Do not be afraid; only believe

 

 Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  

 

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."  

 

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"   As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

 

- Mark 5:21–43 

 

On Saturday we read that, after crossing a stormy Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.  So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.  

 

  Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live."  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.  Here Jesus has returned from what we might call the strange experience in the country of the Gadarenes, and returned back to His ministry's "home" territory in Capernaum.  Jairus is an important man, one of the rulers of the synagogue.   We note yet again that St. Mark tells us that a great multitude was gathered to Jesus by the sea.  This same "great multitude" follows Him and throngs Him as He goes toward Jairus' house.  

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My clothes?"  But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."   My study Bible explains that the healing of this woman demonstrates Christ's power to cleanse and to heal.  In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and imposed religious and social restrictions on a person, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  Yet, even so, in this midst of this thronging crowd, this woman who considers herself unclean nonetheless approach Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus corrects her thinking here, as she could not hide her touch from Him, and neither is she excluded from Him because of her illness.  He positively declares her powerful faith and its results to all by saying, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."   She is not only called a "daughter," but is sent with both a blessing (Go in peace) and healing.  

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"   As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.  Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.  But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.  Here  my study Bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Jesus is of one essence with the Father, He has this authority (John 5:21).

After word comes that Jairus' daughter has died, Jesus tells him while they are still on the way to his home, "Do not be afraid; only believe."  These words remind us of Christ's words also to His disciples as they were sailing across the Sea of Galilee, and in the middle of a terrifying windstorm, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  Once again, Jesus juxtaposes faith and fear, emphasizing the importance of giving faith the upper hand.  We should remember that the word in Greek for faith has as its root the word that means "trust."  This does not mean simply an intellectual decision to accept a certain proposition, but an all-in kind of choice to trust in someone; specifically, to trust in Christ and His words.  So often this choice to trust comes down to love.  We trust in God, or we trust in Christ, or we trust another human being, out of a sense that we trust they love us.  Regarding human beings, of course, this doesn't mean they are not fallible.  But when it comes to Christ, we trust at another level, and for greater things than other human beings can do for us.  Our choice to trust Christ may begin at perhaps a shallow level, but the depths of trust go to the foundational levels of who we are, a kind of disposition or orientation of the heart at levels we might not even consciously know or understand.  This is because our relationship or communion with Christ extends far beyond what we know of the world, even of our experiences, but into soul and spirit.  St. Paul writes, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  If we look at her carefully, we'll see that this woman with the twelve years blood flow embodies Christ's words teaching us not to fear, but instead to believe.  For she must have had terrific fear as she approached Christ, not only in this very close and mingling crowd, but of the state of her uncleanness according to the Law.  And yet, she trusted Christ enough so that her great faith was possible; she seems to have been certain that if she could just touch His clothes, she would be made well.  We can also see at what deep levels this power of Christ works, for she did not have to make herself easily known to Him on conventional terms.  The power within Him made a kind of connection through her touch of faith, and He felt that power go out of Him in response to her.  By contrast there is the young girl, the daughter of Jairus, who is completely without a say in the matter of her healing.  She lies at home on the point of death, and so her father comes to find Jesus and to plead with Him for help.  Notice that this child's healing also depends upon faith in contrast to fear.  But in this case, it is the faith of the parents that make the difference.  In the face of discouragement from his servants, Jesus tells Jairus, ""Do not be afraid; only believe."  Faith is so essential to this little girl's healing that Jesus takes His closest disciples with Him into her room.  These are the three disciples whose faith in the strongest (James, John, and Peter) -- and notably, He puts out all those who ridiculed Him.  Effectively, the faith of these together was enough for the young woman to be healed, even for the power of life and death to be at work in Christ on her behalf.  Note how the work of faith, and also the power of Christ are unseen.  But somehow we see their effects; these are at work in a kind of field that remains invisible to us although we are invited to share and to participate in it and know its effects (John 3:8).  In our own times of struggle, let us remember the juxtaposition that Christ gives to the disciples, to the woman with the blood flow, to Jairus the ruler of the synagogue and father to the girl.  Faith or fear.   One asks us for trust in the One whom we know loves us; the other simply asks to undo hope.