Who touched Me?

 

 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, following a harrowing, stormy journey across the Sea of Galilee, 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 in 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.    Here Jesus has returned to Capernaum, the "headquarters" of His Galilean ministry, where all know Him.   We can see that Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, is completely familiar with Jesus.  

 

 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."   My study Bible comments that authority over life and death is in the hand of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).  As Christ is of one essence with the Father, He has such authority (John 5:21).  This woman's healing, it says, is a demonstration of Christ's power to cleanse and heal (see Matthew 8:1-4).   In the Old Testament, hemorrhage caused ceremonial defilement, and it imposed religious and social restrictions, as contact with blood was strictly prohibited (Leviticus 15:25).  This woman has suffered for twelve years, not only from her ailment but also from the many physicians she's already consulted and only grown worse.  Although she accounts herself unclean, she nonetheless approaches Jesus secretly and with great faith.  Jesus tells her to go in peace, that her faith has made her well.  He corrects her thinking, as she could not hide her touch, neither was she excluded from Him because of her illness.  Finally, He exhibits her faith to everyone. so they might imitate her.

 

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.  The resurrection of Jairus' daughter is an affirmation of Christ's power over life and death.  According to my study Bible, this healing, together with other resurrections performed by Christ in the Gospels (such as the raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-44) 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).  My study Bible comments that while many people have exercised authority over the living, it's only the Son of God who "has power over both the living and the dead" (words found in the Eastern Orthodox funeral service).  Let us note here that while Christ has power through His word alone (John 11:43), he also touched the child in taking her by the hand, showing (as in the healing of the woman's blood flow) that His body is life-giving.  

 

Touch plays a significant part in today's reading.  That is, the touch that allows people to receive the power of Christ to heal, even to restore life.  We should not be surprised at this, for we are to understand that it is the Incarnation itself that restores us.  God became human to assume all the things of humanity, so that humanity could be healed.  Therefore (and thereby) His body is life-giving.  In the first instance in today's reading,  this woman with the twelve-years flow of blood comes behind Him, in a crowd, and believes, "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well."  Surely the text indicates to us that this crowd was bumping into one another as it was, for the disciples are incredulous that He'd like them to tell Him who touched Him.  They say, "You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  The impossibility for them of telling Jesus just who it was tells us how crowded this scene was.  But what is the difference between her touch and the possible accidental touch of others in crowd that throngs Jesus?  It is her faith that makes the difference.  Jesus tells her, and the crowd, and His disciples, and us as well that this is so, when He tells her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."  It's remarkable that we're also told she came and confessed to Him what she'd done, even as she feared and trembled, for this is a kind of face-to-face meeting with God.  It is the same sense in coming to repentance and coming before God for reconciliation.  She is reconciled indeed, even as "unclean" as her blood flow makes her, for He calls her "Daughter."  Then there is the case of the little girl, a daughter of one of the rulers of the synagogue.  She is just twelve years old, St. Mark tells us, the age of the number of years the older woman had suffered.  Jesus raises her up, taking her by the hand, commanding the little girl to arise.  In the first case of the woman with the blood flow, the faith was hers that made the difference, and effectively Christ felt His own power go out of Him to heal her.  In this case, the faith of the parents, so desperately needing to be strengthened by Jesus and His closest disciples, is what is at work.  This says to us that the prayers of the Church have an effect, even that we, in our prayers and in our faith, can take stewardship of a kind to help others to come to that healing touch of Christ.  Just as we pay even for the dead in the Church, so our prayers are heard for others even for God's mercy after death.  Surely the stories of resurrection in the Gospels teach us that as well.  (In addition to the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11, see also the raising of the son of the widow of Nain at Luke 7:11-17).  Surely the power of God is everywhere, and thus our prayers to God are effectively without barrier.  Let us not forget that Christ's body, life-giving as it is for us, also was part of His Ascension, thus the power to heal humanity follows into territory we can't possibly limit nor predict.  Let us not forget our great gift of the Incarnation, feeding us in the Eucharist, and the tremendous and irreplaceable gift of faith.