Touching Jesus
by Frank R. Fisher, Obl OSB

Psalm 130 and Mark 5:21-43

"Out of the depths
 I cry to you, O LORD.
 Lord, 
hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice 
of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, 
should mark iniquities,
Lord,
 who could stand?
 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the LORD,
 my soul waits,
and in the Lord's word
 I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those 
who watch for the morning,
more than
 those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, 
hope in the LORD!"

"Hope in the Lord?
How can I hope,
when there's no hope left?"
Those words
drift from your mouth
as you cease praying
your morning psalm 
of entreaty to God.
The word's empty sound
reflects
the emptiness you have 
deep within your soul.
For your name,
is Jairus;
a leader of the synagogue
and therefore 
a very important person
in your community.

Normally
you walked through the market place
with a friendly,
but dignified air
which reflected your importance.
Today,
however,
you shuffled past the vendors stalls
with a dazed expression on your face;
an expression
reflecting your complete
 and utter despair.

You should've known,
you thought,
it was dangerous
to get so attached to your daughter.
After all,
your wife had borne
several children.
Like most of the children
of all your friends and neighbors,
your children
had died long before
 their thirteenth birthday.
And each time
you placed their bodies
in the family tomb
you'd given thanks
you had the good sense
to ignore them
until you were certain
they'd survive.

But this daughter
had been different.
When you first held her
you saw
there was a special light
in her eyes;
a light
which captured 
first your imagination
and then
 your heart.
As she grew,
you could see 
she would become
 a perfect daughter of Israel.
And as she grew still more
you rejoiced that soon
she would be united 
with her betrothed husband.

But a few weeks
 before her thirteenth birthday,
the day 
she would become an adult,
she didn't arise one morning.
Despite anything
the physician's advised,
and the village healers attempted,
she grew weaker and weaker.
Now,
as you shuffle your way
through the market day crowd,
your heart breaks.
For you know
your beloved daughter
is about to die.

You were about to turn around
and head toward home.
"Perhaps,"
you thought to yourself,
"she'll talk to me
one very last time."
Then,
just as your feet began
 their homeward turn,
you noticed a huge crowd
down by the shore
of the Sea of Galilee.
Somehow the crowd's excitement
penetrated your despair.
And you lifted your head up
just in time to hear someone shout.
"Jesus,"
you heard them exclaim,
"welcome Teacher."

You knew
there could only be one person
whom the crowd
would offer such a welcome.
For a long time 
you'd eagerly awaited
the chance 
to talk to this new Rabbi.
All you'd heard about him
made you believe
he could indeed
be the promised Messiah.
This hope
lifted your feet from their shuffle
into a sprint.
And you burst through the crowd,
threw yourself down
at the Rabbi's feet
and cried out,
"my little daughter
is at the point of death!
Come!
Lay your hands on her
so that she may be made well and live!"

To your great delight
Jesus listens to your heartfelt begging.
He pulls you to your feet
and begins to walk with you
towards your home.

On your way,
Jesus suddenly pauses
and looks around
with eyes ablaze with curiosity.
"Who touched my clothes,"
he asks?
"Master,"
his disciples replied,
the crowd is pressing in
all around you.
Anyone
could've touched you."

That answer apparently
doesn't satisfy Jesus.
For he continues
looking around at the crowd
until a woman
 hesitantly
 pushes her way forward.
She throws her self at Jesus' feet
and blurts out her story.

The crowd collectively gasps
as the woman tells Jesus
how she'd been ill for twelve years.
Her illness,
a constant issue of blood,
had made her unclean.
For all those years,
she'd been an outcast..
She'd been forbidden
to enter the temple.
She couldn't even eat
off the same dishes
as her family.
And everyone around
avoided her touch
lest they too be made unclean.

It was that last fact
that made the crowd gasp.
For in touching Jesus' clothes
the woman
had made Jesus unclean.
You almost expected Jesus
to blow up
at this woman.
But instead
he reaches down
and pulls her to her feet.
He smiles
as she tells 
how she'd planned 
to only touch
the fringe of his prayer shawl.
She felt that one touch
could heal her illness;
an illness
all the physicians and healers
had declared incurable.

"But you are well now,
aren't you,"
Jesus tenderly asks?
Then,
at her nodded response of "yes,"
he tells her to go in peace.
"Your faith
 has made you well daughter,"
he declares with a smile.
"You are healed
of your disease."

Jesus smiles at the woman
as she's embraced by the crowd.
Apparently he's pleased
at the way
she's now restored
to her community.
Then he turns again
and resumes the trip 
you've begged from him.
But before you can take two steps
the last healers you'd hired
came walking toward you
through the crowd.
"Your daughter is dead,"
they tell you.
"Why trouble 
the teacher any further?"
In response,
Jesus raises his hand
to stop the healer's speech.
Turning to you
he says,
"Don't be afraid.
Just hold to your belief!"

You halt once again
when you reach your court yard.
Its filled
with professional mourners
who're tearing their clothes
and weeping loudly.
The mourners only laugh
when Jesus tells them
your daughter isn't dead.

Jesus says nothing,
but simply slams the door
in their faces
as he leads you,
your wife
and your household,
up to the room
where your daughter lies.
Then he crosses the room,
lifts your daughter's 
limp and lifeless hand
and says,
"Little girl,
get up!"

Your breath catches in your throat
as you watch her 
grasp Jesus' hand,
rise to her feet,
and then run to embrace you.
Tears of joy
pour down your face
as you listen to Jesus
order you
to feed her.

You do so gladly.
For Jesus had once again
restored a family
and the community.
And as your now reconnected family
sits down to celebrate
your daughter's voice
joins with yours
as you finish praying your morning psalm.

"O Israel, 
hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD 
there is steadfast love,
and with the Lord
is great power to redeem.
It is the Lord
 who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities."

You all sit quietly
as the psalm ends.
And you know
one thought
and one thought only,
fills your mind
and the minds of those around you.
"Reach out
and touch Jesus,"
you all silently repeat.
For times of change
are once more upon you.
A new pastor is coming;
a person who will do things
differently
than any of your other pastors.
And if that wasn't enough
the survey results are back;
results
which call for changes;
changes which must be made
in order for you
to thrive.
You may not 
like
these changes.
And rightly feel
change
will bring conflict;
conflict
which threatens
you church family.

You may want to resist
these changes.
Yet you know
change will come
whether you will it
or not.
You may want to flee
to another congregation;
a place you believe
you may find refuge
from things
hurting
your community.

 But instead of resisting change
or fleeing,
remember,
when community is ripped apart
and all hope
 of restoration is lost,
reach out
and touch Jesus.
For in touching Jesus
we connect with the One
who can heal all wounds.
And in touching Jesus,
people are healed
and their community is restored.
In touching Jesus
the whole world
can be
as one.

To God alone be glory.

Amen.

(Comments to Frank at f.fisher.obl.osb@comcast.net.)