Year B - Trinity2/Proper 8 : Mark 5:21-43

There are two sermons on this page.

Reading about trust.

Trust of woman

Intro. Re. Infirmity that you can't shake off/can't be cured. E.g. My dodgy knee.

Woman had tried all medical options.

The bleeding cut her off from the temple, making her ceremonially unclean.

It cut her off from people, they did not want to be defiled by contact with her.

She trusted that Jesus could heal her 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed."

Jesus wanted more than that for her. He pursued her. He wanted her to be healed and to have the peace of God in her life.

34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Jesus wants the best for everyone. This may involve healing for some. It should involve everyone knowing the peace of God in their hearts. But we have to sow because...

There is no growing without the sowing.

Trust of Jairus.

Jairus trusted in Jesus to come and heal his daughter. He was a synagogue ruler. Jesus was not always popular in the synagogues so this would have required some soul searching, humility, even desperation.

There is then the interruption of the woman being healed and Jesus pursuing her to speak with her. We can imagine Jairus' frustration and impatience. But we have a God who is not controlled by time.

Jairus is then told that his daughter is dead. Jesus says, verse 36, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Last week the disciples chose fear before faith. What would Jairus do? The fact that Jairus didn't dissuade Jesus from coming suggests he trusted him.

The trust of Jairus and of the woman is shown to be right. The woman is healed. Jairus' daughter is brought back to life. The woman is testimony to the fact that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus. The girl that we need not fear death.

I said at the start that this reading is about trust. I misled you. This readings is about the one whom we should trust in. Jesus.

You see, it is useless if you trust in something or gives these things and more. He has the power, including the power to still the storm, as we were reminded last week.

We can trust in Jesus.

He has the power to heal, even today. I am sure many here have experienced the healing power of Jesus. E.g. Jo in Stoke-on-Trent with her brain tumours.

Jo didn't, at least to my knowledge experience an even greater healing and miracle. The peace of knowing God through Jesus.

Jesus has the power to bring life to the dead.

He does this spiritually.

The Bible says that we tend to follow our own way rather than God's way. This leads to a spoiling of our relationship with him. Death. The only way to be alive is to realize that Jesus came and received the punishment for our sins on the cross. That without him we are dead. But that he can give us life. Life in abundance. We have to rely on him. Like the woman. Like Jairus. On our knees. We have to come to a position where we come to radically trust in Jesus because there is no other option.

Jesus is in the business of giving life to the dead. He also raised Lazarus. However, although Jairus' daughter and Lazarus were raised from death, they received the same, earthly bodies again. Jesus was raised and received a new, perfect, resurrection body. When believers are resurrected then they, too will receive perfect resurrection bodies. These will not be subject to ageing, decay, death, earthly constraints or any imperfection. There will be no practising doctors, opticians, or undertakers in heaven!

Let us rejoice in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Let us truly live lives that are under his authority and let that be a witness to a sick and dying world.

Jesus was practical at the end of the reading. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. He was compassionate to the girl who was hungry. He did not want to be known as just a miracle worker, this would hinder his ministry. So he told the five witnesses not to tell others, although the truth would come out once the girl was seen.

There is no need for us to take Jesus' orders from verse 43 for today. He does not ask us not to tell others about him. Indeed, he expects it of his disciples.

If we believe that Jesus heals us, saves us, and gives us life. If we believe that God's love is so boundless that it will not be diluted if others experience it. Why are we scared to tell others? What have we to fear? Jesus has conquered sickness and death and the storm. What is there to fear?

We should pray every day for the chance to show our trust in Jesus, in word or in deed.

There is no growing without the sowing.

And if people think less of us when finding out that we are Christians, what loss is that? What is most important is what Jesus thinks of us. He loves us. He has died for us. He wants us to live an abundant life that only he can give.

Early in the year I suggested we should be a WELL church like the early church in Acts 2. Worshipping. Evangelizing. Learning and Loving. Today's reading is about evangelizing. Seeking those who are lost. Today's reading speaks of the need to trust in Jesus. It speaks of the great power and compassion of Jesus. It should encourage us to share our faith with others.

