It is not surprising that people ask ‘why’ when times are hard. Asking God ‘why’ has a long tradition and in fact the word ‘why’ appears 488 times in the Bible, including lots of times in the book of Job where God is questioned about why bad things happen. But it’s also in the book of Psalms with lines like 'Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?’ and of course on Jesus’ lips, as he’s dying, when he says to his Father ‘Why have you forsaken me?’
To be human is to sometimes feel alone and unheard, to struggle to make sense of the things going on around us and to us.
In our church last week, we discussed the end of Mark 5. In this passage are two of Jesus’ encounters with women, side by side. One woman, suffering for 12 years with a bleeding that would have isolated her from society and normal life, reaches out in desperate hope to just touch the clothes of Jesus. We don’t know if she’s heard his teaching or who she thinks Jesus is, but she instantly feels a healing change in her body as she touches the fabric of his clothes. When Jesus asks who touched him, the woman is forced to come out of her secrecy and shame to come forward. When she does, Jesus warmly calls her ‘my daughter’ and praises for her faith and blesses her with peace.
The second is a much younger woman, a 12 year-old girl, who by all appearances is dead. Her community is consumed by grief, but Jesus reaches out his hand to hers and says, ‘little girl, be raised up’ and she does. Nothing is demanded of her at all, regarding belief or faith, it’s all grace. Jesus asks those around to give her something to eat.
In these two very embodied stories there is lots to notice about the character of Jesus and the nature of God. We see welcome, we see mercy and compassion, we see healing and we see care for human bodies and understanding of human love. The women in the passage and their families and friends may well have asked why they had to suffer. Most of the time there really is no answer to questions like these, but we can look to the God who reaches out a hand towards us, who understands what it is like to be human, who gives up power to show us love and who cares about our daily needs. This God is OK with us asking ‘why’.
Karen
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