Amazed Belief

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

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Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this

sermon. God Bless. Lord God, thank you for this

beautiful passage that we have from the Gospel

of Mark of your tenderness and your compassion,

your kindness to us who are in need, doing what

you alone can do, saving, healing. God, we pray

that you would speak to us again today, that

you bless the reading and the preaching of your

word. The words of my mouth and the meditations

of all of our hearts would be pleasing in your

sight, Lord, that we would grow in faith and

belief and trust in you. Amen. All right. You

all remember that we left off the week before

last Palm Sunday in Mark, right? Mark chapter

five. Did you have that bookmark still? No, okay.

Well, that's where we left off. And so we're

jumping right back into the Gospel of Mark. A

lot of times, John mentioned earlier that we

are in the season called Epiphany, which really

began on Tuesday, which was Epiphany, which is

the 12 days of Christmas lead up to Epiphany,

where we remember the wise men coming and falling

at the feet of Jesus and offering their gifts.

But it's really the season where we think of

the revealing of God to the whole world. The

manifestation of God in the flesh for the life

of the whole world. And so what we have done,

what's been our practice at our church is that

we've spent this time specifically looking at

the gospel texts. The gospels are these accounts

of the life of Christ. If there are books within

the great book that Christians hold most dear,

they are these ones that tell us about Jesus,

what he said. and what he did, how he taught,

and how he engaged with others, of course, about

the cross and the resurrection and all of that.

But these books, the Gospels, Matthew, Mark,

and so we're in the second one, Matthew, Mark,

Luke, and John, they begin the New Testament.

And they are, they're biographies, right, which

means life writings, biographies, they're life

writings, they're life accounts. But they're

certainly not biographies like we think of biographies.

We aren't told what school he attended, what

degree he got. We're told nothing of what Jesus

looked like really or what he sounded like. We

don't have sort of this account that we think

of as a biography. And in fact, it's kind of

interesting. We only have one account of the

life of Jesus from The birth narratives that

we look at in Luke and in Matthew, all the way

up until he begins his earthly ministry, which

is like 30 years. And the ancient world knew

just like we do that these are such formative

times. We get one story. And actually in Mark,

Mark just jumps right into Jesus' baptism in

John. We don't even have an account of all of

the Christmassy stuff that we've been talking

about for the last month. in the gospel of Mark.

Was such a formative thing something that you

would expect in any kind of biography, right?

If you want to learn about someone, where were

they born? What were their parents' names? Stuff

like Mark doesn't dive into any of that kind

of stuff. So, we have this revelation of God

for us in the gospels, but it's not the revelation

that we might expect to have. And yet it's a

true revealing of God, a true telling of the

life and ministry of this God -made flesh. And

one of the things that we see, particularly actually

in this little section that we're in, is how

wildly different it is. And in that wild difference,

it calls for amazement, to be overcome with amazement,

to be overcome with this real reality that God

is among us. God in the flesh. And ever since

this was first written, ever since the events

that were recorded in Mark took place, they continue

to have the same reaction. Not with everybody,

of course. What an amazement. God? For us? God

who transforms lives, transforming me? So we

have an amazing couple of stories before us this

morning. Beautiful, beautiful stories, hopefully

ones that you know. And they not only go together,

but they actually go with the two stories that

precede them. They are part of Jesus' Galilean

ministry. This began actually, you heard in verse

21, and when Jesus had crossed again in the boat

to the other side. And so it's this little account

of these three stories that take place around

the Sea of Galilee. The first one is when they're

actually crossing the Sea of Galilee initially,

which you'll remember was when Jesus is in the

boat with the disciples and he is asleep in the

middle of a storm, a deathly storm, and he's

just asleep there. And in the midst of it, they

wake him up and they actually say this word,

these words, do you not care that we are perishing?

And of all things, Jesus wakes up and he rebukes

the wind and the waves and they obey him. He

just says, peace be still, and they are stilled.

And the account ends, that account ended, verse

41, they were filled with great fear and they

said to one another, who then is this, the end

of chapter four, that even the wind and the sea

obey him? Their reaction to Jesus having power

over the physical world is one of amazement,

awe, a proper fear. But it also may be a greater

faith. Oh my word. What do we have before us?

