Faith, Fear and Healing
Mark 5:21-43
They were completely different, from two different
worlds
He was
the President of the Synagogue,
The
toast of the religious community
Twelve
years ago he had been blessed
With
a daughter who I’m sure was
The apple of his eye and
The
princess of the synagogue
Twelve
years ago the woman in the story had been cursed
With
a disease, a flow of blood.
She would have
been outcast from the
synagogue because
A women with a flow of blood
was considered
unclean.
She was a nobody and
He was a star.
Jesus had just returned from a long trip
And he
was besieged with their healing needs.
They
were as different as could be but
They
had one thing in common-
They
were both I need of healing.
Both came to Jesus.
He
came with credentials and a name- Jairus
And
begged for Jesus help
She
came anonymously with no name-
known by her
disease-
“a woman with a flow of blood”
She
touched Jesus and expected a miracle.
Both
kneeled before Jesus.
Both
were healed by Jesus touch.
Both
moved from fear to faith.
Who do
you suppose that Jesus healed first?
Who
do you suppose that Jesus complimented
For her show of faith.
Jesus is a radical guy because he doesn’t do anything
The way
we expect him to.
We
would expect that if he complimented anyone
For their faith that it would be Jairus.
And in fact he chastises the Jairus
crowd for their lack of faith.
“fear not, only believe”.
Jairus the leader of the Synagogue
ended following the
lead of the women
who
demonstrated such faith.
She
fell down before Jesus in fear and trembling
And
Jesus said:
`Daughter, you faith has made you well”.
No only does she get healed but she
gets a title
“Daughter”.
Jesus
gives her the same status as the child of the
Leader
of the synagogue, “Daughter”.
That’s the real miracle in the story.
Jesus
brings us together, out of our fear,
Into the healing and peace and faith of Christ.
Notice that none of these people earned their healing.
Even
the women with the flow of blood
To
whom Jesus said “Your faith has made you
well;
Go
in peace and be healed of your disease.”
The
power for her healing came from Jesus
Even
before she had the courage to
Confess
that she had touched him
The
text says:
“She
was healed from her disease and
Jesus
perceived in himself that power
had gone forth from him.”
It was Jesus’ touch that healed the women and Jesus’
word
“Talitha Cumi” that
healed the Synagogue ruler’s daughter.
The faith for both of them came in the midst of the
healing
And the fear.
Jesus
presence gave then the power to conquer
The
fear they had of disease and of each other.
Leviticus
law expressly said that a women with
A
flow of blood was unclean and anyone
Who
touched the women was unclean.
You
can imagine the Synagogue ruler’s
Concern
of being ritually unclean
And
Jesus who was touched
By
the women would be unclean.
And
yet Jesus helped him conquer that fear
And
they continued to heal his daughter
Even
in the midst of his ritual impurity.
The
women was afraid to even speak to Jesus
Let
alone the crowd of people and yet when
She
was healed and called out by Jesus
She
knelt before Jesus and told
Jesus the whole truth.
In the healing of Jesus there is faith that conquers
fear.
When I came back from my long journey to pick up Josh
I felt
like I was entering a healing zone.
Usually
we are a healthy group and I knew
About
Sara’s trip to
But
I heard of Laura and Guy’s baby Maggie
being born a little early in
NICU;
Ron
and Dawn’s son Austin having surgery
To
remove a benign tumor in his leg;
And Gail having knee replacement surgery.
And I have to admit that I started back last Tuesday
With my
own fear and trembling about all the healing
That
was needed in our midsized church.
And
then I started to walk with that crowd
Of
people who walk with Jesus in healing.
And I realized that, that is an image for the church.
We are
the crowd of people who get to witness
Christ’s
healing in the world.
Often
time we are afraid on that journey
And
yet that is the time when Christ is most present.
Sometimes
we get to be in the inner group like
Peter,
James and John who got to witness
The
healing of the Synagogue ruler’s daughter
Like
Melissa was with Guy and Laura and Maggie;
And
I was with Ron and Dawn and Austin
And
we get to see the healing close-up;
What
a sacred privilege that is.
It
is truly a mountain experience.
But
most times we are part of the crowd
Who
travels with Jesus,
hearing snippets of
what he says,
feeling a
little bit of the power he has
to
heal and change lives
and
bring peace and wholeness.
Sometimes
we even ridicule him and laugh at him
When we are faced with death or disaster
And
can’t believe that there is any way out,
And
that’s when Jesus says to us:
“Do not fear, only believe.”
Unfortunately, we are not immune in the church
To
forces that want to bring dis-ease and division
Into our church community.
There are definitely forces that want to divide us
Into
good religious leaders and societies outcastes
and divide the
Christian community
into good
Christians and bad Christians.
But the Gospel says that we are all daughters
Or sons in Christ.
The Gospel says that we all stand
in need of
Jesus healing power.
The
Gospel reminds us that every knee shall bow
As
Jairus and the women with the flow
Both
bow before Jesus.
The Gospel says that it is the touch of
Christ
And
the Word of God
that heal us by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
So I invite you now to hear God’s word to you
“Rise Son and Daughter in Christ”
be healed of
the dis-ease within you
as we confess our faith together
and sing to the glory of the Triune God.
Amen