Summary 

The Gospel of Mark presents two remarkable healing stories that are intentionally woven together to reveal profound truths about faith, desperation, and God's transformative power. In chapter 5, we meet Jairus, a respected synagogue ruler desperately seeking Jesus to heal his dying 12-year-old daughter. On the journey, a woman who has suffered from chronic bleeding for 12 years secretly touches Jesus' garment, hoping for the healing that 12 years of medical treatment could not provide.These stories share striking similarities: both involve 12-year timeframes, both feature people facing impossible physical circumstances, and both show Jesus touching those considered ceremonially unclean without becoming defiled himself. Yet the contrasts are equally powerful. Jairus enjoys social standing, community support, and family love, while the bleeding woman faces complete isolation, poverty, and namelessness after years of social exclusion due to her condition.The beauty of these accounts lies in Jesus' response - he shows equal compassion to both the powerful and the powerless. Remarkably, he calls the unnamed woman 'daughter,' the only person in all the Gospels to receive this intimate designation from Jesus. Both stories demonstrate that faith doesn't require perfection or sophistication, but rather simple trust in God's power when human solutions have failed. These desperate circumstances became the very pathway through which both individuals discovered not just physical healing, but eternal life through faith in Jesus.

Transcript

Lord God, thank you for this beautiful passage that we have from the Gospel of Mark, of your tenderness and your compassion, your kindness to us who are in need, doing what you alone can do, saving a healing.

God. We pray that you'd speak to us again today, that you bless the reading and the preaching of your word. The words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts would be pleasing in your sight, Lord, that we would grow in faith and belief and trust in you. Amen. All right, you all remember that we left off the week before last, Palm Sunday in Mark, Right?

Mark, chapter five. Did you have that bookmark still? No. Okay, well, that's where we left off. And so we're jumping right back into the Gospel of Mark.

A lot of times, John mentioned earlier, Jonathan mentioned earlier that we are in the season that I called Epiphany, which really began on Tuesday, which was epiphany, which is the 12 days of Christmas lead up to epiphany, where we remember the wise men coming and falling at the feet of Jesus and offering their gifts. But it's really the season where we think of the revealing of God to the whole world, the manifestation of God in the flesh for the life of the whole world. And so what we have done, what's been our practice at our church, is that we've spent this time specifically looking at the Gospel texts. The Gospels are these accounts of the life of Christ. If there are books within the great book that Christians hold most dear, they are these ones that tell us about Jesus, what he said and what he did, how he taught and how he engaged with others, of course, about the cross and the resurrection and all of that.

But these books, the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and so we're in the second one, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they begin the New Testament. And they are their biographies, right? Which means life writings, biographies, their life writings, their life accounts.

But they're certainly not biographies like we think of biographies. We aren't told what school he attended, what degree he got. We are told nothing of what Jesus looked like, really, or what he sounded like. We don't have sort of this account that we think of as a biography. And in fact, it's kind of interesting.

We only have one account of the life of Jesus from the birth narratives that we look at in Luke and in Matthew, all the way up until he begins his earthly ministry, which is like 30 years. And the ancient world knew, just like we do, that these are such formative times. And we get one story, and actually in Mark, Mark just jumps Right into Jesus baptism in John. We don't even have an account of all of the Christmasy stuff that we've been talking about for the last month in the Gospel of Mark. Such a formative thing, something that you would expect in any kind of biography, right?

If you want to learn about someone, where were they born, what were their parents names, stuff like Mark doesn't dive into any of that kind of stuff. So we have this revelation of God for us in the Gospels, but it's not the revelation that we might expect to have. And yet it's a true revealing of God, a true telling of the life and ministry of this God made flesh. And one of the things that we see, particularly actually in this little section that we're in, is how. How wildly different it is.

And in that wild difference, it calls for amazement, to be overcome with amazement, to be overcome with this real reality that God is among us, God in the flesh. And ever since this was first written, ever since the events that were recorded in Mark took place, they continue to have the same reaction. Not with everybody, of course, but amazement. God for us. God who transforms lives, transforming me.

