It’s great, isn’t it, when there’s a movie and you have two very different people who are drawn together for a common goal. In Lord of the Rings, you’ve got Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf. They are unlikely allies. The elves and dwarves are ancient enemies with a long history of resentment and mistrust. But in the third movie, in The Return of the King, there’s this great moment where Gimli looks at Legolas and says, “I never thought I’d die fighting side by side with an elf.” And Legolas replies and says, “How about side by side with a friend?” It’s this great moment in a great film. We love it when this happens. It creates these great moments. It creates this great drama.
Let me give you some other examples. This might show my age a bit. There’s:
- Shrek and Donkey.
- Will Turner and Jack Sparrow.
- Hiccup and Toothless. Such a great movie.
- Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
- Woody and Buzz.
Isn’t it great when different people come together? But it’s not just movies. Of course, there are great moments and great dramas brought about in a marriage when two very different people are drawn together. When it comes to me and my wife Morgan, one of us is mature and wise and grounded and resilient and stunningly beautiful. And the other one is sitting just over there. Love you, darling. There are great moments. There’s great drama when two very different people are drawn together. And that is exactly what happens in this part of the Bible.
First, we have Jairus, the synagogue leader. This is the guy that you want your kid to grow up to be like. He has power. He has authority. He’s well-respected. He’s high on the social ladder. And then there’s this unnamed woman. The Chosen video did a good job at highlighting her position in society. She is rejected. She’s isolated. She’s at the bottom of the social ladder. Two very different people who are drawn together towards Jesus.
Here’s the plan. We’re going to see three ways in this passage that they’re drawn together, three ways their stories are linked. We’ve got the despair and the reach and the reversal. Or if you want some more memorable words, here’s the structure I really wanted to give. There’s the chasm, the mustard seed, and the soy sauce. A bit more memorable. And as we work our way through this passage, through these three ways, here’s what I hope will happen. Here’s what I’ve been praying will happen: that God will speak through his word into the lives of those here with a tired faith, those here with strong faith, those here with faith that’s just barely holding on, and those here who don’t yet have faith.
God will speak through his word into the lives of those here with a tired faith. Those here with strong faith, those here with faith that’s just barely holding on, and those here who don’t yet have faith.
If you’re here with tired faith, I hope that God’s word will refresh you. Just yesterday morning, we took our dog Smithers for quite a long walk. And when we left, it was warm. But when we got back, it was very hot. We were sweaty spaghettis. After walking through the front door, the first thing we did is went to the fridge and had a deep drink of cold water. We refreshed ourselves. And we put some ice in Smither’s dog bowl as well, of course. If you’re here with tired faith, I hope that God’s word will refresh you just like that.
If you’re here with strong faith, then I hope that God’s word will prepare you. Because one of the promises that Jesus makes to his followers is that we will suffer and face trouble. In the same way that you might prepare for a marathon or something, I hope God’s word today will prepare you for those upcoming moments or seasons of trouble.
If you’re here with faith that’s just barely holding on, thanks. Thank you for being here. Thanks for listening. I hope that God’s word will gently lift you back on your feet. I hope that Jesus’s words in Matthew 11 will ring true for you, that he really is gentle, he really is lowly, and in him you can find rest for your soul.
And if you’re here and you don’t yet have faith, I hope that God’s word will convince you. Because alongside the trouble that Jesus promises, he also promises transcendent joy and peace and comfort and satisfaction and forgiveness that only he can give. God’s word has the power to do all of that and more. Let’s jump in together. The chasm, the mustard seed, and the soy sauce.
The Chasm
The first thing that links Jairus and this woman is the utter despair and the desperation they’re facing. They are at the bottom of the chasm. For Jairus, he has had 12 years alongside his daughter and suddenly she’s sick and about to die. Twelve years of increasing love and joy and connection and fun, and then all at once it’s about to be ripped away. Just utter despair. And remember the Jewish religious leaders at this point of the story, they’re not fans of Jesus at all. They’ve already decided that they need to kill him back in Mark chapter 3. And yet Jairus, the leader of the local synagogue, comes to find Jesus. There’s utter desperation. He’s there at the bottom of the chasm and he can go no lower.
