"Do Not Be Afraid, Only Believe" | Mark 5:21-6:6 | The Gospel of Mark Series | Hillside Baptist Church

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Have you ever had a moment where you felt completely helpless?
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When someone you love is sick, their life hanging by a thread.
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Or maybe you get a phone call with devastating news, and as the shock fades, a paralyzing fear sinks deep into your bones.
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You realize there's nothing you can do to fix it.
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No control, no plan, no backup.
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Just fear and desperation.
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You try to stay strong.
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You try to hold it together.
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Maybe you're the one everyone counts on to be the rock in your family.
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But as fear tightens its grip, your strength begins to fail, like a levee ready to break.
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And in that moment, you have no choice but to let go because it's too much to handle.
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And you are never really in control.
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All you can do now is cry out for help.
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Desperation has a way of getting our attention.
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It cuts through the illusion of control.
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And it doesn't care about your background, your bank account, or your spiritual maturity.
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But in that cry for help is something beautiful, an opportunity to see the Lord at work in your life.
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That moment of helplessness may very well be the place where Jesus meets you.
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In fact, it's in our weakness that his power is on full display.
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In our passage today, we meet two very different people who encounter Jesus in shared moments of helplessness.
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One is a broken, bleeding woman who's been suffering for twelve years.
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The other is a desperate synagogue ruler whose twelve-year-old daughter is on the brink of death.
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One is unclean and untouchable, and the other is prominent and respected.
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But both fall at the feet of Jesus.
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So let's take a closer look at their stories by turning to Mark chapter 5.
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We will start with verse 21.
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But before we begin, let's go before the Lord in prayer.
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Father in heaven, even through the darkest of valleys, you are there with us.
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And God, as we turn to your word this morning, we pray that we be reminded of that truth that you are with us, and that we can turn to you in our greatest times of need.
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So would you help us to receive your word today and to increase in faith in Jesus' name?
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Amen.
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Mark chapter 5, starting with verse 21.
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And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and so he stayed by the seashore.
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And one of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came up, and on seeing him fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death.
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Please come, that by coming you may lay your hands on her so that she will be saved and live.
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And he went off with him, and a large crowd was following him and pressing in on him.
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Here we have a father in a desperate situation.
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His little girl is moments away from death.
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It would appear that all hope is lost and nothing can be done for this little girl.
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This is a nightmare scenario for any parent.
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And for those of you who have children, you might even understand the burden that comes from having a sick child and not being able to do anything about it.
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Verse 22 tells us that this father also happens to be a synagogue official named Jairus.
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Here we finally have a religious leader who is not being hostile towards Jesus.
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That shows how desperate he must be.
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Every religious leader we've seen so far has been offended by Jesus, but not this one.
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Jairus is at the feet of Jesus, crying out for mercy on behalf of his daughter.
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As we see here, faith begins at the feet of Jesus.
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Jesus had already performed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of miracles at this point.
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And among such miracles include a leper who is made clean again, and a paralytic who is able to walk.
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Word might have even gotten out that Jesus calmed a deadly storm and casted out a legion of demons out of one man.
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If anyone could heal this little girl and save her from dying, surely it was Jesus.
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When crisis strips away the illusion of control, faith clings to Christ.
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Jairus goes to Jesus as his only hope.
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He believes that all it would take is the healing hands of Jesus to make her well again.
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All eyes are on Jesus.
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He barely stepped off the boat after coming back from the previous episode, and he already has a large crowd gathered around him.
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Based on what the text gives us, we're not even sure if Jesus intended to teach them or perform miracles.
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But Jairus has secured his full attention and become his main priority.
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The sense of urgency continues as Jesus agrees to go with Jairus to see the little girl.
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As Jesus makes his way through the crowd, verse 24 says that the crowd was following Jesus and pressing in on him.
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If you've ever been to a concert, you can imagine what it would be like for the performer to suddenly step off of the stage and into the crowd in the middle of a concert.
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People would do whatever it took to get close.
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And this would mean this would make navigating through the crowd pretty difficult.
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We're not sure how far Jesus needs to go to reach Jairus' daughter, but the crowd of people didn't make it easy.
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The clock continues to tick as each passing moment draws this twelve-year-old girl closer to death.
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Every second counts.
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Continuing with verse 25.
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And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.
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After hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his garment.
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For she was saying, If I just touch his garments, I will be saved from this.
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And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew within her body that she had been healed of her affliction.
