In the Gospel for this Sixth Sunday after Pentecost from St. Mark 5, we have two healing stories interwoven. Both stories make important points about Jesus and about human responses to Him. In the first story, there is a ruler or president of a synagogue named Jairus. He has a position of local religious leadership and probably is fairly well-to-do in his community. Yet, in his concern for his daughter, he is also humble. He implores Jesus to come and lay hands upon her.
Another encounter interrupts the trip to Jairus' house, and messengers arrive to inform the man ,“Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” Overhearing this report, Jesus says to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus takes His core disciples, Peter, James and John to the house. All think the girl is dead, but Jesus goes in with the three disciples and the girl's parents. He tells her to arise, and she does. Faith is the key; it opens the way for Jesus give life.
The other healing is the inserted story of the woman with the bleeding problem. This woman has suffered from her illness for years and is desperate. Furthermore, the nature of her affliction means that she is ritually unclean and an outcast. So the woman hides in the crowd. She believes that Jesus can heal her, but she dares not approach Him openly- for fear of shunning by the crowd or of an embarrassing rejection by Jesus.
With great and humble faith, the woman reaches out to touch the edge of Christ's robe, and immediately, two things happen: she senses God's healing, and Jesus senses that divine power has flowed from Him. When He asks who has touched Him, the woman comes to humbly admit her action. Jesus in turn recognizes her faith, and sends her away in peace and health. This second story is also about how faith opens the way for Jesus' life-giving power.
There can be a number of applications of our Gospel. One application is about physical healing. There are still difficult medical situations- cases of critical illness like the girl and cases of chronic illness like the woman. Faith does not overcome every single physical ailment, but there are still inexplicable healings, and in faith, we need to be open to unusual possibilities.
Besides the matter of physical disease and healing, the healing of God also applies to mental and spiritual issues. Many troubles in human life affect people in ways similar to the frantic father and the desperate woman. Many things can frighten us or slowly wear us down until we come to Jesus. He is the great physician of bodies, minds, and souls. He wants to help us. He wants to give us better lives now and eternally. So let us not make faith a last resort. Instead, let us seek Christ and His healing grace on a daily basis.
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