Image by: Visual Bible Alive

Introduction

Previously I shared with you how Jesus healed a woman suffered from “haemorrhage”. Jesus healed her while he was on his way to the house of a synagogue ruler called Jairus whose daughter was about to die. Today let’s see what followed this great miracle and what can we learn from the incident?

1. God shows mercy to people of humility and sincere faith, (Mark 5:22-24)

A. Jairus – a man of humility

I. I am sure Jairus found it much harder to come to Jesus.

II. He was a synagogue ruler and synagogues were virtually closed to Jesus because of his activities on Sabbath and opposition to the Pharisees.

III. Such a man coming to Jesus shows that he had a humble heart.

IV. He fell at Jesus’ feet: Jairus was a man of authority. But he acknowledged the greater authority of Jesus.

B. Sincere faith

I. Unlike the Centurion who had faith to believe that Jesus could speak the healing word at a distance Jairus pleaded with Jesus to come to his house. But Christ, although he applauds strong faith, does not discourage or reject weak faith, providing it is sincere.

II. Therefore Visit God in all of your troubles. (Of course this doesn’t mean God will always change circumstances to suite us. But most of the time he will change us to suite the circumstances.)

2. God is never too early – Neither he is too late, (Mark 5:35-37)

A. Nothing is beyond God’s control

I. As soon as Jesus dismissed the woman, messengers came from Jairus’ home. They said, “Don’t bother the Teacher any more. It was too late, nothing could be done, and the child’s life had gone.”

II. They didn’t believe that even death is under Jesus’ control.

B. We have God’s assurance regardless of our situations

I. Notice Jesus’ words to Jairus. “Fear not. Just believe she will be healed.”

II. Don’t let fear to rise against your faith in God. Rather remember that you have God’s assurance and that he work in his own perfect  timing.

3. See differently, (Mark 38:42)

A. God sees things differently – Can we see things through God’s point of view?

I. Those days it was a custom to hire professional mourners to bemoan the death of an individual. There was a terrible frenzy about it. They would actually rip their garments apart, tear out their hair, and cry out with loud shrieks and howls.

II. “Stop all that noise!” Jesus said, “She is not dead but asleep”.

III. Instantly, the mood changed from grief to ridicule. From being the wise teacher, Jesus was now considered as foolish and ignorant. The crowd knew better than him. They had the evidence, and he was just speaking words. (besides the mourners shall not be paid if the person is not dead).

IV. However, as we shall see, the words of Jesus would be much more powerful than the evidence of a lifeless corpse.

V. Jairus’ was challenged to see differently. Not even the disciples believed. Jesus called only three of them into the house to act as witnesses. We know what happened next. The dead girl was brought back to life.

B. Sometimes our faith is controlled by what we see

I. Knowing better than God’ is at the core of our sinful nature. We can always find evidence to prove that we are right, even when we are wrong!

II. Because we cannot know the future, we usually predict the future on the basis of our past experience. We do not allow the possibility that God will change the course of our present circumstances.

4. Conclusion

We are called to better things! He has the power to change anything that is outside of His will. So He asks us to put our faith in Him, to believe His promises and to live in the confidence that He is in control of the future: because His Word is all-mighty. Many will discourage us from doing so, but it is only the Lord’s voice we need to hear above the din of worldly hopelessness. (Certain portions in this sermon were taken from a devotional message by Word@Work )