When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered round him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed round him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from him. He turned round in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?” ’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’ ). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. Mark 5:21-43 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/mrk.5.21-43.NIVUK If we were not aware of it before, we are now completely aware of how a piece of information can change our lives. I was twice in Romania when I got word that a relative was dying (first my grandmother, then my father). I stood beside my wife when she received the news that the biggest typhoon ever to make landfall had struck her village and when her grandmother died. How many of us have also received good news, such as medical tests with positive results, or news of exam results, or entry into further education courses or being hired? The people in this event heard another piece of information which changed their lives radically. As soon as they heard it, they dropped everything and ran, so desperate for they for things to change. They hadn't heard that their favourite restaurant had re-opened or that their hairdresser was taking bookings again. No, this was far more important. Jesus was there. He alone could change their situation. In an instant. Perhaps we have lost this. We have been so accustomed to our situation that we think it can never change. And so we admit defeat, become sour, bitter and resigned. We give in. We stop really living. We need to catch sight again of a Saviour who can change circumstances when others cannot. We need to find again the Saviour who can alter our situation in an instant. When life seems to have trapped us in a rut, we need to find the Saviour who can break us right out of there. And that Saviour is Jesus. Don't get me wrong: He doesn't always do it. But when He does, those times are so special. We will spend the next few weeks or so looking at how Jesus broke into seemingly impossible situations and turned them around.
We'll start by looking at THE MAN WHO TOUCHED JESUS.
コメント