Hope and Faith

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, `Who touched me?' "
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"
Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Hope and Faith

July 16, 2006
Mark 5:21-43

In today's Gospel lesson Jesus heals two people, the 12 year-old girl and the woman who had suffered for 12 years. Today I want to look at the hope and faith of that woman and of Jairus, the father of the little girl.

Jairus loved his little girl, but she was sick and dying. Surely the doctors had looked at her but could do no more. Medically and humanly speaking, there was no more hope for the little girl. She was dying. Her father loved her so much however, that he could not lose hope. He was a ruler of the synagogue, like on the church council, so surely he prayed for his daughter. And when Jesus came to town, he was given new hope. He came down to the lake side where Jesus was and fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded earnestly with him. "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.

Then we meet the other person who placed their faith and hope in Jesus. This woman had been sick for 12 years, ever since Jason's daughter had been born. We are told that she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. She had given up on the doctors. There was no more hope of getting well. Then when Jesus came to town, she was given new hope. Jesus was walking toward Jairusf house, so she mixed in with the crowd. She was not a respected member of the town or the synagogue like Jairus, so maybe she didn't have the courage to come up and make a request of Jesus, or maybe she didn't want to slow down Jesus who was hurrying over to Jairus' house to heal his daughter. But she had lost hope on human doctors. She saw Jesus and she was given new hope. After suffering for 12 years, here was her chance! She had hope, she had faith! She thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." She came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak. Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Jesus had not seen her touch him, but he felt that healing power had gone out from him. He said, "Who touched my clothes?" Jesus wanted the woman to come forward so that she could confess her hope and faith. Although trembling with fear, she fell at Jesus' feet and told the whole story. Then Jesus blessed the woman saying, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Because of her hope and faith, she was healed. In Greek, the word for "heal" is the same as " save." When Jesus said, "your faith has healed you," we know that it was more than just physical healing, it was also the faith that brings eternal salvation. Then Jesus said, "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." In Hebrew, the word for "peace," "shalom," also means "health" and "happiness." The woman's fear was turned to peace. Her hope also was changed to fulfillment and happiness.

While this woman was telling her life story, time had passed, precious time because Jairus' sick child had now died. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" While there was life there was hope, but now the people that had come from the house had lost hope. Jairus was about to lose hope too. Jesus did not want him to lose faith. Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; just believe." While Jesus was present there was hope. They went to the house. It seemed like the neighbors had already started the funeral. There was no hope. They knew the child was dead and beyond hope, so they laughed at Jesus when he said, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep."

Then Jesus went inside the house and healed the child, or rather raised her from the dead. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). Jesus raised the girl from the dead. This resurrection power heals the girl completely. She stood up and walked around, and if she is a normal 12 year-old girl, she is probably running and jumping and doing cartwheels! And like a healthy young girl, she is hungry! She is completely healed. (A good appetite is a sign of good health.) There is new hope that this girl will grow up to be a healthy, happy woman.

Hope is a powerful thing! There is the expression that "faith can move mountains." Christian hope is not just wishful thinking. It is not "I hope it will not rain on the picnic." Hope puts us into action. Faith is not just a sitting back and waiting for things to happen. Faith can move mountains because it has the hope of God's love. I think that love is the source of hope and faith. (Cf. I Cor.13:13, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.") In today's Gospel lesson, Jairus loved his daughter so much that he could not lose hope. His love gave him the hope and faith that Jesus could heal his daughter. Because of hope, he went down to the lake to meet Jesus and ask him to come to his house. Likewise, the woman had hope that put her into action: she reached out and touched the cloak of Jesus.

Hope is a powerful thing for us, too! I have felt that power many times in my life and God has helped me many times when I have wanted to give up. Hope overcomes depression. It overcomes stress. It overcomes sadness. It overcomes hate. It overcomes poverty. It overcomes fear. It overcomes anger. It overcomes revenge. It overcomes sin. It overcomes my sin and the sin of others against me. This is hope that is born from love. God loves us. Others love us. We love God. We love others. That is the love that produces hope and faith. Because we love others, we cannot give up on them. It is the hope that is based on the Resurrection of Jesus. If he can die and rise again, then so can we. If he can die to forgive us and rise to give us eternal life, then we have hope.

Hope is the power of our prayers. Without hope no one prays. Without hope, our words are not real prayers; Martin Luther called such prayers as worthless as praying to an idol. And even if we pray for some seemingly hopeless thing like a million dollars or a cure for a rare disease or world peace, still we know that God does hear our prayers and that Almighty God can give us what we ask for, but that as our Heavenly Father he will give us what we really need. Or unlike the Gospel lesson, even if our child is not resurrected, Jesus will come with us to our home to mourn with us and will give us the hope of the resurrection.

God sustains our hope and faith by Word and Sacrament. We read the Bible and hear about his hope-giving love. And he gives us the Sacrament of the Altar which is like the command at the end of the Gospel lesson. Jesus told them to give the girl something to eat. The Holy Communion sustains our hope and faith as we remember what Jesus did for us.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church