24 Jun June 28, 2026 Mark 5: 21-43 “We Were No Made to Give Up!”
June 28, 2026 Mark 5: 21-43 “We Were No Made to Give Up!”
Several years ago I read about a man who had suffered from some sort of acute pain all his life. He never complained. He never went to a doctor. He never did anything about it. This pain eventually took its toll on the man. He became run down, tired and he had lost a lot of weight. He went to the doctor to see what was wrong. The doctors had a hard time to find anything wrong with the man because he told them he wasn’t in any pain or discomfort. Finally a specialist found a problem but he couldn’t figure out why the man wasn’t in tremendous pain.
Anyway, they did a surgery to remove or fix whatever the problem was, I just don’t remember because for our purposes, it’s not that important. The man recovered from the surgery and he felt totally weird. For the first time in his life he was without pain. He had lived 30+ years in pain thinking that everyone lived like this. He thought the pain was a natural part of life.
Today, we are going to look at a couple of stories about Jesus’ healing people. Let’s see if there is a way to keep us away from pain.
The heart surgeon was talking to an 8 year old boy the day before his heart surgery. The surgeon told the boy, “Tomorrow morning I’ll open up your heart.” The boy said, “you’ll find Jesus there.” The doc said that he was going to check for damage. “You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy said. The surgeon kept telling the boy how he was going to try to fix his heart and the boy
kept saying, “You’ll find Jesus there.” Then the boy added He knew this because his Sunday school teacher told him so. He said the Bible tells us this and we sing about this. During the surgery the next day, the doctor discovered that there was no hope and no cure. The poor little boy would die in a matter of months. Suddenly the doctor shouted out to God, “Why did you do this to the boy? Why can’t he live a normal life?” Then God spoke to the surgeon’s heart, “The boy is a part of my flock and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with me there will be no more suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. One day his parents as well as you will join him and my flock will continue to grow.” The next day the surgeon went to the boy’s room and sat with the parents as the boys eyes opened. Soon the boy asked, “What did you find in my heart?” The doctor had tears flowing from his eyes as he said, “I found Jesus there.” Our stories today seem to be hopeless in the eyes of the people involved.
I hope you have noticed what has been happening in the last couple of weeks. Jesus once again crosses the Sea of Galilee. It almost makes you wonder if He deliberately recruited some fishermen so He could cross the lake any time He needed. So He crosses the lake and once again the crowds are overwhelming as Jesus comes back to, I believe, the west side of the lake where He started just a few days before.
I know there are 2 stories here and I could probably preach until next week on them but I won’t. However, I will be talking about both stories and then some from each story so hang onto your hats because it might get a little confusing. The first thing I would like us to notice is that in both stories, the woman and the religious leader come to Jesus. I don’t doubt that Jesus knew He had to cross the lake so that He could minister to these two people. Jesus set the whole thing up but the main characters still had to make that step to come to Jesus with their problems. If you think about it, this story could be just as sad as our opening story but it turns out well.
In both stories, the main characters had to fight the crowd to get to Jesus. This wasn’t that easy. Have you ever tried to approach some star of a TV program or movie? These people have so many around them that it’s almost impossible to get to them. It was the same way with Jesus. He had all sorts of people crowding Him. He also had the disciples next to Him trying to protect Him. It was hard to get to Jesus physically.
Plus both these people had to struggle to get to Jesus mentally. Jairus is a synagogue leader. He is a high ranking Jew of his church. These people weren’t supposed to believe in Jesus because they were to set the example of Judaism. But Jairus was a desperate man. His daughter was dying. He needed help and he had heard of the man named Jesus so he tries to go to Him for help.
The bleeding woman was also desperate. She had her affliction for 12 years. She had been to doctors and others but she had found no help. I would guess that she had been rich at one point because it would only be the rich that could afford doctors in those days. She had spent all her money on trying to get better and she only got worse. She too had heard about Jesus. She figured this was her last chance for a cure.
These things are even happening around us today. People are looking for cures for everything. Did you know that most Christians come to know Jesus before they are 14 years old? Because of this I have always favored a younger confirmation class. There is only a small percentage of people who come to know Jesus later on in life. I would say that 90% of these people come to know because of some devastating circumstance in their lives. In this country, everyone is so well off that they think they never need Jesus. So it isn’t until a terrible disease or even death that we come to Jesus. Then we get mad at Him because He doesn’t answer in a way that we want. As I said last week, we look at Jesus as the great wish granter.
Anyway, the first step for these two and anyone here or elsewhere today to come to Jesus, is that they have to indeed make an effort to come to Jesus. If these 2 in our story hadn’t done this, Jesus would have walked by without stopping. He knew they were there but they had to take the first step in believing. It is the same way with all our friends who say, “Where was Jesus when I was sick? Or “Where was Jesus when so and so died?” People, Jesus was right there all the time. He is always with us preparing for things to come. When someone dies, Jesus is there. When a Christian dies, he will be missed dearly but just remember where he is going. They are in the greatest place that there can ever be. They are home. They are home in heaven. That, my friends, is a comforting thought.
