Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time
MARK 5:21-43 (Wisdom 1:13-15; Psalm 3-:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13; 2 Cor 8:7-9, 13-15)
There are two miracle stories in this Sunday’s gospel reading – restoration to life of a twelve year old girl and restoration to health of a woman who had been ill for twelve years. The miracle stories Mark chooses to include in his Good News at one time circulated independently in preaching and catechesis. The number twelve in each of these stories seems to have drawn them together not only in oral instruction before Mark, but also in Mark’s gospel. They seem to be the product of a master story-teller. These are the third and fourth miracles following Mark’s chapter four, the parable chapter. Mark began a method of instruction that was adopted by Matthew from Mark’s gospel – miracles follow instruction to validate the instruction. Matthew added two chapters of Jesus’ miracles after the Sermon on the Mountain.
Previously Jesus and Co. crossed the Sea of Galilee from its western shore to the eastern shore. Today’s gospel reading begins, “When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side….”
This means that Jesus re-crossed the Sea of Galilee back to the western shore, probably landing in the vicinity of Capernaum. There his mission was headquartered at the home of his disciples Simon and Andrew. The synagogue was next door to their house. Jairus was president of the synagogue. He approaches Jesus and, in a typically Eastern fashion, does obeisance before him. Mark’s addition of personal names in some of his stories adds greater interest. Jairus is deeply troubled by the grave illness of his daughter. His faith in the healing power of Jesus is total, “Please come and place your hands upon her and she will be saved and live.” Placing hands upon someone was a common feature of the ancient practice of healing. From the time of Jesus all the way into our own time the Church has maintained this practice in the sacraments of healing.
Jesus’ quick response to a desperate parent is an example for the healing profession. Mark notes that the crowd was “crushing him.” This sets the stage for a miracle within a miracle. A woman had been suffering hemorrhages for twelve years. Commenting on this episode, Thomas Aquinas points out that the woman became ill when the twelve year old girl was born. Mark adds an unkind remark about physicians, which both Matthew and Luke deleted from their version of this story. Mark writes, “She had suffered much from many physicians, and had spent all she owned, but it helped her not at all. In fact, she became worse.” Jesus’ fame as a healer roused her courage and faith so that she dared to come up behind Jesus in a crushing crowd and touch his garments. Why “dared”? Her loss of blood rendered her ritually “unclean” according to the Torah of Moses. Her “uncleanness” would be conveyed to anyone or anything she touched. See Leviticus 15:25-30. How complicated life could be because of such ancient taboos! Jesus often ignores these taboos, as He does in this instance.
As the woman touched Him, she was instantly cured of her affliction. Jesus’ first reaction to the woman’s cure seems strange to modern people, “Jesus knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him,” almost as if He was powered by batteries and their output was lowered by the cure. He turned around, and said, “Who touched My garments?” As usual, Mark depicts the disciples of Jesus as rather thick-headed and prone to insensitive remarks. They say, “You see how the crowd is crushing upon you, and then you say, ‘Who touched Me?’” Jesus again looked around. The woman knew she had been caught. She did obeisance before Him in the Oriental manner and told Jesus “the whole truth.” Jesus commends her faith and pronounces her cure through her faith, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” The miracle completed, Mark returns to the miracle with which His instruction began.
In the turmoil of the crowd messengers reached the synagogue official with sad news, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher any longer?” Jesus ignored the sad news and said to the bereft father, who had already displayed such faith in Him, “Do not be afraid. Just have faith.” When they arrived at the official’s house, they came into an uproar - weeping, wailing, and (Matthew adds) flute players. These latter were the customary hired mourners. Jesus questions the reason for this turmoil. He assures the mourners that the child is only sleeping, not dead. They ridicule Him. Mark adds a graphic note, “Jesus threw them out (of the room).” The official hired mourners would therefore lose their stipend.
He takes with Him into the “sleeping” child’s room only the parents, and Peter, James and John. These three became official witnesses of Jesus’ power to raise the dead, a power they would proclaim after Jesus’ own resurrection. Taking the little girl’s hand, Jesus said to her in Aramaic, in the language later used to express His own resurrection and that of others, “Talitha, koum!” (“Little Girl, Arise!) A compassionate Jesus tells the parents to give their restored child something to eat. Thus Mark concludes an instruction on faith in Jesus' healing power. He also teaches the value of petitioning Jesus for others, Jesus’ compassion for the suffering and the deceased, and His power to raise the dead. A further instruction is given when Jesus commands the witnesses to say nothing about the girl’s resurrection. This is Mark’s strategy. He teaches that Jesus’ miracles cannot be properly understood until He died and rose from the dead. His power comes from the cross and His resurrection.
