~Living Faith~

Mark 5: 21-43

This is one of my favorite gospels....The hemorrhagic woman...the sense of touch ...and Faith.

This portion of Mark's gospel reminds me of the set of nested dolls I received as a gift once. Nested dolls are so neat and compact, the largest holding the next and so on until you get to the smallest doll. The first time I saw this nested concept I was impressed by the creativity.

In today's scripture we have the healing ministry of Jesus...the episode of the daughter of the official, Jairus...the hemorrhagic woman...and faith. All of this neatly nested together in a compact package for us.

The healing ministry of Jesus was now drawing large crowds. His physical safety was probably a concern for the apostles since crowds can be unpredictable. So as Jesus is walking close to the sea the synagogue official falls at his feet begging for the life of his twelve year old daughter. The child is close to death...Jesus is walking close to the sea. Jesus is the Living Water. Jesus is the giver of life.

As Jesus changes his path and accompanies Jairus, a woman approaches from behind. This woman has been bleeding for twelve years. She is unclean because of this bleeding and must stay separated from her community. Yesterday we saw Jesus deal with unclean spirits now it is an unclean woman. She knows that she should not make herself know so she comes from behind and reaches out quickly to touch only the hem of his cloak. Her intention was to touch him without being noticed and go off on her way before being spotted by anyone who knew her.

As she makes the contact with the cloak of Jesus she feels the power of his healing. He does not even physically touch her body, but she feels his healing energy. At the same time Jesus feels this healing energy drawn from his body. What a glorious exchange occurred between them within this pressing crowd.

We can truly encounter Jesus Christ in any situation...alone or in a crowd on the move.

The woman is compelled to reveal herself to Jesus who then praises her for her faith, "Daughter, your faith has saved you." Here is where we come to the inside, the smallest of the nested pieces...this conviction of faith.

We are told faith even the size of a mustard seed is can accomplish great things. The faith we see exhibited in this reading is bold, physical, and visible. The official falls down before Jesus at his feet begging for his daughter's life to be spared. The woman is not visible to Jesus, she is behind him. Her exercise of faith does not require that she be seen by Jesus. But Jesus wants to see this woman...he wants to see who has such great faith to believe in healing through an anonymous touch of his garment.

I invite you today to examine your faith. Is your faith like that of the official needing a face to face encounter with the Lord? Or is your faith like that of the suffering woman who quietly came from behind, unseen by the Lord? Whatever approach you make to the Lord it is the strength of your faith that is important.

Open up your nested dolls until you come to the one inside which holds your faith.

Of course this original picture is of Ukranian nested dolls.

I chose this kaleidoscope image bcause it shows concentric patterns with a clearly define center.

Draw strength from your inner faith. Let your faith guide your actions.