Desperate Faith
Mark 5:21-43
Message #17
Today, we see Part 3 of Mark’s trilogy teaching on the absolute power of Jesus Christ.
First, we saw Jesus demonstrate absolute power over nature and over the circumstantial storms in our lives (storms we don’t bring upon ourselves). Second, we saw Jesus demonstrate absolute power over the demonic realm and over spiritual warfare storms in our lives. Third, (today), we see Jesus demonstrate absolute power over sickness and death, over what we view as the final storm in our lives.
And, we are going to see the blessing of us having desperate faith. Desperate faith in who Jesus is and in what Jesus can do.
Today, the Holy Spirit intertwines two separate stories of desperate faith and miraculous healing in two people who could not possibly be further apart from one another on the social ladder.
One man at the top of the social/religious ladder. One woman who is so far below the bottom of the social ladder, that she would need a helicopter ride just to get to the bottom rung of that ladder. But they have one critical thing in common. They both show us what desperate faith looks like.
That’s what I pray you see today – what desperate faith looks like. We start in Mark 5:21.
Mark 5:21 (NLT)
21 Jesus got into the boat again (after delivering the demon-possessed man) and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.
Everyone agrees, Jesus is now back in Capernaum, his hometown. A lot had happened in the past few days. The storm had almost taken the Disciples lives, and the army of demons had shaken them to the core. And now, just as they dock the boat, a large crowd immediately swarms around Jesus.
But then, suddenly, the crowd gets quiet and the people part in order to make way for the leader of the synagogue to reach Jesus.
Mark 5:22(a) (NLT)
22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived . . .
In Capernaum, we visit a synagogue from a 4th century Byzantine church. It is built directly matching the foundation of the synagogue we are reading about here. I just want you to know the places where these events occurred are very real.
So, Mark 5:22 again, and verse 23.
Mark 5:22-23 (NLT)
22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,
23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”
The crowd is now riveted in silence because this was the synagogue leader. He did not plead with the people. People pleaded with him. Everyone knew the Jewish religious leaders were set against Jesus. Yet, this synagogue leader was kneeling at the feet of Jesus, pleading fervently with him.
“My little daughter is dying,” - “Please come . . . and heal her so she can live.”
It was an incredible sight for the crowd to see. But we shouldn’t think that this synagogue leader was a devoted follower of Jesus, at least not yet. Right here, right now, this was a father with desperate faith. He’d seen some of the miracles of Jesus. He’d heard about many more of them. And he had a desperate enough faith to humble himself to come and kneel before Jesus and plead with Jesus to heal his daughter.
Isn’t that similar for some of us? Most of us did not initially come to Jesus as committed, faithful followers. Many of us initially came to Jesus in desperation, didn’t we? Maybe you had a desperate faith when you reached out to Jesus. If so, then you know Jesus will not turn you away when you come to him, humbling yourself in desperate faith.
When you come to Jesus, in that way, Jesus will receive you, and he will walk with you, just as he did here with Jairus, the synagogue leader.
Continuing in Mark 5:24.
Mark 5:24 (NLT)
24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.
Jesus sees Jairus’ heart, and Jesus knows Jairus is being driven by his desperate faith. And so, without any other requirements, Jesus agrees to walk with him to his home.
But the crowd had grown larger and more intense, especially when the people saw the leader of the synagogue bowing at Jesus’ feet. And so, the movement of the crowd had slowed to a crawl. And then, suddenly, everything came to a grinding halt.
Because there was a woman in the crowd that day who also had desperate faith, and although they were on extreme separate ends of the social ladder, both these people were in the same place with Jesus on that day.
Mark 5:25-26 (NLT)
25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.
26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
This woman was the exact opposite of Jairus, the synagogue leader. This woman was a complete social outcast. Her illness had rendered her unclean and unapproachable for twelve years, and according to the Jewish law, she was a transmitter of uncleanness, and so no religious Jew was allowed to touch her. She was ostracized from society, and barred from the synagogue Jairus was the leader of.
And when verse 26 says, She had suffered a great deal from many doctors - and spent everything she had - and only gotten worse, don’t make the mistake of envisioning our doctors today.
The Talmud tells us what the Rabbi’s had instructed the doctors to do in the case of this trouble.
Take the gum of Alexandria, & the alum of Alexandria (a mineral), and crocus (flower). Let them be [mashed] together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take three Persian onions; boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say “Arise from thy flux.”
