Mark 5 Devotional
by Pastor David Groendyk

At the end of the previous chapter, fear of the storm (4:40) gave way to fear of Jesus (4:41). No doubt, the fear of Jesus was temporarily displaced in the disciples by the fear of a superhumanly-strong, violent, demon-possessed man as soon as they stepped off the boat. Jesus will again prove himself to be the Son of the Most High God who deserves our fear and worship in these three healing incidents.

The commentator William Hendriksen highlights in this chapter the theme of utter helplessness and hopelessness of humanity: “No one could bind him anymore” (v. 3), “no one had the strength to subdue him” (v. 4); the woman “had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse” (v. 26); after Jairus’ daughter dies, his servant says, “Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (v. 35). But Jesus, in all of his compassion and power, overcomes these hopeless situations. In whatever hopeless situations we face, remember that Jesus still has pity and that he is still the all-powerful God. Where in your life do you need to remember the hope that Jesus gives?

As in all the Gospels, everything that Jesus does demands a response. The herdsmen mourn the loss of their money-making herds of pigs rather than rejoice at a great deliverance (v. 17). Neither Jairus’ servant nor the mourners have any clue who Jesus is or what he’s capable of (vv. 35, 40). The Jews that lived in Jairus’ town were looking for a political savior rather than a spiritual one and would’ve tried to make Jesus king, which is why Jairus’ family weren’t allowed to broadcast the resurrection (v. 43). On the other hand, Jairus himself and the bleeding woman are models of true faith. Both of them would do anything to get near to Jesus, seeing him rightly as the Savior of the world. The demon-possessed man follows Jesus’ command to preach the good news of Jesus to everyone around him (v. 20). All of these responses lead us to this question: what kind of Jesus are you looking for? Are you looking for a Jesus who’s a political leader like the Jews? Are you looking for a Jesus who’s tame and doesn’t upset the status quo like the Gerasene herdsmen? Or are you looking for the Jesus who rescues from death and hell and deserves to be followed at all costs?

Jesus has shown himself to be the ultimate tamer of Creation (4:35–41), demons (5:1–20), disease (5:21–34), and death (5:35–43). All of the tragedy, oppression, impurity, and humiliation these people experienced was made well by Jesus. But these people were only getting a foretaste of what’s to come in the future. That’s the point of all these miracles—to get us to look forward to when Creation will be fully restored. Don’t get too caught up looking for these kinds of healings now. They are good, but they will not last. The demoniac, Jairus’ daughter, and the bleeding woman all eventually succumbed to death. But the real hope of Christianity is that that isn’t the end of the story. Keeping trusting in Christ for an eternal salvation and an eternal life.