The Rev. Paul J Cain
Mark 5:21-43
Twelve
Proper 8B, 1 July 2012
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY
In the Name of Jesus.
Amen.
The word repeats throughout Holy Scripture.
You know of the twelve tribes, the descendants of the twelve
sons of Israel, aka Jacob. And Jesus has His twelve disciples, whom he later
calls apostles.
We hear the word “twelve” twice in today’s Holy Gospel.
Jairus’ daughter, we are told, was twelve years of age. And the woman with a
hemorrhage has been suffering for twelve years. One account seems to interrupt
the other. Both show Jesus’ compassion. Both show Jesus’ healing touch. Both
show Jesus’ authority over all creation for our good.
21 And
when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered
about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then
came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he
fell at his feet 23 and
implored him earnestly, saying, “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.” 24 And he went with
him.
Jesus had calmed a storm while on the aforementioned boat.
And he healed a man with a demon, performing an exorcism. Are we surprised a
great crowd throngs about Him? Earlier, the scribes from Jerusalem claimed that
he cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. The rulers of this
synagogue—think of them as equivalent to our congregation’s trustees and lay
elders rolled together—they did not share the view of the religious leaders of
the Jews. These synagogue rulers had faith in Jesus as more than a rabbi. Jesus
had healed by a touch before. He is being asked to raise the dead.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a
woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians,
and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the
reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
28 For she said, “If
I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and
she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had
gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched
my garments?” 31 And
his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you
say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And
he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But
the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and
fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has
made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
“Who touched Me?” Jesus asks. He speaks not in anger. Jesus
gives this woman—this no longer suffering woman—an opportunity for her to
exercise her faith and publicly confess that Jesus had healed her. She had been
immediately healed. He responds to her trembling and reverent awe: “Daughter,
your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While
he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your
daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to
the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter
and James and John the brother of James. 38 They
came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And
when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and
weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But 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. 41 Taking
her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I
say to you, arise.” 42 And
immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of
age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should
know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
“Your daughter is dead.” Can a parent get any darker news?
Jesus says, “Do not fear, only believe.” His words echo
those of the angel to Joseph, of the angel to Mary, of the angels to the
shepherds. “Fear not,” or more accurately, “Stop being afraid.” Jesus calls for
us to fear, love, and trust in Him. We are to have faith in Him.
The people weeping and wailing one moment are laughing at
Jesus in the next moment. His words, “Little girl, I say to you, arise” mean
that immediately the little girl got up and began walking. Jesus has power over
death.
On the Last Day, Jesus will call you forth from death and
the grave to everlasting life, resurrected bodies, and reunited bodies and
souls in the new heaven and new earth. And there and then Jesus will be joined
by twenty-four elders, twelve plus twelve, given to judge angels and worship
the Lord and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Twelve.
The word repeats throughout Holy Scripture.
We hear the word “twelve” twice in today’s Holy Gospel.
Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter has been raised from the dead. She passed away
while Jesus was on the way to heal her at the request of the rulers of this
town’s synagogue. Jesus was delayed, in part, by someone who also needed Him, a
woman that had suffered for twelve years, a woman who was healed immediately.
Whether we’re talking about twelve tribes, twelve disciples,
or twelve years, twelve is a number of completeness. Jesus shows His
compassion, healing touch, and authority over all creation, saying with His
actions of restoration: “Enough. Life has come in Me. The child is not dead but
sleeping. Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of
your disease.
Jesus’ healings and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter
give us a preview of the Resurrection of our Lord, yet also of how John
describes the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be
with them as their God. 4 He
will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things
have passed away.” [1]
TLSB: Jesus heals
Jairus’s daughter and a woman with a chronic ailment. Like Jairus, we often
worry that the Lord’s delay in answering our prayers may end up in catastrophe.
But the Eternal One, who overcame death by rising from the dead, never runs out
of time. In fact, His gracious promise is that we shall share eternal life with
Him.
TLSB: Lord, grant
us to believe without doubting that You can heal every illness. Give us
patience, as well, that we might be unmoved while waiting for You to act in
Your own good time and in accord with Your gracious will.[2]Amen.
In the Name of Jesus .
Amen.
