Lake Martin Presbyterian Church May 10, 2026 Podcast

Join Rev. William Skinner for this week’s message from Mark 5:21-43, "Jesus, Lord over death". Explore Scripture, hear thoughtful teaching, and be encouraged in your walk with Christ. For more information and resources, visit lakemartinpca.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Lake Martin Presbyterian Church Podcast. We're glad you're listening. Lake Martin Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, located near Lake Martin, Alabama. Each week we share the preaching ministry of our church and pray it encourages you in your walk with Christ. Here's this week's message.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well, if you would, please turn with me to Mark's Gospel. Mark's Gospel, chapter 21, or sorry, chapter 5, verses 21 through 43. There is no chapter 21 of Mark's Gospel. Just testing y'all. Well, if you'll remember in Mark's gospel, the past two texts that we've looked at together have been showing us Christ's power being manifested. First, over nature, if you'll remember as Christ silenced the wind and the waves on the Sea of Galilee. Secondly, over the spiritual realm, over demons and devils, as Christ cast out legion into the herd of pigs. This morning in this text that we're going to consider, Jesus' power is going to be manifested a third time. This time, his power is going to be displayed over death itself. Now, I haven't made a point of this, but I think it's time. There is a great temptation when we read these narrative stories like we've been reading. There's a great temptation to make these characters that we've encountered along the way the main characters. Whether it's the disciples in the boat or the demon-possessed man in the hill country, or in this story, the father who's going to go seek Jesus' help for his daughter is dying, or the woman who has a flow of blood that Jesus will heal. There's a temptation for us to look at these people and to focus on them and to make them the center of the story and to try to take encouragement from their faith, to go to Jesus like the father seeking help for his daughter, or to reach out and figuratively touch the hem of Jesus' clothes like the woman with the flow of blood. But that would be the wrong way for us to read these texts. In fact, that's the wrong way to read most of the scriptures. We don't need to come to the scriptures to see what fallen men and women do. We don't want to be like fallen men and women. We are coming to the scriptures to learn about God, who he is, his wonderful plan of salvation, and what he's done for us in Christ Jesus. And so that's the main thing for us in this text is that Jesus is the Lord over death. That Jesus is sovereign, and that's been the main message for the past two weeks, past two texts that we've looked at is that Christ is sovereign, sovereign over nature, sovereign over demons, and now sovereign over death. But there's something else here for us that I want you to see. I also want you to see the remarkable grace that Jesus extends to these fumbling characters along the way. Yes, Jesus heals them. But I want you to notice how he condescends to weak faith, to weak people, to embarrassed women, to desperate fathers. In this text, we are going to see Jesus displaying his sovereign power as Lord over the universe. But as he does that, we see him displaying the gentleness, the gentleness of a kind father. These days, my son Hampton, almost two years old, his favorite thing to do in the past, I think, week and a half has been to wrestle me. And I'll come home from a meeting or come downstairs from my office, and he'll grab my hand and say, Wrestle, wrestle, wrestle. And he brings me to a big rug, and I get down on all fours and I'll wrestle and tickle him, and then he'll push me over and I'll fall in dramatic fashion and let him wrestle me. And that imagery is somewhat of what we see Jesus doing here: the tenderness, the grace, the compassion of Jesus to condescend to his children. He's sovereign, he's Lord, yes, yes and amen. But he's good. He's merciful, he's gracious and loving. And that's what we see in this text. So I want you to see the power of Christ on display. And I want you to see the tenderness of Christ, his love for his children on display as well. And as we consider this text, I want you to look for three things, or we're going to look at three things, I should say. First, in verses 21 through 24, a desperate plea. A desperate plea. Secondly, in verses 25 through 34, a desperate plan. A desperate plan. A desperate plea, a desperate plan. And then thirdly, in verse 35 through 43, a decisive power. A decisive power. A desperate plea, a desperate plan, and a decisive power. Before we read this text, let's pray and ask for God's blessing upon the reading and preaching of His Word. We trust it. And we ask now that you would accompany your word