Mark 5

The Explanation

The boat scraped onto the shore, and the men climbed out. It was quiet there. Too quiet. Between the rocks stood the tombs, the caves where dead people were buried. And out of those caves came a man, running.

Everybody in that country knew him. He screamed day and night. He cut himself with sharp stones. People had tried to tie him up with chains, but he snapped them like string. Nobody was strong enough to hold him.

Would you have stayed standing there? Jesus did. The man ran right up to him and fell down at his feet. A voice screamed out of him: "What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God?"

Inside that man were evil spirits, many of them. "My name is Legion," they said, "for we are many." A legion was a whole army. But Jesus only had to speak, and out they went, into a herd of pigs on the hillside. Two thousand pigs went thundering down the slope into the sea.

The men watching the pigs ran to town. Everyone came to look. And there sat the wild man, with clothes on, calm, talking like anybody else. The people got scared and asked Jesus to please go away. But the man begged, "Let me come with you!" Jesus said no. "Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you." So he went, and everyone who heard him was amazed.

Back across the water, a crowd was waiting. A man named Jairus pushed through and fell at Jesus' feet. "My little daughter is dying. Please come." Jesus went with him. The crowd squeezed in from all sides.

In that crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had gone to doctor after doctor. Her money was gone and she only got worse. She thought: if I just touch his clothes, I will be well. She reached out one finger and touched the edge of his coat. And she felt it. Inside her body, the sickness stopped.

Jesus turned around. "Who touched my clothes?" The disciples said, everybody is touching you! But the woman came, shaking, and told him the whole truth. Jesus did not scold her. He called her "Daughter." "Your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

While he was still speaking, men came from Jairus' house. "Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the Teacher any more." Jairus' heart must have dropped like a stone. Jesus said to him, "Don't be afraid, only believe."

At the house everyone was crying out loud. Jesus said, "The child is not dead, but is asleep." They laughed at him. He sent them all outside and took the mother and father into the room. He took the girl's cold hand and said two words in his own language: "Talitha cumi." Girl, I tell you, get up.

She opened her eyes. She stood up. She walked. And Jesus said, give her something to eat.

What Does This Mean?

Look at who came to Jesus in this chapter. A screaming man from the graves. A sick woman with no money left. A father whose daughter had died. Nobody could fix any of them. Chains could not hold the man. Doctors could not heal the woman. Death had already taken the girl.

And every single time, Jesus was stronger. Not by fighting. By speaking. A few words, and the storm inside a man went quiet. A touch of his coat, and twelve years of sickness ended.

The Common Thread

God had promised to send a Rescuer, and here he is, walking on the shore and through the crowd. Jesus is not afraid of evil, of sickness, or of death. Later he would die himself, and get up again, so that "Talitha cumi" could one day be said to all his people.

For You

Jesus told the man: go home and tell your friends what God did for you. You can do that too. Think of one good thing God gave you this week. Tell someone at your table about it tonight.

And if something scares you, remember Jairus. Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, only believe." You can whisper that to yourself in bed.

Talk About It

Which of the three people in this chapter would you most like to have been, and why?

Jesus said no when the man asked to come along in the boat. Why do you think that was?

Praying Together

Lord Jesus, you are stronger than everything that scares us. Thank you that you noticed one woman in a huge crowd. Notice us too. Help us to believe you and not be afraid. Amen.