Scripture: Mark 5:21-43 (N.B. 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24; Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; and 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 also on this day- Year B Ord. 13)
Introduction
Mark 5:21-43 is about miracles. Some try to rationalise, e.g. feeding the 5,000 was people being shamed into sharing food by the boy with loaves and fishes: making the miracle a parable. Not this passage.
Miracles in the Gospels
Jairus & the woman believed that Jesus could give them healing. They approached Jesus, one publicly, one privately, and they both received. However, his neighbours thought they knew all about Jesus and that there was nothing more they could learn about him. In Chap 6 (next week) Mark says Jesus “could not do any miracles there [in Nazareth] … and he was amazed at their lack of faith”[1]. The Gospel of John, the disciple closest to Jesus, repeatedly has Jesus citing his miracles as proof of his divinity[2]. It would appear that miracles produce faith and that faith enables miracles. Do we (only) get the kind of God that we (are prepared to) believe in?
How close are people to God?
Most people think miracles are a fairy tale. Atheists don’t believe in God, Agnostics aren’t sure God exists, Deists believe in a distant God that doesn’t get so involved, whereas Theists believe in a God who reveals himself to His creatures. Of all the Theists, the Jews were closest to God, as they were his chosen people. But with the coming of the Messiah, Christians gained a personal relationship with God – and with the coming of the Spirit God actually lives within us: we have the mind of Christ and we, the Church, are his physical body.
What Can We Learn from Miracles?
That said, even some Christians don’t believe in miracles, and I suppose that I was one of them. I came to God initially through reason, and there are many miraculous stories in the OT that I still can’t accept at face value. I have read and heard a lot of claims about miracles today, and I remain sceptical about most of them. However, there are two unexplained healings, the circumstances of which I know well, that I am now convinced were miracles. Once God revealed this to me, it then occurred to me: why shouldn’t the almighty creator of the universe, of space and time itself, perform the odd miracle now and again?
But still most people seem deaf and blind to God’s revelation and choose to keep Him at a safe distance. Why is this? I think that they are blinded by their Sin. I don’t mean the petty acts of selfishness and self-centredness that we’re all guilty of, that is, the symptoms of sin. I mean Sin itself: the desire to be independent, to be masters of ‘our’ world and selves – to live as if God was a distant tyrant, an indifferent spoilsport, a known quantity, or even a treasure hidden in a box.
Mark calls us to be different to the rest, to imitate Jairus and the woman and get closer to Jesus. Not in our own strength, but by His grace. Through confession and Jesus’ sacrifice we overcome the barrier of Sin; then through reading the word, through private prayer, through personal proclamation and public worship we get closer.
Conclusion
Jesus’ miracles make it clear that he is God and man: John 3:16, the greatest miracle of all. We would be wrong to believe that we could buy miracles by faith, as they are not a reward (salvation is, followed by our relationship) a sign of God breaking through into our universe to be close to us. It isn’t important that we believe in any particular miracle (except Jesus is the son of God and in his resurrection[3]), but it is important that we believe in a God that does get close enough to perform miracles and who can still surprise us – do we want Him to?
[1] Mark 6:5-6.
[2] John 7:3, 10:25, 10:32, 10:38, 14:11 and 15:24.
[3] Romans 10:9, 1John 5:1, etc.
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