Mark 5:35

Mark 5:35 says, While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? While Jesus was healing the woman, people came to tell the ruler of the synagogue that his daughter had died.  He had come to Jesus seeking His help, and by all appearances it was too late for Jesus to help him.  We should never reach the point where we believe that Jesus cannot restore us to spiritual life, no matter how long we have been spiritually dead.  Verse thirty-six adds, As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.  When Jesus heard what the people told the ruler of the synagogue, He told the man to not be afraid, but to only believe in Jesus.  When things seem totally hopeless today, we as followers of Christ need not be afraid, but need to only to put our faith in Jesus.  If you have not put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, as long as you are alive, there is hope if you do, not matter what the people of the world may say.  Never allow the word of those who do not believe in Jesus Christ to lead you to believe that there is no hope of salvation for you.  Verse thirty-seven continues, And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.  Jesus had the man and Peter, James and John to follow Him.  We are not told why Jesus did not have the other disciples come with Him, only that He didn't.  We may not always understand why Jesus calls some people to a certain task and not others, but we need to only be concerned with what we are called to do.  Verse thirty-eight concludes, And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue ruler, the people there were weeping and wailing in distress.  I am not sure if they knew that the man had gone to Jesus for help or not, but they were definitely focused on the situation, and not on Jesus.  As Christians, no matter how bad things may be, we need to keep our focus on Jesus. Verse thirty-nine declares, And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.  As Jesus arrived to see the man's sick daughter, He met a bunch of mourners.  They were looking at what they saw as the facts, and not at Jesus and His power.  Sometimes, we may be mourning or in despair over a situation because we are focusing on what we see to be the facts instead of on bringing the problem to Jesus.  Some people even use facts about their life to keep them from coming to Jesus for salvation, believing that they are too spiritually dead to ever be revived.  As long as a person has breath and the ability to think it is never too late to come to Jesus for salvation.  Jesus asked them why they were making so much ado, and they told Him that the damsel was dead.  Jesus replied that she was not dead, but was sleeping.  Verse forty adds, And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.  When Jesus entered the room where the damsel lay, after saying she was only sleeping, they laughed at Him with scorn.  If we focus on what we think we know instead of focusing on Who Jesus is, we may be filled with doubt and basically laugh at what Jesus is telling us.  Jesus put everyone out but the parents. Sometimes, we may need to remove the doubters and scoffers from our midst in order to see God work miracles.  We certainly need to remove scoffing and doubting from our life if we want to see Jesus do miraculous things.  I believe the parents still had hope that Jesus could heal their daughter.  Even if everyone around us loses faith in the power of Jesus Christ, we cannot do so.  Verse forty-one continues, And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.  Jesus when He came to the daughter said to her, “Arise."  When Jesus comes to us while we are still spiritually dead, He is going to call on us to arise from our spiritual death.  Verse forty-two states, And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. The damsel, who was twelve years old, arose and walked.  When Jesus calls us to arise by faith in the salvation that He provides, we need to respond by getting up spiritually and walking by His commands.   The people were greatly astonished.  I believe that we should feel a sense of astonishment today anytime a person is saved, or made spiritually alive, by faith in Jesus Christ.  This whole series of events started by a father coming by faith to Jesus to get healing for his daughter.  When we come to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and Lord, it has an effect not only on us, but on others as well.  Verse forty-three adds, And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.  Jesus told them not to tell anyone what had happened, whereas today we have the command to tell everyone.  Just as this happened by one man coming to Jesus by faith, the first step anyone needs to take today to be spiritually healed and have everlasting life is to come to Jesus Christ by faith in Him as their personal Savior and Lord.   

 

Mark 5:25

Mark 5:25 says, And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, Verse twenty-six adds, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,  If you ever start to think that everything is hopeless, remember this woman.  She had been sick for twelve years and had endured many things at the hands of physicians.  Now, this is not an indictment on physicians, because I know that they can do a lot to help a person, but they cannot cure everything, but God can if we put our faith in Him and He chooses to do so.  We may wonder why God doesn't heal everyone, but we cannot allow the fact that He doesn't to stop us from believing that He has the power to do so or lose our faith in Him.  The woman had spent everything she had on seeking a cure, but only grew worse.  Verse twenty-seven states, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.  Verse twenty-eight adds, For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. Then, she heard that Jesus was nearby and put her faith in Him into practice.  She didn't even believe that she had to talk to Him personally to be healed, but that she only had to touch Him by faith.  We will never see Jesus face to face in this lifetime, but if we come to Him by faith, we will be healed spiritually.  Verse twenty-nine continues, And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  When she touched Jesus' garment, she was made whole, not by the act itself but because of her faith in Him. If you would be made spiritually whole today, all you have to do is come to Jesus Christ by faith.  Verse thirty states, And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?  If you ever feel that Jesus is too busy to hear or care about you, remember this woman.  Jesus knew that someone had reached out and touched Him, because the virtue, His healing power I believe, had gone out of Him.  Even in the press of the crowd around Him, Jesus knew someone had reached out to Him and asked who had touched His clothes.  I believe Jesus already knew who but was giving the woman a chance to publicly acknowledge her faith in Him.  Even though Jesus always knows when a person comes to Him for salvation by faith, which is a personal thing, He still expects them to publicly acknowledge their faith in Him.  Verse thirty-one adds, And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  The disciples once again focused on the crowd instead of on Jesus and the woman.  They basically said with so many people around, how could Jesus expect to know who touched Him.  Even in a crowd, if no one else knows, if a person comes to Jesus by faith, He will always recognize that person individually.  Crowds cannot separate us from Jesus if we come to Him in faith, nor keep Him from knowing who we are individually.  We must do whatever is necessary to get to Him.  Verse thirty-two says, And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.  Verse thirty-three adds, But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. Jesus looked around for the woman, and even though she was afraid, she fell down before Jesus and told Him the truth.  We really have no reason to fear coming to Jesus, but even if we are afraid for whatever reason, we need to simply acknowledge to Him that we are coming by faith to be healed spiritually.  Verse thirty-four continues, And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.  Jesus told the woman that her faith had made her whole.  She really didn't have to touch His garment, but simply needed to profess here faith in Jesus.  There is nothing else that we must do to be saved than to come to Jesus by faith.   