PRAY

 

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Think of situations where people touch one another ?


Shake hands, hug, kiss, hold hands, play contact sport, boxing, rugby, push, hit...


In today's Bible reading we have an instance when Jesus is touched, and where he touches.


Jesus is touched.
This woman is in the crowd pressing in on Jesus. She has suffered from "bleeding for twelve years" (v. 25). The O.T. law declared that she is unclean, and that anyone she touches is also unclean.


I am sure that every one of us has had the pain and frustration of being on a hospital waiting list for months and months before we could even see someone. This woman not only had the pain and frustration of seeing many doctors over 12 years, but would also have been shunned by people who would not want to be defiled by contact with her. 12 years of pain, frustration, being cut off from people and the Jewish faith.


She pushes through the crowd, and touches Jesus' "cloak" (v. 27) believing, trusting, that touching him will make her well (v. 28). There was a belief at the time that someone's dignity and power were transferred to their clothing. Her belief at this time was probably little more than superstition. She had heard of this new faith-healer and thought she may as well try him.
Verse 30: Jesus realises that power had gone out of him. He was surrounded by many people yet one particular touch was different to all the rest. The healing power that was given by God the Father was also released by God the Father in response to the need and belief of the woman.


The cure is instant and complete (v. 29); Jesus has full power over disease, even when he appeared to be doing nothing.
Jesus tries to find out who has touched him because he wants the best for this woman. Although she has been healed of this disease, he wants her to be 'made whole'. Jesus wants this woman to be saved from her illness and, and perhaps more importantly, saved from separation from God through a personal encounter with himself.
Jesus was persistent, he kept looking, despite the comments of his disciples, verse 32. The healed woman tells the "whole truth" (v. 33): what she has done, and the result. Perhaps she is in "fear and trembling" for making Jesus ritually unclean; perhaps in awe at the miracle.
Jesus promises her a permanent cure from her disease. This is in response to her faith.
She is free from her disease, and the pain frustration and alienation that this produced. She is free from being barred from contact with people, and from worshipping God in the temple. Her trust in Jesus has also given her peace with God. Jesus frees people from things that limit them.


This is a reminder, if we needed it, that Jesus heals today. Over years we have had many answers to prayer for physical healing. Ernie Langford's heart problems, Jo and her brain tumours, and so on. However, there is an even greater and more permanent healing that needs to take place with everyone. The healing of the soul through faith in Jesus. The woman in the story would die, yet her faith in Jesus would save her from eternal separation from God. This can help us if someone has died physically but had faith in Jesus.
A T.V. soap will change from one story-line and location to another to give pace and drama. Mark is chopping from one story to the other which gives pace, drama, and continuity. In the healing of the woman we have the themes of uncleanness, a developing faith in Jesus, and salvation of the body and soul. These themes are also found in the raising to life of Jairus' daughter.


In this story we also have
Jesus doing the touching, of a dead girl.


"Jairus", was a religious leader involved with the running of the synagogue. He seeks out Jesus, hoping for a cure for his daughter's terminal illness (vv. 22-23).


Verse 23: "lay your hands on her". It was common practice for healers in the Middle East at this time to lay hands on people to bring about their healing. Jairus is convinced that if Jesus does this his daughter will be healed. He is desperate, not caring what people may think of him as he falls on his knees and begs in front of  a large crowd of people.


After the Sept. 11th 'Twin Towers' attack there were stories of why some people escaped being killed. The head of one company got in late that day because his son started kindergarten. Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
One man put on a new pair of shoes that morning, went to work as usual but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a shop to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.


Timing can be crucial. I guess Jairus was impatient when there was this interruption of the healing of the woman. Imagine him thinking, 'Come on Jesus, otherwise it may be too late !'


Returning to this in verse 35, Jesus and his disciples hear that the girl has died. Surely no one can restore life? Jesus says in verse 36 "Don't be afraid, just believe". He is concerned with maintaining and developing the faith of Jairus. Through this delay Jesus can demonstrate even more his power over sickness and death.


