What we can learn from Jairus: Some who's & why's of and responses to Hardship.

Matthew 9:18-26

While he was speaking to them, suddenly one of the officials came up, who bowed low in front of him and said, 'My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.'¹⁹Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.

²⁰Then suddenly from behind him came a woman, who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak,²¹for she was thinking, 'If only I can touch his cloak I shall be saved.'²²Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, 'Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.' And from that moment the woman was saved.

²³When Jesus reached the official's house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion, he said,²⁴'Get out of here; the little girl is not dead; she is asleep.' And they ridiculed him.²⁵But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took her by the hand; and she stood up.

²⁶And the news of this spread all round the countryside.

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lake.²²Then the president of the synagogue came up, named Jairus, and seeing him, fell at his feet ²³and begged him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her that she may be saved and may live.' ²⁴Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him.

²⁵Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; ²⁶after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she had spent all she had without being any the better for it; in fact, she was getting worse.²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and she came up through the crowd and touched his cloak from behind, thinking,²⁸'If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.'²⁹And at once the source of the bleeding dried up, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint.³⁰And at once aware of the power that had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, 'Who touched my clothes?'³¹His disciples said to him, 'You see how the crowd is pressing round you; how can you ask, "Who touched me?"³²But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. ³³Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth.³⁴'My daughter,' he said, 'your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free of your complaint.'

³⁵While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the president of the synagogue to say, 'Your daughter is dead; why put the Master to any further trouble?'³⁶But Jesus overheard what they said and he said to the president of the synagogue, 'Do not be afraid; only have faith.'³⁷And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.³⁸So they came to the house of the president of the synagogue, and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly.³⁹He went in and said to them, 'Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.'⁴⁰But they ridiculed him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child's father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay.⁴¹And taking the child by the hand he said to her, 'Talitha kum!' which means, 'Little girl, I tell you to get up.'⁴²The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At once they were overcome with astonishment,⁴³and he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.

Luke 8:40-56

On his return Jesus was welcomed by the crowd, for they were all there waiting for him. ⁴¹And suddenly there came a man named Jairus, who was president of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded with him to come to his house, ⁴²because he had an only daughter about twelve years old, who was dying. And the crowds were almost stifling Jesus as he went.

⁴³Now there was a woman suffering from a haemorrhage for the past twelve years, whom no one had been able to cure.⁴⁴She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak; and the haemorrhage stopped at that very moment.⁴⁵Jesus said, 'Who was it that touched me?' When they all denied it, Peter said, 'Master, it is the crowds round you, pushing.'⁴⁶But Jesus said, 'Somebody touched me. I felt that power had gone out from me.'⁴⁷Seeing herself discovered, the woman came forward trembling, and falling at his feet explained in front of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been cured at that very moment.⁴⁸'My daughter,' he said, 'your faith has saved you; go in peace.'

⁴⁹While he was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the president of the synagogue to say, 'Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Master any further.'⁵⁰But Jesus heard this, and he spoke to the man, 'Do not be afraid, only have faith and she will be saved.'⁵¹When he came to the house he allowed no one to go in with him except Peter and John and James, and the child's father and mother.⁵²They were all crying and mourning for her, but Jesus said, 'Stop crying; she is not dead, but asleep.'⁵³But they ridiculed him, knowing she was dead.⁵⁴But taking her by the hand himself he spoke to her, 'Child, get up.'⁵⁵And her spirit returned and she got up at that very moment. Then he told them to give her something to eat.⁵⁶Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

1.    Jairus’ experience shows that hardships come even to those who are pious and doing what they are supposed to be doing.

A.   Jairus’ piety is demonstrated by the fact that he was president of the synagogue. Further, there is no indication that he was aligned with the religious leaders who opposed Jesus. To the contrary, Jairus sought Jesus’ help in a very public setting. See Mark 5:21-24.

B.    The fact that hardship befalls those doing God’s will is demonstrated elsewhere in the gospels and scripture. Consider what Mary and Joseph went through around Jesus’ birth; they were indisputably faithful to God’s will, yet they had to cope with great aversity. See What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Nativity: Mary and Joseph’s Journey to Bethlehem and Jesus’ Birth There (Luke 2:1-7) and What We Can Learn From Jesus' Nativity: The Flight Into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-23). Consider also the times the disciples went through storms as they were going where Jesus sent them; they encountered those trying experiences even though they were literally following Jesus’ directions. See Matthew 8:23-27 and parallel and Matthew 14:22-33 and parallel. Jesus—when addressing the Apostles themselves—told them that “you will have trouble.” John 16:33(emphasis added). We see the same thing with David while he was being persecuted by Saul (1 Samuel 18-24, 26-27, 29-30) and in Hezekiah’s confrontation with Sennacherib (2 Kings 18 & 19). That dynamic is summarized in Sirach 2. 

