Pressing Into Jesus Series

The Gospel of Mark #14 – “Pressing into Jesus”

Mark 5:21-43

Intro –

1. ILL – A New Yorker was driving through Texas when he collided with a truck carrying a horse. A few months later he tried to collect damages for his injuries. “How can you now claim to have all these injuries?” asked the insurance company’s lawyer. “According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt.” ‘Look,” replied the New Yorker. “I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know this Texas Ranger pulls out his gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns to me and asks, ‘Are you okay?’”

2. The truth is, sometime we are not okay. Sometimes we have real problems, issues, difficulties &seemingly hopeless situations.

3. In Mark 5, we see Jesus going from one seemingly hopeless situation to another. Our text is a “Markan sandwich” where two stories are pressed together. In it we are introduced to two very different individuals with one thing in common - they were willing to “press into Jesus.”

4. Mark 5:21-43 (Read)

5. This passage is a study in contrasts – Jairus was a rich man; the woman was broke. He was a synagogue official; she was an outcast. She was afraid to approach Jesus; Jairus went right up to Him. Jairus’ daughter was twelve years old; The woman had been fighting her problems for twelve years.

6. Although the people are totally different, they do have some things in common – They both have found themselves helpless. They both have heard that Jesus can help. They both seek Him out to take care of their needs.

7. God really can take care of our deepest longings & greatest needs!

8. 2 Scriptures that God has used in my life –

a. Gen. 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

b. Jer. 32:17 “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

9. ILL – How many of you remember when we just had telephones & no cell-phones? What about when we actually used the phonebook instead of the internet or 411? Do you remember AT&T’s old slogan? It was “Reach out & touch someone.”

10. Jairus & the woman with the issue of blood both reached out to Jesus to touch Him & be touched by Him!

I. From Hopelessness to Healing: the Woman - Vs. 24-34

This was a woman who was “at her wits end.” She must have been ready to give up!

A. She was unclean & isolated – vs. 25

1. She had suffered from some kind of hemorrhage for 12 years.

2. She was an outcast from society at large as well as the religious world. The nature of this woman’s illness fell under the stipulations of Lev. 15:25-27.

3. She could not take part in any religious observances, nor could she have any public contact without defiling those whom she touched.

B. She was incurable – vs. 26

1. The Physician Luke adds the statement, “no one could heal her” (Luke 8:43).

2. Her suffering was much more than physical, though that would have been enough. She suffered as much from her ‘cures’ as she did from her case of bleeding.

3. Pliny’s “Natural History” reveals the generally low condition of medical science in the world at that time. Physicians were accustomed to prescribe doses of curious concoctions made from ashes of burnt wolf’s skull, stags’ horns, heads of mice, the eyes of crabs, owl’s brains, the livers of frogs and other like elements. For dysentery powdered horses’ teeth were administered, and a cold in the head was cured by kissing a mule’s nose.”

4. Last of all, this woman has lost all of her financial resources. Mark tells us that she had spent all of her money on doctor bills, with no relief—indeed, with added affliction. And in those days, there was no such thing as a malpractice suit.

C. She reached out for restoration from Christ – vs. 27-34

1. Because of her condition, she would not have been allowed to even approach Jesus. To talk to Him would be unthinkable! So she approached Him the only way she secretly – & it was enough! Knowing her faith, Jesus granted her healing.

2. After her healing, the woman probably began to shrink back into the crowd. Suddenly, Jesus stops & asks, “Who touched me?” (Mark 5:30).

3. Jesus was not angry at the woman for touching Him; He wanted to teach her &all those around Him something about faith. Genuine faith always involves action!