In Mark 5, we encounter two people filled with fear. One is a father who is desperate enough to humble himself as a religious leader and ask a man rumored to be a faith healer to come and touch his daughter. The other is a woman who has been shunned by her family and community for at least twelve years and is willing to risk further isolation to reach this same man to see if He can restore her broken body.
Both of these encounters with Jesus require faith that God could heal.
The woman with chronic illness not only was risking her own social status, but she was compromising Jesus’s, too. After making her way through a crowd that she normally would have never been in, she gets to Jesus and reaches out in faith. The woman’s fear almost wins until Jesus directly addresses her: “Daughter…your faith has saved you” (Mark 5:34). Due to her sickness, she likely had been separated from any contact with people, including her own family, and this may have been the first time she heard herself called “daughter” in a very long time.
Imagine what it would have felt like to be the father who first asked for Jesus’s healing abilities, watching Jesus stop and give someone else his miracle (v.30). Here we see Jesus again directly address someone’s fear: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (v.36). Jairus didn’t only have to believe in healing; he also had to believe in resurrection.
The primary passage in today’s reading is one full of joy and fear eliminated. Scripture also speaks to the inverse—how sometimes we will endure afflictions in this life (2Corinthians 4:17–18). While He is able to heal, He is not obligated.
As I write this, I think of friends who are still waiting for their healing. l ache knowing that there is healing I have prayed for and believed God for, that has not come yet. Some of you reading this may still be waiting, too.
This is why we also read our passage in Revelation today. While He is able to heal here, He also will heal when we reach the other side of eternity. This is a promise that we can cling to in the face of fear. I am praying for you today in whatever situation or circumstance you may be in. I am praying you remember that He is both able to heal, and He one day will heal and make “everything new” (Revelation 21:5).
This is a scripture and study I really needed. My husband has a degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa and there is no cure. It is progressively getting worse and I fear he will go completely blind soon. We have two young children and it’s really scary thinking about the future. I struggle with the idea that God can heal something like this- with no cure- like Jesus did in this passage. I know He can, but it seems so fantastical. I would love for God to heal my husband’s sight in this lifetime, but I take comfort in knowing he will be healed in another life. I am not sure he 100% believes in God and I also worry about this. He is spiritual but doesn’t align with organized religion and he talks about the universe and astrology. Right now I am praying. God, you know our circumstances here on Earth and the struggles we face. You know how difficult and frightening it is to face the unknown of if he will lose his sight completely. Lord, you know the future and see the larger picture that we can’t see. The scripture says “do not fear; just believe.” I want to do that. I want to trust in your plan and have no fear because you are in control. God, please be with us and help my husband to accept Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior. Be with us as we suffer in this life and know that this is temporary. God, I thank you for all the blessings you have shown our family. You are so good. Help me to strengthen my faith and know you can still perform miracles that seem unlikely. God I ask all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Thank you Lord for the hope of heaven and complete healing of all things!
This brings great peace as a healthcare provider – I may not be able to help everyone, but He can. Thanks be to God.
Don’t be afraid only believe ❤️ AMEN
His love endures forever ❤️
RIP to the Queen for she has finally been healed