Pressing Through the Crowd
Text: Mark 5:21-34
Theme: The Lord is available to everyone who seeks Him.
What do you want from God? How desperately do you want it? Is it a desire worthy of pressing through the crowd to fulfill?
Even amid crowds and busyness, Jesus focused on the needs and importance of individuals. Searching out the one that drew healing power from Him, He shows us that He is never too busy to take time for one person. I love this about Him, Iwant to live this way, and I want us to live this way.
Here’s a thought: Oswald Chambers concluded, “God never made bloodless stoics. He makes passionate saints.”
The iPhone was introduced in 2007 and has helped Apple become one of the largest companies in the world. Here is a headline from June 30th, 2007 (http://gothamist.com/2007/06/30/iphone_arrives.php): “iPhone Arrives in New York (And Lines Move Fast)”
With lines of potential customers snaking around the block, New York’s Apple Stores on Fifth Avenue and in SoHo opened their doors at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 29 for the launch of the iPhone, the unbelievably hyped multi-functioning personal accessory. Overall, the lines moved pretty quickly, as Apple employees just focused their efforts on letting customers buy iPhones and move out.
The crowd at the Fifth Avenue store was large, but we think the crowd of media and spectators was bigger. Starbucks was handing out coffee to everyone, as other marketers got into the action (Virgin Atlantic gave away socks, SmartWater gave water). And, as with any line of people waiting for many hours [including some who had camped there since Monday], they made sure no line-cutters got through; only, they were backed up by the added security, some of whom we suspect were off-duty police officers.
With helicopters circling overhead and the NYPD stationed on Fifth Avenue, the excitement reached a fever pitch when Apple employees started getting the line ready. Then cheering began when the doors opened. And when customers left with an iPhone in hand, a receiving line of Apple employees cheered and congratulated them when they left.
Desperate crowds intrigue me. What motivates people to behave like this?
The popularity of Jesus had reached its peak, and people crowded around Him to hear His teaching and to receive healing from Him 2,000 years ago. We join one such crowd in Mark 5:21-34:
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and 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.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 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. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” NIV
We see that:
Jesus Respects All People
What a study in contrasts between the synagogue ruler, the sick woman and the girl!
Jairus was the ruler of the synagogue, the Jewish house of worship and instruction in the Scriptures. As a result, Jairus was a prominent and respected community member.
We learn later in Mark 5:42 that the girl was 12 years old. While Jesus was making his way to Jairus’ house, this girl had died, and everyone gave up hope for her - except Jesus. Because she was a minor and a female, Jairus’ daughter had virtually no social status. The average citizen would pay little or no attention to such an individual. Jesus went on to touch the corpse of Jairus’ daughter, took the young girl by the hand, told her to get up and raised her from the dead.
It was unlawful for the woman to touch someone and for Jesus to touch this woman. When a woman went through her menstrual cycle, she would be considered unclean by the priest and the community. Even after the bleeding had stopped, people thought she was unclean for seven days. This ailment that caused continual menstrual bleeding probably started after puberty. Most people expected to live 40 years in those days, so seeing that she had suffered for 12 years, she may have spent half or all her adult life with this condition.
The girl’s age, 12 years, and the length of time the woman suffered the physical infirmity are the same. This number probably emphasizes the difference between the woman and the girl. The former had 12 years of misery, the latter 12 years of happiness. We can find twelve in 187 places in God’s word, and Revelation alone has 22 occurrences of the number. The meaning of 12, which is considered a perfect number, is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority and serves as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness or the nation of Israel as a whole (from https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/12.html). Jesus demonstrated His authority over sickness and death here and throughout the Gospels. He did so through His people in the Book of Acts, and He continues to do so today!
“I hope you didn’t take it personally, Reverend,” an embarrassed woman said after a church service, “when my husband walked out during your sermon.”
“I did find it rather disconcerting,” the preacher replied.
“It’s not a reflection on you, sir,” insisted the churchgoer. “Ralph has been walking in his sleep ever since he was a child.”