What can he do? Then you might remember that

the next little story in this trio of amazed

reactions to Jesus. So they cross over and they

go and they find this demoniac. He was living

among the tombs, right? He'd been bound by chains

and all this. And he was crying out and it says

he was cutting himself with stones. And Jesus

heals him and he goes to the towns and they come

back and they're amazed. Verse 20, when he went

away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis,

which means the 10 towns, Deca 10 polis, the

10 towns around, how much Jesus had done for

him. And everyone marveled. People saw the amazing

work of Jesus to just speak and the wind and

the waves obey him and how he can speak and the

spiritual world has to obey him and the reaction

is one of amazement, awe, holy fear. Who is this

that's before us? The revelation of God, God

in the flesh. So today we have these two stories

and You all have heard me teach the past, especially

when we were looking at Genesis a couple years

ago about how often the Bible uses this, a chiastic

structure, this inclusio. And that's not quite

exactly what's happening here. That's a very

common Hebrew sort of way of teaching, but it's

definitely a narrative sandwich, if you will.

There's bread on either side, right? And there's

some stuff in the middle and it's all working

together. You can't just kind of take off the

bread and you don't have a sandwich anymore.

And you can't just have bread or you just have

bread. It's not a sandwich, right? They work

together. It's sort of one account, but it's

two stories within this one account. He's relating

them to together in such a way that he's presenting

us with one big idea. And so I want us to look

at these two stories. And I want us to see some

of the similarities. I want to see some of the

differences. And then I want us to kind of sit

in the big idea, okay? So if you consider some

similarities, there's some really interesting

similarities that are at play here in these two

different stories. Immediately, if you think

of these two different stories of the young girl

and her father going to Jesus and then, you know,

Jesus eventually ending up at her house and healing

her and all. And you think of the woman who goes

to Jesus and she just touches elsewhere. And

Luke says, just the hem of his garment, just

a little bit of it. The immediate thing that

you think of as a similarity is a physical need.

There's just this theme that's similar in these

two stories that are at play. They're both sick.

No doubt these accounts that we have all together.

and the reaction of amazement have to do with

how Jesus showed his power, right? And we could

say, okay, well, just in the similarities of

these two stories, where Mark is putting Jesus

forth, he's revealing Jesus as the one who can

have power of the physical world and over the

spiritual world and actually over our illnesses.

Like there's a truth in that that's at play in

that similarity between these two stories. There's

also just some really interesting small details

that invite us to say there's something that

these are to be held together. So the first thing

that we read, verse 21, after he situates in

around the Sea of Galilee and they're coming

back across the other side, it says, a great

crowd gathered about him. And he was beside the

sea. So that's verse 21. And when you begin the

account of the woman with the bleeding, the second

part of verse 24, it says, and a great crowd

followed him. It's the same phrase that's being

used there, this great crowd about Jesus. And

so we're supposed to take them together again,

okay? Just a small detail. Another small detail

that you probably heard when Cynthia read this

to us is that verse 25 tells us this, and there

was a woman who had a discharge of blood for

12 years. And then if you jump down to verse

42, it says, immediately the girl got up and

began walking for she was 12 years of age. Just

a small little detail, but one that's interesting

that, again, Mark is saying, take these texts

together. He's tying them together for us. This

is an interesting thing. In both stories, the

Lord is met with some rebuke. It is funny. It's

kind of a silly thing. Verse 31. And his disciples

said to him, you see the crowd pressing around

you. And you can imagine sort of, you know, the

ancient Near East, like a lot of places today,

there's these crowds in these towns that are

just pressing up against you. Maybe you went

to the farm show, think of that. You see the

crowd pressing around you and yet you say who

touched me. It's as though they are saying, Jesus,

this is absurd. Sort of rebuking. Later on in

verse 39, it says, and when he entered, he said

to them, why are you making a commotion and weeping?

