Mark - Lesson 5B

• Last week, Jesus and His disciples had crossed over to the other side of the region of the Galilee to a region called the Gerasenes.

  • And it was there that Jesus was met by a demoniac who was possessed by 6,ooo demons – making this man unhinged with immense strength.

    • It would be through Jesus demonstrating His Authority and Identity in this majority Gentile region, that He would deliver this man from his torment.

  • As the man is freed from his personal torment, it surprisingly causes a bit of an uproar in that city.

    • In one sense the man is freed, however some of the local livestock is lost in the exchange, thereby causing the herdsmen and the crowd to have Jesus leave their area.

  • And we saw that although the once demon-possessed man had been freed, he desired to be a disciple of Jesus and follow Him.

    • However, Jesus tells the man to do something that was a bit unorthodox from Jesus’ miracles prior to this point.

    • He tells the Gentile man to go and report to those he knows and tell them what the Lord has graciously done for Him.

  • And the text concluded that the man went throughout the Decapolis making known all that the Lord had done for Him.

    • Ultimately, this man came to know Jesus as the God-man – He witnessed Jesus’ identity and work as the promised Messiah.

    • And would now make it known to other Gentiles who would receive this news, who Jesus truly was.

  • Tonight, we will witness an interesting narrative that is chiastic in nature and points us to a central theme of believing faith.

    • If I were to tag tonight’s text, it would simply be “The 12-Year Issue and a 12-year-old girl”.

    • And for the sake of content and context, we will break this narrative up into a part 1 and part 2 session.

  • I now invite you to open your bibles and meet me at Mark 5:21 as we read all the way through verse 43.

    • However we will focus our time tonight in the first fourteen verses; verses 21-34 for part 1.

    • Here’s what the text reads.

Mark 5:21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He stayed by the seashore. 
Mark 5:22 And one of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, *came, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet 
Mark 5:23 and *pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 
Mark 5:24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.
Mark 5:25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 
Mark 5:26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— 
Mark 5:27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 
Mark 5:28 For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 
Mark 5:29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 
Mark 5:30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 
Mark 5:31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 
Mark 5:32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 
Mark 5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 
Mark 5:34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be cured of your disease.”
Mark 5:35 While He was still speaking, people *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?” 
Mark 5:36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” 
Mark 5:37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 
Mark 5:38 They *came to the house of the synagogue official, and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 
Mark 5:39 And after entering, He *said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 
Mark 5:40 And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was in bed. 
Mark 5:41 And taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 
Mark 5:42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished.
Mark 5:43 And He gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and He told them to have something given her to eat.

• Let’s Pray.

• A friend of mine who is a gospel recording artist recently released a single entitled “One Touch”.

  • And the premise of the song hinges on the narrative on which we find ourselves in tonight – the woman with the issue of blood.

    • And in his lyrics, he poses a line in the song from the position of the woman as if she were to have been interviewed about that day.

    • And her parenthetical response goes like this:

“The hem of Him healed my body. The hem of Him saved my soul. One touch can change everything”.

• • And it is this lyric that encompasses the reality of our text tonight: That Christ is the only one that can make us whole.

    • And that faith is the requirement by which we can fully see the person and work of Christ.

  • However, before we get to that section of the text, we begin with another story which leads us into the woman with the issue of blood.

    • With that being said, pick me up at verse 21.

Mark 5:21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He stayed by the seashore. 
Mark 5:22 And one of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, *came, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet 
Mark 5:23 and *pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 
Mark 5:24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him

• So Mark picks up now on the other side of the Sea of Galilee – it could be assumed based upon the scene we will enter into, that the region is back in Capernaum.

  • As we discussed in our recap, Jesus and His disciples and the twelve have been in the region of the Garasenes.

    • Jesus had been told by the citizens to leave their region after he had just expelled 6,000 demons from the demoniac.

    • This expelling ultimately caused 2,000 pigs to run off the cliff and drown in the water.

    • So with the mounting fear of what the people had witnessed, on top of the frustration they felt towards losing their livestock, Jesus and His disciples make their way back to familiar territory.

  • And the text tells us that upon Jesus’ arrival to the area, that He was met by a large crowd of people.

    • The language here alludes to the fact that Jesus was not able to make it far into land because as the text states, “Jesus stayed by the seashore.”

    • And it wouldn’t be much later that amongst this large crowd of people that a Jewish synagogue official named Jairus would come up to Jesus and fall at His feet.

    • Let’s stop here for a moment and take in the scene that Mark has described for us thus far.

  • We have a large group of people awaiting the arrival of Jesus off the boat.

    • And the moment Jesus exits the boat, not a second later, people are swarming around Him.

    • If it’s not clear by now, Jesus has become quite a popular figure in the region.

