Mine Hill PC / Chester Community Church, June 27, 2021,
Mark 5, 21-43
Mel Prestamo, Elder PCUSA
This reading from Mark has details packed in all kinds of nooks and crannies and I think that it is fascinating to unravel it and take a close look at what was going on.
At the very outset Mark tells us that when Jesus crossed the lake from one side to the other, there was already a great crowd waiting there for him. So right here in the first line, Mark tells us when this event was taking place. It was not at the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry but it was after Jesus had been preaching for a while and his notoriety and reputation had grown. This tells us two things. First, in his ministry, Jesus had a reputation as a healer and miracle worker and the crowds were already following him to see what would happen next. Second, the Temple and local Synagogue authorities were also well aware of him. At this point already, Jesus was being barred from teaching in the houses of worship and the word was out to the leaders of the Synagogues to be careful and don’t associate with him. That is why Jesus was on this road show, so to speak. The penalty for recognizing and endorsing Jesus was excommunication from the Jewish faith and along with that the privilege of worshipping in the Synagogue.
So, with this backdrop, we see one of the rulers of the Synagogue, Jairus, come to Jesus to beg for the healing of his daughter. As “Ruler of the Synagogue”, Jairus was an extremely important individual in the community. He was in charge of all of the scheduling and management of the Synagogue; and as such he would have been keenly aware of the warnings about Jesus and the perils of dealing with him face to face. Nonetheless, here he is with his face in the dust of the roadway in front of all to see begging Jesus to save his daughter from death. He has thrown himself down on his knees at Jesus’ feet in full view of this immense crowd. This is not insignificant and we should not gloss over it.
Jairus was risking it all; risking his reputation, his standing in the community, his position of authority in the Synagogue all for the life of his daughter. You may say, “well yes, of course, any parent would do that.” But for Jairus, it was not that simple. He had the responsibility of upholding the orthodoxy of the faith in his community. What he was doing was putting all of that in peril. The reaction of the other leaders of the Synagogue could be sever. By kneeling at Jesus’ feet, he was not only sacrificing his dignity; but visibly elevating Jesus to a position of authority. Also, I want you to be aware of something else. Jairus was there on his own. As a prestigious leader, he could have sent anyone and not had made himself so visible. We will look at more about that later.
Jesus sees Jairus at his feet and is sympathetic for his plight and agrees to go his house to see the daughter. They start off but something sidetracks Jesus.
“There was a woman who was suffering from hemorrhaging which had lasted 12 years.” The story tells us that she had spent everything she had on doctors and to no avail. Indeed, the matter had gotten worse. Now, initially, she acts differently from Jairus. She is so fearful of approaching Jesus from the front that she reasons that all she would need to do is touch a tassel hanging from his robe. If she could manage just that then she would be cured. So, that’s what she does. As Jesus is passing through the midst of this huge crowd with people pushing and shoving all around Him, she reaches out and touches a tassel hanging from his robe and feels instantly that she is cured. And she is. Just as she had believed in the power of this extraordinary healer, she is healed. This amazing faith that she has results in her immediate healing. But wait, something happens.
Jesus feels something has been drained out of him. He stops and immediately asks, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples, who at this point are totally overwhelmed with what is happening, respond by saying something to the effect, “You’ve got to be kidding. There are a thousand people all around us. How is it possible to know who touched you?” But Jesus persists. “Who touched me”, he asks again? Now the woman knew what she had done and comes forward throwing herself at his feet and confesses all. This confession is a long and painful story for her to share. You need to understand that according to Jewish law after a woman experiences her cycle, she needed to remain isolated for seven days before she could once again participate in the life of the community. For seven days women were considered “unclean”. This poor woman had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She had been totally pushed aside and shunned by her community for 12 years. Image for a moment her pain and torment. Jesus does. He recognizes her faith and her pain and acknowledges that her faith has cured her.
Now Jesus returns to the task at hand, Jairus’ daughter. It is at this moment in the story that messengers from Jairus’ household come to say the daughter has died. And then they say to Jairus, “Why trouble the teacher anymore?”
At first glance this may seem to be reasonable. But as we will learn later in the story, their tone is not sympathetic of Jesus’ time. It is another hint of the backstory that Jairus is dealing within his household. We can gather from what follows that they were being sarcastic and demeaning of Jesus and Jairus’ appeal for healing. There is no hint of cordiality here. They are telling Jairus’, “Look, your daughter is dead. Send this guy away before you do more damage to our household.”
