Abandoning to Jesus
We are in the midst of an arc of stories of miracles of Jesus designed to show Jesus as the One who has authority over all — the natural order, sickness, demons and, finally, over death.
The series of miracles culminates with the raising of Jairus’ daughter, but even as Jesus is on the way to Jairus’ home, he is interrupted by another healing, a woman with an “issue of blood” (she had been menstruating for 12 years, which rendered a woman unclean in that culture). In both cases, there are wonderful details beyond the simple demonstration of Jesus’ power.
In both cases, although in different ways, those coming to Jesus took grave risks to their social position. Jarius was a ruler in the local synagogue and for him to come to Jesus begging for a miracle could leave him ostracized from the synagogue and community. The woman was unclean and could be beaten and cast out for putting herself in a position to touch others (rendering them unclean), or to touch Jesus. Both cast aside their concerns about social position and abandoned themselves to Jesus.
Both found their lives restored. Jairus in the raising of his deceased daughter and the woman in the healing of her bleeding, allowing her to re-enter society and her home. Unfortunately, we don’t have follow up stories to see how things panned out for these folks as Mark’s actual purpose was to demonstrate who Jesus is rather then to focus on those healed.
The paradox is wonderful! It is when we are prepared to abandon our lives as we know them that Jesus restores our lives!
What is it that you hold on to instead of abandoning yourself to Jesus?
This column appeared in the July 1, 2018 edition of St. John’s weekly eNews. Click here to read the complete issue.
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