with your Holy Spirit. Open our ears to hear it. Open our eyes to see it. Soften our hearts. Prepare us as the good soil that the seed of your word may be planted deep, our hearts, and bear fruit. Thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold for your glory. Help us to see Jesus. It's in his name we pray. Amen. Mark chapter 5, beginning in verse 21. This is God's holy and errant inspired word. Give careful attention to the reading of God's word. And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live. And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but was rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, Who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, You see the crowds pressing around you, and yet you say, Who touched me? And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease. While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some some who said, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, Do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow except Peter, James, John, and John, the brother of James. They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. And he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand, he said to her, Taletha Kumi, which means little girl, I say to you, Arise. And immediately the girl got up and began walking, for she was twelve years of age. And they were immediately overcome with amazement, and he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. This is God's word. Look with me first at verses 21 through 24. Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee yet again in the boat, and presumably is returning to his home base, which is Caperna. And he'd hardly gotten out of the boat when he was met by a rather influential, rather powerful man in the city of Capernaum, Jairus. We're told he's a ruler of the synagogue. Now that that would probably be somewhat similar to what we would think of as a ruling eldre. He would be a leader in the community, an elder, a pillar in the synagogue. He probably would have been an important man in the city of Capernaum. And Gairus was coming to Jesus with a plea of desperation. For his daughter, his only daughter, was dying. A 12-year-old little girl was dying, and he was desperate. Now it's particularly interesting that Jairus would come to Jesus. That ought to catch our attention. Jairus was a leader in the city of Capernaum, an important man. He was involved in the life of the synagogue. He'd heard Jesus preach, he'd witnessed Jesus' miracles. But we're not told what Jairus really thought about Jesus, at least not prior to this event. But what we have been told in the Gospel of Mark so far, if you'll remember, is that the rulers of the people of the Jews, the religious rulers of the people of Jews, the scribes from Jerusalem, the priests, the Pharisees, did not approve of what Jesus was doing. They did not approve. Remember, they even sent a delegation of scribes down to Capernaum, to the region of Galilee, to stir up rumors that Jesus was possessed by a demon, that he was a false teacher, that he was leading God's people astray. And Jairus certainly would have been in the right circles to hear those arguments and probably to be sympathetic to them. But at the same time, Jairus had witnessed exorcisms, he had witnessed healings, he had witnessed Jesus teaching and preaching. And he knew that Jesus had power. So when death was facing his beloved daughter, when push comes to shove, Jairus went to Jesus. This probably wasn't Jairus' first choice. There's probably other solutions he wishes he had. To go and fall before Jesus and beg for his help. He probably would lose important friends over this. His reputation might suffer over this. But Jairus didn't really care. His daughter's life was on the line. And at this moment, Jairus displays his faith in who Jesus really is. That Jesus really is the Lord who has the power to heal, to restore, and to save. That Jairus had no other hope. There's no other hope for the life of his daughter. It reminds us of the words that we sometimes sing, nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress. Helpless look to thee for grace. Foul eye to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. Can you say with gyrus in this moment that Jesus is your only hope in life and in death? Your only hope. There is no other hope. I hope so because this is true faith. What we see from Gyrus in this moment of desperation is true faith. Faith that receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation. But that's not the main point of this text, is it? The main point comes in verse 24, the astounding point, that Jesus went with him. Jesus went with him. Now Jesus had every reason to be frustrated with poor Jairus. In Matthew chapter 11, verses 23 through 24, Jesus, if you'll remember, pronounces a woe on the whole city of Capernaum. He says, Woe to