Get Closer To Jesus

Get Closer to Jesus

Mark 5:21-43

Good morning.

Have you ever looked at someone else’s walk with Christ and wondered why they seem to have a closer relationship with Jesus, than you do?

Early in my walk with Christ, I tried to improve my relationship with Him with human performance; i.e., most of my trying to please the Lord was based on my own works.

I thought my prayer life should come from a specific list I had made; as I was careful to not miss anything or anyone on the list.

I would follow certain formulas, hoping to come to know the Lord better; but nothing I tried, seemed to make closer to God.

Catch this; as Christians, we need a vibrant prayer life and we should study scripture to know the Lord; but, using formulas and rituals will not earn us a real, intimate relationship with Jesus.

Please open your Bibles to Mark 5 as we continue that study

Last week, we studied about a man who was possessed by many demons and how Jesus set him free.

After the man was healed, he wanted to go with Jesus and to leave his home; but, Jesus told the man to go tell his family and friends about the healing and the change the Lord did for him.

Today, we will learn of the miracles Jesus performed when He and the Disciples arrived back on the other side of the Sea of Galilee and we will also learn the key to being closer to Jesus.

I. Celebrity status.

Read Mark 5:21-24

After the storm they encountered, and the demons that were cast into the swine; Jesus and the Disciples return to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, as a huge crowd is waiting there.

Some folks are there to see the miracle worker, some need healing, and some are angry with Jesus for breaking the Mosaic Law; but, all of them are there pushing their way in, to see Jesus.

In this same narrative in Luke 8:42, we are told, “As He went, the multitudes thronged Him”. NKJV

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary, “throng” means to press round or throng one so as almost to suffocate him.

Just then, a ruler of the synagogue named Jairus, came and fell at Jesus’ feet; Jairus’ name means "Whom God enlightens".

Wiersbe said, “If you were one of the rulers of a synagogue it meant that you were the elder in charge of the public services and the care of the facilities. Those who occupied that position were usually men of reputation and wealth.”

Jairus was a leader of the synagogue in Capernaum, where Jesus had previously healed a man with the withered hand, in Mark 3.

In Mark 3; after Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath Day in the synagogue, the religious leaders sought to destroy Jesus.

Mark 3:5 He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

Mark 3:6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Here Jairus had become so desperate because his daughter was sick, he goes to Jesus. Luke tells us she was only 12 years old.

When religion or life fails us to the point that we can no longer handle it, it should compel us to be desperate and go to Jesus.

Desperation can take away some of our preconceived ideas and this religious leader had witnessed Jesus heal others.

I want you to notice the first thing this religious leader does is to put away his worthless religion and he came to worship Jesus.

In desperation, this religious ruler had no concern about what anyone else thought; he knew Jesus was the only answer; so, he makes his way to Jesus and falls down at His feet to worship.

Jesus was so touched by the religious leader’s desperation and worship; He heads towards Jairus’ house to heal his daughter, even as the crowd continued to suffocate Him.

II. A desperate idea.

Read Mark 5:25-28

We meet a second desperate person in our narrative, as suddenly a woman who had a blood flow for 12 years, touched Jesus.

For twelve years this woman saw many doctors and each one of those doctors made things worse, instead of healing her.

The Greek Lexicon explains that this women’s loss of blood was cause by menstrual bleeding.

Leviticus 15 says she should be considered unclean; so, she could not go to the temple or the synagogue. She could not even be around her children, husband, or anyone else, for that matter.

This woman was isolated from her family, society, and from worshiping the Lord publicly; for twelve full years!