Faith > Fear…
05/22/22.
In the message on Sunday, Pastor Rich mentioned when Jesus calmed the storm in Mark 4. When our hope is found in Jesus, the power of fear (like the power of the storm) is ceased. Fear caused the disciples to doubt Jesus. The storm ultimately revealed a lack of faith which caused a lack of peace/hope.
We find in the next chapter (Mark 5) there is an interaction with Jesus that also involved a person’s fears. In this case however, the person’s faith gave them strength to overcome their fears. As Jesus was traveling, a woman made her way through the crowds to grab the edge of Jesus’ robe. Was she just a fanatic with boundary issues? Not at all. This was a woman with “mountain moving” faith.
She had spent the last 12 years of her life suffering with a severe medical issue that resulted in continual bleeding. This not only caused a physical burden; it also culturally marked her as being forever “unclean.” She had no resources due to her debilitating and expensive condition. She was physically ill, bankrupt, socially unacceptable, and essentially hopeless. At rock-bottom. At the end of her rope. The only thing that could possibly make her situation worse would be for her to make a scene in public and engage with a Jewish Rabbi. That would be the nail in the coffin for her. And yet… her desperately courageous faith led her to do just that.
This was not only a faith that Jesus was able to heal her. This was a faith that was willing to risk what little societal capital she might have had left. If this didn’t work out for her, her life was essentially over. So, when scripture says she was “trembling in fear”, it wasn’t the fear that Jesus didn’t care like the disciples, it was the fear that she was risking everything to get to Jesus. She went to Jesus and told Him everything, with a faith that if anyone could heal her… from everything… it would be Jesus.
What did Jesus do? “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (5:34) Jesus not only heals her, He also frees her from her suffering and grants her peace. He does not condemn her. He restores her.
Notice the difference between how Jesus responded to the disciple’s fear vs the woman’s fear. Why? It was her faith that allowed her to overcome her fear. “Faith over fear” is often used as an excuse to be careless, especially regarding the well-being of others. The “faith over fear” that we are shown in Mark 5 is a faith that is willing to risk it all, knowing that Jesus is our Healer, Jesus is our Provider, Jesus is our Redeemer.
So, when confronted by people who are at the end of their rope, are we showing them the hope of Jesus by responding with love?
When putting our hope in Jesus starts to ring up a personal/social cost, do we respond with fear, or faith?
May this old hymn be our prayer. “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name… When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.”