It would be appropriate in your sermon to emphasize this woman’s suffering. But even more important will be to emphasize Jesus’ gracious response to her.
Last week, I suggested preaching on the Gospel alongside the appointed Psalm. Jesus’ calming of the storm and Psalm 124 were a perfect fit. It was easy to imagine the words of that familiar song as the disciples’ automatic reaction to what they experienced in the boat. The idea last week was that you would preach on two texts together to help your hearers identify with the disciples and make the words of Psalm 124 their own.
This week, I have a similar suggestion. Once again, the lectionary committee has done well to bring together a gracious and miraculous work of Jesus with a heartfelt song of praise and thanksgiving from ancient Israel. By considering Psalm 30 alongside the appointed Gospel reading, you can help your hearers appreciate how gracious God has been to them, too. As a result, you will help them make another ancient song of praise their own.
But before you start composing the sermon, I recommend two things. First, there is a decision to make. Second, there is something to read. Let me explain both.
The decision regards which individual in the Gospel reading will be your focus. My idea for the sermon is to help your hearers identify with one of the characters in the text. There are several to choose from. The two most obvious are Jairus and the healed woman (notice how I intentionally did not call her the “bleeding woman,” since it is a reductive moniker focused on her ailment rather than her healing in Christ). You could also focus on the little girl or the disciples. But I suggest not trying to address the perspectives of all these people, or even several of them. Instead, choose one and leave the others for another sermon. I would go with the woman Jesus healed in verses 24-34.
The reading has to do with Psalm 30. Do yourself a huge favor and get a copy of Tim Saleska’s commentary on Psalms 1-50.[1] You will not find a more pastorally sensitive, personally honest, academically rigorous, textually faithful, and Gospel-dominated consideration of this beautiful song of praise. Let me give you a few samples of his comments on Psalm 30:
“This psalmist is not like most of us. It does not occur to him that this healing might have been due to natural causes. In his view, it was due to divine intervention. He prayed, and YHWH rescued him from the jaws of death... I would be excited too. However, in my world, I rarely hear anyone talk like David—except in the subdued chants of a church service. I have been educated to assume that divine intervention never (or almost never) happens. Some people do seem to be miraculously saved, but my tendency is to attribute that to doctors and modern technology. However, David lives by a different truth, and so he interprets his experience in this world in a very different way” (496-97).
“Any attempt to paraphrase these beautiful lines or extract a propositional truth from them is doomed to fall flat. To unpack their contents would be to reduce them. The lines are more like a sunset than a math problem” (497).
“Death always seems to have the upper hand. And yet the types and shadows [of death and suffering in the OT] are not irrelevant. They get our attention and urge us to look beyond them. And when we do, we can see that they come together and end in Jesus. He is the center of the pattern. He brings coherence to these scattered fragments of hopes and dreams... We do not know all the ‘whys’ of God’s ways. Why do some suffer so long? Why do some not? But in this present age, through the Holy Spirit, God comforts us even as we struggle with His incomprehensible hiddenness. And since we do have this certain Word, our future is assured as well. On that great day, the extravagant experience of the psalmist—his dramatic rescue from the grave—will be ours” (501).
Any attempt to paraphrase these beautiful lines or extract a propositional truth from them is doomed to fall flat.-Timothy Saleska
As Saleska suggests, David’s words in Psalm 30 help us understand our own life in Christ. Following David’s lead, you can help your listeners through the many reasons they have to weep and mourn. Similarly, you can point them toward the joyful shouts and dancing which will come when that last morning dawns and Jesus returns in glory.
This brings us full circle back to the Gospel reading. The woman in the middle of the street, in the middle of this text, was in the middle of an exceptionally long stretch of suffering. Twelve years of social, economic, religious, and physical heartache had taken its toll. Your hearers, to varying degrees, can relate. It would be appropriate in your sermon to emphasize this woman’s suffering. But even more important will be to emphasize Jesus’ gracious response to her. This would lead you to focus on verse 34. There are three things in this verse you might highlight:
- First, Jesus’ called her daughter. In doing so, He showed His loving concern and commitment to her.
- Second, Jesus told her that her faith not only made her well, but it also “saved” her (notice the Greek in verse 34: σέσωκέν).
- Third, Jesus sent her away in peace. This was not yet the day of dancing she (and we) will experience on that last day. But for her it was a clear and tangible glimpse of what all God’s people will experience together at the end.
What did that look like? What did she say in response? What did she do next? Like he did with the disciples and the rest of their boat ride last week, Mark leaves this part out. But I wonder if she left Jesus with something like the words of Psalm 30:1-3 on her lips:
“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to You for help,
and You have healed me.
O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;
You restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.”
As you help your hearers identify with this suffering but now-saved daughter of God in our text, and as you proclaim the loving, saving, peace-giving promises of Jesus to God’s sons and daughters today, invite them to sing Psalm 30 together with you, and with David, and with this blessed woman in Mark 5.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Mark 5:21-43.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Mark 5:21-43.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Mark 5:21-43.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
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[1] Saleska, Timothy E. Psalms 1-50: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture from the “Concordia Commentary Series.” St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020.
