The wise man of the Old Testament reflecting on the reality of death, tells us that God did neither make death, nor rejoice in the destruction of the living. In his eternal plan, he fashioned all things that they might have being. He made the creatures of the world wholesome, without a destructive drug among them. In the wise man’s discourse, he says that God formed man to be imperishable, in his own image and likeness. He says that by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and those who are in its possession experience it (Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24).
Here, the wise man reflects on the account of God’s creation in the book of Genesis, when he created us to be happy with him in the Garden of Eden. As a result of the devil’s temptation, humanity fell from grace, incurring, sin, sickness and death. This brings us into the problem of evil, in which we ask ourselves how does evil come into the world, which God created to be good. Whether we know it or not, the fact is that evil has set into the world. There is natural disaster, man-made disaster and so forth. In all of these, God has not left us alone. He still promised a way out for humanity, in his first good news, the proto-evangelion (Genesis 3:15), in which he promised that evil will not overcome humanity.
In fulfillment of his promise of salvation, God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, the word made man, to take flesh in the immaculate womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Man, Jesus came among us as savior. Today, we see the action of Jesus during his earthly ministry. We experience his action in a special way, in the healing of the woman in the crowd, suffering from hemorrhage, and the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43).
As it is, one of the officials of the synagogue, a man named Jairus fell at the feet of Jesus with his earnest appeal that his little daughter was critically ill, asking Jesus to come and lay his hands on her, so that she could get well and live. As the two went off together and a large crowd following and pushing against Jesus, a woman afflicted with a hemorrhage for twelve years came and touched Jesus’ clothing, immediately her flow of blood dried up and she was cured of her affliction. Jesus being conscious of what had taken place, was asking who touched him, until the woman fearfully came and fell in front of him and told him the whole truth. At this, Jesus addressed her as daughter and told her that it is her faith that has cured her, to go in peace and be free of her illness.
Even at the news that Jairus daughter had died, Jesus disregarded the report and said to the official never to fear, asking him to trust. At the house, he only allowed Peter, James and his brother, John to follow. Jesus also took the child’s parents along with his companions and entered the room, where taking the little girl by the hand, he said “Talitha, koum,” meaning “Little girl, get up.” The girl, a child of twelve, stood up immediately and began to walk around. The family’s astonishment was complete. He enjoined them strictly to observe messianic secrecy, in not letting anyone know about it. He also asked them to give her something to eat.
In these activities of Jesus in his earthly ministry, we see that sickness, death and the powers of evil, are no match to the power of Jesus to save the afflicted humanity. Only Jesus is the answer to human and spiritual salvation.
On this note, St. Paul speaks about the favor we have received through our Lord Jesus Christ. For our sake, though he was rich, he made himself poor, so that we might become rich by his poverty. In the same way, we must relief others. As our plenty at the present, supplies the needs of others, so their surplus one day, may supply our own needs (2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15).
May God give us the spirit and the grace to imitate Jesus’ ways.
