Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat

to the other side, 

a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.

One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.

Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,

“My daughter is at the point of death.

Please, come lay your hands on her

that she may get well and live.”

He went off with him

and a large crowd followed him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.

She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors

and had spent all that she had.

Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.

She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd

and touched his cloak.

She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”

Immediately her flow of blood dried up.

She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,

turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”

But his disciples said to him,

“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,

and yet you ask, Who touched me?"

And he looked around to see who had done it.

The woman, realizing what had happened to her,

approached in fear and trembling.

She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.

He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you.

Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,

people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said,

“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”

Disregarding the message that was reported,

Jesus said to the synagogue official,

“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”

He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside

except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,

he caught sight of a commotion,

people weeping and wailing loudly.

So he went in and said to them,

“Why this commotion and weeping?

The child is not dead but asleep.”

And they ridiculed him.

Then he put them all out.

He took along the child's father and mother

and those who were with him

and entered the room where the child was.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” 

which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”

The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.

At that they were utterly astounded.

He gave strict orders that no one should know this

and said that she should be given something to eat.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you lovingly sent your Son into the world to conquer sin and death. He demonstrated your merciful love by healing the sick and restoring the dead to life. Increase my faith so that I may be an instrument of your love to all I encounter.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Another Markan Sandwich: Today’s Gospel is a classic Markan sandwich, or, in more technical terms, an “intercalation” or “interpolation.” The healing and raising of Jairus’ daughter begins and ends the story, and acts like two pieces of bread that keep the “sandwich” together. The middle story of the woman with a hemorrhage illuminates the outer story. The outer story begins with Jairus, a synagogue leader, who approaches Jesus and pleads for him to heal his dying daughter. Jesus agrees to go and begins to head to Jairus’s house with a large crowd pressing around. The middle part of the sandwich, however, creates tension and suspense. There is a delay caused by the woman with a hemorrhage, and this heightens the drama for Jairus’s daughter. If Jesus doesn’t get there soon, the daughter will die. If the woman, who is not in immediate danger of death, had not delayed him, Jesus could have healed Jairus’ daughter in time. Read together, the inner and outer stories will teach that Jesus’ mission of healing and salvation is not limited or delayed by interruptions. What matters is faith-filled encounters with Jesus.

2. The Two Stories: Both stories involve women. One is a 12-year-old girl, and the other is a woman who has been suffering for 12 years. The number twelve is symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel. And so, both women, in their sickness, represent Israel. The two stories are healing stories and restorations to life. The woman with the hemorrhage was both “healed” and “saved” from chronic illness, isolation, and social death. The girl was “saved” and “raised” from actual death. While Jairus is a prominent and public figure, the woman was marginalized and was ritually unclean. While Jairus was wealthy, the woman was impoverished. Jairus approached Jesus openly; the woman approached in secret. In both stories, faith is central. The woman exemplified a bold and active faith. She worked through the crowd to get to Jesus and believed that he could heal her. Jesus encouraged Jairus to have a faith, similar to that of the woman. Jairus not only had to believe in Jesus’ healing power, but also his power to restore a dead person – Jairus’ own daughter, in this case – to life. How is my faith? Is it bold and active?

3. Jesus’ Healing Power: The middle story – the woman’s faith-healing – provides the interpretive key for the outer story. It models the kind of persistent, trusting faith Jairus and all Christians believers must exercise, especially when our situation is difficult or worsens. The outer story and middle story demonstrate Jesus’ healing and saving power and willingness to heal anyone who approaches him in faith, regardless of social barriers. The two healing stories – the healing of the woman and the restoration of Jairus’ daughter – manifest the theme of inclusion in the Kingdom of God. In this way, Jesus responds to both an insider – Jairus, the local synagogue leader – and the woman – an outsider because of her ailment – emphasizing that faith, not social status, brings about salvation and healing.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Life and the Resurrection. I am running and striving toward you each day and am strengthened by the witness and faith of so many saints.

Living the Word of God: How did I handle the most recent passing of a family member or loved one? Was I able to console those around me through words of faith and comfort? Did I need to accompany them in silence and share in their grief? Was I angry with God, or did I renew my trust in God? Did I offer prayers of intercession for the one who passed?