2 Cra-Z 4 U (Part II)

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Yesterday I stated that faith leads you to do the boldest, most craziest things ever, as in the case of the immoral woman. And what I said yesterday I still retain today, because it is very true. When one has faith, that true faith, such things as societal norms, other people's perceptions and opinions, economic background, all that junk that some of us consider important, do not matter. What does matter is achieving that which is being sought after by faith. And that's sexy!

Now check out this story, which I think is another of the most beautiful accounts of pure and genuine faith in the Bible; you know, the faith as small as a mustard seed...

"Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. "My little daughter is dying," he said. "Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." Mark 5:21-23

Just another typical day in the life of Jesus. Just the usual: a boat trip here, a crowd of people there, a few miracles here and there; while always preaching the Good News of God's Kingdom. Anyway, by the sound of things, this Jairus guy was really hurting. I mean, his lil' one was dying!

As compassionate as always, I'm sure Jesus felt moved by this guy's tears and truly wanted to help him by healing his little girl; so he agreed to go to his house and lay his hand on her so she could live.

Something interesting just jumped out at me; I'll explain it shortly.

Earlier that morning...

"What do you mean there is nothing you can do? Are you not a specialist? Are you not the specialist?! You said you could heal me; you promised it! What am I to do now? Who am I supposed to turn to? I don't wanna die! There must be something, some alternative you have not yet considered."

"I am terribly sorry, but there is nothing else I can do. In all of my years of experience, I have never come across a case as complicated as yours. I truly am sorry; terribly sorry.."

"Doctor, I know I have no more money to offer you, but you are my only hope. It's been twelve years; do you understand that? Twelve years of seeing my body and health wither. I will find more money, if that's the problem-"

"It is not about the money! Look, I'm sorry to say, but the only thing that can save you right now is a miracle from God himself. As for me, my hands are tied. I am terribly sorry, but I must go now."

The door shut close and she was left alone. She had just given the doctor he last couple of hundred dollars just to hear him say "his hands are tied". Shame. To make matters worse, not only had she been slowly dying for twelve years, now she's as broke as a bad joke!

No money.

No health.

No hope.

"...the only thing that can save you right now is a miracle from God himself." She found herself repeating these words in her head over and over again. She tried focusing on her situation and not some stupid thing the doctor said, but there was something in those words that she couldn't quite figure out.

I mean, for twelve years she'd been seeing this doctor. For twelve years she'd put his faith in his abilities and resume and reputation, believing that, if anyone, he could certainly heal her. Twelve years. By then, the relationship was not simply that of a doctor and a patient; they'd become friends. He was her link to the outside world - because being a woman, I doubt she wanted to go out in public with her little blood problem; I'll leave it as that. He was the one who kept her informed, up to date. He was her hope, everything she had left.

Then the door closed.

Fortunately for her, although she placed most of her faith on this doctor, she still had enough faith reserved in this guy she'd heard people talk about; this guy, Jesus. The majority of her faith was gone, to be sincere. But what she had left was just enough, as big as it could possibly be for someone in her situation: as small as a mustard seed, to be exact.

But where was she going to find him?
What are the odds that he'd be in her town now that she needs him the most? She thought to herself, "I don't know what I'm doing, but I must see him!" ...And God is good!

In present time...

"A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd..." Mark 5:25-27

"What the heck?!" Someone shouted in anger and disgust. "Eww man! Someone's blood is all over the floor and it's getting on people's robes!" Another noticed. Little by little people began noticing that something was not right and someone was straight up trippin'. Immediately, the people knew who was amongst them; it's not like the town don't talk. Everyone knew about 'the lady' with 'the issue'.

Now check this out:

"If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. As during her menstrual period, the woman will be unclean as long as the discharge continues. Any bed she lies on and any object she sits on during that time will be unclean, just as during her normal menstrual period. If any of you touch these things, you will be ceremonially unclean. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening." Leviticus 15:25-27

Simply put, this woman was unclean for twelve years! And it's not like she didn't know that. Although I'm sure she didn't go out much, everyone made her know that she was unclean. You don't need to go out to know the things people say about you. And secluded in her some somewhere, I can almost guarantee she knew everything that was being said and who were the ones saying it. Shame.

Yet none of that mattered. She didn't know how, but she found herself out in public, maybe for the first time in twelve years. She didn't know how, but all of a sudden people began moving aside and letting her through. Were they being nice? Had she said out loud her motives and people were trying to help?

NO!

They were moving aside because no one wanted to touch her or be touched by her, or else they'd be ceremonially unclean!

Yet none of that mattered. She didn't know how but all of a sudden she found herself a few feet away from Jesus. She didn't know what to do or what she was going to do. But she just knew, that something extraordinary was about to happen. I'll take a risk in saying that not even Jesus knew what was going to happen; don't quote me on that one.

"I don't need him to touch me," she thought. "If I could only touch him, I know I'll be healed. If I could only touch anything on him..."

The moment of truth: it is now or never. There was so much going on around her and in her mind. She had the worse possible combination of confusion and fear. Never doubt. Always faith. Then it happened; almost a magical effect (almost because Jesus' healing does not happen by magic, but power!), "...and [the woman] touched his robe. For she thought to herself, 'If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.' " Mark 5:27,28

Amazing!

Faith leads you to do the boldest, most craziest things ever, and if that isn't bold, then I don't know what is.

What happens next is extraordinary.

"Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my robe?' His disciples said to him, 'Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, 'Who touched me?' " Mark 5:29-31

"But Jesus said, 'Someone has deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.' " Luke 8:46

"But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.' " Mark 5:32-34

Even we can surprise Jesus if we have faith. Check out his question: 'who touched me?' 'Someone has deliberately touched me'. He knows the touch of faith, because healing power goes out from him when we touch him with faith.

Now this is what jumped out at me earlier: Jairus said, "Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." Mark 5:23. In no way am I saying that Jairus did not have faith in Jesus, so please do not misunderstand me.

What I want to point out though is the fact that he requested that Jesus physically perform the miracle he was looking for. He needed Jesus to physically place his hands on his daughter "so she can live".

So I wonder, had Jesus told him to go in peace and that his daughter had already been healed, would he believe? In contrast, the woman did not need Jesus to touch her; instead, she wanted to be the one to initiate the physical contact. She didn't need to touch a physical part of Jesus, but simply anything attached to him. Her faith led her to believe something that I'm not quite sure Jairus understood.

Still, what a beautiful account of faith. 2 women: the immoral and the unclean. Both broke rules, disregarded public opinion and criticism, all for the sake of achieving that which they were seeking through faith.

Look, I know Abraham is called the Father of faith, but I want to have the faith these ladies had - meshed with the one Abraham had, of course...

I wonder what I could move with that type of faith. . . . . ?

Enjoy this beautiful song by Chris Tomlin, "Whisper My Name"
I may have put this up already, but who cares, it's my blog!