Authority Over Sickness and Death

Our series in the Gospel of Mark will take us into two very tender stories this morning, situations which all of us can sympathize and empathize. A man whose twelve year old daughter is close to death. A woman who has been dealing with a chronic bleeding issue for twelve years. Both is dire need, completely helpless against the pain and struggle they face. Both come to Jesus hoping he can change their situation. We can also relate to the beauty of the story as Jesus shows beautiful compassion for each of them and the others in the story. But beyond this, each of these stories contains a promise and a hope of healing and resurrection. And each story includes a call to come to Jesus and believe with the deep and hard things in our lives that we cannot control.