Message Overview

Mark 5:21–43 — Jesus Makes Us Clean and Gives New Life

Big Idea: Sin leaves us unclean, restless, and spiritually dead—but Jesus has authority over sin and death. Through His cross and resurrection, He makes His people clean, brings peace, and gives new life as children of God.

Desperation brings people to Jesus

As Jesus returns across the sea, a massive crowd gathers. Out of that crowd steps Jairus, a respected synagogue leader, who comes not as an authority figure but as a desperate father. His daughter is near death, and his only hope is Jesus.

An unclean woman finds healing and peace

A woman who has suffered for twelve years with a bleeding disorder pushes through the crowd. Isolated, out of money, and considered ritually unclean, she believes that if she can just touch Jesus’ garment, she will be healed. When she does, Jesus restores her physically and speaks peace over her life.

“Do not fear, only believe”

While Jesus is still speaking to the woman, news arrives that Jairus’ daughter has died. What feels final does not stop Jesus. He tells Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe,” calling him to trust even when the situation seems hopeless.

Jesus has authority over death

At Jairus’ home, mourners laugh when Jesus says the child is not dead but sleeping. Yet Jesus takes her by the hand and raises her to life. His authority is not limited to sickness—He commands death itself.

The deeper problem we all share

The message pressed this home: in a spiritual sense, we all share the same deeper problem—sin leaves us unclean, restless, and spiritually dead, searching everywhere for peace that cannot satisfy. We often look for peace in success, relationships, comfort, or good works, but none of these can heal our souls.

A preview of the cross and resurrection

By touching the unclean and the dead, Jesus shows that He is not defiled by sin and death—He overcomes them. This points forward to the cross, where Jesus takes our uncleanness upon Himself, and to the resurrection, where He defeats death once and for all.

A new identity as children of God

Jesus does not leave people defined by their past. He calls the healed woman “Daughter.” Through Christ, we are no longer defined by our sin or brokenness, but by our new identity as children of God, made clean and given new life.

Application: What might it look like this week to stop searching for peace in lesser things and instead come to Jesus in faith, trusting Him to bring true healing, peace, and new life?

Lifegroup Guide

Warm-Up

• When you feel overwhelmed or desperate, where do you usually turn first for help or peace?
• Why do you think moments of crisis often expose what we truly trust?

Read

• Read Mark 5:21–43 together.
• As you read, notice how desperation, fear, and faith show up in the story.

Observation

• What similarities do you see between Jairus and the suffering woman?
• What details highlight the woman’s isolation and uncleanness?
• How do the crowds, disciples, and mourners respond differently to Jesus?
• What stands out about Jesus’ words, actions, and authority?

Interpretation

• Why do you think Mark weaves these two stories together instead of telling them separately?
• What does Jesus mean when He says, “Do not fear, only believe”?
• Why is it significant that Jesus touches both the unclean woman and the dead child?
• How does this passage point forward to the cross and resurrection?

Application

• Where are you most tempted to look for peace apart from Jesus?
• What fear or “hopeless” situation in your life do you need to bring to Jesus in faith?
• How does remembering your identity as a child of God change the way you view your past or present struggles?
• What is one concrete step you can take this week to trust Jesus more fully?

Prayer

• Thank God for Jesus’ authority over sin and death.
• Confess where you’ve searched for peace apart from Christ.
• Ask for faith to trust Jesus in areas marked by fear or uncertainty.
• Pray for others to experience the new life Jesus gives.

Memory Verse

Mark 5:36 — “Do not fear, only believe.”

Full Sermon Transcript

Text: Mark 5:21–43

My name is Nate Short. I’m not a pastor here—I’m a Lifepoint lifegroup leader and have been on the worship team here for about nine years. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to teach this morning. I care deeply about the things of God, His people, and His Word, and today we’re going to be in Mark 5:21–43.

Before we open the text, let’s pray.

God, we are so grateful for Your goodness and for the grace You give us that we do not deserve. Thank You for Your Word, which allows us to see who You are, Your goodness, and Your glory. I pray today that we would listen expecting You to move, expecting You to speak, and expecting You to transform our hearts and minds. Anything that comes from me apart from You, let it fall away. But if it is Your Word, I pray that it would stick, and that we would leave this place with our affections for Jesus elevated. We ask this in His precious name. Amen.

