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 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.   Once again Jesus is back on what is for His ministry the "home" side of the Sea of Galilee, back in Capernaum.  He has just traveled with the disciples to a place among the tombs, to heal one tormented by a legion of demons (see yesterday's reading, above), and now He is back at the headquarters of His Galilean ministry.   Mark emphasizes once again that the crowds thronged Him, and even one of the rulers of the synagogue comes to Him, desperate for help for his little daughter, who is dying.

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."   It's important to know that this woman's flow of blood makes her ritually unclean.  For her to touch Christ under these circumstances was a bold act indeed for which she could pay a high price; it's no wonder she was fearing and trembling.  Contact with blood was quite strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  But Christ draws her out to praise her faith.   Certainly her affliction and suffering are such that compassion is called for.  Importantly, we note that she has made a full confession to Christ, she told Him the whole truth.   My study bible notes that there is by tradition also a spiritual interpretation of this encounter.  In that light, this woman symbolizes human nature in general.  My study bible says that humanity is in constant suffering and subject to death, which is symbolized by the flow of blood.  Those physicians who could not cure her, in this understanding, symbolize the various religions of the world, including the Old Testament Law, each of which were unable to grant life to humanity.  My study bible adds that it is only through Christ that we are freed from suffering and bondage to sin.

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.  We note the emphasized importance of faith in both healings.  Here, Jesus goes so far as to cast the mourners who wept and wailed loudly and those who ridiculed Him outside.  He deliberately takes action both to cast out the faithless, and to shore up faith as He takes His inner circle of Peter and James and John Zebedee -- those disciples with the strongest faith -- into the place where the child was lying.   My study bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).

It's interesting that the age of the little girl, and the time that the older woman has suffered from a blood flow, are both twelve years.  Twelve is an important number:  there were twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve disciples.   In the Revelation, the new Jerusalem has twelve gates, twelve angels at the gates, and twelve foundations of the city wall (Revelation 21:12-14).  It is a number of fullness, meaning perfection or completeness.  This woman's twelve-year flow of blood, therefore, has been with her so that she finally comes to Christ as the only means of healing her affliction, in the fullness of her experience.  The twelve year old little girl, on the other hand, is just beginning a mature life; her "life after death" being an initiation perhaps into the life that Christ can bring to us as we truly begin to live in Him.  Any way that we choose to look at this number, it is given to us in the details, and there is nothing placed in the Gospels that is irrelevant, nothing here that does not teach us something essential.  How poignant is it that a long-suffering mature woman is given the time and attention for her faith and healing, as is young twelve-year-old daughter, in the very promise of life, at the request of a ruler of the synagogue?   Jesus calls one "Little girl," but the other He calls "Daughter," for He praises her faith for making her well.  Perhaps, like the little girl, we are those whose parents have brought us to Christ.  We may also be, like the mature woman, those who have suffered and whose suffering has brought us finally to Christ, who both heals and cleanses.  This story seems to suggest to us that, either way, the author of life is Christ Himself, and that no matter what the concern, it is to Him we go when everything else has failed.  He is the one who turns no one away, who has time for the woman who has exhausted all her funds on doctors and only grown worse, and for the girl who is presumed dead and for her desperate parents.  It is when we call upon Christ that we may put all things into perspective, for it is to Him we go when all things are starkly real and there is no more pretense.  It is then we understand He is the one whom we need.   In Revelation 21:5 we read that He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."  In the Greek, this may more closely be translated,  "I am always making all things new."  And then we read that He said also, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."  True and faithful -- these are the natures of the gifts that we are given for our lives.  He teaches us faith, and He teaches us truth.  We may put our trust in Him.  By our faith we are truly His children, and in our truth we find that He is the One who awaits when all else fails.   Let us remember the dignity He gives to all, to the woman who has lost everything and to the little girl whose life is just beginning.