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And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power proceeding from him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and was saying, Who touched my garments?
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And his disciples were saying to him, You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, Who touched me?
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And he was looking around to see the woman who had done this.
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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.
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And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has saved you.
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Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.
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Jesus is already on a mission to save this little girl.
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The stakes are incredibly high as she is on the brink of death.
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The last thing that was needed at this moment was an interruption.
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And that's exactly what happens.
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You can imagine how it must have felt for Jairus to wait for Jesus as this whole exchange unfolds with this woman.
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Sometimes Jesus makes us wait for our miracle.
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The whole thing is strange.
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Our gospel writer Mark is in the middle of a story and introduces a story within a story.
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We immediately learn that this anonymous woman had a hemorrhage for twelve years.
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While many have interpreted this to mean that it had something to do with menstrual bleeding, the text seems to point to a chronic condition of internal bleeding.
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We can speculate that it could have even been something like a tumor or other disease.
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Either way, her condition would have made her ceremonially unclean.
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She might have even been shunned by society, including her own friends and family.
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As you can imagine, anyone with her condition would have sought whatever it took to make her well again.
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She had been desperately seeking help for 12 years.
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Verse 26 even says that she endured much at the hands of many physicians and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse.
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Can you imagine spending all the money you had on medical care, suffering through painful treatment after painful treatment, just to get worse?
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All the physicians failed her.
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Surely there had to be another physician greater than they who could actually help her.
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And so she goes to the one person who could do such a thing, Jesus.
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This woman knew that it would be difficult to book an appointment with him.
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So she reasons that if she can just manage to get close enough to touch his garments, she would be healed.
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As someone who is unclean, it would be considered unlawful to touch him.
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She's scared to make a move and do it.
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But after twelve years of shame, sickness, and isolation, this is her only hope.
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She pushes through the crowd and goes for it.
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Faith reaches through fear, even when it's trembling.
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Verse 29.
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And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she knew within her body that she had been healed of her affliction.
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It worked.
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She knew it immediately.
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But something else happened that she didn't expect.
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Once again, all eyes were on Jesus.
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What is he gonna say to her?
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What's gonna happen next?
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Verse 34.
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And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has saved you.
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Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.
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Jesus is full of compassion and mercy.
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He recognizes her genuine faith and calls her daughter.
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This is incredible.
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This is the only recorded instance in all four Gospels where Jesus directly addresses a woman as daughter.
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When he says your faith has saved you, it can also be translated as your faith has made you whole.
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The same word in the Greek also has implications for salvation.
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Her faith in Jesus also led to her spiritual salvation.
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Jesus isn't just a healer, he restores the whole person.
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He welcomes those who reach for him in faith, even through fear.
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As we see here, the woman is not just healed physically, she's made whole completely.
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And as a daughter, she has a new identity.
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She is now part of the family of Jesus.
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She is no longer an outsider, but a true insider.
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Jesus acknowledges her actions as a reflection of her faith, and it has made her well.
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She is recognized as a true disciple.
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Not only is she praised for her faith and called daughter, but she also serves as an example of how disciples follow in the way of their master.
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It's worth noting that even as she approached Jesus to be healed, the text says that she came up in the crowd behind him.
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Even the spatial location of this woman is symbolic of her following Jesus as a true disciple.
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This woman can uniquely relate with Jesus when considering what he would eventually endure on the cross.
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She lived through suffering, affliction, and the shedding of blood.
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The same can't be said of many other disciples of Jesus.
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She is unique and worth recognizing.
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And not because of anything that's special about her, but because of her faith and experience that translates to being a true disciple.
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Though she was greatly afraid in the moment that she reached for Jesus, she did so in faith.
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And Jesus tells her to go in peace.
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She has nothing to be afraid about.
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And Jesus calls his disciples to demonstrate faith that is fearless, a reflection of complete trust in him.
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The faith of a true disciple is a powerful kind of faith, one that brings healing and wholeness.
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True disciples persist in faith even through terminal illness.
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As one daughter is healed, we wait to see what happens to the other.
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Continuing with verse 35.
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While he was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official saying, Your daughter has died.
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Why trouble the teacher anymore?
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But Jesus, overhearing what had been spoken, said to the synagogue official, Do not be afraid, only believe.
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It doesn't look good.
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The little girl is dead.
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Hope already seems to be lost.
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Gyrus is being advised to send Jesus away.
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It's too late.
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At least that's the advice that Gyrus was given.
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And sometimes that's the advice that we get too.
