How to Be Made Whole - Part 10: Making Room for the Healer

REVIEW

What a blessing it is to know that our God wants us whole!  No, He doesn’t just want us partially healed or somewhat well; He wants our whole man completely whole – which includes our entire spirit, soul, and body. 

We’ve learned this from our golden text for this series – First Thessalonians 5:23 – where the apostle Paul says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

But I want you to notice a little, relatively obscure word that’s mentioned twice in this verse – the word “may.” Again Paul said, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely” and “may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless.” 

The word “may” expresses both possibility and permission: It means that it can happen; but there’s no guarantee of it happening. And one of the obvious things that makes it possible is someone giving it permission to happen. 

Now most Christians would obviously think the one giving permission for this to occur in our lives is God. Yes, most believers think that one will be made whole if God allows it, He wills it, etc. But I don’t think that’s the case here. I believe the one that ultimately makes this possible in our lives is US. Sure, God has to be the initiator. Yes, God has to make it a possibility and invite us to enter into it. But the truth is – He’s done that! By penning these words from First Thessalonians 5:23 in our Bible, God has made it perfectly clear that He wants this for all of us! Therefore, you and I are now the ones who “may” let it happen. Might I say that we are the ones who “make room” for it to happen, a point that we will make in today’s message. 

So how do we do this? Well, we do the same things that we see in these examples of Scripture where individuals are made whole by the Lord. Yes, we follow their faith and invite the Lord to do the same healing work in our lives that He did in theirs. Amen?  

So we’ve looked at several examples so far, such as the healing of the man by the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus’ cleansing of the ten lepers, the healing of Blind Bart, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and most recently, the woman who had a spirit of infirmity. So I’d encourage you that if you have missed any of these teachings to go back and listen to / watch them, as they contained vital, Scriptural keys to being made whole.  

So now, let’s move into another example in the Gospels of someone who was made whole by the Master, and see what we can take away from this story …
JARIUS & HIS DAUGHTER – CHAPTER ONE

Now if you recall, we covered the story of the woman with the issue of blood a few weeks back, which as we made the point of, was an interruption to another story. Well, today, I’d like to talk about that other story – the story of Jairus and his daughter, the story of a father’s great love for his daughter. 

Now this story is included in three of the four Gospels, so it’s important to read all three accounts in order to get the full picture of what transpired on that day. Today, however, we are mainly going to look at Mark chapter 5 … 

We see in verse 21 that when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, that a great multitude gathered to Him by the sea. That is when verse 22 says, “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name …”

Now by throwing in the phrase “by name,” Mark was indicating that Jairus was well known. And why? Because he was one of the rulers of the synagogue there. So this man had clout. The Jews in that region knew him. If the name Jairus was mentioned there, everyone would know – “Oh yeah, that’s one of the rulers of the synagogue.” 

But I want you to notice that he did not come to Jesus giving Him all his credentials and all the reasons why Jesus should come and help his daughter. No, verses 22-23 tell us that “he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly.” 

You see, this is so significant because of who this man was: Even though he was a man of status, he still begged him, even falling at His feet. Now begging is not believing and begging does not get you healed. But humility does! The humble get more grace according to James. You show me a person who is in faith; I’ll show you someone who is truly humble. This is why they get more grace! 

On top of that, this also shows us the heart of the ones who receive. It is those who get serious! It is those who are willing to mess their hair up! It is those who get ugly for Jesus! Amen! 

You see, some people just can’t do this. They simply cannot bring themselves to the place of laying aside their pride & dignity. And I’ll tell you, saints, that keeps more people from their miracle than most people realize. 

And no, it’s not simply the physical actions that get the results; it’s the heart behind the actions. So when someone’s heart is impacted by the awareness that Jesus is ALL that matters, and that person gets to the point where they realize in their heart that how they look, what people will think, etc. means nothing, this is when these humble actions get results. So again, don’t think that if I just do what someone else did, I’ll get what they got. God looks at the heart, and the heart is where one believes. 

Now notice what Jairus said from his position of humility because there is a lot to learn from this …

In verse 23, he said, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” 

Notice that here in Mark’s account, he calls her his “little daughter” In Luke 8:42, he calls her his only daughter. So all of this points to how extra special she was to her daddy. She was obviously very young, and she was his one & only. 

Now where do you suppose Jairus got this great love for his daughter? It’s not the devil, I can tell you that. No, this inherent nature in parents to love their children and do anything for them like Jarius did here is a God-instilled trait. Yes, we get our nature to love our children from God’s nature to love His. 

You know, it’s always been amazing to me how a person who has either fathered or mothered children and experienced that special love for their kids, struggles with grasping how our Heavenly Father could love them like that. But the fact that Jairus was willing to do everything in his power to get the Healer to come touch his daughter shows us that our Heavenly Father will do the same. In fact, He already has done it by sending His “only son” to make us whole. 

So know on this Father’s Day that you have a good, good Heavenly Father who desires to give good gifts to His children – and one of those good gifts is the children’s bread of healing & wholeness. Amen? 