Mark 5:21–43:

“And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 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.

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 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.”

Up to this point in the book of Mark, Jesus has been teaching and performing miracles, and His crowd is growing rapidly. The crowd becomes so large that He crosses the sea to the region of the Gerasenes, a largely Gentile area. After performing miracles there, the people ask Him to leave, so He returns to this side of the sea—where a massive crowd is already waiting.

Out of that crowd steps Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue. This role would be similar to what we think of as a pastor today. He supervised worship, cared for the scrolls, oversaw teaching, and helped keep the congregation faithful to the law. He would have been highly respected in the community and closely connected to the Pharisees and scribes—many of whom were not fans of Jesus.

But Jairus isn’t just a synagogue leader. He’s a dad. And his little girl is dying.

I have three daughters—seven, five, and one who’s just a few months old. Every time I see fear, sadness, or pain in their eyes, I want to do everything I can to make it go away. Multiply that feeling by a million, and you begin to understand Jairus’ desperation.

He steps out of the crowd. He steps away from reputation and status. And his faith in Jesus brings him to Jesus’ feet.

As Jesus begins walking toward Jairus’ house, another desperate figure enters the scene—a woman who has suffered from a bleeding disorder for twelve years. Physically, this would have been exhausting. Socially and spiritually, it was devastating. Under Jewish law, she would have been considered ceremonially unclean. She couldn’t worship. Anyone who touched her would also become unclean. She likely lived in isolation.

The text tells us she spent all her money seeking healing, but nothing worked. No husband. No family support. Just desperation.

She hears about Jesus and believes that if she can just touch His garment, she will be healed. And she is.

Immediately, the bleeding stops.

Jesus senses that power has gone out from Him and asks, “Who touched me?” The disciples are confused—there’s a crowd pressing in on Him. But Jesus is not asking about accidental contact. He’s identifying faith.

The woman comes forward, trembling, and tells Him the whole truth. And Jesus calls her “Daughter.” Her identity is no longer defined by her disease. She belongs to Him.

But then the scene shifts again. Jairus receives the news: his daughter is dead. The moment feels final. Hopeless.

Jesus responds with simple but profound words: “Do not fear, only believe.”

When they arrive at the house, mourners are already weeping. Jesus says the child is not dead but sleeping, and they laugh at Him. He removes the crowd, enters the room with the parents and a few disciples, takes the girl by the hand, and says, “Little girl, arise.”

And she does.

She walks. She lives.

This is an incredible story—but it’s more than physical healing and resurrection. Spiritually, every one of us fits into this story.

From birth, we carry a disease called sin. Romans 5 tells us that sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin. Sin separates us from God. It leaves us restless, unsatisfied, and searching for peace in everything but Him.

We look for peace in success, money, relationships, entertainment, comfort—good things, even—but none of them can heal our souls. They offer momentary relief but never lasting peace.

Even our good works, as admirable as they may be, cannot make us clean before God.

We are more like the unclean woman and the dead child than we realize—spiritually unclean and spiritually dead.

But here is the good news.

Jesus does not become unclean when He touches the unclean. He does not become defeated when He touches death. He overcomes both.

This story points forward to the cross, where Jesus takes our sin upon Himself. And it points forward to the resurrection, where He defeats death once and for all.

Because of Jesus, we can be made clean. We can have peace. We can have new life.

And one day, when Jesus returns and His kingdom is fully established, there will be no sickness, no disease, no loneliness, no tears, and no death.

The woman was no longer defined by her sickness. Jesus called her “Daughter.”

The little girl was no longer dead. She had new life.

And in Christ, neither are we defined by who we once were. We are children of God, adopted into His family, forever changed.

This should shape how we live—how we hunger for truth, how we love community, and how we long for others to experience the same new life we’ve received.

So as we begin this new year, I’ll leave you with this question: Will you trust Jesus to do what only He can do? Will you come to Him in faith, believing that He alone can make you clean, give you peace, and bring you new life?

Let’s pray.

God, You are so good, and we are so undeserving. Thank You for Your grace and for sending Your Son to live, suffer, die, and rise again so that we might have life. May our lives be marked by gratitude and transformation. May others see the change You have made in us. And may we live as Your children, longing for Your truth and Your kingdom. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.