you, city of Capernaum. If the signs and miracles that have been performed in you were performed in Sodom, now if you remember Sodom from the Old Testament, a place so wicked, so bad that God destroyed it with fire. If the miracles that had been performed in Capernaum were performed in Sodom, Sodom would still be here today, is what Jesus said. And then he says something incredible. He says, it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than it will be for you, city of Capernaum. The reason is that Jesus did so many miracles in the city of Capernaum. He preached countless sermons in the city of Capernaum. He cast out demons in the city of Capernaum. And yet many, if not most, of the people of Capernaum rejected who Jesus was and what he came to do. And we might ask, it's a fair question, why had Jairus not already followed Jesus? He'd heard many of Jesus' sermons, he'd witnessed the miracles. Wouldn't Jesus have been justified to say, well, well, well, Jairus? So now you come to me. Now that you've run out of options, that the doctors can't heal your daughter, now you come crawling to me. Didn't you hear my sermons? Didn't you see my miracles? Weren't those enough? Why didn't you follow me publicly? But Jesus doesn't do any of that, does he? There's no guilt trip. There's no shaming of Jairus. Jesus simply turns and goes with him. This is a wonderful picture of the gentleness and the grace and the condescension and the love of Jesus. It doesn't matter the circumstances. When Jairus comes in faith Jesus, Jesus goes with him. Jesus meets him where he is. And perhaps this is you. Maybe you've been in church, maybe you've heard the word of God your whole life. And you've never truly had faith in Jesus Christ. You've never truly trusted him alone for salvation. You've never truly rested in Christ alone for salvation. You've never placed your trust wholly and solely on him. Well, even if it's fear of death, even if it's fear of hell, even if it's a silly reason, the loss of a loved one, a disease, whatever it may be that drives you to go to Jesus Christ, whatever your desperate plea may be, I want you to know that Jesus will meet you like he met Jairus. There will be no shame, no guilt trip. He's not going to shame you, he's not going to argue with you. He's going to do what he did with gyrus. He's going to put his arm around you and say, Let's go. Let's go, Jairus. Let's go to your daughter. That's the desperate plea of desperate man, and what I want you to see is the gracious response of Jesus. Now let's move on and consider a desperate plan. We've seen a desperate plea, and now a desperate plan. Look with me at verses 25 through 34. So off Jesus and Jairus go to save Jairus' dying daughter. Jairus' dying daughter. And there's a large crowd in tow as they go. The disciples and perhaps others who have seen all these miracles, they want to see another one. Let's go, Jesus. Let's go see. And remember, Jairus is an important man in the community, perhaps with many friends. And as they're going, a new character enters the story. An unnamed woman. In fact, the only we only know one thing about this woman, and it's probably the one thing she didn't want anyone to know about her, is it? This woman was suffering from a hemorrhage in her reproductive organs. A hemorrhage that we're told has been going on for 12 years. And just think about a hemorrhage for 12 years. We read the story and we feel bad for this woman, but think about a hemorrhage for 12 years. Probably a hemorrhage resulting from childbirth complications. We don't really know where the hemorrhage came from. But a 12-year hemorrhage most likely meant that she couldn't have additional children if she already had some. If she were married, this would have significant implications on her marriage, especially in a culture and a time when a man could easily obtain a divorce for such an issue as this. She could have lost her family over this issue. And on top of all of this, this hemorrhage, this ailment, this disease, would have rendered her ceremonially unclean. Prohibited from approaching God in worship for twelve years. So because of this hemorrhage, her life was completely disrupted. She couldn't worship. She couldn't have children. She would have been separated from her family for twelve years. And we're told that this woman spent all of her resources. Whatever resources she had, she leveraged seeking help with this condition. And we're told that instead of helping, this only brought her suffering. And you can only imagine that treatments for such a condition before modern medicine were not pleasant. Well, was it 200 years ago that the treatment for most diseases was bloodletting? So go back to this time and you can only imagine how much she would suffer while seeking treatments. So here we're introduced to this woman. A woman who'd been alienated by her ailment for 12 years, suffering