Grace and Peace to you from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in
the truth, for His word is truth. Amen
Fourth Sunday after
Pentecost (2009)
The Compassion
of God is Revealed in Jesus Christ
Mark 5:21-43 (ESV)
And when
Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered
about him, and he was beside the sea.
[22] Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and
seeing him, he fell at his feet [23] and
implored him earnestly, saying, "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." [24] And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about
him. [25] And there was a woman who had
had a discharge of blood for twelve years, [26] and who had suffered much under
many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather
grew worse. [27] She had heard the
reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his
garment. [28] For she said, "If I
touch even his garments, I will be made well." [29] And immediately the flow of blood dried
up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] And Jesus, perceiving in himself that
power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said,
"Who touched my garments?"
[31] And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing
around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?' " [32] And he looked around
to see who had done it. [33] But the
woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell
down before him and told him the whole truth.
[34] And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well;
go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
[35] While
he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said,
"Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus
said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." [37] And he allowed no one to follow him
except Peter and James and John the brother of James. [38] They came to the house of the ruler of
the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing
loudly. [39] And when he had entered, he
said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is
not dead but sleeping." [40] And
they laughed at him. But 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. [41] Taking her by the hand he said to her,
"Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you,
arise." [42] And immediately the
girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were
immediately overcome with amazement.
[43] And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told
them to give her something to eat.
Who can read the account of
our Lord Jesus’ life and not be touched by the compassion of God which is so
evident in the life and ministry of Jesus. Today’s Gospel Reading is yet
another beautiful Scriptural account testifying to this truth.
We read in
the (Collect) that in the ministry of our Lord we learn that God has prepared
for those who love Him “such good things as surpass our understanding.” Although
we live in an age in which pain, sickness, and death afflict us, today we
celebrate the compassion of God revealed
in the victory of Christ. God’s compassion is revealed in today’s Gospel
with the account of the restoration to life of Jarius’ daughter (Mark 5:21-24a,
35-43) and the healing of a woman afflicted for years with a physical ailment (Mark
5: 24b-34). Moreover, these healings are an example of the greater restoration
to health and life of all those who put their trust in God.
Each Sunday we
return to the baptismal font from which we first shared in Christ’s death and
resurrection. Thus, as children of the God, each Sunday we share in the
Passover from death to life of the Lord and the Lord’s people. Furthermore, this
Passover is the very heart of every liturgical celebration in which God’s Word
is the bridge that allows us, in anticipation of our death and our final and
complete restoration to life with God’s saints, to touch the garment of our
Lord, so He can heal our sin-filled wounds. Therefore, in the liturgy we
acknowledge that our help comes from the Lord because it is He who keeps us
from harm and watches over our life.
The apostle Matthew tells us that
the events of today’s text as recorded by Mark take place as Jesus is leaving Matthew’s home after having
dined with him and his friends. As He does so, a great crowd begins to press
around Him, anxious to see Him; hoping to hear a word of encouragement or witness
a miracle for which Jesus has become well known. Suddenly, a man named Jarius
rushes up to our Lord, and prostrates himself on the ground at the feet of
Jesus and in earnest beseeches Him, saying, “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” (v. 23).
What a marvelous testimony
to this man’s faith! What a marvelous testimony to his understanding of the
power of Jesus to heal! This man is an official, a ruler of the synagogue and
unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees who constantly reject Jesus, Jarius is
convinced that Jesus is a man of God, filled with the Spirit and able to save
his daughter from certain death, thus when he learns of Jesus’ presence in his
community, he wastes no time in seeking His help. Moreover, Jesus wastes no
time in responding to Jarius’ plea as He immediately turns to go with him to
his house.
No more had He turned to
begin His journey with Jarius when suddenly He feels His power being drawn from
Him. He knows someone has touched Him; someone who needed help reached out,
bridging the gap between themselves and God, and touched the Son of God.
A woman, who has lived in
misery for twelve years because of a physical ailment that has kept her unclean,
according to Levitical law, all those years, reaches out to Jesus in the hope
that her prayers will be answered in the life and presence of the Christ. Years
of physicians, home remedies, and other measures have proven worthless, it
seems as though nothing or no one could cure her illness. She must be thinking here
is this rabbi, Jesus, in our community. I know He is a man from God and I have
been told He has the power to heal, in fact, He has healed many others. Is it
possible that I can get close enough just to touch His clothing? Surely, if I
can only touch Him I will be healed. O Lord, she pleads, please let it be. As
He draws near, she reaches out with a frantic hand and touches the fringe of
His garment.
Immediately, her condition
is cured. The miracle she has prayed for has come to past. Her faith, that led
her to press through the crowd so she might touch our Lord, was rewarded by her
cure. Our Lord Jesus, knowing some of His power has been taken, turns and asks
the crowd, “Who touched my garments?” (v. 30).