2.    Why does that occur? We’ll probably never know with certainty in each case (while we are in this world), but scripture reveals at least two possible reasons.

A.   One is to set up blessings for others. That dynamic is illustrated in  John 9:1-3 and John 11:1-6, 11-15 and discussed in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7. Think of the billions of folks who have been helped by the principles illustrated in these accounts of what Jairus went through and the accounts of the hardships Mary, Joseph, and the disciples experienced.  On a more immediate level, it is safe to assume that the events described in the passages we are considering here brought many other folks to Christ at that time and likely enhanced the effectiveness of Jairus’ ministry to others as synagogue president.

B.    Another is to teach those going through the hardship something they need to learn. That doesn’t jump out as a purpose of Jairus’ ordeal, but it is stressed elsewhere in scripture. Deuteronomy 8:2-5,  Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:5-13, John 15:1-2.  

3.  So how do we respond to these things? This will be discussed more fully in other posts, but for the present the answer is to keep focused on and seeking after Jesus.

A.    That’s what Jairus did here, in spite of the crowds he initially encountered, the diversion to deal with the woman’s problems, the discouraging reports about his daughter’s condition he received in route, and the mourners confronting him when he arrived at his home.  He stayed focused on Jesus in spite of all that. That focused perseverance bore fruit for him and others.

B.    That is also what we see in John 11:1-44, another situation where hardship occurred to set up blessing for others. Mary and Martha sought Jesus out and poured out their hearts to Him in the midst of their hardship. See John 11:3, 20-27, 29, 32.

C.    That is also what we are told in the passages that address hardship as a means for our own edification.  Hebrews 12:2 tells us to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus”(NJB). James 1:5 similarly tells us to seek help from God.   

D.    Sirach 2 provides similar instruction. Sirach 2:3 tells us to “[c]ling to [God] and do not leave him" (NJB).

God has specfic purposes for each of us (readings for June 24, 2018)

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

Commentary

Reading 1 IS 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name. He made of mea sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, yet my reward is with the LORD, my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb, that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make youa light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me,you know me: you knowwhen I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit mein my mother's womb.I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well; nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret, when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading 2 ACTS 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said: "God raised up David as king; of him God testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will carry out my every wish.From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. 

John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'

"My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent."

Alleluia SEE LK 1:76

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John."
But they answered her, "There is no one among your relatives who has this name." So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, "What, then, will this child be?"
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

1.    God designed each of us individually for specific purposes. He prepares each of us to accomplish that purpose (first reading, psalm).

2.    God knows each of us and the specifics of what we are going through (first reading).

3.    Sometimes our primary purpose does not become apparent until late in life. Elizabeth and Zechariah in today’s gospel reading are examples of that. See Luke 1:5-18.   

4.    We also have lesser, different, purposes that we must fulfill as we move towards, or on after, the accomplishment of our primary purposes. Zechariah from today’s gospel exemplifies that. He served faithfully in the temple (his lesser purpose) for years before and presumably after he fathered John the Baptist (his primary purpose). We just need to faithfully keep doing the things God puts in front of us every day.  Indeed, Zechariah wouldn’t have been in position to receive directions about his primary purpose if he hadn’t showed up for work the day the angel showed up. For more on that see Preliminary Work: What we can learn from Joseph and Daniel. 

5.    It sometimes seems like we are not making progress towards the primary purpose God created us for, but rich blessing will result if we persevere in spite of that—God will bless our efforts in one way or another (first reading).  He knows what we are doing/going through and will sustain and reward us (first reading, psalm).

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6.    The blessing that comes from our persevering my well, indeed probably will, go to folks other than ourselves. That was the case with John the Baptist and the servant described in the first reading. 

God can and will do far more good that we can possibly imagine (Readings for June 17, 2018)

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

Commentary

Reading 1 EZ 17:22-24

Thus says the Lord GOD: I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain; on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs. And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom. As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.

