Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. Mark 5:25–29
Have you ever been in a situation in which you felt completely hopeless? Maybe you lost your job, got a bad report from the doctor, or experienced some other serious problem. Jesus spent a lot of time with people in these kinds of situations. He was constantly followed by the poor, sick, and bereaved––the kind of people that we might like to avoid. Jesus had the unique ability to offer these people real hope, and the greater news is that, because of Him, we can have this hope too, and we can offer it to others who so desperately need it.
Jesus served those that everyone else had given up on. Here in Mark 5, He was able to help a man possessed with a legion of demons. When Jesus met this man, he was completely cut off from society because everyone was too terrified to go near him. The demons robbed him of his sleep and mutilated his body. Jesus converted this man whom no one could tame into a champion for proclaiming God’s power! In the same chapter, Jesus helped a woman with a chronic issue of blood when her very last penny spent on physicians had only succeeded in making the affliction worse. Later in this chapter Jesus helped a girl who had already been given up for dead. When the Lord approached the house of Jairus and found the mourners already at work, He would not be turned away from His mission even by those who insisted that all hope was gone. When He raised this little girl, Jesus lifted this family from the deepest depths to which any parents could ever descend. Truly there has never been a man like Jesus who could take the completely hopeless and give them every reason to live and to glorify God.
Jesus is still the hope of the hopeless. Jesus gave hope to lepers (Matt. 11:5) and grieving families (Luke 7:11–15; John 11:40–44). He restored hope to the nation of Israel (Luke 24:21; Acts 28:20), giving light to “the people who sat in darkness” (Matt. 4:16). He gave new hope to Saul of Tarsus, a man who had been kicking against the goads for so long (Acts 22:14). Ananias found Saul fasting in total darkness (Acts 9:8–9), no doubt agonizing over all the evil he had done, but the Lord told him that He would send him to the Gentiles and to kings (v 15). Christ transformed this “chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15) into an apostle. If Jesus could restore hope to people such as these, He can surely do the same for you and me. Paul said that he had obtained mercy in order to serve “as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Tim. 1:16). This “everlasting life” is our new hope (Tit. 1:2; 2:13; 3:7)––not a mere wish, but an absolute certainty, a “living hope” (1 Pet. 1:3), an “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19). No matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter how low you have sunk, there is hope for you in Jesus, and in Jesus alone (Acts 4:12). Even if everyone else has failed you, even if everyone has given up on you, even if everyone has told you just to give up, Jesus can help you; in fact, He can lift you to heights that you can’t even begin to imagine!