Jesus did not stop and consider what people thought of Him when He interacted with the synagogue ruler, the sick woman and the dead girl. He risked the crowd’s disapproval by touching this woman and the young girl. People would have understood or even have been impressed by meeting the need of a synagogue ruler. However, the judgment of a fickle mob was not the measuring stick by which He lived and ministered. He respected all people regardless of their social standing.
The Bible is so practical and pointed! God knows that we are naturally more impressed by people with money, education, good looks, abilities, social standing or even particular skin colour. The church in Corinth had fallen into this trap, and the Apostle Paul rebuked them sharply for it.
James 2:8-9 talks straight to the sin of favouritism:
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. NIV
When you first meet someone, do you go through a process of evaluating how much you should respect them and their opinions? Let’s pray and ask the Lord to help us look at people with His eyes.
Jesus Respects All People
Jesus Responds to Passion
Jairus pleaded earnestly with Jesus. It took determination and desperation for him to press in through the crowd and get to Jesus. Once he got up to Jesus, Jairus fell at his feet – a posture reserved for a king or some other dignitary – humbling himself and recognizing the power and authority of Jesus. Such passion touched Jesus’ heart and stirred him to go with Jairus.
Two pastors were at a football game:
This woman risked severe consequences from her community when she, with desperation and abandonment, decided to press through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe. When she touched anyone or their clothes with her condition, she would leave them ceremonially unclean for the rest of the day. Because of this, she should not have even been in amongst the crowd. Over time the Jewish tradition made rules of uncleanness even stricter than those in the Book of Leviticus, so many teachers avoided touching women altogether to prevent contamination. As a result, this woman could not touch or be touched, was probably now divorced or had never married, and was on the outside looking in. Her passionate pursuit of Jesus changed her life.
We read of men and women in the Bible, admiring how the Lord performed mighty miracles for them or used them in such wondrous acts. James 5:17-18 reminds us of the humanity of the great prophet Elijah and what set him apart:
17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. NIV
The Lord is looking for people with a passion for Him as described in 2 Chronicles 16:9a: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” NIV
Oswald Chambers concluded, “God never made bloodless stoics. He makes passionate saints.”
Brenda and I behaved differently when our family visited Disneyland years ago. She was passionate about getting to the good rides early in the day, so we would not have to wait a long time in the lines. I was lagging as she set her face toward “Finding Nemo,” “Indiana Jones,” and “Splash Mountain.” One day our son, Braden, said to me, “Dad, we never have to rush to catch up to you.” I had to smile as I remembered his comment before that trip when Braden and I arrived late at a Calgary Stampeders football game. I was filled with passion and determination as I rushed from our vehicle toward McMahon Stadium while Braden struggled to keep up. What was the difference? Passion!
Our culture affirms passion when pursuing wealth, education or recreation. Political rallies strive to whip supporters of the candidates into a frenzy. However, when it comes to matters of faith, passion is looked upon with suspicion. “Religious fanatics” are to be shunned and avoided!
What do you want from God? How desperately do you want it? Is it a desire worthy of pressing through the crowd to fulfill?
Imagine how easy it would have been for this young man to bow his head and give up. He failed in business in ’31, was defeated for the legislature in ’32, and was elected to the legislature in ’34. His sweetheart died in ’35. He had a nervous breakdown in ’36, was defeated for speaker in ’38, defeated for elector in ’40, defeated for Congress in ’43, and elected to Congress in ’46. He was defeated for Congress in ’48, defeated for Senate in ’50, defeated for vice president in ’56 and for Senate in ’58. But fortunately, he was elected president of the United States in 1860. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
Even amid crowds and busyness, Jesus focused on the needs and importance of individuals. Searching out the one that drew healing power from Him, He shows us that He is never too busy to take time for one person. I love this about Him, Iwant to live this way, and I want us to live this way.
Jesus Respects All People
Jesus Responds to Passion
The Lord is available to everyone who seeks Him.