If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let someone come behind and frighten her, and say, “Arise from thy flux.” (Vincent Word Studies)
In another option, the Talmud says – Let the afflicted woman carry a barleycorn kernel which has been taken from the droppings of a white female donkey! (W. Barclay)
And so, after twelve years of that nonsense, this woman was helpless, hopeless, alone, ostracized, and dying – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
But, just as Jairus at the top of the social ladder had a desperate faith, so this woman who was far below the bottom of the social ladder, also had desperate faith.
Continuing in Mark 5:27-28.
Mark 5:27-28 (NLT)
27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.
28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
After twelve years of crazy potions and rituals, this woman was so desperate to receive a healing, she thought if I can only fight through the crowd to TOUCH his ROBE – I will be healed.
And so, with her head down and covered so no one would recognize her, she pressed and maneuvered and positioned herself until she had a chance. And when she did – she reached out and touched the robe of the miracle healer.
And then we read in Mark 5:29;
Mark 5:29 (NLT)
29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
After twelve agonizing years, she could instantly feel the healing power of Jesus rush through the body, and she was healed. The same power that stilled the life-threatening storm, the same power that stilled the demonized man, that same power had healed her incurable illness. But then in Mark 5:30-32,
Mark 5:30-32 (NLT)
30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” (acting as if he didn’t know)
31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. (not that he didn’t know, but that he couldn’t see her)
The Disciples were dumbfounded by the question “Who Touched Me?” and poor Jairus is now going crazy. Jairus is dying inside, knowing that his daughter is dying at home. And he’s thinking, Jesus – My daughter is out of time and you’re stopping to play – “Who touched my Robe?”
And at the same time, the woman is feeling the worst double-edged sword confusion. Should I be THRILLED that I’ve been HEALED Or Should I be SCARED - that the Healer is going to KILL me for SNEAKING in on a Healing ??
So, we read in Mark 5:33
Mark 5:33 (NLT)
33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of [Jesus] and told him what she had done.
And now, moments after the synagogue leader was just humbly on his knees before the Savior, now the woman on the furthest, opposite end of the social spectrum, was in the same place with the same desperate faith.
Guys, both Jairus and this woman had fought through serious obstacles to get to Jesus, just as the demon-possessed man fought through his demonic obstacles to get to Jesus. Both Jairus and the woman had thrown all their fears and concerns aside, and they had both presented themselves before Jesus in humble, desperate faith. And Jesus will not disappoint them.
And as this desperate and frightened woman is trembling before the miracle healer, I could not see Jesus asking her to stand. But I could see Jesus kneeling down in the dirt with her. With the crowd (and Jairus) in shock at what was happening, I can see Jesus kneeling with her, meeting her right where she was at, and maybe taking her previously untouchable hand and looking her in the eyes.
When then read in Mark 5:34,
Mark 5:34 (NLT)
34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
“Daughter, your FAITH has made you well”
Your desperate faith, your immature faith, your incomplete faith…
Your FAITH has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.
So often, it is our desperate, incomplete, immature faith that drives us to Jesus. Often in response to some great need, we fight through whatever we need to fight through in order to reach Jesus – just as the demonized man did in the last message and just as both Jairus and this woman are doing here.
We must fight through whatever our circumstances are in order to reach Jesus! Don’t ever fear pressing in and fighting through your circumstances to reach Jesus. What we must fear is allowing Jesus to pass by without us pressing in to reach him.
And when Jesus sees your desperate faith, he will respond. He will take that desperate faith and he will use it to draw you closer to him and to speak healing into your life and to change you for eternity. That is what is happening to this woman after 12 years of desperation. And she will never be the same after her desperate faith encounter with Jesus.
But Jairus is still there and Jairus’ daughter is still dying. And after watching this miracle occur in front of his eyes, Jairus must’ve been all the more anxious to get Jesus to his daughter.
But then, Mark 5:35 says;
Mark 5:35 says (NLT)
35 While [Jesus] was still speaking to [the woman], messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
And you could see the blood drain from Jairus’ face, and his head drops to his chest. Maybe he again fell to his knees, but this time in total loss and hopelessness. And maybe Jesus again stoops down in the dirt in order to look this man in the eyes. And with the same compassion and love as he gave the woman (who was probably still kneeling on the ground near him), we read this in Mark 5:36.
Mark 5:36 (NLT)
36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
And just as Jesus had taken the desperate faith of the woman and used it draw her close to himself, now Jesus was going to do that and more with Jairus, the synagogue leader. Jairus came with desperate and immature faith asking Jesus to heal his daughter. But now, Jesus is going to stretch Jairus’ faith to believe that the miracle healer can raise his daughter from the dead!
Continuing in Mark 5:37-39.
Mark 5:37-39 (NLT)
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.
