Sermon Tone Analysis

Good Morning, turn with me in your Bibles this morning, to the gospel of Mark we are going to begin reading in chapter 5:21-43

Let’s pray: “Heavenly Father we know you are good, and we know you are powerful, father speak to our hearts this morning, help us to understand Your word.

You are our hope, You are our help, and Lord Your glory is our aim in everything we say and do in Jesus name.... Amen”

As we have marched through Marks Gospel there seems to be something He is trying to get us to learn.

That is that there are two responses to trials, trouble and hopeless situations.

We can either respond with faith in who Jesus is and what He can do, or we can respond in fear knowing that there is nothing we can do.

We saw this play out in the lives of the disciples in that they were fearful instead of faithful when the storm arose, they were afraid Jesus didn’t care about them, they were afraid they were all going to perish.

All the while Jesus was chilling taking a nap in the stern.

They cried out to Jesus and He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and then He rebuked them saying “Do you still have no faith?”

Once they arrived on the other side of the Sea of Galilee we saw how as soon as Jesus stepped off the boat he was confronted with a demon possesed man.

This man’s life was being ruined as he was tormented by a legion of demons.

This guy had superhuman strength and there was no one who could bind him.

He would simply break the chains and shackles and continue cutting himself and hurting himself.

The scripture records that the man in desperation runs and falls at the feet of Jesus and that Jesus and that Jesus delivered him from his bondage, and as soon as the people heard about it they were afraid of Jesus and they sent Him away from their city.

So we have this picture being painted in the gospel of Mark where some people respond in fear when Jesus desires for them to respond in faith.

Now knowing all of that we come to end of chapter 5 and we deal with two things that are very frightening and are the result of the curse of sin.

Like a deadly virus, sin is a devastating force that infects every human being.

The curse of sin has corrupted evey part of the human experience, it causes people to have deal with sickness, suffering and even death.

When Adam disobeyed in the Garden of Eden God brought a curse against all humanity.

Adams descendants have all inherited his terminal condition.

As move through these stories I see a progression happening don’t you?

It is as if Jesus is dealing with anything that could possibly bring fear into our hearts.

The disciples were afraid of their circumstances… but what is worse than their circumstances?

Being in bondage to demon possesion.... but what might be worse than being demon possessed?

How about lying in the streets with a bleeding disorder that there is no cure for?

The lady in our story today has had been bleeding profusely nonstop for 12 years.

the problem with bleeding?

They considered you unclean and didn’t want you near they would even exile people like this away with the lepers outside the city.

The woman mentioned today was desperate, but what is worse than that situation?

How about death?

The fear of death is universal we have all feared death.

People are afraid of the unknown called death, Even the Bible recognizes people’s apprehension about the subject of death.

Death is referred to in as the king of terrors and psalm 55:4 says the same thing when it speaks of the terror that comes from the word death.

Throughout history people have tried to escape death but without success.

Even advances in modern medicine as incredible as they are cannot take away this dreadful day we all must face.

This raises one question?

HAS ANYONE GOT A CURE FOR THE MOST TERRIFYING THING WE CAN THINK OF?

Has anyone conquered death, and , in so doing made it possible for others to triumph over it?

THE BIBLE ANSWERS THIS QUESTION WITH A VERY DEFINITVE YES!!!

THERE IS A DELIVERER!!! HE IS NONE OTHER THAN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD!

Jesus said

John 11:25-26

Jesus also stated that his purpose was to

Jesus came to bring life, but more than that He came to provide a prescription, to break the curse called death.

But if Jesus had such a prescription he had to prove it, and prove it He did, by rising from the grave.

We have eyewitnesses of this fact, and it has never been proven false, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is as real as the person sitting next to you!

Even stating that over 500 people saw Him with their own eyes after He rose from the grave.

The gospel proclaims the truth that in His resurrection the Lord Jesus conquered death not only for Himself but also for all those who would believe in Him.

As a picture of His own resurrection he would often raise people back to life while He was alive.

The events recorded in this passage form two final pictures that we need to see.

In Mark chapter 4 Jesus showed us He had authority over the natural world when He instantly calmed the storm, with 3 words.

The next day He showed His power over supernatural forces by kicking a demon out into a herd of pigs and now in our text today we see Him with power over sickness and even death itself.

But what is more important to us this morning is to look at Jesus and see just what we can learn about Him from this passage, that can help us when tragedy strikes our lives:

However along the way let’s take a look at who Jesus is when tragedy strikes:

In the Chaos Jesus was Accessible

Unlike many of the rabbis of His day Jesus spent His time with the people.

