Today we have the story of Jairus and his daughter in our Gospel lesson. In terms
of context, this is very early in the public ministry of Jesus, but he had worked a
number of healing miracles in Mark’s Gospel before this took place. He had
cleansed a leper. He had healed a paralytic, and he healed a man with a withered
hand.
Just before the story of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus had gone to the country of the
Gerasenes to confront the demons who had driven a man mad. The Gerasenes had
done everything they could to restrain the man, but the man broke the chains that
they used to bind him. Jesus commanded the unclean spirits to come out of the
man. The spirits asked that they be allowed to enter a herd of swine upon leaving
the man, and Jesus granted their wish. The spirits left the man and went to the
swine, who rushed down a steep bank into the sea and were drowned. The
swineherds told people what had happened, and the word spread.
When Jesus left that place to cross the Sea of Galilee once again, a great crowd
gathered around him. One of the men in the crowd was Jairus, a synagogue leader.
Jairus’ daughter was sick, and she was dying. Jairus was a desperate man. He had
heard of Jesus’ healing miracles, and had come to ask Jesus to heal his daughter.
An interesting point I will mention here is that if the daughter had not been sick,
Jairus would have probably been an opponent of Jesus. Instead of coming to ask
him for help, he might have been working to shut Jesus up and make him go away.
As a synagogue leader, Jairus would have worked with and under the scribes and
the Pharisees. They were more powerful and higher on the organizational chart. A
man like Jairus was taking a significant risk to come see Jesus and ask for help.
As the Scribes and Pharisees saw things, Jesus was a threat to the status quo.
People resist change. Institutions really resist change. We do things they way we
always have because it is our nature. There is safety and comfort in routine, and
sometimes someone needs to rock the boat. The person who comes along and starts
advocating for change is not likely to be popular. He or she is likely to have some
enemies. You can supply your own examples here from work or from groups you
have know. The Scribes and Pharisees take it one step further though. It is one
thing to marginalize and resist the reformer in the schools or in the workplace.
Start reforming the church or the synagogue, and there is a new layer.
If you are working to change a religious institution, there are things like sin that
enter the picture. Make a change in math curriculum, and you are questioning the
hallowed memory of some department chair everyone loved. That change means
people are going to have to do some work to create materials. You can understand
the resistance to anything that seems like work.
If you are changing the way people worship or challenging them to examine their
beliefs, it is more complicated. The Scribes and the Pharisees were accusing Jesus
of blasphemy. They understood he was speaking on behalf of God and
misrepresenting God’s will. Blasphemy was a capital crime, so you get killed for it.
In these days of religious freedom and freedom of speech, we think it is abhorrent
to kill someone who rocks the religious boat. Being more civilized, we ruin them
professionally or attack them in the press. It is the same idea at work.
I want to get back to Jairus and his daughter. The first question for us is why Jairus
is asking Jesus for help and not out conspiring to kill him.
This is an easy one to answer. The daughter of Jairus is dying. He knew that Jesus
was a great healer. When a man’s daughter is dying, he can be a little more open
minded and not so stuck on preserving the status quo.
Jairus fell at Jesus’ 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 Jesus began walking with Jairus to see his daughter. The crowd was still there,
and they were moving along with Jesus. You can imagine they slowed Jesus down.
A woman in the crowd made her way through this mass of people until she was
standing next to Jesus. She didn’t ask Jesus to help her, because she had no
business being there. She had a bleeding condition that made her ritually unclean,
so she was not supposed to touch anyone. If she did touch someone, that person
would also become unclean. That poor woman’s status was little better than that of
a leper.
But she thought, “If I but touch (Jesus’) clothes, I will be made well.” So without
anyone noticing, she reached out and touched Jesus’ cloak, and her bleeding
stopped.
Jesus asked, “Who touched my clothes?” He has a brief conversation with the
disciples and the woman.
Where was Jairus while all this was going on? Jairus was right there with Jesus,
scared to death that his daughter would die before Jesus got there. This had to have
been an excruciating experience for him. The crowd makes it slow to get across
town. That woman has hijacked things. Jesus is stopping to talk to her. I can
believe Jairus was out of his mind with frustration.
Then the news came. Some people came to tell Jairus that his daughter had died.
Jairus might as well quit bothering Jesus, because there was nothing further for
Jesus to do. The little girl was dead.
But Jesus wasn’t ready to give up. He said, “Do not fear, only believe.” He took
some disciples with him, and together with Jairus they walked to Jairus’ house. On
their way, they met mourners. People were weeping and wailing for the dead girl.
Jesus took her by the hand and said, “Little girl, get up!” She got up and began to
walk around. Everyone was amazed and grief turned to celebration. Jesus told
them to give her something to eat.
That’s a nice story, but what does it have to do with us today? Where are the
takeaways? How are we supposed to respond to this reading?
First is the easy one. Jesus enters our lives in our hopeless moments and brings us
hope.
Second, the woman in the crowd and the daughter of Jairus were both unclean.
These were “untouchable” people in Jewish society. I think that all of us can
probably identify things we have done that we don’t exactly advertise. We all
probably have some areas of our lives that are untouchable too. Because of shame
or pride we may find ourselves separated from our brothers and sisters. This is
point where Jesus can enter our lives.
And now I have a a question. What does it take to be healed? Jesus has entered our
lives. We are here today struggling with who we are and find ourselves separated
from God or from our brothers and sisters. Jesus tells the woman “your faith has
made you well.” When things were at their darkest, Jesus told Jairus, “Do not fear,
only believe.”
That is where I am going to leave you today.
“Do not fear. Only believe.”
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at St. Thomas, Plymouth
July 1, 2018, Sixth Sunday of Pentecost
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
Mark 5:21-43