39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
What in the world is Jesus doing here? What do you mean she’s only asleep, Jesus? Are you messing with theses people? Maybe… I don’t know. But certainly, Jesus is saying it’s going to be only as if she were asleep because Jesus is about to wake her up.
But, as you would imagine, the crowd didn’t appreciate Jesus’ play on word about the girl being asleep.
Mark 5:40 (NLT)
40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.
There is some force implied here in making all the people leave, which is classic Jesus. He responds with strength to the proud and grace to the humble.
And so, with Jairus (the synagogue leader), and his wife and the inner three Disciples we read in Mark 5:41;
Mark 5:41 (NLT)
41 Holding her hand, [Jesus] said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!”
We’ve said it before Peter is most likely relaying these events to Mark, as Mark writes. And Peter remembers vividly. So vividly that he speaks the words in Aramaic – the language of Jesus.
“Talitha koum,” - “Little girl, get up!”
And maybe after a moment of pin-drop silence with everyone focused intensely on the young girl, maybe someone saw an eyelid twitch, and they gasped! And then, her eyes fluttered and opened, and the first thing this little girl saw was the face of Jesus – just like we will if our faith is in Jesus when we die.
And then, Mark 5:42-43.
Mark 5:42-43 (NLT)
42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.
43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened (because the crowd was already unmanageable), and then he told them to give her something to eat. (which MIGHT BE what you hope Jesus says when you wake up in his presence).
Guys, there are two things we have to see here.
#1. Jesus has absolute, undeniable power over sickness and death. The greatest power being, when we do die from sickness or something else, we will wake up in the presence of Jesus (and maybe he’ll give us something to eat).
#2. The second thing I pray you see here is Jesus responds to desperate faith. Jairus and the woman were extreme opposites in life. But, the one thing they had in common was their desperate faith in Jesus Christ.
Not mature faith.
Not complete faith.
Not even necessarily correct faith.
But they had desperate faith, and Jesus responded to them both with miraculous healing and resurrection.
And I promise you today, if you will come to Jesus with true desperate faith, Jesus will respond to you, with either miraculous healing in this life (which is the lessor healing) or he will respond to you with eternal healing (which is the greater healing).
Fight through what you need to fight through in order to get to Jesus. Then, fall at his feet, humbly, with your desperate faith, and Jesus will not turn you away. He will draw you close to himself and he will give you new life.
First, we saw Jesus demonstrate absolute power over nature and over the circumstantial storms in our lives (storms we don’t bring upon ourselves). Second, we saw Jesus demonstrate absolute power over the demonic realm and over spiritual warfare storms in our lives. Third, (today), we see Jesus demonstrate absolute power over sickness and death, over what we view as the final storm in our lives.
And, we are going to see the blessing of us having desperate faith. Desperate faith in who Jesus is and in what Jesus can do.
Today, the Holy Spirit intertwines two separate stories of desperate faith and miraculous healing in two people who could not possibly be further apart from one another on the social ladder.
One man at the top of the social/religious ladder. One woman who is so far below the bottom of the social ladder, that she would need a helicopter ride just to get to the bottom rung of that ladder. But they have one critical thing in common. They both show us what desperate faith looks like.
That’s what I pray you see today – what desperate faith looks like. We start in Mark 5:21.
Mark 5:21 (NLT)
21 Jesus got into the boat again (after delivering the demon-possessed man) and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.
Everyone agrees, Jesus is now back in Capernaum, his hometown. A lot had happened in the past few days. The storm had almost taken the Disciples lives, and the army of demons had shaken them to the core. And now, just as they dock the boat, a large crowd immediately swarms around Jesus.
But then, suddenly, the crowd gets quiet and the people part in order to make way for the leader of the synagogue to reach Jesus.
Mark 5:22(a) (NLT)
22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived . . .
In Capernaum, we visit a synagogue from a 4th century Byzantine church. It is built directly matching the foundation of the synagogue we are reading about here. I just want you to know the places where these events occurred are very real.
So, Mark 5:22 again, and verse 23.
Mark 5:22-23 (NLT)
22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,
23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”
The crowd is now riveted in silence because this was the synagogue leader. He did not plead with the people. People pleaded with him. Everyone knew the Jewish religious leaders were set against Jesus. Yet, this synagogue leader was kneeling at the feet of Jesus, pleading fervently with him.
“My little daughter is dying,” - “Please come . . . and heal her so she can live.”
It was an incredible sight for the crowd to see. But we shouldn’t think that this synagogue leader was a devoted follower of Jesus, at least not yet. Right here, right now, this was a father with desperate faith. He’d seen some of the miracles of Jesus. He’d heard about many more of them. And he had a desperate enough faith to humble himself to come and kneel before Jesus and plead with Jesus to heal his daughter.
