Jesus was a brilliant teacher who had a wonderfully astounding ministry, a major part of which was healing. Throughout the gospels we read of the many events that were both inspiring and life changing, for people who were healed, for those who looked on and even for those who heard about what happened second hand. These stories are still powerfully changing lives today. Imagine the feelings of the woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years. Ritually she was classed as being an outcaste in society. For 12 years she lived a life being shunned by everyone she knew. Picture how she felt and how desperate she must have been, willing to do anything to escape this curse on her life. Like Jairus, she had heard about this man called Jesus and they both placed their total trust in him. Jesus said “Do not fear, only believe.” They heard and they believed. The woman’s faith had enabled her to step forward and reach out to Jesus and to touch his gown, believing that in doing so she would be healed and made whole.
Envisage how she must have felt when her bleeding stopped as she was instantaneously made well again. Visualize the relief and the joy that filled her heart. This story enables us to see the power of Jesus and his power to bring new life.
In these readings we see restoration, wholeness, renewal and the gift of a new beginning, because when Jesus steps into someone’s life he makes a big difference.
In the beginning, when the woman first heard about Jesus, perhaps she had a belief in him the size of a mustard seed. Maybe she thought “Well it won’t harm to see him, after all I’ve seen all the physicians and they haven’t helped me. I’ll give him a try. What have I to loose?” but then that belief must have grown. From that grain of faith the kingdom of God blossomed and grew. Also let us not forget Jairus who was the first to come with a desperate plea for help, asking Jesus to cure and heal his seriously ill daughter.
Today I would like us to consider three points:
Anyone can approach Jesus with their needs
Jesus responds to those who suffer
We can come to Jesus with our problems
Anyone can approach Jesus with their needs
In our stories we have two people at opposite ends of the social scale. On the one hand we have an anonymous woman who was of no great importance and on the other we have Jairus, a ruler in the synagogue, a person with social standing. His position in society commanded respect, as he was president of the board of elders and responsible for the management and good conduct of services. Jesus may well have caused Jairus some discomfort in his teachings, but when his daughter became ill the stories he had heard about Jesus came to his mind and perhaps he though “What have I to lose?” Questions may have come into the minds of both these people such as “Is this man really as good as everyone is saying” or “Can he really heal people’s ailments?” or “Can he help my daughter?” And “Can he stop my bleeding.” When situations affect our lives and our families, we become very focused on our own needs and the needs of our loved ones. Those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour turn to Christ. Circumstances can stir emotions within all of us and enable us to follow Jesus, who changes lives. We throw caution to the wind and follow him who is right and good. All Jairus’ prejudices were thrown to the wind in his hour of need as he came to Jesus for help. We are also able to come to God in our time of need.
When Jairus approached Jesus he had to let go of everything that stood between him and Jesus, all the laws and traditions that bound him up in his Jewish faith. His daughter was dying and he was willing to do anything to save her life. She was everything to him, just like our own children are to us. He doted on her, she was about to become a woman and enter adulthood. But he had to wait for Jesus to come to him in his own time, just as the woman did who had been bleeding. She had to wait 12 years and Jairus had to wait for what must have seemed like a lifetime. In the meantime the girl died. Jairus’ family were distraught, their grief unbearable. Their emotions were raw and pain stabbed to the centre of their hearts. They didn’t think it was worth troubling Jesus anymore, they thought he was unable to help them, she was dead - but they were wrong. Jesus walked into their home and changed their lives. He had a past record that had been proven time and time again. That’s why the crowds flocked after him.
When we ask God to help us with a situation in our own lives, we are often dismayed when no answer seems to come. Human nature is to expect an immediate response to our problems and sadly we sometimes treat God as though he is a magic genie in a bottle and all we have to do is give it a few rubs and ask for our wishes to be granted.
Sometimes we feel as though we have been ignored or have not been heard. Some times we are tempted to give up and walk away from him, because of our unreasonable expectations. But we must understand that God is always willing to transform us but only when we are ready to be transformed. We will never be transformed before our time. This time of waiting could be a test of our own strength of faith.
Jesus’ most powerful miracle was bringing people back to life from death. We know of three occasions in the bible where this happened.