  • And while all of the people in the area have gathered around Him, Jairus, the religious leader, sees Jesus, runs towards Him, and falls to his knees.

    • This scene should cause one to be in a bit of shock due to the reality of who a synagogue official is and what they do.

  • A synagogue official, according to R.T France’s commentary on Mark, is “one who carried responsibility and authority in the local synagogue.”

    • An official was not a scribe or rabbi, but a lay member of a synagogue who was entrusted by leadership.

    • His responsibilities consisted of maintenance and security of the synagogue and procuring the scrolls for scripture reading.

    • To give you an example of Jarius’ role in context, here is an example of the role of an official found in Acts 13:15. Check out the text:

Acts 13:15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

• • So it’s clear at this point that not all religious leaders were hostile to Jesus, especially seeing Jairus’ current condition.

  • Jairus is in front of this entire crowd, on his knees at Jesus’ feet with reverential recognition to Jesus’ person and power.

    • Friends this doesn’t just demonstrate humility, this demonstrates Jairus’ desperation in the matter.

    • He puts aside his role, responsibility, and social clout as a religious leader and recognizes the only one in whom can meet his need – and that is Jesus Christ.

  • This sort of reverence and worship before a human would have been deemed blasphemous at best by the Pharisees.

    • Yet Jairus was not concerned about the consequences of his current position. He was desperate for his daughter to be restored.

  • Verses 23 and 24 tells us that the urgency and desperation that Mark expresses here is that Jairus’ daughter was “at the point of death”.

    • This phrase “at the point of death” in Greek is one word which is eschatos, which means “at death’s door”.

    • In other words, at any moment his daughter could die, therefore time was of the essence.

  • Jairus is fiercely desperate and in need for Jesus to respond to the physical need.

    • Can you feel the tension in the text? This need requires immediate haste and Jairus believes that Jesus is able to meet the need.

    • One could imagine that Jairus has heard about Jesus and His miraculous healings and miracles throughout the region.

    • Most assuredly Jairus could have had some doubt regarding Jesus’ ability.

    • However, that doubt must have been pushed aside and Jairus responds in faith towards Jesus because He wants his daughter made well.

  • The text lets us know that what Jesus is seeing from Jairus, moves Him to follow Jairus to his home to heal his daughter before she dies.

    • Now notice how verse 24 tells us “Almost as without any hesitation”

  • You have to love our Lord’s response here. Within this urgency Jesus feels sympathy for the father and his daughter’s condition.

    • This is the response of love that our Heavenly Father has demonstrated towards us in our broken spiritual state.

    • Jesus responded to our great need by dying on the cross for our sins.

  • Now, before we move on too quickly, take note of the crowd who is around Jesus while all of this is happening.

    • As Jesus goes to the next destination, they follow suit.

  • And I believe this speaks to a habit that we find in cultural Christianity. We want to follow Jesus when it is convenient.

    • We want to follow Jesus when it brings about much attraction with the spotlights and excitement.

    • But the moment that the going gets tough or trial and tribulation comes along with Jesus, the crowd is nowhere to be found.

  • The moment you stand on the truth, even if it cost you popularity or the like, folks will walk off and away.

    • This is what Jairus was willing to do for the sake of his daughter and this is what some of Jesus’ disciples were willing to endure for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel of God.

    • As a matter of fact, as we move further along in Mark’s gospel, observe how the crowds and the group of disciples become smaller and smaller.

    • Let’s keep moving on to verses 25-28.

Mark 5:25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 
Mark 5:26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— 
Mark 5:27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 
Mark 5:28 For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 

• So as Jesus, Jairus, and the crowd are making their way towards Jairus’ home, it is as if there is a pause in the story line.

  • This pause that we witness in this section of Mark is known as the Markan sandwich. It is chiastic in nature.

    • This is where Mark begins a story line, pauses it to insert a new story, and concludes with the original story and the defining point.

  • So while Jairus’ story line pauses, the story of a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years picks up.

    • Mark does not provide details regarding the woman’s name – simply her existing medical condition.

  • Some scholars and theologians have gathered that the hemorrhaging this woman was experiencing was due to some sort of menstrual disorder.

    • Whatever the cause or case of this 144 month long menstrual cycle, this sort of disorder should ring some Old Testament bells in our hearing.

  • If you recall in our first messianic miracle regarding the Jewish leper, we discussed the social shame and alienation that came with that sort of condition.

    • On top of that we mentioned the impurity of the skin condition itself.

  • In the same way the book of Leviticus addressed the uncleanliness of the leper, it also addressed the unclean conditions of a woman dealing with menstrual impurity.

    • You can see more in detail in Leviticus 15:19-33.

  • This woman, according to Mark 5:26, sought all help she could find.

    • Mark first mentions that she sought all the medical experts she could find.

