Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 - The Raising of Jairus' Daughter

We come now to the culmination of a series of miracle stories in which Jesus' transcendent power has been on display. It began with the calming of the sea at the end of chapter four. The reaction of the disciples to that spectacle was one of awe and fear. Only God did those things that they just saw Jesus do. Only God wielded such complete control over nature. And just as that event displayed Jesus' power over the physical realm, so the deliverance of the demoniac of Gesera at the beginning of chapter five displayed Jesus' power over the spiritual realm. Again, the people are so afraid of Jesus after seeing this power that they send him away. Then the disciples and Jesus, arriving back on the western side of the lake, are sought by the ruler of the synagogue there, Jairus, to immediately come home with him to heal his daughter who is grievously ill. But on the way Jesus is interrupted by the woman with the hemorrhage and heals her, thus displaying his tremendous power over sickness and disease. Now we come back to Jairus. Now we will find out that the delay in getting to his daughter has come at a cost. How will Jesus respond to . . . death? How will the people in the house respond to Jesus and what he is about to do?

This is the sermon I preached from this text on a Sunday morning at Winnsboro Reformed Church. The audio is linked below. I hope you will take the time to listen and that your faith will grow. Be blessed.

Click here: Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 - The Raising of Jairus' Daughter



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Galatians 5:16-18 - Walk By the Spirit

It could be said that verse 16 is an apt description of what Christian living is about, or Paul's instructions on how to live the Christian life. In that sense it is one of the most practical verses we will ever read. But in order to understand the practicality of it, we must understand the theology behind it.

(16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

This is Paul's response to those of his enemies who say that if he tells Gentiles they are free from the law and no longer under it then he is giving them a license to indulge their sinful natures. Well, what is your alternative, Paul? If we are no longer under Moses, how then do we live the Christian life? Under what principles? With what guidance?

Remember verses 13 and 14?

(13) For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (14) For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul says we are called not to law, but to love, for love is the fulfilling of the law. Love in this sense is seen as an action word, not just an emotion. Love is measured by what we do, not by what we say. So we are free, but not free to indulge our sinful nature. We are free from the bondage and curse of the law to love God and neighbor. As opposed to serving the law, we serve one another. But in what power and by what guidance do we do this?

Below is the audio recording of the Bible study I taught from this passage. Just click the link below to stream it and listen to it. I pray it will be a blessing.



Click here: Galatians 5:16-18 - Walk By the Spirit



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Mark 5:24-34 - Jesus Heals a Woman With a Hemorrhage

Remember what is taking place here in this chapter? Remember where we are in the narrative? We are on the third of four miracle stories that describe, with increasing intensity, the power of Jesus. The first was at the end of chapter 4 where Jesus commands the winds and the waves and they obey him. In that miracle story we learn of Jesus' authority over the created order. Jesus is the one who commands and the waves stand still. He speaks and the universe obeys.

The next miracle story we encounter in this section is the healing of the demoniac of Gesera. Jesus rebukes the demons and they come out of the man. In that story we are reminded of Jesus' authority over Satan in the spiritual realm. Jesus is Lord over the spiritual realm, as well as the physical.

Then Jesus crosses back over to the western shore of the lake and there he is contacted by the ruler of a synagogue, who wants him to come heal his daughter who is dying. So Jesus is on his way there when something else happens. In the story related this morning (the something that happens along the way) we will see Jesus' authority over sickness and disease. Next week, well, next week will come in due time.

Each of these miracle stories is recounted for the purpose of emphasizing Jesus' power and authority, telling us who Jesus is (God) through his actions, and pointing forward to what Jesus has come to do. 

And this is something we need to be reminded of. He has come to restore the created order by casting down Satan and making an end of sin, disease and disability, and death. He is ushering in the kingdom, which is to say that he is ushering in the world to come. This kingdom begins within us, which is why each story emphasizes faith. In the first, the disciples are rebuked for their lack of faith. In the second, we admire the restored man's desire to be with Jesus while at the same time shaking our heads at the people who send Jesus away. Before Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the dead (next week) he says, "Do not fear. Only believe." Here in this story we admire the faith of the woman, imperfect though it is. The kingdom begins within us, and it begins by faith. Let that sink in.

Now while this is the third of four pericopes in a series, it is sandwiched in the middle of the fourth pericope (or story.) So as we're reading along, the fourth pericope begins, then is interrupted. This morning we will focus on the interruption, then next week come back and look at that fourth story. Think of this sermon as the story within the story.

You just read the introduction to the sermon linked below. I hope you will take the time to listen to it and that your faith will grow as well as your admiration and awe of Jesus. Be blessed.

Click here: Mark 5:24-34 - Jesus Heals a Woman With a Hemorrhage



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Galatians 5:7-15 - Love Fulfills the Law

In Galatians 5 verse 7 Paul says to the recipients of his letter: "You were running well." He uses an athletic metaphor. You were running your race well. This is not the only place where Paul compares the Christian life to a race in which we are runners. He also does so in Philippians 3. There's also the passage in Hebrews 12 which is parallel.

