Talitha, cumi

 

 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 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus and the disciples came through a windstorm and finally 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 in Capernaum, His ministry "headquarters" in Galilee.  Here we see He is well-known enough that one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus, comes to seek Him, for Jairus' daughter is ill to the point of death. 

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."   Again, we understand the renown of Jesus and His ministry in Capernaum, for this crowd is thronging Him.  Included is a woman with a chronic flow of blood, a hemorrhage which even many physicians have failed to heal, although she has spent all that she had.  We are meant to understand her desperation, and that in the Old Testament, hormorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and it imposed religious and social restrictions on a person, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  She accounts herself unclean, but nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus understands that power had gone out of Him, and wants to seek the person whose faith was garnered such a healing response, telling her, "Your faith has made you well."  He tells her to "Go in peace" because through her faith, her illness did not exclude her from Him.  My study Bible comments that He exhibits her faith to all, so that they might imitate her.  My study Bible also adds that there is a spiritual interpretation of this encounter in patristic commentary:  this woman symbolizes human nature in general.  Humanity is in constant suffering and subject to death, which is symbolized by her flow of blood.  Those many physicians who could not cure her stand for the various religions of the world, including the Old Testament Law,  which were unable to grant life to humanity.  Only through Christ, my study Bible says, are we 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.   Note that as Jesus took time for the encounter with the woman healed of the blood flow, in the meantime Jairus' daughter has died.  But Jesus' emphasis is on faith; His confidence in the power of God at work through Him and in His ministry.  So essential is faith that He takes with Him only Peter, James, and John, those disciples who are of the strongest faith and the closest to Him.  The people in the house are already lamenting and wailing; they ridicule Jesus when He says the child is not dead.  My study Bible comments that this is one of three resurrections performed by Christ  as recorded in the Gospels (see also Luke 7:11-17, John 11:1-44).  It says that they confirm the promise given to the prophet Ezekiel that God will one day open the graves and raise all the dead (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  Many people have exercised authority over the living; only the Son of God "has power over both the living and the dead" (quoting from the Orthodox funeral service).  While Jesus has power through His word alone (John 11:43), we observe from the touch of the woman with the blood flow that even His very body is life-giving; with both His word ("Little girl, I say to you, arise") and His touch He raises Jairus' daughter.  