Down there too is this unnamed woman. Her story also takes place over 12 years, but for her it’s been 12 agonizing years of suffering. We’re actually given quite a lot of detail about this woman to push us towards understanding just how desperate she is. Not only has she been sick for 12 years, have a look at verse 26. She’s also suffered a great deal from many doctors. It’s quite easy to go and find some historical sources on what medical practices at this time would look like, but you shouldn’t go looking for them if you have a weak stomach. A very quick glance at some diagrams or some descriptions is all you need to understand how she could suffer at the hands of many doctors.
But it goes on, she was financially desperate, too. She had spent all her money. And then we learn that it would have been better for her if she just tried nothing at all because the doctors only made it worse. But perhaps hardest of all is the hidden suffering she faced, the suffering that isn’t clear at first from the text, the suffering that the Chosen video did a really good job of highlighting and bringing out. For 12 years, she was totally isolated from community because she was ceremonially unclean.
When we come to the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament, it’s all about how God’s people are ceremonially clean and unclean and how that happens. There are three keys to help us unlock what’s happening to this woman.
- Key number one: There were lots of ways to become ceremonially unclean. And one of them was losing blood. It wasn’t a sin, but it would make you ceremonially unclean. Of course, that meant for women that would happen every month. And for this woman, it happened constantly.
- Key number two: Once the bleeding stopped or whatever it was that made you unclean had stopped or enough time had passed, the way to become ceremonially clean again was for a priest to make a sacrifice on your behalf. This was never an option for this woman.
- And so number three: If you were ceremonially unclean like this woman was, anyone that you touched physically would also then become unclean. This is why the man in the video insists that she leaves. She’s infectious, she’s dangerous, and that is the attitude she faced for 12 years.
In the United Nations human rights documentation, one of the Mandela rules prohibits the use of solitary confinement for more than 15 days. You’re not allowed to leave a prisoner in solitary confinement for more than 15 days because some of the psychological effects become irreversible. It’s basically torture. Humans need social interaction. We need community. It’s easy to find that truth throughout the Bible and throughout scientific literature. And it’s obvious from our own lives. If 15 days is enough to unravel someone… this woman wasn’t locked in a cell. But gosh, being untouchable and socially unacceptable because of something out of her control, that sounds just as crushing, if not more. She’s there at the bottom of the chasm. She can go no lower.
Jairus and this woman, two very different people, they hit rock bottom. Utter despair, crushing desperation.
Jairus and this woman, two very different people, they hit rock bottom. Utter despair, crushing desperation. The light at the top of the chasm is starting to go dim. There’s no ladder. There’s no jetpack. There’s no plan B or, by this point, plan W. Their own strength is completely drained and they’re helpless. What do they do? They both reach for help. They both reach for Jesus.
The Mustard Seed
Jairus’s Faith
Have a look at verse 22 there in your Bibles. Jairus comes to Jesus. He falls on his knees and he begs Jesus for help. He begs Jesus, this new enemy of the Jewish religious leaders. He abandons his team and crosses the battlefield and he has faith that Jesus can do it. Have a look at verse 23. He says, “Please come and lay your hands on her, heal her so that she can live.” He knows that Jesus can do this. And so he asks.
Now at this point, you can imagine the relief and the hope building up as Jesus says yes and starts to walk with him. But you can also imagine that relief and hope just dwindling away like a bathtub when its plug is slightly lifted because first there’s this crowd that slows Jesus down. One of the reasons we get out of the way for an ambulance is because every minute counts. And here’s Jesus pushing his way through a crowd. Come on, man. And then Jesus pauses and seems to ask a moronic question. Jairus is surely thinking what the disciples say out loud. “What do you mean, who touched you? There’s a whole crowd here touching you. Come on, Jesus. We got to go.”