The child's not dead, but sleeping. And they

laughed at him. That laughter, that word laughter

could be translated scoff, laughed him off, rebuke,

because it's such an absurd thing. They know

what dead people are like. They know why they

are mourning. They're not being fooled. So there's

this connection here of these rebukes taking

place against Jesus, the absurdity of what he

is saying. Another really interesting similarity

in these two stories of the account of Jesus

healing has to do with Jesus getting into contact

with the unclean. Both are accounts in which

Jesus comes into physical contact with those

who are unclean. The woman with the discharge

of bleeding, she probably touched the hem of

Jesus because she actually was aware that if

she was to touch somebody, that other person

would be unclean and would have to go through

all the ceremonial cleansing process and all

of that. It was almost a way of her being kind

and attentive because she knew, because she had

been taught, it had been reinforced for her time

and time again over these 12 years. Don't touch

anyone. and Jesus comes into contact with this

unclean person. This would have happened just

by this interaction of touching him. But not

only that, the interesting parallel is that Jesus

touches the young girl who is dead, which again

would have made him unclean. But of course, this

is part of the great lesson of Christian faith.

Jesus does not become unclean because he associates

with sinners. Sinners become clean in our association

with him. Amen. Thanks be to God. He makes us

righteous. He can come among us in our uncleanness

and make us clean. But those are some of the

similarities. What I'm saying is it is unquestionable

that these texts are to be taken together. We

take them together. But there's some really,

really interesting differences too. There's some

sad differences. Think this young girl is deeply

loved. She's surrounded by a community that cares

for her. She has a loving father that goes, it

seems travels to some extent to find Jesus. He

doesn't mind humbling himself, he falls down

before Jesus. She has a loving father. I mentioned

that there's a whole commotion of people, right?

They get to the house, they come to the house

of the ruler of the synagogue, verse 38, and

Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing

loudly. There's a whole community that surrounds

this family and this young girl who loves her,

who mourns her passing, who desired her life.

Almost as if to sort of exaggerate this, What

we're also told is that he, this is verse 40,

and they laughed at him, but he put them all

outside and took the child's father and mother.

And this girl is surrounded by love, surrounded

by care, a couple parents that desire her presence,

who are mourning her passing. And yet, this is

a huge difference, right? This other woman seems

to be completely alone. utterly destitute, on

her own through her trial. No one comes to her

as we read actually in Mark chapter two on her

behalf, tearing apart the roof, lowering her

down, getting her before Jesus that he might

see her and heal her. No one is alongside of

her. There are no friends. They're present for

her. There's no family that is there desiring

her healing. No one speaks and pleads on her

behalf. We are just told that the woman came

in fear and trembling and fell down before him.

We're actually told that she had spent all that

she had. Which is to say there's nobody sort

of helping her out in her ailment as far as we

can tell. She was destitute alone. Another difference

is that the girl's illness seems to be very acute,

demanding immediate care. It's part of the strangeness

of this passage is that Jesus takes his time

with a woman who's had 12 years of bleeding.

It's a chronic illness. Why not rush Lord Jesus

to this girl who is dying? Don't you understand

the difference between acute and chronic illnesses?

It's a great difference here. A lesson for us,

of course, in that of Jesus' knowledge, his awareness,

his timing is perfect, though it's not what we

often desire. Maybe the greatest difference in

these two accounts and these two people is the

power differential that's at play. It's highlighted

for us actually very explicitly. We have Jairus'

name, and that's not necessarily part of what's

going on with the power differential. Likely,

most people think that Jairus is mentioned here

because he maybe really became part of the worshiping

community. It was like, I've told you this before,

when there's a specific name mentioned around

a healing, you should really be like, why would

they do that? Well, the thought is go and talk

to them about it. It's Jairus. He's known in

the Christian community in the early church.

Go and talk to them about it. And Mark rarely

gives names, and the gospel writer rarely give

names. And so when they do, you kind of got to

go, why would they have done that? But his name

is not really what's emphasized, it's his position

that's emphasized. It's kind of interesting.

