Mark 5:21-43
“On the Way to a Healing…”
We have two really awesome stories this morning!
This sermon really could have been named, “Jesus the Multi-tasker.”
We have a story inside a story, so to speak.
The outer story is about Jairus, a leader in the synagogue and his 12-year-old daughter, the inner story is about a much older woman, who for the same 12 years has suffered from severe bleeding.
Both stories are about fear and faith, desperation and wholeness, the marginalized and the powerful, and the
fact that Jesus doesn’t play the crazy kinds of games and jump through the hoops we often do.
Our passage picks up with Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee after having healed the demon possessed man in the region of the Geresenes…
…in Gentile territory.
Now Jesus is back in Jewish territory.
But since Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum He couldn’t have been an easy Person to have living in one’s village.
Experts in Jewish Law were upset about some of the things He was doing, and rumors suggested that if Herod got wind of this “new kingdom movement” there would be big trouble!!!
Jairus, who was an official of the synagogue; a person of authority in Jewish society, probably didn’t feel too good about the possibility of a spotlight being shown on his town for all the wrong reasons.
At best, he probably would have wanted to keep a safe distance between himself and Jesus.
And this worked until disaster strikes!!!
Jairus’ 12-year-old-dauthter was very, very sick, and apparently about to die.
We can see pretty clearly into his agonized household…
…the traumatized father…
…filled with fear…
…hope is slipping away like sand through an hour-glass.
Jairus is desperate, so he pockets his pride and forgets his political agendas, and rushes off to Jesus…
…throwing himself down at Jesus’ feet.
Imagine the scene; how undignified!!!
Jarius was a very highly respected man in the town, and well-to-do.
What would the people be whispering about him come the next Sabbath?
But desperate times lead to desperate measures.
When it comes right down to it; nothing else matters when death comes knocking at the door!!!
“So Jesus went with [Jarius],” along with the eager crowd.
But something happened on the way to Jarius’ house.
Within the crowd is a woman with chronic bleeding; one of the main causes of impurity in that day.
She would have been forbidden to attend the Temple or any public events for that matter.
She should not even be out in public at all…
…let alone touching other people, especially a man!!!
But amazingly, this nameless cast-away is the one who shows the greatest understanding of Who Jesus really is and what it means to have faith in Him!!!
Jesus stopped in His tracks, even though He had been called to take care of an emergency at the home of one of the most prestigious and elite folks in town, in order to heal a sick woman that the world cared nothing about!
She is the opposite of Jairius.
Her continuous hemorrhaging means she was ritually unclean; her poverty made her powerless and indicates her vulnerability within society.
How often, in our society, does a wealthy person in need of help have to wait for the healing of a destitute person?
We are told that the woman “came up behind [Jesus] in the crowd and touched his clothes.”
“Who touched my clothes?” Jesus asked.
“Then the woman…came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear,and told him the whole truth.”
And Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Can you imagine the reaction from the crowd?
They know who Jarius is and they know who this woman is.
She is barred by law from the hope of regaining her health, her safety, or her place in the community.
Also, the very fact that the woman touched Jesus would have made Jesus ritually impure according to Leviticus 15:19-33.
But Jesus makes it clear throughout the Gospels that He is unconcerned about the purity laws of Leviticus or Numbers.
In Numbers 19:11 we are told that “Anyone who touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days…”
And, “if he fails to purify himself,” after doing so, “That person must be cut off from Israel.”
Of course, Jesus touched many dead bodies, not to mention that of Jairus’s twelve year old daughter.
As the Son of God, Jesus reaches through the purity boundaries based not on the authority of the law but based on mercy, compassion, love and faith.
So, after Jesus stopped to heal the woman, and while He was still speaking, “some men came from the house of Jairus.”
They told Him that Jairus’ daughter was now dead, and then they basically told Jesus not to bother coming after all.
But Jesus ignored what they said, and continued toward the home.
“Don’t be afraid; just believe,” Jesus told them.
And isn’t this what Jesus is telling you and me this morning?
Whatever is going on in our lives.
Whatever the circumstances…
…however dire and awful things are…
“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
There is nothing more powerful in all the universe!
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus will bring a dead relative back from the grave or heal every disease, but Jesus will provide healing if we ask.
I have a friend, a man of deep faith, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he was still relatively young.
A number of years later, he is in the last debilitating stages of the disease.
Nevertheless, he once told me that his prayers had been answered.
He said in all sincerity, “I have been healed, not of Parkinson’s disease, but I have been healed of my fear of Parkinson’s disease.”
While Jesus was still speaking with the—now healed woman—“messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house saying to Jarius, ‘Your daughter has died. Why bother the bother the teacher any longer?’”
Apparently, Jairus’ household believed that Jesus might be able to heal the girl as long as she was still alive, but they didn’t believe Jesus had the power to bring her back to life once she was dead.
Have you ever felt as if you were dead and that nothing could bring you back to life?
I know I have.
And when these feelings arise, this is the time we need the Church more than ever.
But this is also the time when many of us decide to cut-out.
But, as Jesus tells Jairus, in verse 36, Jesus says to us, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.”
And when we keep trusting Jesus through thick and thin, we find that Jesus is with us through it all; He never leaves us, He never deserts us, He always hears our prayers and He always answers our prayers.
What a friend we have in Jesus!!!
“all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!”
Several months ago, I was having one of those days.
I can’t remember the reason, or if there even was a reason…but I was bummed out.
I felt pretty much dead.
Clair had heard it in my voice.
And I guess she was a bit concerned.
Anyhow, there is a good thing about being the Pastor—whether you feel like it or not—you gotta show up!
Anyhow, later that evening, Clair and I got together and I was in a great and exuberant mood, but I wasn’t even aware of it.
Clair, knowing how I had sounded earlier in the day asked me, “Why are you in such a good mood?”
“What happened?”
The answer was not hard to find, “I’ve been to Bible study!!!”
This may seem laughable to those who have not had such experiences, but Jesus really does raise the dead—both figuratively and literally!!!
In our story, when Jesus reached Jairus’ home, and let it be known that this was not an incurable problem, the people “laughed at him,” as people have laughed at Jesus and His followers from that day to this!
But Jesus goes on to do what has to be done, no matter what others might think or say.
What an example for us to follow!!!
Derisive laughter is one of the things we humans fear most, and it’s one of the things that hurts the most…
…even more than many physical ailments.
This is most likely the reason that in surveys, Americans say that the only thing they fear more than death is public speaking!!!
Embarrassment, or the fear of being embarrassed is absolutely mortifying to most of us.
And we will often do many self-destructive things in order to avoid it.
Again, Jesus says to us, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.”
We are told that Jesus left the crowd behind, and six people went into the room where the dead girl is lying.
And this time, it is Jesus Who reaches out His hand; this time He says a word of command…
…and an accurate translation for what He says is this, “Time to get up, little girl!”
“Immediately the girl stood up and walked around…”
And at this, the people with Jesus
“were completely astonished.”
To be astonished by God is one of the things that makes being a Christian so exciting.
For when we come to God with faith and sometimes even fear…
…or we allow God to come to us…
Desperate situations are transformed into miracles!!!
Fear and faith, desperation and wholeness, the marginalized and the powerful...
…it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from or how grave your situation may be.
The power of Jesus can take us from one side to the other!
Do you believe this?
