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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 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 hand, 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
Yesterday, we read that after crossing the Sea of Galilee in a great storm by night, Jesus and the disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me." For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!" Then He asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many." Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them." And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "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." And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.
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. Jesus and the disciples have returned to the "central" site of His preaching and teaching in Galilee from the country of the Gadarenes across the Sea of Galilee. Here, an important man in the community, a ruler of the synagogue, comes to Christ. He's deeply concerned over the serious condition of his little daughter. My study bible says of his words, that if Christ lays His hands on her "she will live," that only God has authority over life and death. It's another affirmation of His divinity and the fact that He is Christ.
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 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." Here's an unexpected event, a delay in Jesus' going to the house of the ruler of the synagogue. It's the work of the divine in action: this woman, of her own accord and faith, seeks only to touch Jesus' garment as He is on His way through the crowd. And we see how crowded it is indeed, that His disciples complain that they can't possibly know who touched Him. But the power of God works of its own accord here; she healed and Christ understands the power has gone from Him. My study bible says that this demonstrates Christ's power to cleanse and to heal, as her hemorrhage would cause her ceremonial defilement, meaning that under the Law she would have been restricted from participation in religious and social life -- contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25). But her faith trumps everything. Jesus, in fact, brings her out and exhibits her faith as an example to everybody.
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 hand, 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. Despite the delay, and the proclamation by the servants that Jairus' daughter is now dead, Jesus is working on a kind of authority over time that surpasses everything else "earthly" that we understand. Weeping and wailing and practicing of mourning are already going on at Jairus' house over the girl. These people in the house go so far as to ridicule Jesus when He tells them that she's merely sleeping. He puts them all outside the house and keeps with Him only His closest disciples, James, John, and Peter, and the parents of the girl whose only desire is to save their daughter. She immediately arises at Jesus' command. It's the power of life and death on display -- something so suggestive of Jesus' divine identity that He commands that no one speak of it. The affirmation of life is immediate in His instruction that the girl be given something to eat.
The two stories in today's reading are linked together in each of the Synoptic Gospels. They both have to do with women: one at the end of girlhood and the beginning of maturity at twelve years of age, the other much older, with a flow of blood that has lasted twelve years. One's on the verge of entering into her adult life, and the other has spent all she had on physicians and has suffered many things at their hands, the text tells us. One is the daughter of a very prominent man, ready to enter into social life, and the other is at the end of the scale: untouchable because of her affliction, without funds, desperate. Jairus' daughter has her influential parents, a whole household full of people to support them and to mourn her, and the woman with the bloodflow has nothing left but her own meager effort to simply touch the hem of Jesus' garment as He passes by in the thronging crowds. You really couldn't get more opposite pictures than of these two women, both in need of the help of Christ. And the thread that ties them together is faith. Our reading today demonstrates the clear power of faith at work. Jesus brings out the destitute woman, an outcast because of her blood flow, and praises her before the whole crowd -- including Jairus the ruler of the synagogue -- for her faith, which has activated His power to heal and brought about a great sign for everyone. By the time Jesus reaches Jairus' house, his daughter is also given up as a hopeless case. But not for Christ, who defies all worldly understanding to bring her to life. We note carefully that Jesus has told Jairus, "Do not be afraid, only believe." And that's the word that we take for today. There's a great truth in the reading that we can find in all sorts of situations: desperate need makes friends of anyone, people from all walks of life. Both Jairus' daughter and this friendless woman come together in that place of seeming hopelessness. Their status doesn't matter, their relative wealth or lack of it doesn't matter, her terrible years of experience and the young girl's sudden disastrous affliction all come together here. The abandoned and destitute woman and the girl's prominent parents are all in that same place of needing Christ, and needing faith to make all the difference. And if you think about it, that's the place where we may all sometimes find ourselves, the place where we may all really come together no matter what our other differences. It's that place of deep need where only faith will help, and only one Savior can help us, where it really doesn't matter what else our worldly differences are. That's the place that Christ is for us, where time seems suspended, where faith makes the difference and brings direction and healing. We may not all get the outcome we want, but it's our faith that will bring us through, His power that makes the difference between the "rules" of the world, and the hope we have in Christ. It is His power that brings new life, even out of the most disastrous of situations, when all other hope has been exhausted.
