November 20, 2013
The Compassion of Jesus
Mark 5:21-6:6
I Jesus and Jarius 5:21-24
II Jesus and the Bleeding Woman 5:25-34
III Jesus and Jarius’ Little Daughter 5:35-43
IV Jesus and His Hometown 6:1-6
(“I read a story, about a teaching hospital-----that had discovered, that one of its young residents had a marvelous effect on little children. For some reason, they responded to him without fear and with open innocence and trust. They would do things for him and yield to his testing and treatments, in a way that they wouldn’t do for any other person on the staff. So the hospital administrators assigned a nurse, to discover the young resident’s secret. But, it wasn’t until the second week when she was on night duty, that she found out the secret….and it was a very simple and precious thing: Every night, on his last round, he would kiss and hug, and tuck in, every single one of those children------and that tender little act, is where he made his connection with the children”-------)
And, it’s the tender acts of compassion, that we read about Jesus doing, and the ones that we have personally experienced, that reach out to us, and charm us more than anything else, and draw us to Him, in a way, that nothing else can.
Jesus’ willingness to put Himself in the place of a person, who had a need, and to feel what they were feeling, is what moved Him to do something to meet their need or to say something, that they needed to hear.
And we are blessed, because He hasn’t changed----His compassion for us is still the most precious thing He gives us----because that is what drove Him to become a human being and come to earth to experience everything that we experience, and then take our sins to the cross in our place, so that He could provide the way for us to live with Him forever ----and that same compassion envelops us and guides us and comforts us and strengthens and gives us peace every single day, as long as we walk on this earth.
In his book, In The Grip of Grace, Max Lucado comments on the thorn in Paul’s side and he asks his readers several questions, 1.)“ Do you wonder why God doesn’t remove temptations from our lives?” And he answered---“If He did, we might lean on our own strength, instead of on His grace. “ 2.) “Why can’t we be free of the difficult people in our lives?” And he answered----“Maybe God wants us to love them like He does,” and 3.) “Why doesn’t God answer prayers for healing?” and his answer-----“ He may choose to heal parts of our body, before we get to heaven, but if He doesn’t, if He never gives us more than eternal life, then, His grace and peace and presence, in our struggles now, is more than enough.
With His compassion, Jesus brings faith into the lives of the people He touches, and then, He causes it to grow. And that’s when we discover that He’s all we need.
I Jesus and Jarius 5:21-24
Jesus won’t stay where He isn’t wanted, so He and His disciples left the eastern shore of Lake Galilee, and rowed back across the water, to the western shore, so they could get back to Capernaum, where the base of operations for Jesus’ ministry was located. And the crowds must have seen Him coming, because they were there to greet Him, and they immediately, surrounded Him.
Before they got very far, from the water, a man named Jarius approached Jesus and dropped to his knees in front of him, and begged Him to heal his little daughter, who was so sick, she was close to death.
Jarius was a synagogue ruler, which was a respected and honored position, in the community. He was not a priest----it was his responsibility to take care of the administrative details of the synagogue. This included making arrangements for public worship and inviting visitors to teach on the Sabbath.
So, his coming to Jesus, and throwing his dignity aside, and bowing at Jesus’ feet, was a huge affirmation of Jesus power and an authentication, of who He was.
Jarius would have been under the authority of the Pharisees, so he was taking a huge risk, of incurring their displeasure, by publically seeking Jesus out.
But regardless of who Jarius thought that Jesus was, and in spite of the displeasure of the Pharisees----Jarius, obviously believed that if Jesus would come and heal his daughter, she would live. He had been present in the crowd, probably, more than one time….and no doubt, had seen Jesus heal many others, and must have thought that Jesus needed to be present to heal someone, so he came to take Jesus to his home, before it was too late.
We need to caution ourselves from believing that Jarius was a sold-out believer--- and that He understood that Jesus was God’s son and that Jesus was his only means of salvation-----the simple fact is, we don’t know how much he understood---- but what we do know, is that Jarius was desperate!----he might not have been sure about Jesus, personally---but he was absolutely sure that Jesus could heal his child….