So we have an amazing couple of stories before us this morning. Beautiful, beautiful stories, hopefully ones that you know. And they not only go together, but they actually go with the two stories that precede them. They are part of Jesus Galilean ministry. This began, actually, you heard in verse 21, and when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side.

And so it's this little account of these three stories that take place around the Sea of Galilee. The first one is when they're actually crossing the Sea of Galilee initially, which you'll remember was when Jesus is in the boat with the disciples and he is asleep in the middle of a storm, a deathly storm, and he's just asleep there. And in the midst of it, they wake him up and they actually say these words. Do you not care that we are perishing? And of all things, Jesus wakes up and he rebukes the wind and the waves, and they obey him.

He just says, peace, be still. And they are stilled. And the account ends. That account ended verse 41. They were filled with great fear.

And they said to one another, who then is this the end of chapter four, that even the wind and the sea obey him. Their reaction to Jesus having power over the physical world is one of amazement, awe, a proper fear, but also maybe a greater faith. Oh, my word, what do we have before us? What can he do? Then you might remember that the.

The next little Story in this trio of amazed reactions to Jesus. So they cross over and they go and they find this demoniac. He was living among the tombs, right? He'd been bound by chains and all this. And he was crying out, and it says he was cutting himself with stones.

And Jesus heals him, and he goes to the towns and they come back and they're amazed.

Verse 20. And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis, which means the 10 towns, deca, 10 polis, the 10 towns around how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone marveled. People saw the amazing work of Jesus to just speak, and the wind and the waves obey him and how he can speak, and the spiritual world has to obey him. And the reaction is one of amazement, awe, holy fear.

Who is this that's before us? The revelation of God.

God in the flesh. So today we have these two stories, and you all have heard me teach in the past, especially when we were looking at Genesis a couple years ago, about how often the Bible uses this chiastic structure, this inclusio, when it comes to. And that's not quite exactly what's happening here. That's a very common Hebrew sort of way of teaching. But it's definitely a narrative sandwich, if you will.

There's bread on either side, right? And there's some stuff in the middle, and it's all working together. You can't just kind of take off the bread and you don't have a sandwich anymore. You can't just have bread, or you just have bread. It's not a sandwich, right?

They work together.

It's sort of one account, but it's two stories within this one account. He's relating them together in such a way that he's presenting us with one big idea. And so I want us to look at these two stories, and I want us to see some of the similarities. I want to see some of the differences. And then I want us to kind of sit in the big idea, okay?

So if you consider some similarities, there's some really interesting similarities that are at play here in these two different stories.

Immediately, if you think of these two different stories of. Of the young girl and her father going to Jesus, and then, you know, Jesus eventually ending up at her house and healing her and all. And you think of the woman who goes to Jesus and she just touches elsewhere in Luke, it says just the hem of his garment, just. Just a little bit of it. The immediate thing that you think of as a similarity is a physical need, right?

There's just this theme that's similar in these two stories that are at play. They're both sick.

No doubt. These accounts that we have all together and the reaction of amazement have to do with how Jesus showed his power, right? And we could say, okay, well, just in the similarities of these two stories where Mark is putting Jesus forth, he's revealing Jesus as the one who can have power over the physical world and over the spiritual world and actually over our illnesses. There's a truth in that that's at play in that similarity between these two stories. There's also just some really interesting small details that invite us to say there's something that these are to be held together.

So the first thing that we read, verse 21, after they, you know, after he situates it in around the Sea of Galilee, and they're coming back across the other side, it says, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. So that's verse 21. And when you begin the account of the woman with the bleeding, the second part of verse 24, it says, and a great crowd followed him. It's the same phrase that's being used there, this great crowd about Jesus. And so we're supposed to take the.

Together again. Okay, just a small detail. Another small detail that you probably heard when Cynthia read this to us is that verse 25 tells us this. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years.

