RECTOR of Hexham, Canon Dagmar Wnter, examines this week‘s reading from the Gospel, Mark 5:21-43:

“Jesus encounters three people – first Jairus who is a leader of the synagogue and who comes to Jesus for help.

“Leaders are trained to be competent, to delegate, to keep it all together, until, that is, your little girl is dangerously ill, then you don’t send your PA to sort it out, you go yourself - on your hands and knees, if necessary.

“This is really important to Jairus; he desperately begs Jesus to come. His love for his daughter has left him utterly vulnerable.

“Secondly, there is a woman who is almost the exact opposite of Jairus. She is not a leader and has little social standing in the community, she hasn’t even got an advocate to speak up for her and she’s also ill – has been for 12 years. She’s desperate and for this reason braves the crowd, seeking only to touch the cloak of this healer, whatever the potential cost.

“And then, thirdly, there’s Jairus’ sick little girl. It’s easy to forget about her. She’s 12 years old; on the verge of adulthood – yet will she live? She, too, is utterly vulnerable, though in no place to do anything about it.

“Jesus’ reaction? He does not meet them with a magic wand, but with himself, going with Jairus and directly addressing
the girl and the woman – offering one the gift of peace and the other a much-needed meal.

“In the words of a hymn by John Bell and Graham Maule: ‘We cannot measure how you heal, or answer every sufferer’s prayer, yet we believe your grace responds where faith and doubt unite to care’”