Matters of Life and Death—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 6B (Mark 5)
Mark 5:21-43 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him, and he was by the sea. 22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23 and pleaded with him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years. 26 She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had, and she was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 for she said, “If I but touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood stopped, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 He looked all around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” 37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they came to the synagogue leader’s house, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42 And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this and told them to give her something to eat.
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Jesus
tried to keep his true identity a secret (Mark’s Messianic Secret), but people
had a sense there was something unique about this man. So, they continued to
approach him, seeking healing of the body and soul. Generally, he didn’t
disappoint them. What people did seem to know was that he was a source of
healing, and when it comes to matters of life and death, you go to where you
will find healing.
Chapter
5 begins with Jesus’ encounter with the Gerasene Demoniac (Mk 5:1-20), a man
who Jesus encountered after crossing the Sea of Galilee, a crossing that
included Jesus stilling the storm (Mk 4:35-41). Having crossed back over the
lake by boat to the more Jewish side, he encounters a great crowd of people. What
happens next involves two healing stories, though one of the stories is
sandwiched between the other.
The story begins
as Jesus tries to navigate the crowd that has gathered to greet him after he gets
out of the boat. Just then a leader of the local synagogue approached him. He
would likely have been a lay leader in the congregation, perhaps something akin
to the board chair. In any case, he was a person of importance in the community
and likely quite wealthy. Mark even gives him a name—Jairus. This man has a
daughter who is quite ill. He is desperate to have her restored to health. So,
he approaches Jesus and falls at Jesus’ feet and implores Jesus to come with
him and bring his daughter back to health by touching her. It is, in his eyes,
a matter of life or death. If Jesus doesn’t come with him his daughter will
surely die. Since Jesus was known to be
a compassionate healer, and this girl was sick and dying, so how could he say
no to Jairus’ request? So, Jesus went with Jairus.
Jairus’
daughter is not the only person who is sick and in need of healing. As Jesus
followed Jairus to his home, the crowd followed them. The people knew quite
well that interesting things happened when Jesus was in town. They had probably
heard about the Gerasene demoniac even before Jesus’ boat arrived on shore. In
an age before TV, what better form of entertainment than watching to see what
would happen when Jesus gets a request for healing? As they made their way to
the house where Jairus’ young daughter lay dying, a woman who had been
suffering from hemorrhages for more than a decade, made her way through the
crowd toward Jesus. She had spent a fortune on doctors but to no avail. Even as
Jairus was at his wits end with the possibility his daughter might die, this
unnamed woman was also at her wits end. Jesus was her last hope for healing,
but she didn’t dare interrupt him on his journey. She hoped that touching the
hem of his robe would be sufficient to heal her body. Amazingly, that’s what
happened. As soon as she reached out and touched Jesus' cloak, the hemorrhaging
stopped. She was free from her torment. She could get back to living.
This
woman believed Jesus could heal her body, but she didn’t want to interrupt him
as he headed toward Jairus’ home. After all, Jairus was an important figure in
the community and his daughter was dying. As for this unnamed woman, she was
poor and of no real importance to the larger community. But she was desperate to
find relief from her affliction. There was no need to get Jesus’ attention and
delay his arrival at Jairus’ house. Despite her stealth, Jesus felt healing
power emanate from him. He might not know who touched him, but he knew someone
touched him and had been healed. So, he asked, “Who touched me?” You can only imagine how the disciples heard
this question. Here is this large crowd
and Jesus wants to know who touched him. Probably lots of people had touched
him. As for the woman, she didn’t want to be noticed. After all her bleeding
had made her unclean. By touching Jesus’ robe, she essentially made him
unclean. She had acted out of desperation and hoped no one would notice. But
now that Jesus asked who touched him, she felt she had to respond. She feared
being rebuked, but Jesus simply said to her: “Daughter, your faith has made you
well, go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” As was often the case with
Jesus, not only did he provide healing to the woman’s body, but he restored her
to her community. As William Placher reminds us, this woman suffered from an
affliction that prevented her from entering the Temple or even participating in
religious rituals. Her family couldn’t touch her because she would be
considered unclean due to the bleeding. Thus, Placher notes that “it is hard to
imagine anyone more marginalized by her society, more different from the
beloved daughter of a wealthy community leader” [Belief: Mark, p. 82].