And then if you jump down to verse 42, it says, immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was 12 years of age. It's a small little detail, but one that's interesting that again, Mark is saying, take these texts together. He's tying them together for us. This is an interesting thing. In both stories, the Lord is met with some rebuke.

It is funny. It's kind of a silly thing. Verse 31, And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing around you, and you can imagine sort of, you know, the ancient near east, like a lot of places today, there's these crowds in these towns that are just pressing up against you. Maybe you went to the farm show. Think of that.

You see the crowd pressing around you. And yet you say, who touched me? It's as though they are saying, jesus. This is absurd sort of rebuking.

Later on in verse 39, it says, and when he 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.

That word laughter could be translated scoff.

Laughed him off, rebuked because it's such an absurd thing. They know what dead people are like, they know why they are mourning. They're not being fooled. So there's this connection here of these rebukes taking place against Jesus, the absurdity of what he is saying.

Another really interesting similarity in these two stories of the account of Jesus healing has to do with Jesus getting into contact with the unclean.

Both are accounts in which Jesus comes into physical contact with those who are unclean. The woman with the discharge of bleeding, she probably touched the hem of Jesus because she actually was aware that if she was to touch somebody, that other person would be unclean and would have to go through all the ceremonial, ceremonial cleansing process and all of that. It was almost a way of her being kind and attentive because she knew, because she had been taught. It had been reinforced for her time and time again over these 12 don't touch anyone. And Jesus comes into contact with this unclean person.

This would have happened just by this interaction of touching him.

But not only that, the interesting parallel is that Jesus touches the young girl who is dead, which again would have made him unclean. But of course, this is part of the great lesson of Christian faith. Jesus does not become unclean because he associates with sinners. Sinners become clean in our association with him. Amen.

Thanks be to God. He makes us righteous. He can come among us in our uncleanness and make us clean. But those are some of the similarities. What I'm saying is it is unquestionable that these texts are to be taken together.

Taken together. But there's some really, really interesting differences too.

There's some sad differences. Think, think. This young girl is deeply loved. She's surrounded by a community that cares for her. She has a loving father that goes, it seems, seems travels to some extent to find Jesus.

He doesn't mind humbling himself. He falls down before Jesus. She has a loving father. I mentioned that there's a whole commotion of people, right? They get to the house, they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, verse 38.

And Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. There's a whole community that surrounds this family. And this young girl who loves her, who mourns her passing, who desired her life.

Almost as if to sort of exaggerate this, what we're also told is that he. This is verse 40. And they laughed at him, but he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother. And this girl is surrounded by love, surrounded by care. Couple parents that desire her Presence who are mourning her passing.

And yet this is a huge difference, right? This other woman seems to be completely alone, utterly destitute, on her own through her trial.

No one comes to her, as we read actually in Mark, chapter two, on her behalf, you know, tearing apart the roof, lowering her down, getting her before Jesus that he might see her and heal her. No one is alongside of her. There are no friends there present for her. There's no family that is there desiring her healing. No one speaks and pleads on her behalf.

We are just told that the woman came in fear and trembling and fell down before him. We're actually told that she had spent all that she had. Let's just say there's nobody sort of helping her out in her ailment. As far as we can tell, she was destitute alone.

Another difference is that the girl's illness seems to be very acute, demanding immediate care. It's part of the strangeness of this passage is that Jesus takes his time with a woman who's had 12 years of bleeding. It's a chronic illness. Why not rush Lord Jesus to this girl who is dying? Don't you understand the difference between acute and chronic illnesses?

It's a great difference here. And there's a lesson for us, of course, in that of Jesus knowledge, his awareness, his timing is perfect, though it's not what we often desire.

Maybe the greatest difference in these two accounts and these two people is the power differential that's at play. It's highlighted for us, actually, very explicitly. We have Jairus name, and that's not necessarily part of what's going on with the power differential. Likely most people think that Jairus is mentioned here because he maybe really became part of the worshiping community. It was like, I've told you this before, when there's a specific name mentioned around a healing, you should really be, why would they do that?

