Risks … the possibility that something bad or unpleasant (such as an
injury or a loss) will happen. I think at one point in each of our lives
we all take a risk or two along the way. I can think back on some of the
risks, some I can’t talk about freely but others are right there … risk of
rejection upon proposal of marriage, risk of the unknown when taking on foster
children, coming out of the military, etc.
What about you; you know when you’ve done something or you are getting
ready to do something risky.
Risk; Do you sit back and “be safe” or do you just go for it? In some
aspects there’s even risk in trusting God. Letting go, surrendering all to
follow and entrust everything to an invisible God. Taking risks causes us
to be vulnerable and uncomfortable; if it were so easy, everyone would be
following Christ. But when we take that risk and we allow ourselves to be
vulnerable we find the reward in following Him. I can’t promise you that
every risk taken in God will feel good, because there’s going to be times where
we don’t quite understand why this or that happens, but what I can guarantee is
that He will always be there when we need Him and that if we stay by His side
every step of the way; what happens at the end, will be worth it all. It’s when
we get to Him that we have revealed to us that strong, perfect peace deposited
within each of us by the Father. It is a peace wrapped in faith. We
discover things not only about ourselves but more so about the God we serve and
that He's more than willing to free us from what holds us down, because when
you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough.
So
let's jump into the text and find out what taking a risk can produce, so please
turn to Mark 5
GOD:
Mark 5: 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of
blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many
physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew
worse.
Jesus
is on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter. There’s something quite
significant in this account because it is written about in three of the four
gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. So let’s find out who this woman is. We don’t
have a significant contribution to tell us how old she is but from the text we
can gather that she is old enough to be a wife but she’s not elderly either. So
you could probably say she’s an average woman. She could represent any of
us. While we are all special in the eyes of God when you look at each of
us walking this earth, there isn’t much that separates us from each other.
We do know though that she has this thing going on with her blood for 12
years and she has been looking for a cure in all the wrong places. She
probably has lived half her life with this issue, but it doesn't matter.
Even in doing what she's doing she's risking ridicule and shame because
she's a woman in this Jewish society with a blood problem. Because of her
condition, this woman was continuously unclean. She could not go to the temple
to worship. She could not touch anyone or they would be unclean for the rest of
the day. If she sat in a chair, it was unclean for the rest of the day, etc. So
she was basically cut off from normal fellowship with others and with God; but
she doesn't care Jesus is in the neighborhood and she's going to get hers.
Wouldn't you? While doctors and medical care are good and right, sometimes
we’ve got to stop seeking man’s answers to our circumstances and allow God to
move in our lives. Because when you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll
find that Jesus is more than enough …
So how do we know that He’s more than enough, well let’s keep going through the
text and see.
27 She
had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and
touched his garment. 28 For she said, "If I touch even
his garments, I will be made well."
So
this woman has had enough of ridicule and disowning; she’s at a breaking point
in her life. Yet in the back of her mind she has this hope and her hope
is kindled ever the more each time she hears about Jesus. Something about
that Name that stirs up hope for the hopeless. Sometimes God allows us to
get to the very end of ourselves so that we can begin to see Him. And
this is exactly where this woman is. She’s done all she knows to do,
she’s spent all of her money and has nothing left, but she has just enough hope
because she has heard about Jesus. Glory, I’m so glad that one day when I
was spent, when I was at the end of me, when I didn’t think I could go on;
someone told me about Jesus. Someone told this woman about Jesus in fact
I’d almost like to think that somehow she was around when Jesus had returned
from freeing the demoniac; you know that she was around when she heard the
leader of the synagogue for the healing of his daughter; being from this region
you know she’s heard how Jesus healed a paralytic, a man with a shriveled hand,
large crowds of disease, freed folks from demons, raise a centurion’s servant
and even raising a widow’s son from the dead. She’d probably heard about
how others may have been healed by simply touching Jesus. In fact she probably
has been going over the phrase "if I touch; I will be" over and over again. In
fact she had enough faith to be the one doing the touching; she didn’t even
need His touch … It had to be the driving force that pushed her out into the
streets. She was an outcast, probably divorced because of the issue of blood;
she had all the other baggage that went with it, but she didn’t care … I think
in order to be healed you’ve got to be ok with revealing your weakness and be
vulnerable. She was breaking all the social taboos, she even interrupted Jesus
as He was on His way to heal the daughter of a very influential man. But that’s
the other thing about Jesus. He is no respecter of persons; no matter how
you feel, just get to Jesus; no matter what is wrong with you, just get to Jesus;
no matter what you are dealing with, just get to Jesus .... if we can find that we
have just enough faith to get to Him, we’ll find that Jesus is more than enough.
And
that’s exactly what this woman did … she touched Him
29And
immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was
healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself
that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and
said, "Who touched my garments?" 31 And his
disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you
say, ‘Who touched me?' "
Are
you serious? I can just imagine the disciples at this point. Throng of
people; whole lotta folks around Him. So, she gets to where He is and somehow touches the
hem and immediately He knows it. Why, because the essence of who He is
has been affected by the faith of someone in the midst of huge adversity and
when it happens Jesus wants to know who it is. The disciples are
struggling to figure out what Jesus means because of all the commotion and
folks around. When you walk in the Spirit you will know things and that’s
what Jesus is doing here. He knew in His spirit both her need and her
touch. It wasn’t just anyone who touched Jesus that received healing. I
mean if you were anywhere close to Jesus on this day you couldn’t help but
touch Him. But if you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough …
32 And
he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman,
knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down
before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to
her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed
of your disease."
How
many of us know that when Jesus asks a question, He doesn’t need an answer from
us. He already knows the answer, but He asks so that there can be some
ownership, so there can be confirmation in verbalization and perhaps in a
moment of Red Sea proportions the throngs of people probably not wanting
anything to happen to them, separate and perhaps point the finger. See even those who
don't understand Jesus for who He is, don't even understand what He can do for
them. Those that were unintentionally touching Him weren’t being healed, but
this woman who purposed in her heart to get to the Man of God and touch Him for
the specific reason of healing caused the stir. So here goes Jesus going
against everything customary to the Jewish culture and not only that but taking
time away from getting to Jarius' daughter to heal her. So as she has
already been healed by her faith Jesus does something ever so quickly because
the enemy loves to steal the blessings that we don't grasp firmly too, so Jesus
confirms the healing and reminds the woman that it was her faith in not only
what He could do but who He was. Superstition said that power was in the
robe of a great man, priest, rabbi, etc. Her belief was that touching the
fabric would make her well. In fact, when she did touch His garment, she was
healed. Because when you have just enough faith to get to Him you’ll find that Jesus is more than enough …
What is that thing that has been plaguing you for so long that you just
wish it would go away. Something you may not like but you’ve grown
comfortable with but you keep saying to yourself that you still want to get
close to God. In order to touch His garment you’ve got to get close.
You’ve got to press in, you’ve got to bump up against some things in your
life that will try to keep you back, hold you down … remind you of who you are
but whatever it takes just get to Jesus.
We’ve got to get to
Jesus. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, we’ve just got to get to Jesus.
If we can just get close enough we can be made whole. If we have
just enough faith to get to Him we will find that Jesus is more than enough.
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