SCRIPTURE
Mark 5:21-43 (NRSV)
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages 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. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
SERMON
This scripture has a very special meaning in my life. It is the scripture that I preached my first sermon from when I was a junior in college!
It is so fun to revisit this scripture again for the purposes of writing a sermon and to notice the manifold ways that I have grown, changed, and matured in relationship to my interpretation of this pericope.
So, in today’s scripture, Jesus is surrounded by a great crowd of people, when a man named Jairus comes to him asking Jesus to heal his dying daughter. Jesus, ever generous with his love, compassion, and service agrees to come with him. But, on his way, he feels someone touch him in a way that draws healing power of out of him. Although Jesus was in a hurry, he stops and confronts the person who has come to him in faith, but also in secrecy. After assuring her that she is well, he continues to Jairus’ house where he also heals the daughter.
Now, I can hear you saying, “Whoa! Wait! That’s not exactly what happened! You’ve missed some important details!” And so I have…
So, let’s slow down a bit and see what we can learn from this story.
First of all, I notice that Jesus is willing to heal important people and unimportant people. Scripture says that Jairus was “one of the leaders of the synagogue.” Jairus would have been someone who was well known and well respected. He was important. He probably had a nice home. He had lots of friends and well wishers. He had the courage to approach Jesus face to face. When Jairus asked for help, Jesus promptly agreed and set out for his home to attend to his daughter.
On the other hand, the unnamed woman with the issue of blood was unimportant. Mark and Luke don’t even bother to recount her name. She was just one desperate and faceless woman in the crowd. She had no money. She was considered ritually unclean. People probably avoided her like the plague. She really had no business being in a crowd, touching people, at all, given her circumstances and yet…
And yet, something made her think that Jesus could—and would—help her. She assumed that she wasn’t important enough to come to him directly, so she just pushed through the crowd and briefly touched Jesus’ clothing.
Scripture says “that at once” she was healed in her body! Now at this point, she probably wanted to melt into the crowd and go running home where she could shout her joy behind closed doors, but Jesus did not allow it!
Have you ever wondered why? I think the answer is the second lesson to be learned from this text. Jesus wants us to boldly share our testimony with others! See, the woman could have been healed and slipped away into the crowd, but Jesus gave her the opportunity to bear witness to what God had done for her!
When Jesus felt her healing, he stopped and said, “Who touched me?” Now, you and I know good and well that Jesus knew who had touched him! After all, Jesus is the Son of God; he is fully God and fully man and as such he was omniscient. He knew the woman, her story, and her miracle! He just wanted to give her an opportunity to share her story with others!
At first, the woman stayed hidden in the crowd. She was afraid to tell her story. She was embarrassed about all of the pain and hardship she had endured to get to that particular moment in time. But, when Jesus kept looking around and insisting that she come forward, scripture recounts that the woman came forward with fear and trembling, falling on her knees, and telling him the whole truth!
Oh Hallelujah! Isn’t it wonderful when a person finds the courage to get up in front of other believers and tell the whole truth of their life story?
See, Hollywood would have us clean things up! Our friends and neighbors sometimes don’t want to know from which we’ve come. On our jobs, we don’t broadcast our sins and failures to our colleagues.
BUT, in the church, with other believers, and in front of God, we ought to be able to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help us God!
We ought not to be ashamed to say, “God has brought me from a mighty long way!” In the Black Church tradition we have a time set aside in our services for “testimonies.” This is the time when people stand up and announce the GOOD NEWS regarding what God has done in their lives.
I’ve heard people testify that they were sick and couldn’t get well…BUT GOD HEALED THEM. I’ve heard people say they were down to their last dime and didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, BUT GOD PROVIDED. I’ve heard people say that they were living in broken marriages with wayward children, BUT GOD RECONCILED. I’ve heard people say they were strung out on drugs or alcohol and had no hope for the future, BUT GOD RESCUED THEM.
I could go on and on, but I know that I don’t have to. Every single person under the sound of my voice, and reading the GOOD NEWS blog, has their very own testimony! All of us have been blessed by God in some way! All of us have been healed by God in some fashion! All of us have been the recipients of God’s Unconditional Love and Amazing Grace!
Since this is true, we ought to tell somebody! Jesus gave the woman with the issue of blood an opportunity to tell her story because in doing so she was not only healed in her body, but in her mind and spirit as well.
It was not until she had told the whole truth that Jesus declared, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
She was healed in her body before giving her testimony, but she was at peace in her mind and spirit after sharing what God had done for her!
This is true of us as well! As we share our GOOD NEWS stories with others, we not only affirm God’s blessing upon our own lives, but we also reaffirm--to ourselves and to others--that we are truly healed, thus receiving peace in mind and spirit as well.
Finally, I want to share one more lesson with you today! While Jesus was healing the woman with the issue of blood, Jairus’ daughter died! Now, this sounds like terrible news.
But, let me tell you something Saints of God. Jesus’ healing and blessing power is unlimited! It is not a zero-sum game. If God blessed me, he can bless you too! If God heals you, he can heal your neighbor as well.
Aren’t you glad that God is not limited in God’s ability to heal us? God is Alpha and Omega—present from the beginning to the end.
God is All Powerful, All Knowing, All Kind, All Compassionate, All Gracious, All Merciful, All Loving, and always willing to heal, save, and deliver, in Jesus’ Name!
Today’s scripture reminds us that when we hear the testimonies of others, we do not need to be jealous! No! No!
We need to rejoice! If God has done good for you, it means God will do good for me. If God has healed your body, God can heal mine as well. If God has rescued you from destruction, it means God can rescue me as well!
Scripture teaches us that on that day both the woman and Jairus had cause for celebration. The woman was healed in her body, mind, and spirit and Jairus’ daughter was raised from the dead as good as new!
Wow! Isn’t God amazing?! God does not play favorites. God offers healing and blessing to all of us regardless of any defining factor like gender, age, or class. God invites all of us to share our testimonies with others in order to build up their faith and to bring peace into our own lives as well. And finally, God’s power to save is unlimited. We never have to worry that God’s love, joy, peace, or blessing are going to run out!
My dear friends, since God so loved the world that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life, don’t you think God will also give us anything else that we need to be healthy, happy, holy, and whole?
God is waiting, with open arms, for us to trust him enough to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help us God!
Will you come to God in faith, tell the truth of your story, and receive God’s peace?
Let us pray:
Holy God, I am astounded by your great love for me! Thank you that although I sometimes feel like nothing, you value me so much that Jesus died and rose again to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. I am not ashamed of my story. Please give me the opportunity to boldly share it with others. I believe that this GOOD NEWS is meant to be shared. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can be a GOOD NEWS ambassador everywhere that I go. I pray this in the Name of Jesus, Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations to all of those people who have recently put all of their hope in Jesus! Welcome to the Christian family! We love you and we are praying for you even now in Jesus’ Name!
If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus today, please visit my blog entitled, “Putting All Your Hope In Jesus” located at
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/putting-all-your-hope-in-jesus.html
If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus"
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html
Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/
You are invited to follow Pastor Yolanda on Twitter www.twitter.com/PastorYolanda
Good News has now added a Prayer Ministry. http://www.kindlejoy.com/groups/goodnews
You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
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Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.
From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com
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