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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading regarding those two miracles.
Faith is a very powerful thing. If we cry out to God for sustenance of that faith, His answer is always, Yes, yes, He will strengthen and sustain us. However, you and I look at ourselves or we look at other people and we think in our minds that something here is amiss. We see our adversities and we see our sufferings and trouble through our eyes as if the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Woe is me. We do not see it through Christ’s eyes, who says, do not fear, only believe.
Now the better translation of this Greek text is not just only believe but only continue to believe. Very important part of that translation, only continue to believe. Because when you and I look at things in life, we’re already turned in upon ourselves and so all we do is look at ourselves even more. Woe’s me. What’s going to happen? How is it going to affect me? Why is it happening to them? Why did God allow it to happen to them? Jeremiah wrote very clearly in his Old Testament reading that we read, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They’re new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.
He goes on and says, for the Lord will not cast off forever. But though he cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love, for He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. Christ is saying, all is well. No matter what you see happen to yourself, no matter what you see happen to someone else, all is well because I hold you. I hold you in my hands. Do not fear. Just continue to believe.
Now this miracle has two marked differences between these two individuals, the woman and Jairus. Jairus is named by name, and his social standing is put forth, a synagogue ruler. On the other hand, the woman, she’s just a woman. We have no idea what her name is, where she comes from, what her standing is in society. She’s, in a sense, anonymous.
The other difference is that she had been suffering for 12 long years. Yes. And with each year and with all the money that she is spending on other doctors, it didn’t get better but only grew worse until she had spent all of her money. Twelve years like that. Jairus, his little girl was sick for a short time. She died for a short time. She was raised again. His suffering and sorrow were compressed into a very short amount of time compared to the woman’s.
Why is this so important? Because each of us can apply that to our own lives. We are so tempted to be like Jairus. Give it to me, give it to me now. We do not want to be like the woman. You mean I have to suffer for a long time before I’m delivered? You have experience in your life, God’s deliverance in a short amount of time. You have in your life experience God’s seemingly languishing to come and take care of you. Remember, the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He cause grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love.
Let’s look at that woman. Her faith was like a mustard seed. The text said she heard the reports about Jesus. The report being that he was many things, I am sure. Messiah and divine physician. Redeemer and one who would bring healing. She clung to that promise. That’s all she had. Remember, she had spent all of her money already. She had heard all the spiels from all the doctors of what they could do for her, and now here was one other seeming so, and yet she did not believe in what? Anything other than his promise. She, in the midst of a huge crowd, in which he is being touched by all types of people, touches him and is healed.
She is healed not because of her touch. She is healed not because of the garment that he touched. She is healed because she trusted in the promise of God. Hence why Jesus turns and says, who touched me? And his disciples said, what? Lord, there are so many people touching you. Who could it be? He knew because she touched in faith, not like the other people who touched him. Having been touched in faith, he wants to talk to her. She comes in fear. The text says she comes in fear. We can only imagine what that must have been. His words to her in the midst of that fear are, Go in peace. Your faith has healed you. You are cured of your disease.
From his lips did the will of God come forth to her. From his lips was God’s will manifested in her life. But really what he said was, the same thing he said to Jairus, do not fear, only continue to believe. Now Jairus, a synagogue ruler, God worked in his life as well. We have no idea of whose life this woman touched and what God did to her through Christ would have accomplished.
The synagogue ruler, we know, wow, he’s going to be kind of notoriety in the community. And yet God strikes him as well, as it were. His little girl’s sick and he wants the answer now. He hadn’t waited 12 years like the woman, did he? Jesus tells him, do not fear, only continue to believe when the man is confronted with the death of his daughter. Trying to assure him that it wasn’t the fact that he had to be there before she died. Because he’s not just Lord of healing in this life, He’s not just the divine physician. He’s the redeeming Savior who brings salvation, life from death.
So when he gathers in with the disciples, the three, Peter, James, and John, and the parents, and raises this girl from the dead, his suffering and sorrow as Jairus is over. But you know what? You and I fear a lot of things in this world. And you fear things more than you fear God. You fear what’s going to happen to your job more than you trust in God or fear God. You fear about your health or your loved one’s health more than you fear God. You fear about our government and where it’s going more than you fear God. You fear about your retirement and what the stock market’s going to do more than you fear God. You fear about your own body and your own health and your own abilities more than you fear God.
This is about fear, love, and trust in God above all things. When Jairus is told, do not fear, only continue to believe, through the eyes of the flesh, that seems like a very callous and almost pious thing to say. Through the eyes of Christ, it’s exactly what you need to hear. And so do I. Because your and my heart flutters about all over the place. What he is advocating is not some wonderful, if you pray right, things are going to turn out well for you. If you live right, things are going to turn out well for you. It has nothing to do with that whatsoever. It is God’s will being done in their lives.
And for that woman, God’s will was that for 12 years she should have that blood flowing from her until Christ healed her. For Jairus, his will was that that daughter would die and rise again. I don’t know what God’s will in these many ways, which God has not revealed to you and me. Why He does what He does in our lives, but there is reason and purpose. As Jeremiah said so clearly, the Lord will not cast off forever, but though He cause grief, He will not, will not abandon us. He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love.
Faith is a very powerful thing. And if we pray to God to sustain our faith, if we cry out for mercy, He answers, and His answer is always, Yes, yes, I will care for you. Yes, I will bring hope to you. Yes, I will soften your fears. A little later in Mark, of course, is the most comforting text for those who fear other things more than we fear God, and that is, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. That is what Jesus is saying here. Do not fear, only continue to believe.
Stop looking at yourself through your fleshly eyes, the habit of which we are very accustomed to doing. Look at your life through my eyes. I’ve got you in my hands. You are my child. I will always care for you, no matter how your life seems to be going. You are my beloved. Great is my faithfulness.
The woman who bled for 12 years, she still had to die, didn’t she? She still had to face death. The little girl who was resurrected from the dead, she still had to die someday. No matter what God does in our lives, in this life, has no consequence or effect upon our eternal consequence of everlasting life. We can entrust ourselves into the hands of a loving God.
We can say, Lord, have mercy. Forgive me for my fear of other things more than I fear you, and sustain me. And he says, do not fear. Only continue to believe. No matter what God does to us. No matter what is done to those whom we love. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Look upon all these things through the eyes of Christ. Do not fear, only continue to believe. In the name of Him who healed the woman, raised the little girl from the dead, and will raise you from the dead, Jesus Himself, life incarnate. Amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