Well, the thought is, go and talk to them about it. It's Jairus. He's known in the Christian community in the early church. Go and talk to him about it. And Mark rarely gives names, and the Gospel writer rarely give names.

And so when they do, you kind of got to go, why would they have done that? But his name is not really what's emphasized. It's his position that's emphasized. It's kind of interesting. His position is mentioned three times as if to say, do you understand this is a big deal?

Okay, verse 22, of course. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, verse 36, while he was still speaking there Came from the ruler's house. Right?

It could have just been from Jairus's house. Verse 38. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue.

And a ruler of the synagogue would have actually. Often he would have come to that place because his aptitude, because of his know how, because of his success within the community, because of his respect in the community, because of his devotion to God. He would have been somebody who was devoted, desired God, and it was known in the community, and probably somebody of great organizational ability. That specific role within the synagogue would have kind of been like our equivalent of an elder in the church. Okay, so they were to oversee some of the building, but also the spiritual formation, not the priestly role of the primary role of teaching and sort of the sacrifices and all that.

That would have been different. This would have been a lay leader. But it's sort of like thinking about, in the Presbyterian world, the moderator of the session or the clerk of the session. So it would have been somebody that was like, known in the community and loved in the community and certain, certainly respected in the community.

One of the things you note is that he goes to Jesus and he speaks to Jesus. He's used to other people engaging with him and listening. Now he does this humbly. He falls down before him, but he speaks. On the other hand, we have this nameless woman, probably legitimately unknown to the entire crowd.

Like I said, nobody there with her. Likely a single woman, because she had spent all that she had on the physicians seeking her healing. She'd been unclean for 12 years, which would have been long enough for even the friendships that she did have to sort of dissipate right over time. Not being able to engage with her because of her uncleanness. She was alone.

She comes and she doesn't speak to Jesus now. She's invited to eventually, and she shares it. She doesn't have the same approach. There's a massive dynamic of power at play here, Massive differential that we see here.

And before we get to the main. The big point of this text, I sort of want you to sit in this, because I was thinking about this. In some ways, I sort of wanted this to be the main point of the passage, but I don't think it is. So I want to just sit with you for a moment, think about how wonderful this is that Jesus is inviting all kinds of people to him. I mean, it is a great temptation.

I guarantee you've had this thought where maybe Christianity is for kind of people. I mean, part of the big dynamic in the Bible in the New Testament is Jew and Gentile. Maybe all the Gentiles have to become like Jews, right? Maybe those magi just need to become Jewish in order to truly worship him.

Or maybe you think. Maybe you think that Christianity is only for a certain level of education, maybe a certain socioeconomic dynamic. Christianity is for the poor or is for the married with children.

I think we're tempted. Think you have to have your life in this kind of way to enter the doors of the church. What do I wear when I come? Right? That kind of question.

But think of how destitute this woman is. Think of how. Think of how well to do this man is. And Jesus welcomes them both, and he desires both of their healing, and he acts for both of their healing. His compassion and his love doesn't know the bounds that we want to put on people.

It's a wonderful thing. One of the great differences in this text is actually that this destitute woman, let me say this. She is the only one in all of the gospels who Jesus calls. This is called daughter, the woman who's estranged. So she has nobody else.

I mean, Jairus says, my daughter, right? But Jesus calls this woman, and he says, you are my daughter. And actually, it's really kind of interesting. You know, we have Jesus saying, little girl, I say to you, rise. But actually, first we have it in Aramaic, verse 41.

Taking her by the hand, he said to her, talusakumi, which means, little girl, I say to you, rise. Of course there's a question there. I mean, I don't know if you have asked this question, but why would Mark leave that in the Aramaic? And why would he need to translate it? He's just spilling ink that doesn't need to be spilled.

Why not just say. And he said something that meant, little girl, rise up. Little girl, I say to you, rise. What's the deal? Well, I think the best explanation that I read about was that these were the exact words that Jesus spoke.

