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When
Yeshua had crossed over again in the boat to the
other side (back to the western side of the
Kinneret), a large crowd gathered around Him;
and so He stayed by the seashore. Again Mark
tells us that large crowds continued to follow
the young miracle-working Rabbi, and these crowds
often numbered in the thousands. In that crowd
was one man with a special need. One of the
synagogue officials named Ya’ir (Ya’ir means
“he will shine, he will give light) came up,
and on seeing Him, fell at His feet — showing
respect for Rabbi Yeshua. He believed that He
might be able to help with a very serious family
crisis — and implored Him earnestly, saying,
"My little daughter is at the point of death;
please come and lay Your hands on her, so that
she will get well and live."
Ray Stedman
helps us understand that it may not have been
easy for Ya’ir to come to Yeshua. “Ya'ir was one
of the leaders of the synagogue. But by this point
in time the synagogues were starting to close
to the ministry of Yeshua. Why? He had healed
many people on Shabbat, and had offended many
of the Pharisees, teaching some things that were
contrary to their traditions. The young rabbi
from Nazareth had already been rejected by many
of the leading Torah sages and scholars of that
day. His access to speak in the synagogues was
no doubt being restricted. It must have been difficult
for Ya'ir to come to Yeshua with these forces
at work. But there was an overriding need which
drove him to Yeshua — the fact that his little
twelve-year-old girl lay sick, almost ready to
die. Here was a desperate father. Those of us
who are parents know that there is no agony like
that you feel when your little child is threatened
with death. This is what drove this agonized father
to Yeshua — the fear that this little girl, who
had blessed their home and filled it with light
and joy and sunshine for twelve years, which only
little girls can do in that special way of theirs,
might be taken from them” (this is a paraphrase
of Stedman).
God, in
His mercy, had so arranged the circumstances of
this family that Ya'ir was willing to go against
the forces that opposed Yeshua, and come to Yeshua
and ask for help. The Lord, in His grace and mercy,
will do the same for us. Oftentimes, the Lord
will bring us to a place of desperation so that
we are willing to overcome those forces that are
opposed to Yeshua, and come to Him to get the
help that we so desperately need. And, the merciful
God is so gracious that He is willing to accept
us even when we come to Him reluctantly, even
out of desperation.
On a larger
scale, the divinely inspired Scriptures teach
us that my Jewish people will become very desperate
before the Second Coming, and that desperation
will help us come and fall at the feet of Yeshua,
and plead for His help, like Ya’ir did. And, not
only will the Jewish people become desperate,
but much of humanity will too, for difficult times
will come. But those difficult times will help
millions come to a saving knowledge of Yeshua.
So, before you start complaining the next time
you find yourself going though a desperate time,
think about how the Lord uses difficult circumstances
to bring about necessary and important things
for us.
And
He went off with him; and a large crowd was following
Him and pressing in on Him. The large crowd
wanted to go everywhere the Rabbi did, and as
that crowd followed and surrounded Messiah, many
kept bumping into Him. When they touched Him,
nothing extraordinary happened — except for one
woman. A woman who had had a hemorrhage for
twelve years, and had endured much at the hands
of many physicians, and had spent all that she
had and was not helped at all, but rather had
grown worse — she also was in that crowd.
Doctors
and medicine, especially modern medicine, can
be a great blessing, but they don’t always help.
Sometimes they can make things worse. I’ve read
that it is possible that more people die in hospitals
from medial malpractice each year than from almost
any other cause. So, here is another desperate
circumstance. Imagine twelve years of constant
bleeding — the weakness, the discomfort, the pain,
the inconveniences, the money and time wasted,
the isolation from the synagogue and the Temple,
because Jewish people were forbidden to touch
a woman while she was in this condition, or be
touched by her. The Torah says: Now if a woman
has a discharge of her blood many days, not at
the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she
has a discharge beyond that period, all the days
of her impure discharge she shall continue as
though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean.
This woman had to be treated almost like a leper.
She was forbidden to attend services in the Temple
or in the synagogue. For twelve long years this
woman was ostracized from religious society, and
was in pain and distress from this unending flow
of blood.
But, after
hearing about Yeshua (and word had been going
around the entire nation about Yeshua. Everyone
was hearing about Him, from the multitudes throughout
Israel and beyond Israel’s borders, to the religious
and political leaders. And that is our goal too
— to make sure the same thing happens in our nation.
People everywhere need to hear about Yeshua, who
He is, and what He has done, and His miracles,
and that God has raised Him from death, and proved
that He is the Messiah and the Savior, and He
is alive now, and interceding for us in front
of the throne of God in Heaven. We need to make
sure that everyone hears about the Messiah in
many ways and using many methods — personal evangelism,
friendship evangelism, bold street evangelism,
using all kinds of media — radio, TV, books, sermons,
Internet, etc.) she came up in the crowd behind
Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, "If
I just touch His garments, I will get well."