    • She goes from physician to physician seeking a cure to her condition.

  • Mark alludes to the fact that this woman has exhausted all her resources because the text states “she spent all that she had”.

    • There was nothing that the medical experts could do to ensure her condition would be restored.

    • This becomes even more apparent as Mark says the woman’s condition “got worse”.

  • Just like Jairus’ daughter’s condition was growing worse and he had to come to the end of himself, so did the woman with the issue of blood respond in the same way.

    • I love verse 27, because the text tells us this little detail: “after hearing about Jesus…” We can stop right there for a moment.

    • There is something about knowing that your only hope is right in your vicinity, isn’t it. He’s simply one call away – one reach away, one message away.

  • This woman has heard about the very miracles of Jesus. She possibly has heard through the grapevine that Jesus was in the area.

    • And hearing that Jesus was nearby, there may have been a particular piece of scripture that rang in her remembrance about a messianic prophecy.

  • In order to understand her bold statement of faith, we have to grab hold to the Old Testament, more specifically the significance of the tallit.

    • The tallit was rectangular in shape and was draped over the shoulders and extended down the length of the outer tunic or robe.

    • And off the four corners of the tallit (hem), called wings, hung tassels of knotted thread called tzitzit (zit-zit).

    • This was something that the Lord instructed Israel to make in the Law. We see this in Numbers 15:37-40. Check out the text.

Numbers 15:37  The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 
Numbers 15:38  “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 
Numbers 15:39  It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, 
Numbers 15:40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God.

• Throughout the Old Testament, the tallit (hem) and the tassels themselves became a very important symbol in Jewish society.

  • They began to represent the person’s reputation and their authority.

  • The tassels of a person were esteemed so highly that to have them cut off by someone would speak to the injury or the denial of a person’s value (citation in Logos)

  • To see the connection to authority and value, observe these 2 scriptures in your hearing. One includes David and the other King Saul.

    • In 1 Samuel 24 Saul is pursuing David in the wilderness and they meet in a cave at En Gedi.

    • Saul is indisposed in the cave and David sneaks up behind him and cuts off the hem of Saul’s garment.

    • David doing this shows the fact that he was close enough to strike Saul.

    • In this act of humiliating Saul, David would later repent.

  • We see this similar situation with Saul and Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:27, check out the text:

1 Samuel 15:27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore.
1 Samuel 15:28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.

• So naturally, if any symbol of power or importance were to arise, the Pharisees would take heed to it.

  • Even to the point of exaggerating the size of their tassels for purposes of being seen.

  • You can see Jesus mocking them of this practice in Matthew 23:5.

  • So with this context in mind, you can see how this woman was able to believe that to simply touch Jesus’ tassel was speaking to His authority, power, and how it would make her healed and whole.

    • However, to simply express her belief in tradition would sell the power of this story short.

  • Her belief was not tied to simple tradition, her belief was tied to scripture – more specifically, faith in a Messianic prophecy found in Malachi.

    • Turn with me to Malachi 4:2.

Malachi 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 

• The text mentions that those who fear the name of the Lord will see Him bring healing for His people.

  • The “sun of righteousness” spoken about here refers to Messiah Himself and His glorious arrival.

  • But what puts the icing on the cake, is the section of Malachi speaking to “healing in His wings”

    • What is that all about?

    • If you remember, wings is the name given to the four corners of the tallit on the tassels of a man’s garment.

    • Even more so, the word translated for “corner" in Numbers 15:38 is kanaph which means “wing”.

  • So this woman, having grown up hearing Malachi 4, connected Messiah having the ability to heal in His wings, literally, as the very corners of His tassels/garment.

    • And it’s here we find the woman making the statement in verse 28, “If I touch His garments, I will get well”.

  • It’s in complete faith that she makes her way behind Jesus – not worried about risking her life knowing she is unclean.

    • She isn’t focused on the reality that she has nothing left in her name of value because she sold it for the sake of finding a cure.

    • No, she is ever fixated on the word of God that she knew and the very man in whom she identifies as her Messiah.

  • Friends, this is the type of faith that the paralytic and his companions had as they cut the hole out of Peter’s roof.

    • It is a faith that moves one to respond in action based upon what they know for themselves.

    • It’s like the old church mothers used to say, “Baby you can’t make me doubt Him because I know too much about Him!”

  • I want to make sure we understand the reality of her situation: This lady is at risk of potentially being put to death because she is ceremonially unclean.

    • However, she is willing to break the walls of false religion down for the sake of restoration and fellowship with the Lord.

  • Friends, where the religious leaders placed/established cumbersome procedures to be made well, Jesus made Himself known as the only one who can truly make one well – both physically and spiritually.

    • There are no special responses needed to come to Christ. He is very much available. No appointments necessary.

