The Patience of God

I. Thomas Cranmer – The 1549 Book of Common Prayer

A. Collect for Palm Sunday: Almighty and everlasting God, which of thy tender love toward man, hast sent our Savior Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; mercifully grant that we both follow the example of his patience, …

II. The Story

A. Jesus returns to Capernaum from the region of Gadara; He’s been traveling a lot…

B. A large crowd meets him at the beach, “crushing” him. It takes supreme effort for what follows.

C. He interacts with two daughters.

III. Jairus

A. Synagogue leader – Chosen by the other synagogue elders, he governed all its affairs, such as preserving order, and selecting and inviting persons to read or speak in the assembly. Respected in the community and probably wealthy.

B. He is desperate, humbles himself (“falls at his feet”), and kept begging Him to come as his daughter is “in the hands of death”…

C. A simple request, a light expectation – Please, just come. Lay hands on her and heal her.

D. Jesus agrees to come, but then…

IV. The interruption

A. Twelve years of continuous bleeding, pain, poverty, and isolation; seen by others as cursed by God

B. Her sufferings, His sufferings (same word)

C. Unable to participate in the life of her community

D. Ashamed and afraid, desperate and hopeful

E. She’s not looking for hands to be laid on her…

F. She is healed of her “scourge” (affliction)

G. Jesus feels power (dunamis) go out from Him and searches for her (gazed intently)

H. Her risks and her confession; she is trembling with fear

I. He commends her faith – your firm persuasion, conviction

J. And restores her to relationship – the only time where he calls someone “daughter”

K. It is the story of two daughters, one dance.

V. The continuation

A. While Jesus was still speaking

B. She’s dead; don’t bother the Teacher – what is Jairus’s reaction?[1]

C. “If only…”

D. Don’t be afraid; only believe – don’t be terrified; just trust

E. Death or sleep? Derision points to the real thing – death.

F. “Honey, get up…”

VI. How do we experience time?

A. How late is too late? When should we apologize for being late?

B. Linear-active – Americans, Northern Europeans. Time is clock- and calendar- related, segmented in an abstract manner for our convenience, measurement, and disposal. “Time is money.”

C. Multi-active – Mediterranean, Middle Eastern. Time is event- or personality-related, a subjective commodity which can be manipulated, molded, stretched, or dispensed with, irrespective of what the clock says. “Time is relational.”

D. Cyclic – Eastern (agrarian). Time is a pool that can be walked around, and considered from many angles, and revisited before the right decision is made. What does the past tell us? “There is still time.”

VII. The LORD of Time and of Life and of…

A. Demons, blood, and death not only made the individual unclean but all who touched them. Among the rabbis, Jesus alone touches these and makes them clean.

B. The “malpractice” of Jesus

1. Triage in the ER – the girl on the verge of death or the woman who has lived with her illness for twelve years? You decide…

2. Which is more important – the immediate need or the long-term outlook?[2]

C. What does this tell us about:

1. Our priorities vs. His; our frustrations

a) “In our culture we are taught that everything that is not us is there to be manipulated by us for our own ends.” Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn

b) Are you mad at Jesus because something is being delayed? That’s because we think we know best. It shows our own arrogance about how we think our life should be going. We know best; not God.

c) That arrogance is knocked out of our heart by these delays.

2. Our perspective vs. His.

3. What He demands is more than what we are willing to give

4. What He gives exceeds what we expect to receive

5. What we receive exceeds what we deserve

VIII. The power of Jesus

A. Death, to Him, is just like sleep; forgiveness of sin is just as easy as healing[3]

B. The LORD of time is not bound by our definitions of time; He stands outside of His creation and enters whenever and wherever He wants or needs to

C. He took our death so we can live; he bore our suffering so we don’t have to; He lost God’s hand so we could have it; He bore the wrath of God in His body so we wouldn’t have to; He died so that we can live.

D. He has accomplished all things – deliverance, healing, restoration, resurrection[4]

E. The Palm Sunday Collect ends “…and be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.”[5]

F. Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

[1] Proverbs 13:12

[2] Mark 6:53-56

[3] Matthew 9:1-8

[4] Ecclesiastes 3:11

[5] The 1549 Book of Common Prayer, The Collect for Palm Sunday