Now Jairus obviously knew that his daughter was lying at the point of death by her condition. So the situation was extremely serious and time was of the essence. So we see that his first request was for Jesus to “Come …” Come and what? “Come and lay Your hands on her …” 

A good question here is – Why would Jairus specifically request that Jesus come to his home and lay His hands on her? Well, I think the answer is obvious. Faith comes by hearing, right? (See Romans 10:17). So evidently, Jairus had heard something in regard to Jesus laying His hands on people and then being healed. So what he was really saying to Jesus was this: “Come do that hand thing that I’ve heard you do”  

You see, what you hear is important. And the more you hear of what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do for people, the more faith you will have in Him doing it for you! Amen? So never underestimate what you are exposing yourself to. Whatever you allow to be sown in your heart is what you will develop faith in. It works both positively and negatively.   

And it is rather obvious how what Jairus was hearing about Jesus had impacted his heart – because notice what he said, “… that she may be healed, and she will live.” Apparently, this man had become so persuaded by what he was hearing about Jesus that he “just knew” that if Jesus would come lay His hands on his daughter that she would live. 

Boy, this really teaches us about a strong characteristic of faith – Faith will tell you what WILL happen before it happens. Again, it doesn’t just simply say words hoping that it’s the magic formula to getting what we desire. No, true faith says these things because it’s confident that something will or will not happen. 

Then in verse 24, we see Jesus’ response to this man’s faith. Mark says that Jesus went with Him, but I like how Matthew puts it – It says, “So Jesus arose and followed him” (See Matthew 9:19). 

You know, we always think of us following Jesus, but in this case, Jesus followed Jairus! The Lord will follow our faith! When faith leads the way, the Healer will show up on the scene!

JARIUS & HIS DAUGHTER – CHAPTER TWO

So it was at this point that the woman with the issue of blood interrupted our story and took her miracle. So when Jesus was speaking to this woman, telling her how her faith had made her well, this is when we revisit Jairus’ situation. We will call this half of Jairus’ story, “chapter two” …

Verse 35 says, “While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’” 

Now can you imagine the temptation Jarius might have experienced here? I mean, hearing that your young and only daughter is now dead will bring all kinds of terrible emotions, I’m sure. Then he could have also had all kinds of bitter emotions come up toward this woman or even towards Jesus. He could have thought things like — “Jesus, why did You stop? Didn’t you know that time was of the essence?” or “Why did this lady get Jesus to stop? My situation was important!” 

Then comes the unbelief: Again, Mark 5:35 shows us how those from Jairus’ house said, “Why trouble the Teacher any further?” In other words, “You might as well quit now, Jairus. It’s all over now.” Well, the obvious answer to their question is – the reason you “trouble the Teacher any further” is because He is not just “the Teacher” or even just “the Healer” for that matter; He is the Resurrection and the Life! Amen! 

Church, don’t ever stop believing “further!” Even if the manifestation doesn’t come when you want it or how you expected it … Even if things seem too far gone or lost … Even if your situation seems impossible … Always, “Faith further!”

So when all of these things rise up in you like the impatience of why is it taking so long, the offense of why are these delays happening, or the unbelief that tempts you to let go of what you are believing for, know this – This is when it is important to hear from the Lord – because the devil loves to capitalize on opportunities like this to sow flesh, offense, or unbelief into our hearts, which will take us even further away from our wholeness. Amen? 

Verse 36 tells us – “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said …”  

Oftentimes, when there is a bad report or word spoken that would tempt us to be discouraged or quit, the Lord will come back with a “rhema” word that encourages you to stand. This is why when we get the bad report, it is imperative that we get in the Word of God and commune with the Spirit of God. 

So what was the Word that Jairus received? Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” The language literally says, “Stop fearing, Be Believing!” And the Message Bible translates it like so – “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.” 

This is significant because what we must establish our heart in is even when we get a bad report like this, not to listen or take heed to them. I will trust the Lord!

So why would Jesus have told him to not be afraid unless fear would have had a negative impact on the desired miracle? Why would Jesus have said, “Do not be afraid” when the news was that she was dead? What did He mean by “only believe”? 

Well, evidently, you can believe and do something else. Do you remember the story of the demon possessed boy when the father said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” You can evidently have faith and unbelief at the same time. One of the greatest hindrances to seeing healings and miracles is not just a lack of faith but the presence of unbelief that will counterbalance the faith’s production. 

And I love one thing that Luke’s Gospel adds on to what Jesus said here. Jesus said in Luke 8:50 – “she will be made well.” In other words, if you don’t fear and only believe, she is gonna live, buddy! 

Now compare this statement to how Jairus said that she will live: Jesus basically said here what Jairus originally said. You see, the Great High Priest of our confession will help us to hold fast to our profession without wavering. This falls in line with the saying that “if you say what God said, He will do what you say.”

