Fifth Sunday after Trinity Mark 5:21-end Lamentations 3-22-33

‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is his faithfulness.’ This statement in Lamentations 3: how is it helpful to you?

Anybody who has ever suffered loss of any kind – and that is certainly everybody at some time – be it health, wealth or loved ones, will know something of what it means to be desperate. I’m sure we all try not to take the good things in life for granted, but we are never more reminded of them then when they are taken away. Where do you go when things are looking bad for you or a loved one? When we are confronted with illness, we turn to the medical profession, with hope if not always full confidence. And the outcome is not always the one we hope for.

In Jesus’ day, the medical profession was quite different from the one we have today; obviously, they lacked knowledge and certain skills and instruments. So when Jesus came and performed healing miracles – including raising people from the dead – people were amazed but also beginning to put their hope in him as a healer of illnesses that were not curable. Sometimes, they would flock to Jesus in their droves, to see what he could do. In today’s passage from Mark’s Gospel, we meet two people who came to Jesus as their last resort. One is a woman who has been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse, it says. She had heard about Jesus and thought, if only I can touch his clothes, I will be made well. And it happens just as she has hoped. Although she has tried to do this unobserved, in the crowd that is pressing in on Jesus, he does notice power going out from him, and he asks for her to come forward. The disciples think it’s hilarious: how can he feel her touch among many in this crowd? But Jesus knows. The woman comes forward trembling and tells him the truth, and Jesus sends her on her way, commending her for her faith.

This happens while Jesus is on his way to the home of Jairus, a synagogue leader, whose daughter is at the point of death, and who has begged Jesus, ‘Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ The incident of the woman touching Jesus’ clothes on the way means a delay, and Jairus is met by some people from his house, to tell him that it is too late: his daughter has died. This does not deter Jesus, however, who says to Jairus, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ And so it happens: Jesus goes to Jairus’ house and raises his daughter, who, as it says, is twelve years old. Now Jairus was a leader of the local synagogue, and as such might not always have been happy with Jesus’ ministry, as it was so new, so different and so strange. Religious leaders were still debating where it came from. But desperate times need desperate measures, and he throws caution to the wind and runs to Jesus for help. If anybody can, it is Jesus.

These stories can be seen as symbolic of the renewal of Israel that Jesus is proclaiming through his ministry, and through Israel of the whole world. The two women are images of a restored reproduction; the twelve year old girl approaching marriage, and the woman’s suffering making her unclean. They, with all in their respective households, may well have been able to repeat those words from Lamentations, ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ May we all be able to say them, fearful, yet believing and putting our trust in God; ‘casting all our anxiety on him, because he cares for us’ (1 Peter 5:7). Amen.