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Gospel: 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Today’s Gospel passage can seem confusing, as there is a story within a story.
Imagine Jesus on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter, who is on the brink of death. The crowds were pressing in on the Lord, eager to see if he would perform another miracle. Suddenly, Jesus comes to a screeching halt.
Somebody touched him.
I’d imagine dozens of people bumped into him, but this person is different. Someone touched him in faith.
When Jesus calls the anonymous soul forward, the woman approaches him in fear and trembling because she broke the Law. Her perpetual flow of blood rendered her impure. She could neither touch another human being, nor enter the Temple to pray.
But she reached for Jesus in faith, believing in her soul that simply touching the tassel of his’ cloak would be enough… and it was.
In a split second, twelve years of misery evaporated.
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The same dynamics unfold once Jesus enters Jairus’ home. Since the girl is dead, anyone who touches her is considered ritually impure.
But the Lord breaks the Law, grabbing the twelve-year-old by the hand in order to raise her up.
Nowhere else in the Gospels are two stories of healing sandwiched together, both of which require breaking the Law in order for a person to be healed.
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What might Mark be saying to us?
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While religious laws are a good thing – they create structure and impose boundaries – sometimes they need to be broken in order to allow a person to encounter Jesus.
Because faith, even from an impure or imperfect person, leads to salvation.
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Image credits: (1) Salford Elim Church (2) Independent Catholic News (3) Catholic Diocese of Christchurch