Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, —Who has touched my clothes?—

How many times have we heard magical stories, stories where a person is imbued with tremendous, mysterious, magical powers?

In those stories the magician or the genie reaches a point where their power is simply no more. They’ve expended what they had. The genies’ three wishes are gone —“ he can give no more. Harry Potter stands emptied of his power and couldn’t even conjure a candy bar after expending his energy. I’m sure you can fill in other stories from your memory.

In today’s Gospel we hear something that may cause us to leap to that conclusion, ‘[the] power had gone out from Him.’ Had Jesus been mysteriously reduced? Was his mojo gone? This is tragic, he’s on his way to cure a very sick little girl and this woman steals His power!

Look at the whole story. What do the story of Jarius’ daughter and the woman cured of a hemorrhage have in common?

They have acts of faith in common.

The woman with a hemorrhage stole nothing from Jesus. What she did was to give a gift. She gave her faith to Jesus and she showed her people what the gift of faith in Jesus can accomplish.

Jesus is God. He cannot be reduced in power or stature because He is, in Himself, everything.

Jesus confirms the gift of healing bestowed on the woman by stopping and allowing her to publicly profess her faith. She took Jesus up on his offer and stood forth among all the people of that community, who certainly thought she was cursed, and she professed her faith.

Now if you were Jarius what would you be thinking? Get this woman out of our way? Jesus, she’s cured, let’s hurry up. Jesus, my daughter!!!

As Jarius is standing there, maybe a little relieved that Jesus is almost done with this woman’s problem, his householders appear. They were pretty matter-of-fact:

—Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?—

Jarius is devastated, Jesus, undiminished and not fazed in the least says, ignore them, let’s go, have faith.

Again we see a profession of faith. We see the gift of faith Jarius is giving to Jesus. Jarius is saying that death does not diminish my faith in what You can do Lord.

Jarius had a lot to loose in showing faith in Jesus. He was a synagogue official, most likely part of the Pharisee party. As you know, they didn’t get along with Jesus. Jarius also had stature before the public and in his household. Yet he was able to give all of that up in an instant. Maybe he remembered the passage from Wisdom:

God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.

If I go to God in faith all will be well. If I trust in Jesus, even death can be overcome.

Fr. Phil Bloom, in a homily on the same subject, drew an interesting observation about Snow White and her prince. We understand and love this story. Good and evil, life and death, and overcoming death through love, it is all there. The dwarves who are symbols of faith, who endured the death of their princess, await her savior.

If the story of Snow White can be so endearing, if this story can engender so much hope and joy in us, how much more will we experience when we embrace the reality of Jesus.

If I go to God in faith all will be well. If I trust in Jesus, even death can be overcome.

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