In our gospel reading for today, two people desperately want a miracle from Jesus. A woman had suffered through twelve years of bleeding and wanted to be healed. And a father of a very sick twelve year old girl, wanted her brought back from the point of death, and made well. Jesus, as always, responds with compassion to both of these people. And in this case, Jesus grants their requests for miracles, but NOT the way THEY wanted them to happen....
So something bad happens, and you find yourself lying in that room of the hospital that has couches for your family to sleep on, the room that people usually leave via the morgue rather than the front door. The doctors have now thrown up their hands, there is nothing more they can do for you. Your last hope...your only hope...is Jesus. It is now the time to bargain: “So here's the plan, Jesus. You are going to send healing because you love me so much and you don't want me to suffer. You are going to send healing to prove to me that my faith in you is justified. You are going to send healing because you crave glory and a miracle here would be glorious. You are going to send healing because I promise I will spread your name faster than the apostle Paul, if you do.” In YOUR plan, Jesus comes through with a miracle of healing. But miracles happen, or don't happen, according to JESUS' plan.
Jairus, and the woman suffering from haemorrhages, both had their own plan for a miracle. Jairus' plan is very specific - he begs Jesus repeatedly, telling him EXACTLY what he needs to do – come to my house immediately, and lay your hands on my daughter, and she will be made well. Instead, Jesus gets sidetracked and much to Jairus' dismay, Jesus arrives at his house too late to heal his daughter. Some of Jairus' blunt friends figure that there is now nothing Jesus can do, “why trouble the teacher any further?” You can imagine Jairus' extreme disappointment – if only Jesus had followed MY plan, my daughter would still be alive.
The woman suffering from haemorrhages has an even bolder plan. She is going to “steal” a miracle from Jesus without his knowledge. She trusts completely in the prophecy from the book of Malachi that when the Messiah comes, he will bring healing in his “wings” - in other words, the long tassels of his prayer shawl. And since the woman is bleeding, she is considered ritually unclean, and touching Jesus would then make him ritually unclean, very inconvenient for someone who spends a lot of time teaching in the temple. So the woman plans to touch Jesus by stealth, in the midst of a large crowd of people. The plan starts off successfully! Jesus does heal her, and she can tell she has been healed immediately. But then, Jesus insists on calling her on the carpet for touching him, and she falls down trembling before him, expecting to be put to death for her offense. You can imagine the woman's frustration - if only Jesus had followed MY plan, I could have been healed quietly and not be subjected, or subject Jesus, to this public embarrassment.
We all have plans for the miracles we want Jesus to make happen for us. Lord, why don't you just lay your hands on me, and restore my health completely, before I even have my first dose of chemotherapy. Jesus, why don't you just transform my spouse's heart, so that we can avoid going to a marriage counsellor. Jesus, why don't you just tell me in advance this week's lottery numbers, and then I can pay off my bills without having to find another job. Jesus, why don't you just bring me forgiveness for my sins in such a way that I can continue to enjoy the sins that I enjoy. Jesus, why don't you just make it possible for MY team to win the Stanley Cup. If only Jesus would follow OUR plans, we would truly and fully appreciate the miracles that Jesus is doing all around us.