3.7.21 HUDDLE

Zach Below   -   March 7, 2021

INTRO QUESTION

  1. What is your favorite “fixer-upper” type show on TV? Why?

 

  1. Are you handy when it comes to home repairs? What is something you tried to fix but possibly made even worse, or what is something that you successfully restored?

 

 

LESSON INTRO

This week, we are continuing our series “Restore: Rebuilding the Broken Soul” by looking at a story of how Jesus restored a woman that had been cast aside. The story comes from Mark 5 and is a beautiful picture of how Jesus desires to restore us completely.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGMENT—MARK 5:21-43

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake,a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader,Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGMENT QUESTIONS

  1. What stands out to you from the text?

 

  1. What do you learn about Jesus? (when it comes to either his attitude, practices, etc.)

 

  1. There are two main characters in the first half of the text and they are very different. How would you describe the two?

 

Context: In this story we find Jairus, who is a well-known and well-respected synagogue leader. Then, on the complete opposite end, we see a woman who would be considered unclean. She would have been kicked out of the synagogue because of her issue and ostracized from the community.

 

  1. Put yourself in Jairus’s shoes. What do you imagine he was thinking or feeling when Jesus stopped to help this woman while rushing to get to his daughter in time?

 

  1. Re-read verse 27-31. According to Jewish law, anyone this woman touched would have been deemed unclean. What do you think was going through the woman’s mind as all of this played out? What do you think the crowd thought when Jesus called her out publicly? What do you think drove her to knowingly touch Jesus?

 

  1. Why do you think Jesus made the point to call this woman out and restore her publicly? She was already healed physically, why do you think Jesus made a scene in front of everyone—including the synagogue leader?

 

  1. What would the woman have been lacking if Jesus had only restored her health quietly?

 

  1. In what ways were all three of these people restored in this story (Jairus, the woman, and Jairus’s daughter . . . possibly the crowd too)?

 

 

APPLICATION

  1. Both Jairus and the woman that was healed came to Jesus because they thought they only needed physical healing. It turned out that Jesus had more to heal in them. When you think about the last year, in what areas do you need healing (either physically or emotionally)?

 

  1. A lot of our pain comes from lies we believe about our identity. The woman in this story likely saw herself as an unclean and unworthy outcast. However, re-read verse 34. What identity does Jesus give her?

 

  1. God gives us each the same identity. Before all other identifiers step in, we are sons and daughters of God. What are some lies about your identity that you have struggled over the years? What can help you lean into God’s identity more?

 

  1. Why do you think people are drawn to stories of restoration . . . whether it is from this story in Mark or shows like “fixer-upper?” Do you think it speaks to something spiritual in us?

 

 

PRAYER

  • Take a few moments in silent prayer
  • Ask God if there is anyone you need to help restore . . . anyone that you have held on the outside that needs to be brought back in?
  • Ask God to reveal areas you’ve ignored that need restoration.
  • Have the leader close in prayer.