Readings:
Sermon:
The gospel of Mark is full of action, energy and is always eventful. Mark presents us with Jesus’ life and ministry with seemingly an unending number of encounters with others.
Our Gospel reading for today is the final part of Mark chapter 5, beginning at verse 21. Jesus having crossed over the lake is greeted by another large crowd of people who gather around him. We don’t know exactly who was in the crowd, but very quickly a few people emerge and we are invited into Jesus’ interaction with them.
Jarius, who we are told is one of the leaders of the synagogue, comes right up to Jesus and falls at his feet. He is desperate as his young daughter is critically ill. He begs Jesus to go with him to lay hands on her. Jairus’ pleading is public and potentially risks his reputation, but at this moment he is a desperate father, wanting his daughter to live. Jesus hearing his plea goes with him.
I suspect that many of us have had times when we have called out to Jesus in desperation. It may be that similar to Jairus it was when someone we love was critically ill, or perhaps it was different circumstances, but we were desperate. Over the years in those moments, knowing that Jesus heard my cries was such a deep comfort. I was not alone.
As Jesus begins to make his way to Jairus’ house we meet another person. This time it is a woman who is unnamed. We don’t find out her name at all in this interaction. We learn that she has been suffering for 12 years with a debilitating bleed that would have led to her being considered unclean. She would have most likely been avoided by most and crowds would certainly not be a comfortable place to be. We learn that she has spent all she has on treatment and that nobody has been able to help her. She has heard about Jesus and despite her condition and what it would have meant to be among other people she believes that if she just touches Jesus’ clothes she will be made well.
I love that whatever she had heard about Jesus had given her the confidence to come to him. We don’t know what she had heard, or who she had heard it from, but something had made her come and believe that healing was possible. Never underestimate the power of simply sharing what you know about Jesus. Perhaps it may give someone else the confidence to reach out to him.
When she touches the cloak she is immediately and miraculously healed and Jesus knows that someone touched him and what has happened. In such a crowd of course many had touched him, but only this woman, as far as we know, reached out in faith and hope that she might be healed. Jesus says ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’ What incredible words these must have been to hear, both for the woman and those around. This unclean, unknown woman is called ‘Daughter,’ a term of love and belonging and Jesus comments on her faith. She mattered, her illness mattered and her restoration mattered to Jesus. This would not just have been a physical healing, but would have enabled her to be a meaningful part of the community once more. Could it be that the faith of an unknown, unclean woman was seen and valued by God? That means so much for us and for all those who do not think they are worthy enough to know the love, welcome and healing of Jesus.
The narrative moves on, with news arriving of Jairus’ daughter’s death. Jesus is too late and it seems that it is because he stopped to help this woman. But this isn’t the end of the story, as Jesus tells Jairus not to fear, but to believe. They go to the house and the child is miraculously healed.
So we have two miraculous healings, one the 12 year old daughter of a leader of the community and one an unknown woman who had been unwell for 12 years. 12 years where God know each of them. As the girl’s father and the woman herself call out to Jesus he hears them and the healings happen.
I believe that Jesus can and does heal and am thankful to have known and seen both miraculous and gradual healings of body, mind and spirit. It is still incredible to know that Jesus hears us when we call out to him and that it doesn’t matter who we are, he still hears. Throughout the gospel there are accounts of Jesus healing those he met. It is important to recognise that he didn’t heal everyone that was ill in the region where he ministered. The miracles are often called signs, or signs of the Kingdom. They tell us who Jesus is, what God is like, they reveal his presence and purposes and remind us of the promises of eternal life.
As well as having seen people healed over the years, I have also known many who haven’t been healed in the way they would want. I have sat with those who are dying and have taken the funerals of people of all ages, sometimes in the most tragic circumstances. Why doesn’t God heal everyone who cries out to him or who someone else cries out to him on their behalf? We will never fully comprehend why some are healed and others aren’t, but I firmly believe that God is present with us in suffering, in healing, in life and in death.
As I have continued in my Christian walk I have been encouraged by those countless times when I have seen God lovingly and kindly hold people through their suffering. I always pray for their healing, but trust that God will be with them whether the healing is as I hope or not and whether it is in this life or the next.
There are no easy answers and the pain of suffering should never be diminished, but this passage and the experience of countless Christians is that whoever we are we can always confidently call out to God, knowing that he hears our calls and will draw close to us.
Questions:
- Who might you call out to Jesus for today, just as Jairus did for his daughter?
- Do you discount yourself from receiving Jesus’ touch or healing because you don’t feel worthy or important enough? Could you reach out in faith like the unnamed woman did?
- Who might we know who thinks that they can’t come to Jesus? Could we pray for them and perhaps have the chance to tell them that they are known and loved by Jesus?