1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this 5th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Mark 5:21-43 and is entitled, “Waiting on the Lord,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. If there’s something we as Americans don’t like, it’s waiting. What’s the worst part about the doctor’s office? Waiting, of course. We love fast food—no waiting there. We loathe waiting in traffic. Our time is precious. Consider one more item on the list of things we don’t like to wait for: how about God? Have you ever waited for a prayer to be answered? Then you know what I’m talking about. Waiting for the Lord is more than frustrating. It can be discouraging. It may seem as though God’s answer is a very long time in coming, or just not coming at all. Waiting on the Lord is a test of faith.
3. For those of us who don’t like to wait, our Old Testament Reading from the third chapter of Lamentations is instructive. There we read wisdom such as, “The Lord is my portion . . . therefore I will hope in him” (Lam 3:24). And here comes a shocker: “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:26). It’s good to wait? Yes—for we’re also reminded that “the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lam 3:25); and “Though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (Lam 3:32).
4. I’d like you to keep these Old Testament words in mind because we’ll see them come to life in the story of Jairus. Today, we’re going walk with Jairus and Jesus and, as the Holy Spirit opens our hearts to hear, we’ll see the truth of our Old Testament Reading, that in faith it is good to wait. That is, it is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
5. Now on this particular day when we meet Jairus, he is not in a good way. His daughter is gravely ill and near death. Being a synagogue ruler, a man of some influence, Jairus may have had some resources to get the kind of care that was needed for his daughter. But apparently, nothing could be done. So Jairus went to Jesus, whom he heard had healed people. And when Jairus meets Jesus, we begin to see the depth of his need. Jairus, a man with power, put all pride aside, and in the midst of a large crowd, he got down on his knees in front of Jesus and pleaded earnestly with him, “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” (v 23).
6. At that moment, Jairus was no mighty man. He was just a daddy who loved his little girl. He was a dad faced with the reality that he could do nothing for the person he would do anything for. When Jairus spoke to Jesus, I’m sure he meant come now! The good news, I can tell you, is that Jairus in faith went to the right place for help—Jesus. Again as it’s written for us today, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lam 3:25). Jesus agreed to go to the house of Jairus. Their walk began, and so will ours.
7. Many Christians don’t have any problem with seeking the Lord in hope. The problem, of course, comes in what follows: the waiting. Again, although I wasn’t there, I’ll say a second time, I’m sure Jairus meant, “Come with me now!” But, it seems that as soon as Jesus and Jairus began their walk to the house, the waiting began. Among the large crowd that had gathered was a woman suffering from a bleeding disorder that she had been dealing with for twelve years! She had spent all she had on treatment, but to no avail. She, too, looked at Jesus in faith and thought, If I touch even his garments, I will be made well (v 28). So she did, and her faith in Jesus was proven right. She touched his garment, and she was healed. Jesus, perceiving her touch, looked around to find her, wanting to know who had touched his garments (v 30).
8. What difference did that make? She was already healed. But, each and every individual person is important to Jesus. He didn’t just want to heal her physically. Jesus wanted to talk with her and bring more healing to her heart—to deepen her faith. So, when she stepped forward, Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease” (v 34). Her faith looked to and held on to Jesus.
9. I bring up this little episode because I wonder what Jairus was thinking. I don’t know for certain, but if it were me, I would have tried to feel happy for the woman. But at the same time, I would have thought something like, C’mon, let’s go. Who cares? My daughter is sick. She’s dying. We don’t have time for this. And then you can only imagine what Jairus thought when we’re told that, while Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus and with tremendous insensitivity blurted out, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (v 35).
10. These words probably knocked Jairus to his knees, not in hope but in profound grief. I’m too late. I’ve waited too long. And maybe he thought, The Lord is too late. He waited too long! Interestingly enough, Jesus overheard the announcement of the girl’s death, but he ignored it. Jesus ignored death! Jesus turned and spoke to Jairus and, dare I say, he spoke words for us to hold to when the day of trial comes. Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe” (v 36).
11. We might imagine Jairus sitting in the middle of the road and telling Jesus “Thanks, but you might as well go on your own way. Sorry to have troubled you.” But it is Jesus who gets Jairus back on his feet and keeps on walking with those faith-filled words, “Do not fear, only believe.” It was Jesus who was holding on to Jairus the full distance. We remember that faith not only comes from God to us, but has its real substance and power because we are in God’s gracious hand. And Jairus held on. His daughter was dead. Yet Jairus, in faith, held on to Jesus. They continued walking to the house.
12. When they arrived, the reaction to the tragedy of the child’s death was in full swing. There was full-blown mourning as people openly cried and wailed loudly. But Jesus, when presented with this commotion, paused once more and calmly announced, “The child is not dead but sleeping” (v 39). This statement brought the mourning to an immediate halt, so that it might be replaced with laughter. In much the same way, the world today laughs at much of what Jesus says. The mourners had no faith.
13. And so now, let’s take the final steps of this walk. Jesus, the Lord of Life, took Jairus and his wife, as well as Peter, James, and John, into the room where a little girl lay dead. What could be done here? Jesus reached down, took her by the hand, and said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which is Aramaic for “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (v 41). How did the dead girl respond? “Immediately the girl got up and began walking” (v 42). At this, all were astonished. The waiting was over. The Lord had answered. The Lord had come, and he brought life, joy, and peace with him. He is the Lord of Life, one who did not then, nor does he ever, come running to answer death’s call. Instead, death answers to him. On his time. On his terms.
14. So, you tell me: what was Jairus thinking now? Praise be to God for certain. But I wonder if, after some reflection, Jairus, the synagogue leader who probably knew his Scriptures, may have had a couple of verses going through his heart. Please think of Jairus and repeat after me. “The Lord is my portion . . . therefore I will hope in him” and “It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
15. The day comes for all of us when a dilemma pains our heart and cuts our soul. Maybe it really is a daughter or a son who’s ill. Or who dies and isn’t raised back to life by Jesus just yet. Maybe it’s an ailment we ourselves face, as did the woman in our text, maybe a chronic condition with which we have struggled for years. Or maybe it’s a broken relationship that hurts just as deeply and gives us just as deep a sense of loss.
16. Then remember Jesus and Jairus. Call to mind our Lord’s cross, on which he closed his eyes in our death so that we could awaken to eternal life. Remember his resurrection as the sign that death has been defeated. Remember to be in his Word of comfort and be with him where he is present with us at his Table with grace in time of need. Remember that the Lord is good to those who seek him. Remember “though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” Or you can simply remember what Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe.” Believe in the Lord of life and love, Jesus Christ.
17. This does not mean that Jesus will solve your every earthly problem in the time and in the way that you want it solved. Jairus was made to wait, for Jesus had something better in mind. You, too, may be made to wait, and not just for a while, but maybe for a long while. God’s answer to your prayer in this life might be the gift of endurance, learning patience, and being a witness to others through your suffering. But seek him, wait quietly; he is your portion. Because Jesus died for you, taking away the sin that separated you from God, you are reconciled to him. He will never leave you or forsake you. Your faith is holding on in the right place.
18. In this story, we get a glimpse at the future, at what lies in store for us on the Last Day and what is already ours now by faith in Jesus: perfect healing and resurrection from the dead. By faith we look to the day when he reaches down to us in our death and takes us by the hand to wake us from the slumber of death. “Child, I say to you, arise.” For now, we trust and wait—and then wait some more and trust—and that is a good thing when we’re waiting quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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