quietly from something she probably really didn't want anyone to know about. But she had heard about Jesus. She had heard about the wonders and the miracles that he had performed. And perhaps she'd even heard the rumors that people who brushed up against him were healed of their diseases. Mark records that for us in one of the previous verses that there were these rumors that even the people who brushed up against Jesus were being. Healed. And now here was Jesus in front of her. And she believed, she had faith that Jesus could heal her. She believed that Jesus was powerful enough to heal her. But just like Jairus, this was what you might call a Hail Mary. This was a desperate plan for this woman. She believed that Jesus was powerful enough to heal her, but it appears that she was too embarrassed to stop and tell Jesus what her condition was. And it's understandable why she would be embarrassed. So she comes up with a plan that if she can at least just touch his clothes, if she can reach out and touch his clothes, then maybe his healing power will rub off on her and heal her issue. And so that's her desperate plan. So she sneaks into the crowd and she reaches out and she touches a piece of Jesus' clothes. And lo and behold, it works. She's healed instantly, healed immediately. And this is where things get interesting in the story. Because remember, this woman is not the main point of the story. We're still with Jairus. We're still going to Jairus' dying daughter. And to Gyrus's great distress, Jesus stops. And he turns around in the middle of a crowd, people who are thronging around him, going to Jairus' house and say, Who touched me? Who touched my clothes? And the disciples are flabbergasted that Jesus would pause at such a moment and turn to a crowd of people who are all brushing up against him and say, Who touched me? They had probably all touched his clothes, brushed up against him in this walk to Jairus' house. Jairus is probably in complete panic, wondering, why are we stopping to ask who bumped into Jesus? Everyone's bumped into Jesus. But Jesus had an important reason for stopping. When he stops and asks the question, the woman, knowing precisely who he was talking about, fesses up. And she tells Jesus, in fear and trembling, what she had done and why. And then Jesus responds. And he reveals why he stopped the procession, why he had to stop and address this woman. You see, the woman had faith that Jesus could heal her. She believed that Jesus was powerful. But she was going about it all wrong. This woman was acting superstitiously, thinking that the clothes were what possessed power. If she could just touch those clothes, she would be healed. She was acting sneakily. She didn't want to come to Jesus and talk to him. She didn't want to have to tell Jesus what she needed. She was acting self-reliantly. If she could touch the clothes, then she would be healed. She just wanted to quickly and quietly reach out and touch Jesus and then go away, and it would all be okay. Nobody would ever need to know. But just like with Jairus, just like a father getting down with his baby, his toddler on the ground, Jesus cares far more for this woman. And he graciously condescends to her. Look at his response to her in verse 34. Daughter, your faith, your faith has made you well. It was her faith. Jesus wants her to know there's no desperate plan of hers that can twist his arm. There's no superstitious tactic, no fabric grabbing. No, it's faith. Faith was what healed her. Faith is what can receive and rest in Jesus Christ. Faith is what takes hold of the redemptive work of Christ. And just like this woman with this hemorrhage, we can be superstitious too, can't we? We can be superstitious about our faith. We're not physically able to reach out and take hold of Jesus as he's ascended to the right hand of God the Father. We may not be as superstitious as our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. But there are many things that we invent and do that are superstitious. I grew up being told that all I had to do to receive Jesus was to pray a prayer. To pray a prayer to receive Jesus Christ and to fill out my spiritual birthday card. