Have you ever
been desperate?
One evening
Ian and I were looking after two girls for our friends. We were at their place
and it was time for the girls to go to bed. And one disappeared…
She would
have been about 7 years old.
We looked
everywhere.
I was
imagining having to tell our friends that their eldest daughter had disappeared
into thin air.
I was getting
desperate.
Ian said she
was hiding.
Me, I was
about to ring the police!
Ian was
right, she was hiding …
Some of you
will have convict ancestors, many of them were desperate, for food or warm
clothing, they stole and ended up on the other side of the world.
In our Bible
reading today we hear of two people who were desperate.
Jairus, one
of the religious leaders, is desperate, and scared. His 12-year-old daughter is
ill, very ill, and he is desperate for Jesus to come.
And the woman
who has been bleeding for 12 years is desperate, she has spent all she had
looking for a cure.
There is so
much we could talk about in this reading.
A little background
to this reading:
The girl is
12 years old and the woman has been bleeding for 12 years – is there a link?
The girl has
lived for 12 years, she has a father who has status in the community, a man to
look out for her and to seek help for her. Jairus is a synagogue leader, and is
named, something that rarely happens in Mark’s gospel.
The woman has
been bleeding for 12 years, as such she should be in isolation. Bleeding means
she is ritually unclean, or impure. She has spent all her money and has been
exploited.[i] Leviticus
15: 25 – 30, basically says when a woman is bleeding, she is unclean, on the
eight day after bleeding ceases, she makes an offering and is no longer
unclean. While she is unclean anything she touches or sits on is unclean. A person
who touches her or is touched by her, must wash but remains unclean for the rest
of the day.
She is poor
and segregated.
And she has
no man to seek her healing.
Something important
to note is that being unclean does not means you are sinful.
Sin leads to being
unclean, but not everything that makes you unclean is sinful. [ii]
In this
passage we hear of two people in desperate need, one has a chronic illness, one
is in crisis and close to death, they are different ages, different social
standings….
Two very
different women, yet united in their need…and in their restoration to life,
health, and community.[iii]
This story
reminds us of the way life is full of nuance and texture. When we are unwell, there
is often emotional, psychological, economic and social dimensions to an illness
as well as the physical aspects of the illness.
Think of the
people with coronavirus at present, they are physically unwell, but the emotional
aspect of will I survive, have I infected anyone else, and then the forced
isolation to prevent infection spreading. The family of the person who is
unwell often also suffers emotionally, socially psychologically and financially.
Jesus is
aware of the whole person, not only the illness.
This story
also invites us to think about vulnerability[iv]. Who and when do we risk being
totally ourselves? Both Jairus and the woman were vulnerable with Jesus. The woman
tried to sneak a touch of Jesus’ robe, she was desperate, she knew Jesus could
heal her, but she did not want a fuss. I mean she should not have been out in
public with all those people around. Then when Jesus addresses her, she tells him
everything.
Jairus was
desperate and did not care who knew his daughter was gravely ill. But he was a
Jewish leader, would asking Jesus for help give legitimacy to this person who
was saying he was God, blasphemy in the eyes of many.
Gospel Reflection
(based on Mark 5:21-43)
They risked it all to come to
him:
Jairus,
risked his pride,
kneeling to a carpenter,
begging for his daughter’s life,
The woman with the blood risked
shame and disgrace
heaped upon her
by the crowd.
O Christ,
we are just like Jairus.
And we bleed like the woman.
We want to touch you
with the faith
you give
us.
Heal us.
Are we
willing to be vulnerable with Jesus, to tell him everything?
This story also
has me wondering, what do we do when we are desperate?
Desperate for
health or family or touch or food or a job or a reason for living
How do we respond
to chronic illness, or an accident that leaves us with limitations?
My guess is
that we respond in a range of ways, including:
fear
worry
anger
shame
seeking
out the best resources
denial
hiding
wishing
it will go away
wondering
what comes next
asking
who I tell
how
can I hide this illness, situation …?
can
I afford this
and
on and on the list goes.
What happens
when we are desperate?
And how do we
relate to people who are desperate?
Jesus called
the woman Daughter and said your faith has made you well. Nothing is said about
the faith of the girl.
Jesus, as we
have seen from the beginning of the story, doesn’t just proclaim God’s rule and
activity, he embodies it… He has come to do battle with all that would rob the
children of God of the life and goodness God intends, and that includes death.[v]
But we know
people still die, children die, life is not the hopeful, grace filled,
peaceable kingdom we see described in the Gospels. Not everyone gets healed or
comes back to life.
This story
tells how Jesus overcomes the power of death and points to a new relationship
where our uncleanliness does not lead to him becoming unclean.
Jesus has
power that is not based on status or wealth or armies.
Jesus uses
the power he has to bring renewal in desperate situations to vulnerable people.
How do we
embody the way of Jesus;
responding to vulnerability
being with the desperate
living with faith that is stronger than
fear.
[i]
Myers, Ched; Binding the Strong Man, p291
[ii]
Luther Seminary Love to tell the story podcast
[iii]
http://www.davidlose.net/2012/06/mark-5-35-43/
[iv]
https://www.davidlose.net/2018/06/pentecost-6-b-on-vulnerability-need-and-hope/
[v]
https://www.davidlose.net/2018/06/pentecost-6-b-on-vulnerability-need-and-hope/