There was the widow’s son at Nain, Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter. There may well have been other occasions that we are not told about, because at the end of John’s gospel we are told that Jesus did many other things and if every one of them were written down the world its self could not contain the books that would be written. The miracles that we know about are totally inspiring and life changing for those who were healed. The blind that were made to see the lame who were made to walk the dead who were brought back to life. The people had many needs and they were hungry to learn more about Jesus. They came with all sorts of problems, so do you really think that your troubles and problems are so different or too big for Jesus to handle?
What would happen if Jesus arrived here in our town this week and began to do the things he did in Galilee, how would people react to him? How would you react to him? I know that news about him would spread like wildfire, Facebook and twitter would be going wild and crowds would follow him wherever he went. Imagine being in that crowd listening to him speak his words of wisdom, seeing him healing those with cancer or seeing them get up out of their wheel chair and begin walking. Place yourself amongst that crowd as they follow him up onto the hills in the countryside.
How would you react to Jesus, would you be in that crowd, what would you say to him, what question would you want to ask him, what healing would you ask for yourself and would you become one of his disciples and follow him?
Jesus responds to those who suffer
When we look at the people who Jesus healed we notice that they were a varied bunch who came from different backgrounds. Jesus wasn’t the sort of person who carefully selected the people to heal. He healed those who had a need. Sometimes that was a physical or mental need and on other occasions it was a spiritual need. He did not discriminate against people because of who they were or the colour of their skin. When one of his followers cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant’, Jesus rebuked the crowd and healed the man’s ear by touching it. Although the servant did not ask for help Jesus saw that there was a need and did something to help. His touch was sufficient to bring that healing. How did it affect the servant?
We must always be attentive to the needs of those around us because some people think that their problems are not worthy of either God’s attention or other peoples attention. They may not want to bother others with them. We must always find time to help those in need. For it is in those times that we can help others to get through an often hard and harrowing moment. Jesus ensured that the haemorrhaging woman was made to feel important. He stayed and gave her his time, even though Jairus had a pressing need for him.
We can come to Jesus with our problems
Jesus sets no conditions to the healing that he gives, for it is total, entire and unconditional. He didn’t say to Jairus and the woman “Now that I have healed you must follow me.” They may well have followed him, we don’t know. He simply responded to their suffering and their needs and in doing so encouraged their trusting faith. He helps those who suffer and he is aware of the desperation of those that reach out to him. Sometimes our healing and wholeness may come at a different time than when we expect it to come. There have been occasions in my life when I have prayed to be released from a situation but that release never came. I didn’t know why at the time but it did come eventually, in God’s time. As I now look back it was the right moment in time, but it didn’t seem like it. Jesus says ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ When Jairus’ family thought it was too late Jesus spoke these words to his daughter Talitha koum!’ - ‘Little girl, I say to you - get up!’ And she got up. Nothing is beyond God’s healing power, not even death.
Today we have an opportunity to come to Jesus just as we are. Some of us may be here with a massive burden of our own, one that we have been carrying around with us for a great deal of time, a burden that causes us to reel and stagger under its weight. A burden that may have become part of you and a weight that you have grown accustomed to, yet it is able, at a moments notice to bring you to your knees. We all need to hand them over to God and to let go of them. We need to release our prejudices, just as Jairus did in order to approach Jesus. Perhaps the burden we carry is a burden for a close friend or family member. Our burdens may be burdens of bereavement, bullying, illness, broken relationships or something else. Whatever it is I invite you to hand it over to God and to leave it at the foot of Jesus’ cross, so that you may find peace and freedom that enables you to walk away from this house of God today, leaving your burden behind, for good, with the Saviour.
Everyone should have been given this drawing of a hand clasping onto a gown. I would like to invite you to write your own prayer or need on it or a prayer of need for another. Something that sums up the burden you want to hand over to God and during the singing of the next hymn I would like to invite you to come forward and bring your prayer, which symbolises your burden, and leave it with God, as you place it at the foot of the cross. It is an opportunity for your hand to touch the gown of Jesus and receive a healing and blessing for yourself. If you would like to receive prayer at the end of the service I will gladly pray with you may just wish to remain in your seat and pray quietly then that is alright. But whatever you choose please be assured that Jesus is alongside you in all of your needs. His healing arms are surrounding you and his love envelopes you. He comforts us like a loving parent as we bring our worries and concerns to him. As we hand everything to God let us reflect on these words. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer. Amen.
