“A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY” (Mark Chapter 5)
August 5, 2018 10:30 AM
By Jeremy B. Stopford
TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: STINGY RICH MAN
A crumbling old church building needed remodeling, so, during his sermon, the preacher made an impassioned appeal looking directly at the richest man in town.
At the end of the sermon, the rich man stood up and announced, “Pastor, I will contribute $1,000.”
Just then, plaster fell from the ceiling and struck the rich man on the shoulder. He promptly stood back up and shouted, “Pastor, I will increase my donation to $5,000.”
Before he could sit back down, plaster fell on him again, and again he virtually screamed, “Pastor, I will double my last pledge.”
He sat down, and a larger chunk of plaster fell on his head. He stood up once more and hollered, “Pastor, I will give $20,000!”
This prompted a deacon to shout, “Hit him again, Lord! Hit him again!”
INTRODUCTION
You make plans. We make plans. We all make plans. And then it happens. While on our way to fulfill those plans, there is an interruption which momentarily delays what you originally set out to do.
In life, we deal with it.
Mark Chapter 5 is a lesson describing 3 accounts. The first is the healing of the demon-possessed man, through v. 20. Twice he says “no one”. Psalm 142:4 says, “no one cares for my soul.” Are there people in your life when they come to you, you INSTANTLY think, “I can’t wait for them to leave – I want to be with those ‘of my own kind’.” Jesus cared for this man when and where no one else did – and He met that demon-possessed man right where he was, and drew him to the Lordship of Christ in his life.
Then there are 2 more incidents in this chapter, one within the other!
The disciples are going to learn today that servanthood – true servanthood – happens when you are making other plans, when before the Lord you have given Him the freedom to do whatever He wants with your life. PRAYER
# 1 THE PRELIMINARIES (vs. 21-24a)
A. “They crossed over by boat” (vs. 1,21) – we are going to see this comment once more in Chapter 6. This is Mark’s way of saying a simple statement: the first 8 chapters of Mark are designed to train the disciples to be servants. The LAST 8 chapters of Mark are designed to focus them on the goal: the death, burial, and resurrection of the Servant of servants (Mark 10:45).
B. “One of the synagogue rulers” (v. 22). You’ve heard the expression, “thinking outside the box”? It is also defined as “getting out of your comfort zone.” These servants in training are watching a man, a well-trained, discipled servant of the synagogue, reach his depth in hurt when he comes to the Savior, his last hope.
C. One more point: and this is good sermon material! The ruler:
(1) Came and saw Jesus (v. 22a) – Jesus said to His prospective disciples, “come and see” (John 1:39ff). The ruler did!
(2) He fell at His feet (v. 22b) – a position of absolute resignation. Is Jesus our only Hope? He was this ruler’s last and only Hope!
(3) He pleaded earnestly (v. 23a) – throughout Scripture we are invited, “Call unto Me and I will answer you” (Jer. 33:3); “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy burdened” (Matt. 1:28). He plead earnestly.
(4) He was specific in his plea (v. 23b): “my little daughter is dying.” He came right to the point. He didn’t barter with God. He didn’t say, “IF you do this, I WILL follow you the rest of my life.” No, he was specific.
(5) Lastly, he didn’t know Jesus’ style (v. 23c): “please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” What did he just do that the disciples would observe? He boxed Jesus in! He restricted how Jesus should operate!
And how did Jesus respond? “YOU IDIOT! Don’t you know that I am come to SERVE! I will do whatever I want! Don’t you tell ME what to do!”.
No, the scriptures simply state, “Jesus went with him” (v. 24a). Grace on display. Big lesson for the disciples. Big lesson for us! Don’t box Jesus in! Allow Him to bring glory to Himself any way He wants! Rest in Him alone, and then watch Him at work! The disciples would see this by the end of the chapter.
# 2. THE INTERRUPTION: “A funny thing happened on the way!” (vs. 24bff)
A. The scene: a large crowd (v. 24b) is pressing in on Jesus. The disciples would later advise Jesus – don’t you love this? – that “can’t You see that the people are crowding You?”. Yes, He could.
