Mark 5 : 21 - 43
When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him. There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ´Who touched me?´" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction." While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official´s house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child´s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
The first thing that stuck out to me in this passage was “Do not be afraid, just have faith.” This is one of those endlessly elusive things: this faith. It seems that way. In this story Jesus instills faith by performing miracles, healing miracles that involve life and death. Who WOULDN’T have faith after seeing those things? God sure knew what he was doing to send his son to wake people up. I asked my students the other day, “If you could have lived at any other time in history, when would it be?” Dinosaurs, knights, 50’s…answer from 10 year-olds run the gamut. I think in my heart of hearts I really just wish I were around when Jesus was alive. I get a little envious of the people in these Bible stories even in spite of some of the, what I believe to be embellished elements of the stories. My word, they got to see him perform miracles. I mean seriously. Then I suppose maybe in light of what their world was like at that time maybe it wasn’t all that obvious to them as to who this guy was. Maybe I would have been too busy, too worried to notice? So here we are. No Christ, but Christ embodied. The Holy Spirit infused into all of the nuances of our day-to-day. This hurriedness I experience so often, the burning sensation in my gut that gets worried and anxious over things I can’t control….sometimes it dominates me. Sometimes it steals away my faith when I’m not looking like the family dog stealing one’s dinner from their plate. So praise God that we can find this peace in our lives. But…(there’s always a but)..that’s just it…that deep peace that Christ offers is there in the minutia of our lives…and if we don’t fervently seek it we are putting our souls constantly at risk.
ReplyDeleteTwelve years. That’s how long the woman in the passage suffered with her phsyical affliction. How many times in my life have I thought I’ve had it bad? Whatever I’ve gone through, it doesn’t even come close to what she went through. Her pain and anguish was almost half of my entire life. She threw all of her resources in what man had to offer. Time and time again over the years, man couldn’t help her. How many times in my life have I sometimes seeked the solution to problems within this earthy realm, only to be disappointed and come only to dead ends? Way too many. And yet…
ReplyDeleteShe had faith. She believed in something beyond this world, something that could heal her impossible illness. Because of her faith, she was cured. Sometimes I forget the fact that I need to turn to God in order to ask for grace, for help in the problems that I have. I always think that I can handle it, or that I can find a person or some type of resource to help me out…whether it be physical, emotional, and oddly enough, spiritual sometimes. This passage serves to remind me that God CAN serve to heal those problems that are seemingly Mt. Everests in my eyes, troubles that may seem impossible to climb. With Him in mind and in prayer, God can help me rise again much like the little girl.
Speaking of her, I always thought it was interesting he said that no one should say anything. Why wouldn’t Jesus WANT people to exclaim to their friends and family that this incredible thing happened? I know if I just saw a dead girl rise, I’d be two things: freaked out and AMAZED, ready to tell anyone who had two ears and were willing to listen to me for five minutes. So perhaps…Jesus is trying to say…that faith is something you don’t necessarily have to go on a loudspeaker and yell to the world about what you believe. Although it is powerful to be a witness of God, it is also important in the quiet of your heart and your mind at the end of the day to keep Him in mind.