...Jesus loves you!...

Jesus Stills a Storm

“35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac

CHAPTER 5 

1They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ 8 For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ 9 Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.

14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed

21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ 24 So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ 29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ 31 And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?”’ 32 He looked all round to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat” Mark 4:35-5:43.

Dear friends, the end of chapter 4 and all of chapter 5 tell us a few things: There is no great lack of connection between the words of Jesus and His deeds in Mark’s Gospel. Both demonstrate Jesus’ authority, and both convey hidden meanings. Both have the potential to reveal the identity of Jesus, the nature of His mission, the presence of the kingdom, and the implications for discipleship. Notice how this section of Mark includes four miracles, each narrated in detail: the stilling of a storm (4:35-41), the salvation from demon possession (5:1-20), the salvation from illness and uncleanness (5:24b-34), and the resurrection from death (5:35-43).

The first two stories are linked by the themes of the dangerous sea (home of the demonic?) and demons (who perish in the sea). No surprise here, as we talked about yesterday. The first story asks of Jesus, Who then is this? (4:41); the second story gives us the answer, Son of the Most High God (5:7). Both teach about discipleship!

The second and third miracles focus on individuals whose conditions are unimaginably pitiable. A man is driven to insanity by a legion of demons and a woman is driven to despair by health problems, exploiters, and an ostracizing social religious system. Both victims experience complete healing, including social restoration and full salvation.

Today, I want to look at Mark 5:24-34, the story of the unclean woman saved by Jesus. In the crowd is a very needy woman. Now let’s be honest: we have all been very needy in our lives. Perhaps today you are among the very needy. Our sin, for example, makes us very needy. This woman, then, represents all of us! Mark tells us that she has had continuous (presumably vaginal) bleeding for twelve years. The loss of blood makes her highly anemic. But her problems are much greater than that. She has suffered many cruel treatments at the hands of doctors who know no effective remedy.

Mark is rather blunt about the incompetence of the doctors and the futility of their methods. Luke includes this story in his Gospel and says this of the doctor: “43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her” Luke 8:43. Mark (above) says this about her treatment: “25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” Mark’s goal is not to discount the medical profession of the day, but to magnify how great are the healing resources and powers of Jesus. Treatments by doctors have been counterproductive, have not led to healing, have made things worse, and have used up all her financial resources.

The text only alludes to her most serious problem: she is unclean (see Leviticus 15:25-27). She is untouchable, forbidden normal human contact (especially sexual contact), and excluded from religious services and ceremonies. If she has ever been married, she is almost certainly now divorced.

But everything here does not just point to physical healing! Her suffering, her knowledge of Jesus, her inner thoughts, her secret and daring advancements into the crowd, and her equally daring touch of Jesus’ cloak, violates the tradition and purity laws barred women, especially “unclean” women, from doing that. So please notice that the focus shifts to Jesus and to something more than just a physical healing!

Jesus is aware that healing power has flowed out of Him (just as the woman knows that it flowed into her). Perhaps Jesus felt something; perhaps it was an inner knowledge similar to what Mark has reported on other occasions (see 2:8; 3:5; 12:15). But make no mistake about it: Jesus’ next question is to be taken not as lack of knowledge on His part, but Jesus’ attempt to draw out the woman.

“Who touched my clothes?”, Jesus asks (see v. 30), in a crowd where everyone is crowding against him. In verse 32, Jesus follows up the question with a searching glance, presumably waiting for the woman to come forward. But Mark first reports the disciples’ inappropriate interruption.

She comes trembling with fear. Is it awe and wonder at Jesus’ power she has experienced? Or is it fear of Jesus not approving of what she has done, a woman in a public place, touching him, drawing on His power from God?

It would be a huge challenge for her to persuade anyone afterward that she managed to sneak into the crowd, experience healing in the presence of Jesus, and sneak back out without being noticed. It would be the ultimate indignity to continue to be shunned and excluded as unclean, even after being healed and cleansed.

But I love what Jesus says: “Daughter! Your faith has made you well.” The word, daughter, is not paternalistic, but Jesus’ expression of endearment, acceptance, and relationship. Imagine the impact on one who has been shunned, excluded, and cut off from relationships. Now she is included.

And this, my dear friends, is what I want you to remember. Jesus loves you. You belong to Him! You are a son and daughter of His family! He loves you and forgives you! He heals you. 

Don’t ever forget this!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner!