What does faith look like?

 

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.  --Hebrews 11:6

Where were you twelve years ago?  How is your faith different now than it was then?  Twelve years ago was the beginning of "The Great Recession" in America.  Twelve years ago my son graduated high school.  Twelve years ago the United States elected its first African American president.  Twelve years ago my daughter got her driver's license.  It was a time of great political, economic, and personal change, and it affected our lives in ways that only now (in some cases) we can fully appreciate.

In our Bible passage today, we see two individuals whose lives had changed dramatically in twelve years' time, and culminated in both of them encountering Jesus at the same time.  We will meet a very public figure, the father of a 12 year old daughter who is deathly ill.  We will also see a woman who had endured a very private malady for 12 years.  Both of them sought out Jesus.  They both had faith.  Jesus answered their prayers and made them both whole.  As we look closer at these two very different people, perhaps we can identify with one or the other of them.

The Religious Leader

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about Him, and He was beside the sea.  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing Him, he fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live."  And He went with him.  --Mark 5:21-24a

Jairus was a devout Jew and public figure, identified as one of the rulers of the synagogue.  Perhaps he had seen Jesus teaching in the synagogue.  He might have even been a witness to one of the healing miracles Jesus had done on the Sabbath we have discussed in prior studies (see Mark 3:1-6).  As a religious leader, Jairus would certainly have prayed for his daughter when she became ill.  In all probability he had asked for others in the synagogue to pray for her.  He may have even been to the Temple to offer sacrifices on her behalf, in case the illness was caused by sin.

We do not know the nature of her illness.  We do not know whether Jairus had other children.  We do know that he loved her enough to seek out Jesus publicly and ask for His help.  If he had not exercised his faith in this way, his daughter would not have had a chance to marry or to bear him grandchildren.  She would not have been able to comfort him in his old age.  Because of this, Jairus sought out Jesus at the earliest opportunity, and begged Him to come lay hands on her so that she would be healed.  We, too, should intercede for those we love.  We ought to pray, and to seek out Jesus at the most opportune time.  Jesus brings hope, healing, and life.

The destitute outcast

And a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him.  And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.  She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If I touch even His garments, I will be made well."  And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.  --Mark 24b-29

We now meet an unnamed woman who also sought out Jesus.  Like Jairus, she had a need, and sought out Jesus believing that He could meet that need.  Unlike Jairus, this woman was poor.  She had no standing in the community.  We do not know for certain, but she could have had this condition for half her life.  Most commentators agree that her malady was most likely related to a heavy menstrual flow, or menorrhagia, that could have been caused by issues such as uterine cysts.  It probably caused her to have chronic anemia and severe pain.  It would have made her unable to bear children, so she was likely unmarried (or if the illness came on after she was married, the man most likely would have divorced her in order to carry on his family name.)

She may not have been religious at all, but if she were raised in a strict Jewish household, she was thought to be perpetually unclean.  Levitical law prohibited women to go to the Temple while menstruating, and even if she stopped for a short while, the law said she remained unclean for seven days (see Leviticus 15:19-23).  Therefore, we know she had not been to the Temple in at least twelve years.  She was likely not active in the synagogue, because devout Jewish men were not to touch her without becoming unclean themselves.  She took a great risk even being out and about that day because her malady would have made her a social pariah.  Yet she sought out Jesus, desiring a connection with Him.  Prostrating herself behind Him, she believed that by touching even the hem of his garment she could be healed.

Not to get too technical here, but when I was studying for this lesson I noted that there is a word in the original Greek text that is a form of the verb "to be".  The word is οὖσα (ousa) and it is translated "there was" in the ESV (the word is skipped in the KJV because it does not flow in English--it is implied but not stated).  This form of the verb εἰμί (eimi--to be) is in the feminine accusative case, meaning there is no doubt about who we are talking about.  This stuck out in my mind, because this woman was known by her condition, the illness causing a flow of blood.  How often do we feel we are defined by our circumstances, by our limitations, by our sin?  Yet Jesus can change our circumstance, eliminate our limitations, cleanse our sin, if only we seek Him out and desire a connection with Him like this woman did.  Her faith may not have been perfect, but it was effective.

Jesus prompted a public profession of faith

And Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?"  And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, "Who touched Me?"  And He looked around to see who had done it.  But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."  --Mark 5:30-34

The woman would have probably preferred to have met with Jesus in private.  She was instead forced to a public encounter for God's glory.  I like the way the commentator on bibleref.com put it:

Even today, some medical conditions are seen as more honorable than others. A broken arm is less socially embarrassing than hemorrhoids, for instance. In the same vein, women are taught from a very early age to hide any hint of menstruation. Once again, Jesus shows that He doesn't care about social convention. He doesn't care if it's an injury, an illness, something we're born with, or even something that would make us ritually unclean if we were still under the Mosaic Law. In fact, sometimes God will even use the ignoble physical conditions to bring us closer to Him—to help us in our journey toward spiritual maturity.  (https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/5/Mark-5-25.html)

If Jesus is able to meet us at our most basic--and sometimes most embarrassing--need, then we should not be shy in sharing His blessing with others who may have the same need.  Their need may be unspoken, or kept private or hidden away, but it is a real need nonetheless, and one that Jesus can meet.  Therefore it is our duty, even our honor, to proclaim it in the light.  "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 10:32-33) 

Do not lose heart, but keep the faith

While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."  (Mark 5:35-36)

Just as there is no need too personal or private to bring to Jesus, neither is there a situation that is too far gone.  Jesus was present at creation, when God breathed life into Man.  He can create a new life in you, even after you are dead in your sin and shame.  2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (NKJV)

When it seems Jesus is distracted, or blessing others before He meets your needs, fear not.  When your hope of healing dies, fear not.  When others urge you to give up, fear not.  "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)  He will supply them in His time, by His power, for His glory.  Have faith!