    • Friend, have you heard about Him?

    • Has someone shared the good news about Him to you? Has He made Himself known to you?

    • A better question to ask is: Do you believe He is who He is?!

  • Jesus is the very object and subject of our faith. He is the end all and be all!

    • Check out verses 29-34.

Mark 5:29 And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 
Mark 5:30 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 
Mark 5:31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 
Mark 5:32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 
Mark 5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 
Mark 5:34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be cured of your disease.”

• Mark lets us know here in verse 29 that at the moment that the woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, that the flow of blood dried up.

  • The text mentions that she felt within her body that she was healed.

    • One simple touch of the healing power of Jesus moved the woman from hemorrhaging to healed.

  • Verse 30 tells us that “Immediately, Jesus perceived within Himself that power had gone out and asked who touched my garments?”

    • Now as we approach this section of the text, recognize that this was not a mystical moment between the woman and Jesus.

    • Rather this brings up two important questions: What has caused this healing within the woman that Jesus feels power has drawn out from Him?

    • And secondly: What is it about this touch that grasps the attention of Jesus that He calls it out publicly?

  • Well, to the first question, it is clear that Jesus’ ability to do the healing that He is doing is being accomplished by the third person of the Trinity – The Holy Spirit.

    • This is the power by which Jesus has the strength to do the work that He is doing.

    • Remember, it was the Holy Spirit that descended upon Him and empowered Him to do the work that the Father had given Him to do.

  • To the second question: What was so unique about this particular touch? What made this one stand out from the rest?

    • This is the question that causes the disciples to look at Jesus with a wee bit of confusion.

    • You could almost say that the disciples’ response to Jesus’ question of “who touched me” was a bit sarcastic to say the least.

  • I could imagine them looking at each other in disbelief saying “Jesus, I mean you are a popular guy in a large, pressing crowd, and you’re asking who touched you?”

    • It’s as if they think Jesus is having a brain fart if you will.

  • But the reality was that Jesus felt something that others could not fathom nor experience except for Jesus, Himself, and the woman.

    • Can you imagine, Jesus stops mid walk and says aloud with a pressing crowd, asking “Who touched me?”

    • The woman at this point, not identified yet, might feel embarrassed, a sense of hesitation and trepidation.

  • And as Jesus looks around and turns around, she drops to her knees before Jesus with her head tilted toward the ground in guilt and her shoulders slumped.

    • And the text makes mention in verse 33, that the woman, fearing and trembling aware of what happened, lets Him know the whole truth.

    • In other words, she lays out her entire story to Jesus as it pertains to her condition to the point of her celebration.

    • She gives Him the rundown that she has loosed everything seeking to be healed only to find that it was in Him that she had everything!

  • This might sound like what the demoniac experienced after having been made whole by Jesus as well.

    • His restoration leads to his proclamation of Jesus’ demonstration of power throughout the Decapolis.

    • The man literally speaks to the entire report of how Christ has made him whole.

  • I love the fact that as the woman lays out the whole truth of the matter, that Jesus doesn’t rebuke her but rather receives here.

    • He tells her “Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be cured from your disease.”

    • Understand that simply touching the hem of Jesus’ garment was not the answer.

    • As we mentioned earlier, this woman’s faith was in the One in whom she believed had the ability and authority to heal her.

    • Her faith, in which she could not see but understood, made her well and by the power of the Spirit of God.

    • This is why Hebrews 11:1 says this:

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

• It is from this point that Jesus, after hearing the whole truth and seeing the woman, tells her “go in peace and be healed.”

  • Jesus brought about an Old Testament formula of what is known as reassurance and blessing.

  • The reassurance was the peace that came in knowing that Christ was who she believed He was, the Messiah promised long ago.

    • The blessing was in knowing that her physical ailments were healed and she had been made whole and able to rejoin the community clean and restored.

  • Friends, it is only in Christ’s person and His work that we are made whole in our identity as an image bearer and right before Holy God through Christ our propitiation.

    • Isn’t this really a picture of the reality of men and women coming to faith in Jesus?

    • He makes Himself best known when we come to the end of ourselves.

    • He demonstrates who He is and invites you into this story of His Divine love – the Love of the Father.

  • You don’t have to be clean to get to Jesus to be made whole by Jesus. Why? Because He makes you whole.

    • All you have to do with the knowledge that you have is to make your way to Jesus.

    • Because He has made the way to make Himself known to you – this is the beauty of hearing the Gospel message proclaimed.

  • One question that you might be wondering is, what about Jairus’ daughter? When do we get to her situation?

    • Let’s look at verse 35.

Mark 5:35  While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”

• Come join us next week as we look at part two of Mark 5:21-43.

• Let’s Pray.

Citations:

• R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 235, 238

• John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 124.