Mark 5. Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you (5:19) – Jesus speaking to the man set free from demonic influence.

Mark is such a great storyteller. In chapter five we encounter three short stories that detail Jesus’ engagement with people. In each of these stories, the word that stands out to me is desperation. The three individuals we encounter in this chapter are not just a little bit sick; they are in a completely different category – they are desperate, almost beyond hope.

Think about these individuals for a moment, feel their desperation:

First, the man under demonic influence (5:1-20). He has been bound with shackles and chains. He lives among the tombs, excluded from normal village life since he is disruptive, wild, violent, often naked, and unpredictable. He is always crying out and cutting himself. He is tormented.

Next, we meet Jarius, a ruler of the synagogue (5:21-24,35-43). His 12-year-old daughter is at the point of death, and then she dies in the time it takes Jesus to walk to Jarius’ house with the crowds. There is a commotion at his house with people weeping and wailing loudly. Jarius went to find Jesus because he knew his daughter was not going to make it. Like any loving parent, he was desperate to find a way to save her life.

In the middle of Jarius’ story we meet the bleeding woman (5:25-34) who has had an issue of blood for – wait for it – 12 years, the same as the age of Jarius’ daughter. [This is the classic “Markan sandwich” where one story is set inside a second story, a literary technique Mark uses to make a point.] This poor woman has suffered much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. What a terrible, desperate feeling – all your money, all your time, always trying to find a way to get better and absolutely nothing is helping! I am heart-broken at her story.

In fact, I am heart-broken at each of these stories… these individuals are shattered, without hope, beyond the scope of all normal interventions. The situations are drastic, desperate. But Jesus. In his mercy and miraculous power, he touches each one and changes everything. The one influenced by demons is set free. The bleeding woman is called daughter and is healed. And Jarius’ daughter is raised from the dead.

Mercy. Compassion. Power. The presence of Jesus changes everything.

Are you desperate today? Is someone you know desperate, broken, catastrophically ill, oppressed, or without hope? Know that as I wrote this my father has been hospitalized with complicated pancreatitis for nine days now. Jesus has been very good to us, but we still need more of him! Recognize that Jesus sees our situations and is full of mercy. Speak with him. May his presence bring compassion, comfort, healing, and even the miraculous!

May we then go home to our friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for us, and how he has had mercy on us.