Pentecost 6B, 2024

6th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Gospel lesson for this morning is one that has intrigued me for quite some time. First of all, it’s a double story - Jairus and his daughter, and the hemorrhaging woman. At first glance, it may not seem that they have much in common, but it becomes clear very quickly that they share at least 2 things: desperation and faith.

Jairus is introduced to us as “one of the rulers of the synagogue”. So he is not a rabbi or scribe necessarily, but “one of the elders, a group of whom managed the services and other affairs of the synagogue.” [Lenski, 218] He would probably have been a man of some wealth, certainly someone to be respected in the community, so he would have had doctors available to him to help his daughter… and he would have had the means to pay them. And yet, nothing healed her. He was desperate. And so he threw himself - literally - at the feet of the teacher from Nazareth who had healed many others. He fell on his face … “put his mouth in the dust” as we read in Lamentations… “there may yet be hope”.

Surely this man could heal his daughter when everyone else had failed. He put his faith in this carpenter’s son. “Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be well and live.” The Greek word for “be well” in this sentence is usually translated as “saved”. This word “always combines the idea of rescue and the idea of being placed permanently into the condition of safety.” [Lenski, 219] With this in mind, we can very easily see this as a prayer. And all Jairus is asking is the Jesus do what He has already done quite often: touch the person to be healed, in this case Jairus’ daughter. But Jairus was anxious - she was so close to the point of dying that there is no time to waste or hesitate. They must hurry. Jairus’ faith will be tested in these moments.

The hemorrhaging woman as she is called, has suffered this ailment for 12 years. It’s important to remember what this meant for her. According God’s Law, as written in Leviticus 15:25, “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, ... all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.” So she lived those entire 12 years as an “unclean” person. She would not have been allowed in synagogue, or anywhere among other Jews. She was not allowed to touch anyone else at all. Anywhere she sat or laid down would have made that furniture unclean, and anyone who sat on it after her was then also unclean. She was an outcast nearly as much as a leper. That would have been 12 very lonely, very frustrating years. It’s no wonder that she spent every penny she had looking for a cure, or at least for healing… some kind of relief. She, too, was desperate. She put her faith in this same teacher from Nazareth.

Now I want to point something out here. It’s always bothered me that while Jesus made a conscious decision to go an act as healer for Jairus’ daughter, it appears that the hemorrhaging woman sort of sneaks a little chunk of Jesus’ power without him knowing about it, or doing it constantly. I’ve never really heard a good explanation of this. Anyone else have questions about this episode? So I did a good bit of reading this week on this, and I’m glad to report that the good Dr. Lenski has a great explanation on this.

First and foremost, let’s get one thing out of the way. Did Jesus know who touched him? What do you think? Remember, he’s in a crowd FULL of people who were trying to get near the miracle worker from Galilee who was a popular teacher. There were people all around him pressing in. But did he KNOW who was healed by his power? Did he know what had transpired through her touch?

We’ve talked a lot about the Holy Trinity in the last few weeks, even from the other pastors who have been here. Who is Jesus? Is he a man? Is he God? Yes to both. And if He *is* God, and we know that He is, then He absolutely knew exactly who touched him and what took place in the moment of her touch. God knows this, and Jesus *is* God. So why did he ask that question? Or why did he ask it the way that he did?

Let’s start with why the woman approached him the way she did. She is an outcast, and considered unclean. And although she had sought the help of human doctors, they had done nothing that helped her. The way Mark describes it, it seems clear that they had “bungled the poor woman’s case thoroughly.” [Lenski, 220] And so all that money she spent on them, “all that she had”, had been completely wasted on them. In fact, she’s worse off for having gone to them (not healed AND now poor).

She didn’t want to expose herself and her ailment, which would have meant she would likely not have been allowed anywhere near this teacher. She just wanted to do something that no one else would notice, but would be enough to heal her illness. She didn’t even want to ask him to lay hands on her (as in Jairus’ request). She just wanted to touch the tassels on the corner of his coat; and that would be enough for her! She was not trying to “steal healing” but just to keep her actual illness from being publicly exposed. Her faith is quite strong, as Mark’s description explains. And the result justifies her faith. What had been a constant flow of blood was instantly dried up. She had been made so well, in fact, that it was as if she had never been ill. And she realizes this instantly.

As we said earlier, there were people in the crowd all around Jesus, and certainly many would have touched him or at least bumped into him. And yet, none of them caused “power to go out from him”. That tells us that Jesus is in full control, and fully knowledgeable of those around him. This woman was not healed without his knowledge. And that means that she was not healed without his conscious will. The other people who touched him had no desire or purpose in doing so. They were merely bumping into him in a crowded space. “[But] this woman came purposely and touched him with her faith. To that touch Jesus responded by letting his power go out to heal her.” [Lenski, 223] Let’s not forget: this power to heal “is always under the control of Jesus’ conscious will. To think... that [this power to heal] required physical contact with Jesus, for instance, the touch of his hand, makes Jesus a magnetic medium or a magician. Jesus healed many without a touch, some even at a distance. Touch of hand or of garment is symbolic, an aid to faith and nothing more. The miracles were wrought by Jesus’ almighty will. The instant the woman touched Jesus he knew it, knew her ailment, willed her healing, and thus realized in himself the power that went out of him to work this miracle.

