Faith

Mark 5:34-43
Length: 21:18

This is a message given on June 28, 2009 at the Bowdertown United Methodist Church.

Faith

After preaching the day before and calming a storm later that evening, Jesus was no doubt tired. He decides to return again to the other side of the Sea to Capernaum. He was probably just looking for a little rest once again.

When He got to the other side, however, the crowd was waiting for him on the shore. Jesus knew there would again be no rest for him. He would continue to minister to others, heal the sick, and cast out demons.

As he approaches the shore, the synagogue ruler, Jairus, is waiting for Him. He would be the guy in charge of the services and other activities going on there. We would call him the director of operations today. So, he would have been a very predominate member of his community.

As we know, the more Jesus taught and healed people, the Jewish rulers showed more and more opposition to Him. Jairus, however, not only comes to see Jesus, but he humbles himself by falling at the feet of Jesus.

This is an act of honor and worship. But this act could get Jairus in trouble and possibly risk his position at the synagogue by approaching Jesus. Mercifully, Jesus responds with compassion and starts to follow Jairus to his home.

The problem is the crowd. It is pushing in on them as Jesus is trying to follow Jairus to see his daughter. The little girl is on her death bed and no doubt Jairus is a little hyper and anxious to get Jesus to his daughter.

Then all of a sudden the procession stopped. The crowd is pressing in on Jesus and he stops and says, “Who touched me?” The crowd and even Peter makes light of the situation and asks, “What do you mean? There are people all around you! Everyone is bumping in to each other. How can you seriously ask you touched you?”

But Jesus is aware that this was no ordinary touch. He felt His power leaving him. You see there was a women in the crowd who was bleeding for twelve years. According to the Levitical law, she would have been banned from most social activities. The blood would have made her and anyone she came into contact with ceremonially unclean.

But this women muscles her way near Jesus because she believes if she just touches the hem of his garment she will be healed. And sure enough her faith makes her well. She is healed immediately. No doubt she is ready to jump for joy, when she hears Jesus ask, “Who touched me?”

Jesus asks this question not to demean or embarrass or condemn the women, but to show her faith to the crowd.
The women was afraid and probably a little embarrassed about her problem. But she had the faith to believe that Jesus could and did heal her so she tells the truth. Jesus responds in love and removes her fear and tells her to go in peace. She has been fully healed.

No doubt during this delay, Jairus is very anxious to get moving again. His frustration is heightened by the news from his servants that his daughter has died. They figure there is no need for Jesus anymore.

But Jesus overhears and tells Jairus not to worry, just believe. They get to his house and Jesus takes with Him Peter, James, and John along with the parents and go to the bedroom where the girl is laying. Outside the crowd is weeping and wailing in mourning for the dead child.

Jesus tells them to stop because the child is only sleeping, not dead. The mourners laugh at him and think He is crazy. Much like Peter did when he questioned Jesus about asking who touched Him in the crowd.

Jesus commands the little girl to get up and she does immediately. She too is completely healed and restored to life. She gets up and starts walking around. Jesus tells the parents to get her something to eat.

He tells the parents to tell no one about the miracle. Obviously, knowledge about the miracle could not be completely withheld. The idea is that Christ didn’t want the details to be released.

The crowds were already oppressive and Christ didn’t come to simply perform physical healings. He came to save His people from their sins. He came on a heavenly timetable and he was following it exactly as planned.

So what do we get out of these two stories today. Well, they are both about faith. The bleeding women had faith that Jesus could heal her. And Jairus didn’t give up when his servants told him his daughter was dead.

What is faith?

The word faith is a simple word, the word means belief, trust, confidence. That’s faith. There is a great description of faith in Hebrews 11, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see.

As a child you have faith in your parents. You believe they will take care of you, even though you can’t see all the stuff they have to deal with just so you can eat and stay warm at night. You don’t know how it all works, but you have faith that it will be taken care of.

Faith is one of those things that is commanded by God. To have faith in His Son. While it is commanded by God, it is also a gift from God.

But what about saving faith, how do you get that?

Romans 10:17 tells us “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” No one can have saving faith without hearing the message about Christ.

Preaching is designed to produce faith. If the preaching you are hearing doesn’t produce faith then something is wrong. I believe this to be the problem with many of our church’s today.

For sure, there are many church’s out there that have a large attendance each week, but the word of God isn’t being preached and taught. There are also many church’s with little attendance each week, but the word of God is faithfully proclaimed each week.

Which church do you think is obeying God’s command?

Faith is so important to the Christian. Through it comes the remission of sins, salvation, spiritual life, eternal life, preservation, access to God.

As you continue to read and study the Word of God and commune with Him and live out His will by obeying His commands your faith will grow. As your faith grows, so does your obedience to God’s word. Faith is necessity for Christians in today’s world. It is necessary for the spiritual warfare we face everyday.

Faith gives us hope, joy, peace, confidence, and boldness to proclaim the word of God. Believers will live by, stand by, and walk by faith.

The question to ask yourself this morning is: What is your faith like? Do you believe Jesus can make you clean? Do you believe He will raise you to eternal life? Are you living out your faith each and every day?

You must have faith as a Christian.

Closing Prayer
Father we thank You that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And we thank You that we can believe in You, that You're worthy to be trusted. We ask that you strengthen our faith, like that of the healed women and that of the Jairus. Help us to step out in faith this week and live like we are your people. In the name of Christ. AMEN.