June 27 – Mark

MARK 5: 21-43

I have found in life that sometimes the cure is worse than the ailment. Let me begin my sharing a story with you.  A man was not feeling very well, so he decided to go to a doctor. While he was waiting in the doctor’s reception room, a nun came out of the doctor’s office. She looked very ashen, drawn and haggard. The man went into the doctor’s office and said to the doctor: “I just saw a nun leaving who looked absolutely terrible. I have never seen a woman look worse.”  The doctor said: “I just told her that she is pregnant.” The man exclaimed: “Oh my, is she?” The doctor responded: “No, but it sure cured her hiccups.”

 

Most of us at one time or another have been impacted by some type of tragedy.  It could be an illness, the death of a loved one, some catastrophic event like a flood, or any of a number of things that can touch us as humans.  These events can cause us pain and anxiety. Often, we experience the pain not only physically, but also spiritually.    We know that as Christians, we are not exempt from tragedy and the ups and downs of human life.  Yet, we also know that we have the comfort of knowing that Jesus is walking each step of the way with us as we deal with and grow stronger through our trials and tribulations.

 

I am sure that you remember Job and all of his suffering.  Even with all his trails and tribulations in Job 5:7, he says, “I want you to remember that when tragedy comes your way, Jesus is more than adequate to take care of the situation.”  Also, 1 Peter 5:7 assures us that we can cast all our anxieties on Jesus, because He cares for each and every one of us.

In this morning’s passage, we meet a father who is in the midst of a tragedy.     That day, death had shown up at his house and the grim reaper had come for his 12-year-old daughter. We can imagine the pain in his heart, the anguish that he must feel at his daughter’s serious illness.  The doctors have been there, but still the young girl is getting sicker and sicker.  Jarius, who was one of the synagogue leaders, not knowing what to do turns to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jarius would have had to “lower” himself so to speak, when he sought out Jesus to heal his daughter.  As one of the religious elites, he would have had an internal battle with himself to help him move beyond the rules and expectations of his upbringing.  He would have had to listen to his heart and put his daughter before everything that he had held dear.  By doing this, in the end, Jairus finds that Jesus is more than enough in the times of our tragedy.

As Jesus and Jairus are walking towards Jairus’ house, a servant of Jairus comes running with the tragic words, “Your daughter is dead!”  Can you imagine how Jairus must have felt at that moment?   At that moment, all of his dreams and hopes for his daughter were shattered!  Hopelessness over takes him.  But then, Jesus says to Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe!”  In short, Jesus is telling him not to believe what he hears, don’t believe what you know, don’t believe what you see, just trust in me.  When Jesus arrived at Jarius’s house, he took the girl by the hand, raised her up and immediately, she was healed and asked her parents for something to eat.

Jesus’ message to us is that this is what faith says to us each day.  Although every instinct we have may be telling us that the situation is hopeless, we need to have faith and look to God Who is greater than anything we can hear, know or see!   We need to bring our needs to Jesus, and we need to trust our needs to Him.  We need to have faith and trust Jesus, as He works it out in His time and in His way. By the way, He may not work it out how we want Him to!  The trick is to be content with leaving it in Jesus hands for He is up to the task and has our best interest in mind.

The woman with the hemorrhage also sought a solution from the one person who could help her. All the doctors she saw failed her. Society failed her because her bleeding made her unclean along with everyone and everything she touched.  Jesus did not fail her. He saw her as a person and as someone of value. She believed that by just touching the clothes of the one man who could help her, she would be healed, and her healing changed her, her heart, her body, her life and her soul.  Again, we see an example of the type of faith Jesus wants us to have in Him.

As we leave here this morning, let us remember that Christ interrupts our daily routines and our attempts to stay in control.  He beckons to us to have faith and trust in Him. To not rely only on ourselves.  Christ reaches into our unclearness, and touches us with the same kind of mercy and love that He gave to Jarius and his daughter, and to the woman who touched the hem of his robe.  It is the kind of love and mercy that we cannot begin to comprehend as human beings.  If we have faith, it the love and mercy that we feel in our hearts knowing that it was Jesus who died on the cross for each one of us so that we might be forgiven of our sins, and have eternal life.  Believe it!  Have Faith!  For it is true!     Amen