OT Reading: 2 Samuel: 1:1-27
NT Reading: Mark 5:21-34
A person ought to wonder about several things first when carefully reading
scripture and trying to make sense of it. For example, “What has just happened
in the previous verses?” What is going on at the time of the passage? Is there
anything important about the historical situation and how does it bear on us
now?
Other questions help understanding a passage. One important one is,
“Are we reading a complete event or message, or do we read only a fragment of a
larger story?” This helps us avoid what is called, “proof texting.” Proof
texting uses a one-liner for a sweeping, and often erroneous generalization.
For example, “There are no women in heaven because Revelation 8:1 says, ‘When the
lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an
hour.’”
Through Chapters 3-6, Mark is telling us about the Kingdom of God,
and the interrelationship of faith and being called to believe by the Holy
Spirit.
This passage of Mark looks clearly like a complete story because it
is what is called a “Markan
Sandwich.” There are two stories, one enclosed within another, as we will
see.”
What important event(s) happened preceding the text. Jesus has just
cast out a demon from the Gerasene
demoniac who was so violent he was chained up in a graveyard, but persisted
in breaking his chains. . When Jesus confronts the possessed man, the man, or
the demon possessing him shouts, “What have you to do with me, Jesus,
Son of the Most High God?” (See Mark
1:21-26; in his first sermon, Jesus confronts a possessed man who demons
address Jesus, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? … I know who
you are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus casts out the man’s demons and they
possess pigs that run off a cliff into the sea. The swineherd went to the city
and told everyone what had happened and when they all went out to see, the
found the demoniac pleasantly sitting there in his right mind. The people were
afraid (Greek word means in fearful reverence, as if in the presence of God).
They asked Jesus to leave their place, except the demoniac who asked if he
could accompany Jesus. Jesus told him not, rather go home and tell of God’s grace and mercy to him.
A second theme Mark
constantly uses is that crowds always beset Jesus.
This is where our passage
begins. They leave the area of Gerasene and travel by boat back to the other
shore and a large crowd meets them:
Mark
5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other
side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
What have we learned? A large crowd greets Jesus is greeted by a
large crowd and he is by the sea (of Galilee). He must be about to teach.
Now, to appreciate the remaining verses, we need to recall that we
are about to read a Markan
Sandwich. Biblical scholars have argued long and hard about Mark.
Up until the latter part of the last century, many respectable scholars said
Mark was a poorly constructed Gospel. Mark uses “street Greek,” not the
polished and grammatically precise style of Greek literature. Often it seems he
forgets important details, or gets them wrong.
But now almost all people who study Mark realize not only is it probably
the earliest Gospel, it weaves a very powerful and carefully composed
exposition of the Gospel, presenting the core themes of faith, Divine action and
human frailty in dramatic fashion that stretched the readers mind. Perhaps its vernacular aims at an audience of the disadvantaged and oppressed? One of his
literary devices is the “story sandwich.”
One line of thought to understand why Mark uses these “sandwiches”
is that the inner story is an illustration that conveys the full meaning of the
outer story.
Let's see if that works here.
22 Then
one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him,
fell at his feet 23 and begged 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.
Jairus is “one of the leaders of the synagogue.” This means he is
not a priest or a scribe, but probably some lay person who holds special
credibility and standing in the congregation.
How does the reaction of Jairus differ from that of the folks from
the city of Gerasene? Jairus seems to appreciate who Jesus is and rather than
flee or ask him to leave, he entreats Jesus to aid his dying daughter so she may be made well, and live(!).
So Jesus decides to put the crowd aside and go with him to his house but the crowd is not too happy.
Now Mark puts Jairus and his daughter aside and begins a new story.
25 Now
there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages 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.
The text suggests the woman
in the crowd suffering for 12 years has a gynecological condition. Recall our questions to ask about the text.
What is the nature of the setting? Any Jew hearing this story would know two
things about this woman. Her vaginal bleeding makes her ritually unclean. She
cannot go into the temple, and she is probably childless, either because her
condition prevents her from conceiving, or because her husband, or any person
is forbidden to touch her because it would make them ritually unclean.
Furthermore, she is dying, getting 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 clothes, I will be made well.”
What similarity between the hemorrhaging woman and the
situation with Jairus do you see?
Jairus and the woman know Jesus can heal. Both have taken the initiative to seek out
Jesus. Jairus’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman are both dying.
29 Immediately her hemorrhage 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 clothes?”
31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd
pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
Immediately
this woman gives hope for Jairus, she has been healed. Is Jesus upset because
he realizes someone who is ritually unclean has touched and made him unclean?
