September 25 – What Jesus Does: Healer, Wonder-worker,
Welcomer of All
Mark 2:1-12
2:1 Jesus came back
to Capernaum after several days, and word spread that he was home. 2 People
began to gather in such great numbers that there was no longer any room for
them, even around the door. While Jesus
was delivering God’s word to them, 3 some people arrived bringing a paralyzed
person. The four who carried the invalid 4 were unable to reach Jesus because
of the crowd, so they began to open up the roof directly above Jesus. When they
had made a hole, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed one was lying. 5
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the sufferer, “my child, your sins are
forgiven.” 6 Now some of the religious
scholars were sitting there asking themselves, 7 “Why does Jesus talk in that
way? He commits blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Jesus immediately perceived in his spirit
that they reasoned this way among themselves and said to them, “Why do you
harbor such thoughts? 9 Which is easier, to say to this paralyzed person, ‘Your
sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, pick up your
Mark 3:1-12
3:1 Returning to
the synagogue, Jesus met someone who had a withered hand. 2 Now the religious
authorities were watching to see if Jesus would heal the individual on the
Sabbath day, as they were hoping for some evidence to use against Jesus. 3 He
said to the afflicted one, “stand and come up front!” 4 Then he turned to them and said, “Is it
permitted to do a good deed on the Sabbath—or an evil one? To preserve life or
to destroy it?” At this they remained
silent. 5 Jesus looked around at them with anger, for he was deeply grieved
that they had closed their hearts so. Then Jesus said to the person, “stretch
out your hand.” The other did so, and the hand was perfectly restored.
6 The Pharisees
went out and at once began to plot with the herodians, discussing how to
destroy Jesus.
Jesus withdrew with the disciples to the
lakeside. A great crowd followed him from Galilee, 8 and an equally great
multitude came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan and the neighborhood
of Tyre and Sidon, because they had heard what he had done. 9 In view of their numbers, Jesus told the
disciples to have a fishing boat ready so that he could avoid the pushing of
the crowd. 10 Because he had healed many, all who had afflictions kept pressing
forward to touch him. 11 Unclean spirits would catch sight of him, fling
themselves down at his feet and shout, “You are God’s Own,” 12 while he kept
ordering them sternly not to reveal who he was.
Mark 5:21-43
21 When Jesus had crossed
again to the other shore in the boat, a large crowd gathered, and he stayed by
the lakeside. 22 Then one of the
synagogue officials—Jairus by name— came up and, seeing Jesus, fell down 23 and
pleaded earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is desperately sick. come and
lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.” 24 Jesus went with
him and a large crowd followed, pressing from all sides. 25 Now there was a woman who had suffered from
hemorrhages for twelve years; 26 after long and painful treatment from various
doctors, she had spent all she had without getting better—in fact, she was
getting worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him in the
crowd and touched his cloak. 28 “If I can touch even the hem,” she had told
herself, “I will be well again.” 29 Immediately the flow of blood dried up, and
she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately aware that healing power had
gone out from him, Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “Who touched my
clothes?” 31 The disciples said, “You
see how the crowd is pressing you and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But
Jesus continued to look around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman came
forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her,
and she fell at Jesus’ feet and told him the whole truth. 34 “My daughter,” Jesus said, “your faith has
saved you; go in peace and be free of your affliction.” 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people
arrived from the house of the synagogue official to say, “Your daughter is
dead. Why put the Teacher to any further trouble?” 36 But Jesus overheard the remark and said to
the official: “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” 37 Jesus allowed no one to
follow him except Peter and James and James’ brother John. 38 They came to the official’s house and Jesus
noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. 39
Jesus went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and crying? The child
is not dead, but asleep.” 40 At this, they began to ridicule him, and he told
everyone to leave. Jesus took the child’s mother and father and his own
companions and entered the room where the child lay. 41 Taking her hand, he
said to her, “Talitha, koum!” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42
Immediately the girl, who was twelve years old, got up and began to walk about.
At this they were overcome with
astonishment. 43 Jesus gave the family strict orders not to let anyone know
about it, and told them to give the little girl something to eat.
