Words of Comfort

"He understands."

THERE JESUS IS, looking for you, looking at you, and you know what just transpired. Fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in you, you fall down before Him and blurt out the truth. I see myself in this story. It doesn’t say the woman was confident and bold, although faith put her in that crowd where she wasn’t supposed to be. I use the word “faith” because she believed in what she’d heard. But faith worketh by love. What she felt that enabled her to overcome being afraid was love, whether she understood that or not.

“And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.” (Mark 5:32-33)

There are those who’d like their miracle on center stage. Me and this woman are not one. She turned the gazes of the crowd anyhow. She was broke, having spent all her money. She was sicker than she’d ever been. What would it hurt to pursue this man who healed everyone? She was confident in that. There’s something that happens to your mind when you face certain death. It is boldness, but in a way that no one NOT in your shoes could ever relate. And this woman was dying. Except at that moment, her heart pounding, her stomach in a knot, she wasn’t and knew it. She didn’t need a doctor to tell her what her heart and her body already knew.

Same chapter we see Jairus, a ruler in the synagogue, following Jesus back to his home when people he knows stop him to say his daughter had died. Jesus bid him hold silent and keep walking. He obeyed, a difficult thing. What was going through his mind? His precious daughter is dead. Heartache. What good will this do? His legs heavy, his emotions a weight. But Jesus says, “Do not be afraid.” It doesn’t say if he was, but how could you not have fear right in your face? In your ear. I’m sure it didn’t help to see the mourners when they arrived at his home. We’d react the same way. The length of the journey becomes hard. Though we know the Word and quote the Word, on time number 1,000, when things are still the same, our mind is going in every direction.

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?” (Mark 5:35)

Did you know his response and the woman’s reaction were not sinful?

As an example, when Jesus was twelve, He didn’t follow His parents home from Jerusalem but stayed behind. They went a day’s travel before they realized it and turned back. Then we’re told they were three days looking for Him before finding Him in the temple. Add to this scene, their frustration, “Where have you been? We were worried!” And His reply, “Didn’t you know I’d be about my Father’s business?” In modern lingo, He’s gettin’ the donkey keys taken away. Except the Bible says Jesus never sinned, so none of that was sin (Hebrews 4:15).

We’ve overdefined sin, and add to that, the devil has over-dramatized it in many ways. He wants you to think things are sin that aren’t just to make you feel guilty and condemned. In reverse, he’s made criticism and strife acceptable if it has a “godly purpose.” Except the apostle Paul said not to even use the way you eat to make someone else feel guilty (1 Corinthians 8:13). Even if you’re right and they are wrong. So, all the fear and doubt and shaking and trembling the woman with the issue of blood suffered and Jairus, ruler of the synagogue suffered, required no repentance, no forgiveness, but instead, we read Jesus’ words of comfort.

“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” (Mark 5:34)

“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)

In our seeking, there are uphills and downhills, impossible river crossings, immense storms, and a lot of thoughts going in and out of our head that make the path we’re on seem wrong. But read the twenty-third psalm again. That sheep had had its soul restored and had been placed on the right path to follow the Shepherd, the Lord, who had all the authority and guidance they’d ever need, PLUS a table of full supply was set before him, right in the presence of the enemy. That doesn’t mean the sheep didn’t see the shadow of death or get tired of the long journey or become hungry and need a bite to eat. And the Shepherd, the Lord, didn’t abandon him there to fend for himself either.

He gets us. He is one of us. He never sinned, but He saw it all around Him and showed mercy. He never spoke incorrectly but wept and angered and laughed. He healed everyone that came to him in multitudes which numbered in the thousands. He became so tired He was asleep in a waterlogged boat during a storm. And I thought I could sleep through anything. He was also there when the mourners cried out over Jairus’ daughter. When He said, “She isn’t dead, just sleeping,” they laughed at Him (Mark 5:39). He called forth Lazarus out of the grave, although it’d been four days. That boy was d-e-a-d dead then standing right in front of Him.

These are the words of Isaiah, the prophet:
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

The Knox Translation puts it this way:

“A victim? Yet he himself bows to the stroke; no word comes from him. Sheep led away to the slaughter-house, lamb that stands dumb while it is shorn; no word comes from him.”

They mocked Him and spit on Him. The people rejoiced to see Him beaten. He was so weakened by it, they asked a man on the roadside to carry His cross (Mark 15:21). Then for Him to hang on the cross and be unable to die boggles the mind. He deliberately stayed alive until the Spirit bid Him release His spirit (Luke 23:46). None of that was BECAUSE OF sin, but all of that was FOR sin. He understands all our “griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) … our sorrows and pains [of punishment]” (Isaiah 53:4 AMPC). He was taken to the top of the temple in a demonic vision and had suicide shoved in His face. “Throw yourself down (Luke 4:9).”

He knew who He was though. The woman with the issue of blood knew who He was. Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, knew who He was. None of them allowed what their mind and emotions did to them to cause them to let go of the truth. Because of her trust in God’s faithfulness, the woman was completely healed and went home in peace. Because he stayed silent and followed Jesus in what was a valley-of-the-shadow-of-death moment, Jairus’ daughter lived. Because Jesus suffered and died, He rose again and is alive forevermore.

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” (Philippians 4:1)

Patience requires being patient and enduring whatever we are going through. Endurance is fortitude sustained by peace. It means leaning on Jesus in our times of weakness and finding in the Holy Spirit strength. Victory comes and our waiting becomes the fulfillment of the promise. But sometimes, that particular moment of waiting on that particular seemingly cloudy day feels much harder than it is, except for our strength of heart, knowing God is for us and He is with us, and He understands. Any other thing we hear that sounds different is a lie and the work of the enemy, the devil. God’s Word is truth, and Jesus is the Word. We can rest our minds on Him and know whatever tries to make us waver isn’t greater than the Spirit of God who lives inside us. Who came to live with us forever because Jesus withstood the horrors of death in order to give us the peace and safety of God’s everlasting life.

“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.” (Psalms 119:68)

“The Eternal is good to all who look to him, and his compassion covers all that he has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

Jude 1:22, RIV, Rick Renner
“For some, it is essential that you be moved with compassion, which does more than simply feel sorry about their plight; you must let compassion move you to take action—to do whatever you can to make a difference for those who are doubting, uncertain, vacillating, wavering back and forth, and wobbling in their faith.”

Image by Betty Verheij from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com