Put out unbelief, faith make you well.

Mark 5:21-43 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. ²² One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet ²³ and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” ²⁴ And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— ²⁷ after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. ²⁸ For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” ²⁹ Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. ³⁰ Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. ³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

³⁵ While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” ³⁶ But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” ³⁷ And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. ³⁹ And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” ⁴⁰ They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. ⁴³ And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

In today’s text we read the account of a woman who was healed simply by touching Jesus in faith. It raises the question, what part does our faith play in our ability to receive healing? In this case Jesus did nothing actively. Jesus says:  “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”  Jesus was aware of her healing only because He felt power going forth from Himself. There was no laying on of hands, no words spoken. The text says:  For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”   We can read about the same kind of miraculous healing in Acts 5:14-16 says:  And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.   How can we explain healing like this; that by faith, without a touch or a word people are healed? Throughout His ministry, Jesus said:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)  We think of repenting as turning from sin, and it is that. But repenting is also changing how we think, changing what we believe. We should think differently because of the presence of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”   We should believe that the realities of heaven, the way things are there, will be manifested here on earth. In Luke 17:21 Jesus says:  “Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst."   In your midst, literally translates as within you. These people then, who were healed, without a touch or a word, responded in faith, believing  that the kingdom had indeed come and by God’s will it was on earth as it is in heaven. It was no longer on at hand, but now it was within them.  Isaiah 53:5 says: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.     Notice that what was done for sin is past. Jesus died once for all. On the cross, Jesus said:   “It is finished!” (John 19:30)  Although it is finished, by His stripes we are healed. Healing is finished, complete and fully accomplished in heaven, but it is also active. We are healed, believing in the finished work of the cross. We are healed, believing that we live and abide in the presence of the kingdom of heaven.

In today’s text we also read about a little girl who was healed, actually raised to life from death. The text has an interesting line in it. It says:  But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions.   Here’s the context:   While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.    The crowd believed the girl was dead. They laughed at Jesus. Faith is important to receiving healing. Jesus told the father of the girl, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”   As vital as faith is to receiving, so is unbelief a hindrance. In Matthew 17:20, when the disciples asked why they could not drive an evil spirit from a boy, Jesus replied:   “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”   Even a small amount of faith can do great things. Even a small amount of faith can receive the great things that are ours in the kingdom of heaven, through the finished work of the cross. In the same way, unbelief can hinder us from receiving what has been done. Jesus removed those who did not believe, so that faith could receive.

This leaves us with a question, can the unbelief of others, hinder the healing of ourselves or those we pray for? It would seem that the answer is possibly, maybe even probably. In Matthew 13, Jesus was in His hometown and the people there did not recognize Him as being the Messiah. They did not recognize the presence of the kingdom of heaven that was within Him. They were unwilling to repent, too change the way they believed about Him. Verse 58 says:  He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.    We cannot always control or change what others believe. But this we can do, we can do what Jesus calls and commissions us to do in Mark 16:15  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”   We can expect and believe for the results of the presence of the kingdom of God to be received by those who believe, as He says in verses 16-18. “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”    We can be those who cause others to repent, to change what they believe, because of the kingdom of heaven within us.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit I believe. Through the finished work of the cross, may I take the presence and the power of the kingdom of heaven where I go. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.