal his
daughter. Jesus agrees to go with him. The crowd presses in, eager to
see what’s going to happen next, and this is only the introduction to
scene 4.
It’s at this point that scene 3 breaks in.
We’ll pick up scene 4 later in verse 35. But first, something really
interesting is going to take place.
(Slide 22)
Scene 3: The bleeding woman (Mark 5:25-34)
In this thronging, throbbing crowd is a
woman – an unclean woman according to Jewish law – pushing her way
through to Jesus, desperate to simply touch the hem of his robe.
This woman has been suffering from sort of
menstrual problem that has caused her to bleed every day for 12 years.
For 12 years she has been an unclean outcast, forced to remain
essentially alone.
Why? For the details, take a look later at
Leviticus 15. Anyone with an issue of blood was considered unclean. They
were required to not touch others, and to wash everything they wore or
sat on every day they were unclean. This means this woman had to wash
her clothing and her furniture every single day for 12 years.
She did not have a washing machine or
Clorox Cleaners. There were no convenience stores where she could send
her man down to pick up a box of pads.
While the text doesn’t state it, it’s
possible that she had been married, developed the bleeding issue as a
result of sexual intercourse or childbirth, and been divorced or left by
her husband because of the bleeding. I don’t know.
I do know she had to wash her furniture with water drawn from a well or
carried from a river. She then had to wash her cleaning rags and her
blood-stained clothing. You can imagine how other people talked about
her and shunned her as she hung out her stained items to dry.
In addition, the medical arts were not as
sophisticated as what we have access to now. There were no female
gynecologists; all the doctors were men. This was a huge embarrassment.
Who knows the abuse she suffered looking for a cure? It cost her all her
money and she only got worse.
Add to this that constant bleeding leaves
a person anemic and weak. Anemia is not fun – I’ve been dealing with it
for months. Last winter my iron counts were so low that I could barely
stand up at times. I’m okay now because I’ve gotten good medical
treatment and iron infusions. This woman did not have access to this
level of treatment.
She was isolated, embarrassed, shamed, alone, weak, and desperate. Have
you ever felt like this?
At any rate, she seeks Jesus out. She’s
heard that he heals the sick. She’s heard some of his teaching. A spark
has been lit in her heart and is growing. She gathers up what little
strength she has, makes her way as anonymously as possible through the
crowds, seeking out Jesus.
Let’s read 5:25-5:34:
(Slide 23)
5:25 Now a woman was there who had been
suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years.
5:26 She had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had
spent all that she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse.
5:27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up
behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
5:28 for she kept saying, “If only I touch his
clothes, I will be healed.”
5:29 At once the bleeding stopped, and she
felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
(Slide 24)
5:30 Jesus knew at once that power had gone
out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my
clothes?”
5:31 His disciples said to him, “You see the
crowd pressing against you and you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
5:32 But he looked around to see who had done
it.
5:33 Then the woman, with fear and trembling,
knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him
the whole truth.
5:34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has
made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
As she approaches Jesus, over and over she
keeps thinking, “If only I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” What’s
she doing? She’s praying! She’s expressing her faith! She’s hoping
against hope that tomorrow she’ll wake up and the bleeding will have
stopped!
But what she receives is even better –
instant healing. Sometimes, that’s the way the Lord chooses to work.
Jesus knew he had been touched in a
special way.
The disciples, still not fully up to speed
with who they’re dealing with, thinks he’s a little bonkers asking who
touched him. “Are you kidding, Jesus?”
Why did Jesus insist on calling this woman
out? He knew what was going on with this woman. And he knew she needed
to be affirmed in her faith.
As Jesus is looking around, he sees her,
they lock eyes, and she is terrified. She shouldn’t even be there
because everyone she’s touched is now technically unclean! And here was
Jairus, the synagogue ruler who understood the consequence of her
actions. What would he do? What would all these people think?
But, compelled, she confesses her full,
heart-breaking story in front of everyone.
Please hear this: Confession within the
body of Christ should always be a freeing action, not something that
elicits one iota of condemnation. Jesus was about to model this truth.
He looks at her with compassion and
reassures her that her faith, not the act of touching his robe, has
healed her. Touching his robe was an expression of her faith, it wasn’t
the solution, his robe is not some kind of magical talisman.
He demonstrated that people others view as
unclean and outcasts, he views as worthy of his attention and he makes
them clean. She leaves assured of her healing and affirmed in her
actions to seek him out.
And everyone marvels at this new
revelation:
(Slide 25)
Jesus reveals that he is Lord over the physical realm and
sickness is no match for him.
