JUNE 27, 2021 _”Talitha,
cum…”
Desperate times, I’ve heard it said, call for desperate measures. When nothing else has worked and all
seems hopeless, people are pushed to the last resort and to wishing for
miracles.
And nothing is more “desperate”
than a terminally ill child. Nothing else calls for such desperate measures.
****
First
of all, we meet Jairus.
Jairus
is not one of the typical folks who followed Jesus. He is, Mark tells us, “a
leader of the synagogue”. Jairus is so troubled and upset that he throws himself
on his knees at Jesus’ feet and begs him for help. It is the action of a
desperate man—and especially desperate
for a man like Jairus.
Remember,
Jairus is a leader of the synagogue—a proud, respected member of the Jewish leadership.
He is an educated, orthodox man. And Jesus is an itinerate teacher just over
the edge of respectability—viewed with suspicion, if not outright distain by
the Jewish authorities. Jairus risks everything—his position, his influence,
his respect in the community—to throw himself at the feet a rabble rouser, a
man with no credentials who associates with sinners and outcasts.
It’s
not hard to understand what would drive Jairus to such desperate behavior—his
“little daughter is at the point of death.”
For
Jairus, everything else has ceased to matter. Only his child is
important—nothing else. He implores Jesus to help him…he begs for his child’s
life. Nothing else is important.
So
Jesus sets off with him—pressed upon and jostled by the crowds that follow him
every where. Jairus is a desperate
man—he is pushing through the crowds, clearing a path for Jesus. Jairus has
hope again. The strange, powerful, unorthodox ‘rabbi’ has agreed to help him.
(But
the woman with hemorrhages touches Jesus as he walks through the crowds and is
healed. Jesus felt the power go out of him, but when he hears her story he
tells her to ‘go in peace, and be healed of your disease. Another case of desperate
times calling for desperate measures!)
But
Jesus is apparently off on a fool’s errand—the cause is hopeless, already the
little girl has died…and the messengers meet them on the road.
“Do
not trouble the teacher further,” the people from Jarius’ home tell him, “your daughter
has died.”
Desperation
is replaced by despair. Hope dies. Jarius is crushed, defeated ultimately.
But
above the wail of mourning beginning in Jarius’ soul, Jesus whispers to him:
“Do not fear, only believe.”
(BELIEF
isn’t intellectual—in the head. It is more akin to TRUST and TRUST comes from
the heart.)
But
Jesus may be asking too much. How can Jesus expect Jarius to put away his fear
and pain and suffering and loss? How can Jesus expect a parent who has just
gotten word that his child is dead to maintain hope, to have faith, to trust?
And yet, somehow, Jarius keeps walking. His heart is surely breaking within him,
but he puts one foot in front of the other and goes on, leading Jesus through
the crowd, directing Jesus to the bedside of his dead daughter….
*
This
is what St. Paul
wrote to the Christians in Corinth:
We
want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has
been granted to the churches of Macedonia;
for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their
extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
Did
we hear that correctly? “During a severe
ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have
overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part….”
AFFLICTION and JOY are
not terms we associate with each other. POVERTY and GENEROSITY don’t go
together in our thoughts. Paul must be confused and mistaken in saying the
Macedonian churches found “joy” in their “affliction” and “generosity” out of
their poverty.
Yet
we know it was true. Paul had been asking the churches that he had founded to
take up a collection—to raise money—to support the poor Christians of Jerusalem
who were suffering from a famine and recession. The churches of Macedonia
were, if anything, worse off than the
church in Jerusalem
and Paul had exempted them from making a contribution. Yet, they insisted and
their contributions were the largest of any!
The
Macedonians “did not fear, but believed.” They gave to the church in Jerusalem, not out of
their circumstances but out of their trust
in God.
GIVING
brings joy out of affliction. Giving brings generosity from poverty. Trust
conquers all fear.
***
Jarius
was broken-hearted and hopeless. But he put one foot in front of the other and
took Jesus home to see his dead daughter. Somehow, in all his pain, Jarius
“trusted” the strange, somewhat dangerous Teacher.
When
they arrived, the household was full of tears and wailing and Jesus said to
them—“Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but
sleeping.”
The
people were stunned by how heartless and cold that was. To make fun of Jarius’
grief. They laughed in scorn at Jesus. And somehow Jarius still trusted this
man and led him to his daughter’s death bed.
Then
he simply handed the little girl back to her parents…Talitha cum—“little girl
get up”, he said. And she did.
Never
was such joy born of affliction. (generosity of poverty).
