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| Miracles and Lots of Questions
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. The Patient waiting I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning. Exhortation to hope O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord thee is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities. Mark 5:21-43 The woman with hemorrhages healed and Jairus’ daughter raised When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and when he saw him, fell at his feet and 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.” So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” and his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ’Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” While he was still speaking, some people came form the leader’s house to say, “your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” and 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. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about. (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this; and told them to give her something to eat. I love the miracle stories. These two healing stories are juxtaposed in a way that illumines both. The significance of Jesus’ ministry is shown in allowing an unclean woman to interrupt his service to an important synagogue leader. The story of Jairus’ daughter is deepened by that act, for the girl dies while Jesus is attending to the woman, and must, therefore, be raised from death. Mark sets these stories in the context of other miracles of chaos. Calming the storm is the paradigm for the miracles. Jesus calms the winds and sea, the chaos of nature. He heals the Gerasene demoniac, driving out the legion of demons and calming the chaos of his past. In the woman with the hemorrhage, one with a chronic illness and an untouchable, he calms the chaos of the present. In the death and raising of Jairus’ daughter he calms the chaos of the future. In every sphere Jesus reigns over disorder. These are also stories of immediacy. A respected leader of the synagogue would not normally come to ask a favor, but rather send an emissary to make the request. But this is no ordinary request. His 12 year old daughter is near death. He falls on his knees in front of Jesus with his plea. And Jesus immediately moves out in answer to the request, and is then interrupted by one whose imperative is just as real. The woman has obviously heard of this great healer. Risking everything she defies convention and wades into the crowd surrounding Jesus. “She is a woman; a nameless woman; a bleeding nameless woman; she is a notorious, bleeding, nameless woman; she is a broke, notorious, bleeding, nameless woman. She is so marginalized from without and within that she cannot face even her savior, but must creep up behind. We can be sure she is an outcast. We can be sure she knows she is an outcast. We can be sure society makes sure she knows. We can be sure this human being’s worth is defined entirely by her present calamity. Every possibility for newness is sucked into the moral vortex of her body’s chaos. Except this one, last determination: ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be saved.’” (Richard L. Deibert, Mark, p.53) She has nothing to lose, she trusts what she has heard - believes what she has been told. She takes the initiative. Her audacity in touching this man is to risk making Jesus unclean too - violation of social codes for women and religious law. Jesus recognizes something different in her touch from the jostling of others. Jesus has not been aware of her until the moment he knows that his power has been accessed. He stops. The bleeding stops. Physical healing has taken place but the process is not complete. He asks who touched him. As she comes in fear and vulnerability and makes her confession, Jesus responds with a name of endearment and includes her in his larger family, and she is made whole. Her faith has saved her, and she is peaceful, whole, and acceptable. Jesus gives her a proper male identification calling her “daughter” and legitimizing her and returning her to respectability. He incorporates her into his family and acts as “father” . Jairus is a responsible father trying to save his 12 year old daughter. En route home with an interruption, Jairus hears the word every parent dreads. Your daughter is dead. No sugar coating. It’s over. Don’t bother the man any more. Did the interruption of the woman encourage the leader of the synagogue or was he distraught at the slowness of Jesus to reach his daughter in time to save her.? Then Jesus says, “Trust - have faith”. This is the antidote for fear. What happens? Is she just asleep? Not according to those who were mourning and already planning the funeral? They laugh and sneer at his comment. Is it Jesus’ touch that gives life, or is it in the moment when Jairus responds to Jesus’ command to trust, that she is made alive? Is even death subject to Jesus’ authority? I love the miracle stories. These stories demonstrate Jesus’ authority over incurable illness and death. His Lordship knows no bounds. I love these stories. They give me hope and assurance. They also leave me with a lot of questions. Jesus says, to Jairus “Do not fear, only believe and she will be saved?” Why isn’t everyone saved? If we pray for a sick child and that child dies does that mean that our faith is lacking? Doesn’t Jesus love every child? Too many times I have been with families as their children succumb and I know that is not true. The faith of these families is deep and rooted in God’s word. I have been present to countless lonely old women, abandoned by their families to a mental institution, as they died alone with no one to care for them, except a young stranger. I have watched and prayed for a miracle when my husband lost one faculty after another until they were gone and his life on earth was over. I have sat and prayed and sung hymns as my sister-in-law took her last breath. I’ve held my parents until their life ebbed away. So have many of you. Death is a fact of life. We know that, but the particulars of any death challenge us to hold on to faith, to trust that there is something more. Why are some lives continued, and not others? I don’t know. And still we pray for the miracles. Years ago, a young man in our church died. His father, a devout elder, had been by his side from the moment of his accident until his death. He had prayed fervently. Many had prayed for a miracle. When his son died he was furious with God. His faith was shattered. His anger spilled out over his family and church and work for years. ‘Why?” he shouted. Some time later when his own health was in jeopardy, he began to pray again. He survived his illness, but more than that he was transformed. When asked about the change he said, “My son is gone, but I found God’s Son, and it is enough.” Is that enough? Is that the answer? What about those who seek help from this Jesus who do not have faith? Perhaps the woman came out of desperation and nothing more - at least until she touched the garment of the great healer and knew a greater truth. Does it matter how we come to Jesus? In our desperate illnesses and impending deaths what else do we need but His love and grace? Where else can we go? There are many things which we do not know. What we do know is that even as God brought order out of chaos in creation, the world is often chaotic. We know an “inconvenient truth” that more often than not we participate and perpetuate that chaos. What we know is that to ask for healing and life is acceptable and honored. Like the psalmist we say, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” What we know is there is no deterrent from Jesus: he is not made unclean by his contacts with a leper or a demoniac, an hemorrhaging woman or a dead girl, or us. Rather, people are cleansed by his touch; their lives are transformed. What we know is that physical healing is not always accomplished in this life. What we know is that life presents many challenges and creates many questions, for which there are no real answers this side of the veil, and to live with the questions is the best we can do. As the psalmist says, “ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” What we know is that whatever our motivation to reach him, Jesus is present in our chaos, past, present and future. What we know is that sometimes we have to push through the crowded circumstances of life to put ourselves in his presence. What we know is that faith and belief are important, and courage and integrity can lead us with fear and trembling into the presence and power of life. In the words of Henri Nouwen, (Reaching Out), what we know is that “Jesus’ divine authority is placed at the service of desperately importunate people. His sensitivity can make us patient, just as his powerful care, working through our faith, can make us whole.” The new Superman movie is just out. We all love Superman. We know that when he “leaps tall buildings in a single bound”, and arrives “faster than a speeding bullet” everything will be all right. But that is fantasy. We live in a real broken and complex world where everything is not all right and the superhero does not swoop down and rescue us. For that we have the real divine, live-affirming power of Jesus I have a lot of questions, but I love the miracle stories. They stretch my faith and give me hope.
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Is Still Speaking www.stillspeaking.com |
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