God the Disruptor: How Faith and Grace Transform Our Lives

This last Sunday, as I listened intently to the sermon of a visiting Pastor, I was truly moved in my spirit. This Pastor not only brought the fire of God to our Church, but the words he spoke were absolute fire. I have been meditating and pondering ever since. His sermon was about faith and its many manifestations, using the book of Mark to demonstrate his point. As I have pondered—really thinking about how my faith has shown up in my own life—I zeroed in on the specific passage he referred to: Mark 5:21-34. That passage in Mark specifically focuses on two different types of faith. Two different, yet equally potent types of faith that yielded two different outcomes—both utterly miraculous in their own right.

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman—Mark 5:21-34

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So, Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had. Yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately, her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet, trembling with fear, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

As you see from this scripture, Jairus, a dignitary among the religious elite and overseer of the synagogue, undoubtedly heard the jealous and envious rumblings from the Pharisees regarding Jesus. He may have even partaken in those rumblings at one point, fearing retribution. Yet, when faced with the death of his daughter, he made a choice to seek Jesus out, knowing—despite those same rumblings—that Jesus was the only hope he had to save his little girl. As the scripture says, Jairus sought Jesus amidst the large crowd and, with faith, made his request known. He asked for Jesus to follow him and lay hands on his daughter, believing that she would be healed and raised. His faith was active!

Before Jesus could attend to Jairus' daughter, he was met by a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve long years. We don't know her name; we know her by her actions and the multi-level miracle they unleashed. She had sought medical assistance to the point of poverty. What further exacerbated her suffering was the law of the land at the time, which deemed her ritually unclean because of the bleeding. Considering the historical context of the Law, this meant she lost everyone she loved—her family, her friends, her community, and even God to a certain extent. She was unable to worship or attend synagogue because of her affliction. She had essentially been outcast.

When you begin to walk closely with Christ, you swiftly develop an understanding that all things in your life have been designed by and are part of God's hands and plan. They bring you to a moment of divine desperation... a nexus moment, where your need is so great that there is only One who can intervene and provide you a miracle. This woman, for twelve years, had been trying to find healing according to her flesh, leaning on her own understanding and slowly becoming an outcast. But it was all by God's design. He had a plan for both Jairus and this woman—He always does.

You see, both Jairus and this woman knew who Jesus was and what He was capable of. Both sought Jesus for divine intervention. But here is the difference: Jairus, when humbling himself before Him, declared His lordship and asked for the miracle of healing for his daughter by Jesus laying hands on her. The nameless woman, however, presumably left her own town to reach Jesus. In a moment of divine desperation, she declared to herself, knowing that if she touched His person, He would be ritually unclean. She thought, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed!” She touched His tallit, the four tassels that hang at the bottom of the ceremonial shawl worn by rabbis. These not only represent the commands of God and His power but also the finger of God. She touched the finger of God.

This passage goes on to tell us that power immediately left Jesus, and she was healed. Both earnestly sought, by faith, the miraculous healing He was known for. Both received their miracle, but only one was made whole—a full restoration. Both required a touch from God, but only one sought to touch Jesus rather than Him touching them. She reached out and touched the hem of His garment. She was healed immediately, but the true measure of the miraculous occurred a few short moments later. When Jesus demanded to know who had touched Him, she confessed. Her boldness led to her healing, yes, but Jesus did not chastise her. Instead, He called her daughter, and that is the moment she was not only healed but made whole—a complete restoration. That's the difference: both received their miracle, Jairus' daughter raised, but only one was made whole and new.

I believe this is why she remains nameless—to emphasize the message within her miracle: Jesus will leave the 99 to go after the 1. To those who have not seen and yet believe, to those who are bold enough to look beyond circumstance and chase after Him as if He is their only hope—which, of course, He is—to those who refuse the status quo, bravely pushing through the crowd of societal expectations and what the world deems acceptable with gumption to reach Him will experience another level of the miraculous in their lives.

I live a quiet life, happily serving the Lord, seeking Him and chasing Him with everything I have. I can attest to the miraculous exploding in my life, even in ordinary moments. His peace and joy are the foundation on which I stand—firm and immovable in my faith—so on hard days, I am not shaken. I cannot adequately describe the beauty in that steadiness, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the reason. My prayer for this world is that He becomes their reason too. God is in the details; look for Him there.

Daughter, go in peace-- Your faith has made you well.