Mark Part 6

MARK

WHAT AMAZED JESUS

MARK 5:21 to 6:6 – WHAT AMAZED JESUS

There are a lot of things that amaze US about Jesus, aren’t there? We have read our Bibles. We know all about those miraculous things that Jesus did on a daily basis. We remember the amazing truths He taught. And we have read ahead and we know what Jesus will ultimately do for us in securing our salvation – His death on the cross and resurrection on the third day. As we make our way through Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’s disciples are little by little beginning to comprehend who Jesus is. In the last 24 hours that they have spent with Jesus, they saw first-hand Him calm a storm. Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea saying, “Peace! Be still!” “Instantly,” it says “the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” Can you imagine how they felt when they saw that? That was a pretty amazing thing to see, wasn’t it? And then, soon after that, they saw Jesus cast a legion of demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs. Jesus tells the demons “Come out!” They came out of the man and entered some pigs, about 2000 of them (that is what the scripture says). The pigs then went berserk. They rushed down the steep bank and drowned in the sea. That had to have been an incredible thing to see. With Jesus you just never know what you are going to see and hear next. But all of it is amazing.

For 33 years, Jesus was, in fact, God dwelling with us in human flesh. You figure that, being God, there were not a whole lot of things that surprised or amazed Jesus. You figure He had pretty much seen it all. But in our lesson today, there will be something that truly amazes Jesus. We are going to find out what that is.

Now, to set the stage for you, Jesus has just left Gentile territory on the southeastern end of the Sea of Galilee. He and His disciples are heading back home to the other side. So, we begin this morning in Mark Chapter 5 and v 21…

READ Mark 5:21

According to Matthew’s account Jesus arrives back at His home base in Capernaum. Q1: Who met Jesus and His disciples when they returned, according to this verse? A large crowd. That is what it says, right? – “a great crowd.” Other people will meet Him later, but when He first came back that is who met Him. It is typical during His Galilean Ministry, by the way. Wherever Jesus goes, He attracts quite a crowd.

READ Mark 5:22-23

This distinguished-looking man named Jairus approaches Jesus and falls down at His feet in humble submission. He is described here as “one of the rulers of the synagogue.” He is not a priest or a rabbi. Instead, he is a lay person who is responsible for the physical management of the synagogue – the building and the worship services. He is a respected leader in the community. Unlike some of the other religious leaders, his colleagues, he is not hostile toward Jesus. Jairus is a desperate man. He is fully aware of the miraculous power of Jesus. He has probably witnessed many of Jesus’s healings in Capernaum. Mark mentioned several of these in the first few chapters of Mark. We talked about them. In Q2, what does Jairus request that Jesus do for his daughter (there are several)? To heal her, to lay hands on her, and to come to her. He wants Jesus to heal her of whatever it is that is killing her. He is desperate. Jairus knows that Jesus has the power to heal his dying daughter. He expresses his faith that Jesus is able to restore her to full health.

READ Mark 5:24

The crowd wants to see what Jesus is going to do next. On the way to Jairus’s house something interrupts them.

READ Mark 5:25-26

She was poor because she spent all her money on doctors! She has some sort of a disease that caused her to bleed. One commentary I read said that this could have been a chronic menstrual disorder or a uterine hemorrhage. That is the answer to Q3. The woman’s disease is probably some sort of a hemorrhage. She is losing blood. And because of her medical condition, she is considered by Jewish law to be unclean. As a result, she is not allowed into the synagogue. And, as a result of her embarrassing physical condition, her social life has suffered. This has been going on for years.

READ Mark 5:27-28

Like Jairus, this woman is desperate. And, like Jairus, she has the faith that Jesus can heal her. She reasons to herself, “If I can just touch His robe, I’ll be healed.” So, she manages to fight her way through the crowd and approaches Jesus from behind. She reaches out her hand and touches the edge of Jesus’s robe.

READ Mark 5:29

Immediately she is healed and she knows it. She can feel it inside of her. This is fascinating. Q4 asks, what did Jesus say to the woman just before she was healed? Nothing! There is no dialogue between them at all. Not before, right? So, He doesn’t say anything to her. Nobody in the crowd realizes what has just happened. Nobody knows that a miracle has just occurred. Only the woman knows. And, of course, Jesus knows.

READ Mark 5:30

Q5 asks, how did Jesus know that someone had touched His garment, His robe? How did He know? He felt the power leave His body. This verse says that He perceived in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He could feel it. The Greek word used here is dunamis, which is a reference to the mighty, miraculous power of God. That is what Jesus felt. He feels God’s power leave His body! So, Jesus turns and asks, “Who touched My garments?” The disciples, like everyone else in the crowd are completely unaware that anything has happened, so they think this is a silly question.

