The passage we read from Mark is a wonderful
collection of miracle stories. They show
the full extent of Jesus’ powers. In the
stilling of the storm we see that Jesus has power over the forces of
nature. In the casting out of the demons
in the Gerasene man we see Jesus has power over chaos and evil spirits. In the healing of the woman with hemorrhages
he shows his power to cure medical problems doctors can’t fix. And in the raising of dead little girl Jesus
shows power over death.
In each case he
does it to provide people with health and safety. At least a few of the disciples were
fishermen. They knew a bad storm when
they saw one, and if even they were scared, they were in one. Jesus provides them with safety. The demon possessed man lived as a wild
outcast away from civilization. He was
chained and restrained to keep him under control. Jesus gives him a right mind and fullness of
life. Similarly, the hemorrhaging woman
would have been considered perpetually ritually unclean and unable to participate
in many religious and social activities.
And what parent isn’t devastated at the serious illness and death of one
of their children?
As the front of
the worship bulletin suggests, this is all fine and good for them. They get to have their lives miraculously
fixed by Jesus. But what about us? Are our problems somehow less? Are we second rate that we do not get such
treatment? Is our pain somehow less
real?
Does the person suffering from chronic
heart problems have less faith that her condition is not healed the way the
bleeding woman was?
What about the parent who loses a son
or daughter to cancer, or the boy or girl killed in an automobile
accident? Why not being raised from the
dead for them?
Is the person struggling to overcome
an addiction to drugs really all that different from the Gerasene
Demoniac? Maybe he or she isn’t tethered
with chains, but the feeling of being out of control is the same. Lives are ruined. Families are destroyed.
And what about the chaos of the person
who suffers at the hands of an abusive spouse or parent? Why when he or she prays for God to help does
that help not come? Are we not taught to
pray for our enemies and do good things for them? Why doesn’t God respond to such sincere and
righteous prayers? Is such a person’s
suffering all that different from the disciples being tossed around in a boat
in a storm-tossed sea?
These are all good questions. They are fair questions to ask. And it is okay to get mad at God for the
unfairness of it all. A look at the
passage from Mark shows us that not everyone who had a miraculous healing was a
faithful person. While Jesus praises the
faith of the bleeding woman, he criticizes the disciples for their lack of
faith. But both get a miracle. The Gerasene Demoniac doesn’t even ask to be
cured. Jesus approached him without even
having an invitation and sets his life to rights.
The passage we read from Mark does not
give us answers, but Mark’s gospel does respond to our questions, even if it
isn’t the answers we want to hear.
Here’s the thing. We need Jesus to be powerful. We need to know he has power over nature, and
over evil, and over medical problems, and over death itself. How could we ever trust God with our lives if
we weren’t sure God was fully powerful?
We need Jesus, and we need
to know he is powerful; but we do not need his miraculous powers in our
own lives.
Any number of times we see in Mark’s
gospel that Jesus tells people not to tell about the miracles he has
performed. Sometimes, like with the Gerasene
Demoniac, he does tell him to spread the word.
Other times he does not. You’ll
remember me saying before that it’s impossible to say for certainty why this is
so. But a very reasonable conclusion is
that Jesus is to be known first and foremost not as the miracle worker, but as
the crucified one.
In a couple weeks we’ll explore the
dimensions of Jesus identity more, but for now let’s just say that Jesus wants
the center of our identity with him to be, not one which is based on getting
supernatural solutions to problems, but instead based on Jesus’ self-emptying
love. Your salvation came through Jesus’
death, not his miraculous powers.
We need to know Jesus is powerful so
we can trust in his promises. Then when
we truly trust in his promises they become a force that shapes our lives.
You are what you believe. That’s what shapes your life and forms your
identity. In Christian faith you bring
God’s promises to life. That is how God
wants his work to be done. That is how
he wants his kingdom to come into reality in this life. It is as strong as we make it.
Why doesn’t God fix problems beyond
our control for us? It is not because
God doesn’t care. It is because he holds
us in his power no matter what. From
there, we are empowered to embody God’s love.
That’s how God wants it to be real in the world. He wants his love to be alive because we make
it alive. It can be a tough challenge,
but it honors us and gives us a meaningful place in God’s work.
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