Now both of these people not only came to Jesus but they got close to Jesus. Jairus got to talk to Jesus and the woman touched His garment. I think that it’s really strange that all these people were close to Jesus but none were as close as these two. We know the disciples didn’t get it until after the resurrection. I would guess that many in the crowd were only interested in their own agendas, whatever they were. They were going through the motions.
One of the groups of people I try to address when I preach is those who are no longer fruitful to Jesus for whatever reason. There are many people who come to church just so they can come to church. Many people come to see what they can get out of church instead of trying to see what they can put into church. If you want to feel good after an hour of church, then put all you got into that hour. This is the same as many of the followers in the crowd that day. As far as I can tell, there were only 2 people who understood Jesus that day. How many of us have known Jesus only to fall back on the ways of the world? This doesn’t mean that you have lost your salvation. It just means you need a little work. We will help.
So far we have to seek Jesus and then we have to get next to Him spiritually. That is really all you have to do because this shows your faith and love in your Savior. The next thing that happens is that Jesus says, “Who touched my clothes?” This has always stirred up some controversy. How in the world did Jesus know that someone had touched Him? The obvious answer was that He is God and He knows all. We don’t know how this works but it does. He probably felt something leave Him and go into her. This has to be a God thing because we sure don’t lose power or have feelings like this. This woman already had faith.
Jesus then finds who did this and he commends her on her faith. She has been healed. For the first time in years she feels good. Have you ever known anyone who has been healed? These people are grateful. I’m here because I was healed of a bad gall bladder, a heart attack and cancer. Sharon is here because she has been healed of cancer three times. We all have our stories. These are the stories that everyone should hear. These are the stories that help to spread the faith.
We can all be healed. We may not be healed in the way we think best but let me tell you that you have probably never had a thought that is better than God’s thoughts. Let Him be in control and heal you of the things that are most needed. Maybe before Jesus can heal you from a physical disease, He may have to heal your spirit first. If you have been going through life as though you are in charge and you pay Jesus a little lip service on Sunday, I would say your spirit needs healing first.
The last thing I want to point out here might be the most important. I alluded to it earlier when I said that these two were probably the only ones who actually understood Jesus at this point. The woman would have had to fight her way through the crowd just to touch Jesus. Remember that she had some sort of bleeding disease so she would be unclean at best. If someone was unclean, no one could come near them and most of all no one could touch them. If someone did touch a person like this, they too would be ostracized from the Jewish community. This woman apparently hid her uncleanness as she entered the crowd. She could also be in big trouble for doing this. No matter how you look at it, this woman was alone in the crowd.
Now let’s look at Jairus. He came to Jesus to seek medical help. He had heard what Jesus could do but the woman bumped ahead of him to touch Jesus. Jesus knows what is happening and He addresses the woman first. So far the child is still alive. Jesus heals the woman before friends of Jairus come to tell him that his daughter has already died. He is next up to talk to Jesus and suddenly He has no need for Jesus. He knows that all the others in the crowd have a more pressing need than he. He too is all alone in the crowd.
Then Jesus says “Wait a minute. Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” Then He took the man and 3 disciples and went to the man’s house. The mourners were already at work. Jesus told them that the girl was not dead but just asleep. The people laughed at Jesus. Then Jesus went inside and got the girl up from being dead.
I want you to notice that these two people aren’t the only ones who are alone in the crowd. Jesus is also all alone. When He tells the mourners and neighbors that the girl isn’t dead and they laugh, He is all alone against them. And He is just like Jairus and the woman who don’t give up. They don’t quit. Jesus doesn’t quit either.
How many times have you heard or even said that why should Jesus even care for a ‘nobody’ like me? I have done this. I mean why should Jesus even care about a retired pastor out in North Dakota? I have come to know that He always cares for me because He loves me way more than I can even imagine. This fantastic love that He has for me, for each and every one of you, comes with a minor string attached. Jesus will never give up on you. If you don’t know Him I suggest that you confess, repent and ask Him to live in your life. Then He won’t give up on any part of you. He will always be there. If you still don’t know Jesus, He won’t give up on you either. He will always be trying to get you to ask Him to live in your life. Jesus doesn’t give up on us. We give up on us. We think that we aren’t good enough. We try to put parameters on the love of Jesus. We should be praising the Lord that He doesn’t work like that. He never gives up and is always there. I’m out here in rural North Dakota because there just might be another Billy Graham here somewhere. I got to just keep preaching and teaching. You have to just keep doing whatever you are gifted at because it will matter sometime.
A while back, I finished a book written by Hall of Fame hockey player, Henry Boucha. It was a great book by a man from Warroad, MN. Anyway, what would have happened if Henry decided to quit playing hockey after getting bloodied for the first time playing street hockey as a kid? Or what would happen if your child quit playing catch after the first miss? Or what would happen if you had quit walking after you fell down for the first time at age 15 months? People, what would happen if God gave up on you after your first sin? God doesn’t give up. We were not made to give up. We were not made to quit. When we are doing the work of Jesus Christ in this world, we should never quit. We are going to be alone. At times the world will seem against you. Don’t give up! Go to Jesus in prayer and get re-fortified. Then continue in what He tells you.
You see, with Jesus you will never fail if you listen and obey. Jesus is totally trustworthy. He is the definition of trustworthy. He loves you so much that He will never, never quit on you. That is the Good News this day and every day. Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us. Let’s pray.
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