The Book of Mark #30, chapter 5:21-34, pt 2
The Book of Mark
The Power and Passion Jesus, Part 2
Mark 5:21-34
 
We began last week to look at a set of characteristics that describe the Lord and how He ministered so that we can know how we are to live and minister and respond to the world we live in. They are not just characteristics of Him; they are a pattern for us. We are drawing them from the story of two miracles that are recorded in Mark 5. 
 
It is there we find a man who was a ruler in the Jewish synagogue who has a 12-year old daughter that is dying and He comes to Jesus to ask Him to heal her. 
 
And there we find the first characteristic.  He was accessible.  People could get to him.  He didn’t isolate Himself or turn them away. 
 
The second characteristic flows out of the first and that is He was
 
2. Available
 
Now at first glance, I realize that sounds like the same thing, but being available digs a little deeper.  When I use the word available, I mean he was able to be touched and contacted.  You could talk to Him and interact with Him. 
 
To put that in modern terms, the IRS is accessible.  You can get online and pull up all their resources and print off all the forms you need. 
But Jesus is not just a cold, hard, distant accessible source of good information. 
 
He gets in the mix.  You can talk with Him and He will give of Himself in time and energy and effort. 
 
Notice the first phrase of verse 24
 
He just stopped everything in the midst of this mass of people and became available to this one man.  It took so effort, but He did what was necessary to minister to this man in need. 
 
By the way, that is a response to this man’s faith. 
 
Verse 23
 
And Jesus just drops everything and goes.  By the way, there we see this integral connection between pity and power.  This is the power of God motivated by the pity and compassion He feels in His heart.  What does the book of Hebrews tell us? 
 
Hebrews 4:15 tells us we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.  So how do we respond? 
 
Verse 16.  We come boldly to the throne of grace where we obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
 
Pity and power.  Jesus understands our struggles and weaknesses and He can do something about them. 
 
I love Matthew 12:20 which basically quotes Isaiah 42:3, “A bruised reed He will not break and smoking flax He will not quench.”
 
When someone is bruised and battered and broken and the flame is about to go out, He doesn’t break that person further.  He doesn’t blow that wick out, He comes to bring rest and strength and restoration. As you study the gospels, keep your eyes open for those times when Jesus was “moved with compassion”.  It is a classic hallmark of His earthly life. 
 
So off they go.  So far, so good!  Everything is coming together just as this man had hoped it would.  He found Jesus and Jesus was willing to come home with Him.  His heart must have been beating with joy as he anticipated that his daughter would be well as soon as they reached the house.
 
But on the way, he discovers another characteristic of Jesus and that is He was
 
3.  Interruptible
 
Now this one most likely needs a little work in your life.  And the need can demonstrate itself in a couple of different ways.  Sometimes we get busy doing the work of the Lord.  We’re out there getting it done and something happens we didn’t anticipate or expect.  Does that mess with your groove? 
 
Or what about, like this man, when you feel you’ve got the Lord all to yourself and someone else horns in on the action?  Don’t you know this man was frustrated with this woman? 
She was enough of a bother as it was, much less when his daughter is dead!  But the Lord is interruptible and we find this miracle inside the miracle.
 
Verses 25-34
 
Now this woman is described in a lot of detail. In fact, there are seven participial phrases used to describe this woman and her condition.  And just to simplify it, she is a female who has a bleeding problem that has plagued her for as long as Jairus’ daughter has been alive..
 
And for all these years she has lived and dealt with, not only the physical complications and issues this condition brings, but the societal and religious exclusion it created.
 
She was considered to be unclean according to Jewish law.  That meant she couldn’t go to the synagogue, couldn’t go to the temple. She was an outcast.  If she touched her husband, he was unclean. If she touched her children, they were unclean . If she touched her friends, they were unclean. If she touched a stranger, he was unclean. And as long as the bleeding continued there was no way to be made clean. 
 
Verse 26 tells us she had tried to get help, but the cures were as damaging as the disease.  I would guess she is now living in poverty and things are worse than they’ve ever been. 
 
 
 
But she too, had heard about Jesus and his power to heal and she believed it. So she violated the acceptable boundaries of society and she went to where Jesus was.  She doesn’t want to make a scene.  She doesn’t even want Jesus to know she’s around.  She just wants to touch his garment believing that will heal her.
 
And when she touched it, the healing was instantaneous.  Immediately the flow of her blood stopped.  And just that quickly, the physical problem was solved.
 