But Jesus intercedes. He tells Jairus not to be afraid and to have faith. Jesus proceeds to Jairus’ house taking only Peter, John and James with him.
When they arrive at Jairus’ house, there is a full-blown wake going on. There is weeping and wailing. Jesus sees this and asks, “Why are you so distressed? Why are you weeping? The little girl has not died. She is sleeping.”
What is their response? OK. Now is when we see the true colors of Jairus’ household. “They laughed at him with scorn.” Now we see more of the risk that Jairus was dealing with. His household was mocking and ridiculing the teacher that Jairus’ had begged for help. In effect, Jairus’, too, was a target of their scorn.
Jesus puts them all out. He takes only Jairus, the mother and his friends in the girl’s room. Jesus takes her by the hand and tells her to “Arise.” And immediately, she does. What happens? All are amazed and there are “great sounds of astonishment.” Those sounds may have come from the mother. Jairus was probably crying tears of joy.
Give her something to eat, Jesus orders. Why? Because this is no aberration or ghost. The girl that has risen is real and alive and hungry. We see this also when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and indeed when Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection. Feeding the body was proof of resurrection. Feed her. There can be no mistake here. Her lifeless body has been raised. Feed the body.
This is a great passage. So much happens. But what struck me as I was preparing my message is the cost to each of the characters in the story. Jairus risks his position in the community and his reputation. His household, family and associates have allowed him to go out on a limb alone in going to Jesus for healing. They were quite willing to allow the girl to die rather than associate with this healer. When Jesus and Jairus arrive at his home, the people there were scornful of Jesus and by association, Jairus as well. Jairus has a lot to lose if this doesn’t work out and all he has to go on is Jesus’ insistence that he have faith.
The woman who touched Jesus had to risk her own humiliation when she comes forward to tell her story. She knells at Jesus’ feet [as did Jairus] and bears her life of indignation to Jesus and the crowd. There were probably many who had stepped back from this “unclean” person so as not to be soiled by her. Take note that at that time, the people would have reasoned that for the woman to have been afflicted like she was, she must have [at sometime in her life] sinned and was being punished by God. So, they would want to have nothing to do with her. And here she is, telling Jesus her very personal and embarrassing life’s story before all.
For each of them there is a cost. There is embarrassment. There is a loss of position and prestige.
But the cost for them is minor as compared to what each of them receives back from Jesus. Here their risk is far outweighed by the rewards they receive. Jairus gets his daughter. The woman gets healing and an opportunity to rejoin the community she has been ostracized from. Their faith has made this happen. Jesus tells Jairus to have faith. He tells the woman that because of her faith, she was healed.
In this passage, there is a very strong theme as to what our faith in Jesus can do in our lives. Now, I want to be carefully and not going to suggest to you that physical healing is going to happen as a result of our faith as we are all far removed from physical interaction with the person of Jesus. We can not reach out and touch his robe or have Him take the hand of an ill family member and raise them up from death’s doorstep. But what our Faith can provide for us is comfort of knowing that Jesus is with us and that the Holy Spirit that he sent to us is beside us to encourage us on our way whenever its help is needed. Even though Jesus is not physically present, He still touches our lives and Faith in Him still heals our aching and searching souls. His act of selfless love on the Cross still washes us clean and opens the door to our salvation and an everlasting eternal presence with God.
But wait. There is one other in the story for whom there is a cost. We learn when the woman touches Jesus, he feels something drain from him. It’s momentary. It may only be minute; but it is nonetheless real. For Jesus there is a cost, too. Something goes out of Him. He feels it. The Gospel writer Mark believed it was important enough to mention it in the story. He probably heard it from Peter who was there. Peter probably learned about it from Jesus. Perhaps, Mark uses it in the story as a foreshadowing of what was to come and the ultimate price that God and Jesus pay.
What comes to Jairus and the Woman and us from Jesus is freely given. Ultimately, what comes to us as God’s mercy and love is freely given. But like what was drained from the Jesus at the woman’s touch, there is a cost. The freely given Grace and salvation that we receive at Jesus’ resurrection and conquering of death was paid for dearly with his blood. And that is something we always need to remember. That the cost and the price paid for our salvation was extremely high and we should not forget that or treat it lightly.
Amen.
