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. 22 One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet 23 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.” 24 He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.
25 There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. 26 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. 27 She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. 28 She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” 29 Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” 31 But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
35 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?” 36 Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” 37 He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38 When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 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. 41 He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” 42 The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. [At that] they were utterly astounded. 43 He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.
Jesus has just crossed back by boat, and a large crowd gathers around Him near the sea. Into that crowd comes Jairus, a synagogue official. He falls at Jesus’ feet and pleads for his little daughter who is “at the point of death.” Jairus is not asking for a debate or a sign. He pleads with Jesus to come and lay his hands on her so that she may get well and live. Jesus goes off with him, and the crowd follows, pressing in on every side.
On the way, Mark places another desperate person directly into the path of Jairus’ urgent need. A woman has suffered for twelve years from an ongoing bleeding condition that would not stop. She has endured much, spent “all that she had,” and only grown worse. She comes up behind Jesus in the crowd and touches His cloak. She is not treating His clothing as magic. She is acting in faith that Jesus Himself can heal her. Immediately, the bleeding stops, and she knows in her body that she is healed.
Jesus then turns and asks who touched His clothes. The disciples point out what everyone can see: the crowd is pushing and pressing in. But Jesus does not let the moment pass as if it were nothing. He looks around and asks who touched His clothes. The woman approaches “in fear and trembling,” falls before Him, and tells Him the whole truth. Jesus calls her “Daughter.” By calling her ‘Daughter,’ Jesus speaks to her with tenderness and openly restores her place among God’s people, giving her peace as well as healing. When He says, “Your faith has saved you,” He is not reducing her to just someone who has been healed. He is naming what happened: her trust brought her into contact with the saving power of God at work in Him. She leaves with peace, and with a clear word from Jesus that her affliction is truly ended.
While Jesus is still speaking to her, messengers arrive from Jairus’ house with the worst news: “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” Jesus disregards the reported message and says to the synagogue official: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” Jairus is now being asked to trust when the situation looks beyond hope.
Jesus then limits the circle. Only Peter, James, and John go with Him into the house. There is loud weeping and wailing. Jesus says, “The child is not dead but asleep,” and the mourners ridicule Him. Mark is not denying that she has died. He is showing Jesus speaking and acting with God’s authority over death. Jesus puts the crowd out, takes the child’s parents and the three disciples into the room, and takes the girl by the hand. Jesus speaks, and the girl rises immediately and walks around.
Jesus gives strict orders that no one should know. Mark often shows Jesus refusing to let miracles become a spectacle or a misunderstanding of what kind of Savior He is. He also tells them to give the girl something to eat. That small instruction makes the scene concrete. She is alive in the ordinary way again. This is not yet the final resurrection at the end of time, but it is a real victory that points toward it. Other Gospels tell the same paired story with the same stress on faith and fear (Mt. 9:18-26; Lk. 8:40-56). John will later summarize the deeper claim behind such signs when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn. 11:25).
Lord Jesus, strengthen faith where fear is strong. Draw us into honest trust, and bring Your healing and peace where we have suffered for a long time. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (Ignatius Press), pp. 74-75.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), pp. 607-608, para. 36.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: Mark, pp. 180-181.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), pp. 990-991.
- The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd fully revised ed. (2020), pp. 1254-1255.
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