Faith

Our faith matters to Him.

I want to share with you a brief account from the gospel of Mark. It is one of my favorite parts of the gospels, and I believe it has several valuable lessons to teach us.

Healed by Faith

In Mark 5, a synagogue leader named Jairus approaches Jesus and falls at His feet, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live” (Mark 5:23). This man is desperate for his daughter to be healed, and he has heard of the man doing great miracles like healing the sick and casting out demons. This man, Jesus, was now close, so the man pleaded for Him to heal his daughter. Jesus went with Jairus, but something happened as they were walking.

“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.” (Mark 5:25-26). This woman had her own problems — her illness left her in a hopeless situation, where her condition continually worsened. She was just as desperate as Jairus was for someone to help her, and she had also heard of this miracle worker: “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed’” (Mark 5:27-28). This woman had great faith! She heard of what Jesus had been doing for others, and instead of dismissing it, she found Him and had the faith that simply touching His clothes would heal her.

“Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering” (Mark 5:29). What a miracle this was! She was immediately healed, and all her pain stopped. However, Jesus noticed this: “At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” (Mark 5:30-31). This is noteworthy, as even Jesus’ disciples only recognized the physical presence of the crowd, and not the spiritual interaction that occurred. How often are we like that? We recognize the immediate, physical interactions around us, but we fail to see the spiritual part of them. The spiritual interaction is the most important part! But this reveals something else, too. Jesus is not merely a man in a large crowd whom we can’t access — He understands and recognizes our personal faith and desperation, and He sees us.

“But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth” (Mark 5:32-33). This woman was terrified, yet was honest and told Jesus the truth. Jesus didn’t respond by rebuking her — instead, “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering’” (Mark 5:34). Jesus recognized the desperate faith of this woman, and He was compassionate and provided her healing. How beautiful is that?

While this was happening, Jairus was probably growing impatient. This was an urgent situation — his daughter was dying! Yet, Jesus remained calm and did it all in His own time. We oughta learn to trust God’s timing — He’s never been late. “While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’” (Mark 5:35). This crowd has no faith, and they believe that Jairus is burdening Jesus by bringing Him to his home. But nothing is too big for God, and Jesus tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (Mark 5:36).

“When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in there where the child was” (Mark 5:39-40). This is an appalling lack of faith. They refuse to believe that Jesus can heal this girl, to the point of laughing at Him. Yet, Jesus silenced them. “He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished” (Mark 5:41-42). Jesus raised this girl from the dead!

This entire account is a lesson for us in faith. The woman who touched Jesus’ cloak did so in a desperate faith, and He healed her. Just as Jairus fell at the feet of Christ, asking Him to heal his daughter, and even with the doubters around him, he believed that Jesus could bring her back to life. Our faith matters — if we don’t put our faith in Him, we cannot expect Christ to do anything for us.

Conclusion

It all starts with faith. When we fall at His feet and accept Jesus as Lord, not only will He save our souls, but He will show that He can do other miraculous things in our lives. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)