A young, arrogant philosophy professor prided himself in being an atheist. He enjoyed shocking the incoming freshmen on the first day of class by proclaiming that God doesn’t exist. When he made this proclamation, there was stone silence in the room. After a few seconds one brave girl stood up and said, “I disagree. I believe God does exist.” With a sneer on his face, the professor took a long piece of chalk and held it in the air. “If there is a God, can he keep this chalk from breaking when I drop it on the floor?” Then he dropped the chalk. No one heard a noise of the chalk falling on the tiled floor. Red-faced, the atheist, looked down to the floor and noticed that the chalk had fallen into the cuff of his pants. The Christian girl sighed in relief.
Faith in God is easy. We recite the Creed dutifully every Sunday without hesitation. But what if our faith is tested, as it was for the freshman girl in the philosophy class. Will we still stand strong, or will we waver?
Today we read about a man whose faith in Jesus was tested (Mark 5:21-43).
“One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing (Jesus) he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, ‘My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hand on her that she may get well and live.’ Jesus went off with him and a large crowd followed him.”
We imagine Jesus walking quickly toward Jairus’ house hoping to reach the daughter before she died. Then the journey was interrupted by a lady who needed a miraculous healing.
“While he was still speaking (to the woman), people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, ‘Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer.”
We can imagine the look on Jairus’ face when he realized it was too late. On the contrary,
“Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, ‘Do not be afraid; just have faith.’”
The official believed Jesus could heal his daughter, but did he believe Jesus could raise her from death?
“When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So, he went in and said to them, ‘Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.’ And they ridiculed them. Then he put them all out.”
What a test of faith it was for Jairus. Already the mourners had taken over his house and were going through the weeping ritual. Everyone knew that the girl was dead. Could Jairus go against the opinion of the crowd and trust in the word of Jesus?
Jesus went into the room.
“He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha kuom’ which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.”
Faith was no longer needed. Evidence took its place.
Has your faith ever been put to the test? Did you remain adamant in your belief even when the circumstances looked grim? We make acts of faith in Jesus, that he will take care of us and fulfill his promises to us. What do we do, however, when situations come about in our lives, and God seems absent? When results we expect are slow in coming, are we still unwavering in faith?
“Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases” (Matthew 8:17).