Isn’t that a beautiful picture of the Lord?  He was accessible. You could walk right up to Him. He was available to get involved in your life at a deeply personal level.  And He was interruptible.
 
Let me add another word that comes out of His experience with this woman and we’ll finish up for tonight. 
 
He was
 
4.  Personal  
 
Verse 30
 
Immediately she was healed. And immediately Jesus felt the power go out of Him. That’s a stunning reality, an amazing revelation. His power is personal.
 
That provides a rich insight into the reality that our God is not detached. He is not unfeeling in the sense that He has no personal connection to us. He is personally engaged in every act of power.
There are some people running around who like to brag about the fact they have a “personal relationship with Jesus.”  Let me tell you something. Everybody who has ever lived has a personal relationship with Jesus. He is personally involved in their redemption, or He is personally involved in their judgment.
 
Every expression of power and every expression of deliverance is an experience that He feels. No one receives His power into his life without His personal involvement.
 
Hebrews 1 reminds us that He is “upholding everything by the Word of His power.”  That is something He personally takes care of.  He is not some kind of emotionless unfeeling divine force.
He is fully involved in my life, working out His spiritual work of salvation to its fullness and final completion in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit who is intimately involved in my life.
 
That’s what it means to be “in Christ”.  You and I enjoy a living union with Him.  He felt the power flow out of Him when He healed that woman. He felt the power flow out of Him when He saved you.
 
He feels the flow of power into your life as He sanctifies you. And He’ll feel the power that takes you into glory. This is intimate personal involvement with every one of us. And He feels the power of His judgment which falls on the ungodly.
 
Notice how personal things become for Jesus and this woman.
 
Verse 30 (question)
He didn’t ask the question for information, but to draw her out of the crowd. It could be phrased, “Who are you who touched My garment?” He is pursuing a personal relationship with her. 
 
And about that time, the disciples all turn and look at Him as if to say, “Did you really just ask that?  Don’t you see this crowd?”
 
There are people everywhere.  Mark has taken pains to make sure we are award of that.  In verse 21 we find a “great multitude”.  Verse 24, the multitude thronged Him.  Verse 30, He turned around in the crowd.  He is absolutely jammed in by this crowd.
 
Now there are a couple of dynamics at work here. 
We know what she thought and we know what He thought but nobody said anything, so nobody knows. She knows she’s been healed. He knows she’s been healed. He knows there’s more to do in her life, just as there was more to do in the demoniac’s life on the other side of the lake and that’s why they went over there. He wasn’t finished with her either. But only the two of them knew and she didn’t know what the end of the purposes of God were yet. She could have gone away healed. But there was more.
 
After all, how was she going to prove she had been healed.  You say, “Someone could examine here.”  Maybe, but remember she is unclean.  The simplest thing to do is just stand her up as the center of attention in this huge crowd and let the news be known. 
 
But that’s not all the Lord is after. 
 
verses 32-33
Once again we see this holy fear of the Lord.  It’s the same as the disciples after the storm and the crowd after the demoniac is healed.  She is afraid because she’s aware of what has happened to her. And what has happened to her is she has just been healed in a split second and she knows it and she therefore knows what Jesus had been saying all along and what Mark is trying to let us know that this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. She is in the presence of God.
 
That’s why she came and fell down.  Everybody knew what that meant. She was there to confess and worship. 
 
Verse 33
 
It just spilled out.  She told the whole story,  the confession of her sickness, the confession of her faith, the confession of her healing, the confession of her need for mercy. In fact, Luke says, “She declared it in the presence of all the people.” So everybody around heard about her story. This is an open public confession.  She’s confessing Him before men and, in response, He confesses her before God and men. 
 
Verse 34
 
He called her “daughter”.  This is the only time in the New Testament that a woman is so addressed by Jesus.  Matthew chapter 9 says He added, “Be of good comfort, relax, rest.”
 
We have now moved beyond the realm of physical healing to spiritual healing.  She is now a daughter of God.  He says, “Your faith has made you well.”
The Greek verb is sozo, to save. It’s the word used in the Scripture for salvation. Your faith literally has saved you.
 
How did she get saved?  The same way you and I did, through a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Aren’t you glad that our Lord is accessible to you whenever you need Him, available to get involved in your life? And that He is interruptible? No matter what He’s doing, He will always respond to you when you come to Him in prayer.   Aren’t you glad that He cares about you in a personal way?
 
Well, meanwhile, Jairus stands by and we’ll get back to his story next week.
 
Let’s pray