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Twelve years is a long time. Twelve years ago I was in Pattison,
Texas, a town only about an hour’s drive from here, but a town that I
would guess many of you have never been to. I believe it was the only
place where my son ever ran away from home. He ran all the way across
town to the church office, about two and a half blocks. His mother
was scared to death and he was in a bit of trouble when he got home.
Of course, he was only five years old, twelve years ago. Twelve years
is a long time.
Every Father’s Day I play that game. I think back on Father’s Days in
the past and remember how old the kids were then. I don’t know if
they had an equivalent to Father’s Day in first century Palestine, but
I am sure if they did one man was reflecting on years past, going all
the way back to twelve years earlier. His name was Jairus, the
president of the synagogue, and his daughter was a Daddy’s girl. He
was waiting with so many others when Jesus got out of the boat,
returning from the East side of the Sea of Galilee. We find his story
in Mark 5, where his story is interrupted by another story that is
twelve years old. Hear now the Word of the Lord in Mark 5:21-43:
21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other
side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came
and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and 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.”
24So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him
and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been
suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had
endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had;
and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had
heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his
cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will
be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and
she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30Immediately
aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the
crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his
disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can
you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32He looked all around to see
who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened
to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him
the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith
has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35While he was still speaking, some people came from the
leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher
any further?” 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said
to the leader of the synagogue, “Don’t fear, only believe.” 37He
allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the
brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the
leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and
wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them,
“Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but
sleeping.” 40And 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. 41He took her by
the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl,
get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to
walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome
with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one
should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to
God.
In this passage
Mark related to his readers the power one moment had on two twelve
year old stories. I wonder if these two daughters ever met each
other. I hope so. I think it would have been great for them to get
together and remember the day that Jesus came to town. I can imagine
them visiting over a cup of coffee and Jairus joining in the
conversation, “He only spoke four words to me that day. He said,
“Don’t fear, only believe.’” On this Father’s day, I want
to take you to that day. I want to invite you to hear those four
words and all that they imply. For these words are no longer just for
an anxious father in first century Palestine, they are your and they
are mine – Father’s Day gifts from a loving God - Don’t fear,
only believe. These words inform us that…
Jesus Knows
IJesus knew a lot about this man and his anxiety. He
knew a lot about the woman who snuck in the crowd for a healing. He
knew their story. That is obvious from his reaction. Jairus comes to
him almost as soon as he is stepping out of the boat. Jesus is his
only hope. He falls at the teacher’s feet and begs him to come to his
house, lay his hands upon the sick girl, and heal her from the
mysterious illness that is threatening her life. Jesus does not enter
into any kind of dialogue with the man, he doesn’t ask the man what’s
wrong with her, how long has she been sick, he just starts walking.
The crowd that had already assembled started to follow – very
closely. Can’t you imagine them hollering out, “He is going to work a
miracle. Hurry up! You have to see this.” The crowd closes in even
closer and they move almost as one when out of the shadows sneaks a
woman who has been sick for twelve years. She too has confidence in
Jesus’ healing power, plus she has run out of options. She has tried
every cure known to man at the time. One commentator recorded that
the contemporary cures were to drink a concoction of rubber, alum, and
ground up crocuses. Quite frankly that sounds more like a potion to
stop a radiator leak. Another prescription was to drink onions, wine,
and repeat a medicinal incantation. Other doctors tried shocking the
patient, Nothing worked and for twelve years she was ostracized as
unclean, guilt ridden for being unfit, sick and tired of being sick
and tired, and finally penniless and hopeless.
IIt happens all the time, these scenarios of desperation
and human efforts to fix the problem. I am always amazed at the
breadth of knowledge of remedies for human suffering. Have you ever
had the hiccups? Now I am not trying to compare a twelve minute bout
with hiccups to the twelve year ordeal experienced by the woman in
this story, but stick with me on this one. I have had the hiccups and
I have received several prescriptions – hold your breath, breathe into
a sack, eat a teaspoon or table spoon of sugar, have someone scare
you, and my favorite (which I do the most often) drink water backwards
from a glass (That one works about half the time). I am sure that all
of these have worked for lots of people or they wouldn’t have the
circulation that they do. However, if I have the hiccups and none of
these work I become more and more frustrated. As I mentioned,
sometimes they can last for twelve minutes.
IWe don’t do this just for hiccups. I have heard people
try to prescribe cures for cancer, cures for grief, cures for anger
over traumas in the past. We do this so often, we offer advice when
understanding is most sought. I am confident that the first gift that
Jesus gave to the anxious father and the hopeless woman was the gift
of understanding – Jesus knows. Can you imagine how
many prescribed remedies this woman received after twelve years? Can
you imagine the hopelessness and confusion that she felt? But guess
what – Jesus knew. Jesus knew the hurt of this woman and the heart of
this father. This is too important to race past, because I am certain
that many of you are in a valley of your own – it may be anxiety, it
may be illness, it may be past hurts that won’t go away, it may be a
hundred different things and perhaps even the ones living with you are
unaware of its power in your life. Jesus knows. He
walks with you as if you are Jairus pleading for help. He stops for
you as if you are a woman seeking something that has evaded you for
twelve years. And somewhere in the chaos of the crowd you hear four
words that can completely change your life, Don’t fear, only
believe. It is this stopping on the trail that unveiled the
second gift of this story.
