Grace Enough for Everyone

Scripture: Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21–43 NLT

Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” But Jesus overheard* them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is a word that describes the relationship of two different things placed next to each other. Often, the relationship reveals a new truth - something that is neither the one thing nor the other. It may be revealed in their differences. It can also shine through their similarities. Most of the time, it comes through both.

Juxtapositions grab our attention. Things like eclipses can be considered juxtapositions. Rainbows occur at the juxtaposition of rain and sunshine. There are moments in time that are juxtapositions also. Single shots that stand in between war and peace. Words and acts that stand between singleness and marriage. Many of you probably remember where you were when the Twin Towers fell. There was a juxtaposition between the years 2019 and 2020, and maybe another one in 2021.

The Bible is full of juxtapositions as well, and our passage today has a powerful one. To see it though, we have to resist the temptation to just look at one thing or another. We need to step back and see the relationship between the two things together. You miss the rainbow if you are too busy looking at the sunshine or the rain clouds.

In the Bible, in nature, in life events, it is often at those transitional moments, in-between one thing and another, that I see God at work. I don't think it is because God is somehow more involved in juxtapositions. I think it is because God sees how everything fits together in a way beyond us, but we can sometimes catch glimpses of what God sees in those moments, in those places, and especially in those people.

Thesis: Jesus sees everyone and we should too.

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Well-Known

The first part of this juxtaposition centers around a man named Jairus. We know he is an important person because he is named in Mark's gospel. He is identified as a leader of the local synagogue so we can assume that he is a respected person and probably someone who both cared about the work of God, as well as the spiritual needs of the people. He may have been relatively wealthy, compared to the community, allowing him the freedom and time to give more leadership and time serving in the synagogue. Jairus was known and loved in the community.

That is important to recognize because the crowds of people and the disciples had different reactions to the needs of different people. When Bartimaeus, the blind man called out to Jesus for help, the disciples told him to be quiet and leave Jesus alone. When ten lepers asked to be healed, they probably kept their distance. When Jairus came to Jesus to ask for help healing his daughter, the crowds parted and they escorted him straight to Jesus.

I really believe that there is an unspoken question, or one only voiced in whispers among the people at night. "This Jesus has such power to heal and save... among the masses of broken people, who deserves his healing touch?" Jesus is only one person, he cannot be everywhere, he cannot reach everyone. Who deserves his grace?

Jairus made the cut. He made the list of the top 10 people Jesus should visit in this town. The crowds did not question his request, nor the way Jesus stopped the parade and began walking toward Jairus's home, to heal and save the life of his young daughter.

Every community has a Jairus.

There is no shame in being a Jairus. Every community, every church, and every family needs a Jairus. You probably can think of several people you know who are a Jairus in our congregation. There are probably others who you don't know, but you might not be surprised to find out that they were a Jairus. Perhaps you are a Jairus. Those who give of their abundant gifts to help uplift the people of God and keep things going are necessary blessings of every community.

What makes them even brighter blessings is when they spend their time going to Jesus on behalf of others. Jairus was asking Jesus to fix his sore leg or for God to bless his business. He made himself vulnerable, setting aside his public appearance and came to Jesus as a grieving father, asking Jesus to save the life of his daughter. He used his clout and influence for the sake of others. And Jesus did not hesitate to change direction and head to Jairus's house and his dying daughter.

The Unknown

But something unexpected happens on the way to Jairus's house. Mark tells us that there is another person in this crowd who has come seeking Jesus.

In contrast to Jairus, a well-known leader of the synagogue, there is an unnamed woman who is gathered among the people. For twelve years, she has dealt with a hemorrhage, an issue of blood, that likely made her ritually unclean, preventing her from engaging in normal life. Can you remember all the life changes you had to make last year as the pandemic first hit? Do you still have that desire to return to "normal life"? Imagine being stuck in 2020 for 12 years and you might have just a little bit of insight into the life of this woman.

We don't know that she was always poor, but we are told that she bankrupted herself in a desperate attempt to get to rejoin society and have a normal life again. Nothing worked. The things that the doctors asked her to do caused her more suffering. The world had offered her no hope.

She was not shooed away from Jesus by the disciples, like blind Bartimaeus. She was not blocked by the crowds like Zaccheaus. She was just invisible. She was an invisible, unnamed woman, with an invisible illness, that made her part of a community for over a decade where nobody knew her and no one saw her. She had learned to take advantage of that, and here, amidst the crowd, she knew she could slip in, reach out, and touch Jesus, and then be gone, without anyone knowing it even happened. For her, it wasn't about what she deserved. It was about what she could reach out and take. She believed that if she could grab just a little piece of Jesus, that would be enough to get her back to normal life again. She didn't think she was asking for much, so she didn't feel like she even needed to ask for it. Besides, with all the crowd around Him, and so many people touching Him, how would Jesus even notice one more hand touching, not his hands or his head, but just the tassel of his robe?