Talitha cumi is the phrase given here as the one Jesus says to the little girl, Jairus' daughter.  It is Aramaic.  "Talitha" is a kind of affectionate diminutive term translated for us as "little girl."   Some sources suggest that it is etymologically related to the Aramaic and Hebrew word for "lamb."  Cum, or cumi, is "arise."  In a certain sense, the words remind us of those who will arise to the word of Christ at the Resurrection.  (It also echoes in the Aramaic-related language of the Paschal Troparion in Arabic, "Masīh qām," "Christ is risen.")    Christ Himself is the Word, the Son who commands by word, and words echo with meanings and poetic reminders of the things of God and the power of Christ.  So His raising of the daughter of Jairus is an echo of the spiritual truths to come and the hope we have in Christ for each of us and all of those whom we love, just the way that Jairus loves His daughter.  On the other hand, we have the woman with the blood flow, who seems quite alone in life, made solitary and excluded through her hemorrhage, the laws of the society, and her exhaustive and failed efforts to find a solution, having "suffered many things from many physicians" and depleting her resources in the process, having "spent all that she had."  Even more distressing is Mark's note that her health had not gotten better, but rather she had simply grown worse.  She is seemingly the opposite of Jairus' daughter, having no one and nothing.  But, there are similarities here.  Mark tells us that Jairus' daughter is twelve years old, while the older woman has spent the equivalent of that lifetime, twelve years, in suffering with her ailment.  But ultimately, both are daughters and "lambs" of Christ through faith.  Remarkably there is still a place for this woman to come for healing, one last place where her endurance through her affliction still has reserves to spend, and that is in her faith in Christ, a faith strong enough to unleash the power of God to heal.  Jesus clearly makes this distinction when He praises her faith, declaring that it is her faith that has made her well.  This is not to say that faith is some kind of magic trick, but rather a testimony to the things we have when we think we have nothing.  It is our faith that calls upon the power of God at work in life.  Let us note that Jesus does not restore all of her money, nor does He somehow reverse time and give her back her twelve years of suffering and ostracization.  But He returns her to community, and through Him, she is beloved by God, and praised for her faith.  She has a new start to make, albeit twelve years on, but she has her health restored and she has her faith and a community to be a part of.  We may presume that for Jairus and his family, this also is a start of a new life, for how could things remain the same for them -- and especially the young girl who is risen from death -- after the healing power of Christ has touched their lives, and similarly to the healed woman with the blood flow, becomes known to all?  And these resources of faith and renewal we may also find in our own lives, when through affliction and difficulties, we are turned with our faith to Christ.  Faith is not a magic restoration of things we once had, but we might find that it is a renewal in the midst of despair, a starting over with a different kind of start and a different kind of life from what we have known:  we find a family and community in Christ, we find that we have something to build up, a new start to make, and new meanings to construct for ourselves, even new roles to play in the world through our faith.  What would become of Jairus and his family after Christ was crucified?  We don't know.  What of this woman?  We don't know that either.  Would she become one of those who followed Him from Galilee to Jerusalem?  Was she a part of the early Church?  Would Jairus and his daughter also face exile for their role in His ministry?  Would he go from a position as ruler in the synagogue to a member of the early Christian church, and endure persecution even from his fellow rulers of the synagogue?  In the persecutions that followed by the Jewish religious authorities (such as those enforced by the young St. Paul, then called Saul, who guarded the garments of those who stoned St. Stephen the first martyr), would they renounce their faith?  We don't know the answers to these questions, but we may easily pose them.  And although we don't today (at least in the West) endure the same types of persecutions as those early Christians, we might still ask ourselves what it means to be healed by Christ and to profess faith in times of despair and distress.  For the new start we encounter may also ask of us some forms of sacrifice and loss, where we're challenged to build a life on new foundations, and a new sense of self.  This is common with people who have struggled with addictions, for example, for whom a new environment, new friends, and a detachment from the old circumstances that seem to enforce their past behavior becomes necessary, but which must accompany faith in a "higher power" as well.   On Saturday, we read about the healed man who had been afflicted with a legion of demons (see above); he also could not return to his environment but was sent back to his friends he knew beforehand, but with a message of the compassion of the Lord who had done great things for him.  Nonetheless, it was a new start, one in which he would have to find his way as the new person he had become, who preached the good news of Christ the Lord.  Let us be prepared to understand that faith in Christ, and especially deep encounters with the power of God which acts upon that faith, is going to change us and change our lives.  When we pray, we call upon God in the exercise of that faith, and should not be surprised if life asks of us a new start from a new place, for God's life adds to us new life, and calls us out of the old.  This renewal for these people can never be a return to the past but a calling to the new, for the healing of Christ gives us a call to Christ, which we may choose to follow or possibly ignore -- but one can't imagine the sad consequences of turning one's back upon a Savior and the power that healed and transformed.  We recall Jesus' words to the man healed by the Sheep Gate, in John's Gospel, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you" (John 5:14).  So often these miraculous stories are presented as if Christ is simply One who bestows great material blessings.  But this was a mistaken view of the Messiah in His own time and remains a mistaken view among us today, even as we read these Gospel stories.  In Christ's healing power, there is also a call to discipleship, and in that call is a challenge for our future lives and how we will choose to build them -- if we will, in fact, grow in our faith.  Let us consider the power of God, for it is the power of life and death (John 5:21).   Even in the midst of our lives, Christ brings the power of resurrection to renew, but then we are called to follow.  For we are all His sheep, and He is at once the Good Shepherd and the true Lamb of God.