(Slide 26)
Scene 4 continued: The little girl (5:35-43)
Just as Jesus is reassuring the woman that
she has been healed, men come with a message for Jairus. They bring word
that his daughter has already died.
Now, there’s an odd tone to their message.
Instead of focusing on presenting the information in a comforting way to
Jairus, they seem more intent on keeping Jesus from coming to see the
girl.
Let’s read the whole scene:
(Slide 27)
5:35 While he was still speaking, people came
from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter has died. Why
trouble the teacher any longer?”
5:36 But Jesus, paying no attention to what
was said, told the synagogue ruler, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”
5:37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the
brother of James.
5:38 They came to the house of the synagogue
ruler where he saw noisy confusion and people weeping and wailing loudly.
5:39 When he entered he said to them, “Why are
you distressed and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”
5:40 And they began making fun of him. But he
put them all outside and he took the child’s father and mother and his own
companions and went into the room where the child was.
(Slide 28)
5:41 Then, gently taking the child by the
hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to
you, get up.”
5:42 The girl got up at once and began to walk
around (she was twelve years old). They were completely astonished at this.
5:43 He strictly ordered that no one should
know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
As we saw in the earlier verse where Mark
introduced this story, Jairus comes to Jesus on behalf of his daughter.
He’s demonstrating that when people can’t come to Jesus, we can take
Jesus to them.
Then when the men announce that his
daughter has died, Jesus rebuffs the messengers by telling Jairus to not
be afraid, only believe. Jairus has just witnessed the healing of the
woman with the bleeding illness, so his faith is bolstered by the words
of Jesus.
As they approach the home, there’s a lot
of noise. It was common then to hire professional mourners, and they are
busy doing their jobs. They aren’t really in grief, which becomes
readily obvious when Jesus rebukes them saying, “She’s not dead, she’s
only sleeping.”
If one of our relatives had just died and
Jesus came to us saying they were only asleep, what would our reaction
be? Probably something that expressed a wee bit of hope and expectation.
These mourners just laughed and mocked
Jesus. The attitudes were derisive. Jesus puts them out and closes the
door. Just as Jesus ignore them, we are to ignore those who mock us as
we do ministry.
Jairus and his wife, while hopeful, are
probably heartbroken, confused, wondering as they see their little girl
laying there not breathing, pronounced dead by the doctors.
Jesus is demonstrating that he does not
give up on those others have given up on. Even those we may think are
too far gone and hopeless cases, He says they’re just sleeping.
Jesus touches the girl, who, because she
is dead is unclean, and speaks to her. Immediately, without hesitation,
she gets up and starts walking around as if nothing has happened. He
tells them to keep this to themselves. Why? Because he is already
pressed everywhere he goes, making his travels difficult as he completes
his mission and ministry of preaching the Gospel.
What they have just witnessed is something
new and dramatic: raising someone from the dead and doing it with
authority. Jairus’ view of his religion and faith are being radically
challenged. If word spread too quickly about Jesus raising the dead,
even more crowds would press him wanting to see these signs and wonders,
not really caring to hear his message.
Everyone would learn soon enough. For now,
the disciples who were with him witnessed and began processing this
latest revelation.
(Slide 29)
Jesus reveals that he is Lord over the soulish realm and death
cannot defy him.
(Slide 30)
Scene 5: The unbelievers (6:1-6)
As Danny pointed out last week, Jesus
frequently tried to pull away from the crowds. Ministry is exhausting
and all ministers need to rest, recuperate, and recharge. Jesus was no
different. He was God and he was fully man, and as a man, he got tired.
So, Jesus decides to go to his hometown
for a visit and a little R&R.
Keep in mind all that had happened just
over the last couple of days:
He had taught the crowds for hours and
hours.
Spent time giving special education to the
disciples.
He’s crossed the Sea of Galilee twice.
He’s calmed a massive storm, delivered a
man of thousands of demons, healed a woman who had been sick for years,
and raised a little girl from the dead.
And he’s been constantly pressed in upon
by large, noisy crowds.
So now, he wants to go where he can find
quiet acceptance and rest. He wants to go home and hang out with his
childhood friends and family, who know him and love and accept him just
as he is. Right?
But what happens? Let’s read:
(Slide 31)
6:1 Now Jesus left that place and came to his
hometown, and his disciples followed him.
6:2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach
in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he
get these ideas? And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What
are these miracles that are done through his hands?
6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary
and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here
with us?” And so they took offense at him.
(Slide 32)
6:4 Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not
without honor except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his
own house.”
6:5 He was not able to do a miracle there,
except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
6:6 And he was amazed because of their
unbelief. Then he went around among the villages and taught.
What in the world? Is this how you are treated
when you go home? Well, for some, maybe. It’s not unusual for people to
accuse those who have found success as putting on airs or being uppity, and
to express jealousy toward them.