“This means that his action in making the woman reveal herself is taken for the sake of the woman herself and thus also for the sake of the people who were [crowding] around him. The miracles were performed for publicity, not for secrecy.” [Lenski, 223] Thank you, Dr. Lenski. I hope that answers the question for you as thoroughly as it did for me.

So this woman is healed, and then Jesus goes back to his first task and heals the young girl, who by now has been reported as already dead. And yet, Jesus heals her anyway with a simple command. It must not be her faith that healed her. But perhaps her father’s faith? In this case, as with the hemorrhaging woman, it is Jesus’ will that she is healed, and so she is.

Just within the last year, I’ve asked a few of our members to come forward so that we could all lay hands on them and pray for their healing. Pastor Henry laid hands on me and prayed for me the day before my surgery. I can tell you without hesitation that I was not instantly healed, and that is NOT a statement about Pastor Henry’s prayer. So why wasn’t I healed? Why is it different?

Let’s take a quick look at Lamentations again. The fundamental idea of this section is that the Lord is always concerned for the well-being of His children. He wants what is best for them in all circumstances. As one scholar puts it, “for even when He smites them, He seeks their highest interest...” [Keil & Delitzsch, 516] This tells us that when God has allowed us to suffer, it is for some purpose, something in His Will that is for our ultimate good. It may not seem so in the moment…during the suffering… but it serves God’s purpose in some way.

One of the best things I learned in seminary was that when we are faced with something we don’t understand, always ask 2 questions: 1) What is God up to [in this situation]? 2) What is God calling me to be or to do here?

As you think through these questions, you will begin to see that what Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations is quite true. Let’s use my own story. This knee injury was quite unpleasant. It was one of the more painful experiences of my lifetime. I had to wait longer than I hoped for to get the surgery, and now I’m faced with 6-8 months of limping and physical therapy, and limited motion of my leg. These are plain facts.

When you read the newsletter for July, you’ll hear more about how this happened. The short version is this: I got angry at my neighbor’s dog, and this was the result. I acted in anger. Do you think God might be teaching me a lesson? Does that sound like something God would do?

Others have pointed out that just a couple of weeks before this happened, I told you from this pulpit that I don’t do Sabbath very well, and my ability to balance work and rest was … well, not what it should be. I have had no choice but to take it easy for the last 3 weeks. This is NOT how I wanted to get some rest in my life! Is it possible that God wanted me to rest? Does THAT sound like something God might do?

I need to remind myself, as Jeremiah tells us, “If the Lord is kind to those who hope in Him, then it is good for man to wait patiently for His help in suffering.” [Keil & Delitzsch, 516] We need to re-learn what it means to suffer as a Christian, and consider how God is using it for our benefit.

I do not feel slighted at all that I did not experience an instantaneous or miraculous healing during the laying on of hands. God has not finished teaching me through this yet. I know that. I knew that before the surgery happened. This is His will.

That said, I want to be PERFECTLY clear that I *do* believe that if it is God’s Will for a miraculous healing to happen, then that person WILL be healed miraculously. As Christians we must all make room in our faith for that to happen. It does not matter WHO prays and lays hands on the sick. It is NOT up to the goodness or worthiness (whatever that might mean) of the pastor or the person praying. It is up to God’s will… and just as Jesus told the hemorrhaging woman when he said “your faith has made you well” - if she hadn’t believed, she would not have been healed. It’s that simple.

The world would have us believe that healing comes from medicine. Sure, we have better medicine than they did in 1st Century Judea. In 2014 I spent the summer as a chaplain in a nursing home. As part of our initial training, we went through a medical presentation in which the lead doctors acknowledged that there is a “spiritual” element to the healing process. They were doing their best to not favor one particular religion. But we know what that means. A person’s faith plays a major part in their healing. I suspect many of you have witnessed that first hand. I know I have. If God decides that a miraculous healing must happen, then I wholeheartedly believe that it will. If He wants to use me as part of that, then God, here I am - use me. My faith will not be harmed if He chooses to use someone else. I will praise Him for however and whoever He uses to do His will.

Brothers and sisters - this 2-part healing story is a powerful reminder for all of us. God’s power to heal is unlimited. In both of these cases, an encounter with Christ was all they needed to get the healing they so desperately wanted. And the healing they received was more than they actually hoped for. Our modern minds have been so tainted by the world around us that we place limits on God. Doubts have been planted in us by skeptics and scientists who claim that they “know better”. Those doubts put limits on our faith. We would be better to think like Jairus, falling on our faces at Jesus’ feet to beg for his help. Or the hemorrhaging woman - “if I could just touch the very edge of his clothing, I would be healed”… why can’t we think like that? It’s difficult, but it’s not impossible. We just have to make room for the possibility!

Remember why the color of this very long season is green? This is the color of growth. Our time from now until Christ the King Sunday… from now until Christ returns… is best spent growing in our faith. Let’s set the goal for our faith that our faith could become like either of these two people from Mark’s Gospel today. My prayer for all of us is that we would make good strides in that direction throughout the months ahead.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.