She had
faith in God and in Yeshua. She believed that
Yeshua a holy man, someone very special, and close
to God, and that if she could only make a connection
to Yeshua, who is connected to God the Father,
something good would happen to her, and she would
get well. But why not simply come up in front
of Yeshua and speak to Him? Why seek to take the
unusual step of coming from behind Him and touching
Him without His knowledge, instead of speaking
to Him and asking directly for his help?
Peter
Chrysologus, an ancient Christian, does a beautiful
job helping us understand what is happening. “No
seas were ever so troubled by the ebb and flow
of the tide, as the mind of this woman, pulled
to and fro by the sway of her thoughts. After
all the hopeless strivings of physicians, after
all her outlay on useless remedies, when skill
and experience had so long failed, all her substance
was gone. This was not by chance, but divinely
ordered, that she might be healed solely through
faith and humility, whom human knowledge had
failed through so many years. At a little distance
apart from him stood this woman, whom nature had
filled with modesty, whom the law had declared
unclean, saying of her: She shall be unclean and
shall touch no holy thing. She fears to touch,
less she incur the anger of the religious leaders,
or the condemnation of the law. For fear of being
talked about, she dares not speak, less she embarrassed
those about her, lest she offend their ears. Through
many years her body has been an arena of suffering.
Everyday, unceasing pain she can endure no more.
The Lord is passing by so quickly. The time is
short to think what she must do, aware that healing
is not given to the silent nor to the one who
hides her pain. In the midst of her conflicting
thoughts, she sees a way, her sole way of salvation.
She would secure her healing by stealth, take
in silence what she dares not ask for, guarding
her respect and modesty. She who feels unworthy
in body, draws near in heart to the physician...
with her hand she touches his garment...in an
instant, faith cures where human skill had failed
through twelve years” (Ancient Christian Commentary
on Mark, page 74).
Immediately
the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt
in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
That’s wonderful! Her simple touch of the
King’s clothing did more for her in one moment
than all the doctors and the money spent on them
for twelve years accomplished! What man can’t
accomplish, the Son of Man can accomplish!
There
have only been a few instances where something
miraculous happened when sick or dead people touched
a holy man (Elijah and Elisha, and later Simon
Peter). This puts Yeshua in the same class as
Israel’s very greatest miracle working holy prophets
— and beyond.
Immediately
Yeshua, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding
from Him had gone forth — turned around
in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?"
Yeshua knew that miraculous power, that had
its source in Him, had healed someone, but He
didn’t know who. Yeshua’s knowledge while He was
here on Earth was limited, but the power proceeding
from Him was not. Yeshua, while here on Earth,
may not have known all things, but God the Father
knew all things, and Yeshua was full of the Holy
Spirit of God, and so Yeshua’s limited knowledge
didn’t prevent the power of God from working through
Him.
Yeshua
knew that someone had been miraculously healed
when He was touched. The disciples, on the other
hand, didn’t know anyone had been healed. And
His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd
pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched
Me?'"
There
is an important lesson here. “Few are they who
by faith touch Him; multitudes are they who throng
around Him (Augustine, Ancient Christian Commentary
on Mark, page 75). “It was not the mere manual
touching of the Lord that healed, but touching
the Lord with simple faith” (Bede, Ancient
Christian Commentary on Mark, page 73).
The crowd
touched Him unintentionally, and received nothing.
The woman touched Him intentionally, and received
what she sought. Are you like one of the people
in this crowd, growing up in a supposedly Christian
environment, in an allegedly Christian nation
so you have had proximity to Yeshua — but you
have been only bumping into Yeshua, and nothing
much really happens? Or, are you like the woman
who purposely touched Him, with intention, with
faith, so that something good from God results?
Are you only bumping into Him, or are you really
touching Him? “Some ‘seeing see not, and hearing
do not hear.’ So also some who touch, touch not,
when they approach the Lord not in simplicity
of soul, but in doubt or in duplicity” (Bede,
Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark, page
75).
And
He looked around to see the woman who had done
this. And, as He looked around, Messiah was
able to discern the woman who had touched Him
with intention, with faith. But the woman fearing
and trembling (oh oh, what have I done? I’ve
touched this holy rabbi, and he found out, he
knows I’ve broken the Law. He is a religious leader.
What is going to happen to me know?), aware
of what had happened to her, came and fell down
before Him and told Him the whole truth. She
was afraid of having done something wrong — breaking
the Law by touching a holy rabbi when she was
unclean. But, she did the right thing when she
thought she may have done something wrong — she
went directly to the one she may have wronged,
and confessed everything that she had done, and
told the whole truth. She didn’t run away from
the problem, or withhold the truth, shade the
truth, deny what she had done or tell a lie. And
her faith and her honestly and integrity is exemplary
and was pleasing to God.
