“But Jesus said, ‘No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been’.” Mark 5:19
Mark chapter five tells the story of three different people with four different needs. The man from the region of Gerasenes had been bound and tormented by a legion of demons for years. He was undoubtedly the worst possible case around and no one could do a thing for him. That was until Jesus stepped onto the shore and brought instant deliverance to this man, forever changing his life. This man encountered the pure grace of God through the Lord Jesus and then Jesus told him to tell his story to everyone.
Jairus was desperate and thus set aside all of his religious traditions because his twelve-year-old girl was dying. Jesus went to his home and healed his daughter, but on the way, Jesus was touched by another.
This woman who touched Jesus had been hemorrhaging for twelve years and was bankrupt from spending everything she had to seek a cure. Jesus brought healing to her body and restoration to her finances. We know this because one Gospel account says Jesus told her that her “faith had made her whole.”
This word “whole” is the Greek word “Sozo,” and in English it’s the word “Saved” or “Salvation”. The word “Sozo” means “to save, heal, deliver, preserve, protect, to prosper, and to make whole. The name Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.” So, Salvation (Jesus) brought Sozo to all three of these individuals. Each one of them received the answer to their specific need through Jesus, giving them all a Sozo story to tell.
The number twelve is mentioned twice in these stories: Jairus’ daughter is twelve years old and the woman had been hemorrhaging for twelve years. The number twelve represents Divine Order, Divine Encounters, or even Divine Appointments. All three of these people had a Divine Appointment with Jesus which lead to their Divine Encounter with Him.
What is your Sozo story? In what ways, aside from your eternal salvation, have you experienced Sozo through Jesus in your life? Whatever it is, that’s your Sozo story. Allow the Holy Spirit to set you up with Divine appointments with others so that you can share your “Sozo Story” with them. Then they’ll be encouraged and strengthened in their faith to receive this same Sozo from Jesus, giving them their own Sozo Story as well.