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Mark 5:21-43
21
Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.
22 Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded with him, "My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him.
A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him.
25 A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I'll be healed. 29 Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.
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At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said,
"Who touched my clothes?"
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His disciples said to him, "Don't you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
32 But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it.
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The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth.
34 He responded, "Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease."
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While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader's house, saying to Jairus, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?"
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But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader,
"Don't be afraid; just keep trusting."
37 He didn't allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James' brother. 38 They came to the synagogue leader's house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "What's all this commotion and crying about? The child isn't dead. She's only sleeping." 40 They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child's parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room whe re the child was. 41 Taking her hand, he said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Young woman, get up." 42 Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked! 43 He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat.
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Come As You Are! - LeeAnn Inman
This is just the gospel message for people who don't have it all together. Even though none of us really has life totally figured out, we don't much like to admit it. We don't like the vulnerability that comes with real or perceived lack of control.
I'm pretty invested in having it all together, or at least appearing that way. When I'm honest with myself, I realize that, even though I may look "put together," I'm not fooling anyone, especially God. So, I guess this story is practically perfect for me and all other "wonderfully imperfect" folks. (Thanks to Pastor Philip Stubbs for "wonderfully imperfect!" He's perfectly wonderful!)
In Mark 5:21-43, Jesus encounters three persons who offer their lack of control to Jesus. Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, emerges from the crowd, kneels and begs Jesus to come to his home to touch and heal his dying daughter. Jesus follows him, and the crowd follows closely. As a leader of the synagogue, Jairus is trained to be competent, responsible, to get things done. He, of all people, would have it all together. That is, until his precious child lay sick, maybe even sick enough to die.
A woman with uncontrolled bleeding interrupted the action. She sought Jesus, believing that he could heal what no docto r could handle, choosing to touch only "the hem of his robe," enough for her to be assured of her cure. But physical healing was not enough for Jesus. He wanted to connect with this believer, this woman who had been unseen, untouched for so many years because of her bloody condition. Unclean, untouchable--but not to Jesus. "Your faith has healed you; go in peace," Jesus says to her.
The dying daughter of Jairus, the religious leader, was a young girl with no social standing. Her father's friends announced that she was already dead, so why bother Jesus? Jesus told them to go away.
Once my daughter's life was in the balance. I was a young pastor, and first-time mom, trying hard to carry off both roles with equal grace. When newborn Carrie faced critical surgery, I was so far from "together" that I was an undone mess. I knew that the surgeon could correct the problem, but I had to sign the consent form that listed all the risks of the surgery in stark detail. Death was the final possible outcome on the very lengthy list. All of my seminary training in prayer and pastoral care had not prepared me for that moment.
Lacking personal preparation and losing control, God's grace found me. With it came the peace that allowed me to trust not only God, but also the doctor and my baby daughter all to be well, whatever the outcome of the surgery.
Like the three people Jesus touched in today's scripture, Jesus touched me (and Carrie) that day with healing. We were all vulnerable, out of control. All in different conditions, and all covered, touched by God's amazing grace that whispers, "Come as you are!"
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| Do you identify with any of the people in today's Bible story? Which one? Ask Jesus to touch you and someone you love with his grace. Thank him for his touch and his healing grace. Listen to "He Touched Me" as you reflect on this passage of scripture.
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| Thank you, Lord, for inviting us to come as we are. Whether feeling in or out of control, all together or altogether messed up, you welcome us into your saving, healing grace. May we share the good news of your saving grace with others. Amen. |
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