Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21-43
Message: “Just Believe”
Text: As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe” (Mark 5:36).
Introduction:
Have you ever been in a position when you were afraid and felt that all was hopeless?
Have you ever thought that your concerns were unimportant to God?
Have you ever had the feeling that the harder you try to accomplish a task the more discouraged you become?
I believe we have all had these moments in our lives.
We can be assured of several things.
1. God cares for us.
2. God knows our needs.
3. God will take care of us.
We need to remember that God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere), and omniscient (knows everything).
God is omnipotent (all-powerful).
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God did not discover the heavens and the earth, but God created the heavens and the earth. God made something out of nothing. He is all-powerful to this very day. Man makes great discoveries today, but God is behind all of these discoveries. Man does not make something out of nothing. Man discovers what God has already put in place. After God created the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the land, seas and vegetation, the fish, birds and all the animals, he created human-beings. God is indeed all-powerful.
God is omnipresent (present everywhere).
Psalm 139:7-9 says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” God is present everywhere. No matter where we go, he is there. We can never be lost from him. God is with us all the time, we need never fear.
Paul wrote these words to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else is all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (verses 38 and 39).
No matter what hardships we may face, we will never be separated from the love of God. He is with us in our good times and our bad time. Regardless of our suffering, God is always with us because of his great love for us. We are conquerors because God is always with us and will protect us from any evil forces that come upon us. God is present everywhere.
God is omniscient (knows everything).
Psalm 33:13 says, “The LORD looks from heaven; he sees all the sons of men.” God knows what we are doing every minute of our lives. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will” (Matthew 10:29). God is aware of everything that happens. Everything God created is valuable to him, but mankind is the most valuable as illustrated by John 3:16. This was God’s plan to redeem mankind. Scripture says, John 2:24, says “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men.” Jesus said this after he had cleared out the market-place in the temple. Although it appeared that many of the Jews believed Jesus because they saw the miracles being performed, Jesus did not trust them because he knew man’s heart. God knows everything.
Knowing and believing God is omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (present everywhere), and omniscient (knows everything), we will better understand his relationship with us and our relationship with him.
1. Does God care for us?
Our Scripture says, “just believe.” Jesus had just crossed over the Sea of Galilee again. As he reached the other side of the lake, a large crowd was waiting for him. Jesus’ ministry was to reach out to as many people as he could. He was not making appearances for his benefit, but he was appearing for the benefit of the people. His mission was to seek and save the lost. He did not force himself or his teaching on anyone. He preached the Word and it was up to the people to either accept or reject. The same applies toady. When people accept, they have the opportunity to be redeemed and to spend eternity in God’s kingdom.
Jesus had already calmed the storm, sent the demons into a herd of pigs and cured the demon possessed man before boarding the boat which would carry him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. When he reached the other side of the sea, there was a crowd waiting for him. It is obvious that Jesus cared for people. If we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we, too, must care for people. There are many people today who do not even have time for their own families. Listen to this story taken from esermons.com.
Story:
A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him every night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life. After several night of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her father’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, “Honey, you are hugging me to death!” “No, daddy,” the little girl said, “I’m hugging you to life!” (from esermons.com)
How often do we shut out people? How often have we treated our loved-ones like this? God does not treat us like this because of his love for us. Jesus did not ignore or mistreat people. He cared for their very needs, from the smallest to the largest. Jesus is hugging us to life.
Verse 22 says, “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet.” The question is: Why would Jairus come to Jesus. Jairus was an elected official at the synagogue and some of these rulers had a close relationship with the Pharisees. Remember, the Pharisees did not respect Jesus. Nevertheless, Jairus came to Jesus with respect and kneeled at his feet.
Verse 23 says, “and (Jairus) begged Him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.’”
Did Jesus care about Jairus or his need? Yes, because the next verse of Scripture says, “So Jesus went with him…” (v. 24) Jesus cared about Jairus and the daughter. Jesus already knew about Jairus and the daughter, but he needed to be approached and a request be made for healing. This is the same for us today. Jesus knows our very needs, the trials we are facing, the situations we are in, and the help we need. All we have to do is to ask and believe.
Verse 24
“So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.” Jesus and Jairus were followed by a large crowd of people. In this crowd was a woman who had a bleeding problem for the 12 years. Every physician she went to could not seem to help her. She had spent all her money and did not know what to do next. She was not getting any better and realized she had to do something.
Does this sound familiar? How many times have we tried to use our own power to pull us through some situation? How many nights have we tossed and turned trying to figure out a plan to help us achieve something? How many families are broken apart because of financial problems? How many families fall apart because of health issues?
This woman with the bleeding knew that Jesus cared about her. She knew that if she reached out to him and could touch his garment, she would be made well.
Verse 27
“When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment; for she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well’. Immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.”
