The Worth of a Soul

Sherry and I read the Bible before we go to bed. One night this week we read Mark, chapter 5. The gospel of Mark shows Jesus as a servant. He gives his all to save each individual he meets. The price of a soul is beyond earthly value.

Matthew 16:26:
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Luke 12:6,7 [The Passion Translation]:
What is the value of your soul to God? Could your worth be defined by an amount of money? God doesn’t abandon or forget even the small sparrow he has made. How then could he forget or abandon you? What about the seemingly minor issues of your life? Do they matter to God? Of course they do! So you never need to worry, for you are more valuable to God than anything else in this world.

Let’s look at three individuals that Jesus cares for in Mark 5. They are a possessed man living among the tombs, a woman with a blood disease, and a young girl who has died. We will see how important a person’s soul is to our heavenly Father, as He worked in His Son, Jesus Christ. The following scriptures in Mark 5 are from the New Testament in Modern English, translated by J. B. Phillips.

The Man in the Tombs

Mark 5:1-8:
So they arrived on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man in the grip of an evil spirit rushed to meet him from among the tombs where he was living. It was no longer possible for any human being to restrain him even with a chain. Indeed he had frequently been secured with fetters and lengths of chain, but he had simply snapped the chains and broken the fetters in pieces. No one could do anything with him. All through the night as well as in the day-time he screamed among the tombs and on the hill-side, and cut himself with stones. Now, as soon as he saw Jesus in the distance, he ran and knelt before him, yelling at the top of his voice, “What have you got to do with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God? For God’s sake, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had already said, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

This homeless man was in the grip of several evil spirits. These fallen angels can possess the mind of a man and cause him to do things contrary to the good that God built into people. Ephesians 5 says people will naturally care for their own bodies. This man in the tombs did not.

Mark 5:9-17:
Then he asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is legion,” he replied, “for there are many of us.” Then he begged and prayed him not to send “them” out of the country. A large herd of pigs was grazing there on the hill-side, and the evil spirits implored him, “Send us over to the pigs and we’ll get into them!” So Jesus allowed them to do this, and they came out of the man, and made off and went into the pigs. The whole herd of about two thousand stampeded down the cliff into the lake and was drowned. The swineherds took to their heels and spread their story in the city and all over the countryside. Then the people came to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they saw the man who had been devil-possessed sitting there properly clothed and perfectly sane – the same man who had been possessed by “legion” – and they were really frightened. Those who had seen the incident told them what had happened to the devil-possessed man and about the disaster to the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave their district.

After bringing such great spiritual, mental, and physical deliverance to this man, Jesus was not proclaimed a hero on the headline of the local paper. He was not feted and lauded at social gatherings or by the man’s family. He wasn’t even allowed to peacefully stay where he was. They wanted to get rid of him for doing good.

You can see how they might not like having a couple thousand of their livestock killed. This would be a great financial expense and also cause some sanitation problems in that part of the Sea of Galilee. But that was not Jesus’ concern. The worth of a man’s soul is far greater.

Mark 5:18-20:
As he was embarking on the small boat, the man who had been possessed begged that he might go with him. But Jesus would not allow this. “Go home to your own people,” he told him, “And tell them what the Lord has done for you, and how kind he has been to you!” So the man went off and began to spread throughout the Ten Towns the story of what Jesus had done for him. And they were all simply amazed.

This man thankfully obeyed Jesus and went back home to tell his family and friends about God’s healing through Jesus. We can do the same. They will simply be amazed when they see the positive changes in our lives.

The Woman with a Blood Disease

Mark 5:21-24:
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side of the lake, a great crowd collected around him as he stood on the shore. Then came a man called Jairus, one of the synagogue presidents. And when he saw Jesus, he knelt before him, pleading desperately for his help. “My little girl is dying,” he said. “Will you come and put your hands on her – then she will get better and live.” Jesus went off with him, followed by large crowds jostling at his elbow.

This shows Jesus being asked for help. We’ll come back to this story, but someone else came to Jesus who did not voice her request for deliverance. She simply acted on her trust in God’s ability to heal her through His Son.

Mark 5:25-34:
Among them was a woman who had a haemorrhage for twelve years and who had gone through a great deal at the hands of many doctors (or physicians), spending all her money in the process. She had derived no benefit from them but, on the contrary, was getting worse. This woman had heard about Jesus and came up behind him under cover of the crowd, and touched his cloak, “For if I can only touch his clothes,” she said, “I shall be all right.” The haemorrhage stopped immediately, and she knew in herself that she was cured of her trouble. At once Jesus knew intuitively that power had gone out of him, and he turned round in the middle of the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples replied, “You can see this crowd jostling you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?'” But he looked all round at their faces to see who had done so. Then the woman, scared and shaking all over because she knew that she was the one to whom this thing had happened, came and flung herself before him and told him the whole story. But he said to her, “Daughter, it is your faith that has healed you. Go home in peace, and be free from your trouble.”

As with the man among the tombs, Jesus brought this ailing woman God’s solution to her problem. She had spent all of her money on doctors and had gone the full medical route. But she only got worse. Finally, she sought God’s solution through His Son. Believing on Jesus, even when no one else may be aware, brings healing and peace. Just as the man who had been healed was to return home, so was this fully healed woman. She went home in peace—and it didn’t cost her a dime. The worth of her soul was far greater than spending money on earthly cures.

The Dead Girl

Mark 5:35-43:
While he was still speaking, messengers arrived from the synagogue president’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead – there is no need to bother the master any further.” But when Jesus heard this, he said, “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” Then he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John, James’s brother. They arrived at the president’s house and Jesus noticed the hubbub and all the weeping and wailing, and as he went in, he said to the people in the house, “Why are you making such a noise with your crying? The child is not dead; she is fast asleep.” They greeted this with a scornful laugh. But Jesus turned them all out, and taking only the father and mother and his own companions with him, went into the room where the child was. Then he took the little girl’s hand and said to her in Aramaic, “Little girl, I tell you to get up!” At once she jumped to her feet and walked around the room, for she was twelve years old. This sight sent the others nearly out of their minds with joy. But Jesus gave them strict instructions not to let anyone know what had happened – and ordered food to be given to the little girl.

Once again, people denied the worth of a person’s soul and tried to “fix things” with human resources. Such people at Jairus’s house were usually hired to mourn and lament the death of a family member. But Jairus did not want them there; he wanted Jesus. So Jesus asked his Father what to do, and the girl was raised to life. She even got up and walked around the room! She was able to live a good life among her family and friends. All because her loving father trusted God by finding Jesus to save her life.

The Worth of a Soul

When people are in charge, things don’t always go God’s way. We may have lots of ideas on how to be set free, yet only the meek who go to the Father get His deliverance. His counsel and advice will bring true healing and will last.

Proverbs 19:21:
There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.

If the local people in Gerasa had their way, the man would have stayed possessed and they would still have their pigs to make money on. If the woman with a blood disease had given up after being failed by doctor after doctor, she would have died without remedy. And had Jairus allowed the professional mourners to have their way, his daughter would never have been raised from death. The worth of a soul is far more than earthly possessions or human plans. These three individuals received God’s physical healing through Jesus Christ. Yet, we can offer more to people.

Romans 10:9-11,14,17:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We can offer anyone who believes salvation—spiritual wholeness and eternal life—through Christ. Let’s truly value the souls around us, and offer them the eternal life that God so freely gives through His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.