Since reading "Gentle and Lowly" I have been noticing more keenly the kindness, care, love, grace, compassion, empathy and understanding of Jesus, as well as his complete authority over the works of the enemy and his readiness to give clear and reliable instructions to each of his own followers. I will try to illustrate this from Mark 5 which covers the three stories of the demon-possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes, Jairus, and the woman who was healed when she touched his robe.

In each case Jesus demonstrates his intense loving-kindness and concern for the individual. They become the focus of his attention. He is taken up with their physical and emotional suffering, their bondage and heartache, and is filled with a desire to bring deliverance and healing and an end to their grief. Jesus cares. He wants to allay their fears and to encourage them every step of the way.

He brings total freedom and peace to the demon-possessed man; freedom from the most extreme mental torment, from living among the dead, from shrieking and howling in terror, and from constant self-harm; cutting himself with sharp stones. Once healed, he begged Jesus to take him away from that region. He just wanted to be with him. But Jesus knew what would be best for him. "'Go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.' So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him."

Jairus, a loving and devoted father, fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded fervently: "My little daughter is dying. Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." Immediately Jesus went with him, but on their way, messengers arrived saying: "'Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.' But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, 'Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.'" When they arrived at the house he said to the crowd: "Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep." But they laughed at him. Undaunted, and communicating trust to both mother and father, he took them into the child's room and raised her from the dead.

Before the "messengers of doom" had arrived, a woman in the crowd who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding reached out and touched his robe and was immediately healed. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, spending everything she had, but only getting worse. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so asked, "Who touched my robe?" "Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.'" Filled with compassion, Jesus wanted to give her the very best sort of closure on all her suffering.