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that you pray a prayer to receive Jesus Christ. Now, you may pray a prayer at the moment you receive faith. And we're also told in Scripture that if you have been born again, if you do receive Jesus by faith, you will start praying to him. You will start praying to God. But if we're told that you say a certain prayer and that means that you somehow receive Jesus, that's rather superstitious, is it not? If you're a Christian, you must pray. It's like breathing. You will pray if you're a Christian. And it's great to pray a prayer to ask Jesus to come into your life, but that's not the mechanism by which you take hold of Christ. It's your faith. It's your faith that lets you receive and rest upon Christ alone. I'm not going to continue with examples of superstition. We have lots of them in our culture, but I hope you get the point that we can be just as trivial and superstitious as this woman. We're so worldly, we latch on to physical things and superstitious ideas. But the important thing is not her folly. It's not her superstition, but it's Jesus' response. Jesus is not content to leave her in her folly. He's not going to let this woman think it was your touch and my clothes that healed you. No, it wasn't the touch, it was your faith that healed you. It was your faith in me. You might think it was the touch, you might think it was my clothes, but it was me. You received me by faith, and that has made all the difference. It's faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ that can make you whole. There's no desperate plan or desperate plea that can twist God's arm. You and I must humbly acknowledge that we have no other argument. We have no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Receive Jesus by faith alone. That's the only way. Desperate pleas, desperate plans, let's now consider a decisive power. Look with me at verses 35 through 43. While Jesus was still addressing the healed woman, some men arrived from Jairus' home with the devastating news that his daughter had died. Jairus should stop bothering Jesus. It was too late. So in the midst of this strange interruption, which resulted in the healing of the woman, the original mission seems to have failed. The mission to heal Jairus's daughter. And you can sense the letdown in the text. You can imagine some of the people in the crowd who had been going to Jairus' house quietly turning and departing. Heads dropping, eyes moistening. The situation is completely deflated. But in the midst of this, what I want you to see is Jesus turning to Jairus. Look at what Jesus does. He turns to Jairus and encourages his faith. Only believe. In the midst of this roller coaster of a day, the crowd marching to save Jairus' daughter, the interruption with the woman and with the hemorrhage, and now the news that his daughter was dead. Jesus wants Jairus to remain fixed and focused on him. You can just hear Jesus saying, keep your faith, Jairus. Look at me. Keep your head up. Don't listen to them, listen to me. Let's go. Keep going, Jairus. And isn't that the message that we've been seeing for these past three texts in the Gospel of Mark? When nature, when the waves and the winds rise in rebellion, when the devils and the demons assail us, when death itself comes calling, what are we supposed to do? Look to Jesus. Look to the one who controls it all. Trust in him. Go to him on the cushion of the boat. Stay by him, like the demon-possessed man who wanted to remain with Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep your eyes on him. Keep your ears tuned to his word. He's sovereign. Do not fear Jairus, but believe. With Jesus' encouragement, Jairus, Peter, James, and John continue. They move on to Jairus' house. And as they approach, they meet the professional grievers, the professional mourners. Now, these aren't just Jairus' friends who showed up at his house to mourn. These are paid mourners. And it's a grace to our society that this profession has fallen away. When someone died in this culture, if you were someone of prominence and you could afford it, you would pay people to go and grieve the deceased. So they hired professional mourners before Jairus even got home. So you can just think about how did they get these people here so quickly? They hire these professional mourners who come and are mourning the death of a loved one. But Jesus is put off by this display. He rebukes the professional mourners, telling them, the child's life is not lost, she's only sleeping, and she will rise. Now, biologically speaking, Jairus' daughter is dead. She has no pulse. She's dead. But what Jesus is doing here is he's aiming to strengthen the faith of Jairus. He's trying to strengthen weak faith. She will rise again. She will come back to life. It's as if she's only sleeping. Don't listen to them, Jairus. She will live again. And we see Jesus continuing to stoop down, to condescend to the weak faith of his people. The paid mourners do not take encouragement from Jesus' words. Instead, they laugh at him. They make fun of Jesus. And it's in this very moment that we see the juxtaposition between Christ and the world. These mourners didn't love Jairus. They didn't love his family. They didn't even love his daughter. They love Jairus' money. But when the possibility of his daughter's life being spared, what do they do? They laugh. In a split second, they are mourning and weeping and wailing loudly, causing a great commotion. The next second they're laughing. There's no grief, no compassion for Jairus and his wife. What they really show here is that