Will you go to the power, or will the power come to you?

Text: Mark 5:22-43

Subject: Power

Focus: Will you go, or will it come?

Good morning Saints, it has been a long time since we last gathered. There have been many end of year activities going on that have kept me away from the computer. The most important of these activities has been my intense biblical study of the book of Numbers and the Gospel of Mark. This leads me into our topic today: Power. Let’s explore a brief passage of Mark and look at the theology behind the passage and pray for the anointing that was experienced by those involved.

The Bible reads as follows in Mark 5:22-43

²²And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

²³And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

²⁴And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

²⁵And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

²⁶And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

²⁷When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

²⁸For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

²⁹And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

³⁰And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

³¹And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

³²And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

³³But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

³⁴And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

³⁵While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

³⁶As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

³⁷And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

³⁸And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.

³⁹And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

⁴⁰And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

⁴¹And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

⁴²And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

⁴³And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat. (Mark 5:22-43, King James Version)

Now we can see from the beginning of this passage that some “not so normal” things were occurring. The first of which was that a Jewish Religious leader came to Christ to ask for a miracle to be performed. It was not customary for Jewish religious leaders to seek Christ. Rather, quite the opposite would usually occur. Most religious leaders, upon learning about Christ, sought him to find something wrong with His doctrine or His claim of authority.

Here, we see that Jairus sought out to Lord because he believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and had the power to do all the things that he had heard about. We know that the Lord has compassion upon those who diligently seek Him and choose to follow Him with their whole hearts. This was the case with Jairus. Jesus did not make special concessions for Jairus, but rather saw another one of His children with a need that only He could fill.

However; along the way, a woman was in need of a Master physician. She came to Jesus and was fortunate enough to get through the multitudes to touch Jesus. The woman had been sick with a condition of blood for twelve years. She had gone broke, that is to say given up everything that she owned in order to receive the proper treatment in order to make her whole. She gave up confidence in man and finally understood that she needed to place faith in the Master. Her faith was so strong that when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, He felt virtue leave him.

Dictionary.com defines virtue as follows: “moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.” Virtue

The Lord felt His excellence leave Him for a brief moment. This was only allowed to happen because of the extreme faith that the woman possessed. When confronted about touching the Master, the woman confessed and the Lord said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Glory be to God. This woman knew that she had a need, and instead of waiting for goodness to come to her, she went to that which was good and received her blessing.

After this miraculous event, Jairus received bad news from one of his servants. A report came in that Jairus’ daughter had passed away. The servant went on further to say that there was no longer a need to bother the Master with this affair. Oh ye of little faith. Jesus immediately turned to Jairus and said, “Fear not, only believe.” Can you imagine how hard it would have been to hear that your daughter has died from someone who you knew and trusted for years, but to be told to believe and have faith in someone you were meeting for the first time? Surely Jairus had been touched in a way that we can only pray for. Maybe he had an anointing that we were unaware of.

Nonetheless, when Jesus arrived at the house He went about the Father’s business and resurrected the young lady. All who saw it was astonished beyond belief. They still had confidence in man instead of faith in God (reference is Psalm 118:8).

Now it is easy to get caught up in the details of both miraculous actions and rejoice for the Power of the Lord is without question. But how many of you realized that whether you go to the Power, or the Power comes to you, you will be made whole? Jesus said that they which are sick have no need of the Master Physician.

I am grateful to the Master Physician for making house calls in addition to taking walk-ins. You do not need a special invitation to go to Christ or to have Christ come to you. All you have to do is receive the Lord and make the decision to seek after him with the whole heart. Don’t be deceived, that is only the beginning of your journey. I can personally testify that once you have been touched by the Power, you will never be the same. The change is forever.

If you are still waffling on whether or not to accept the Jesus into your life as your Lord and Saviour, I strongly encourage you to make the decision immediately as the clock is ticking. One guarantee of this life is death:

²⁶For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

²⁷And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

²⁸So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:26-28, King James Version)

However, death is not the end. Life with Jesus is eternal… everlasting:

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, King James Version)

Death is but the portal to eternal life with the Father:

²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24, King James Version)

Are you ready for the Power of Jesus?

⁶Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6, King James Version)