READ Mark 5:31-33

The woman openly confesses to Jesus what has just happened to her. Now, if she had not said anything, nobody would have known about this miracle. Nobody would have been aware that God had done something in her life. Many times the miracles that happen to us occur in the privacy of our own hearts or behind closed doors. The only way anyone is going to know what God has done is for us is to say something. So, the woman reveals what she did, how she had reached out in desperation and touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and when she did, instantly she was healed of her long-term disease. The woman’s statement is actually vitally important. Q6 asks why? Why is it important that the woman tell the whole truth about what happened to her? It is her testimony. She is the only one that knows. When something happens to you, you know it. You have to tell somebody so that the One who did it for you gets all the glory.

This woman knows what has happened to her, doesn’t she? She felt it inside of her. She is the one who had the faith to go to Jesus. She is the one who was desperate. She is the one who touched Jesus. She is the one who could feel her blood dry up. She is the one who suffered all those years with this disease and then realizes what a miracle this is. She is the only one who is fully aware of what happened. She knows the whole story. If she hides it and doesn’t confess all the details, we would never know this had happened and it would not be in our Bibles!

Whenever God does a work in our life – and He has done that, hasn’t He? – we need to tell others. That is what we do in our prayer request time. We do praises as well as prayer requests. So, why is that? So that God, the One who did the work, gets all the glory that He rightfully deserves. So, the woman’s testimony is vitally important.

Q7 asks, based on what Mark says in this passage (not your best guess but what the passage actually states), was Jesus amazed by this woman’s faith? It doesn’t say. We are not told. Not in this passage. We know she had faith, but we do not know what Jesus’s reaction to that faith was. He DOES speak kindly to the woman after her honest confession.

READ Mark 5:34

Jesus’s words to this woman here are intentional. We are going to dissect it a little bit. Q8 asks, what special term does He use when He addresses her? “Daughter.” This is the only time in all the New Testament where Jesus refers to somebody as “daughter.” I want you to think about the significance of this term. It is a familial term, about a family. Jesus considers this woman to be part of God’s family. He calls her “daughter.” Her faith has brought peace, specifically, peace with God. That is what Jesus says, right? “Go in peace.” The woman’s faith not only healed her of her physical disease, but more importantly, her faith has healed her of her spiritual disease. I am basing that on Romans 5:1 which says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That is the only way you are going to have peace with God is through a relationship with Christ. This woman has been justified by faith and, as a result, she now has peace with God. Like I said, Jesus’s words here are intentional.

What is Jairus thinking during all this time? I don’t know how long all this took. It took a while to go through all of this, right? So, Jairus is waiting there anxiously. He knows that time is of the essence. His little girl is at his house battling for her life. Well, about that time a small contingent of people breaks through the crowd and delivers a devastating message to Jairus.

READ Mark 5:35

Can you imagine getting any worse news than this?

READ Mark 5:36

So, there you have the answer to Q9. Jesus tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe, Jairus.” Now, the literal Greek here is important. It says this: “Stop fearing and keep on believing.” So, that tells you that Jairus has faith, right? “Don’t lose faith just because she is dead.” By the way, this is all Jesus asks of us. Whatever your fear is, let Jesus handle it. Give it to Him. Trust Him. Place your faith in Him. Let Jesus handle your problem, your fears, whatever they might be – in His way and in His time.

Now, you need to remember something as we read on. At this point in Jesus’s ministry, He has done many incredible miracles. But how many people has Jesus raised from the dead? At this point, He has raised NONE. So, Jairus has nothing to base his faith on other than Jesus’s words to him. That is all he has.

READ Mark 5:37-38

These are the professional mourners that the Jews had. But, just in general, you expect crying when someone dies, right? That is what is going on here. Notice Jesus’s reaction…

READ Mark 5:39

You talk about humorous! These people know death. They are not stupid. They’ve seen dead people before. They know that the girl is dead. This is why the reaction to Jesus.

So, the answer to Q10 is what? What did Jesus say to these people? “She’s not dead, but sleeping.” And the reaction – they laughed at Him.

READ Mark 5:40

Jesus is fully aware of what He is about to do, even if nobody else knows. Jesus puts everyone out of the room except for the girl’s parents and His inner three (disciples) – Peter, James and John.

READ Mark 5:41

The words Jesus speaks here are in Aramaic, which is Jesus’s native language. He did NOT speak in King James English! What do you suppose happens next?

READ Mark 5:42

As is the case with every physical healing that Jesus did, there is no physical therapy required. Now that is amazing. This girl gets up and she starts walking around… immediately! Her mother and father and Peter, James and John – Q11 asks, what was their reaction to what they have just witnessed? They were astonished. Wouldn’t you be? They were “overcome with amazement.” I would be too! I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be with Jesus day after day and to have seen all the things He did. He never ceased to amaze His disciples. How can you rationally explain what you have just seen? It defies all logic. It is truly amazing, isn’t it?

READ Mark 5:43

Here we see the tender compassionate side of Jesus for this little girl. She is alive, but she is also hungry. “Give her something to eat!” Everybody else forgot about the fact that they need to feed her because they were so excited, but not Jesus.