Jarius was like so many of us when we come to the Lord----it wasn’t his love for Jesus that brought him, he wasn’t thinking about that----it wasn’t what he could do for Jesus, he wasn’t thinking about that----it was his need, that brought him----and it was his desperation that brought him, and it was a glimmer of hope, deep down inside of him, from what he had observed about Jesus’ behavior, that brought him, and that’s all he could think about.
Jesus probably knew the little girl---since she was 12 years old, He had probably seen her in the synagogue, He would have felt compassion for her… and anybody who has had a sick child, especially one who is desperately ill, knows and would understand the heartbreak of this father-----so Jesus would have felt compassion for Jarius too .
The Lord Jesus, responded to Jarius, at once, no hesitation, and started walking with him toward his house. The crowds with their well-developed appetite for miracles, sensed that something was in the air, so the came too, jostling and pushing each other, eager to see which one could get closer to Jesus, for the best view of what was going to happen. They were curious, because they would all , either have known Jarius and his little girl , or they would have known about them.
It must have been excruciating for Jarius, as he and Jesus were slowed down and buffeted by the crowd----and then,I can imagine the throat-closing panic he must have felt, when Jesus halted to question the sick woman… he must have felt like Jesus was Jarius had no idea, that Jesus stopping to heal that woman, was going to grow his little bud of a faith, into exponential proportions…
II Jesus and the Bleeding Woman 5:25-34
I read somewhere once, that “anybody will do anything, given any situation” and I think there is a lot of truth in that statement, because people will do unheard of things, when they are filled with desperation. I think that’s where the woman who had been bleeding for so long was----at the end of her rope----she was desperate----she had tried everything, to no avail----Jesus was her last hope---- so she pulled out all the stops-----she braved the crowds, and the ridicule on people’s faces, and their critical snubbing of her, just to touch, not even Jesus, but some small section of His clothing.
(Pastor Bryan Chapell tells the story of some friends whose son, in his middle teen years, rebelled against them and against God. For 4 years the boy protested the innocence of his conduct and made innumerable promises to “straighten up”. But each excuse was unjustified, and each promise was broken..
So much pain, embarrassment, and discouragement had been inflicted on these parents that the wife confided to Pastor Chapel that she didn’t know if she even loved her son anymore. Her heart had grown hard against her own child. What melted it again was his cry of desperation.
There finally came the day, when that mother had had enough, after, yet another, foolish escapade. While the son was protesting his innocence, that mother just walked away, without saying a word. As the young man sat alone on the sofa in their family room, he began to leaf through a family photo album-----the pictures of better and happier days filled him with increasing emotions. One picture struck his heart with greater poignancy than the rest, and he went in search of his mother to show it to her.
The photograph showed the son, as a young child, sitting on his mother’s lap and she was looking down at him with such love in her eyes, that you could see it. He said to her, “Mom, when I look at this picture, I understand why you don’t know if you can love me any more. In the picture, hope fills your eyes as you look down at me----but I’ve dashed all your hopes, haven’t I Mom, and I’m so sorry, I finally understand, can you ever forgive me?”)
And what did that mother do? Her hardness broke and she embraced him with a heart renewed in love for him. What moved her, wasn’t his protests of innocence nor was it, his fresh promise to do better----it was his statement of absolute desperation, that moved her, and enabled her see him through eyes of compassion, not eyes of hurt and accusation. That’s how Jesus looked at the desperate bleeding woman----with eyes of incomparable compassion.)
Jarius had lived through 12 short years of delight with his precious daughter----and the poor woman had endured 12 long years of despair with her condition. Under the Law, her affliction made her untouchable at the very least, and a total outcast, at the very most. Her disease was defiling and debilitating. It cut her off from society and from the synagogue -----her life was miserable.
