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 

 

 

Yesterday we read that, after sailing through a fierce storm, 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 so 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 in 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.  My study Bible comments here 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).  

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."   Here, Christ's power to cleanse and to heal is demonstrated.   In the Old Testament, my study Bible says, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, which imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 15:25).  This woman was suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years, even suffering many things from many physicians, and finding no relief.  She accounts herself unclean but nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  My study Bible notes that there is also a spiritual interpretation to this encounter in patristic commentary, which sees this woman as representing human nature in general.  We are in constant suffering and we are subject to death, which is symbolized by the flow of blood.  Those physicians who could not cure the woman stand for the various religions of the world, as well as the Old Testament Law, which were unable to grant life to humanity.  Only through

 Christ we're freed from suffering and bondage to sin.  In this double sense, her faith has made her well, and she may go in peace, reconciled to God, and healed of her 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.  Here is another story of the power of faith.  For we must note how those who are permitted to follow Jesus are only His "inner circle" of Peter, James, and John his brother.  That is, the disciples with the strongest faith.  Jesus defies the consensus, who ridicule Him for saying the child is not dead, but sleeping.  The weeping and loud wailing of this group of people is their mourning for her death.  Jesus puts all outside, and takes only the father and mother to the child with Peter, and James and John Zebedee.  He takes the little girl's hand, and tells her to arise, healing by touch and by command of His voice.  Note that she is twelve years old, at the beginning of life, the same number of years that the woman in our story was suffering from a continuous flow of blood.  Note that the child immediately resumes a normal life; she arose and walked, and Christ commands that she be given something to eat. 

We don't know exactly what caused this woman's twelve year flow of blood.  For that matter, neither do we know from what affliction Jairus' daughter was suffering.  There are many things that can cause the blood flow, such as a deep and unresolved infection, for example, or perhaps a particular uterine condition; and of course children may suffer from a whole host of ailments.  But in both cases, as my study Bible notes, the flow of blood is a vivid symbol of loss of life, loss of vitality and energy and human spirit.  So it is also with a dying child.  Who is not moved by loss of life at such a young age?  At any rate, both conditions teach us not only of suffering, but of a loss and outflow of life force, a dissipation of what would otherwise be healthy human life.  Viewed from this angle, Christ's intervention in both the woman and the child's life is one that is powerfully life-giving.  As my study Bible indicates, these stories tell us that it is only He who can restore this life, who has the power to give life.  So, healing in this sense in which the divine Christ offers us life, is a healing that doesn't simply restore to health, but rather a condition in which life itself is given to those with faith.  On the one hand, great faith is shown by the woman who even braves a fear of this crowd turning upon her when they discover her condition, and on the other we have the parents of the girl, buoyed only by Christ and then also by the disciples whom He calls to accompany Him.  In the woman's case, she has such faith that she believes that by touching His clothes, she might be made well.  Such was already the image and stature of Christ, and this is affirmed by the power that had gone out of Him in response to that faith.  And certainly it is only Christ who could defy the ridiculing crowd at the home of Jairus, and persuade the parents to follow Him in faith, and not to fear.  Both the woman's longterm blood flow, which has been treated by many physicians (the treatment itself causing further suffering), and this child's death which is so certain in the eyes of the crowd that wails and mourns and ridicules Christ, also suggest to us a level of despair that is present in each case.  Anyone who has suffered together with parents who agonize over a child's dissipating condition, or has struggled with similar problems in adulthood, knows the struggle with faith and hope, and what a difference faith can make under such conditions, even to persist in seeking healing.  This is a story, in short, in today's reading, of the struggle for human life, and the things we ultimately struggle against.  That is, those influences that would seek to take away from us the power of faith and the power of life within us.  Such a very physical story might also serve to remind us, ironically, of St. Paul's words, that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  For while we can struggle against the ironies, difficulties, and uncertainties of human health and medicine, we also struggle against those products of "darkness" that rob us of hope, of faith, and of life itself on so many levels, so that we are robbed of our capacity to try, and to persist., and to endure.  Let us consider these stories, hopeless as they must have seemed to those who lived them, and how they teach us about endurance, and faith, and about fear.  For each faced fear, and struggled to meet fear with faith.  Let us do all we can to shore up our strength for that particular battle as well, when we focus on the things that dissipate our life in any way -- and remember the power of Christ's faith for us.  Let us believe in His word.