B. In the midst of that crowd – the many – there is one woman.
ILLUSTRATION: The Beatles had a song, “Eleanor Rigby”, which was used in the documentary on the foundation of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale – one of our nation’s largest churches in both building size and attendance. Dr. Kennedy taught a radical course to his parishioners called “Evangelism Explosion”. I went to his original storefront church on Commercial Boulevard. There weren’t a whole lot of people there. What made the change? In the song, the Beatles comment, “all the lonely people: where do they all come from? Where do they all belong?” Dr. Kennedy taught his people Biblical truth: Jesus sees in the crowd the individual. And so should we!
C. The woman’s physical need overwhelmed any of her other needs:
(1) Subject to bleeding for 12 years (v. 25) – presumably, ladies sorry, a non-stop menstrual bleeding. This meant that, like our earlier fellow with leprosy, she was an untouchable. Her clothes would never be clean. She would stink. She could not be around people for too long without being noticed and ostracized, ridiculed brutally. Have you been there? Please note the Number 12. She had this hideous ailment for 12 years. The synagogue’s ruler was 12 years old. And they are both addressed as “daughters”. Coincidence? No – remember, the Servant-Savior sees the individual!
(2) She had suffered under doctor care (can you imagine what that care must have been?). And it cost her both financially and emotionally all that she had, with absolutely no betterment but further helplessness (v. 26). Like the ruler whose daughter was dying, she had no hope. No hope. The Bible says we are all born “without God, without hope” (Ephesians 2:12). We, too, suffered as these daughters did – maybe not physically – but we suffered because we have felt absolutely helpless and hopeless.
(3) True faith sees things out of one’s comfort zone (vs. 27-28). She:
(a) Heard about Jesus (v. 27)
(b) Thought what she ought to do (v. 28) – how many others there in the crowd were needy? How many others thought what they ought to do?
(c) She touched His cloak (v. 27). This is not without Biblical precedent. In Matthew 14:36, the men of Gennesaret urged sick people to Jesus and begged Him to let them just “touch the edge of His cloak”. And it follows, “and all who touched Him were healed.” Perhaps she knew about that. Or perhaps in her coming to her wit’s end, this is all she could think to do.
D. The results were “out of this world”!
(1). Immediately (v. 29) – there it is again, the key word of the Gospel of Mark! – she was healed! The wording is such that she was healed, never to be a victim again. It was a permanent healing. The bleeding stopped. Her physical and emotional suffering was over. She was…FREED from her suffering! Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” This unnamed daughter knew she was free!
(2). The ETERNAL MATCHLESS SERVANT SAVIOR OF THE WORLD knew – He KNEW! – that power had gone out from Him because someone had touched His garments (v. 30). Thus begins another lesson.
How many people were there? A CROWD!
How many people probably touched Him in that time frame? A CROWD!
How many people benefited from touching Him? ONE DAUGHTER!
(3) As she falls trembling before Him, falling at His feet, He lovingly says 3 things:
(a) He addresses her in terms of endearment: “daughter” (not “WOMAN”). Perhaps for the first time in over 12 years, she hears words of love.
(b) He addresses the true source of her healing: “your faith”. Yes, HE was the Source of her healing. But the human element was her trust in Him. That is true faith in action!
(c) He gave her verification of what had happened: she was healed, she was in peace, she was freed. (v. 34)
And she was never to be heard from again. Do you think these observing potential future servants of the Servant-Savior remembered the many lessons the Savior taught them through this daughter?
CONCLUSION
As we close, we must take a quick look at what happened to the other “daughter” – the 12 year old – of our story.
Do you remember the father’s desire, why demand, for the Savior? “Put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” (v. 23)
What did He do? “He took her by the hand” and spoke to her, ‘get up!’”
A funny thing happened on the way to the house of the ruler of the synagogue.
What is our lesson today? “True servanthood occurs when the servant of the King allows Him to do what He wants, even if we have made other plans.”
Aren’t you glad the disciples didn’t miss this lesson?
Aren’t you glad we didn’t either?
Close in prayer
Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor
First Baptist Church
Earlville, New York