The Touch of the Servant

INTRO

Mark 4 ended with Jesus pointing out His disciples’ lack of faith during the storm and their amazement at what they had seen Jesus do. Mark 5 focuses on how Jesus interacted with the people.

TEACHING

Mark 5:1-20: After the storm in chapter 4, the boat came ashore on “the other side of the sea.” As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came to Him. Jesus probably hadn’t gotten enough rest, but He had gotten what He needed. As soon as we get rest, be prepared to do more ministry. Jesus cast the unclean spirits into a herd of 2,000 pigs who ran down the steep bank, entered the sea, and drowned. Jesus’ ministry didn’t stop.

Mark 5:21: The rest of chapter 5 records Jesus’ interactions with two very different people––Jairus, an important synagogue official who was well to do, and an unnamed woman who was bankrupt from seeking medical care. Jesus performed a double miracle with these two and showed that He does not show favoritism. The gospel is meant for all!

Mark 5:22-24: Jairus came up to Jesus, “fell at His feet and kept begging Him” (vv. 22-23) for help. How does a religious leader get to this point? Obviously, Jairus felt desperate for his daughter, and knew Jesus could give her life. Kent Hughes pointed out that desperation is a prelude to grace.¹Desperation allows us to realize we need something more than ourselves. Jesus went with him, followed again by a large crowd, pressing against Jesus. Notice that as the Servant, Jesus walked with Jairus and spent time with him.

Mark 5:25-32: A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years approached Jesus. Because of the bleeding, she was considered ceremonially unclean, and anyone who touched her would be considered unclean as well (Leviticus 15:25-27). She had “endured much under many doctors” (v. 26) and spent everything she had trying to be cured. According to Kent Hughes, some of medical treatments she would have experienced include:

• Carrying a piece of barleycorn found in the droppings of a white female donkey.
• A special drink she would hold while someone came behind her to scare her.2

This is an example of Jesus wanting to heal in a different way than the traditional practices of medical care.

The woman pressed into the crowd surrounding Jesus. What would the woman have touched? She would have touched one of the four tassels on Jesus’ robe (Numbers 15:37-40). Her faith motivated her to seek out Jesus: “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!” (v. 28). Her faith motivated her to act. Funny, when we have faith in Christ, we sit down, but faith should always lead to action. Faith doesn’t just mean forgiveness of sin but that we walk out our faith. Augustine wrote, “The flesh will press in, but the faith will touch.” Verse 29 records that the woman was instantly healed––after 12 years and just one touch. Because Jairus asked for healing for his daughter, another was also healed.

That’s an important picture for us. As we walk out our faith, whether in Revive School or at a job or a ministry, we’re constantly walking among people who we should bring to Jesus. And we don’t have to wait until we find nine buddies to do it. One person at a time . . . one day at a time . . . Jesus wants us to find those people who desperately need Him and bring them to Him.

At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out of Him (v. 30). He asked who had touched Him, an interesting question since He already knew. He wanted the person to acknowledge the healing. The disciples couldn’t believe He even asked such a question because the pressing crowd was so large (v. 31).

Mark 5:33-34: As Jesus looked over the crowd, the trembling woman came and fell at Jesus’ feet (v. 33). Her action of worship was the same as Jairus’ action. They both realized they needed Jesus. The woman told Jesus her story.

Jesus responded with a kind of adoption ceremony. This was the only time Jesus referred to anyone as “daughter,” and He did it here to welcome her into the family of God because of her faith. He told her to go in “peace.” The word “peace” in Israel is a very common word, shalom. According to Constable, shalom is explained as, “not just freedom from inward anxiety, but that wholeness or completeness of life that comes from being brought into a right relationship with God.”³Jesus said in Mark 3:35: “Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 5:35-43: While Jesus was still speaking, people from Jairus’s house arrived with news that his daughter was dead. They questioned why Jairus would continue to bother the Teacher (v. 35). Jesus overheard their words and responded, “Don’t be afraid, only believe” (v. 36). Faith always trumps fear––don’t walk in fear, but walk in faith. Jesus walked on to Jairus’ house with only Peter, James, and John. From Matthew 17:1-2 and 26:37, we know these same disciples were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus took His inner circle with Him so they could see something special.

At Jairus’ home, paid mourners were “weeping and wailing loudly” (v. 38b). Even the poorest husband had to hire two flute players and one female to wail when his wife died.⁴Jesus asked why they were making such a commotion over the dead, because the child was only asleep (v. 39). The people started to laugh, so Jesus sent them all outside. Then Jesus, His three disciples, and Jairus entered where the child was. Jesus took the child by the hand––Jesus the Servant was not afraid to touch the unclean, the demon possessed, or the sick and inflicted who needed life. Jesus said to the child, “Talitha koum!” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” (v. 41). And the girl got up and walked. She was 12 years old. Interesting coincidence . . . the woman had been bleeding for 12 years and the child was only 12 years old? God showed that no matter how young or old, or how long an illness or hardship had been endured, Jesus can still heal. When the people saw her, they were utterly astounded, or “out of their minds with great amazement.”⁵In verse 43, Jesus told the witnesses not to tell anyone what had happened, and that the child needed food.

Jesus wanted to continue to do ministry and walk among the people and with them. If the story were told, of Jairus’s daughter, His ability to move about would have been even more difficult.

CLOSING

What do we do with a dad who only wanted his daughter healed or a woman who was so tired of living under constant affliction, and just wanted to see healing? The answer is simple: Jesus is the only way! Satan’s goal was to go after the father through his daughter and to go after the woman who had been afflicted for 12 years. John 10:10 says that, “A thief [Satan] comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 11:25-26 affirms that Jesus is life!