So, if our Christian life is a race, how do we run? There are two things that stand out in each of these passages. We are to run:

(1) Focused on Christ (faith)

(2) Pressing toward our glorious future (hope)

The Christian life is not about the law. Its focus is not the law. Its focus is Christ. It is about faith in Christ, both in what he did and what he has promised to do. We do not live the Moses life, we live the Messianic life. And that life is manifested in love.

'but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”'--Galatians 5:13b-14

What made the law a bondage to us, at least in part, was that it ran contrary to our nature. What Christ has done for us, or what the Spirit of God has done in us through Christ is to change our heart, give us a new nature. Whereas once our hearts were at enmity against God, now we love God, and of course that love is manifested in love for our neighbor. So rather than serve the law, we serve each other.

We discuss this in more detail, along with a few other things, in our bible study from this passage. The audio from that study is below. Just click the link and it will open up a page in SoundCloud where you can stream that audio in MP3 format. Keep in mind that these are not sermons, but informal bible studies where questions are sometimes asked and discussion sometimes takes place. God bless.

Click here: Galatians 5:7-15 - Love Fulfills the Law



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Mark 5:1-20 - Jesus Delivers a Demon-Possessed Man

We left Jesus and the disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been asleep and a storm had arisen. The disciples, frightened, had awakened Jesus and Jesus had rebuked the wind and the waves and they had obeyed him. After telling us this story Mark leaves us with the question of the disciples, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

And that, of course, was the point of Mark including that story in his narrative. You and I, upon reading it, are supposed to pause and consider the question ourselves. Jesus did something so amazing, something the Bible specifically says only God does, and that is exactly what Mark wants us to reflect upon. And while we are doing that he immediately rolls into the next story where Jesus will again display divine authority, this time in the supernatural realm.

Matthew tells this story as well, and while Matthew's gospel is much longer than Mark's, Mark devotes almost twice as much space for this than does Matthew. It is the most detailed and the most dramatic of all the exorcism stories that come from the gospels. And while the authority of Jesus, as God, over the demonic realm is the main thrust of the story, it also has an important point to make about the function and purpose of the demonic--to distort and destroy the imago dei in us, in fact to bring about our destruction.

It might seem shocking to our ears for me to say this, mostly because of the influence of modern thinking on our mindset and worldview, but you and I are supernatural creatures also. What I mean by that is that our true self, our identity, that which makes us us, our ego, cannot be fully explained in materialistic/naturalistic terms. (What is the chemical formula for thought, reason, emotion, or self-awareness?) To be sure, we are physical creatures and our sense of self is intimately tied to our physical self and greatly affected by it. But when our physical body is destroyed we will go on. And in Christ we are promised a resurrection life.

When we die we go to be with Christ where we await our final redemption and resurrected bodies. We are supernatural creatures tied to the natural realm. The sad statement on our case is that we are a fallen race. Made in the image of God we have fallen and ruined ourselves. And the Scripture bears witness that that fall was instigated by Satanic influence. What we are about to see in this story is a man who represents all of us in our fallen condition and how Jesus has come to free us from our bondage to Satan and sin and to save us from certain destruction. 

Below is a link to the audio recording of the sermon I preached from this passage. I hope you will take the time to listen to it. It is a sermon of good news with a challenge at the end. Listen and be blessed!

Click here: Mark 5:1-20 - Jesus Delivers a Demon-Possessed Man



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Galatians 5:1-9 - Stand Firm, Stand Free

To set up Galatians chapter five let's get the context. Paul has just concluded his theological argument against his opponents. Now in these final two chapters he will apply that correct theology, as well as answer this important question--if we are justified by faith without the law, how then are we to live our Christian lives?

Since then we are free and have been made free by Christ's perfect obedience to the law and substitutionary death and life-imparting resurrection, then . . .

(1) For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Christ set us free to be free, not to be slaves. So don't return to your slavery. Don't go back to pretending you have to keep that law to earn God's favor when God's favor has already been poured out upon you through Christ.

Here we see in Paul both the indicative and the imperative.

The indicative is that we have been set free from the law by Christ. The imperative is that we should stand firm in that freedom and not go back and enslave ourselves to it again.

(2) Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 

This is me. Paul. An apostle. Listen to me. I am telling you. Don't think that keeping the law can be accomplished by some token compliance with this or that requirement. If you are going to embrace the law, you're embracing it all. And you are rejecting Christ in the process.

Understand that what Christ did was to fulfill the law for us--in our place--as our representative head, our substitute. To go back to the law thinking you have to do it yourself is to reject that representation.

As commentator F. F. Bruce said: "Christ will provide unlimited help to those who place their undivided trust in him, but no help at all to those who bypass his saving work and think to become acceptable to God by circumcision or other legal observances."

In this Bible study we covered the first nine verses of Galatians 5 and began to see how our Christian lives are to be lived--what Paul means when he says we are to stand firm in our freedom and liberty in Christ. You will find the audio to this bible study linked below. Just click the link to listen. God bless.

Click here: Galatians 5:1-9 - Stand Firm, Stand Free


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