Then the plug is yanked out and tossed away because the messengers arrive. “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the teacher anymore.” How strong do you think Jairus’s faith was at this point? We don’t have to guess. Verse 36 gives us the answer when Jesus says to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, just have faith.” On the screen here is the original Greek words behind that verse. Here they are. Mē phobou, monon pisteue. And it just means stop fearing, only believe. There are lots of different types of Greek verbs, and these ones are called imperatives. They’re commands. Jesus is commanding Jairus, “Stop fearing, only believe.” That is the kind of command to give to someone whose fear has overtaken their faith.
That makes sense, right? Jairus was already believing in the difficult, that Jesus could heal his daughter. Now Jesus is asking him to believe the impossible. He’s afraid. And yet Jesus commands him, “Stop fearing. Only believe. Replace your fear with faith.” The picture here is not Jairus at the bottom of a chasm jumping up and down calling out to Jesus, reaching up trying to weave ropes out of his hair or do anything to help with the rescue mission. The picture is Jairus lying at the bottom of a chasm, voice a mere whisper, reaching out to Jesus as the light above is vanishing. That’s the picture.
How strong is Jairus’s faith? It is feeble and it is failing. How much is left in the bathtub? Just a few little drops near the plug hole. You might even say that at this point his faith is as small as a mustard seed. That’s the language that Jesus uses elsewhere. In fact, he says in Matthew chapter 17 that faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains. Keep that in your head. We’ll come back to that in a moment.
The Woman’s Faith
Let’s see together how the woman’s faith is the same, how Jairus and this woman are linked. It’s easier for us to know what’s happening in the woman’s heart and mind because the text tells us. Have a look at verse 27. She’s heard about Jesus and his miracles. And so verse 28, her plan is to touch Jesus’s magic robe. This is very in line with first-century superstition to touch the holy person’s clothes and power will come out like static electricity or something. She has faith, but this isn’t theologically precise faith. This isn’t faith in response to Jesus’s teaching. This is weak, muddy faith mixed in with fear and superstition. That’s what this is. You might even say it’s faith as small as a mustard seed, which Jesus says elsewhere is enough to move mountains. She has faith as small as a mustard seed.
And yet, surprisingly, I think Jesus pulls her out of the crowd to tell her, to make sure she knows that her mustard seed faith is the reason that she was healed. Do you see that? Have a look at verse 34. A beautiful verse. He calls her “daughter.” This is the only time in all four gospels where Jesus calls a woman daughter. It’s a fitting title for one who is a part of the family who has a loving heavenly father. He says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Your weak, muddy faith mixed in with fear and superstition has healed you.
Can you see what’s happening here? Can you feel the significance of what Jesus is saying about faith here? It’s not the size or the strength of your faith that matters, but who your faith is in. That’s what he’s saying.
I heard a great analogy from this preacher over in America, but it involved bears and frozen lakes. I’ve changed it to resonate with us here a bit more. Imagine there are three people and they’re camping out in the Blue Mountains and in the middle of the night they wake up in panic and outside the bush is just on fire. They leave their tents, they jump in their car and they race back to the entrance of the campsite. When they get to the river where the entrance is, when they get to the bridge, the bridge is already starting to catch on fire. The first person looks at the bridge and they think, “I think we’re going to make it. It’s going to be okay. I’m feeling pretty confident. We’re going to drive across this bridge. It’ll be okay.” The second person is like, “Gosh, I’m not sure. 50/50. I’m really not sure what’s going to happen.” The third person is like, “There’s no way. We’re going to die. It’s game over. This bridge is going to collapse as soon as we go on it.”
With a fire right behind them, what choice do they have? The driver puts the car into gear and slowly drives onto the bridge which holds. They all make it across. Which of the three people was the most saved? Is it the first person who was more confident, who had a stronger faith? Were they more saved? No. It had nothing to do with the size of their faith, but everything to do with how strong the bridge was. How much faith did these three people need in the bridge for it to save them? Just enough to step on the accelerator. How much faith did the woman need for Jesus to save her? Just enough to come to him. How much faith did Jairus need for Jesus to raise his daughter back to life? Just enough to walk home next to Jesus after receiving the message that it was already too late.
It’s not the size or the strength of your faith that matters, but who your faith is in.