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There's no point in continuing the pregnancy.
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The baby won't make it.
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We can try treatment, but you only have about a month to live.
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This condition is something you'll have to live with for the rest of your life.
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In the case of Jairus' daughter, you can understand why people would assume that nothing could be done.
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After all, she's dead.
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Dead people don't come back to life.
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Seems reasonable.
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But Jesus has something to say about it too.
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He came there for a reason and will not be turned away.
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Despite all that was being spoken, Jesus urges Jairus to not be afraid, only believe.
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C.S.
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Lewis once wrote, Those who believe in miracles are not denying that there is such a norm or rule.
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They are only saying that it can be suspended.
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A miracle is, by definition, an exception.
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Dead people don't come back to life.
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At least that wasn't the human experience up to that point.
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But there are exceptions, and we even see it in the Old Testament.
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The prophet Elisha raised the son of a widow back to life again.
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Later, the prophet Elisha raised the son of a Shunammite woman back to life again.
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There is even a case where a dead body was raised back to life again at a funeral after coming into contact with the bones of Elisha.
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This certainly was not the norm, but there is at least some kind of precedent, especially among those who are recognized as coming in the power of God as Elijah and Elisha did.
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Jairus had already come to Jesus for a miracle.
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While he expected that miracle to be that his daughter would not die, Jesus intended something different, an even greater miracle.
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He was about to do something incredible.
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If only Jairus would trust him and believe.
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Amen.
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Despite all opposition, this story did not end in death.
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Jesus healed diseases, made a paralytic walk, casted out legions of demons, caused even the winds and the seas to obey him, and now raised the dead back to life again.
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Who is this man?
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Jesus.
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You can imagine the pressure Jairus felt as he disregarded all the advice that he received to accept his daughter's faith, his fate.
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And yet he still persisted in faith.
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Jairus is another model example of a true disciple, one who demonstrates a powerful kind of faith.
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His faith in Jesus led to his daughter being raised from the dead.
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As we see here, true disciples persist in faith, even in the face of death.
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Sometimes, and this is uncomfortable to acknowledge, but sometimes God's will is for a person to endure suffering and not be healed.
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At least not in this life.
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It is spiritually dangerous and emotionally damaging to assert that a person didn't get better because they just didn't have enough faith.
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Rather, the focus on this passage is that we should not be like those who assumed that the miracle could not be done.
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We are to be like Jairus, who trusted the outcome to Jesus.
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He didn't give up just because he didn't initially receive what he expected.
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He persisted in faith, having assurance and confidence in the outcome, despite not having the ability to see it in the moment.
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He had to wait for his miracle.
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He didn't even blame Jesus stopping to heal the bleeding woman while his own daughter died in the process.
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He persisted in faith, setting out with Jesus even after receiving the news that his daughter was dead.
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Many people today, even people in the church, have grown so used to the ordinary, the explainable, the predictable, that we start to functionally believe that God can't or won't break in with healing, power, and resurrection.
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But C.S.
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Lewis pushed back on that.
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He said that just as the sighting of one black swan disproves the idea that all swans must be white, so one true miracle, one undeniable act of divine intervention shatters the illusion that the natural world is all there is.
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That's exactly what Jesus does here in this passage.
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He breaks into a world ruled by sickness and death.
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And with a word, with a touch, he undoes what no human effort could fix.
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These aren't just interruptions of nature, they're previews of the world to come, glimpses of the kingdom breaking in, black swans in a world full of white.
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To further develop the analogy, we shouldn't come to expect every swan to be a black swan now that we've seen one.
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It wouldn't be an exception if the exception became the rule.
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But the very existence of an exception should cause us to welcome such a thing.
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In other words, do you expect or welcome miracles in your life?
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If you receive the diagnosis of a terminal illness, do you automatically expect not to get better and be healed?
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If there's anything I hope you can take away from this passage today, it's that no crisis, no chronic illness, not even death, lies beyond the compassionate power of Jesus.
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His call to us in every trial is the same.
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Do not believe.
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Sorry, do not be afraid, only believe.
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Faith doesn't deny reality, it trusts Jesus in it.
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Let's see what happens to those who don't believe in chapter six, starting in verse one.
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And Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
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And when the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue.
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And many listeners were astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things?
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And what is this wisdom given to this man, and such miracles as these performed by his hands?
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Is this man not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
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Are not his sisters here with us?
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And they were taking offense at him.
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And Jesus was saying to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown, and among his own relatives, and in his own household.
