Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him, and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live." So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" And He looked around to to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid, only believe." And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.

- Mark 5:21-43

In yesterday's reading, we read of the man who was chained and shackled, and forced to live in the tombs among the mountains in the country of the Gadarenes. This is Gentile territory, where swine are herded, animals which are unclean to the Jews. As Jesus comes ashore from the other side of the sea of Galilee, the man worships Him -- because this man is possessed, and Jesus has commanded the demons to come out of him. Jesus asked, "What is your name?" to which came the reply, "My name is Legion; for we are many." The demons begged to be sent into the swine nearby, and Jesus complied -- the swine then raced down a cliff and plunged to their deaths. The healed man wished to come with Jesus, but Jesus told him instead, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." He will go among the towns of the Decapolis and proclaim all that Jesus had done for him.

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him, and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live." So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. Mark's Gospel gives us a constant picture of Jesus going to and fro across the Sea of Galilee, from Jewish to Gentile territory and back again. Here, the ruler of the synagogue welcomes Him by falling at His feet, and asking Him to heal his little daughter. My study bible points out that not all the Jewish leaders were opposed to Him. The great crowd follows and "throngs Him"; this is a very public event at this stage.

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. Here is a great contrast, of another who needs healing. The one whom He is going to see is a little girl, the daughter of an important man, one of the rulers of the synagogue. And this is a woman, no doubt well past child-bearing, who has had a chronic ailment for twelve years. So badly does she suffer, over so much time, that all she has is gone from seeking treatments -- and to add more sorrow to the picture, she has only grown worse. It strikes me that we could very well be speaking of a modern scene here, in both patients!

When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well." Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" We see her expression of faith, in her deep need to be healed. We note the details in the kinds of events that pass here: she feels in her body that she is healed of her affliction, and Jesus immediately knows that power has gone out of Him. The tremendous thing about Mark's Gospel is in the details it does give us, in this brief book (the shortest of all the Gospels). Here we understand communication that is not only through speaking but also through feeling, other senses -- and more particularly, the connection of faith that creates power between them, which Jesus knows goes out of Him.

But His disciples said to Him, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" And He looked around to to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." She comes to Him and tells Him the whole truth -- it is a kind of confession, an opening of everything to Christ. Jesus explains how His power works, "Daughter, your faith has made you well." It is her faith that sparked the energy, the power, in Him, and this is the power of grace at work for us. It is a picture of our relationship to Him: one touch of faith sparks the whole of the gift, and in turn the whole of our hearts -- the whole truth -- in relationship with Him. It is a bond of love and compassion. And again, as in yesterday's reading, there is the judicial language embedded here, and the contrast between the love of Christ and the oppression suffered from evil in this world (as from the demons). The Greek word for affliction is similar to the one for scourging, lashings, whipping -- it implies the suffering of torture.

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid, only believe." This is not the only time that we read of Jesus' delay while He is called to someone who is ill in the Gospels. The same thing happens quite deliberately with Lazarus, His great friend to whom He is called. Here Jesus has taken the time to connect and to discover and make the power of relationship to the woman, who has lost all to her disease. (One imagines that He, the knower of hearts, had a sense of who she was before He asked.) But here, even though the word is that Jairus' daughter has died, Jesus emphasizes once again that it is faith in Him that is the important thing. And we get a sense that came also from the story of the storm-tossed boat we read recently, that we choose above all the thing into which we will put our faith: into Christ, or the fears and dread that the world seems to teach us.

And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. This is His inner circle He takes with Him (Peter, James and John). Jesus is moving from a very public healing of a lone and destitute woman to a very private one of the child of the leader of the synagogue. Each has its own specific case in these healings; He gives what is needed for each one, even all the circumstances surrounding each healing, and in the ways in which He must work. Despite the commotion, wailing and ridicule of the crowds in the house, He teaches that she merely sleeps -- and still keeps them away from the scene of the healing. Only the faithful are allowed in, the ones closest to Him and the child. It is a very private moment, just as, in some sense, the woman's touch was a very personal one for her, hidden from everyone else.

Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat. While the healing is extraordinary and defies every expectation, Jesus' concern is with two things: His mission and the needs of the little girl. His is a private relationship here, intimate, and the divine secret of His messianic status must only be expressed at the proper time. It, too, is in conflict with the expectations of the crowds.

What does it mean to have these personal moments with Christ, the ones that are hidden either by the clamor and thronging of a crowd in its excitement, or far away from those who would declare that something must be so, despite what our faith would tell us. We recall Jesus' words about praying to our Father in the secret place, and doing deeds of charity in secret. Everything here is an intimate moment; it is one of relationship and care, the deep sharing of power, and the devotion of faith -- especially the deeper and more full opening of the heart that is in response to healing and grace. How do you go forward in this "secret place" that defies the expectations of the world, the fears and oppressions, the things that torture us? Where do you find the love of God and express your faith? He is with friends, the intimates, and seeks us also as friends and intimates. How do you call upon Him in your most private moments, and seek the energy of grace and power that responds to our touch of faith? We note that in these private moments, our faith can also plead for others who cannot do so for themselves.