It’s not the size or the strength of your faith that matters, but who your faith is in. Isn’t this just really, really good news for those of us who have tired faith and need refreshment? Isn’t this just really good news for those of us who have strong faith and need to prepare for our future mustard seed moments? Isn’t this just particularly incredible news for those of us who have faith that is barely holding on and need to be gently lifted back to our feet? And isn’t this just the best news you’ll ever hear for those who haven’t yet put their faith in Jesus and need to be convinced? It’s not the size of your faith that matters. It’s not the strength of your faith that matters. Who cares when someone says, “I could never have faith like that person.” That’s not how it works. It’s okay to have doubts and to fear and to fail and to be confused and to backslide. It’s okay to have weak and muddy faith because all that matters is that our faith is in Jesus.
The Soy Sauce
The third link between Jairus and the woman is the reversal or the soy sauce. A few years ago, we had a prolonged staycation as our world started to navigate COVID. Morgan and I were living in our tiny little unit in Parramatta and we ran out of toilet paper a few times. I played a lot of video games while she went to work at the hospital. Right at the start, I just remember, you might remember too, there was a lot of confusion about how COVID was spread. One of the theories was it was spread by contact, by surfaces. Remember all the Glen 20 and wipes that we used?
One of the really dramatic moments in the Chosen video, which draws out this info from the passage, is when the woman enters the crowd to get to Jesus. It’s a big deal because she is ceremonially unclean. She’s going to infect the whole crowd. Like, how dare she? And yet, when she touches Jesus, something amazing happens. Her uncleanness doesn’t infect Jesus, but Jesus’s cleanness infects her. The pattern and the system that God gave his people in the book of Leviticus is reversing. Jesus’s blessing to this woman is holistic. When he says, “Go in peace. Your suffering is over,” not only has he physically healed her and I think spiritually brought her back to him, but also for the first time in 12 years, she can go to the temple. She can rejoin her community. Her suffering is over. It’s such a beautiful moment.
But you know what else made you ceremonially unclean back then? Touching a corpse. When Jesus finally gets to Jairus’s house, what does he do? He walks to the girl’s bedroom and he holds her hand. He touches her. Why? Jesus’s miracles are not restricted by proximity or by touch. He does it to show Jairus and to show all of us that even death cannot overcome Jesus. As Jesus holds her hand, the torrent of life from the Son of God pours into her and she is physically, historically brought back to life. That’s why the last little detail in verse 43 is there, because only alive people need something to eat.
The woman and Jairus, two completely different people, both experience this reversal that only Jesus can do. Imagine with me that every sin, every selfish moment, every word and action and thought against God becomes a blot of soy sauce on your clothes. There’s the soy sauce, if you’re wondering. I, Miles, would be wearing filthy, sin-stained, dripping rags. And so would all of you. So would everyone in the whole world except for Jesus. He’s perfect. He would be wearing pristine white everything. If my experience of doing the laundry has taught me anything, it’s very natural for us to think that when I ask Jesus to forgive me and when he unites himself to me, he embraces me, that my soy sauce-drenched rags would ruin his or at least stain it. But it’s the other way around.
When I trust Jesus to forgive my sin with my weak, muddy faith, my soy sauce blots vanish and I get Jesus’s pristine white clothes. He declares me righteous.
When I trust Jesus to forgive my sin with my weak, muddy faith, my soy sauce blots vanish and I get Jesus’s pristine white clothes. He declares me righteous. That’s what he wins for us at the cross when he takes our sin. He bears our soy sauce blots—past, present, and future. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? That Jesus would give so generously, that he would bless so profoundly Jairus and this woman with weak, muddy faith, just faith the size of a mustard seed. And it sounds too good to be true for us, too, that Jesus would give to us so generously, that he would bless us so profoundly, that he would remove our soy sauce blots so completely. Whether our faith in him is strong or weak, whether it’s new or seasoned, whether it’s energized or tired, even if it’s the size of a little mustard seed, because it’s not the size or the strength of your faith that matters at all, but it’s who you have your faith in. His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. His name is Jesus.