Lesson 8

Beyond All Hope Part II

Mark 5:21–43

 

Son of Man, Son of God

Studies in Mark’s Gospel

 

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

Jesus and His disciples had experienced a thoroughly exhausting yet powerful time.  It was one of opposition, victory, and sadly rejection.  The first person to meet them as they arrived on the other side of the sea was none but the remains of a man who had been severely tormented by a multitude of demons.  The demons bowed in homage to Jesus and identified who He was, begged Him not to torture them, even though they had tortured this poor man.  Jesus showed great mercy to him and cast the demons out of him and into a nearby herd of swine.  Rather than being the demons’ deliverance, it resulted in their destruction as the sea choked them all, one by one.  The reaction of the townspeople to this was foolish, for they begged Jesus to leave their area immediately.  Ham and eggs were much more important to them than the salvation of the man and of themselves!  Although rejected by these Gentiles, Jesus had a new follower in the once-demon possessed man who was healed and completely restored.  Rather than allowing him to become one of His disciples and accompany them, Jesus sent him off as the first missionary to the Gentiles, which was significant for Mark’s readers as they too had been reached by a Jewish missionary, bringing them the good news of the awesome mercy and compassion of God.  We saw in this man a picture of our own history, as we were at one point beyond all hope, yet God worked wondrously to bring us to Himself because of that same mercy and compassion.

 

In the second half of Mark 5 we will see the theme continued of Jesus ministering to those who seemed beyond all hope: a begging father who beyond even imagination risked all to reach out to Jesus for the sake of his darling dying daughter; and also an indirectly begging woman who likewise took a tremendous risk to seek help from Jesus for an help with an impossible to cure health problem.  Let’s see what we can learn as we examine these peoples’ experiences as well as our own.

 

DAY ONE:  A Begging, Anguished Father

Please carefully read Mark 5:21-24 and answer the following questions.

 

1.  What was the reception Jesus received when He returned to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (v. 21)?

 

2.  Rather than a demon-possessed man, who met Jesus this time (v. 22)?

 

3.  The name Jairus means “whom Jehovah enlightens,”[i] and indeed it is very fitting because most of the religious leaders had rejected Jesus, as we have already seen.  Jairus would have been a Pharisee, for as the Temple was under the leadership of the Sadducees, the synagogue was the realm of the Pharisees.[ii]  The duty of the Ruler of the Synagogue was to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to examine the discourses of the public speakers, and to see that all things were done with decency and in accordance with ancestral use.[iii]  Thus to come to Jesus would have been very humbling for him, and not only that, but it could have endangered his position.[iv]

 

How did this prestigious man address Jesus, and what was Jesus’ response (v. 23, 24)?

 

4.  Jairus’ daughter was clearly dying; the Greek phrase here literally says she was “at the last extremity” of her illness.  Yet somehow Jairus had heard of Jesus, and believed that even in such a hopeless situation, He could heal her.  God honors our faith, small though it may be.  What are some things that the following passages tell us about this?

 

Matthew 17:20; 21:21

Mark 9:23, 24

Romans 1:17; 3:22-28; 5:1, 2

Hebrews 11:1, 2, 6

 

Scripture Memory:  As a special holiday treat, this week we will be memorizing a short but awesome verse, v. 36c.  Review the passage several times throughout the day each day this week, and by the end of the week, you should have it memorized completely.

           

“Don't be afraid. Just trust me.”  Mark 5: 36c (nlt)