2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27, Psalm 130, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, Mark 5:21-43

Our Gospel lesson this morning provokes more questions than it brings answers.  Unless, we read the accounts of Jesus’ healing with the assumption that they do not apply to us – that they are just for our Bible entertainment like stories from a science fiction novel, we might be a little overwhelmed with the complexity of the characters and the interwoven overlapping stories and meanings. These accounts of healing do apply to us, and we can put ourselves into the place of every character in the intermeshed story.  Still, we have lots of questions – questions that help us better understand our responsibilities as the Church.  Questions are good things when they draw us deeper introspection into our relationship with Jesus Christ and with our neighbor.

Whenever we read of Jesus’ healing, we consider questions: What is it to be healed?  How is it that we are healed?  Why is it that some are healed and others not?

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, we read of Jairus, an official among the synagogue leadership – a member of the group known for being skeptical, perhaps even the most threatened, by Jesus’ actions and nuanced interpretation of Jewish traditions.  Yet, Jairus, this Jewish leader is falling at Jesus’ feet, begging repeatedly for Jesus’ help, expressing his trust that if Jesus will but lay his hands upon his daughter, she will be made well and live.  In so doing, Jairus is risking his reputation among the Jewish leadership – casting away all that is earthly in order to surrender himself in God’s presence.  And, he is asking on behalf of his child – a female child – traditionally considered of very little value in the culture of these times. Here we observe the unconditional love of a father for his child.  Jairus is desperate for the healing power of the love of God the Father through Jesus Christ.

Thus, the group sets off to the home of Jairus on their mission of healing.  But, they are interrupted unexpectedly and quite strangely in such a way that only Jesus is aware; only Jesus can sense the healing power flowing from hisbody into that of someone near.  Jesus wants to know who that person is.  In ultimate humility, a woman from the pressing crowd cowers as she moves toward Jesus to confess that it was she who touched him. Already knowing within herself that she was healed of the disease that had plagued her for twelve long years, her trust in Jesus’ healing power is confirmed; Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

In direct contrast to the power and prestige of Jairus is the powerlessness of this woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. Here is a woman who had spent all the resources she had seeking medical treatment for her condition.  Driven into poverty, female, and rendered ritually unclean by her condition, she was an outcast of outcasts.  But, this unnamed outcast is so fueled by her trust in Jesus and her desperate need for healing that she pushes her way through the crowd, determined to get near enough to Jesus to touch his clothes – trusting that in merely touching the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. Like Jairus, she throws away all concern for earthly conventions and the scorn of those around her to surrender herself in God’s presence.

And, patiently turning from the urgency of his mission to the home of Jairus, Jesus takes time to affirm her faith; “Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace.”  [NRSV Mark 5:34]  The delay would cost Jairus’ daughter her life; her loved ones must surely have been incensed that this unclean woman had delayed Jesus at such a critical time.  And, yet, Jesus remains non-anxious and Jairus remains faithful through the traumatic ordeal. Healing would come to all who remained faithful.

We know that our healing is seldom so simple. Jesus’ message is that we be bold in our trust, that we continue to trust in the face of disappointments and setbacks and unmet self-established expectations, that we persevere to be faithful through the difficult times, that we understand that fear and death do not have the last word.  God remains present in our times of despair just as he has promised.  And, God’s healing is irrespective of the boundaries of human status and superficial expectations.  Healing is not on earthly time frames; it is not always so tangible as in our Gospel accounts.

When we beg for healing for ourselves or loved ones, we think in terms of dramatic physical healing.  Sometimes that comes.  But, the physical healing, as we define it, is seldom specifically the case.  First and foremost, rather than physically, our healing comes only when, in peace, we accept our physical frailty and our continued awareness of God’s presence.  As Jesus said to the raging sea in the midst of the storm, “Peace, be still!” he says the same to us.

We are healed when we are at peace with our physical mortality and when we abide in continued awareness of God’s presence.  God promises spiritual healing to those who trust; the physical healing of our mortal bodies is less easily determined. Our peace is in trusting that one day we will understand the full healing power of God’s love – God who wants only what is best for us.  God sent his son in the blessed assurance of everlasting life in him – everlasting life where death is not to be feared.

Why does it seem that Jesus heals some and not others? Healing is on God’s terms and time, and by God’s definition; it is beyond our comprehension.  It is the healing of our souls that must come first.  For that, we trust God to fulfill his promise that death does not have the last word.

“Do not fear, “Jesus says to Jairus and to us, “only believe.”