Monday, July 01, 2024

Sermon - Pentecost 6 - Mark 5:21-43


They say there is no greater heartache than the loss of a child.  I know some of you know this pain.  There is something deeply dis-ordered and nonsensical to us when a young person dies before their time, before even reaching adulthood, or before their own parents.  Death is never a welcome friend, but if someone has lived a good long life, and is now leaving behind pain and trouble, we can sometimes see death as bittersweet.  But when a young person has their whole life ahead of them, and that life is cut short, it seems even more unfair, even more tragic, even more a cause for weeping and lamentation. 

Such is the situation in our Gospel reading todayIt starts out with a desperate father and a dying young daughter, is interrupted by another woman in need of Jesus’ helpAnd just when it seems all hope is lost, Jesus turns tears of mourning into joy as only he canHe restores the life of the little girl with his powerful wordLet’s take a closer look at Mark’s account of Jairus’ daughter today. 

The girl was sick, very sick, even dyingAnd her father, a man of some importance – a ruler of the synagogue – knew just where to go for helpIt seems he was already a believer in Jesus, or at least in Jesus’ power to healThough a man of some standing himself, he humbly falls at Jesus’ feet, an act of faith – a bodily confessionWe even know the father’s name, Jairus, a detail which also testifies to the truth of this story. 

He prays for Jesus to help lay your healing hands upon her – and she will live!  A simple, straightforward request, as any father in his position might make.  Without any further conversation, Jesus goes. 

But of all the miracles of Jesus, this one takes a most interesting turn, or a detour, we might say, with another miracleAn interruption, or at least, an interludeAlong the way Jesus is distracted by this interaction with the woman who had a flow of blood And she, too, was desperate. She had tried everything, but suffered with this condition for 12 years.   

And by the way, it is surely no accident that 12 years was also the age of the little girl that was healed, and is also the “number of God’s people”It is surely no accident that Mark chooses to record this detail for usThere’s a connection between these two individuals – the woman who was healed, and the young girl who was raisedBoth are called “daughter”. 

But there were also some interesting contrasts between the two:  

The woman had a chronic sickness , the girl’s condition was acute. 

The woman sought out Jesus directlyThe girl’s father sought Jesus on her behalf. 

The woman’s approach to Jesus was technically not in accord with the law, as her flow of blood made her “unclean”.  But the Father’s approach for his daughter was open and above board. 

The woman was an outcast, sociallyBut as ruler of the synagogue, Jairus’ family had a higher social standing. 

The woman was poor, having spent all she had on doctorsJairus and his family probably well off. 

The woman was healed by touching Jesus’ cloak, and when Jesus healed the girl he touched her hand. 

The woman was healed in public, the child in the privacy of a home. 

Jesus spoke to the woman after the healing and to the girl before. 

In both cases there was commotion the crowd that followed Jesus and then the crowd of mourners.   

Jesus told the woman that her faith had healed her.  Jesus told the messengers that they should have faith and not be afraid. 

So what do we make of all thisTwo women, one young, one old, but both in need of helpThey shared some things in common, but their cases were also very differentBut the one thing they had in common, the most important thing that had in common, was they had a need – and that need was met by Jesus. 

You and I come to Jesus in various ways, tooSome of us are young, some are oldSome are male, some are femaleSome are life-long Christians, some recent convertsSome of us are rich or poor, healthy or sick, troubled or not-so-troubledWe’re as different in our circumstances and situations as can be. 

But we also have some things in commonWe share the same curse of sin, and the wages of that sin called deathYour sins may be different from mineYours may trouble your conscience more, or in different waysYour struggles with a certain sin may have been going on for many years, or perhaps have just begunBut the one thing we all have is sin, and that sin runs to our very coreWe were conceived and born in it, we live and breathe in itAll the thoughts of our hearts are tainted and soiled by itApart from Christ we can do no good thing. 

And that sin brings with it a train of troubles, with a caboose called deathThroughout this life we find the grief and bitterness that sin brings.   

Sometimes it is your own sin, and you suffer the consequences of your mistakes.  You bear the burden of your guilt, the shame of things you’ve done, and can’t take backBring it to JesusHe will forgive, as he always doesHe will bring peace with God, a peace that passes understanding. 

Sometimes the sin that troubles us is from the world around us, other sinners, who hurt us with their words or deedsThe knife stabbed in your backThe thoughtless words, or careless inconsideration.  Bring it to Jesus, and he will teach you to forgive those who trespass against you, even as he forgives your own trespasses. 

And then there’s the broken world, the fallen creationThe effects of sin that bring death and diseaseIt may be a flow of blood or a life-threatening feverIt may be an accident or disasterOr maybe just old ageSomething gets us eventuallyThis mortal flesh is failingThis world is in the throes of childbirth, heaving toward its own end and destructionBring all that to Jesus, too. 

Look past the commotionDon’t give ear to the cacophony of mourning and wailingSet your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.  He may heal as miraculously as the woman who touched his garmentOr he may allow the body to simply heal itselfHe may provide a doctor or a pill or a surgeryOr, he may not. 

And if he doesn’t, that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten or forsaken.   

Do not fearOnly believe.  

Just as the little girl was only sleeping, and he went to awaken her, so he brings life, even after deathAnd on the last day, on a much grander scale, he will say to you, also, little one, arise.  He will bring you just as surely to life – full, abundant, glorious, like you’ve never had life beforeHe will command that every Christian grave give forth its dead, and they, and all who are in Christ yet living will be changed into bodies incorruptible.   

For all their differences, what Jairus’ daughter had in common with the woman who sought out Jesus for healing – is Jesus himselfAnd we are in that same boat. 

Whatever trouble or sorrow, whatever tears or mourning sin and death bring your wayWherever you are in life, and whoever you are, do not fear, only believe in JesusHe is the one who brings the helpHe is the one who overcomes sin, death, and devil. 

After all, he is the one whose blood has flowed for us on the crossHe is the one who slept in the grave for usHe is the one who turns sorrow to joy, tears into laughter, fear into faithHe is the one who cares for all his sons and daughtersHe is the one who comes to us, and to whom we may always reach outIt’s always Jesus, and only Jesus, who cures, cleanses, calms, comforts, heals, and savesIt’s Jesus who gives his life for yours, and will give you eternal life on the last day. 

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