Jesus cares about each one of us. Why do we suffer and torment ourselves so much when all we have to do is reach out and, by faith, touch the garment of Jesus? Hebrews 13: says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Poem: “Jesus Cares”
When you’ve met some disappointment,
And you’re tempted to feel blue,
When your plans have all been sidetracked,
Or some friend has proved untrue;
When you’re toiling and you’re struggling
At the bottom of the stairs,
It will seem a bit like Heaven,
Just to know that Jesus cares!
Oh, this life is not all sunshine,
Some days darkest clouds disclose
There’s a cross for every joy-bell,
And a thorn for every rose.
But the cross is not so grievous,
Nor the thorn the rose-bud wears,
And the clouds have silver linings
When we know that Jesus cares!
Yes, Jesus cares about us.
2. Does God know our needs?
Since God knows everything, then we can conclude that he knows our needs. He knew the fears of the disciples when the storm came upon them. He knew the fears of the demon possessed people. Jesus knew the need of the woman with the bleeding problem. He knew Jairus’ need before Jairus ever asked him. We can say these things because we believe God knows everything. He knows each of our needs at this very moment. He knew the needs of Adam and Eve. He knew the needs of Noah and his family. God knew the needs of Mary and Joseph. He knew the needs of all the people 2000 plus years ago and he knows our needs today. Man has many wants, but there is a difference between wants and needs. We may not get all we want, but we get what we need.
When the woman touched the garment of Jesus, Jesus asked the question, “Who touched my clothes?” He already knew who touched him, but he asked the question to see if the woman would come forth and in coming forth, he would teach her something about faith. The woman was convinced that she would be healed if she touched the garment of Jesus indicating her faith. Faith involves action. If the woman had just thought and not stepped forth to put her faith in action, nothing would have happened. The woman was afraid to come forth when Jesus asked the question, “Who touched my clothes?”
Verse 33 says, “Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.”
Verse 34
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
3. Will God take care of us?
Do you remember the times when money was short and food was scarce? The bills got paid and you didn’t starve. God took care of you.
I don’t remember the depression days, but I am sure you do. I found this little story I want to share with you.
Story: “God Will Provide”
Back in the depression days of the early 1930’s, my husband pastured a small country church. We then had three little children. Many times our weekly income was less than $10.00. One day, we found ourselves out of bread and with only some rancid bacon grease for shortening. I used it, however, in making hot biscuits and we managed to eat some of them for lunch. Later, as we put the remaining biscuits on the supper table, our five-year-old daughter prayed very earnestly, “Dear Jesus, help us to eat these biscuits or else send us some better ones. Amen!” Later that evening, the doorbell rang. There, at the door, stood a member of our church who had a bakery route. Before we could tell him our story he began un-loading his large bakery basket with all kinds of tempting sweet rolls, buns, biscuits, besides dark and white bread. “You know,” he said rather apologetically, “I was tired tonight and seven miles out here in the pouring rain seemed so far. I was tempted to wait until tomorrow evening and bring these bakery things on my way to prayer meeting as I usually do.” Then he added, “But I was strongly constrained to come tonight! Hope you can use these things!”
--Anne S. Alexander, in Power
God will take care of us.
As we have seen, Jesus took care of the woman’s bleeding problem. Right after that incident, Jesus was informed that the daughter of Jairus had died. When Jairus heard this news, he must have been devastated, but Jesus came to the rescue with these words, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jesus knew there was hope and he was going to follow through.
Verse 37-40
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.
In those days, weeping and wailing was done when someone died. In fact, there were professional weeper and wailers. These people were actually paid by the family of the deceased.
Jesus did not get upset or angry with the people. He used the word “sleep” to indicate that she was in a temporary state and indicated that she would rise. Jesus took the three disciples and Jairus and his wife into the room where the little girl lay. He went over and took her by the hand and said, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” Verse 42 says, “Immediately the girl stood up and walked around.”
Jesus taught the people who were present a very important lesson. That lesson was to have hope and trust in him. Love, hope, compassion, understanding, faith and trust were the core values of Jesus’ ministry. In this Scripture lesson, all of the characteristics are demonstrated.
Story: “I Cried – He Answered”
One morning I was on my knees praying, asking God to send me $10.00 some way, so that I could buy an automobile license. If I were to preach the next Sunday morning at the penitentiary, I needed means of transportation. And so I prayed and told God that if He wanted me to preach there, it was His problem, and not mine.
While I was talking to the Lord, my wife was cleaning the carpets downstairs. She turned off the vacuum cleaner and shouted upstairs, “Are you praying for $10.00?”
I answered, “Yes.”
“Well, quit praying,” she said, “Somebody has just shoved it through the letter slot in the door.”
--The Baptist News
Conclusion:
We can be assured of several things.
1. God cares for us.
2. God knows our needs.
3. God will take care of us.
Listen to the words of this hymn:
“God Will Take Care of You” (C. & W. Martin)
Be not dismayed what-e’er betide
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.
No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you.
Jesus said, “Just believe!”
Amen.
