The
Holy Gospel According to St. Mark 5:21-43
5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other
side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
5:22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came
and, when he saw Jesus, fell at his feet 5:23 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."
5:24[and] So Jesus went with him. And a large crowd followed him
and pressed in on him. 5:25 Now there was a woman who had been
suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 5:26 She had endured
much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and
she was no better, but rather grew worse. 5:27 She had heard about
Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
5:28 for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made
well." 5:29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in
her body that she was healed of her disease. 5:30 Immediately
aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in
the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" 5:31 And his
disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how
can you say, 'Who touched me?'" 5:32 He looked all around to see
who had done it. 5:33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to
her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told
him the whole truth. 5:34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith
has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
5:35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the
leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the
teacher any further?" 5:36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus
said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."
5:37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and
John, the brother of James. 5:38 When they came to the house of
the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping
and wailing loudly. 5:39 When he had entered, he said to them,
"Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but
sleeping." 5:40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all
outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were
with him, and went in where the child was. 5:41 He took her by the
hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl,
get up!" 5:42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk
about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome
with amazement. 5:43 He strictly ordered them that no one should
know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
This is the Gospel of the Lord . . . praise to you O Christ!
The Story of Jairus' Daughter sounds hopeful at
first, and then suddenly hopeless *(the little girl has
died) But then Jesus tells Jairus and his wife (FATHER
AND MOTHER of little girl) Do Not Fear, Only Believe!
What do you think they were afraid of?? Well, we know
that this mother and father must have been terribly
afraid that they had just lost their little girl. This
kind of dreadful news strikes fear into the breast of
even the bravest souls among us. The threat of losing
one's own child at any age leaves us with a dreadful
feeling inside. "This kind of thing is not supposed to
happen."
Jesus told Jairus and his wife, "Do Not Fear, Only Believe!"
What do you think Jesus wanted them to believe? I think that the
answer to that question was standing right there beside and before
them. Jesus himself was the answer. Jesus was encouraging Jairus
and his wife to believe that the answer to their little girl's
safety and future was there directly in their presence. Christ
himself was the answer to what and who they should believe.
Note in the story how Jesus dismisses the crowd of
mourners--those who laughed at Jesus when he announced to the
family, "The child is not dead but sleeping." Jesus cannot
entertain unbelief. People without faith and a vision for the
things of God will not be included when God chooses to reveal
God's-Self through the miracle of healing or some other
deliverance. Jesus puts out these people who cannot accept that
God's grace and love are so amazing and powerful that the little
girl will be raised up from the dead. Instead Jesus only allows
for the parents and his closest disciples to be present when he
goes in to pray for the little girl.
We are not to fear, but to believe that God will do miraculous
things in our lives. We should not hang around for long with
people who do not have faith, lest we also become discouraged and
disheartened and closed to the things that God would do in our
lives or in the world around us . . . if only we would trust and
believe.
However, faith can also be fickle. We may feel we have great
faith one day, in fact when I preached this sermon last Sunday, I
came into the early service with a fairly confident faith, but
when a prayer request was expressed for an 8 year old with a life
threatening form of cancer – my faith became weak. I became less
confident in my words as I tried to speak of the faith of Jairus
and of the woman with the issue of blood. I knew in my heart that
my faith was not strong enough to look upon the family who was
related to the 8 year old, who was in real danger in the here and
now. (Her name is Morgan, please pray for her and her family down
in Georgia).
I knew in my head that Jesus would be with little Morgan, but I
was having trouble in my own inner-confidence level . . . perhaps,
now that I am able to reflect on this, I am recognizing that I did
not entrust the situation to Jesus, but was instead allowing my
own poor faith to be the basis of confidence . . . which was a
mistake!
Jesus is telling me and you and the family of Jairus' that we
are to place our full confidence in him. Yes, we must listen to
what the Doctors have to say and to allow the wisdom of those
trained in various fields of medicine to work their profession.
But in the final analysis, we are to look to Jesus who is the
Author and Perfecter of our faith. It is he who calms the wind and
the waves that threaten us in our life's journey. It is Jesus
alone who has overcome the world, even death itself could not keep
him in its stronghold–he was raised from the dead!
We certainly cannot trust in our own self-confidence, even if
we feel that we do have great faith . . . let us not trust in
ourselves (as I was prone to do, which caused me to falter in my
faith and stumble because of my inadequacy, but let us give
ourselves wholly to Christ who encourages us not to fear, but to
believe. It is in him that we are to live and move and have our
very being. In Christ alone are we to find our confidence!
When we believe in Jesus we are believing in and accepting that
he is truly God, come in the flesh. We must also believe that
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the beginning and
the end and he is always going to be there for us and with us, no
matter what!!
Even if we are the one who is sick unto death. Or if it is
merely a recurring nightmare that troubles us. We are encouraged
to trust in Jesus love and presence. We are encouraged to call out
to Jesus and trust him to deliver us from any fearful thing. Do
not allow fear or unbelief to discourage you in your walk with
Jesus. When the pathway becomes dark or obstructions rise up and
threaten your faith. Then cry out to Jesus, fall at his feet,
reach for even the hem of his garment, and he will be there for
you and he will tell you, "Go in peace, be clean, return to your
family, go and do great things now, for I am the one who heals
you, I am the one who makes you whole. Apart from me you can do
nothing, but I will be with you – even unto the end of the age."
So be strong in faith Christian brothers and sisters. Go now to
love and serve others. In Jesus Name.
Amen
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