Mark 5:21-43--Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

Mark 5:21-43
English Standard Version

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “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 And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

​35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But 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 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

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This is a bit of a longer passage than we've been looking at recently because one story gets interrupted by another.  We start with a man named Jairus who is the leader of a local synagogue, meaning that he probably was wealthy enough to have it built and he was responsible for seeing to the physical needs of the building.  Even though this means that he was more than likely a Pharisee, he came to Jesus when his daughter was dying (she is described as a his "little daughter" which may be a term of endearment, or it may help us determine that she was very young).  Jairus was sure that if Jesus could come and touch his daughter that she would be made well.

The crowd that was following him previously before He went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee is back and they are not just following Him but pressing in on Him again.  In the middle of all this, a woman who was unclean because of a flow of blood that had not stopped for twelve years came to Jesus and she was certain that if she could touch just touch Him or His clothing, she would be healed.  See Luke 6:19 where this is not unheard of that many people came to Him and touched Him and were healed.

Though anyone in the crowd could have brushed up against Jesus and touched Him, it was only the woman that intentionally approached Him and touched Him by faith to be healed that was healed and caused the power to come out of Him.  He immediately recognized it and stopped and turned around and looked at her so that she could not escape attention, for she had just wanted to disappear in the crowd unnoticed.  What she had done to come out in the crowd while unclean was against the Law and punishable by death, but she knew that Jesus was her only hope for healing.  The woman had lost everything and was willing to lose even her life to be made clean by Jesus.  Jesus calls her "Daughter" and says that her faith has made her well.  Just like Jairus cares for his daughter, Jesus cares for this woman that He calls daughter.

Now we get back to the story of Jairus's daughter.  Mark tells us that while this woman was being healed that more servants from Jairus's house came to him and said, "Don't trouble the Master/Rabbi any more for your daughter is dead."  It seemed that everyone else in the house believed that Jesus' power only went so far but Jesus told Jairus to only believe, and His daughter would be made well.  Jairus believes and they continue to Jairus's house where the funeral has already started for, they bury their dead before sunset in Judaism.  There were professional mourners there that Jesus had to put out of the house and tell them that they weren't going to get paid anything today because the girl was not dead but only asleep (this is a phrase we've seen Jesus use many times to refer to someone that is physically dead, but He is going to bring them back to life--He speaks the same way of Lazarus).  They laughed at Him because they knew she was "dead" by their standards and beyond any hope of coming back to life.  They knew dead people and they were planning on burying her.  You don't bury the living, but the dead.

After everyone else has been put out of the room other than Peter, James and John (the inner circle of Jesus' disciples, who also got to be with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration and in the Garden when He was praying before His arrest).  This was meant for only these few men to see, for Jesus was about to reveal to them that He had power over death--though they would understand this to mean that He could only bring back the recently dead, for Jews believed that the spirit did not depart until the third day which is why Jesus makes a point of waiting so long to go to Lazarus later.  He took Jairus's daughter by the hand and said in Aramaic, "Little girl, get up!" [it was in the form of a command].  Just like the wind and the waves and the demons had obeyed the command of Jesus, so now even the spirit of someone who had died obeyed Him.

We now see how young this girl was--the text tells us that she gets up and starts walking because she was twelve years of age.  So, it was clear that she was "Daddy's baby girl," but she was not really a baby anymore, yet Jesus speaks to her with the same tone of endearment as her own father did.  Jesus told those that were with Him to not tell anyone about this yet for He was not year ready for everyone to know He had power over death, and Jesus told them to give the girl something to eat.  Jesus hasn't stopped caring for her and knows she's hungry though everyone else just wants to be happy that she's alive and He stops them to say that they need to remember to take care of her physical needs.  In just a short time, Mark has made a convincing case that Jesus is Lord of all.  He didn't do it with flowery theological terms, and he did it without a lot of Old Testament citations.  He just told a few stories that demonstrated Jesus' power and authority and the reaction of the crowd in each story verified what we were thinking--Jesus did things that only God was supposed to be able to do!  That must mean at a minimum that God was with this man in a special and unique way to give Him power and authority that had never been given to anyone else, or it means that this man is no mere man but is God in the Flesh (Immanuel)!