Jesus Is On the Move and Not Confined; Sermon on Mark 5:21-43

Rev. George Miller
Feb 2, 2020
Mark 5:21-43

Today as we continue our pilgrimage with Jesus, there are 2 things that are very clear- Jesus is on the move and Jesus is not confined!

It doesn’t matter which side of the sea he is on. It doesn’t matter if Jesus is in the land of non-believers or in a city full of religious institutions.

It doesn’t matter if he’s in a graveyard or public square, if he’s dealing with demons or religious leaders.

It doesn’t matter one bit if you’re old or young, male or female, penniless or Master of the House-

Jesus is getting it done and making the Kingdom of Heaven known!

Today we encounter 2 miracle stories. Following last week’s message, this means that we’re not just witnessing how Jesus offers healing to 2 people, but how Jesus is offering healing to 2 sets of friends, families and neighbors.

And Jesus does it in his own unique Jesus-way.

1st- let’s talk about the revolutionary aspect of today’s reading- Jesus is offering healing to a destitute woman and a young girl at a time in which women and children were told their lives did not matter.

This story takes place in a culture and a century when the Greeks and Romans would leave their female babies behind.

This is taking place in a religious community in which all the previous stories that involved people coming back to life were either boys or men.

What we are witnessing is a scriptural 1st of its kind- a woman who seeks healing on behalf of herself without the help of a man or a guardian, a man who advocates for the life of his daughter, and a girl who is brought back to life.

This is Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, the Living Embodiment of God, literally undoing the seams of society and re-stitching them in a brand-new way.

No longer do just men matter. No longer do women have to rely on someone else advocating for them.

In the eyes of Jesus, everyone matters.

Not only is today’s narrative revolutionary, it is also so inclusionary.

Listen to the word that Jesus offers to the woman after she has touched his garment and tells him her truth.

He calls her “Daughter.”

This is so deep.

Like the man from last week who was possessed with demons, this woman was considered unclean.

She would have been despised and dejected. She would have been treated as an outsider.

For the 12 years she lived with her chronic condition she would not have been allowed to sleep on the same sheets as her husband, if she had one.

She would not have been allowed to prepare or enjoy food with her family.

She would not have been allowed into the synagogue, or allowed to attend public dedications, community forums, or invited to enjoy a night of making noodles and eating pizza.

In essence, this woman was living in exile.

Like her ancestors 600 years before, she was as emotionally, spiritually, socially distant from the life of her community as if she had been taken away to Babylon.

She was beyond being the prodigal son, she was the forgotten and shamed child.

So when Jesus turns around, when he hears her story and sees her faith, his first word to her is “Daughter.”

Daughter.

A term of endearment. A term of love. A term of one’s relational place.

Daughter.

With that one word, Jesus publicly welcomes her back.

He welcomes her back into the life of the community.

He exorcises the 12 years of exclusion, avoidance and judgement she has experienced.

For all those to see, including Jairus, the religious leader, Jesus welcomes her back into the Family of Israel.

He welcomes her “home”.

By calling her “daughter”, Jesus ends her exile and Jesus resurrects her back into the tapestry of the town.

And if we need further insight into the word “Daughter”, look no further than Jairus and how he behaved on behalf of his child.

We see a father’s love for his daughter, how Jairus submits himself to Jesus, how he falls before him, how he begs and pleads, how he willingly to puts his professional life and public reputation on the line to save his daughter.

Jairus demonstrates what a father’s love looks like, so when Jesus calls the woman “Daughter” we have a deeper understanding of what Jesus feels for God’s children.

That Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares if we are lost, cares if we are wounded, cares if we are excluded, cares if we are hurt by the wolves of the world.

If Jairus cries out and hurts on behalf of his child, imagine how much more God cares, cries out, and hurts for us too.

When Jesus looks upon this woman and calls her “Daughter” we know that what he felt, what he meant, was enough to make the stars shout out and all of creation sing.

Now we see, in just one chapter, how a man possessed with demons is restored back to life, a young girl that was thought dead was restored back to life.

A woman, left penniless, destitute and discarded, was restored back to life.

We are also now cognizant of what this news means for their family, their friends, their community.

Jesus is on the move; Jesus is beyond confinement.

If Jesus can restore a man chained in a cemetery,

if Jesus can give new life to a woman who’s been bleeding out for 12 years,

if Jesus can get the least of these to wake up and to walk…

That means that there is no one, nowhere, no circumstances in which Jesus will not be present-

Offering a chance of resurrection.

Offering a chance of coming home.

Offering a chance to be called “Son”.

offering a chance to be called “Daughter”.

For that, we can say, Amen.