Her surprise backfires though. Jesus noticed. In fact, the gospel writers specifically note that it was not her touch that He noticed, but that "power had gone out of Him". To put that another way Jesus felt God at work through Him. That is not to fuss about the identity of Jesus and God, but simply to point out that when we ask each other where we have seen God at work, we miss things. When you ask Jesus where He has seen God at work, He can tell you everything. He not only sees but feels where God is at work, every, single, time.

She was healed, and not because of her superstitious belief about touching the robe of Jesus. This unknown woman was healed because she had the faith to seek Jesus out, push through the crowds, and reach out to Him.

Who Jesus sees

Surprise upon surprise, one plot twist after another. Jesus stopped, healed, and taught the invisible woman what it meant to have faith in Him. Jesus gave her costly time. It was not just costly to Jesus, it was costly to Jairus. The very visible man, who had humbled himself to plead for Jesus to come and save his daughter, who was at the point of death, lost his window of opportunity. Those who had gathered at the house came out to them and told him it was too late. She had already died.

I imagine Jairus must have been devastated and perhaps even angry. Unlike Martha, who, at the death of her brother Lazarus, confronted Jesus for being late due to His own slowness, Jairus had someone to blame. Who was that woman anyway who stopped them all? If she had not been such a distraction, if she had gotten in line, waited her turn... I mean, come on, she had been battling this illness for 12 years... what was 1 more hour to wait? His daughter might still be alive. She might have had a chance. Jairus had risked his reputation with the Pharisees in the area to put his faith in Jesus, and some woman nobody knew messed up his only chance.

Or did she? Jesus told Jairus the same thing He told Martha. "She is not dead, only sleeping."

The people laughed. The professional mourners who had gathered to honor this young girl's death laughed. He's crazy. She's gone. And yet, as Jesus was brought into her presence, with the same power that raised Lazarus from the dead, He raised this little girl as well, to the astonishment of everyone there. I have to think that Jairus went from a moment of anger about this invisible woman they ran into earlier, to forgetting her altogether in the joy of having his daughter back.

But Jesus did not forget her.

There is one word in this passage that tells us more about the grace of God than any other. Jesus knows everyone in this story. He sees everyone. He knows them all by name and the number of hairs on their head. When He turned to address the invisible woman, He used a very powerful word that shines out as a God-infused juxtaposition of this whole story. What does he call the invisible woman?

He calls her "Daughter."

As much as Jairus was willing to put aside his pride and reputation, to humble himself to come to Jesus for help, because he loved his daughter that much. And that was the same kind of love Jesus had for this invisible woman.

Who does Jesus see? Everyone. And if we are going to be His disciples, be the Body of Christ, we should too.

This story was important enough to make it into three different gospels. While Jairus and the invisible woman had their lives changed by Jesus, the disciples were given a juxtaposing glimpse of how and where and when Jesus decides to share His grace. It is not about who deserves it. It is not about how much we think we can afford to share. It is not about how comfortable we are around this person or that. There is grace enough for everyone. The question is, do we see each other - inside the church today, watching online, out at work this morning, or stuck at home. Do we see everyone the way Jesus does... as His beloved child?

Communion

You may be like Jairus. I'm sure we have several people here today who can relate to him: serving God faithfully and giving your all for the sake of others. You may have had your moments when you did ask for help, and you may have faced frustration and anger if you didn't get it. If you are a Jairus, please know that Jesus sees you, He is coming to your house too, and even if His timing is not your own, He will share His grace with you and those you love.

You may be an invisible person. You may be watching online today and feel like no one knows your name. Jesus knows who you are. He calls you His child and He has more grace to give you than you are even willing to ask for today. Jesus has enough grace for everyone.

But this story is not just about Jesus. It is about us. As we gather to celebrate Holy Communion today, we are celebrating it safely with pre-packaged elements, and yet we have a loaf and a cup upon the altar here. We are doing communion this way because it represents where we are - struggling to make the changes we need to get through this pandemic and come out stronger on the other side. We are not there yet, but Jesus keeps giving us the vision to strive for. One Body. One Blood. Shared by all. And this is not really about COVID at all. This is about seeing each other.

Jesus stood at the cross between Jairus and the invisible woman, giving them the opportunity to see each other as brother and sister for the first time. We, the Body of Christ today, stand at the cross as the one place where the Jairus people and the invisible people come to be brothers and sisters as the family of God. Jesus invites you today to truly see each other, and to love one another, just as He loves us.