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In the Litany of the Miraculous 

Mark's Gospel reads like a litany of miraculous healings. In chapter one alone, Jesus casts out demons, He relieves Simon's mother-in-law of a terrible fever, multitudes with various maladies and possessions are given a new start, and even a poor leper is restored. And that first chapter in Mark ends with these words. "...and they were coming to Him from everywhere." Mark 1:45 Why? Because the proof of His transformative miraculous power walked among them. There in the crowd is a man born blind, but by the power of Jesus, he sees. There's a woman who was once awfully disfigured by leprosy, confined to a colony of lonely sufferers hiding in their ugliness, but now, she looks as radiant as a beauty queen. Sitting there peacefully is a man who was tormented by the darkest form evil, but since Jesus came along, he's about as calm as a librarian. See that man listening to a child? He was once as deaf as a post. Mark says that people came from "everywhere" because the world of 2000 years ago was in great need of the power of Jesus. So it is with today's world. We need what only He can provide - transformative, healing power. 

Chapter five opens right on the heels of one of the greatest displays of supernatural power the world had ever seen. Jesus simply spoke three little words, and a raging storm vanished. As the disciples row upon a glassy sea, they wonder, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" They hardly catch their breath when down from the tombs runs crazed lunatic known and feared as the "Gerasene Demoniac." Who could forget his transformation? From a naked mad man to a gentleman, "clothed and in his right mind," soon to be the world's first Christian missionary! Mark 5:15 and 20 

Mark continues this glorious litany of the miraculous by introducing us to a Daddy whose 12 year old daughter was near death: 

"And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered about Him; and He stayed by the seashore. And one of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and upon seeing Him, fell at His feet, and entreated Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay your hands on her, that she may get well and live." And He went off with him; and a great multitude was following Him and pressing in on Him." 

Jesus is on His way to Jairus' home, when out of the crowd there comes an interruption. "And a woman..." That's how Mark introduces the subject of Lesson Five, The Woman Who Touched Jesus. In the eyes of the world, and even in the eyes of certain disciples, she was an interruption. Jesus is on His way to save the life of a precious little girl. What
could be more important than that? How dare anyone, for any reason, delay that work. It would be akin to blocking an ambulance! A terrible intrusion! That's how they felt about her. Before we get much further, let's take a personal inventory. 

• How many interruptions have you experienced already this day? 
• How many unwelcome telephone calls have you received from people trying
• to sell you things you could care less about? 
• How many popups have you deleted from your computer screen? 
• How many spam emails have you received? 
• How many times have you said to your child, "Mommy's talking. Don't
• interrupt!"? 
• How many commercials have interrupted you dissemination of today's news?

Lord, help us to see others through your eyes - as people who are worth our time, worth our effort, worth our concern, worth dying for. 

In Need of The Great Physician

Mark obviously didn't see her as an interruption. As the shortest of the Gospels, Mark typically doesn't offer much in the way of description. He's brief and to the point. But here, Mark takes great pains to describe this great woman's story. Listen to what he says: 

"And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse, after hearing about Jesus, came up in the crowd behind Him, and touched His cloak. For she thought, 'If I just touch His garments, I shall get well.'" Mark 5:25-28

Try to imagine the last time you sat in an examination room nervously waiting on the doctor to arrive. Can you remember how you felt when he or she walked in? 

Hopefully, all of you have a really great doctor. I do. My internist never fails to work me into his busy schedule. He takes the time to listen. He asks lots of questions designed at discerning the nature of the medical problem. He truly cares about my good health because he has a vested interest in it. I am the father of three of his grandchildren! 