In answering the question, “Who is Jesus Christ” the
catechism teaches, “Jesus Christ is ‘true God, begotten of the Father from
eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary.’ ” Moreover, we know this
to be the truth because Holy Scriptures call Him God. Thus, as God, Our Lord Jesus
is omniscient. He always knew what this poor woman had planed in her anxiety to
regain her health. Moreover, He was fully conscious that a miraculous power had
gone forth from Him, that this woman had taken the liberty, in trusting faith,
to draw healing power out of Him. Stopping for a moment on His way to Jarius’,
Jesus chooses to test her faith. Turning around, He asks: “Who touched my garments?” Immediately He looks around to see whether the woman
would confess. Not understanding our Lord’s motive, the disciples think His
question is strange. However, the woman realized her act had been discovered
and moreover, it was known to Jesus.
Trembling with fear from her daring, she comes before
Jesus and falls face down before Him, telling Him the whole truth, the entire
story of her illness and its misery and suffering, and the hope that she had
since learning of His wonderful miracles of healing. What a marvelous world we
would live in and what a marvelous church we would worship in if this method of
dealing with our Lord was practiced more often. Surely, if we would always
recognize that Jesus is Lord; there would be less suffering in the world. He is
always ready to listen to our woes and trials; and, moreover, at all times He
is always willing to help us. Thus, He lovingly says to the woman, “Daughter, your faith has
made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (v. 34).
With the case of the ill woman resolved, our Lord
turns to continue His journey to the home of Jarius. By this time, Jarius is
frantic with anxiety. His mission was one of urgency. His daughter lay dying at
home and none could save her and because of this delay with the ill woman, he
fears she may even be dead at this time. Oh, Jesus, Jarius is thinking, please
hurry to save my daughter. Then, his world collapses around him; Jarius sees a
member of his household who says, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the
Teacher any further?” (v. 35). This news totally devastates Jarius. He
had come in great haste to get Jesus to come to his house to save his daughter
and now, because of the delay with the sick woman, it is too late. His daughter
is dead, his mission is a failure, and there is a great empty spot in his heart
that his daughter once occupied. However, Jesus says to Jarius, “Do
not fear, only believe” (v. 36).
Jarius had proven he trusted in the Lord, but with
this latest revelation there was a danger that this confidence could be lost. Therefore,
Jesus gives him a word to hold his wavering confidence, “Do not fear, only believe.”
Fear is incompatible with faith.
Jesus is about to perform a miracle that was not for all
to see, therefore He leaves His disciples with the exception of Peter, James
and John, and the crowd behind and proceeds to Jarius’ home. When He gets there,
there is a group of people crying and wailing death cries at the passing of the
ruler’s daughter. Jesus asks them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but sleeping” (v. 39). Mark tells us that the group
thought Jesus was crazy. They knew dead when they saw dead. Who was this
person, who hadn’t even examined the corpse, telling them the child is not dead
but only sleeping? Unlike the ruler of the synagogue, they had not yet come to
saving faith in Jesus.
After putting everyone outside of the house with the
exception of the mother, father, and those who came with Him, He goes into the
child’s room and takes her by the hand and says, “ ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means,
‘Little girl, I say to you, arise’ ” (v. 41). Immediately, the girl gets
up and begins to walk, resurrected from the dead by our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Everyone is amazed! Death yields to the power of Christ. The girl gets
up, she lives and she is able to do all that living people do. Is it any wonder
that all who were there were astonished by this miracle? Moreover, this is the
first miracle which truly displays, for all to see, the power of the Christ. However,
our Lord is not yet ready for the world to know of His power, so He tells the
disciples, the girl, her mother and her father, not to speak of this miracle to
anyone. He doesn’t want false, Messianic hopes to be aroused. God alone has set
the date in which all who have died will be raised from the dead; resurrected
to judgment. On that day there shall be rejoicing for all who believe in the
atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Both of these miracles are strong testimonies to our
Lord’s ability to heal the sick and bring the dead back to life. However, there
is more here than the story of healing two people. According to Levitical law,
both the woman with the illness and dead girl were ceremonially unclean.
Moreover, if Jesus touched them, or if they touched Him, He would become
ceremonially unclean. Yet, our Lord never hesitates. He took the uncleanness of
both these women into Himself and returned life, health, and full covenant
status for both. This is what He does for you and me to this very day.
In prayer, confession, and worship we draw near to our
Lord, unclean and unworthy of His love and healing. Yet, rather than turn us
away, He beckons us to come. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 ESV). I will give you
rest from the burdens of life, I will give you rest from your sinfulness.
There, nailed to the cross, I touched you and became unclean for you. I took
your sins upon Myself on that cursed tree and it was there that My life’s blood
cleansed you, making you whole again, unscathed by the wretchedness of your
sin.
Now, today, as we enter His house of prayer, our Lord
beckons us once again to come to Him and touch Him. We prostrate ourselves at
His feet in repentance, confessing our sins, pleading for His forgiveness. At
the communion rail we reach out to touch Him and He responds to our petition,
giving us His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Moreover, as He healed the two, in both of
our petitions He turns to us and declares, I forgive you, “Your faith has made you
well; go in peace.” What marvelous words, what healing words, what words of great comfort.
We are relieved of our misery and sustained in our faith for we have touched
the garment of our Lord and been healed from our infirmities.
Truly, the Compassion of God is Revealed in Jesus Christ to all who believe. Thank God, He has called us to a living faith in His only begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
May the Peace of God which passes all understanding
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.