Then Mark 5:37 tells us – “And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John …” 

A good question here is, why? Why would Jesus not permit anyone other than these three to follow Him to Jairus’ house? I think this shows us how Jesus was very specific about who He “let in” when it came to the more notable miracles. The reason is because some people can actually hurt the atmosphere and make it less conducive for a miracle. It doesn’t mean that they are evil people or that they don’t have other good qualities, but when it comes to some healings, we only need people who know how to believe God at our side.  

So be careful who you travel with. As the Bible says, evil communication corrupts good manners. Now we always apply that to not hanging around sinful people, but it goes with unbelief too. Find you some good faith buddies who will follow you into your wholeness!   

But this wasn’t all Jesus did to prepare the environment: When they came to Jairus’ home, they found a lot of commotion going on, people weeping & wailing. So Jesus enters the house asking why all the commotion, for the girl is not dead but she’s only sleeping. 

Now this is not the first time Jesus said something like this. We see something similar in the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:11). So I believe Jesus was practicing speaking life and not death. He did not want to say that his friend Lazarus was dead, but in this case, His disciples forced Him to be blunt. 

Then verse 40 tells us that when Jesus told the crowd that the girl was not dead but only sleeping – “… they ridiculed Him …” Why do you suppose they did this? I believe it was because they were thinking Jesus was being ignorant & insensitive – ignorant in that they thought He didn’t understand the facts and insensitive in that they didn’t think this was doing right by the family to make statements like that when they just lost their daughter. So I believe a good lesson here is that we need to be prepared that when you start calling things that be not as though they were, you will be ridiculed by the unbelievers around you. 

So how did Jesus respond to all of this unbelief? He put them outside! Church, sometimes you just have to kick all the doubt and unbelief out! The more serious it gets, the less tolerant and sensitive you need to be of people’s feelings and the more selective you need to be of who you invite in and talk to. Yes, there is a time to kick out Aunt Afraid & Uncle Unbelief. 

Now in Matthew’s Gospel, we see where, in cleaning out the house, Jesus said, “Make room” (Matthew 9:24). I like to look at this phrase as a strong admonition for us.   

You see, we need to make room for Jesus in our “house” by removing all the unbelief out of our hearts. This is what the apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians chapter 3 when he prayed that they would let Christ dwell in their hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17). 

You see, Jesus isn’t able to make Himself at home in most Christians because they have too much unbelief crowding their hearts. This is when simply opening up the door to our hearts and letting Jesus enter in becomes important – because He can “make room” better than you and I can. Yes, He can clean out our temple and make us whole!   

But back to Mark’s Gospel … Mark 5:40 shows us then how “He took the father and the mother of the child …” 

So why would Jesus take the girl’s parents in and kick everyone else out? It’s because the parents are the ones with the delegated authority over their children. Jairus and his wife needed to be there standing together with Jesus to see this miracle take place because of the girl’s age.

So how did Jesus then minister to this little girl? The first thing we saw was that He took her by the hand. Now this was what Jairus requested in the beginning, right? He wanted Jesus to come lay His hands on her, right? So we see Jesus honoring Jairus’ faith here.  

But one thing that is very interesting here is that the word “took” comes from the Greek word kratos which describes an authoritative, powerful grabbing of something. This reminds me of the blind man at the gate called beautiful where Peter “took” him by the hand too! This denotes confidence and one understanding his or her authority!  

But Jesus didn’t just do something; He also said something … He said, “Talitha, cumi” which when translated said, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” This is a good example of how you minister healing… He addressed the lifeless body of the girl (the mountain, in this case) then he made the simple command for her to “arise.” And guess what happened? Verses 42 says, “Immediately the girl arose and walked for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.” Praise the Lord!

Finally, verse 43 shows us one last thing that is very important: It says, “But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.”

What this teaches me is that healing is not just a spiritual thing. In other words, receiving our healing & wholeness doesn’t only have to do with the spiritual side of things like believing God, etc. No, there is a natural side to healing as well. And evidently, this little girl’s nourishment was a vital part to her continuing to get better after being raised from the dead. 

I’ll tell you, saints, while we certainly need to apply the spiritual principles of healing to our lives, we need to also hear from the Holy Spirit and be led by the wisdom of God as it pertains to the natural side of things. 

You see, sometimes our issues can be totally related to some dietary change, an exercise adjustment, or simply taking a nap from time to time. The possibilities are endless. But this I know – the Holy Spirit is willing to show us if there is in fact an adjustment we need to make in the natural that will lead us to being made whole. Like I said, it might be cutting out sugar, it could be simply drinking more water, or it might even be adding a regular walk to our schedule. Again, it’s just important to inquire of the Lord regarding these things and being led by Him in both the spiritual and natural side of things.  

So in conclusion, we see how a father’s faith yielded a tremendous miracle on this day. No, it was not a Jesus instigated miracle; this man did what was necessary to make his home a place conducive for a notable miracle. And you and I can do the same too! Yes, we can make room in our house for the Healer, the Miracle Worker, to do His thing! Let’s do it!