Life and healing. These are two basic things that man strives to achieve in this world. It is ironic that man, in his youth, struggles to possess wealth,; while in his old age, he uses his wealth to regain the vitality of his youth. Yet, this reality points to a deeper truth. Man’s desire for life and healing is but a manifestation of his ultimate desire: salvation and eternal life.
In today’s Gospel, we hear about Jairus’ certainty that healing and life can only be achieved through Jesus Christ. “Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live” (Mk 5:23). His firm faith on Jesus is also a conviction that this man from Nazareth has power over death and over its offsprings, sickness and sin. This is why the words of Jesus are not only meaningful for Jairus and his contemporaries, they are also meaningful for us who are always seeking for life and healing, redemption and life everlasting.
Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (Mk 5:36). This is an invitation to imitate the faith of the woman who had been afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She was sick and suffering; and just like Jairus’ wish for her daughter, she longed for the Lord’s touch that would give her healing and the opportunity to go back to her normal life. In the gospel of Mark, the laying on of hands or touching is a gesture that brings about healing from infirmities (Mk 6:5; 7:32-35; 16:18). But the woman was not only looking for healing; she was expecting more. In Jewish culture, a woman with hemorrhage is considered unclean and should be shunned. The woman’s cure from her ailments meant that she can return to her normal life and belong to her community once more. Such ardent was her desire, she did everything – even if the ritual laws forbade it – to touch Jesus. “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured”(Mk 5:28). Ultimately, her desire was not denied because the Lord saw the woman’s deep faith in the midst of the hopelessness and despair that engulfed her life. Which is important in eyes of the law anyway, “to save life rather than to destroy it?” (Mk 3:4).
Second, the Lord speaks about the little girl as “not dead but asleep.” These words are proof that death is not our end. We will live again, and the Risen Lord will surely wake us from our slumber. Life is more powerful than death, Jesus viewed it. This is why in the book of Wisdom, we are reminded of our true worth: we are wholesome beings who are devoid of destructive elements (1:14). More than this, we were formed to be imperishable (1:14); we are living images of the Creator! This unparalleled worth that God graced us proves that his “justice undying” (Wis. 1:15).
Third, Jesus beckons, “Arise!” This is not only a word of encouragement; this is also an expression of the Lord’s confidence on the capacity of each human being Jesus believes in us so much that “he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty we might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
In our desire to achieve salvation and eternal life, we need to have a strong faith “not in the God of the dead but of the living” (Mk 12:27). This faith reminds us that we are truly living images of God who must live according to his justice. Jesus believes in our capacity to live according to this image. He tells us, “Arise!”
- Rev. Fr. David O. Reyes, Jr.
Sambuhay, Year 22 No. 68