A great doctor brings a sense of relief and calm because we know that our physician has the knowledge and training to help us arrive at excellent health. A really great doctor is one who has made a solemn vow to offer you their very best. Have you ever read the Hippocratic Oath? The ancient Greek doctors would pledge themselves toward the keeping of the oath in their practice of medicine. Here's a good translation of the
original Greek: 

"The regimen I adopt shall be for the benefit of the patients to the best of my power and judgement, not for their injury or for any wrongful purpose. I will not give a deadly drug to anyone, though it be asked of me, nor will I lead the way in such counsel. And likewise I will not give a woman a means to procure abortion. But I will keep my life and art in purity and holiness. Whatsoever house I enter, I will enter for the benefit of the sick, refraining from all voluntary wrong-doing and corruption, especially seduction of male or female, bond or free. Whatsoever I see or hear concerning the life of men in my attendance on the sick, or even apart from my attendance, which ought not be babbled abroad, I will keep silence on them, counting such things to be religious secrets." 

Terribly Alone 

So, what do we know about this unnamed woman? She is terribly sick and getting sicker. She had gone to every doctor in town, to no avail. She is bankrupt. Without a doubt, she is alone. This last fact was probably the hardest thing of all to endure. You can endure a financial crisis with friends to lean on. You can even weather a storm of sickness, empowered by the warm fellowship of loved ones. But can you imagine going through sickness and poverty in total isolation? This was her experience for 12 long years. 

Her "aloneness" is more than a safe assumption. According to the religious laws of her day, a sickness like hers would render her unclean, unapproachable, and untouchable. For twelve terribly long years, she endured it all alone. Can you see her in your mind's eye? On
the edge of the crowd, knowing that at the center of the congested mass of people walked a Man who was more than a man, One in whom dwelled a power that must have come from heaven above. Can you see her, in a moment of reckless abandon, throwing aside the shackles of her culture, pushing forward through the crowd, believing with all her heart that
just a touch of His garment will bring an end to her years of suffering. Surely she also knew that a touch of His garment would bring her, as well, a brand new life! 

For twelve years she knew that being in relationship with another person was not an option for someone deemed unclean. I believe the hope of having friends, holding hands, kissing a child, being viewed by others as one who is touchable and loveable - this is the deep desire that compels her to reach out to Jesus. Sometimes in our lives, the miracle we need is relational. We are all in touch with marriages on the rocks, friendships strained, and loved ones estranged. Here's another great life lesson she teaches us. Just like that woman, you and I will never have meaningful, satisfying relationships with friends and family members, unless we are willing to reach out toward Jesus and make Him an integral part of those relationships. Without Him, we too might as well be untouchable and alone. With Him, all our loves flourish. Parents and children love one another so much more. Husbands and wives love each other more truly. Friends cherish one another more dearly. 

Is there a relationship in your life that needs healing? Reach out. Bring Jesus into it. He will work His miracles even in your relationships! Do you believe it? Do you have the faith of this wonderful unnamed woman? Faith that can reach out to Jesus claiming His healing power over even your most troubled relationship? For goodness sake, please don't let even a smidgeon of skepticism prevent you from seeking the healing power of the Great Physician. Reach out to Him! 

Tony Campolo tells of his own former skepticism regarding the miraculous. He said that once he found himself in an ecumenical gathering of pastors. A Pentecostal evangelist was there telling the group about his congregation's latest revival. Campolo said, "I'm not so
sure about all that. Yes, Jesus healed lots of people, but today? With all the sickness and problems of the world today?" The Pentecostal chided him for his lack of faith and Campolo left that meeting feeling uneasy. Soon afterwards, he was standing before an auditorium of people, thousands of them who had turned out Tony Campolo's thoughts about life and faith. He said it was nothing planned, but at the end of the service, he said to the crowd, "I know that some of you believe in miracles and some of you don't, and to be quite honest with you, I'm not so sure about all that. But I've been thinking and praying a lot about miracles lately, so I'll tell you what, we're going to pray, and I want you to come down front. That's right, if you need a miracle, come down front and I'm going to pray for each of you to receive a miracle from God. I'm not making any promises, in fact, I don't know if anything at all will happen. Who knows? You come down and we'll pray." He sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and waited. 

