In this Sunday’s gospel lesson, Jarius fervently prays for Jesus to come to his daughter. We can fervently pray for Jesus to come to our nation.
Jesus does not arrive in time to keep Jarius’s daughter from death. However, Jesus does bring this little one back to life in His time.
Our nation is not dead, of course. Still, to keep the United States in great health, we can pray fervently for the Son of God to come to us in His time for healing and restoration.
Health and restoration not only happen to the little girl; health and restoration also return to the one who reaches out and touches the hem of Jesus’ garment. This healing story also happens in our lectionary scripture this Sunday, June 30th.
All we have to do is pray fervently. All we have to do is reach out and touch Jesus.
With faith, let’s pray with passion this Sunday. Let’s also reach out to Jesus this Sunday so that, in His perfect time and in His perfect plan, our nation heals, restores, rejoices, and rejuvenates.
Here is our lectionary text in the New Living Translation.
Mark 5:21 42
JESUS HEALS IN RESPONSE TO FAITH
21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”
24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. 25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.
30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”
36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”
40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus,
We pray with passion and purpose. Revive our nation. Restore us in Your Holy name.
Amen.