Reference : Mark 4:35-5:43
Are you bound by something that you cannot break free from? Come to Jesus just as you are. If you are like the man, where the force that is holding is too strong, ask that Jesus will come for you and save you. He cared enough to take a long boat trip to save this man. He will do the same for you too.
While Jesus was on the way to heal Jairus’ daughter, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years was among the crowd following Jesus. She tried many means to get herself healed but none worked. This woman was not merely suffering physically but also socially. People generally shunned her as if anyone was in contact with her, they would be made ceremonially unclean. Imagine living like that for twelve years. Jesus was gaining fame for his ability to heal and the woman thought that she only had to touch his clothes to be healed.
This woman had faith in Jesus but it had a condition; she had to physically touch him. Though conditional, her faith was rewarded. She was healed immediately. More than that, Jesus stopped and publically announced that she had been healed. It was a masterstroke. If Jesus had allowed the healing to go unnoticed, the woman would continue to live as a social pariah even though she had been healed. Jesus had met her needs even when she was resigned to merely physically healing.
Is your faith conditional like the woman? Come to Jesus just as you are. He will not despise your faith and he will meet your needs in ways greater than you can imagine.
Jairus was a synagogue leader. He was someone of social status and probably someone was not used to begging someone else for help. In this case, we can see that Jairus was a humble man. He went before Jesus and pleaded for his help to heal his daughter. Again his faith though admirable, was conditional on Jesus being present to lay hands on his daughter. However, Jesus did not say, “why do you need me to be there? Don’t you know that if I just say the word, your daughter will be healed?” No, Jesus said nothing and simply went with him (Mark 5:24).
Before Jesus arrived at Jarius’ house, news of his daughter’s death reached him. His faith was tested by voices telling you, “Your daughter is dead”, “why bother the teacher anymore?” The situation looked so bleak that he could not help but agree with those voices? Then, he heard these words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Do you have faith, yet it is severely tested by a bleak situation and by people around you? Come to Jesus just as you are.
God made us all differently. We relate to God differently from the person beside us. Jesus said he was the way, the truth and the life and no one goes to the father except through him. He said to come to him those who are weary. However, he did not say there is only one single way to approach him. Come to him just as you are, even if you have doubts, bound by forces beyond you, have conditional faith and surrounded by voices telling you not to believe, come to Jesus.
Brother Xie Zhengyang
