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 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

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus led the disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee, they 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 is once again back on "home ground" in Capernaum.  We can see the crowds that throng Him, and the renown that is His.   Even one of the rulers of the synagogue comes to Him when his daughter needs to be healed.

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."  This woman's story is full of pathos -- and quite literally so.   To write that she suffered many things from many physicians is literally in the Greek to use the word pathos, meaning both suffering and being afflicted.  In that sense, Christ, the One who will suffer, heals our afflictions and suffering.  And it is her faith in Him that heals her, as His own words remarkably testify to all.  Her connection with Him is made complete in her truthful confession.  Through her faith, her reconciliation to Christ, she is healed of her 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.  Again, the emphasis here is on faith.  The words of the world are dismal:  "Your daughter is dead."  They tell Jairus he should not trouble the Teacher any further.  But Jesus gives him hope:  "Do not be afraid; only believe."  What we observe Jesus doing in this story is shoring up faith.  He takes only His closest disciples with Him, the ones who form the inner circle, who were present at the Transfiguration.  Those who wail and weep inside the house ridicule Christ and His statement that the child is sleeping.  He puts them all outside, while He takes only the parents and His three disciples. 

 There is a traditional spiritual interpretation of the story of the woman with the blood flow.  In it the woman is seen as symbolizing human nature in general.  As my study bible puts it, "Humanity is in constant suffering and subject to death, symbolized by the flow of blood."  The physicians who couldn't cure her stand for the various religions of the world, as well as the Old Testament Law, which were unable to grant life to humanity.  Through Christ we are freed from suffering and bondage to sin.  In another kinship between the story of this woman and of Christ Himself, we recall (as was alluded to above) Christ's own suffering and affliction.  His Passion is, in the same sense, a universal experience of humanity, freely shared by Christ as part of His fully human life.  And as the flow of blood is symbolic of death, we also are to remember His death and Resurrection, the transfiguring power of the Cross and of Christ's suffering.  In this sense, God has fully participated in our lives in this afflicted world, so that we may fully participate in God's life.  Jesus says as much when He tells Nicodemus, in John's Gospel, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  Ultimately, all suffering and affliction is contained in the life of Christ and particularly in His Passion -- suffering, death, and Resurrection.  And it is through His redemptive mission and voluntary death and suffering and Resurrection, that we may also find redemption in our lives.  We are enabled to participate in the energies of God's love through this saving power of God's life which has been given and lived for us.  It really does not matter what situation we find ourselves in, there the life of Christ awaits our attention and participation.  There is a way to rehabilitate our lives through the exchange of the life of "the world" -- that world of the negative voices that deny faith and ridicule Christ -- for the life of Christ.  But just as Christ went up upon the Cross, so we, too, have to take up our own crosses, and that is not an easy nor a simple thing to do.  It may involve sacrifice on our part.  Perhaps the outcome we wanted isn't really where God takes us, or what is truly best for the soul.  We must work to accept the outcome God has in mind, and give up the things we think we want.  Christ gave up His very life as Jesus; He went before us.  But He took on all the suffering and affliction of the world so that He can also take on what afflicts and causes us to suffer.  The power of the Cross is right there, but depends on our voluntary acceptance of His offer and His life for us.  Let us remember that He does everything to shore up faith in today's reading; faith is the crux that bears us forward.