"They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat."

Readings for Sunday, June 27 (Proper 8): Deuteronomy 15:7-11, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, Mark 5:22-43

Last week, we were crossing over with Jesus to the other side, weathering a fierce storm until he woke up and calmed the sea. When Jesus and his disciples landed on the other side, it was in a region known as the Gerasenes, Gentile territory. They were greeted by a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit, indeed by a legion of unclean spirits; a man literally out of his mind who spent all of his time among dead people, living (if you can call it that) in the graveyard. Jesus drives the unclean spirit, or spirits, out of the man and into a herd of pigs who promptly throw themselves over a cliff and drown in the sea—much to the consternation of the local herdsmen for whom the pigs—remember this is Gentile territory—were an important source of income.

The locals can’t handle Jesus. What else is he going to do to ruin their economy? They ask him to leave. The man who was healed wants to go with him, but Jesus says no. “Go home to your friends,” Jesus says, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Jesus will never be without a witness, even in a place where he’s not wanted. That man everyone dismissed as crazy went all over the Decapolis [ten cities] spreading the Good News about Jesus.

It is important to remember all this before we move on to Jairus.

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 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.” (Mark 5:22-23)

To understand Jairus’s story, you have to hear, first, the demoniac’s story—and you also have to hear the woman’s story that seems to interrupt his. For that matter, the story of the disciples fearing for their lives in a boat on rough seas is also helpful.

The Bible, remember, is not a collection of stories. It is one story: one story with one central character.

In the boat, after he had calmed the storm, Jesus rebuked his disciples—those who had, by that time, been around him for a while—saying to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

That stands in stark contrast to what he said to the woman who had not been around him all that much but had only heard about him; the woman who, in desperation after having abandoned all hope in the many physicians who had tried to help her, truly believed, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well” (v. 28).

To this woman, Jesus says, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (v. 34)

Keep in mind that the disciples were still rather dumbfounded after Jesus calmed the storm. But this woman, because of her faith, went away restored—and not just in the physical sense. Jesus addressed her as “Daughter,” meaning she was also restored to the community that had shunned her because of her condition.

This was a healing not only of body, but of mind and of soul—of the whole person: restored not just to good health, but to good standing in the community.

We cannot skip over this part of the story because it tells us so much about Jesus and what he came to do. To die for our sins and rise again in triumph over death, yes! But the full implications of that are so often overlooked. Jesus came to restore a fallen creation: to calm the raging seas, to conquer the demonic forces that oppress and dehumanize, to heal disease and make the person and the community whole again.

We tell this story because it is, on a small scale, what God in Christ intends to do on a grand scale when he acts, at last, to restore all things.

And we tell this story, within the larger story of Jairus and his daughter, because Jairus and his family are facing the same dilemma as the woman.

The woman had been suffering for twelve years.

Jairus’s daughter was twelve years old.

Twelve is a significant number in Israel’s history.

Twelve was the age of adulthood. Jairus’s daughter was old enough to be offered in marriage.

We assume, from the story, that this girl is an only child. If she dies, unmarried, childless, so dies with her the family name. So dies with her Jairus’s standing in the community.

You understand now why Jairus is so desperate. You understand how devastated he must feel when messengers come from his house with the word, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (v. 35).

In a fallen and unredeemed world, death seems so final. But do not say that within earshot of the One who came to redeem the world out of its fallenness.

“Do not fear, only believe” (v. 36).

To Jesus, the daughter is only sleeping—and just as he can calm the sea with the words, “Peace! Be still!” so he can awaken her with the words, “Talitha cumi,” Little girl, I say to you, arise.

And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:42-43)

I once heard a rabbi say that every Jewish holiday could be summed up in three sentences.

“They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat!”

The kingdom of God is a feast. The kingdom of God is a celebration!

Why would Jairus and his family not celebrate? Only a moment before, he thought he had lost it all: his daughter, his family name, his standing in the community. Now, everything is restored: his daughter is alive, his family name will be carried on through marriage, his place in the community is secure.

Jairus and the woman:

--Their story is the same.

--Their fear was identical.

--Their deliverance made them one in a community where faith triumphed over fear and life triumphed over death.

“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

“Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

Wherever he went, from shore to shore, from place to place, Jesus not only brought healing, but he created a new community, he ushered in a kingdom where all who believe would live together as sons and daughters of God.