When Faith Refuses to Quit – Lessons From Mark 5

Our pastor skipped over the verses about the demon-possessed man in the cemetery this week. I don’t blame him. Not too many mamas wanted to hear about drowning pigs on Mother’s Day. Me included. So, this week he talked about a faith that keeps reaching, that refuses to quit.

The Scripture for the day was from Mark 5:25-34. It covers the story of the woman who had a bleeding disorder for twelve years. She was in a crowd of people surrounding Jesus. But she just knew in her heart that if she could only touch the hem of His garment, even that would heal her. Pastor Justin made four main points about this woman’s faith that applies to us today. The point titles are his, the words below each are my thoughts about this passage.

FAITH THAT PERSEVERES

Let’s face it. Life is hard, and some days are just harder than others. All of us have faced challenges that have tested our faith. Being people of faith doesn’t mean that we don’t face struggles. But it does mean that because of our faith we keep on keeping on. We continue to pray for our lost children. For that health crisis. For the next whatever lies on the horizon. This woman, whose name we do not know, taught us how to keep the faith through her twelve years of pain and suffering. Quitting was not an option for her.

She could have become bitter, but she did not. She could have stopped trying, but she did not. She could have accepted a life of hopelessness, but she did not. She could have lost her faith, but she did not.

When Faith Refuses to Quit - Lessons From Mark 5 @DDuPreeWilliams #Faith #HisGarmentsHem Share on X

FAITH THAT PUSHES THROUGH THE CROWD

Picture the crowd pressing ever closer to Jesus. Here is this woman, considered by those around her to be unclean, untouchable. She couldn’t even go to synagogue for all those years due to her condition. If she touched anyone else, then they couldn’t go to synagogue either until they were considered ceremonially clean.

Mark 27 is the key verse here. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him (ESV). This dear woman didn’t let fear, shame, distractions, or even the people in the crowd stop her. She pushed through the crowd to touch the tassels on the hem of His garment.

Think about this. Out of all those people, how many must have touched him that day? But only one touched Him in faith.

FAITH THAT GETS PASSED DOWN

Verse 27 comes into play again here. She had heard the reports about Jesus. Clearly, someone had told her about Jesus. Or perhaps she heard about Him when she went to fetch water or any other ordinary day for most people. But for this woman, He was hope. Bottom line, someone else started the story. She acted upon what she’d heard with faith.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV) reminds us: And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Paul reminds of this kind of faith in his second letter to Timothy. 2 Timothy 1:5—I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well (ESV).

Have you passed your faith down generationally? Was it passed down to you? It is never too late to be the first to do this. Start a new tradition.

FAITH THAT LIVES OUT A NEW IDENTITY

Most Bible translations use the word healed, but the CSB version says this in Mark 5:34—”Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith had saved you.” Of course, she was healed. That is the point, or one of them. Why go to all that effort when she was already an outcast, had suffered all those years, if He didn’t have the power to heal her? And if she didn’t believe He could and would?

Beyond that, Jesus is the only One with the power to save her. And notice what he calls her. He doesn’t say woman, or call her by name, he uses the intimate Daughter. He recognizs her as His child. A child of the King.

Can you imagine her elation? She feels His power coursing through her as He feels it going out of Him, then . . . she hears Him call her Daughter?  Beyond a shadow of a doubt she knows she is no longer the same. That simple touch of the hem of His garment heals her, and she has a brand new identity and a new eternity.  Jesus knows her name, but He uses the more familiar term that carries relationship,  Daughter.

WHAT NOW?

Friends, if this is you, know that He is still there waiting for you to call upon His name, to touch the hem of His garment. He is no farther away than your Bible, which is filled with His overwhelming love for you. He is the Good Shepherd, The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Door to a new life for you.

How do you walk through that door? Begin by reading the Gospel of John and then read the book of Romans.  Paul tells us in Romans 10:9 (ESV) If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If you’ve never done this, and you know this verse is true, confess your sins to Him and then speak this verse out loud, in faith and believing. And you will be saved. It isn’t just words. It is a heart change through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Know that I am praying for you. I want you with me for all eternity. What a day, glorious day that will be. Now, go touch His garment’s hem!

Blessings, y’all!

This was a favorite anthem in our Birmingham days. I miss singing music like this. The last line of the first verse is perfect for this post: “Touch we now Thy garment’s hem.”