So this morning I was studying Mark 5:21-43 and had a lot of thoughts and observations. I just love Jesus and getting to know him through his words, his actions, his interactions and his life in the Gospels.
Basically a synagogue ruler comes up to Jesus and asks him to come heal his dying daughter. On the way to go do that, this woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years and no doctor could heal her, came up behind Jesus and touched his cloak because she thought if I just touch him, I will be healed. Power goes out from Jesus, she's healed. So here are my observations and thoughts.
1. This woman came to Jesus out of desperation and she originally came to Jesus to get something. It says she spent all she had on other doctors and instead of getting better, she was getting worse. Once power went out from Jesus, immediately she was healed. Then she hid. And Jesus was looking around and asking who touched me? Finally she comes up to him and "fell at his feet and trembling with fear she told him the whole truth." He said to her "Daughter your faith has healed you go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
A lot of times people come to Jesus cause he is the last thing that could work in their situation. After all else has failed, they come to him. Often times in ministry, I see people come to Jesus to get something, they turn to God when they need something. They come back to church after a break up, when the person had failed them. But I love that Jesus didn't just let her get the healing and disappear, he made her confront him in a much deeper way, a way she probably didn't want. It says she came trembling in fear. Uncomfortable. Inconvenient. He calls her out. That is my prayer in ministry. I don't care why people come or what their motive is, cause honestly a lot of people come to YAC to get something for themselves, and usually it is to meet someone or find a relationship, or get their little group of friends. That is ok, but my prayer is that Jesus makes them confront him in a much deeper way, that he does a work in their heart once they are in his presence. Whether they find the thing they are looking for or not, I pray that they will find what their hearts ultimately want in Jesus, I pray that they will confront Jesus in new ways, uncomfortable ways, and have a life healed and transformed by his power.
2. The girl that Jesus went to heal was 12 years old. The woman who reached out to touch Jesus had been bleeding for 12 years, the entire lifetime of the little girl. The family of the little girl went on her behalf to ask Jesus to lay his hands on her and heal her. The woman reached out to Jesus and laid her hands on Jesus.
Some people come to Jesus out of awareness of their own need. Other's come because people are praying for them, inviting them, asking Jesus on their behalf to heal them to meet them where they are. . And I think that just shows, Jesus works in our lives in tailor-made ways. He doesn't fit into any formula or work according to a method.
3. Right after Jesus healed the woman, it says, "While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house or Jarius, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead, they said. Why bother the teacher any more?" Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, don't be afraid, just believe." The woman had enough faith to go to Jesus and just touch him, whereas the synagogue ruler and his people were like, "why bother now?"
I think we do that with Jesus too, like, "well he didn't come through for me, so why bother now?" Sure he just came through for someone else, but he couldn't do that for me. Or we limit his abilities, like they trusted and believed enough to go ask him to heal a dying girl, but once she was dead, they didn't believe he could do anything about that. And I see myself doing that, "well I believe God can do this easy thing in my life, but not that impossible thing. So why bother now?"
4. The woman fell at Jesus' feet, yet Jesus called the little girl to "get up." "He took her by the hand and said to her "Talitha koum!" (which means little girl, I say to you get up)." Immediately she stood up and walked around. Verse 29 says "Immediately her bleeding stopped and she fell to the ground..." Verse 42 says, "Immediately the girl stood up and walked around..."
Sometimes Jesus' work in our lives cause us to fall at his feet and tell him the whole truth, to confess and worship. Other times, he calls us to get up, to move forward, he breathes new life into us. As a result of Jesus' work in both cases, healing happens immediately. But I think it's interesting though Jesus did immediate work, maybe the work wasn't so immediate, maybe God was preparing them each for the past 12 years for this moment where they would encounter the power of Jesus and their lives would be changed by the person of Christ.
And this helps me, because maybe when I am praying for something immediate and God doesn't work immediately, maybe that doesn't mean he won't one day. It's all a process, but he gets us to certain places and times when we encounter him in life altering ways. And in between those moments where we experience his power, he is still deeply at work, powerfully at work, work that will display his glory just like it did with the woman and the little girl.
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