There’s
still the matter of Jairus’ daughter. No sooner had Jesus spoken to the woman
and sent her on her way healed of her disease than word came from Jairus’ house
that his daughter had died. They told Jairus that there was no need to bother
Jesus now. It was too late as death had come to the home. They hoped Jesus
would heal the girl, but now all they could do was mourn their loss. It was a
tragic loss, but a loss, nonetheless. Fortunately, Jesus heard the conversation
between the messengers and Jairus. He told the father, who was by now grieving
loss: “Do not fear, only believe.” Now it was one thing to believe Jesus could
heal a disease, but raising the dead was something else. Nevertheless, Jesus went with Jairus, taking
only Peter, James, and John with him, leaving the crowd behind.
By
the time they arrived at the house, the mourning had begun. People at the house
were weeping and wailing, making a great commotion. Now this was not an unusual
thing. This is how people grieved. It was loud and demonstrative. But could
this response be premature? Might there still be another outcome other than the
premature death of a young girl? When they get to the house, Jesus says the
most absurd thing: “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not
dead, but sleeping.” Now Jesus knew why they were making such a commotion, and
it wasn’t because the girl was asleep. While the people had been weeping, now
they laughed at him.
Jesus
just ignores their laughter and goes into the girl’s room (here is a sign that
this is a wealthy family—she appears to have her own room. Jesus doesn’t say a
prayer or perform a ritual. He just tells the girl to get up out of bed—just as
if she had been asleep. She gets up out of bed and walks around the room. The
one who had been dead now lives once more. Interestingly, Mark tells us that
this little girl was twelve years old. That’s the same number of years as the
woman’s battle with hemorrhaging. Therefore, they seem to have something else
in common.
As
is generally the case when something like this happens in the Gospel of Mark,
whether it’s a healing or the stilling of a storm, the observers are filled
with amazement. As is often true in Mark, Jesus “strictly orders that no one should
know this.” This is once again, the Messianic Secret. But, how do you keep
something like this secret? While Jesus may want to keep this a secret, Mark’s
readers are being let in on the secret so that they might come to faith in
Jesus.
Scripture
readings such as this one will raise questions about matters of life and death.
Why is it that some live and others die? Why do some suffer, and others do not?
One might ask why, if he can heal the woman and raise the little girl from the
dead, God doesn’t just send out a blanket word of healing and heal everyone.
Surely if God is powerful, God could do this? Inquiring minds want to know, but
there is no good answer. While many people attempt to create theodicies
(defenses of God) to respond, I’m not sure any of them truly work.
Mark uses a narrative technique here called intercalation, in which two stories are intertwined allowing for a bit of comparison or contrast. Perhaps what stands out is that in offering healing to the little girl and the woman, they represent two very different strata of society and Jesus responds to both of them. As Matthew Skinner notes, “In this particular passage, the pairing of two stories offers a rich characterization of Jesus’ healing ministry and the multifaceted salvation he brings. No one is out of reach” [Connections, p. 123]. So, what we know from these interwoven stories is that we have two people who have heard that Jesus can heal people, and apparently no one is out of reach. So, they take a chance and seek Jesus out. Jairus asks directly, but then he’s a person of importance and it’s his young daughter who is at risk. As for the woman, she had nothing to lose. She had spent all her money on doctors, and she was still bleeding after twelve years, which made her unclean.
When we read a passage
like this we have to do so with many questions in mind, one of which is why
some people live and others die. The fact is, Jesus doesn’t heal everyone. He
didn’t bring an end to sickness and death during his lifetime, and these realities
remain with us. Although these stories raise questions about why some are
healed and others are not, what we can say is that Jesus seems to act out of love
for one’s neighbor. Even if he does draw attention to himself through his acts
of healing, in Mark he doesn’t want to publicize it. He simply acts out of
compassion. As for us, well, might we not only respond with amazement at what
we see here but at what we see God doing in our own midst? Perhaps our stories
won’t be as amazing as these two, but we all have stories of our God-encounters,
even healing stories.
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