Less flipping: Mark 5; Matthew 8:28-34, 9:18-26; Luke 8:26-56
I read a really interesting sermon by Bob Deffinbaugh entitled The Interrupted Miracle. He points out that it is easy for us to miss how remarkable it is that this woman managed to reach Jesus in the first place. She was a woman who was unclean and needed to struggle through a huge crowd in order to reach Jesus, without drawing attention to herself while in a weakened state due to a long lasting illness. Not an easy task. And yet she managed to do it, and she would've gotten away with it, if Jesus hadn't stopped - while on his way to another healing.
Deffinbaugh points out several interesting things about this divine delay and the fact that it was done for the benefit of the woman and the benefit of Jairus and his daughter.
First, the woman. Jesus would not allow her to have a second-class healing, He wants her to be able to look at Him, to sit at His feet. He also did not want there to be a misunderstanding about her healing - He made it clear that it was her faith that healed her through the power of Jesus. Thirdly, He didn't want her to feel guilty about her healing, that she had stolen it somehow. It was a gift of grace and He wanted to make sure she knew that. And lastly, He would not allow her faith to be anonymous.
Faith in Christ must be publicly professed.
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Everyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10:9-11).
Faith is not intended to be a “private” matter, as so many seem to think. How often have I heard people decline to discuss their own spiritual condition, justifying themselves with the statement, “Well, my faith is a very personal thing … ” Faith in Christ is not personal. Jesus acknowledged that it was the woman’s faith which healed her, but she must also confess her faith before men. This was so important that our Lord refused to go on without her confession of faith.
The benefit of this divine delay for Jairus was that it turned a healing into a resurrection. This greater healing required greater faith from Jairus, brought greater glory to Jesus, and showed the lesser faith of the mourners and the crowd.The delay also made the situation more hopeless from a human standpoint. And it is when we truly have no other option to turn to, no one else to hope in, that we put our complete faith in God. He is the only One worth trusting.
One other interesting thing that he pointed out was that after Jesus raised the girl to life again, He instructed her parents to feed her. If He was able to raise her from the dead, surely He could've done so with a full stomach as well. But it is not necessary for Jesus to do something for us that we can do for ourselves....
I am aware of the expression, often attributed to the Bible, that “God helps those who help themselves.” In truth, though, God has come in the person of Christ to help those who cannot help themselves. Jairus could not heal his sick daughter, nor raise her when she died. Jesus could, and did. But Jairus and his wife could feed the child, and so Jesus did not do so, miraculously. Miracles are not performed where normal human effort is sufficient.
These are my favourite things to take from this passage....
Everyone, no matter their status, gender, race - is worthy to kneel at the feet of our Saviour.
God's mercy is a gift of grace that has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with Him.
Divine delay is for our benefit, to increase our blessing and His glory.
Our hope is found in God alone. He alone is worthy of our trust and faith. And it is often at our lowest point that we recognize this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3
Tomorrow's passage: Matthew 9:27-34, Mark 6:1-6, Matthew 13:53-58, Matthew 9:35-38, Mark 6:7-13, Matthew 10:1-42, Luke 9:1-6
Less flipping: Matthew 9:27-10:42, 13:53-58; Mark 6:1-13, Luke 9:1-6
2 comments:
I love this post, Tammy! There's just so much awesome "behind the scenes" stuff in these stories!!
I know! I was originally going to write about the demon possessed man, but when I read this sermon, this was even more intriguing!
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