Why does Jesus tell the girl’s parents not to say anything, not to spread this around about what He just did? We have talked about this before and it will come up again in the next lesson. The Jewish people are looking for their Messiah King at this point. And what is their image of a king? He is one who is going to set up a kingdom and overthrow the Romans and all the things talked about in the Old Testament. If word gets out about this miracle here, the crowd of people outside this home may try to force Jesus into that role of Messiah King. But that is NOT His mission, is it? He is on a redemptive mission that nobody is yet aware of, except for Jesus.

Q12 asks, based on what we just read in this passage (not on what we presume in our minds), was Jesus amazed at Jairus’s faith? Again, we are not told. We are not told whether He was or not. And with that we have reached the end of Mark Chapter 5. But we are not done with our lesson yet. We have yet to see what it is that amazed JESUS.

That something that we are going to see that amazes Jesus comes at the beginning of Mark Chapter 6. So, Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth. He has been away for about a year. He is going to encounter something that will most certainly amaze Him. I wonder what that could be? Well, let’s read on and find out.

READ Mark 6:1-2

They have heard about all these things that He has been doing. The hometown folks in Nazareth are astonished. They are amazed at Jesus’s teaching. “Where did Jesus get all this from?”

READ Mark 6:3

The people of Nazareth, they know Jesus. He is one of their own. They watched Him grow up. They saw Him at His father’s carpenter shop all those years. Q13: How do they respond to Jesus? It says here that, “they took offense at Him.” Why would they be offended at Jesus? Because of His fame and reputation as a great Teacher. In their mind they can’t understand how this could possibly be. After all, they know His background. Jesus is just from a plain, ordinary household. He has no formal education as far as they know. He holds no official religious position, does He? He is just a teacher. He isn’t a priest or a religious leader. “Who does Jesus think He is?” Jerry Vines in his commentary sees this as typical small-town thinking… “They didn’t expect anybody who had been brought up there in their [seemingly insignificant] town to rise above what they were.” So, perhaps there is a bit of jealousy here. That is what Vines thinks. “Jesus is just like us, no different, just a guy.” Or at least that is how they view Him.

Well, Jesus knows what they are all thinking and He responds.

READ Mark 6:4

There is a modern expression that basically means the same thing: “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Their attitude is “There is nothing that special about Jesus. He is no different than us.”

READ Mark 6:5

This is an indictment on the people of Nazareth and their narrow-minded view of Jesus. It says that Jesus healed only a few sick people in Nazareth. So, Jesus did some miraculous work and He preached once in their synagogue. But His ministry in Nazareth did not rise to the level that it did in so many other places.

READ Mark 6:6a

At last, we see what it is that amazed Jesus. The answer to Q14 is that Jesus marveled, was amazed, at the unbelief of His own hometown people who should have known.

I mentioned in the opening that Jesus, being God, had pretty much seen it all. So, you figure that there was not much that was going to astonish or amaze Him. And as we read through the gospels, there wasn’t. The Greek word that is used here in v 6 is thaumazo, which is translated in the ESV and KJV as “marveled. In the NIV and NLT it is translated as “amazed.” In the NASB it is translated as “wondered.” Only twice in the Gospels is this word thaumazo used to describe Jesus’s reaction to someone or something. Here in this passage we just read He is amazed. The other time occurs in Matthew 8:10 (parallel account in Luke 7:9). That story takes place in Capernaum. It is where the Roman centurion, a Gentile, had a servant that was paralyzed and was suffering terribly. The centurion appealed to Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus said, “I’ll come over to your house and heal him,” the centurion replied, “Lord, I’m not worthy for You to come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.” That response by the centurion amazed Jesus and that word thaumazo is used. Jesus said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”

So, on one hand, Jesus finds faith in a place and by a person you wouldn’t expect to find it – that centurion. That amazed Him. On the other hand, in a place and by people you WOULD expect to find faith, His own hometown, with a bunch of people who knew Jesus, you don’t find much faith if any at all. That too amazed Jesus, but obviously for the opposite reason.

Then the last part of v 6 says…

READ Mark 6:6b

Jesus, undeterred by His bad experience in Nazareth, continues His ministry in places like Galilee, Judea, Perea, Samaria, Tyre and Sidon, Decapolis, and Caesarea Philippi. You read the Gospels and He is all over the place doing amazing things. His popularity continues to soar. Sadly, as far as we know, Jesus never again returns to His hometown of Nazareth.

What I see from this lesson, and with this we will close, is a sobering reality. While God can indeed do amazing things (and He does all the time), apparently His power can be limited in a church and in individuals by a lack of faith.

So, what is God doing in your life? God wants to do a work in your life. Did you know that? Do you believe that? Matthew 5:8… our pastor is preaching through The Beatitudes and he covered v 8 today. It says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The pastor said what that means is that you see what God is doing.

God is doing something in your life. What is He doing?