Faith Stretched
The Christian is called to go through difficulties without fear and also believing. God is both totally good and totally sovereign, though at times it may not seem so. Through out the Bible we are reminded of this, almost as if the Lord knows we need this lesson reinforced again and again. In this passage we come across two persons in dire need. |||||| A WOMAN WITH A BLEED: She had this problem for a very long time. It would have involved social problems due to the ceremonial uncleanness. People would have assumed that she was some kind of sinner. She had been to many doctors but was getting worse. She was not to touch anyone because of her uncleanness, but it is that very thing she wanted to do. ||||||
JAIRUS Jairus's daughter was not only sick and in danger of dying, but was actually on the verge of death. And just when Jairus was happy that Jesus has agreed to go with him, came the horrifying news that his daughter had died. Jesus said: "Do not fear, only believe." ||||||
Looking at these two people, let us consider three points. ||||||
PATTERN OF THEIR FAITH: Jesus stretches their faith beyond their deepest fears and rewards them beyond their wildest dreams. Jairus was not wanting a resurrection, but a healing. He had enough faith for a healing. When she died, Jairus did not expect anything further. The crowd realised it and told Him not to bother Jesus anymore. But Jesus stretched his faith and asks him to believe in Himself even in that situation. In this moment where there seemed to be no journey ahead, Jairus is asked to believe. We have this incredibly tender moment where Jesus sweetly said: Little girl arise. This was not how Jesus spoke at the resurrection of Lazerus or when He calmed the storm. How easy it was for Jesus do this! Jairus had no idea of how reasonable it was for Jesus to ask him to believe. For Jesus it was irrelevant whether it was sleep or death. Jesus is not out of His depth when someone dies. Everyone who trusts in Jesus will be resurrected on the last day. ||||||
The woman who was ceremonially unclean would not have been welcome in a crowd, leave alone to touch Jesus. So she was looking for an anonymous healing. But Jesus was going to make her go public. No one is saved through an anonymous healing or an anonymous Saviour. He wanted to correct her wrong theology. She was not healed because of His garment. It was her faith in Jesus, imperfect faith in a perfect Saviour. Notice as He sends her on her way, He says: Go in peace. He is giving her a formal blessing as one who is now a believer. Something more than physical healing has taken place. By forcing her not to just touch His garment and run away, her faith was stretched and was also rewarded beyond her wildest dreams as she was blessed with spiritual healing and salvation. ||||||
PATIENCE OF THEIR FAITH We are called to walk through difficult times. In the cases of these two people, the stretching of their faith was quickly rewarded. For the woman, her trial had gone on for a long time, but before the "stretching" of her faith. For Jairus, the patience was needed when Jesus stops for the woman. The delay to stop for the woman seemingly cost Jairus the life of his daughter. The delay would have been gut-wrenchingly painful, when Jesus stopped to find out who touched Him. To put it in perspective, if a similar prioritising happens in a doctor's clinic, the doctor would be sued. Did Jesus have PURPOSE IN HIS PLANS for stopping? 1. He stopped to bring this woman from death to life spiritually. 2. Jesus was also teaching us to love the downtrodden, having delayed someone in the top tier of society for the sake of someone in the bottom tier of society.
Of these two, we are like the downtrodden woman with the wrong theology and we are glad that the Lord stops for us. Jesus can fix our problems. Jesus is never out of His depth and His PROMISE IS CERTAIN. ||||||
WARNING TO THE FAITHLESS
We have seen two triumphs of faith here. But the end of the story is to do with a group of people who are utterly faithless. These are professional mourners, who laugh at Him. Jesus bars them from going in with Him. Jesus comes into the secrecy of the household. Jesus tells the parents not to even tell the crowd about the miracle. ||||||
Who do we identify with? Are we like the two who came to Jesus, the perfect Messiah, in faith, albeit imperfect? Or are we like the faithless crowd who do not discern who Jesus is?