And his words were cherished so much by Jairus and others. And they said, I know exactly what he said. Just like this woman said, I know he called me daughter. I know when he healed my daughter, he said in Aramaic, odd detail, talitha, kumi.

Jesus is calling all sorts to himself. He's doing so with kindness and gentleness and tenderness and compassion, which is to say there's no social standing that puts you outside of the possibility of God's grace.

And his invitation is for you wherever you are this morning.

The offer of salvation is for you where you are. Right now, today, alone, maybe filled with people around you, feeling outcast, feeling a part of something. God's invitation is for you.

But there is something needed. And I do think this is more the big point of this text.

Both the woman and the young girl are healed because of faith in Jesus. They're healed, they're saved because of faith in Jesus. And it's a faith that is saying, you alone can do what no one else can. I think both of these scenarios are painted as. As bleak as possible.

Of course, you probably noticed, and I've mentioned. But verse 25 and 26, it says in there, you know, there's a woman who, with a discharge of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather getting worse, growing worse. It's just the direst of dire situations. And what is more dire in the community around you, mourning. I mean, what is clear here is that they are saying, nobody else can do this.

No one else.

They're healed, they're saved. Because faith in Christ, that He alone can do what they cannot do for themselves, what others cannot do for them.

They have faith in Christ Jesus that the help that they need, only God can supply. And that is at the heart of Christianity. Coming to a place where you say, I can't do it, the world about me can't do it. You alone, faith, trust.

They are both in utterly dire situations. I've mentioned a few times that the girl is dead. And I wonder if you're thinking, well, Jesus corrects them. He says, she's sleeping. Did any of you think that?

No. No, none of you did. Maybe you didn't, because you know that sleeping is often actually a euphemism in the New Testament for death. That was actually mentioned in our adult Sunday school class this morning that Jed mentioned. And actually the word for arise in verse 41, Little girl, I say to you, rise is often used in the New Testament to refer to the resurrection.

What will happen for those in Christ Jesus?

Think of actually verse 42. We're also told that she got up. This also is again a word that's used for the resurrection in First Thessalonians 4:16, which we also looked at this morning in Sunday school. It said, the dead in Christ will rise. It's the exact same word that is mentioned to her of her here.

These are utter dire situations, which is to say they are situations that demand God alone, God alone to act, to work, to save, which is exactly what he does.

Which is exactly what he's about, You all probably don't remember, and that's totally fine. That last, the beginning of last February, we looked at this beautiful passage where these friends did lower their friend down through the roof, right? They took off the roof and lowered him down. And in that passage with the paralytic, Jesus says, which is easier, Your sins are forgiven or rise. Which, by the way, is the exact same word here in verse 42, Jesus is doing what he alone can do, bringing healing, bringing salvation into a situation that is completely dire, that we.

Where they have to say, God, our faith, our trust, our belief is in you alone. Of course, at the end of chapter two, when he does this, he says this. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, the needy. Yes, Jesus is the great physician, but he is so because he alone can do this work. He alone can heal us of our greatest need, our sins.

What this woman and this girl were in desperate need of, first and foremost, okay, first and foremost was not the healing of their bodies, but peace with God, an eternal salvation, the forgiveness of their sins. And how did they receive this? How did they receive this saving relationship with Jesus? They received it the same way that anyone only ever does, which is by faith and by faith in the work of God for their salvation. Think about this.

Verse 34 says something wild, right? He says, daughter, which I said was just so beautiful. And it's unique in the Gospels. He says, daughter, your faith has made you well. Your faith has made you well.

Verse 36, if you go down, but overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe that word, faith has made you well in belief. By the way, in the Greek is the same word for some reason. In English, we often change it. But have faith, faith, faith is what saves.

We receive salvation by faith and by faith alone. Which is to say, it is never what you do. It is simply trusting the reality of what Christ can do and has done on your behalf, which is why it's not based on your social standing. It's not based on your community that you have. Your salvation is not based on what books you have read or what ailments you have.