Responsorial Psalm PS 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

R. (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praiseto your name, Most High, To proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. They that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age; vigorous and sturdy shall they be,Declaring how just is the LORD, my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

Reading 2 2 COR 5:6-10

Brothers and sisters: We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord. Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower. All who come to him will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 4:26-34

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seedon the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

1.   God can and will do far more good that we can possibly imagine, in circumstances where we would never expect it (first reading, gospel).

2.    We should respond to that by sowing the seeds for Him to work with, as many as we can, even if success seems modest/unlikely by human means. God can turn what we offer to far more good than we can possibly imagine (gospel).

3.    What do those seeds look like? They are varied beyond description, but the corporal acts of mercy (helping the hungry/thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming strangers, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and helping those dealing with death) are a great place to start. I bet that there are opportunities to do some or all of them through your parish, so jump in. You and others will be glad you did. Another good seed is regular, intentional, prayer for others’ well-being, in general or with regard to specific needs. Praying for folks in your parish, your school/work place, your neighborhood, folks you hear about in the news will give them blessing and you peace. (A hint about this kind prayer: it works best when it’s not advertised. See Matthew 6:5-8).

What we can learn from Jesus calling His first disciples, part 5—Ratification

John 1:35-51

The next day as John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus went past,³⁶and John looked towards him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God.'³⁷And the two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.³⁸Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, 'What do you want?' They answered, 'Rabbi' -- which means Teacher -- 'where do you live?'³⁹He replied, 'Come and see'; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.⁴⁰One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and say to him, 'We have found the Messiah' -- which means the Christ-⁴²and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas' -- which means Rock.
⁴³The next day, after Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, he met Philip and said, 'Follow me.'⁴⁴Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter.⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.'⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, 'From Nazareth? Can anything good come from that place?' Philip replied, 'Come and see.'
⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, 'There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.'⁴⁸Nathanael asked, 'How do you know me?' Jesus replied, 'Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.'⁴⁹Nathanael answered, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.'⁵⁰Jesus replied, 'You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going to see greater things than that.'⁵¹And then he added, 'In all truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.'

Matthew 4:18-22

As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen.¹⁹And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.'²⁰And at once they left their nets and followed him.²¹Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them.²²And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

Mark 1:16-20

As he was walking along by the Lake of Galilee he saw Simon and Simon's brother Andrew casting a net in the lake -- for they were fishermen.¹⁷And Jesus said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you into fishers of people.'¹⁸And at once they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹Going on a little further, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they too were in their boat, mending the nets. ²⁰At once he called them and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him.

Luke 5:1-11

Now it happened that he was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God,²when he caught sight of two boats at the water's edge. The fishermen had got out of them and were washing their nets.³He got into one of the boats -- it was Simon's -- and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
⁴When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.'⁵Simon replied, 'Master, we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.'⁶And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear,⁷so they signaled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled both boats to sinking point.⁸When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.'⁹For he and all his companions were completely awestruck at the catch they had made;¹⁰so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching.'¹¹Then, bringing their boats back to land they left everything and followed him.

Previous posts on these passages examined the when and where of God’s calls, His grace towards less than perfect responses to His calls, and the results of accepting God's calls.

This post considers how God helps His servants follow through on their favorable responses to His calls with demonstrations of His power.

A. We see that in the events described in John 1:35-51 Jesus ratifies Nathaniel’s response by displaying His supernatural knowledge of events. See John 1:45-51.

B. We see a similar pattern in the Matthew and Mark’ follow on to the passages considered here. Jesus powerfully demonstrates that He is worthy of the newly called disciples’ following through on their decisions by displaying His power if a series of miracles. See Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 1:21-28.

C. That pattern is present elsewhere in the gospels. Consider the strong ratifications Mary and Zacchaeus received shortly after they responded to God’s calls to them. See Luke 1:36-45 and Luke 19:1-10.

D. It is interesting to note that the acts God uses to ratify His servants’ responses to His calls often serve His purposes in ways beyond just ratifying those servants’ acceptance of their calls. The powerful miracles that ratified the disciples’ acceptance of their calls in Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels also served to relieve human suffering and attract other folks to Jesus. See Matthew 4:23-25; Mark 1:21-28. The actions that ratified Mary’s acceptance of her call (Luke 1:36-45) also served multiple purposes. See point 8 of What We Can Learn from Jesus' Nativity: The Visitation (Luke 1:39-45).