An Instruction for the 24th Sunday After Pentecost (28)

Today’s Gospel spoke of two wondrous acts of mercy shown by our Savior to the woman with the flow of blood and to Jairus, a ruler of the Jewish synagogue: the first the Lord healed in a single instant, through her touch of His garment; for the other, He raised his only, twelve-year-old daughter from the dead.

In this Gospel account, instructive for us, first, is the faith of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. His only daughter is at the point of death, and he turns with his request for help not to physicians, but to Jesus Christ, believing that He can heal her with a single word. So too, my brothers, when you fall sick, or when your wife or children, or one of your relatives, friends, or servants, falls sick, turn first of all, with prayer for help, to Jesus Christ, the Physician of our souls and bodies, swift to help all who take refuge in Him with faith; invite your spiritual father into your home, with the Divine Mysteries of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and believe that, like Jairus, you will not be put to shame in your hope. How many examples there have been, even in my own pastoral ministry, of the sick, who turned first of all for help to God, who had recourse to repentance and Communion, quickly recovering after partaking of the Holy Mysteries! I could name for you many who have been counted worthy of such great mercy from God. Jairus, mentioned in the Gospel, was not put to shame in his faith in the divine Wonderworker; do not fear, only believe, the Lord said to him, when it was reported to Jairus that his daughter had died—and she will be saved: and he, at the Lord’s word, believed without doubt that his daughter would be raised, and indeed saw her raised up. So too, when your own soul, my fellow man, is put to death by sin, by the passions, and falls into a depth of evils, do not despair of your own salvation, but believe that the Lord, who came into the world to save sinners, can save you too, and raise you up out of the depths of sin; rouse yourself from your sleep of sin: «awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light» (Eph 5:14).

Further, instructive in this Gospel account is the faith of the woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years; instructive too are the circumstances of her sickly condition. This woman, according to the account of another Evangelist, thought to herself before touching the Savior’s garment: if only I touch His garment, I will be healed; and with such faith she touched the hem of His garment, and was healed at once—whereas before this, having been treated by physicians for nearly twelve years, and having given them all her substance, she received no benefit at all from any of them, but, on the contrary, had come into a still worse condition. How many such Christians are there even today, who, in their own sickness, turn only to physicians, forgetting to turn to Jesus Christ, who gives wisdom even to physicians, especially to those who believe in Him—and who, like the woman with the flow of blood, are sick and undergo treatment for a long time, and give away almost their whole substance to physicians, and still receive no benefit, or only a small one, whereas, if they had turned to the Savior soon after falling ill, and had invited His minister to them with the Life-giving Mysteries, and had tasted the life-giving food, they would soon have received healing, and would have glorified the Lord for His power and goodness. But for their own little faith they are punished with a prolonged sickness and the loss of their property on medicines and physicians. It is remarkable that the woman with the flow of blood was healed at once upon touching the Savior’s garment. This serves as an image of our own healing in soul. Our own souls are healed at once, when, with faith, in repentance, we call upon the all-saving name of Jesus Christ, or when we partake of the most pure Body and Blood of the Savior: what life, what sweetness, what stillness suddenly pours into the soul and body after Communion of the Holy Mysteries! The flow of sinful thoughts and passions stops in an instant; holy, heavenly thoughts take their place; the whole soul becomes healthy, and joyfully glorifies the Lord, the Giver of life. So, so touch the Lord with heartfelt faith and repentance, touch the Body and Blood of the Savior, taste of them in this way, and you will be healed. But how few there are who sincerely touch the Savior, who sincerely, with deep faith and ardent love, partake of His Body and Blood! During the holy great fast, on Saturdays, at the Liturgies, the people surround and press upon the Lord in His Holy Mysteries, seeking to taste the most pure Body and Blood of the Lord, but how many receive Him with the same faith with which that woman touched Him? I think that even now the Lord would ask these communicants: who among you touched Me? — that is, who among you touched Me with faith, and received, through faith, the power going out from Me—the power that cleanses, sanctifies, brings peace, enlightens, and strengthens? Are there not many who commune without living faith, and, having communed, go away just as spiritually sick as they were before, and sometimes even worse? But those who commune with living faith receive the cleansing of their sins and the peace of their own conscience: for they clearly hear, in their own conscience, the voice of the Savior: «take heart», O man, «your faith has saved you; go in peace».

What else should we notice in this reading from the Gospel? Let us notice this, too: when the Lord saw the relatives and acquaintances of Jairus’s dead daughter weeping and lamenting, He said: do not weep; she has not died, but sleeps. These words are most comforting for us. The Lord, the Giver of life, calls our own death a sleep. Why? Because there will be a general resurrection of the dead, as it were a general awakening from sleep, and this by the power of His own death and resurrection: for «Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep» (1Cor 15:20); just as through Adam all die, so through Christ all will be made alive. But what followed, when Jesus Christ called the maiden’s death a sleep (she has not died, but sleeps)? They laughed at Him, knowing that she had died. This is not surprising: they did not yet know the mystery of the resurrection. But it is surprising how, even today, some can mock on hearing of the resurrection, when the resurrection of the dead has become for us as certain as the present day itself. And yet, let us not be surprised: this is how those act who are Christians only in name, but pagans in deed—slaves of the belly, of unrighteous wealth, worshipers of this world, for whom there is no higher pleasure than the pleasure of the throat, tasting sweet foods and drinks, and the pleasure of worshiping the golden calf. But their own end, too, will match their deeds. But let us look now at the majestic sight of our own Giver of life raising up Jairus’s daughter.

Having sent everyone out of the room where the dead girl lay, except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the dead girl, and taking her by the hand, He called out: maiden, arise! And what happened? She arose at once, and He commanded that she be given something to eat. Behold, brothers, an image of our own future resurrection: a like voice of the Son of God the dead will hear at the second coming of the Son of God, and, hearing it, will come to life, and «those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation» (Jn 5:29). Here, then, is a lesson concerning the resurrection: fix it firmly in your mind; remember that you will rise again. And is that all? No! Live also in a Christian manner, that you may attain the blessed resurrection: be self-restrained, chaste, patient, free of malice, humble, forbearing, merciful, of one mind with one another. Spur one another on; draw one another into the kingdom of heaven. Amen.