Your salvation is only ever on the work of Christ and grabbing onto him, trusting, having faith that he will do what he has said he will do, that he has done what we are told he has done. One of the things that's great about this passage is that it sort of highlights for us, how much it has nothing to do with us. And I think it kind of does this in some, I think kind of funny ways. Because both of the faith of Jairus and the faith of this woman are. They're not the faith that we would think.

Like, oh man, they have strong faith and we need strong faith. Because then it makes it sound like it's up to us. If we put that category on it, we're like, oh, then it, maybe it has to do with us. This has nothing to do with them. They have actually kind of superstitious faith.

If I just touch the hem of his garment, maybe that's a magical hem, right? It's almost like a superstitious faith. Ah, it's like a talisman, something special that can, can heal. As if Jesus couldn't just heal her by the word of his power as he does so often. He just spoke and the wind and the waves obey him, need to touch his hem or think of Jairus.

And all we know from other accounts that Jesus didn't have to be present for a healing to happen. And yet Jairus is like, come on, come on. And the people go to him, you know, saying, you know, your daughter's dead. But it's almost like saying, why didn't you come? You have to be here in order for it to happen.

Which we know that that's not true. It's sort of this, I want to say it's a small faith, but it's a real faith. And what an encouragement. The extent of your faith, right, Your ability in it is nothing. It is simply grabbing on, trusting, believing that God can act, that he can work, that he can save, that he can do it.

And interestingly, isn't it, I mean, almost as if to drill this in, it leaves us with a real interesting theological question. The girl is saved by the faith of her dad.

I don't really want to, nor do I have time to get into that right now.

Let me try to draw this near to an end. It's that time with a thought for you. You likely think that it would have been better for God for him not to allow this woman to have 12 years of social estrangement, no doubt nights, weeks, months of tears over her situation, a hemorrhage that lasts for 12 years. Why would God allow that? No question.

You think, why allow a 12 year old little girl to go through this? Why allow her parents and her community to suffer so? My guess is that you have those thoughts and that's the main thing you think if God would Just allow the physical ailments to not be there. This would have been so much better. And yet, I want to say, I guarantee you that that is not the case for this woman.

It's not the case for Jairus and his family, because it was actually in their most dire need. It was when they came to the end of themselves and the end of the ability of all the other things in the world that they've been grabbing onto, like the physicians and all this kind of stuff to get to, that they finally go, I need to go to Jesus.

And it was there that they actually found real, lasting, everlasting life. That it's actually sometimes the very ailments and the trials that we go through that finally get us to the point where we say, I'm going to stop trying to control it all and actually trust in the reality that God can do what he alone can do, that God is able. They found their eternal salvation, and they were amazed at God. I mean, why were the disciples in the boat amazed? They were full of fear and awe because they knew that God alone can do that.

Why were the people in the Decapolis in such awe when this demoniac comes and tells them what had happened? Because they knew God was among them. Why at the end of our passage, does it say, and they were immediately overcome with amazement because God alone did what God alone can do. All these stories are showing us that Jesus can do what God alone can do. And I want to tell you, go to him.

Go to him.

Go to him in your feeling of loneliness and estrangement. Go to him in your physical weakness and ailments. Go to him. When you've come to the end, not knowing what to do.

What we see in the New Testament, the text of these gospels, is that when God is revealed, when anybody comes to Lord Jesus and says, save me, heal me, he responds with compassion and with kindness, with gentleness. And again and again and again, he's saying, you can trust me. You can have faith in me.

That's. That's the invitation of Christianity. That's the revelation of God for us. This morning. Let me pray for us.

Lord God, thank you for the gospel text from Mark this morning, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you alone are our salvation, that we can have faith in you. Weak and frail and sometimes even superstitious kind of faith in you. And your compassion is for us, and your grace is for us. God increase in us our dependence, our trust, our belief, our faith in you.

We pray. Amen.

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