The Gospel Reading (Mark 5:21-43) reminds us how
important our faith is for our healing and salvation. The Greek word, sozo (σῴζω), means, “to heal” and “to save”. In other words, healing and
salvation are rather synonymous. From the First Reading (Wisdom 1:13-15;
2:23-24), healing or salvation means to be restored to our original being, as
we were created to be imperishable in the image of His own nature (Wisdom 1:23;
cf. 1 Corinthians 15:36-58). However, the Original Sin made us mortal and
subject to suffering (i.e. Romans 6:23). The Second Reading (2 Corinthians 8:7,
9, 13-15) explains how it has been made possible for us to be healed and salved
toward the imperishable being , as we were originally created, and it is
because of the self-sacrificing charity of Jesus for us (2 Corinthians 8:9; cf.
Philippians 2:6-8). It also calls us to strive to help one another to close
gaps among us as we excel our actions of grace for each another, as Jesus, who
were rich, made himself poor in order for us to be rich (2 Corinthians
8:7-9,13-15). Therefore, the readings of the Thirteenth Sunday remind us that
we are not just recipients of salvific benefits of Jesus but we help one
another through our gracious acts of love to our brothers and sisters, through
our faith. In other words, our faith not only makes it possible to be healed
and saved but also enables us to perform our acts of loving grace for one
another toward the complete unity without a gap.
In the Gospel Reading (Mark 5:21-43), we find a
contrast between Jairus, whose 12-year-old daughter was dead, and the woman,
who had suffered from terrible hemorrhage for 12 years. The former had a high
social status, well-recognized as a local synagogue official. On the other
hand, the woman, who suffered from hemorrhage, was unnamed. And she was reduced
to poverty as she spent all she had for her medical treatments, which did not
help. But what is in common between these two persons in contrast is faith and
what it entitled them to: salvific effects from Jesus. As long as one has
faith, socioeconomic status and gender makes no difference in receiving
salvific benefits from Jesus. And, whether Jew or Gentile, ethnic background
also makes no difference in benefitting from Jesus’ salvific grace, as long as
faith (Mark 7:24-29).
The Greek word to describe faith is πίστις (pistis). This also means trust in God, as being persuaded by God’s
will. But if we resist God’s will, then doubt kicks in. To be faithful, we need
to let God’s will persuade (πείθω/peitho) us.
Being healed and saved is our natural desire, as we
want ourselves to be restored to the original being: being imperishable (Wisdom
2:23a) as created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27; Wisdom 2:23b). But without
letting God’s will persuade us, we cannot be healed and saved by God through His
Son, Jesus Chris, through his power, the Holy Spirit, through which he was
incarnated (Luke 1:35) and he did his mighty deeds (i.e. Acts 10:37-38). When
we believe in God, as we profess in the Nicene Creed, as well as, in the
Apostle’s Creed, we are letting God’s will persuade us. And this is our faith
is formed. Then, the power of the Holy Spirit from Jesus affects us for healing
and salvation. This was evident in the case of the healing of the haemorrhoissa,
as her bleeding stopped immediately as soon as the power of Jesus flew into
her, when she toughed the hem of his garment (Mark 5:25-29).
Will of God for healing and salvation is made known to us through Jesus. The case of Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:35-42) is a good example. He wanted to make sure that Jairus would not lose his faith, not to stop letting God’s will persuade him. So Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; just have faith”(Mark 5:36). This means not to let the news of his daughter’s death (Mark 5:35) keep the will of God on her from persuading him. And Jesus removed those who do not believe God’s will on her (Mark 5:38-40) in order to perform God’s will on her (Mark 5:41-42). An important lesson from this is that we need to remove all obstacles to the persuasion of God’s will. And doubt and disbelief are some stumbling blocks to God’s will to be done. This was in the case with the Gospel Reading of the Tenth Sunday (Mark 3:20-35).
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Finally, when he let God’s salvific will on Jairus’ daughter be done on her, Jesus sternly ordered those who witnessed this not to tell anyone about this (Mark 5:43). This order of Jesus is known as “messianic secret, and its purpose is not to make his power to perform mighty deeds of God’s salvific will be known too soon in vain.
Here is a question that we must ask ourselves.
Do we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even we
have not yet experienced healing by his power, the Holy Spirit?
Some people come to believe because of healing
experience. But for the faithful, it is not that we believe because of being
healed but being healed because of our faith (belief) even though we had not
healed yet. And the way the haemorrhoissa demonstrated her faith (Mark 5:25-34)
reminds us that the kind of faith entitled to benefit from Jesus’ salvific
power is not to let anything stop from seeking Jesus. Also the Syrophoenician
woman’s faith (Mark 7:24-29) is another good example for not letting anything
become an obstacle to God’s salvific will to keep us persuaded.
Let us remember that we are not just to be healed and
saved by Jesus through faith but also to act graciously to each other, as Jesus
has done to us, through his loving kenosis so that our unity shall be
achieved by closing gaps among us (2 Corinthians 8:7-9,13-15). And this is what
faith enables us to do.
The unity is what our faith enables us to strive for
by way of our acts of charity to each other. And the way Jesus heals and saves,
because of our faith in him, also brings us to the unity as his salvific
benefits knows division among us, as it affects the rich and the poor, the Jews
and the Gentiles, men and women, as long as we have faith.
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