Mark 5:21-43; 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15
“Then, one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw Jesus, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
“She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
Jesus preached the shortest sermon of his life when he said to Jairus, “Do not fear; only believe.” Five words, two commands, one broken-hearted father. Can you imagine how he must have been feeling that day? There he was, a ruler of the synagogue—a position in his day that carried a lot of prestige and power.
Jairus’ responsibilities involved being the administrative head of the synagogue. He was the president of the board of elders and responsible for the good management of the synagogue. Not only that, he was responsible for the conduct of services—he did not usually take part in them, however; but he was the one who assigned the ritual duties and made sure that, in our terms, the bulletin was followed exactly as written—nothing changed, nothing omitted.
Jairus was a man of great importance in his synagogue, but “something happened to him when his daughter fell ill” (Barclay, p 126). No longer would he view Jesus as an outsider, a dangerous insurgent who confronted and threatened the Jewish hierarchy. None of that “rebellion” mattered any more because his beloved child was “at the point of death” (Mk 5:23a).
Jairus, the dignified ruler of the synagogue, feeling powerless and caring nothing for his personal dignity and pride, completely overcome with grief, dropped all his prejudices about this wandering rabbi and fell at Jesus’ feet, weeping, begging him to heal his 12-year-old daughter: “Come and lay your hands upon her, so that she may be made well, and live” (Mk 5:23b).
Now let’s turn for a moment to the unnamed woman, because that’s how Mark tells the story of these healings, right? Her story interrupts Jairus’ story.
This woman is outcast in her society. Her family, friends, those who knew her were bound by Jewish law to take a wide berth around her. She was unclean! Banished! Nobody else even sees her; it’s like she is invisible, and she is sick unto death. She, like Jairus, believed that Jesus had healing powers that could change her life.
Where did this woman get the strength to make her way to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, then to push her way through the “great crowd gathered around him” (Mk 521b)? Imagine the press of the flesh! It was a lot like trying to make your way through the crowds at the Strawberry Festival!
She had to break through all kinds of human barriers and laws that were in place to keep certain people out, people who were undesirable, leprous, possessed, different—and nothing sent people running like a dead body or a bleeding woman.
She was weak but she had faith, and in her weakened condition she encouraged herself toward Jesus. He was the only hope she had left, “for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well’” (Mk 528).
Jairus, his unnamed daughter and the bleeding woman fared far better than what happened to a 16-year-old boy in Connecticut a few days ago. He was the subject of an exorcism at the Manifested Glory Ministries Church in Connecticut. This "healing" is supposed to chase out the gay demon that purportedly possesses the boy. The exorcism was filmed and posted on line by the church!
The video, which is very disturbing, shows the 16-year-old lying on the floor, his body convulsing, while members of the small Connecticut church stand over him, yelling, screaming, at the tops of their voices for the demon to come out of him. Apostle and Prophetess of the church, Patricia McKinney, said, “We don’t hate homosexuals. I just don’t like their lifestyle.” She also defended the action by saying that the youth is 18. The boy confirmed he is 16, but otherwise declined to comment, citing the advice of his pastor [emphasis mine] (Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 3:57 PM on 25th June 2009). Well, somebody’s not exactly speaking the truth.
The point is that what happened in the MGM church in Bridgeport, CT, was not anything like how Jesus healed people. There was abuse disguised as love in that church’s dealing with the boy. But with Jesus miracles, not exorcisms, are the path to healing and new life; Jesus uses Kingdom ways to release us from our dis-ease.
When the woman simply reached and barely touched Jesus’ cloak, the Lord felt it. Even in the midst trying to move through the crowd, he was “Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’” Mk 5:30).
Jesus knows a “faith touch” when he feels it. He is not an impersonal healer; he’s not into screaming at demons, either. Jesus wanted to know the identity of who touched his clothes and received power from him, not because he was angry but because Jesus is a personal healer. He knows the whole truth about each of us; and he responds in Kingdom ways to our deepest needs and hurts. “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (Mk 5:34).
