Mark 5:21-43 Messianic Secret

Mark 5:43    ". . . strict orders . . . "

Jesus healed people. Jesus raised the dead. He was a wonder worker. Even the most sceptical historian will acknowledge that Jesus was understood to be a person who did wonders. In this passage two people are directly  blessed by the power of Jesus. One was a woman whose illness  had taken her to the exhaustion of all her resources, physical and financial. The other was a synogogue leader who humbled himself before Jesus because he saw his child slipping away into death and he was powerless to help her. The humility and desperation of these two people make us cheer for them. We want Jesus to help them, and he does. Strangely the passage concludes with Jesus saying that he did not want his disciples to spread word of his wonders. Famously, among scholars this statement of Jesus and others like it in the Gospel of Mark have stirred interest and debate.

A question mark at the end of the wonder report reminds me that this important part of Jesus' ministry is not completely understood. In part he did wonders out of compassion, but not all sick people then or now receive healing, and none of the people healed by Jesus were saved from their eventual deaths. Often it is said--and Jesus sometimes explained-- that he did his wonders in order to demonstrate his authority as the Messiah, but then in this passage he told his disciples not to spread word of the wonders. Keeping his work secret suggests that in this passage, at least, he was not working the wonders to support a claim to be Messiah. Perhaps, it was a matter of timing. He was not ready to put forth his claims or he knew the people were not ready to hear his claim. Other ideas can be explored, but the question mark remains. What was the purpose of the wonders Jesus performed, and how do we understand them now, and what wonder do we expect to receive from the touch of Jesus in our lives?

Like the two people in this passage we seek Jesus in faith. We want to touch him; we want his touch of blessing upon us and our loved ones. Faith means that we trust him. We put ourselves before him and under his direction. We want to obey his word. We believe that Jesus will perform the wonder in our lives that we need most. We believe that God loves us and wants the best for us. We do our part, and we rest in the peace that passes understanding when we believe that the all powerful God of love will do his part as well. None of us fully understand the ways of God in each person's life so the question marks remain with us. We cannot fully explain why or when God will bring us to the place that is best for us. Our faith is growing as we learn to live with our questions.

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Grandchildren.Sweetie Pie and Mr. Happy were climbing a tree in the front yard when the disposal truck turned on to our street. The driver saw them and tooted his horn. He knows that the children love his recognition. They waved to him and jumped down from the tree to go and watch the men put our containers onto the truck. Jumping up and down, waving, shouting their greeting the children took such pleasure in this simple weekly event. I've seen the same excitement in them over a roly poly bug. To be childlike means to take wonder in all the gifts sent our way. Jesus told us this approach to life opens the doors to the kingdom of God.