The disciples and the girl's family witness her recovery. In terms of the Kingdom, she is "not dead but sleeping" (v. 39): in the presence of Jesus physical death is only a temporary break of activity, like sleeping.


Verse 41: In touching  the hand of Jairus' daughter (a corpse) , Jesus makes himself ritually unclean. "Talitha cum" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!") (v. 41) are Jesus' words in Aramaic, his native tongue. Again, the cure is instant and complete so the girl; even walks around and then eats.


Verse 42: The witnesses, Peter, James, John, Jairus and his wife, "were completely astonished": Even though the 'inner circle' of disciples knew Jesus they did not expect this. less so Jairus, who probably had little hope once he returned to find his daughter dead.
Jack Traynor was an Englishman who fought in the trenches of World War I.  Twice he was shot: one bullet severed the nerves and tendons in his right arm; the other put a hole in his skull.  Jack was alive, but his arm was useless and his brain was damaged.  He couldn't walk, and he had constant epileptic seizures.  His right arm hung paralysed.  Doctors stopped treating him and predicted his death in a very short while.  The Ministry of Pensions gave him a total disability.


That was in 1920.  One morning in 1923, Jack suddenly jumped up out of bed. He washed and shaved, dressed himself, and walked out the door on his own! It's not possible! the doctors said.  But Jack just carried right on: he set up a business for himself, he got married, he fathered two children, and he lived a normal life for another 20 years!  The Ministry of Pensions kept sending his disability cheques.  No one in Jack's condition could ever recover! they said.  But Jack didn't complain!  It was like he was reborn.  Just when everybody had given up on him, he got another chance at life!


How would you have lived your life if you were Jack Traynor, or Jairus' daughter?


We are called to live our lives in anew way. Including gratitude having been spared death and a new reason for living.


In this story we see the continuing themes of Jesus being willing to associate with those who are considered 'unclean'; of a developing faith bringing salvation; and the power of God in Jesus.


We are all 'unclean' yet God has come for us in Jesus. Even our faith is an undeserved gift from God. It is evidence of God's power that he has breathed new life into the dead.


Robert Farrar Capon; "Jesus came to raise the dead. The only qualification for the gift of the Gospel is to be dead. You don't have to be smart. You don't have to be good. You don't have to be wise. You don't have to be wonderful. You don't have to be anything... you just have to be dead. That's it."


There is also a foretaste of the resurrection with the raising of Jairus' daughter. We have here a promise of the resurrection, and not merely the resurrection of Jesus, but the resurrection of the faithful.


A pastor was speaking to his people on the relationship between fact and faith. He said, "That you are sitting before me in this church is fact.

That I am standing here, speaking from this pulpit is fact.

That I believe anyone is listening to me is faith!"


In this passage we have the fact of the authority of Jesus over illness, uncleanness, and death. We also see the way that two people responded to that authority with faith.


So, there is a progression: faith leads to salvation from illness to health, from natural death to eternal life, and to a sharing in the resurrection of Jesus, as prefigured by the resurrection of the girl.


However, although Jairus' daughter and Lazarus were raised from death, they received the same, earthly bodies again. Jesus, when he was raised received a new, resurrection body. When believers are resurrected then they, too will receive perfect resurrection bodies. These will not be subject to ageing, decay, death, earthly constraints or any imperfection. There will be no practising doctors, opticians, or undertakers in heaven!


A widely respected man known as "Uncle Johnson" died in Michigan at the incredible age of 120. Perhaps his advanced years could be credited in part to the cheerful outlook that characterized his life. One day while at work in his garden, he was singing songs of praise to God. His pastor, who was passing by, looked over the fence and called, "Uncle Johnson, you seem very happy today." "Yes, I was just thinking," said the old man. "Thinking about what?" questioned his pastor. "Oh, I was just thinking that if the crumbs of joy that fall from the Master's table in this world are so good, what will the great loaf in glory be like! I tell you, sir, there will be enough for everyone and some to spare up there."


Let us rejoice in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Let us truly live lives that are under his authority and let that be a witness to a sick and dying world.


PRAY