Stop Being Afraid – Mark 5:21-43

A text – Mark 5:21-43

5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
5:22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet
5:23 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.”
5:24 So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
5:25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.
5:26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
5:27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,
5:28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
5:29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
5:30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
5:31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?'”
5:32 He looked all around to see who had done it.
5:33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.
5:34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
5:35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”
5:36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
5:37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
5:38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
5:39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
5:40 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.
5:41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!”
5:42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.
5:43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

A reflection:

The Gospel story for this week is of two healings, both of them young women, and both of them in secret yet among crowds. The woman who had suffered from bleeding had been reduced to the margins of society, ritually unclean continuously for 12 years because of the Jewish purity laws that let no one have any contact with a menstruating woman. Her faith in Jesus was so high that she knew if she touched even merely the hem of his garment, she would be restored to life in the world. And she was! But she snuck that miracle, and Jesus felt it and asked the silly question in the big crowd, “Who touched me?” She fessed up, and he not only accepted her, he called her daughter, the fondest of belonging names. She was really blessed and her faith pronounced great, and besides that, healed!

But this encounter delayed Jesus from making it to Jairus’s house to heal his dear 12 year old daughter. Jairus was a synagogue leader who did believe in Jesus, something he probably kept hidden from his bosses but faithfully proclaimed when he found Jesus. His faith was secure. He knew Jesus could heal her. Jesus agreed, but en route to his home, the previous healing took place. When a messenger got through the crowd to tell Jairus that his daughter had died, Jairus’s body language must have said everything: Oh no! We’re too late. But Jesus reassured him, telling him something important. Our NRSV translation of Jesus’s words from the original Greek is not exactly right. The NRSV says “Do not fear, only believe.” It should be in the present continuous tense: “Stop being afraid. Keep on living in faith.” It was as though Jesus was telling Jairus “Don’t let fear beat your great faith that I saw a minute ago. Keep believing just as you did. You can still believe in what can happen.”

Then Jesus took just three disciples with him and Jairus into the house, and he told the mourners the girl was not dead, sending them away. Jesus raised the girl back to life in the very smallest of company: her parents and his three disciples. She was restored in an instant, and Jesus made sure they fed her something, seeing to her whole wellness as the parents were a little crazy in their joy, understandably. Jesus knew that this resurrection had to stay a secret for the time being, otherwise the crowds would grow and the religious authorities would get even more upset about his ministry, and it was not the time for that.

Two young women, one 12 years old, and one who had suffered for 12 years, healed because of undeniable faith that compelled people to take great risks to have wholeness restored. Jesus’s joy in these people’s faith and the miracles he did must have been wonderful to see in his face.  “Stop being afraid. Keep on living in faith.” Words he says to us, too.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the miracles of Jesus. Thank you for the people who believed in his power to deliver goodness into their lives. Help us to believe, to stop being afraid. Our Lord is the ruler of the universe.  Amen.