His entire ministry was spent surrounded by crowds, with only occasional retreats into isolation for times of prayer, rest, and focused times where he taught His disciples.

Ministering among the crowds was difficult they hounded Him and surrounded Him yet He remained accessible to them.

If you Remember Jesus and His disciples had manned a boat and left from the one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other side but once Jesus set the demon possessed man free, the people were afraid and they asked them to leave again.

So Jesus and disciples get back on the boat and head back to where they just came from to get away from the crowd.

As Jesus and His disciples exit the boat again another massive crowd probably the same crowd gathered around Him once again.

Here was Jesus and the disciples in the midst of this massive crowd right at the bank of the Sea of Galilee when all of a sudden there came someone through the crowd who stole all the attention.

As Jesus and His disciples exit the boat again another massive crowd probably the same crowd gathered around Him once again.

Here was Jesus and the disciples in the midst of this massive crowd right at the bank of the Sea of Galilee when all of a sudden there came someone through the crowd who stole all the attention.

Mark

Do you see something familiar here?

Jesus crossed over to one side and the demon possessed man fell at His feet, now He has crossed back over and yet another man with another problem falls at His feet, his name is Jairus and He is one of the leaders of the synagogue.

Leaders like Jairus were respected laymen responsible for overseeing the activities within the Synagogue.

So Jesus once again meets a desperate man in need of help.

For a man of Jairus’ stature to fall down on to the ground at the feet of Jesus would have been astounding to watch.

It would have been astounding to watch because Synagogue leaders were known for their cleaness these men were respectible and with all the other religious leaders seeking a way to kill Jesus for Him to come publically into a crowd and fall down on to the ground at His feet would have been the end to His career and the respect many of his peers would have had for him.

But this man had a dire emergency.

So picture this now Jesus isswarmed by people, when all of a sudden a religious leader comes rushing into the crowd… “Jesus please, please I beg you come with me my little daughter is dying, please Jesus,” over and over again the man beggs.

“I have heard you can simply touch people and they are healed please come to my house and lay hands on my daughter because she is dying!”

Over and over again, He pleads.

That’s what this word earnestly actually means, it means He kept on begging Him.

Which prompts the question, if JEsus has already shown that He is willing and able to heal in this region, why does the man so desperately plead with Jesus to come heal his daughter.

Well the most obvious answer is that he knows he has precious little time, his daughter is dying within that moment and he needs Jesus and He needs JEsus right now!

We would be the same way, at least I know I would be the same way if my daughter was in this situation.

But there is a deeper meaning here I believe, Jarius being one of the religious leaders would have known how Jesus was treated by those he was associates with.

He might even have been a part of the crew who tried to throw Jesus off the cliff ealier for healing on the sabbath day.

We don’t know for sure but can you imagine this scene?

He now has to go to Jesus and he is probably thinking, “When Jesus sees that I am on the same team as those who tried to kill Him there is no way he will ever help me or my little girl....

Can’t you see that being a possibility?

I can.

Simply by the man referencing the fact that he knew that Jesus could touch someone and heal them meant he had probably been around when Jesus touched the man with the withered hand which happened within the synagogue.

So the man has this false idea working in his mind, heres the false idea.... “BECAUSE OF MY BEHAVIOR EARLIER, JESUS WILL CERTAINLY NOT DO ANYTHING FOR ME”

Have you ever felt like this?

You blow it, you treat Jesus as if He is just an addition to your life and you don’t really pay Him any attention, or maybe you have found yourself questioning Jesus and now you find yourself in a hole you cannot dig your way out of and you think to yourself that there is no way that Jesus would even listen to your request after the way you have acted, after the thoughts you have been thinking....

Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever said this to yourself in a time of discouragement?

How would Jesus respond?

He didn’t owe this man anything, and if he was part of the group that tried to kill Jesus, what motivation would Jesus even have for listening to the man?

What did Jesus do?

Jesus picked the man to His feet and said let’s go.

Jesus went with Him.

The gospel explodes right here, its right here where we see that our behavior does not dictate how Jesus responds to our requests.

The love of God is very evident here in that Jesus had compassion on the man, and went with him even though the man didn’t deserve for Jesus to do anything.

Isn’t this good news?

Jesus’ presence with you is not dictated by whether or not you have been perfect?

This blesses my heart because I know God owes me nothing, and yet even though I have moments when I disobey, even though there are many times when I feel like I have no business asking God for help.