Jesus Cares
IApparently the woman had heard enough about Jesus or
was at such a point of desperation that she was confident that if she
could just touch the clothes of the holy one, she would be made well.
So she risked the shame and disgrace of an unclean woman milling among
the clean and accepted people to get to the man in the middle of the
crowd. She reached through all the people and got it. She touched
the hem of his robe and immediately felt whole. She hadn’t felt that
good in twelve years and twelve years is a long time. Then something
strange happened. Jesus stopped and looked around, “Who touched my
clothes?” The disciples thought it was a joke with everyone pressing
in so tightly, hundreds of people probably had touched his clothes.
This was different.
II am sure that Jairus was saying to himself, “Who
cares?! Can’t we hurry? She is getting worse. I know it. We need to
hurry!” But Jesus never seems to be in a hurry. He knew that the
healing was not yet complete. The woman had been restored physically,
but there was still something else she desperately needed. If she got
away now, she might promote some kind of superstition about Jesus’
magic clothes. He made it clear that it was not the clothes, but the
Christ that possessed the power. Besides, there was more healing to
be done.
“Who touched me?” and he kept looking into the crowd
with eyes of expectancy. He was not leaving until he found her. When
she stepped forward and told him her story he said something to her
that he is not recorded as having said to anyone else. He said to
this woman – this one who had suffered so much for so long, this one
who had felt so all alone for twelve years- he called her “Daughter”!
“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed
of your disease.”
IFrederick Beuchner wrote of once being at a Christmas
Eve Mass in Rome. He said as the Pope was making his way through the
thong of people he kept looking. Beuchner was sure that he was
looking for Christ that night, as if in one of those faces he would
see Jesus. His eyes were so piercing and his gaze so focused that
Beuchner himself started looking for Jesus.
IIn today’s story it is not one looking for Jesus, it is
Jesus looking for one. He is looking for the one who has been
hurting, the one whose private pain has isolated that person for a
long time. He is looking because Jesus knows and
Jesus cares.
IHowever, in the midst of this touching story where he
not only heals the woman of her physical ailment, but also restores
her soul with that tender word, “daughter”, another daughter died.
People came to Jairus and said it was too late. The girl for whom he
had sought help was dead. Again the assurance that Jesus cares is
made evident. I can imagine him cupping the man’s face in his hands,
blocking out the expressions of the crowd and the anguish of his own
heart. I can imagine Jesus’ eyes locking on the father as he did
earlier on the woman. That is when he offered the only words recorded
that he spoke directly to the man, “Don’t fear, only believe.”
Then he offered the third Father’s Day present…
Jesus Can
I“Where there is breath there is hope” is an old adage,
and it seemed to be even popular in Jesus’ day. Where there is
breath, a touch of the savior can infect others with health and
purity. The crowd had already seen this in the case of the woman who
had been dreadfully sick for years. But now it was too late. The
professional mourners had already assembled at the ruler’s home.
There was high shrill screaming, clapping of the hands, playing of
flutes, antiphonal singing, and other rituals being performed to let
the entire community know that there had been a death in the house.
The crowd that had been around Jesus at the sea had dissipated.
Perhaps they thought it was too late or perhaps they simply heeded
Jesus’ instructions that no one was to cross the line that led to the
road to Jairus’ home. So Peter, James, John, Jairus, and Jesus got to
the house where Jesus told the group of mourners that they were a bit
premature. They knew death. It was their vocation. It was what they
did. They mocked the naïve itinerant teacher from Nazareth. He
simply went into the room and closed out all the mourners. With just
the three disciples, two parents, one savior, and a lifeless child in
the room, Jesus went over to the little girl, took her hands in his
and gently said, “Little girl, get up.” Only he said it in a language
that she would understand, “Talitha cum!” And she did, and she was
twelve years old. I am quite certain that this was the best Father’s
Day present ever.
II wonder if they ever got together. I wonder if that
little girl who had lived for the same amount of years that the woman
had been sick ever got together and compared how their stories of
twelve years were changed in that one day. I wonder if Jairus joined
them and said, “He only spoke four words to me that day. He said,
‘Don’t fear, only believe.’”
IThat’s who we are today. We are people that have come
together, fought traffic, navigated through a construction zone, and
got together right here in the sanctuary to worship one who has
assured us through stories and life experiences that Jesus knows,
Jesus cares, and Jesus can. How many of us have stories
where we could say, “He only spoke four words to me that day. He
said, ‘Don’t fear, only believe.’” |
