Last week we looked at the story where Jesus calmed a storm on Lake Gennesaret. We reflected on the challenges we face and we likened them to a storm. Today we can apply the same metaphor to what was happening with the two females in the text that was read for us. One was chronically ill and the other was terminally ill; both were in a storm. They were in the storm of sickness and one was even facing the storm of death.

The Covid-19 storm showed us the truth about many things; one of them is our healthcare system. Many died because of the lack of access to decent healthcare. This is nothing new. we know that historically black and brown people do not get the same quality treatment as our white counterparts. So we know about a storm on top of a storm, the storm of healthcare inequity.

In both accounts the desire of the sick and in the case of the little girl (her father’s desire for her) is to be made well. Dis-ease prevents us from living fully and therefore the universe is on a quest for wellness so we work out and diet. We follow doctors’ orders by taking the medicines they give us in an attempt to get better. Our national spending on healthcare in 2018 was $3.65 trillion. Everyone wants to be well! Reflect with me for a while on the two stories and I want you to entertain this thought: our quest for wellness is surpassed only by God’s quest for our wholeness.

Let us examine the two healing stories; first, we will look at the woman with the hemorrhage. This woman had been suffering for twelve years and she was exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. How do I make these assumptions? The text tells us that she had endured much, spent all she had (she was broke). Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26, she had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

(25-26), she was in a healthcare storm that sent her from one doctor to another and she was prodded and poked and cut like a guinea pig. I imagine her being given one medicine after another and the frustration she felt when she got worse rather better. As she got sicker and her resources dwindled she probably resorted to generic drugs and less capable doctors. This had to affect her mind and emotions.

This woman’s situation is not so different to what many of us face when we are sick. In today’s context the quality of the health insurance we have determines our access to the doctors and the therapeutics. The better the insurance the more things are covered and God help us if the insurance is not good. Out of pocket costs can wipe out savings, retirement funds, and has been known to cause loss of homes, not to mention deteriorating health.

This woman was at her wits end when she heard about Jesus. Hallelujah! She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” She was low on strength, material resources, emotionally fragile, mentally drained but she was high on faith. According to the writer of Hebrews chapter eleven verse one, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. She believed healing was within her reach; if I but touch his clothes, I will be made well. In that second that it took for her to reach out and touch Jesus the woman’s life was transformed. She not only got her health restored she was made whole.

Wellness is about the body and the mind whereas wholeness is about body, mind, and spirit. So, you ask how she was made whole. We’re told that immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 3 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Jesus’ response to the woman’s admission gives us our answer; Jesus called her daughter. She was no longer an unclean woman shunned by society forced to live on the margins of the community. The Greek word for daughter is thygatēr which means descendant. This was Jesus acknowledging that this woman was part of the covenant God made with her ancestor Abraham. She was being restored in every way. Then Jesus pronounced peace upon her. The peace that surpasses understanding! She was made whole!

 A leader of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” We know that along the way Jesus was interrupted by the woman with the hemorrhage and before he could reach the house where the girl laid he got word that she had died. This girl was twelve years old!

Jairus which means he will illuminate was facing one of the darkest moments a parent can experience. Noteworthy is the fact that because of his status Jairus went to Jesus and asked that Jesus would go to his daughter. He was used to having access whereas the woman had to get through the crowd to touch Jesus’ coat. In that moment he set his status aside and he was just a father pleading for help for his little girl.

Her family was now dealing with the storm of loss of life. When a child dies it is more difficult for the family to come to terms with their loss. They might have thought that if only Jesus had not stopped on the way he might have gotten to their little girl in time. Mary and Martha thought so when Lazarus had died. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (John 11:21) Jesus should have made the little girl a priority, after all this girl’s father was a leader in the synagogue. This random woman was not as important in the eyes of the community.
Upon hearing the update Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” Jesus arrived at the house to the see the professional mourners in full display and he stops the show. Jesus goes against the customs and takes the little girl by the hand; he restored her life and she and her family were made whole.

Jesus invited the father to believe, to believe that Jesus was who he said he was: the son of God. Believing also meant that he had faith in Jesus’ authority to heal his daughter. In the moment the little girl was surrounded by six people who believed God for healing. In life altering moments you need people who believe.

Do you remember the paralytic who was carried to the house where Jesus was staying and when they could not get in at the door they removed part of the roof and let down their friend? When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Jesus went straight to spiritual healing which means wholeness.

If you were to continue reading Mark’s account you would see that all who were present including her parents were overcome with amazement. They had witnessed a defining moment; they got their daughter back from the dead. Who is this that can raise the dead to life? This is similar to the disciples who were in the boat with Jesus during the storm and heard him silence the wind and the waves with his words.

When we encounter the living God in his power and might we cannot remain the same. Whether we see the dead come back to life or the wind and the waves calmed we get more than we imagined possible. We witness God’s divine presence and it touches our spirits and we are made whole.

Beloved, I conclude where I began. Dis-ease prevents us from living fully and therefore the universe is on a quest for wellness. We want longevity so we pursue whatever will make us well and that is good stewardship of our bodies. In the end these bodies will wear out, our minds will cease to be because we are mortal and all that will be left will be our spirits. Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth reminds us that when our earthly tent (our body) is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  So, I invite you to have the mind of Christ and pursue wellness in mind, body, and spirit which in a word is wholeness. I pray in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit.