Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity

In the Gospels we often find Jesus mingling with troubled people, people who are miserable, afflicted, and distressed. This is where Jesus wants to be. He wants to be among such people and be found by them. Among these poor people alone can His Word and work find room. People who are secure, powerful, rich, and well-off have no use for Jesus’ preaching or his miracles. They are unable to receive the goodness and mercy of God because they are already satiated and full. There were many rich people in Jesus’ day, but they did not crowd and press around Jesus. It was the poor, the sick, and the destitute that followed Jesus everywhere, hanging on his every word. Among these was a woman, who had suffered from unstoppable bleeding for twelve years. Mark tells us that she had spent all her money on doctors, but they had only made her condition worse. She had exhausted every other option; she had nowhere else to go; so finally she came to Jesus.

Unfortunately, this is how it often works with us. We go to Jesus only after we have tried everything else. So long as we have options, money, or resources, we are content to trust in them. But when every other hope has failed, then we are prepared at last to cry out to our Savior for mercy. No wonder Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3). The good news of salvation is preached to the poor, but the rich in spirit go away empty. How many times in life have you wished to be rich, but God in mercy has kept you poor in spirit – poor enough that you desired to be filled with good things, poor enough that you needed to come to church to hear the Word of Life, to receive the forgiveness of sins, and to eat and drink from the table of the Lord.

In our Gospel text, we encounter two people who have at last become poor enough to hunger and thirst for Christ and his gifts. It took the woman twelve years to exhaust all of her resources. Only then was she ready to look to Jesus. Likewise, Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, waited until his daughter was on her deathbed, past the help of all doctors. When he finally came to Jesus it was already too late, or so it seemed – his daughter was dead before he returned with Jesus. Even so, Jairus is an example of faith for us. He could easily have said, “I’ve waited too long. My situation is beyond all help.” Indeed, this is what Jairus’ servants thought. Mark records that the servants met them on his way and said to Jairus, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to [Jairus], “Do not fear, only believe” (Mk 5:35–6).

The most precious treasure that we have on earth is not wealth, power, or fame. It is faith in Christ and his Word. No matter what else people do or teach, no matter how beautiful, praiseworthy, valuable, or holy it appears to be, nothing else can make us Christians, that is, people who have the forgiveness of sins and a gracious God. By faith alone we lay hold of our Savior. By faith we believe Jesus’ when he says, “The one who comes to me, I will never cast out” (Jn 6:37).

This is the faith that leads the woman to make her way through the crowd in order to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. Consider her situation for a moment: She had been bleeding for twelve years. The Law of Moses declared that she was unclean. For as long as the discharge continued, she could not come into the house of the Lord. Anyone she touched would also become unclean. Anything she touched would be unclean. She had to live outside the community, apart from the life of the church, away from the presence and forgiveness of God. And so she had, for twelve years. Imagine what the devil must have whispered in her ear all that time: “God is angry with you. God is punishing you. You deserve nothing good. You will never be clean. It’s too late for you. Even if you go to see Jesus, he will send you away. He will condemn you for shamelessly daring to come before him. You will not find grace. You will find only the wrath that you deserve. You are an unclean sinner.”

But against all of this, her faith broke through as she pictured the good and gracious heart of Christ. She said to herself, “I must take hold of my Savior,” no matter what the Law says – even though it is true. Yes, I am an outcast, but he has promised to receive me. I am a great sinner, but he has promised to forgive me. My heart is full of corruption and wickedness, but he has promised to make me clean.” This is the response of faith.

I’m sure that you too have heard that whispering in your ear. The devil points out that you are a great sinner. That much is true. He reminds you that your heart is full of all manner of uncleanness. And he’s right. And then tells you that because of this, Christ will never receive you. But this is where you, as a born-again child of God can answer in faith, “Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ! Drop your ugly accusation; I am not so soon enticed. Now that to the font I’ve traveled, all your might has come unraveled, and, against your tyranny, God, my Lord, unites with me!”

This is the cry of faith that God draws out of us by hearing his Holy Word. By faith you take hold of your Savior knowing that he is not only able, but he desires to give you every blessing. The woman fixed her whole heart on the idea that if she could only take hold of the edge of his garment, she would be healed. And it was so, but Jesus gave her more than that. He turned to her and called her “daughter.” Doubtless she had been called many names during her uncleanness. People would shout, curse, and even throw rocks at those who were unclean. But Jesus did not call her “unclean.” He didn’t call her “sinner.” He called her “daughter.” This is what Jesus also does for you, who have been baptized. The world, the sinful flesh, and the devil all testify that you are an unclean sinner. But when you are baptized, you are brought to be touched by Jesus. And when you are joined to Christ and his cross, you who once were unclean, a sinner, even an enemy of God, are these things no longer. God calls you his son, his daughter, his child. And when God speaks it is so.

Faith believes God’s Word. Faith trusts that his promises are for you, in spite of the sinful nature that remains with you this side of heaven. But this doesn’t mean that your faith won’t be assaulted. When Jairus first came to Jesus, he said in faith, “If you lay your hand on my daughter, she will live” (Mt 9:18). But on the way he was told, “It’s no use. Your daughter is dead.” His faith must have wavered, but Jesus strengthened it with his word, saying, “Do not fear. Believe.” When they come to his house, his faith is assaulted once again by the overwhelming noise of the professional mourners, with their music and wailing. All of this cries out in his heart that there is nothing to be hoped for here except death. His faith once more must cling to the word of Jesus, who says, “Your daughter is not dead, she is only sleeping.” At this all the mourners began to mock Jesus. How foolish his words seem to this world. They do not esteem the words of Jesus, yet to us who believe, they is no greater treasure.

In these words spoken to Jairus, “Your daughter is not dead, she is only sleeping,” Jesus makes a promise to every believer, saying, “Death is nothing but sleep to me. It has no lasting power. It cannot hold me, and it will not claim you.” And in speaking these words, Jesus makes it so. He reaches down and takes the girl’s hand and raises her up. And so he has promised to do for you: “He who believes in me, though he dies, yet will he live. For I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 11:25, 6:54). You, who have no other hope in this world, now cling to Christ and his promise. You, who once were nothing but a poor, unclean, sinner, have now been touched by our Lord, who delights in raising up the poor and filling them with every good thing. He forgives your sins, he heals your uncleanness, and he gives you faith to believe that it is so. And when your last hour comes and you close your eyes in death, it will be for you as it was for the daughter of Jairus for whom Jesus said, “She is not dead, but only sleeping.” Amen.

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