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.
These stories of Jairus’ daugher and the woman with the flow of blood, are full of parallels, and intersting juxtapositions. Lets explore. It begins and ends with a father’s plea for his sick and dying daughter…, but along the way they are delayed by a large crowd and the bleeding woman. Jesus handles both perfectly. We start with Jesus wanting to heal the girl by traveling to Jairus’ home, and laying hands on her. But they quickly gets swamped by a crowd and we have the encounter with the bleeding woman, wanting to lay hands on Jesus. The sybmolism and meaning in today’s passage is vast, and there are several ways that this reading has been interpreted over the years.
The first interpretation is rather metaphorical and is found in the number 12 which traditionally represents the 12 tribes of isreal, and the 12 disciples. This interpretation is based on a belief that these two incidents represent the dreadful state of the jewish leadership and its people (the 12 tribes of Isreal) at that time. The temple was being run by the pharisees, who were not levites, and they were using their power over the temple to gain authority and wealth from the Jewish people, and as a result the temple and the faith was dying. While at the same time the average jewish citizen was lost, and persecuted and exiled. They had no righteous teachers to guide them to right worship and because of the corruption and desecration of the temple they were very much separated from true and full worship.
The parallels here of Jairus (the synagogue official) to the temple leaders, and between the hemoraging woman (exiled by illness from right worship) to the persecuted jewish people are profound. But what is even more profound is how in each situation they found the answer to their problems… they both turned to Jesus (in faith) for His healing touch. Jesus is the great high priest, and the rightful leader of the temple. He is the last and greatest king of the line of David, and the rightful leader of the jewish kingdom. And He is the great teacher and prophet of all of God’s law and love in this world, and the last and only rabbi (teacher) that we ever need. In all things, Jesus is the answer.
The next interpretation is much more personal, and aimed at how we are to approch God in faith for our pettitions and healing. Jairus shows us the power of a parents prayers for those that they love, and the Bleeding woman shows us that simple humble faith is all that you need. And finally that God has power over death, and that His healing grace is always available to us if we simply and humbly ask for it.
The bleeding woman was a faithful jew, but she had suffered greatly due to her perpetual uncleanliness, and the traditions of ritual washing that kept her on the outskirts jewish life, almost as if she was a leper. It is clear that she did indeed, believe that Jesus was the messiah that was promised by all of the prophets. And she showed it in her faith that if she could simply touch the hem of Jesus’ garment she would be healed. This is interesting because in Jewish tradition, the rabbis and great teachers of the jewish world, wore tassels that hung from the hems of their cloaks. These tassels were a sign of the torah. So this woman is saying, incredibly, that if she could but touch the law, that she could be healed too. It was the jewish “law” that was keeping her from fully practicing her faith but it was the Law (Jesus) that could save her. And as such Her faith was rewarded, and she was in fact healed, because Jesus is the fulfillment of the all the law and all of the prophets.
The scripture says that Jesus knew this had happened, because he said that power had left him. This too, is remarkable, because it means that the healing happened without Jesus’ fore-knowledge or intention. That fact serves as a hope for us even today. That if we simply reach out to Jesus for help, we too can be healed. But why was her “touching” of Jesus, different than all of the rest who were pressing in on him? The answer is simply because, she touched him with faith, and that is what we are called to as well, to reach out to Jesus with faith.
Now getting back to Jairus, this whole escapade must have been a very unbearable delay for him, and ultimately heart-breaking, because he is told along the way that his daughter had died. I suspect that God allowed this so as to increase even more the miracle that He was planning on doing for this family. Jesus encourages Faith not Fear, but the crowd condemns Him because the girl is “dead.” But He brings the father and mother in and raises the daughter, putting all of the scoffers to shame. And He shows us all the power of a parents prayer for their children. We should never forget this, and we should never stop praying for our children, no matter how old they become. One other thing that is amazing about this girl’s resurrection is that the words He says to the girl “talitha koum,” which means “arise.” These are the same words used in the bible for resurrection of Jesus, 3 days after his passion. I believe that this similarity is used, on purpose here, because it reveals the plans that God has to restore us all, body and soul at the end of time, and jairus’ daughter is just a foretaste of what we can expect, in our own resurrection.
Finally, our last interpretation is the juxtaposition of 12 years, and the power that prayerful sacrifice has on the world, even for those we do not know. The child was 12 years old, and that is the same amount of time that the woman had the bleeding hemorrhage. The meaning of this may not be immediately clear, but I like to think that it points to the existence and need in this world for offering up our suffering for the good of others. This is not official church teaching, but I think that this woman suffered with dignity, and offered up her suffering, in faith, for those that are less well off than her. That maybe Jairus’ daughter would have already have died, long before, if it were not for the bleeding woman and the sacrifice that she bore quietly and faithfully for all those years. But through faith not fear, Jesus heals both, and glorifies God at the same time. This is a hope and promise for us all, that there is a purpose and dignity to all suffering, and it is our duty to offer up our hardships as best we can, for the good of the whole body of christ and the communion of saints.
So despite the fact that these interpretations are so different, they all have one thing in common, and that is the answer to their suffering…, Jesus! We are called to turn to Him in everything. In our joys, in our trials, and even in our great suffering. He has the power to heal you, but only you can make it happen. You have to choose to turn to Him, to trust Him in all things and to have faith that He will heal you when the time is right and will do so in the way that most glorify the lord Father in heaven. This is not easy, and this is why patience is considered a virtue, because great rewards await those who persevere to the end. We will not understand this mystery in this life, but we will be amazed by it in the next. So please have faith not fear, and trust in the Lord for all things.