When Jairus fell begging at Jesus’ feet, Jesus immediately picked him up and set out with Jairus to heal the daughter. Imagine Jairus’ anguish when Jesus stopped to find out who touched his clothes. Even the disciples were incredulous about Jesus’ question. Can’t you just hear them now, “Are you kidding me? Look at all these people…you want to know which one of them touched you!?” But Jesus does not operate within the human barrier of time.
The woman came forward “in fear and trembling” (5:33) and told him the whole truth about her life. As Jesus was blessing the woman into a new, a “clean” life, he overheard the news from Jairus’ messsengers that it was too late; no one could save his daughter now: she was dead. Yet, Jesus softly spoke to the now small-and-broken father who no longer resembled a ruler of anything, “Do not fear; only believe” (Mk 5:36b).
Jesus is our healer, too. He is the one who is always there for us when we are feeling ostracized or outcast, isolated and ashamed, sick and sorrow-filled. Jesus iis the one who is always there for us when we feel broken and defeated. All he asks of us is to tell the whole truth about our lives. We put into words that have sound the truth we know hides way and deep inside. Is there something that you need to tell Jesus today? Is there something that is dying inside of you that needs a resurrection? Are you afraid? Do you need a faith touch? Ask for his help, seek his healing power; knock at the door of new life and it shall be opened to you.
Barbara Brown Taylor, voted one of the twelve best preachers in America, says of this passage that “Mark addressed all of us who suffer from the human condition, who are up against things we cannot control” (“One Step at a Time” from The Preaching Life).
Each and every one of us as individuals and as a community have been in situations that seemed impossible to heal. Are you in one right now? Is there a place where you have little or no control and you are frightened of the possibilities? Are you even confused about what being healed by Jesus means? One theologian (John Pilch) tells us that “Healing is the restoration of meaning to people’s lives, no matter what their physical condition might be” (SAMUEL @ www.ucc.org. Reaching out in faith involves incredible risk. Are you willing to take the risk to receive healing and new life from Christ?
Imagine yourself as the father of the 12-year-old girl. Do you not feel winded by the long run to the sea—your lungs burn and your muscles cramp, and yet you push yourself to go faster because you are on a life-and-death errand. Aren’t you afraid that something might happen to her while you are away from home? Isn’t your heart already breaking because you feel so helpless to do anything to save your child’s life? Do you feel like a “bad father” and are you filled with regret over the things you did not do…or did do that you shouldn’t have? Will you risk it all—your job, your reputation, your personal pride, your own life even—to turn your life over to Jesus?
Imagine yourself as the woman who has been ostracized for 12 years with no one coming near her, disdaining her. And you’re so very, very tired. Your disease has taken everything you’ve got—your health, your money, your relationships—to get to this point of desperation. The only thing that has not been stolen from you is your faith. Will you risk it to reach out and simply touch the hem of the master’s cloak?
Imagine you are the sick child. You do not know what is wrong with you; you don’t understand why you’re hurting so bad, you’re burning up with fever, and you’re scared because this time Mom and Dad cannot fix it. You’re suddenly faced with the realization that death make take you away from all you know and all whom you love. You are overwhelmed by the darkness all around you. Will you risk your life to be touched by Jesus and hear him say, “Talitha koum!”? I should think that it would have been better for that 16-year-old boy to hear, “Son, get up!” rather than “Get out of his belly, you gay demon!”
The good news today is that Jesus’ power to heal our lives can cross any and all human barriers we put in his way. We can trust Jesus with the whole truth of our lives, and he WILL make us well one way or another. Remember the words of the Lord for your own healing today:
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
“Son, do not fear; only believe.”
“Little girl, get up!” (Little boy, get up!”)
Tell Jesus the whole truth; run to the Lord with every concern; be touched by Christ. In his words and in his touch we can seek—and find—the freedom of new life that comes from the healing power of a faithful relationship with Jesus Christ. And if these words don’t convince you of what Jesus can do in your life, how about these, Run; Reach; Rise and do everything in his name and as your heart warms with a growing faith, you will not only be made well, you will also be overcome by amazement because with your new way of life, you will see how the Kingdom of God has come near to you. Amen.
June 28, 2009
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, Maine
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