The
heart of this week’s topic is, “what did Jesus spend his time doing?” and “what
was Jesus best known for?” Borg tells us that there are more healing stories about
Jesus than any other figure in Jewish history. Jesus was known for healing,
miracles, prayer, teaching, and eating (especially with those who were less
than acceptable). In coming weeks, we will deal with the table practices, and
the parables and other teachings of Jesus. This week, we focus on the things
that made Jesus popular with the people.
There are lots of other stories
in Mark that lend themselves to this Sunday’s theme. Jesus calms a storm, Jesus
is transfigured by light, Jesus feeds thousands (we will deal with story in a
few weeks), and Jesus opening blind eyes all point both to the confidence that
God wants people to be healthy and whole and to Jesus’ great desire for all
people to be welcomed home.
Jesus
caught the attention of the crowds because of his ability to heal. In the first
chapter, just after Jesus begins his ministry he goes to Simon’s house and
heals Simon’s mother-in-law. Then a person with leprosy, too, gets cleansed.
This early in the story, Mark tells us “32
After sunset, as evening drew on, they brought to Jesus all who were ill and
possessed by demons. 33 Everyone in the town crowded around the door. 34 Jesus
healed many who were sick with different diseases, and cast out many demons.”
(Mk 1:32-34) I’m sure that Jesus must have been charismatic, but the fact
of the matter is that the people sought him out because he could relieve them
of their suffering.
In
the first story included here, Jesus is so popular that the house is crowded to
capacity and then some. In order to get their friend to Jesus for healing they
tear open a hole in the roof. This healing story becomes a confrontation with
eh Pharisees when instead of simply pronouncing the person healed, Jesus says
that this person’s sins are forgiven. This is not a case of believing that
sickness is a punishment for sin. Rather, it is speaking about what effect
Jesus’ healings had on the recipients. Illness, sickness, infirmity, and
disease made one unacceptable in their society. In the extreme (like leprosy)
it might even exile them from family and the community at large. To a great
extent, physical problems marginalized
the people who suffered from them. They not only had to deal with bodily
ramifications of illness or disease but also with the societal effects as well.
Jesus was not claiming particular priestly authority in pronouncing sins
forgiven. He was embodying the truth that nothing stands between ordinary
people and God. He was welcoming the paralyzed person back to a full
relationship with God, family, and community.
Likewise
the story of the two women that Jesus healed plays much the same kind of drama.
The woman with the menstrual flow would have been ritually unclean for 12 years
(the whole lifetime of the other young woman in the story!). Jesus himself would have been made unclean
simply because she touched him. Jairus’ daughter was dead, and corpses were
unclean. Jesus healed and gave life back to both women, one who had lived a
lifetime on the margins, and the other whose life had ended just as it had
begun.
The
middle story above illustrates again Jesus’ great popularity, and his ongoing
conflict with those who were trying to keep things from changing. Jesus
performs a very “in your face” kind of healing on the Sabbath, which clearly
shows where his passions and priorities lay. In response, the crowds are do
demanding of Jesus’ healing power that they crush in upon him and the
disciples. It is worth noting that unclean spirits see Jesus for who is when
the crowds of people do not. Jesus even instructs those spirits not to spread
the word.
In our time, disease can still push people to the
margins: AIDS, cancer, addiction, sexually transmitted diseases (I mention that
here not to be flip, but to point out that we likely have the technology to
cure or prevent many of these through vaccination if we as a society deemed it
a worthy endeavor. Our Puritan roots show through, though, because we seem to
believe that a person who gets an STD deserves it because of their promiscuous
behavior). Poverty is seen in America as almost a disease unto itself, and
another one of those where those who suffer from it are too often blamed for
getting it in the first place. As a culture, we don’t deal with physical
difference well. We stare at those in wheel chairs, those missing limbs, those
with CP and a host of other differing physicalities. Rather than focus on this ostracizing
condition or that in worship, I think the larger question is, “what needs
healing in ourselves and our culture to enlarge God’s Kin-dom?” And then, how
do we offer and enact that healing to others? We are not our disease, our
condition, or our sin. We are beloved citizens of God’s Kin-dom.
Good News: Jesus embodies and enacts God’s healing love.
Subject: The love and touch of Christ heals us and
welcomes us home.
Igniting Desire: We
yearn to be loved for who we are, not rejected because of our imcompleteness.
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