By the droves they came forward. He said he was not only astounded by the number, but by the fact that nearly every request involved a significant human relationship, even those that involved a medical issue. 

"Dr. Campolo, my daughter ran away and we've looked everywhere. We need a miracle. We need God to bring her back home." 

"Tony, please pray for my baby. The doctor said she has a congenital heart defect. I'm so scared. My baby needs a miracle." 

"Reverend, I've been a drunk for past 23 years and tonight I know it's time to change. I can't do it on my own. I need a miracle." 

"Pastor, my husband and I haven't talked in years. Our marriage is dead but I don't want a divorce. I want Jesus to do a miracle in our marriage." 

Tony Campolo stayed there as long as it took to pray for each person. And then he made his way to the airport. 

Several weeks passed and the telephone rang. "Hello," answered Tony Campolo. On the other end of the line he could hear the quivering voice of a woman. "Reverend Campolo, you may or may not remember me, there were so many people, but you prayed for me and my husband." "Oh yes," he said with really remembering her at all. "Well I'm the woman who told you that my husband was at home with hospice, terminal cancer. And I was
just calling to you that he died yesterday." Campolo was speechless on the other end of the line. Before he could think of a pastoral response, she continued, "and I just wanted to call and say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my hear for praying for Henry, because you will never know what an awful monster that cancer made of him in his last few
months. He said things he didn't mean to his children and his friends. It was so bad that he alienated just about everybody in his life. But I knew that wasn't my Henry. And you prayed for a miracle, and by johnny we got it! I came home that night after the service and Henry was still sick as he could be, but the old loveable Henry came back. I just praise
God! We got our miracle. Thank you for praying for us." Never again would Tony Campolo question the power of God to heal, yes even today! 

Let us never question the power of Jesus Christ to heal not only the body, but the sin sick soul, and even our troubled relationships. 

"And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments? And His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?' And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." Mark 5:29-34 

Life would never be the same, and life doesn't have to stay the same for us. Reach out! Receive! Tremble in awe of His great power and love! Rejoice in the newness He brings to all of life, even your relationships! 

Back to the Real World 

Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates." Yes, sometimes. A more accurate analogy might be this statement, "Life is like a roller coaster." One minute we feel like we're on top of the world. The next minute we feel about as low as a snake's belly. Little platitudes like that don't even begin to do justice to the depth of grief that must have
filled the hearts of Jairus and his wife. "Your daughter has died..." Mark 5:34 

I can think of no more shrill, heart-wrenching episode in the Gospel. Jairus did the very best he could do; he had come to Jesus seeking help. But they were delayed by someone else's need. And now there is shock and the deepest form of human pain, a grief so heavy that no one can face it stoically. All we can do is crumble to the ground with a Daddy and a Mommy who have lost the most cherished of all relationships, their beautiful little girl. 

If you and I were standing there next to Jairus and his wife, how long would it take for us to forget that we are in the presence of the Great Physician? There beside Him is a woman who has just been healed of a twelve year illness. Have we forgotten so soon? I have to confess my faith has a good memory, but it is short. 

Fortunately, the one who bore the terrible news to Jairus, didn't have the last word. Who does? Who has the last word in the drama? Jesus does. He confidently makes His way into the little girl's room. He takes her hand in His. The little tips of her fingers are turning blue and they feel cold in Jesus' big hands. Then the Great Physician speaks two simple Aramaic words, "Talitha kum." Mark 5:41 What do those ancient words mean? I say them to my little girl most mornings, "Get up, Sweetie!" Words so familiar. Words so warm. Words so tender. But words with such power! 

"And immediately the girl arose and began to walk; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded." Mark 5:42 

The crises of life do not have the last word. Grief doesn't have the last word. Pain and suffering do not have the last word. Death doesn't even have the last word. The Great Physician has the last word over us, and glory be to God, they'll be words of life everlasting! 

For Use as a Closing Prayer: A hymn from the old maroon hymnbook