Mark: The Right Now Gospel
Pt. 9
“A Woman With an Issue, a Little Girl Resurrected”
Mark 5: 21-43; 6:1-6
“Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. 22 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” 24 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.”
Now, right on the heels of Jesus delivering the demoniac of Gadara, he crosses the sea back to the region of Galilee where he is met by a man in a crisis. His daughter is dying. This man, named Jairus, was a ruler of the synagogue. The rulers of the synagogue consisted of three people chosen out of ten, who’s job was to constantly attend to the public worship over which they presided. They also handled any disputes that took place in the synagogue.
Somewhere along the way, Jairus had become convinced that Jesus was sent from God and could do miracles. His prayer to the Lord for his daughter is filled with faith: “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”
Jesus agreed to go with him back to his house when yet another person in crisis steps into the story:
25 “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
This poor, nameless woman had been hemorrhaging blood for 12 years. Her condition is desperate. Having spent all her money on doctors with no results, she is hoping against hope that Jesus is her answer. She too has incredible faith, having told herself: “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”
She puts action to her faith and, pressing through the crowd, touched Jesus’s garment. Not the hem of it. The Greek is clear–“If only I shall touch the garment of Him.” Now, there was nothing healing about the garment. This woman so believed in Christ and the power that rested on Him that if she could just touch something that was even attached to him, she would be healed. It was her faith in Christ that brought her healing! It says:
29 “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.”
Then to her shock and dismay, Jesus stopped in his tracks:
30 “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”
His disciples were confused at his words:
31 “But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
But Jesus knew something they didn’t. “Power had gone out of him…”
It says:
33 “But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
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Now, it goes on to say in vs 35:
35 “While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”
To the natural eye it looked at first like the temporary distraction of the woman has made the difference between his daughter’s life and death. While Jesus was sidetracked on his way to Jairus’s house, his daughter had passed.
But not so:
36 “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” 37 And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. 39 When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
Now, when Jesus says that she is not dead but sleeping, he is very possibly countering the teaching of the Sadducees that once the body died, that person ceased to be. Jesus is not saying her body wasn’t dead, but that her spirit was yet alive. In Luke’s account, we’re told that when Jesus brought her back to life, “Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up.”
This is biblical proof that when the body dies, the spirit of a person doesn’t. For the Christian, the spirit goes right into the presence of the Lord. For the person that dies in their sins, their spirit goes to Hades awaiting the Great White Throne Judgment.
Mark goes on to say:
40 “And they ridiculed Him (when he said she only slept). But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. 41 Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
It says:
42 “Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. 43 But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.”
Now, why would Jesus command them to keep this quiet? I’ll turn to the commentators here for an answer. Gill in his exposition of the Bible, says:
“This charge he gave, to show his dislike of unnecessary attention and popular applause, and to avoid the envy of the Scribes and Pharisees, and to prevent the people from making any attempts to proclaim him king; his time not being yet come to die, he having some other work to do; and a more full manifestation of him being reserved for another time, and to be done in another way.”
I think that’s sound.
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Mark 6: 1-6 “Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.”
His own country was Nazareth. It was about a day’s journey from Capernaum on the lake-side, to Nazareth among the hills. Now, why did the Lord go back there? The last time He had taught in the synagogue of Nazareth following his 40 days in the wilderness, they had tried throwing him over a cliff!
And now He places Himself once again into the lion’s den. Why?
Perhaps Mark is making the connection between this visit and the many miracles he has just recently performed; possibly to suggest the Lord’s hope was that the report of these miracles had reached them and prepared His way.
I don’t think it’s too far fetched that in His patient long-suffering He wanted to give His fellow-villagers another chance. His heart yearned for ‘His own country,’ and ‘His own kin,’ and ‘His own house.’ But it was not to be:
2 “And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.'”
The word for “offended” here is skandalon. It’s the idea of a trap, or of tripping and falling. Jesus had grown up among them, played in their streets, worked as a carpenter alongside Joseph, and been simply one of them.
And now there stood a man of miracles, a mighty teacher of Scripture, extremely learned, and their familiarity with him made it impossible for them to receive this new Jesus!
So Jesus responds to them:
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”
The old saying that “familiarity breeds contempt” is true. Very often a person will get saved, experience a mighty transformation followed by a life of high productivity in the kingdom of God, and those that “knew him or her when” short circuit over it!
Mark goes on:
5 “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”
Now, in closing I want to comment on verse 5. “Now he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.”
Is this telling us that Jesus literally couldn’t perform a miracle because of their rejection of Him? I would suggest no. The sovereign power of Christ Jesus was not disarmed. His power was not limited by the belief or unbelief of people. The issue is that they were so prejudiced, so set against him that they were in no condition to be persuaded by miraculous evidence.
They would possibly have attributed it to derangement, or sorcery, or the work of the devil, which he had already been accused of. John 10:20 says, “Some said, ‘He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?’”
So it would have been futile to attempt to prove to them that he was from God.
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NEXT TIME: The 12 are sent out to preach and do miracles, and John the Baptist is beheaded.