His position is mentioned three times, as if

to say, do you understand this is a big deal,

okay? Verse 22, of course, then came one of the

rulers. of the synagogue, verse 36, while he

was still speaking there, came from the ruler's

house, right? It could have just been from Jairus's

house. Verse 38, they came to the house of the

ruler of the synagogue. And a ruler of the synagogue

would have actually, often it would have, come

to that place because his aptitude, because of

his know -how, because of his success within

the community, because of his respect in the

community, because of his devotion to God. He

would have been somebody who was devoted, desired

God, and it was known in the community and probably

somebody of great organizational ability. That

specific role within the synagogue would have

kind of been like our equivalent of an elder

in the church, okay? So they were to oversee

some of the building, but also the spiritual

formation, not the priestly role of the primary

role of teaching and sort of the sacrifices and

all that. That would have been different. This

would have been a lay leader, but it's sort of

like thinking about in the Presbyterian world,

the moderator of the session or the clerk of

the session. So it would have been somebody that

was like known in the community and loved in

the community and certainly respected in the

community. One of the things you note is that

he goes to Jesus and he speaks to Jesus. He's

used to other people engaging with him and listening.

Now he does this humbly. He falls down before

him, but he speaks. On the other hand, we have

this nameless woman, probably legitimately unknown

to the entire crowd. Like I said, nobody there

with her. Likely a single woman. because she

had spent all that she had on the physicians

seeking her healing. She'd been unclean for 12

years, which would have been long enough for

even the friendships that she did have to sort

of dissipate over time, not being able to engage

with her because of her uncleanness. She was

alone. She comes and she doesn't speak to Jesus.

Now she's invited to eventually and she shares

it. She doesn't have the same approach. There's

a massive dynamic of power at play here, massive

differential that we see here. And before we

get to the main, the big point of this text,

I sort of want you to sit in this because I was

thinking about this in some ways. I sort of wanted

this to be the main point of the passage, but

I don't think it is. So I want to just sit with

you for a moment. Think about how wonderful this

is. that Jesus is inviting all kinds of people

to him. I mean, it is a great temptation. I guarantee

you've had this thought where maybe Christianity

is for kind of people. I mean, part of the big

dynamic in the Bible, in the New Testament, is

Jew and Gentile. Maybe all the Gentiles have

to become like Jews, right? Maybe those Magi

just need to become Jewish in order to truly

worship him. Or maybe you think, Maybe think

that Christianity is only for a certain level

of education. Maybe a certain socioeconomic dynamic.

Christianity is for the poor or is for the married

with children. I think we're tempted to think

you have to have your life in this kind of way

to enter the doors of the church. What do I wear

when I come? Right? That kind of question. But

think of how destitute this woman is. Think of

how well -to -do this man is. And Jesus welcomes

them both. And he desires both of their healing.

And he acts for both of their healing. His compassion

and his love doesn't know the bounds that we

want to put on people. It's a wonderful thing.

One of the great differences in this text is

actually that this destitute woman, let me say

this, she is the only one in all of the gospels

who Jesus calls this, is called daughter. The

woman who's estranged, so she has nobody else.

I mean, Jairus says my daughter, right? But Jesus

calls this woman and he says, you are my daughter.

And actually, it's really kind of interesting.

You know, we have Jesus saying, little girl,

I say to you, rise. But actually, first, we have

it in Aramaic, verse 41. Taking her by the hand,

He said to her, Talatha kumi, which means, little

girl, I say to you, rise. And of course, there's

a question there. I mean, I don't know if you

have asked this question, but why would Mark

leave that in the Aramaic? And why would he need

to translate it? He's just spilling ink that

doesn't need to be spilled. Why not just say,

and he said something that meant, you know, little

girl, rise up. Little girl, I say to you, rise.

What's the deal? Well, I think the best explanation

that I read about was that these were the exact

words that Jesus spoke. And his words were cherished

so much by Jairus and others. And they said,

I know exactly what he said. Just like this woman

said, I know he called me daughter. I know when

he healed my daughter, he said, in Aramaic. Odd

detail. Talatha Akumi. Jesus is calling all sorts

to himself. He's doing so with kindness and gentleness

and tenderness and compassion Which is to say

there's no social standing that puts you outside

of the possibility of God's grace And his invitation

is for you wherever you are this morning The

offer of salvation is for you where you are right

now today alone, maybe filled with people around

you, feeling outcast, feeling a part of something,

God's invitation is for you. But there is something

needed. And I do think this is more the big point

of this text. Both the woman and the young girl

are healed because of faith in Jesus. They're

healed, they're saved because of faith in Jesus.