Isn’t that similar for some of us? Most of us did not initially come to Jesus as committed, faithful followers. Many of us initially came to Jesus in desperation, didn’t we? Maybe you had a desperate faith when you reached out to Jesus. If so, then you know Jesus will not turn you away when you come to him, humbling yourself in desperate faith.
When you come to Jesus, in that way, Jesus will receive you, and he will walk with you, just as he did here with Jairus, the synagogue leader.
Continuing in Mark 5:24.
Mark 5:24 (NLT)
24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.
Jesus sees Jairus’ heart, and Jesus knows Jairus is being driven by his desperate faith. And so, without any other requirements, Jesus agrees to walk with him to his home.
But the crowd had grown larger and more intense, especially when the people saw the leader of the synagogue bowing at Jesus’ feet. And so, the movement of the crowd had slowed to a crawl. And then, suddenly, everything came to a grinding halt.
Because there was a woman in the crowd that day who also had desperate faith, and although they were on extreme separate ends of the social ladder, both these people were in the same place with Jesus on that day.
Mark 5:25-26 (NLT)
25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.
26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
This woman was the exact opposite of Jairus, the synagogue leader. This woman was a complete social outcast. Her illness had rendered her unclean and unapproachable for twelve years, and according to the Jewish law, she was a transmitter of uncleanness, and so no religious Jew was allowed to touch her. She was ostracized from society, and barred from the synagogue Jairus was the leader of.
And when verse 26 says, She had suffered a great deal from many doctors - and spent everything she had - and only gotten worse, don’t make the mistake of envisioning our doctors today.
The Talmud tells us what the Rabbi’s had instructed the doctors to do in the case of this trouble.
Take the gum of Alexandria, & the alum of Alexandria (a mineral), and crocus (flower). Let them be [mashed] together, and given in wine to the woman that has an issue of blood. If this does not benefit, take three Persian onions; boil them in wine, and give her to drink, and say “Arise from thy flux.”
If this does not cure her, set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her right hand, and let someone come behind and frighten her, and say, “Arise from thy flux.” (Vincent Word Studies)
In another option, the Talmud says – Let the afflicted woman carry a barleycorn kernel which has been taken from the droppings of a white female donkey! (W. Barclay)
And so, after twelve years of that nonsense, this woman was helpless, hopeless, alone, ostracized, and dying – physically, emotionally and spiritually.
But, just as Jairus at the top of the social ladder had a desperate faith, so this woman who was far below the bottom of the social ladder, also had desperate faith.
Continuing in Mark 5:27-28.
Mark 5:27-28 (NLT)
27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.
28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
After twelve years of crazy potions and rituals, this woman was so desperate to receive a healing, she thought if I can only fight through the crowd to TOUCH his ROBE – I will be healed.
And so, with her head down and covered so no one would recognize her, she pressed and maneuvered and positioned herself until she had a chance. And when she did – she reached out and touched the robe of the miracle healer.
And then we read in Mark 5:29;
Mark 5:29 (NLT)
29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
After twelve agonizing years, she could instantly feel the healing power of Jesus rush through the body, and she was healed. The same power that stilled the life-threatening storm, the same power that stilled the demonized man, that same power had healed her incurable illness. But then in Mark 5:30-32,
Mark 5:30-32 (NLT)
30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” (acting as if he didn’t know)
31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. (not that he didn’t know, but that he couldn’t see her)
The Disciples were dumbfounded by the question “Who Touched Me?” and poor Jairus is now going crazy. Jairus is dying inside, knowing that his daughter is dying at home. And he’s thinking, Jesus – My daughter is out of time and you’re stopping to play – “Who touched my Robe?”
And at the same time, the woman is feeling the worst double-edged sword confusion. Should I be THRILLED that I’ve been HEALED Or Should I be SCARED - that the Healer is going to KILL me for SNEAKING in on a Healing ??
So, we read in Mark 5:33
Mark 5:33 (NLT)
33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of [Jesus] and told him what she had done.
And now, moments after the synagogue leader was just humbly on his knees before the Savior, now the woman on the furthest, opposite end of the social spectrum, was in the same place with the same desperate faith.
Guys, both Jairus and this woman had fought through serious obstacles to get to Jesus, just as the demon-possessed man fought through his demonic obstacles to get to Jesus. Both Jairus and the woman had thrown all their fears and concerns aside, and they had both presented themselves before Jesus in humble, desperate faith. And Jesus will not disappoint them.