She had suffered embarrassment, pain, disappointment and financial ruin. The doctors couldn’t give her an accurate diagnosis and they couldn’t heal her, either. They prescribed their useless remedies, collected their fees and left her more hopeless each time, so, bleeding, broken and bankrupt, she turned to Jesus, even though she did it secretly.
The poor woman did her best to escape attention, but she believed, like so many of the people of her day did, that sometimes the garments or even the shadow of the godly could bring healing----so as Jesus passed by, she reached out her frail hand and touched the edge of his robe or maybe it was a tassel on his prayer shawl.
And, in a vivid, technicolor moment in time, that is forever etched on the pages of history…..she felt the healing course through her body and she was made whole. Without a word, Jesus’ power completely, and immediately, healed her---the same power that made the sea instantly lie flat, took away her long-standing illness.
It was her faith, imperfect as it was, that healed her. She had started with a fact, something that she knew to be true------which was, that the Lord’s power was so mighty, that just a touch would heal her…and the fact, turned into a faith, that was as absolute and certain, as the sun rising in the morning and going down at night. It was her personal faith in the Lord Jesus---that set her apart from all the others, who were bumping into Him and jostling Him. They touched Him too, but nothing happened to them. It was because they had no faith….they were just thrill-seekers or curiosity-hounds….
Even today, many people brush up against Him, and they go away the same as they came-----they come in contact with the Living God and never recognize Him for who He is, and they don’t let Him change them in any way.
The bleeding woman was transformed, she would never be the same. Imagine how she must have felt---her heart throbbing with joy and fear, and her eyes overflowing with emotion. Her faith was a simple one----she had no idea that Jesus would be able to know that He had been touched… but a beginning faith, like hers, is often an ignorant one---- mixed with errors and misconceptions ----
The more we think we know about the Lord and scripture, the more we find we need to know…but when we come to Him, in faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed, the Lord takes it and grows it into a deep and abiding relationship with Him, and allows us to really come to know Him intimately.
We can take courage in the truth of this---and be thankful that-we don’t have to have it all figured out, to possess a faith that pleases God. That’s why even a small child can come to faith in Him.
Jesus knew that power had gone out of Him. He knew who had touched Him…But He raised the question to the crowd, because He knew that a public confession was for the woman’s own good. Otherwise, she might have carried with her a gnawing fear that her blessing, since she had gained it, by basically stealing it, might not last. The Lord didn’t want her to exchange her tormented body for a tormented mind.
As Jesus yelled out into the crowd, “who touched me?” the woman must have been terrified and the disciples clearly thought, “What is he talking about, He’s been shoved around on every side.” But Jesus kept asking----the woman had had the courage to come----Jesus wanted her to have the courage to confess. Because He knew that secret disciples, are weak disciples---Romans 10:9 -10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved---for it is with your mouth that you confess and are justified, and it is with your heart, that you believe and are saved.”
Trembling, the woman couldn’t stay silent, she came and fell to her knees and poured out her heart to Him----and she told Him her whole sad story, even though she was afraid that her healing would be taken away from her, because of her audacity to try and secure the healing for herself, without His permission-----
and then Jesus, touched her, with His tenderness, and without condemnation, and she experienced real peace and real joy, as He called her daughter, and stilled her fears, and praised her for her faith, and then He told her to go home, secure in her her future, and free of suffering, for the first time in 12 years…
That poor woman represents all of us---we are sick and we need to have the faith to touch Him----we don’t need to fear that He won’t respond----and we don’t need to fear that we’re too ignorant-----and we don’t need to fear that we are too selfish----there is only one thing that we need to fear, and that is, that we will let Him pass by, without reaching out, in faith, to touch, even just, the hem of his robe.
III Jesus and Jarius’ Little Daughter 5:35-43
(Wes Seelinger, author and theologian, wrote “I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room …watching with anguished people…listening to urgent questions: will my husband make it? Will my child walk again? How do you live without your companion of 30, 40, 50 years?
The intensive care waiting room, is different from any other place in the world. And the people, who wait there, are different. They can’t do enough for each other.