And it's a faith that is saying, you alone can

do what no one else can. I think both of these

scenarios are painted as bleak as possible. Of

course, you probably... notice, and I've mentioned,

but verse 25 and 26, it says in there, you know,

there's a woman with a discharge of blood for

12 years and who had suffered much under many

physicians and had spent all that she had and

was no better, but rather getting worse, growing

worse. It's just the direst of dire situations.

And what is more dire than death and the community

around you mourning? I mean, what is clear here

is that they are saying, nobody else can do this.

No one else. They're healed, they're saved because

faith in Christ that He alone can do what they

cannot do for themselves, what others cannot

do for them. They have faith in Christ Jesus,

but the help that they need, only God can supply.

And that is at the heart of Christianity. Coming

to a place where you say, I can't do it. The

world about me can't do it. You alone, faith,

trust. They're both in utterly dire situations.

I've mentioned a few times that the girl is dead.

And I wonder if you're thinking, well, Jesus

corrects them. He says, she's just sleeping.

Did any of you think that? No, no, none of you

did. Maybe you didn't because you know that sleeping

is often actually a euphemism in the New Testament

for death. That was actually mentioned in our

adult Sunday school class this morning that Jed

mentioned. And actually the word for arise in

verse 41, little girl, I say to you, rise, is

often used in the New Testament to refer to the

resurrection. What will happen for those in Christ

Jesus? Think of Actually, verse 42, we're also

told that she got up. This also is, again, a

word that's used for the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians

4, 16, which we also looked at this morning in

Sunday School. It said, the dead in Christ will

rise. It's the exact same word that is mentioned

to her, of her here. These are utter, dire situations,

which is to say they are situations that demand

God alone. God alone to act, to work, to save,

which is exactly what He does. Which is exactly

what He's about. You all probably don't remember,

and that's totally fine, that the beginning of

last February we looked at this beautiful passage

where these friends did lower their friend down

through the roof, right? They took off the roof

and lowered him down. And in that passage with

the paralytic, Jesus says, which is easier, your

sins are forgiven or rise, which by the way is

the exact same word here in verse 42. Jesus is

doing what he alone can do, bringing healing,

bringing salvation into a situation that is completely

dire that where they have to say, God, our faith,

our trust, our belief is in you alone. Of course,

at the end of chapter two, when he does this,

he says this, those who are well have no need

of a physician, but those who are sick, I came

not to call the righteous, but sinners, the needy.

Yes, Jesus is the great physician. but He is

so because He alone can do this work. He alone

can heal us of our greatest need, our sins. What

this woman and this girl were in desperate need

of first and foremost, okay, first and foremost

was not the healing of their bodies, but peace

with God and eternal salvation, the forgiveness

of their sins. And how did they receive this?

How did they receive this saving relationship

with Jesus? They received it the same way that

anyone only ever does, which is by faith and

by faith in the work of God for their salvation.

Think about this, verse 34 says something wild,

right? He says, daughter, which I said was just

so beautiful and it's unique in the gospels.

He says, daughter, your faith has made you well.

your faith has made you well. Verse 36, if you

go down, but overhearing what they said, Jesus

said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear,

only believe. That word faith has made you well

and belief, by the way, in the Greek is the same

word. For some reason in English, we often change

it. But have faith. Faith is what saves. We receive

salvation by faith and by faith alone, which

is to say it is never what you do. It is simply

trusting the reality of what Christ can do and

has done on your behalf. Which is why it's not

based on your social standing. It's not based

on your community that you have. Your salvation

is not based on what books you have read. or

what ailments you have, your salvation is only

ever on the work of Christ and grabbing onto

Him, trusting, having faith that He will do what

He has said He will do, that He has done what

we are told He has done. One of the things that's

great about this passage is that it sort of highlights

for us how much it has nothing to do with us.

