Mark 5:21 - They head back across and I wonder - did Jesus cross there simply to meet that demon possessed man?
Mark 5:28 - This woman's faith is remarkable. She simply heard about Jesus and deduced that he was powerful enough that a single touch, not of the man himself, but of his clothing, would heal her.
And she was right.
Jesus never taught that, never even hinted at that. She figured it out and went for it in faith.
What an amazing lesson for us. We who are immersed in Jesus culture, hear the lessons preached, the parables explained, the teachings enumerated. We who know Jesus inside and out and have access to all his teachings and volumes upon volumes of commentary on them.
Yet we sit in our own sin, wondering how we can be cured?
This ticks me off, frankly, on a personal level for I wallow and wring my hands over my own sin. This woman was really suffering, bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and bleeding and bleeding. No one had been able to help her and many smart men had tried. If anyone had reason to be skeptical and doubt, she did. But she saw Jesus and believed. It was that simple. She didn't require anything of him but access.
Here we sit - here I sit - with all the access in the world. I know that Jesus is readily available. I know that I can reach out and touch him today, right now. I understand it all, what I lack is faith. I can see Jesus. Jesus the healer, the restorer, the savior. I can see him, but he's not real enough to me. I can see him, but I guess I don't believe my eyes and I explain it away.
I'm tired of being the same yet proclaiming Jesus. I can see enough of Him to know that there's something wrong with that picture. Folks who see him, really see Him, don't stay the same. They are healed, transformed, changed.
If I see Jesus, am I willing to believe in what I see?
And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.
Mark 5:35-43 - I find great hope in the story of Jairus, especially reflecting on the bleeding woman's story which is wedged in the middle of it. They both came in faith, but before he could get what he came for, Jairus is hit with reality. Jairus was faced with the obvious facts. The servants say she's dead, they arrive to weeping and wailing, the people laugh at them when Jesus says she's only asleep. If I'm Jairus, it would take all my energy and focus to remain faithful in the face of all that reality.
But Jesus told him, "Do not fear, only believe." And somehow he does.
And in they go, and there's his daughter, dead. A few words from Jesus and she's alive and walking.
Everyday, all around us we are confronted with reasons not to believe that Jesus can change us. Even religious folk will try to diminish you expectations, ground you in reality. Jesus, however, puts his hands on our cheeks, turns our head toward his face and away from 'reality' and says just what he said to Jairus:
"Do not fear, only believe."
Ths indeed is a wonderful reminder. I wrote of her in my blog. Not only did she have the faith of healing but she also had the faith of not being seen by others. She would have been shunned and had spent years alone. Remember she was considered unclean. We don't know if she had any moments of fear but I think she stepped out in faith. I wonder what the penalty for being out around people was? My guess is that she would have been stoned. She must have hide her face from them so that she wasn't seen. Because of her illness she was exhausted all the time, for the first time in years she had motivation to walk the streets.
Can you feel her heart beating?
Can you imagine that faith?
I re-posted it.
What is this kind of faith? What can it be called? Amazing? Honest?
Jesus did amazing things with peoples faith..but when it comes down to it faith is very simple..we are the ones who complicate it. If only we would believe as children again..then we would have this kind of faith.
I believe her faith was based on fact. The fact that she simply believed. Jesus could use that faith to heal and to render void the pain of her situation. The same can happen to any of us today. Simple Faith is al it takes.