And as this desperate and frightened woman is trembling before the miracle healer, I could not see Jesus asking her to stand. But I could see Jesus kneeling down in the dirt with her. With the crowd (and Jairus) in shock at what was happening, I can see Jesus kneeling with her, meeting her right where she was at, and maybe taking her previously untouchable hand and looking her in the eyes.
When then read in Mark 5:34,
Mark 5:34 (NLT)
34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
“Daughter, your FAITH has made you well”
Your desperate faith, your immature faith, your incomplete faith…
Your FAITH has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.
So often, it is our desperate, incomplete, immature faith that drives us to Jesus. Often in response to some great need, we fight through whatever we need to fight through in order to reach Jesus – just as the demonized man did in the last message and just as both Jairus and this woman are doing here.
We must fight through whatever our circumstances are in order to reach Jesus! Don’t ever fear pressing in and fighting through your circumstances to reach Jesus. What we must fear is allowing Jesus to pass by without us pressing in to reach him.
And when Jesus sees your desperate faith, he will respond. He will take that desperate faith and he will use it to draw you closer to him and to speak healing into your life and to change you for eternity. That is what is happening to this woman after 12 years of desperation. And she will never be the same after her desperate faith encounter with Jesus.
But Jairus is still there and Jairus’ daughter is still dying. And after watching this miracle occur in front of his eyes, Jairus must’ve been all the more anxious to get Jesus to his daughter.
But then, Mark 5:35 says;
Mark 5:35 says (NLT)
35 While [Jesus] was still speaking to [the woman], messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
And you could see the blood drain from Jairus’ face, and his head drops to his chest. Maybe he again fell to his knees, but this time in total loss and hopelessness. And maybe Jesus again stoops down in the dirt in order to look this man in the eyes. And with the same compassion and love as he gave the woman (who was probably still kneeling on the ground near him), we read this in Mark 5:36.
Mark 5:36 (NLT)
36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
And just as Jesus had taken the desperate faith of the woman and used it draw her close to himself, now Jesus was going to do that and more with Jairus, the synagogue leader. Jairus came with desperate and immature faith asking Jesus to heal his daughter. But now, Jesus is going to stretch Jairus’ faith to believe that the miracle healer can raise his daughter from the dead!
Continuing in Mark 5:37-39.
Mark 5:37-39 (NLT)
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.
39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
What in the world is Jesus doing here? What do you mean she’s only asleep, Jesus? Are you messing with theses people? Maybe… I don’t know. But certainly, Jesus is saying it’s going to be only as if she were asleep because Jesus is about to wake her up.
But, as you would imagine, the crowd didn’t appreciate Jesus’ play on word about the girl being asleep.
Mark 5:40 (NLT)
40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.
There is some force implied here in making all the people leave, which is classic Jesus. He responds with strength to the proud and grace to the humble.
And so, with Jairus (the synagogue leader), and his wife and the inner three Disciples we read in Mark 5:41;
Mark 5:41 (NLT)
41 Holding her hand, [Jesus] said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!”
We’ve said it before Peter is most likely relaying these events to Mark, as Mark writes. And Peter remembers vividly. So vividly that he speaks the words in Aramaic – the language of Jesus.
“Talitha koum,” - “Little girl, get up!”
And maybe after a moment of pin-drop silence with everyone focused intensely on the young girl, maybe someone saw an eyelid twitch, and they gasped! And then, her eyes fluttered and opened, and the first thing this little girl saw was the face of Jesus – just like we will if our faith is in Jesus when we die.
And then, Mark 5:42-43.
Mark 5:42-43 (NLT)
42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.
43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened (because the crowd was already unmanageable), and then he told them to give her something to eat. (which MIGHT BE what you hope Jesus says when you wake up in his presence).
Guys, there are two things we have to see here.
#1. Jesus has absolute, undeniable power over sickness and death. The greatest power being, when we do die from sickness or something else, we will wake up in the presence of Jesus (and maybe he’ll give us something to eat).
#2. The second thing I pray you see here is Jesus responds to desperate faith. Jairus and the woman were extreme opposites in life. But, the one thing they had in common was their desperate faith in Jesus Christ.
Not mature faith.
Not complete faith.
Not even necessarily correct faith.
But they had desperate faith, and Jesus responded to them both with miraculous healing and resurrection.
And I promise you today, if you will come to Jesus with true desperate faith, Jesus will respond to you, with either miraculous healing in this life (which is the lessor healing) or he will respond to you with eternal healing (which is the greater healing).
Fight through what you need to fight through in order to get to Jesus. Then, fall at his feet, humbly, with your desperate faith, and Jesus will not turn you away. He will draw you close to himself and he will give you new life.