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. (Mark 5:21-43)
In the gospel reading this Sunday we learn of an incident in Jesus’ ministry, one which provides great comfort especially to people who are desperate, people who feel ostracized and abused by the rest of the world. This passage shows the mercy Jesus extends to sinners, the compassion He has for the weak, and the love and acceptance He shows to unclean people, those the world rejects. I consider this passage so deeply, that I have divided my meditation into three parts.
Here we meet 2 desperate people, filled with fear for different reasons. The man we meet first is Jairus, the head of the synagogue at Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was a father who is extremely worried about his only daughter who was deathly ill. He took a great risk in going to Jesus. Although Jesus was popular among the common folk, the religious rulers of the Jews hated Him, in part because of that popularity. Jairus was risking their scorn, but he was desperate. He feared losing his 12-year-old daughter, the light of his life. Jesus was his only hope.
Jesus felt this man’s pain and desperation and consented to come immediately. But as they go, there is a delay. Throngs of people are pushing in to see Jesus so they can proceed with great difficulty. To further impede the journey and increase Jairus’ fear, Jesus got stopped on the way by another desperate individual, a woman, well-known to many like Jairus, but one whom the people feared and despised. She was afflicted with a chronic yet debilitating illness of an unspecified nature referred to as an issue of blood, a reference to the monthly flow of blood from a woman’s womb. But this woman’s flow was continuous. She had suffered for 12 years despite treatment from well-meaning physicians who had only caused her further pain.
Her suffering was further intensified by great emotional and spiritual pain. The Law of Moses in Leviticus 15 declares that every woman is unclean during her monthly period. Those with a chronic flow of blood were always unclean. Thus, this nameless woman was in a hopeless situation. She could never go into the synagogue to pray nor to the Temple to offer a sacrifice of atonement. She could never hope to receive God’s mercy and healing. She was separated from and repulsive to Him (or so it was thought).
We must realize that we are all like this women. We all are unclean because of sin. It is beyond our control or ability to tame. Many hide it well or put on a false front to look good in the eyes of others. Those with obvious unclean traits are often subject to abuse from parents, spouse, co-workers and plenty of other folks loaded with critical and unkind remarks but short on patience, kindness and constructive help.
This woman was where the Lord wanted her to be, where He wants us to be: no where to turn, overcome with that a hopeless desperation that makes us fall at His feet, heedless of those who will see us. He wants us to come to Him with all our problems great and small. He wants us to know that He is the only real hope we have. People will fail us; so will our money and possessions, but Jesus will never fail us. He will not reject us even though we find ourselves filled with self-loathing. He will make us clean.