Sadly, that’s what Jesus encountered.
While others in the preceding scenes had expressed some sort of emotion,
his friends just turned a cold shoulder. And they were insulting!
In Jesus’s day, when a son was introduced,
the correct and honorable way to do it was to say, “This is the son of
so-and-so his father.” To refer to Jesus as merely a carpenter and as
his mother’s son was a slap in the face.
Now, on one hand, they correctly discerned
that his “authority” did not come from his earthly connections or
status. But they were totally wrong to assume he had no authority at
all; this was a stark denial of the miracles and teachings they clearly
were aware of. They were denying God, not just the man Jesus.
What was the result? They had no faith, no
awareness of their own needs, and therefore Jesus had nothing to offer
them. He can’t give you what you won’t accept; what you won’t
acknowledge you need.
He was amazed at their unbelief. I’m sure
this broke his heart. Not because they rejected him as much as he wasn’t
able to meet needs he knew were there.
If you were to come into a million dollar
inheritance, who are you most likely to help and share your money with?
Your family and friends! What Jesus had to offer was way better than a
measly million bucks, but his hometown folks were not interested.
So, instead of accepting Jesus, his
hometown folks raise the second significant question. Remember, the
first question was raised by his disciples: They asked, “Who is this
guy?” and have now seen him demonstrate the answer.
(Slide 33)
Now, the question raised is, “Who does this guy think he is?”
It’s a dismissive and rude question.
It’s the kind of common response we get when we speak out against
cultural sins like divorce, pornography, homosexuality, drugs, alcohol
abuse, and more; those who are indulging in these lifestyles sneer at us
and question, “Who do you think you are telling us how to live? Who made
you God?”
They reject us, but worse, they reject the
truth and they reject God. When this happens, we need to move on just as
Jesus did in this last scene.
Since he wasn’t able to do a miracle
there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them, he
left, and he went around among the villages and taught, carrying on his
ministry and mission of preaching the Gospel to those would were good
soil and willing to receive him because…
(Slide 34)
Jesus wants you to come to him, in faith, believing He is Lord
over your life, so he can give you what you need.
CONCLUSION
So, here we are, on this July 4th weekend,
celebrating our freedom and independence, and being confronted with two
questions:
Who is Jesus to you?
The question the disciples raised was, Who
is this guy? They then witnessed the answer as they continued to follow
him as he:
-
reveals that he is Lord over the natural world
and that nature is subject to him.
-
reveals that he is Lord over the spiritual
realm and that evil cannot resist him.
-
reveals that he is Lord over the physical
realm and sickness is no match for him.
-
reveals that he is Lord over the soulish realm
and death cannot defy him.
And then there’s the dismissive question
his homey’s raised as they walked away from him: Who does this Jesus
think he is? Their assessment was that he was a nobody, and so he was
unable to do anything for them, because…
Jesus wants you to come to him, in faith, believing He is Lord over your
life, so he can give you what you need.
(Slide 35)
Who is Jesus to you?
What about you?
Are you being tossed around by the
tempests and storms of life and need a savior who will bring you peace?
He can speak peace into your life if you come to him.
Are you being pressed in by the enemy,
hounded by demonic forces or personal demons of sinful habits and need
real freedom?
He can free you if you come to him.
Are you experiencing physical illness, the
flu or a chronic ailment, and need healing? He can heal whatever your
issue is if you come to him.
Are you in a place where you feel
spiritually, emotionally, or mentally dead? Have others given up on you?
Do you need a lift, a rising from your spiritual grave?
Have you never given your heart to the
Lord, but sense a tugging toward him right now?
He will give you new life if you come to him.
(Slide 36)
Jesus is
If you need prayer for any of these
reasons, after I close in prayer, I want you to come forward. Juri, I,
and others here will pray with you, one on one, for whatever your need
is.
Mark, in this passage, has taken us on a
trek of discovery, revealing Jesus along the way, pointing us to his
authority as the son of the living God, and leading us to the one who is
the way, the truth, and the life.
Part of the discovery includes seeing how much we need Jesus.
Today, whatever has you in chains, Jesus
can give you true and lasting freedom, if you will come to him. If you
are literally unable to get out of your chair to come up front, then
grab someone around you and they will bring Jesus to you right there.
But if you will not come, Jesus cannot do
for you what you need him to do. So, after I pray, please come. Don’t be
afraid, don’t be embarrassed, don’t hesitate. Jesus is ready to meet you
where you are, as you are, right now.
Let’s stand and pray, and then come if you
need peace, healing, or new life.
[Lord, help! Amen.]
Please come.
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