No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, and a black or Hispanic or Caucasian man, second. The garbage man loves his wife, just as much as the university president loves his, and everyone in the room, understands it. Each person pulls for everyone else.
In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.
We need to learn to live like this, with our lives full of compassion and concern for others----and we need to learn to live this way, long before, we find ourselves in an intensive care waiting room.
Jesus lived like that----His heart was so full of compassion for everyone He met---- that He changed lives, by the way He treated people----and He couldn’t help but meet their needs, right where they were, no hesitation, no condemnation and no reservation.)
Jarius hadn’t forgotten his daughter, but he must have been encouraged by what he had just seen Jesus do for the sick woman----his fledgling, faith must have been boosted by what he’d just seen, even though he couldn’t possibly have been able to process it. His faith and his hope must have risen, exponentially, through the witnessing of the woman’s miraculous healing. He must have been eager to get home for Jesus to heal his little daughter too.
While Jesus was still talking to the women, some men arrived from Jarius’ house, to tell him that he was too late, the worst had happened----the little daughter had passed away.
In a terrible instant, the growing flame of Jarius’ hope flickered out…
And just as quickly--- as Jesus watched faith and fear pull Jarius in two different directions…it was rekindled to burn brightly----as Jesus told him” not to be afraid, to only believe… “
Because Jesus knew, that He was going to skyrocket Jarius’ faith, beyond any imaginings-----telling him not to fear and to just believe, was going to challenge him to believe, far beyond the daughter’s healing----it challenged him to believe that she could and would be resurrected…
Its one thing to pray for your child’s healing, from a life-threatening disease-----and its quite another to stand over her cold body, and to pray for immediate resurrection----but somehow Jarius did believe, because he and Jesus, and three of the disciples, continued on toward Jarius’ home.
At his home, the professional mourners were already wailing their sad, sad song. Jesus rebuked them and informed them that she was just sleeping, not dead…real death is the separation of the soul from God, not the soul from the body----and sleep here, isn’t referring to the soul,----its referring to the body-----and it means that when a child or any believer, passes away, the Lord views it, as no more terrifying or unnatural, than sleep.
The Lord saw a parallel between sleep and death---sleep is an illustration drawn by the hand of God, to remind us of our mortality, and of the certainty of a glorious morning that will dawn someday----
We don’t need to worry about death, because we will never have to die…we will close our eyes on earth, and we will open them in heaven.
Jesus and Jarius, the child’s mother and the 3 disciples----just 5 people saw the little girl resurrected---what a privilege that was for them, to see God’s power at work through Jesus!
It must have been a beautiful thing, as Jesus took the child’s hand and spoke 3 words to her, in Aramaic ---“Little lamb, arise”. Her eyelids must have fluttered as her cheeks began to pink up----and her parents must have held their breath as she opened her eyes, and sat up, and then got up, and walke----, the very picture of health and strength.
Then, Jesus went on, to protect the child, from all the curiosity seekers, just outside----the last thing she needed was for her privacy to be invaded by them…They would want to ask a thousand questions and to touch the miracle child----but Jesus warned her parents, that the best thing they could do, would be, to get back to everyday living, by giving the child something to eat.
IV Jesus and His Hometown 6:1-6
(Peter Louchman was at a wedding a few weeks ago, at the Botanical Gardens in his hometown-----it was a little buggy but was a very sweet and well-done ceremony. At the close of the service, the pastor prayed a very touching prayer for the couple, and ended his prayer saying, “we ask all of this, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen”
A little girl about 4 years old, immediately turned to her daddy and said in a loud whisper—“Daddy, that man just said a naughty word!”
Peter said he was laughing and broken-hearted, at the same time. What has the world come to when the only thing that a child knows about the name of Jesus Christ, is that its used as a swear word?)