Mark 5:21

Mark 5:21 says, And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.  After healing the demon possessed man and sending him on his way, Jesus once again crossed over the sea by ship.  The people where the man was healed had asked Jesus to leave, and He did.  They could not have forced Jesus to leave, but He did not force them to follow Him.  We cannot force people to follow Jesus today, but as Christians we are commanded to share the gospel with everyone.  After Jesus crossed over, many people were gathered to see Him.  I believe most probably came out of curiosity or to see how they might physically profit from being in the presence of Jesus.   Many people today look to Jesus for the wrong reason, and when they do they go away disappointed.  Verse twenty-two adds, And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, There was a leader of the synagogue who came to Jesus for a particular reason and fell at Jesus's feet.  Verse twenty-three continues, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.  His daughter was sick, and the man believed that Jesus could physically heal her.  As a religious leader, it may have been hard for him to come to Jesus humbly and ask for help, since he was a man of authority in the Jewish religion.  We need to be careful that we don't put more faith in religious leaders than we do in Jesus Himself.  The man still felt that it was necessary for Jesus to come and lay His hands on his daughter in order to heal her.  This means that he didn't truly understand Who Jesus was.  Some people today in time of trouble will call out to Jesus for help, not fully understanding Who He is.  Verse twenty-four concludes, And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. Though Jesus did not need to be physically in contact with the girl to heal her, He went with the man and the crowds followed Him.  I believe most simply wanted to see if Jesus would heal her or fail to do so.  Jesus will come to us and heal us spiritually if we simply put our faith in Him and ask Him to save us.  The first step is to come to Jesus by faith, and if you haven't, once more my prayer is that you will do so today.  

Mark 5:14

Mark 5:14 says, And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. After Jesus allowed the legion of demons to enter the swine and the swine killed themselves, the ones that fed the swine went into the city and the country and told what had happened.  They may have been afraid that they would be blamed for the loss of the swine.  For whatever reason they did this, they were sharing the news of the power of Jesus.  Some people today may encounter a miracle and tell others what happened even if they do not really believe in God's power, but if they do, God's power is still being testified to.  Verse fifteen adds, And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Then verse sixteen continues, And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.  People came to Jesus to see what was happening and found the man who had been demon possessed sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.  No matter how sinful we may be, if we come to Jesus in faith, He will restore us to spiritual wholeness, and then we need to figuratively sit as His feet and learn from Him. Those who came, instead of celebrating the miracle, were afraid.  If someone who does not believe in God sees a great work of God, they will likely be left afraid.   We often fear that which we do not understand, but as Christians when we see God doing miraculous things we need to give Him our praise and share the news with those around us.  Verse seventeen continues, And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.  The people asked Jesus to leave after they were told what happened to the man and the swine.  They were evidently more concerned for the loss of the swine than they were of the healing of the man, and to many people today seem to be more concerned about what it might cost them materially to follow Jesus than about the miraculous salvation that He provides.  Verse eighteen says, And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.  Jesus went to a ship to depart when those around Him asked Him to.  If you do not want to be with Jesus, He will not force Himself on you.  As a matter of fact, unless you invite Him into your life, you will never benefit from His death on the cross for you.  Though those who saw the man healed of the legion of demons and the destroyed swine asked Jesus to leave, the man himself prayed, or asked Jesus, if he could go with Him.  We should always want to be close to Jesus, but we cannot just spend all our time seeking what we think is the best way to do this.  We must ask God what He wants us to do instead of asking Him to endorse what we want to do.  Verse nineteen adds, Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.  Jesus didn't allow the man to go with Him, just as we may at times be told no when we have a plan to serve God in a particular way or place.  Jesus told the man to go home and tell his friends what Jesus had done for him.  We need to start where we are and tell people about the great things God has done for us because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty continues, And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. The man went to Decapolis and told the people there what Jesus had done for him, and they marveled at what Jesus had done.  We are not told if they accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord or not, but the man had done what Jesus asked Him to do.  That is all we can do as well.  We may not have been as demon possessed as this man, but we were all sinners when we encountered Jesus, and our salvation when we put our faith in Him is no less marvelous, and we should tell everyone about our salvation experience.