No, no word of ritual purity comes forth. Jesus feels as if a little bit of
Grace has leak out. Some interpreters say negatively that the woman has “taken”
some of the power of Jesus, weakening his healing power. However, I suspect
Jesus knows what has happened. His disciples think he is a little off, saying, “Look
at all the people pressing up against us, how can you say ‘who’ touched me?’”
But Jesus persists:
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.”
We have come across these Greek
words, “Fear and trembling” before. The words mean that she is deathly afraid
being in the presence of God. In Philippians
2:12-13, Paul uses similar words to convey the same message, “work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling.” The philosopher, Kierkegaard made them
famous because how one makes their being, or place in the world has serious
implications for salvation.
Jesus
tells her, “Your faith has made you well, go in peace.” In spite of her
understanding of and faith in Jesus’ identity, like the Gerasene demoniac,
Jesus sends her away, and we return to Jairus’ story and bad news.
Mark 5:35
While he was still speaking, some people came from the 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 leader of the synagogue, “Do not
fear, only believe.”
As
soon as we get into the innards of the sandwich, the story of the hemorrhaging
woman, it ends. And we pick up the story
of Jesus and Jairus leaving for Jairus home, we hear from guests the daughter
is dead already. What does the story of the hemorrhaging woman amplify about
these words? (This story bears some resemblance to the story of Lazarus in John
11:1-44). With the healed woman’s fear
hanging in the air, Jesus tells Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe.”
A lesson awaits us.
37 He
allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of
James. 38 When
they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, 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 He took
her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get
up!” 42 And
immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of
age).
The theme of secrecy continues, Jesus prevents
everyone bout Jairus his wife and his three trusted disciples to come along.
He calls her in Aramaic to arise (The Greek word is “arise” the same word used
by the man dressed in white at the tomb of Jesus after his crucifixion. “He is
not here, he has been raised.”)
Look at what Jesus did. He
touched the dead girl’s hand. Again he violates the purity code. In fact,
throughout Mark and most of the Gospel, Jesus shows particular disregard for
the purity laws.
Do you see any other
connection to the hemorrhaging woman? She was dying but was healed. She was an
older woman. Talitha is a younger girl. Being twelve years old signifies she
is at the onset of child bearing age and eligible for marriage in Jesus’ day. A
woman who was barren has been made fertile, a child who was of fertile age but
dead has been raised.
In both cases, what was the
operating principle? Faith. Why did the woman have faith? Why did Jairus have
faith? Mark expects us to make the connection, the Holy Spirit was working on
them both.
Now there is one more
possible part of this story that bears more similarity to the parables. A
message is being given that is obscure and perhaps only understood by the
insiders.
Twelve is a significant
number to a Jew. It has profound religious significance numbering the tribes of
Israel. Following this, we may ask how does the hemorrhaging woman and the 12
year old child bear on Israel?
The dying woman and the
disregard of Jesus for the purity laws could be a set-piece for Israel that is
a dying nation succumbing to the rigid and inflexible demand to follow the law
rather than to let the law be written on one’s hear reflecting a way of living.
(See Jeremiah 4: 1-4). The
12-year young girl could be the faithful remnant of Isaiah 6: 1-13. While we may
not feel the power of this sub-current, a Jew knowing the scripture, especially
Rabbis and scribes, would surely perceive this parallel implication of the
action of Jesus to the fate of Israel, if, their ears and mind are open
to the Spirit. Jesus represents the salvation of Israel, the Messiah.
And how does this “sandwich end?
42b 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.
Again, amazement, the same word that describes the fear and
displacement of the mind from its ordinary state and self-possession into
terrifying knowledge, or ecstasy of being the presence of the Lord. Jesus,
unlike the Gerasene demonic, enforces the divine secret, telling everyone in
the room (the three disciples, Jairus and his wife) to tell no one. And to
prove she is alive, she is given something to eat. (Remember that upon
appearing to the disciples in Luke 24:34-43 and John 21:1-14 Jesus ate fish validating he was alive and well.)
What should we take away from Mark’s masterful creation of a
multi-layers exposition of the nature of faith, Kingdom of God and hope for
Israel?
I bring you back to some questions
to think about. Why did the woman and Jairus apparently alone of his party,
believe Jesus could help? What about the people who came from the house of Jairus to tell him and Jesus not to bother to hurry because the child is already dead?
I bring you back to the crowd with everyone pressing in on Jesus when the
disciples expressed consternation that Jesus would wonder who touched him. Why
did Jesus sense the woman touching him? Why didn’t others of the crowd gain
healing when they brushed against Jesus? Why were the woman and the others who
recognized who Jesus is (even the demons) afraid? Does Philippians 2:13-14, help
understand this fear? Taking the Gerasene demoniac into account, what does this
story tell us about the Holy Spirit and those who fear of the Kingdom of God?
Could it be that the ones who fear the Kingdom of God are the ones who do not
believe?
Amen
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