I think one of the saddest situations that Jesus ever found himself in, from a human perspective, is found in this passage…
Jesus had been away from home ministering to the multitudes, teaching through parables, healing the sick and driving out demons. He had been away from home for maybe a year----and I’m sure He was ready to go back and spend a little time there. Home is where the heart is, its where our memories are, and many times its where our family is-----(Dale and I have been gone from our hometown, Forest City, North Carolina, for 34 years, and to this day, when we talk about it, we still refer to it as home.)
But, going back to Nazareth, and taking his disciples with him, I’m sure gave Jesus a little pause for thought, because He knew the scripture, and He knew that “a prophet is never recognized in his own country.” I’m also sure, that His desire was to do mighty works there, just like He had, everywhere else they had been.
It started off well----Jesus was given the opportunity to teach in the synagogue, on the Sabbath----at first, everyone was impressed, and they wondered among themselves how He had become so wise, because he had grown up with a lot of them, and had been taught by the same rabbi that had taught them…----but very quickly, their awe and their puzzlement turned ugly, when they began to criticize everything about Him----stuff like----“He’s just a carpenter, He made our kitchen table, our bed, the baby’s cradle, our kitchen stools----how can he perform a miracle----they began to speculate about all the amazing things they’d been hearing about Him, and they couldn’t add it up-----
They wondered who did He think He was----
He was a poor boy of questionable birth---- Joseph, his father, had had to marry Mary sooner than they had planned----
and they knew his whole family—his brothers and sisters still lived in the community----there was no way that He could possibly do the things, they’d been hearing about----
and as for His teaching----He had to have gotten it from somebody else… He surely didn’t understand what He was saying…
He and His audacity offended them-----
and the real truth, I’m pretty sure, is that they were, purely and simply, jealous. But, if they had known, that His path led to the cross, I don’t think they would have been nearly so quick to throw stones, or to covet what He had, and what He was doing.
(How do we behave when somebody we know doing something wonderful, or is
getting the credit for doing something wonderful----do we rejoice with them and try to help them any way we can----or do we sit in judgment of them and belittle them, and tear them down, any way we can?)
Crowds had swarmed around Jesus throughout the countryside, wanting to hear Him teach and wanting to receive healing for themselves or for a loved one----but in His hometown, He was rejected…----they didn’t understand Him, so they rejected Him…but as sad as that was, the real tragedy, was the unbelief of the people----that’s what broke Jesus’ heart----He was amazed that they could know Him, and know the scripture-----and, that they could hear His explanation of it, from His own mouth, and still not believe…
Jesus wasn’t able to do much there, in Nazareth, just heal a few sick people-----but it wasn’t that He couldn’t do mighty works there-------it was that He wouldn’t-----He never forces Himself on anybody-----and He wouldn’t force Himself on those people ----His family and friends, in Nazereth, any more than He would anywhere else.
Just imagine the things Jesus could have done, if they hadn’t rejected Him.
He knew those people better than anyone, anywhere----He knew their hurts and their weaknesses----He knew their fears and their hopes----He knew their dreams and their failures----He knew them!
It is beyond understanding what He could have, and would have, done for them----the miracles He could have performed, the healings He could have provided, and the knowledge He could have shared.
But they rejected Him, and by rejecting Him, they rejected the hope that He had to give, that would bring them back to God.
That is the sad thing----that is the greatest tragedy….so, Jesus left home again, and I don’t think He ever went back--------He and the disciples, went around to other
villages, teaching and preaching and healing-----and doing for them what He had wanted to do for Nazareth.
Jesus wants the same thing for us that He wanted for His hometown----He wants to do mighty works-----we need to take a lesson from this passage---we need to do some soul searching----Is there any area in our lives that is preventing God from
doing a might work in us, or through us? Do we have stubbornness, or a lack of faith in any area of our lives, that needs to be dealt with? What kind of attitude do we
have, that is preventing God from working the way He wants to, in a situation? We should open our hearts up to Him, and our prayer should be, that we will give all
that we have and all that we are, to Him, in unreserved submission--- in wondrous
delight--- and in absolute trust, so that He can do, all within us, and through us, that He wants to.
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