they hated Jairus. They didn't care for his life at all. They didn't care about his daughter at all. Jesus, on the other hand, has been traveling all of this way to Jairus' home, encouraging Jairus along the way, genuinely concerned for his daughter's well-being, speaking to Jairus to encourage him. Don't fear, believe. Keep going. Jesus loves this man. Though Jairus' faith was weak, Jesus was bending down and fanning his weak faith into flame. Don't listen to them, Jairus. Look at me. Listen to me. And Jairus did. Jesus and his three disciples enter the home. Jesus takes the dead daughter of Jairus by the hand, and he told her to rise. And she did so. And Jesus commanded them to feed her. Jesus had now confirmed the faith of Jairus. Jairus' weak faith was now sight. He could see his daughter. Jesus' power over death was on display. He is indeed the Lord. He's sovereign, sovereign over death itself. And that's the main point of the past three texts we've been looking at. That Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God. He's sovereign. But I hope that you don't just take that away. I hope you're also hearing continually along and along the loving mercy of Jesus Christ. That he stooped down to the weak and warped faith of Jairus and this woman with a hemorrhage. Condescending, getting down on his knees with them to speak their language. He puts the burden on himself and gets down to their level. So in the midst of a display of Jesus' power, proving that he's the sovereign Lord, he's showing his grace. He's concerned about their souls. Let me tie all of these things together as we conclude. In this text, we've seen the desperate plea from a desperate father. Desperate Jairus. And Jesus carrying the weak faith of Jairus all the way back until that faith is turned to sight. We've seen the desperate plan of the woman with the hemorrhage, with her superstitious, warped faith, reaching out to touch Jesus' clothes, and Jesus stoops down to lovingly say, No, daughter, it's your faith. It's your faith that has made you well. And finally, Jesus marching into the home of Jairus and proving that he is the sovereign Lord over death, decisively proving that he has power over nature, demons, and death itself. I hope what we all know after this in the depths of our hearts is that Jesus is the Lord of all. Nothing is beyond his power, nothing is beyond his control. But also that our powerful Savior will not send you away in shame. He will not take your weak faith and quench it. He will bend down and stoke that smoldering faith into flame, into a roaring blaze. Remember how tender he was with this woman. It's your faith that made you well. Go in peace. Remember his tenderness with gyrus when you doubt the mercy of Christ for you, when you feel unlovable, when you feel lost and forsaken. Remember his tenderness with Jairus. Do not fear, only believe, Jairus. This Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He did it for Jairus, he will do it for you. Hear his voice. Look at me. Listen to me. Keep your eyes on me. I control the winds, I control the waves, the demons, the devils, they answer to me, disease and death. They must obey me. Can you trust me? Will you trust me? Believe in me. Do not fear. Your mind may be failing you. Age and dementia may be assaulting you. Your body may be giving out on you. You may be overwhelmed by fears of the world, anxiety for your loved ones. Whatever your fears this morning are, I want you to hear Jesus saying, Do not fear, only believe. Cast your fears on him. He will strengthen your weak faith. He will carry you through. He was arrested for you. He was beaten for you. He was mocked and spit upon for you. He wore a crown of thorns for you. He was crucified for you. And he defeated sin and death for you. And then he sent his spirit to strengthen you. Look to him and trust him. This Jesus is for you and he loves you. Will you believe in him? Let's pray. Abba Father, holy God, we have been reminded three weeks now of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. That He is indeed God of God. That He controls nature and the spiritual realm and death itself. That He's sovereign over it all. And we've heard three weeks now of His compassion, of His grace for sinners like us. Would you teach us to trust Him? To believe in Him, not to fear Him, but to come to Him. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your grace to us. So in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's respond to God's word and stand and sing, Man of Sorrows, what a name. Please stand.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Thank you for listening to the Lake Martin Presbyterian Church podcast. If this message encouraged you, please consider sharing it with someone else. To learn more about our church, including worship times and upcoming events, visit LakemartinPCA.com. We'd love to have you join us.