30 January 2024 Mark 5:21-43
Jesus didn’t trust crowds, and might not think much of giant churches either.
Throughout Mark 4 Jesus kept the crowds at a distance – they were on the shore, He was on a boat. He didn’t want the crowd too close, because crowds would always try to overwhelm him with their own agenda – “Jesus heal me! Jesus, I was here first, heal me! Jesus, come to my uncle’s house, he’s sick! Jesus, help us get rid of the Romans!” Jesus’ message was heaven, bigger than all those concerns, better than all those worries, and to unpack all that took time and attention. Crowds are bad at time and attention.
When Jesus returned from the gentile territory on the east side of the Sea of Galilee (where he had only healed one person, and the only crowd had begged him to go away) another large crowd immediately gathered and Jesus “stayed close to the sea” (Mark 5:21). He was ready to get back in the boat again, and speak to the people from there. That’s when an unexpected person turned up – Jairus, a synagogue leader whose daughter was ill and dying. Synagogue leaders were part of the group that didn’t like or trust Jesus, and considered him a dangerous radical. But Jairus’ daughter was dying, and what wouldn’t you do, what wouldn’t you try to save your dying child? Jairus couldn’t resist all the reports of Jesus the healer, and so he came, looked into Jesus' face, begged him to come and heal his daughter, and Jesus went (5:22-4).
The crowd went, too, pressing upon Jesus, tugging at his sleeves: “Jesus heal me! Jesus, I was here first, heal me! Jesus, are we going to my uncle’s house now?” They were still more concerned with their own agenda than with Jesus’.
One woman, however, touched the fringe of his garment. That was all she wanted, just to touch the hem of his cloak. She’d had a gynecological problem for twelve years that had ruined her health and her finances, but she thought, “Just one touch, he doesn’t need to notice, that’s all I need.”
In that pushing and jostling mob, that was the one touch that Jesus felt, that brush on the fringe of his garment. And in the pushing and jostling mob, that woman was the one person Jesus spoke to, face to face: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (5:34).
Jesus didn’t trust crowds because salvation doesn’t happen in mobs. It happens face to face, one at a time, looking into the face of Jesus and saying, “I trust you. I trust you with my life. Please….”
At that moment word came that Jairus’ daughter had died. Jesus looked at Jairus, and said, “Trust me!” Jairus looked back and said, “I trust you. Please….” (5:36). Jesus wouldn’t let the crowd enter the town where Jairus lived. The people at Jairus’ house just laughed at Jesus, so they didn’t get to see what happened either. He only took Jairus, his wife, and three disciples, spoke only two words to the dead girl, “Talitha cum” (one of only three quotes of Jesus speaking in his native language, 5:41), and she wasn’t dead anymore.
There were only five witnesses. They had all looked into the face of Jesus and said, “I trust you.” The crowd hadn’t. Jesus didn’t trust crowds.
To this day, crowds are less likely to listen, and more likely to just yell. The love, peace, and power of Jesus take time and attention, and that happens best in smaller groups, where people are more likely to look into the face of Jesus and say, “I trust you. Please….” There is a reason why Jesus said, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Not a thousand, just two or more, saying, “I trust you. I trust you with my life. Please….”
Jesus still dealt with crowds and taught crowds. He teaches and blesses churches, even giant ones. Moments of salvation, vision, inspiration, however, are much more likely to be smaller affairs, just a few, looking into Jesus’ face and saying, “I trust you. I trust you with my life. Please….”
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