And
He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made
you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction."
Go in peace, which means that she had done anything
really wrong. The moment she touched the Lord
she wasn’t unclean — she was immediately clean!
Messiah’s cleanness overcame her uncleanness.
She was healed, and was at peace with God, all
because she had genuine faith. And so, because
she had faith, she came with the right understanding
to the Right Person at the right place at the
right time, and something wonderful happened.
Faith pleases God, and enables God to act powerfully
on our behalf.
“When
the chief of the synagogue asked Him about his
daughter, Jesus said to him: ‘only firmly believe
and your daughter shall live.’ He believed and
so his daughter lived and arose. Similarly when
Lazarus died, our Lord said to Martha, ‘if you
believe, your brother shall rise.’ Martha said
to Him, ‘yes, Lord, I believe.’ And He raised
him after four days... so let us draw near then,
my beloved, to faith, since its powers are so
many. For faith raised up (Enoch) to the heavens
and conquered the deluge. Faith causes the barren
to sprout forth. It delivers from the sword. It
raises up from the pit. It enriches the poor.
It releases the captives. It delivers the persecuted.
It brings down the fire. It divides the sea. It
cleaves the rock, and gives to the thirsty water
to drink. It satisfies the hungry. It raises the
dead, and brings them up from Sheol. It stills
the billows. It heals the sick. It conquers hosts.
It overthrows walls. It stops the mouths of lions,
and quenches the flame of the fire. It humiliates
the proud, and brings the humble to honor. All
these mighty works are wrought by faith... So
[cultivate true and pure faith and] distance yourselves
from all [false faiths like] divinations and sorceries
and Chaldean arts and magic, and superficial prayers
and rites and moons and seasons, from fornication
and lewd music, from vain doctrines which are
instruments of the adversary, from the allure
of honeyed words, from blasphemy and from adultery”
(Aphraarea, Ancient Christian Commentary on
Mark, page 76).
Faith
is the one and only thing that is necessary to
overcome death and receive new life and enables
God to work strongly on our behalf. It is unbelief
— lack of trust in God, lack of knowing who He
really is, lack of being in a right relationship
with Him, that limits what the Lord can do for
us. Why? It is part of our fallen nature to want
lots of things, miracles included. The problem
is, if we are not in a right relationship to God,
and don’t have real faith, and we ask Him for
a miracle, that miracle might help damn us rather
than help us. Why? A miracle convinces us that
we are close to God, and that He is on our side.
Then, since we assume that we are OK with the
Lord, when in reality we are not, we will never
repent. We will never turn to Him the way we should.
We will continue in our rebellion against the
King of the universe, and arrogantly continue
to oppose Him and His will and His ways. Before
we die, we absolutely must reorient our values
and our priorities around God, fearing Him, serving
Him, and obeying Him. Miracles don’t always help
with this. In fact, for anyone who is not in a
right relationship with God, pain and suffering
and a lack of miracles generally helps far more
than miracles.
The woman
is a symbol for all of us — for humanity. We are
like that woman, bleeding, weakening, timid, upset,
declared unclean by God’s Law, not able to enter
the Temple of God, going to other human being
that we think can help us, but not getting the
help we need. We spend our resources going the
doctors of man-made religions, and the physicians
of human philosophies and world views, and come
away worse than we were before. They don’t have
the wisdom or the power to stop the bleeding.
Only the God of Israel, working through Yeshua,
when we have faith in Him, does.
While
He was still speaking (to the woman who had
been healed, and maybe to His disciples as well),
they came from the house of the synagogue official,
saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the
Rabbi anymore?" I can imagine the heart of
Ya’ir sinking. He came to Yeshua too late. If
only he had come to Him earlier. Now, it’s all
over. He lost his precious little girl. He will
never see her again in this life.
But the
One who gives life to everyone who is born into
this world, and the One who will raise the dead,
knew that God had other plans for Ya’ir’s family.
But Yeshua, overhearing what was being spoken,
said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid
any longer, only believe." Faith in God, faith
in Yeshua, takes away our fear — even the fear
of death. If we believe that God is good, and
He is in control of all the forces and all the
events of life, and allows what happens to us,
we can overcome our fears. What are you afraid
of? Have faith that God is in control of the events
of your life, the good ones and the bad ones,
the good circumstances as well as the desperate
ones, and that He is able to bring good out of
bad, and make all things ultimately work together
for your good.
And
He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter
and James and John the brother of James. Yeshua’s
inner circle were allowed to continue on with
the Rabbi to the home of Yair — not the crowds,
nor the woman who had been healed. Why these three?
These seem to be the three that Yeshua was closest
to. John is the beloved disciple, and James was
his brother, and the first to be martyred, and
Peter a leader among the 12. Even leaders are
benefitted by the leadership of other good leaders.
These are the leaders of the leaders.
