Step out of the Crowd (part III)

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

So here's take-home number two:

Jesus sees all of us, not just the parts that we want him to see.

I don’t know about you guys, but there are definitely parts of my life that I don’t really want anyone to know about. We all have those… areas of guilt or shame, deeply hidden brokenness… that we don’t want people to see!

But Jesus listens to this woman tell the whole story… the whole truth… ugly and glaring as it might be… hurtful and painful as it might be… He wants to see everything. The whole truth laid bare. And the best part is… even hearing the whole story, his response to her is a response of freedom and transformation. And then he continues, in the story, to give the same gift to Jarius...

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said, “Why bother the teacher any more?” Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe…

Have you ever felt like Jesus was so busy taking care of other people that he didn’t have time for you? That your prayers had gone unheard? That Jesus didn’t care about personal relationship with you? My guess is that that's just a little bit of what Jarius is feeling here... but Jesus keeps going...

When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ).

Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. (Adapted from Mark 5:21-42)

Jesus intimately sees each character in this story. Not only that, but he speaks to the heart of who they are and what they need. In the same way, he wants to personally speak to and address your need and your heart. So my question for you is, which character would you be?

The bleeding woman: burdened by guilt or shame, feels ostracized because of her uncleanness. Her “dirtiness” affects the way that she views herself and the ways that she interacts with others.

Jarius: the guy who has always been religious, who knows the right answers, always has believed in God, and is asking Jesus for healing, but Jesus doesn’t seem to be coming fast enough. Maybe deep down, you struggle to believe that God cares about you. Maybe you’re angry because it seems like God is not answering your prayers.

Jarius’ daughter: desperately in need of healing, but it seems like Jesus is un-concerned. In fact, now it feels like it’s too late for you. You no longer think that Jesus has anything to offer you and you’ve become apathetic.

Peter, James, John: You are observers to Jesus’ power, you seen personally how Jesus cares for individuals, and now you are beginning to wonder about his calling for you to do as he does and care for others in the ways that he does…

…or perhaps you have become so accustomed to Jesus’ message, his personal pursuit and his power, that they no longer amaze you. You use the words “personal relationship with Jesus” so often that they have lost meaning for you.

Often times, I think I identify most with the bleeding woman. I feel like the ways that I have messed up, the hurts in my past should keep me away from real relationship with Jesus or with others. And I hide as a result. But this is not a new theme...

Way back in time, in the Garden of Eden, God created man and woman. He created them to be in relationship with one another and with Himself. And he said it was good. YOU were designed to be fully known and fully loved. And that’s deeply ingrained in our own personal, human longing for relationship.

But Adam and Eve chose to place themselves above God, to value their own desires above his plan. Ironically, this is the root of narcissism, in the absence of truly being known and cared for as an individual.

Christians sometimes like to use heavy-hitting words, such as “sin” to describe Adam and Eve’s actions. But, sin, at its most basic level, means “broken relationship.” And by disobeying him, choosing themselves over him, they broke relationship with God. They felt the shame of that, and a result, they hid. In the same way that I hide my brokenness from others, they hid by covering themselves with fig leaves.

It wasn’t just a “oh cool, fig leaves! new fashion trend!” move, but an attempt to hide from their shame. To flee from intimacy with God and with one another. To cover themselves. And that sin, or broken relationship is still present in our lives today. We still bear the marks of that damage.

We see it in… broken families… broken relationships… broken racial relationships… abuse and assault… broken relationship with the environment… injustice in the world… broken body image and view of others… eating disorders… wars… hatred... social injustice.

And we hide as a result. Sure, our hiding places don’t look very fig-leafy… but they are hiding places none-the-less. And the truth is, Jesus sees all of that junk… just like he sees each character in this story… not just the parts of us that we want him to see…