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And he could do no miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them, and he was marveling at their unbelief, and he was going around the villages teaching.
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It appears that Jesus has finally met his match, the kryptonite to his miracles, a tough crowd in his hometown.
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They essentially mocked Jesus, treating him like he was just some average Joe.
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Oh, yeah, we remember you.
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You're Mary's son, the carpenter, right?
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The people of Nazareth still thought of him as one who carried on his father's trade as a craftsman.
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This was a common job, not held with much esteem, but functional to society.
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They didn't respect Jesus.
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It also shows up in the way they refer to him as the son of Mary.
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This is the only place in Scripture where Jesus is called this.
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The normal Jewish practice was to identify someone as a son by their father's name.
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Some commentators speculate that they referred to Jesus in this way because Joseph was either already dead, or maybe it's because they were thinking about some rumors about Jesus' illegitimate birth.
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A man was called the son of his mother if his father was unknown.
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So this would indicate that they intended to insult Jesus.
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Verse 3 even says that they took offense at him.
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The people of Nazareth were rejecting Jesus in every which way.
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This causes Jesus to say in verse 4, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown, and among his own relatives, and in his own household.
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They knew Jesus by name, but not by faith.
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This lack of recognition of who Jesus really is marks these bystanders as being outsiders without faith.
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Their offense becomes a wall.
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They resist Jesus in every way.
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All Jesus can do is marvel at their unbelief and hardness of heart.
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He couldn't do a mighty work there, not because he lacked power, but because they lacked faith.
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John Calvin observes that unbelievers, as far as lies in their power, bind up the hands of God by their obstinacy.
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Not that God is overcome as if he were an inferior, but because they do not permit him to display his power.
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You can grow up around Jesus and still miss him, because familiarity isn't faith, and unbelief still closes doors.
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If you grew up in the church or have attended church most of your life, you are not immune from unbelief.
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You are still called daily to trust in him, to believe that he can and will work miraculously in your life and for his church.
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We should learn from the people who reject Jesus in Nazareth.
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Unbelief is a serious obstacle to the experience of Jesus' power and the extension of his kingdom.
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But God is sovereign.
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And we see that in verse 5, as Jesus still manages to lay hands on a few sick people and heal them.
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Nothing can ultimately stop the will and power of God.
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Jesus still accomplishes his mission, even if resistance brings casualties.
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The casualties in this case are lost opportunities.
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The mission of God moves forward, but faith is the doorway to experience it firsthand.
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We all face times of feeling helpless.
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And whether we like it or not, we will find ourselves in desperate situations.
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It's a common human experience, especially in a world broken by sin.
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Not if, but when we find ourselves in those moments, how will we respond?
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Will we reach for Jesus in a cry for help?
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Or will we accept our fate in despair?
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It's easy to say what we might do when we're sitting in an air-conditioned room at a church surrounded by Christians.
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A lot of us know what we're supposed to say when we talk about our trials as we go through them, but that doesn't indicate genuine faith.
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What kind of heart do you bring to Jesus?
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He doesn't require perfect faith, but he does expect genuine faith.
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Do we trust him for the miracle?
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If we trust him for the little things, we'll learn to trust him for the big things.
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But if we don't even trust him for the little things, and I'm talking about our finances, our jobs, our homes and cars, how will we ever learn how to trust him for matters that have to do with life and death?
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God has shown us again and again what he can do.
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Since he is unchanging, the same yesterday, today, and forever, we should expect that he will do it again.
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Jesus' care and power over disease and death call his disciples to fearless faith.
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Because faith fuels his kingdom mission and unbelief hinders it.
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True disciples persist in faith.
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So in your desperation, believe.
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In your waiting, believe.
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In your weakness, believe.
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And when fear threatens to take hold, remember his words to Jairus.
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Do not be afraid, only believe.
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Let's pray.
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Oh Father, we pray for your help.
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We are so quick to forget all that you have done and who you are.
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God, would you forgive us for ever doubting you, forever wavering in our faith?
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Many of us right now in this room are going through some type of trial.
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It'd be tempting to doubt your goodness in it.
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It's tempting to doubt that you will actually intervene and make it better.
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And God, whatever better looks like is up to you.
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And we can trust the outcome to you because you are worthy of our trust.
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So, God, would you increase our faith?
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Would you remind us in times of helplessness that we can always turn to you?
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And that should be our first option.
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We pray for your help in Jesus' name.
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Amen.