A Lot to Lose – A Lot More to Gain
Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, year B
Bible reading: Mark 5.21-43
Today we meet two people who had a lot to lose – the one his daughter; the other her life. But how many others like them were there in the crowd that day on the way to Jairus’s house?
How many others like them are there in the crowd today in Bethlehem Church?
As we look at these two people today, especially the bleeding woman, I want you to consider whether you are much different. As we look at Jesus today I want you to consider whether you need him any less.
Jairus is a desperate man. He might have been the leader of the synagogue but his daughter is dying. He might have been looked up to by his community, but he is prepared to fall down before Jesus begging for Jesus to heal his daughter. He might have been part of the religious inner circle, but in his desperation he is prepared to cry out to Jesus, the despised itinerant preacher, to come and heal his twelve-year-old daughter. Twelve years of life is so short. To die at twelve is so unfair. Jesus goes with Jairus to give health and life to his dying twelve year old daughter, for whom life has been far too short.
But on the way to heal the girl who has lived twelve short years, in the pressing crowd a desperate woman who has suffered for twelve long years intercepts Jesus.
This nameless, penniless, unclean woman has suffered:
- 12 years of haemorrhaging, of bleeding, of intolerable suffering,
- 12 years of uncleanness, of shame, of withdrawal from society,
- 12 years of exclusion from temple, synagogue, community, touch, love…,
- 12 years of increasingly dashed hopes;
- 12 years of increasingly depleted finances until all is gone,
- 12 long years of bleeding, and losing life, and losing all she had, and all she was.
On this one day these two desperate people cry out to Jesus for mercy, one named and much honoured, the other unnamed and much shamed. The one crying out to Jesus, face to face, for his daughter who has lived twelve short years. The other crying out to Jesus, silently, hidden in the pressing crowd, sneaking a hopeful touch from behind, as she thought in her heart: if I but touch his clothes I will be healed
, after twelve long years.
Were they the only two in the crowd in need of Jesus’ help that day?
Is it not likely that in this congregation gathered at Bethlehem today there is a person, or two, or maybe many more, who are desperate for help or healing or salvation from Jesus?
And isn’t it possible that you or I are that one, whether we come forward to Jesus, or not?
And isn’t this what St Paul & St Peter, who’s anniversary it is tomorrow, knew so well, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
, and we all desperately need the salvation which can only be found in Jesus?
And isn’t this why the reformers went to Augsburg to confess their faith on the 25th June 1530? They believed and confessed that:
we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.
Both Jairus and the unnamed woman had no claim on Jesus. Jairus came from the synagogue, which was the place of unbelief and rejection of Jesus. The unnamed woman was unclean because of her twelve year, non-stop bleeding. She was unclean, excluded from the synagogue, and whoever she touched became unclean.
In coming to Jesus they both had to leave the safety of their territory, and take the risk of what people would say and think of them approaching Jesus for help. They had a lot to lose. But in their desperation they believed they had more to gain. They were right.
The woman snuck up behind Jesus for a secret touch, and immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed or her disease
. How wonderful! How amazing! After all these years of hopeless exclusion and suffering, she is cured through one secret touch of Jesus. But is she? Jesus does the unthinkable. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘who touched my clothes?
’ The woman thought she could sneak off healed, but Jesus calls her to come forward. Jesus exposes her. And the woman … came forward in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth
. Hasn’t she suffered enough? Is Jesus going to humiliate her, just like church and society has? Is this another case of naming and blaming and shaming the victim?
Far from it! Jesus wants a relationship with her. Jesus wants to speak to her. Jesus wants to tell her she is loved and healed. Love is personal. Wholeness and salvation is a personal relationship with Jesus. It is not something you hide in your heart or your bedroom. It is something you confess before others, both our need for God, and the gift of healing and forgiveness he gives us through personal, yet public faith in Jesus Christ.
The trembling woman fell down before him and told him the whole truth
. For a dreaded moment the woman is left alone with Jesus. And so are we. There comes a time when each of us stands alone with Jesus, stripped bear before Jesus, confessing our need for Jesus, with our life hanging in the balance, with a lot to lose.
Jesus replies with a word the woman hasn’t heard for at least twelve years: daughter!
Do you catch the significance? She is a daughter again. A daughter of Israel. A daughter of God. A daughter of her parents. She hears it, and can celebrate it. The pressing crowd hears it and must welcome her back into the community. Jairus hears it and must welcome her back into the synagogue. Daughter, your faith has made you well… your faith has saved you; go in peace, and continue to be well
.
This is amazing grace at work. The unclean woman touches Jesus, and instead of Jesus becoming unclean, the woman is made clean, is made whole, is saved by faith, and is called back to life in church and community. Jesus goes on to touch the dead, unclean body of Jairus’s daughter, and she too is raised to new life.
And Jesus comes to you, whether your need is to be healed and saved from a physical or spiritual ailment, and he stretches forth his hand to heal and forgive through his touch. He hangs on the accursed tree to bring the blessing of forgiveness and new life to us. He sheds his blood to bring forgiveness and healing to all of us who suffer the bloody wounds of sin and guilt.
You may feel you have a lot to lose in coming to Jesus for help. But you have so much more to gain. And I invite you to come today. Come in faith and hope today. Amen.