And I think it kind of does this in some, I think

kind of funny ways. Because both of the faith

of Jairus and the faith of this woman, they're

not the faith that we would think like, oh man,

they have strong faith. We need strong faith

because then it makes it sound like it's up to

us. If we put that category on it where you're

like, oh, then it maybe it has to do with us.

This has nothing to do with them. They have actually

kind of superstitious faith. If I just touch

the hem of his garment, maybe that's a magical

hem, right? It's almost like a superstitious

faith. Ah, it's like a talisman, something special

that can heal. As if Jesus couldn't just heal

her by the word of his power, as he does so often.

He just spoke and the wind and the waves obey

him. Don't need to touch his hem. Or think of

Jairus and all. We know from other accounts,

that Jesus didn't have to be present for a healing

to happen. And yet Jairus is like, come on, come

on. And the people go to him, you know, saying,

you know, your daughter's dead, but it's almost

like saying, why didn't you come? You have to

be here in order for it to happen. Which we know

that's not true. It's sort of this, I want to

say it's a small faith, but it's a real faith.

And what an encouragement. The extent of your

faith, right? Your ability in it is nothing.

It is simply grabbing on, trusting, believing

that God can act, that He can work, that He can

save, that He can do it. And interestingly, isn't

it? I mean, almost as if to drill this in, it

leaves us with a real interesting theological

question. The girl is saved. by the faith of

her dad. I don't really want to, nor do I have

time to get into that right now. But let me try

to draw this near to an end, it's that time,

with a thought for you. You likely think that

it would have been better for God for him not

to allow this woman to have 12 years of social

estrangement. No doubt. nights, weeks, months

of tears over her situation. A hemorrhage that

lasts for 12 years, why would God allow that?

No question you think, why allow a 12 -year -old

little girl to go through this? Why allow her

parents and her community to suffer so? My guess

is that you have those... thoughts. And that's

the main thing you think. If God would just allow

the physical ailments to not be there, this would

have been so much better. And yet I guarantee

you that that is not the case for this woman.

It's not the case for Jairus and his family.

because it was actually in their most dire need.

It was when they came to the end of themselves

and the end of the ability of all the other things

in the world that they've been grabbing onto,

like the physicians and all this kind of stuff

to get to, that they finally go, I need to go

to Jesus. And it was there that they actually

found real lasting, everlasting life. that it's

actually sometimes the very ailments and the

trials that we go through that finally get us

to the point where we say, I'm going to stop

trying to control it all and actually trust in

the reality that God can do what He alone can

do, that God is able. They found their eternal

salvation and they were amazed at God. I mean,

why were the disciples in the boat amazed? They

were full of fear and awe because they knew that

God alone can do that. Why were the people in

the Decapolis in such awe when this demoniac

comes and tells them what had happened? Because

they knew God was among them. Why at the end

of our passage does it say, and they were immediately

overcome with amazement? Because God alone did

what God alone can do. All these stories are

showing us that Jesus can do what God alone can

do, and I want to tell you, go to Him. Go to

Him. Go to Him in your feeling of loneliness

and estrangement. Go to Him in your physical

weakness and ailments. Go to Him when you've

come to the end, not knowing what to do. What

we see in The New Testament and the text of these

gospels is that when God is revealed, when anybody

comes to Lord Jesus and says, save me, heal me,

He responds with compassion and with kindness,

with gentleness. And again and again and again,

He's saying, you can trust me. You can have faith

in me. That's the invitation of Christianity.

That's the revelation of God. for us this morning.

Let me pray for us. Lord God, thank you for the

gospel text from Mark this morning. Lord, thank

you, Lord Jesus, that you alone are our salvation,

that we can have faith in you, weak and frail

and sometimes even superstitious kind of faith

in you. And your compassion is for us and your

grace is for us. God, increase in us our dependence,

our trust, our belief, our faith in you, we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City

Sermon's podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged

you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel

of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this

podcast and joining us in person each Sunday

at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch

.org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Thanks again for listening. God bless.