They
came to the house of the synagogue official; and
He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping
and wailing — which is part of the normal
grieving that takes place when a child dies.
And entering in, He said to them, "Why make a
commotion and weep? The child has not died, but
is asleep." Yeshua said something which seemed
foolish to those He addressed, but of course,
the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom
of man.
The grieving
people knew the girl had died. Yeshua, of course,
knew that too. But He also knew what was about
to happen — that a great miracle was about to
take place, and the girl was about to come back
to life. But, those present thought that Yeshua
was ignorant, and speaking foolishly, and so they
began laughing at Him. I don’t like it when
people laugh at me, especially when I know that
I am right. If you laugh at the wrong person,
you can make an enemy of them. And this is the
wrong Person to laugh at, the One who sustains
the universe by His power, the One who will be
the Judge of the living and the dead. But our
wonderful Messiah is so gracious, and He graciously
ignored their foolish laughter.
The people
believed that for this girl, death was permanent.
But Yeshua knew that for those human beings who
can hear His voice, death is not permanent. It’s
like going to sleep after a long, hard day, and
then waking up the next morning feeling fresh
and alive and full of life and energy.
But
putting them all out, He took along the child's
father and mother and His own companions, and
entered the room where the child was. Taking the
child by the hand, He said to her, "Talita kumi!"
(which translated means, "Little girl, I say to
you, get up!"). Just as He spoke to the wind
and the storm, and the elements obeyed Him, and
He spoke to the demons, and they obeyed Him, He
spoke to this dead child, and her spirit obeyed
Him! Her spirit immediately returned at the voice
of the Lord, whose word is more powerful than
death! Sin is our greatest problem, and death
is our greatest enemy. Thank God for Messiah,
who is able to overcome sin and death, and has
given us a sure hope! Know that this same One
is alive now, and has overcome sin and death,
and is Lord of Heaven and Earth, and is full of
power and great authority over all other powers
and forces, and will, one day, if you die, say
to you — kum — get up.
Immediately
the girl got up and began to walk, for she was
twelve years old. She wasn’t only a little
better, but was completely well! She was
up, off of her death-bed, walking around! And,
Yeshua didn’t just help this girl. He healed this
entire hurting family. It wasn’t just the child
who had been suffering. Parents, out of love and
sympathy, suffer when their children suffer. Can
you imagine the relief and the joy that Ya’ir
and his wife felt? And immediately they were
completely astounded. They were astounded
because in the long history of the Chosen People,
there have been very few instances when death
has been overcome like this. It is only the very
holiest of prophets that God used to overcome
death.
The healing
of Ya’ir’s daughter points us to the holiness
of Yeshua, and that He was close to God, and God
was and is working very powerfully through Him.
It points us to a living God who loves us, who
gave us life — which we forfeited; a God who wants
us to heal us and help us live forever with Him.
And that same God, and that same Messiah that
He works through to heal and restore to life,
are alive now, wanting us to receive eternal life
— if only we have faith in them.
And
He gave them strict orders that no one should
know about this. Most of today’s so-called
prophets claim they do miracles, but I suspect
in reality they don’t do many; and they want to
advertise the little that they supposedly do.
The Son of God, on the other hand, did great miracles,
and wanted little advertisement.
And
He said that something should be given her to
eat. Messiah not only met her great needs,
like raising back to life, but He also was concerned
about her smaller, immediate needs — that after
this ordeal, she needed something to eat. And
when she ate, she proved to everyone that she
was fully restored to life and health. This restoration
to life was no delusion.
It’s a
good thing Ya’ir didn’t come to Buddha, for he
may have been told that he was too attached to
his daughter, and he must become unattached to
the material world. It’s a good thing he didn’t
come to Mohammad, for Mohammed did no miracles.
It’s a good thing that he didn’t come to Marx,
for he would have told him that economic oppression
was the source of his problem. It’s a good thing
Ya’ir didn’t come to Freud, who would have suggested
he would need psychological analysis after nature
took its course. It’s a good thing Ya’ir didn’t
come to the people who decided Terry Shaivo’s
fate. But He came to “Yeshua, who, by healing
and raising from the dead, showed compassion and
demonstrated His messianic identity” (Prudentius,
Ancient Christian Commentary on Mark, page
73).
Let’s
pray: Thank You God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
that death is not final for us who believe, for
we know that when we die, if we have faith, we
will live again. Thank You for giving us eyes
that are not limited to the natural, but eyes
of faith.
We acknowledge
that You are in control of things large and small,
from the mightiest forces in the universe, to
the frailest parts of our bodies. Help us to trust
you in all the circumstances that you may bring
into our lives — the good ones as well as the
desperate ones.
Thank
You that one day, Israel, like Ya’ir, will fall
down at the feet of Messiah Yeshua and will shine
brightly with faith and salvation, full of resurrection
life!
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