Father’s day

John

Mark 5:19–43

Jairus is following Christ at the pace of waiting.

How do you do when you have to wait.?

patience is the invitation to allow Christ to work in wherever it is you are waiting

How are we patient when everything is urgent?

Mark 5:22–24 ESV

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

• Jairus is in a bad spot. His daughter is sick to the point of death. He has no other options. So He finds Jesus and implores Him to help.

• Patience is hard work. To be patient is not for the weak of heart. It takes real spiritual formation to live patiently.

• We are commanded to be patient

Ephesians 4:2 ESV

with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

• And patience is so important it is a fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

In patience, we look for His work

• Pretty quickly into the story we run into a hiccup.

• A woman approaches Christ and touched the hem of his robe and was healed.

• But let’s stay with Jairus’s perspective for a moment. You have gotten the help that you finally need. Jesus can do something. But then you are sidelined by a sick woman.

• What started as relief for Jairus turned into a supposed agony.

• Jairus sees the Christ doing exactly what he wants Him to do for his daughter.

• And we get to points like this, where we see God doing something else somewhere else and these are crucial points for us.

• But these moments can draw us in when we see the ability of God to completely change and transform a life.

In patience, we hear His voice

Mark 5:36 ESV

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

• Jesus in this one statement is pitting fear against belief. That belief is enough to drive out fear. That belief can strengthen the hardest situations and be stronger than death itself.

• Jesus faced a similar situation when dealing with a friend of his who died, Lazarus.

John 11:21 ESV

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

• His words reveal who He is. And it is not that Jesus simply tells us to believe. He tells us to believe because He Himself is the resurrection and the life.

• So our belief is not a simple belief that something good will come out of this. Belief as Jesus talks about it is tied to Him.

In patience we stand amazed at His grace

Mark 5:41–43 ESV

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

• If you walk with Christ long enough. If you learn to wait in Him, to have patience in Christ, you will end up amazed at what He has done.

• We often don’t want to wait because we are not satisfied with the outcomes we are staring at. And so instead of waiting we make drastic shifts.

• The promise we see is not that Christ brings healing in the way we want it every time. But the promise is that if we wait on Him. If we are patient in a way that leads to belief then we will see how Christ has entered into and has worked in imperfect situations.

• We are built in such a way that we think that patience is a weakness. That it is a lack of acting.

• But patience is really the invitation to allow for someone else to work.

• To wait is to give someone else the option to speak into a situation that matters.

• Jairus’s waiting is not a lack of care, Jairus’ waiting is giving His daughter into the complete care of Christ.

• Where do you need to see the work of Christ in your life?

• Where do you need to hear His voice?