This morning I was meditating on the 5th chapter of Mark. This chapter has three pretty incredible stories of God's intervention in people's lives. The chapter starts with the Gerasenes demoniac (Mark 5:1-20), a man so possessed by demons that he was uncontrollable, even by chains. When questioned as to their name, the demon said his name was Legion, for we are many. To put that in perspective, the Roman legion of the time had 5000+ soldiers, so we are talking about an individual under extreme demonic influence.
The second and third stories (Mark 5: 21-43) find Jesus responding to Jairus's request to come an heal his 12 year old daughter who was very sick and in danger of dying. Jesus starts to walk with Jairus to his house, but gets interrupted on the way by the woman who had been suffering a bleeding condition for 12 years. These two intertwined stories were what I was thinking about, for I find them very compelling, and revealing of the Lord's heart towards us.
Specifically, I was thinking about Jairus, and what must have been more than a few heart-rending moments, when Jesus stops and questions the crowd as to who touched his robe. Here is a man, whose only hope in saving his daughter is Jesus, and instead of running to his house, Jesus stops and starts asking who touched his cloak. I would imagine that Jairus was about to blow a gasket, wanting to encourage the Lord to keep moving, for he was desperate.
What I found very comforting, was the fact that Jesus was unwilling to let this woman who needed healing go without confirming her faith and her healing. I guess you could say that the Lord, does not ignore anyone who is desperate, even in the midst of other desperate situations. Jesus' willingness to stop and refusal to go on until the woman responded to His question, to me is an indication of her significance to the Father. She needed healing, was responding to faith that had risen up in her heart, and the Father, through Jesus, wanted to make sure she knew He had heard her prayer and healed her. This was no small occurrence in her life, and the Lord wanted her to understand His love for her. That is awesome!
Back to Jairus, who I am sure was pacing like a mad-man, while Jesus was still dealing with the woman who had bleeding, Jairus's worst fears are confirmed, when someone from his house comes running up and tells him his daughter has died. I can imagine well the shock of those words, the sense of loss, and an almost immediate shift to blaming either Jesus or the woman or both for his daughter's death. Jesus immediately jumps in and tells him to hold onto that small bit of faith, "Don't be afraid, just believe."
If there was ever a moment to walk away from faith, that was it, for his daughter had died and the Lord hadn't made it to his house in time, stopping instead to deal with an old woman. Jairus, to his credit, held onto the small bit of faith he had and went with Jesus. This was before Lazurus' raising from the dead, and in Mark's Gospel is the first time Jesus raises anyone who has died, so the Jairus can only hope that this Jesus who healed people of leprosy and other diseases could do something for him. Anyway, Jesus finally gets to Jairus' house, and faces down the crowd, and puts them all out of his house. He takes Jairus and his wife in with him and immediately calls the girl back to life. Wow, imagine the joy in that house, the relief of Jairus, the overwhelming sense of God's love for them! Jesus, in true humility has them get the girl something to eat, and then tells them to keep the story quiet.
Jesus wasn't after publicity, or massive crowds, He was concerned about their life. He specifically limited the number of people who followed Him, who knew what He did, and who witnessed the miracle. He indicates something really important here, that He is more worried about our lives than His own reputation. Man's thinking is that the more people that know, the greater His glory, but that is not how God thinks apparently. He doesn't seem worried about His own reputation at all, in fact He does the opposite of what most of us would do. Just think about that fact - our lives are more significant to Him than His reputation.
Finally, back to the desperate nature of each of these situations, the demoniac affected by thousands of demons, the woman who has bled for 12 years, who spent all her money and was still sick, the man whose daughter is dying, and then died. All are seriously desperate, and yet in each situation the Lord steps in and brings freedom and relief, restoration and healing, deliverance and hope! He is up for the most desperate situation, and able to meet us in our need, regardless of how hopeless it seems. He is greater than any desperate situation. Finally, He does this all because He wants us to know how significant we are to Him. He is willing to stop for each of us, to understand our situation and then to set us free! Amen! What a great word of hope for today!
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