Mark 5:21-43

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 

Mark 5:21-43

A good Sunday to all. 

Today's Gospel passage narrates two healings performed by Jesus: the first about the woman who touched his garment and was healed, and then the resuscitation of the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue of Capernaum. The evangelist has included in a single account these two episodes, and we will notice that these two healings have in common references to biblical images that are a clear invitation for the evangelist to go beyond the pure data of the material account, two healings he has done; he had this power. 

First, let us note that it is about two women; therefore, the immediate reference is life. The woman is the giver of life; in her, everything speaks of life; let us remember that in the book of Genesis, when it says that the man gave a name to his wife, he called her 'favá,' and the sacred text explains that he called her thus because she is the mother of all living. This is how the first man defines the identity of his wife: the giver of life because everything in the woman recalls the welcoming of life. 

What about these two women in the Gospel passage? The first one has had blood loss for 12 years; therefore, she is impure; her husband cannot come near her; she cannot generate life. The young daughter of Jairus is of childbearing age at 12, marriageable age, she can give life, but in her life is interrupted, she dies. What can Jesus do? Who do these two women represent? A significant number is attached to both, which we all know, the number 12. Jairus' daughter is 12, and the woman who has blood flow has been sick for 12 years. 

There is too much insistence on this number not to understand the reference to Israel. These two women represent Israel. The first one refers to Israel being the bride of the Lord, who abandoned her husband and became impure. The husband no longer approaches her; she cannot generate. Only when this wife finds Christ will she be cured of her illness, and she will be able to be fertile again, to generate such a large posterity as the stars of heaven, the promise made to Abraham. The daughter of Jairus also refers to Israel. She is of marriageable age. 

We know that Israel is the bride of the Lord, and this young woman is of marriageable age, of being able to generate life, but if she does not meet her husband if she is not taken by the hand of her husband, if the bridegroom does not raise her up, she remains dead. The evangelist Mark certainly wants to allude to the symbolism of Israel, the bride of the Lord, who is no longer fruitful if she does not meet Christ, but these two women do not only represent Israel; they are the symbol of the condition of all humankind who is called to build a life but instead sees how this life stops and finds itself in a state of death. 

I want to recall one last symbolic detail that is essential to understand the message of the passage, and it is the meaning of blood in the Bible. As we know, blood indicates life. To lose blood means to lose a life. The book of Leviticus says that the life of every living being is in the blood. This is the reason why the pious Israelite cannot eat the flesh of a suffocated animal because life is present in it, and life belongs to God, He is the Lord of life; therefore, the blood must always be returned to God; man cannot take possession of it. 

Today we are faced with two women, one who is still losing her life, the other who has lost her life completely. Let's keep in mind that these are two women who have no name; they represent the condition of each one of us, as we will try to understand in a moment. 

Let us now listen to how the narrative begins: 

"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 so she may get well and live.’ He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him." 

We remember that last week's Gospel narrated the storm that the disciples had to face to obey the Master who had ordered them to go to the other shore to take him and his Gospel to pagan lands. The sea was opposed to this crossing; the boat had even run the risk of sinking and would have sunk if Christ had not been in that boat. Then, in a pagan land, things did not go well at all because when Jesus, with his word, began to expel the unclean spirits from that society, they cast him out; they preferred to remain in their condition. The Christian must keep this in mind: the Gospel that you proclaim can be received or rejected. One must behave like the Master, respect the people's choices, and leave them free. 

Jesus returns with the disciples, and when they arrive at Capernaum, there is a crowd waiting for them, and Jesus begins to teach. At a given moment, amid this crowd, an important figure appears, Jairus, who is the head of the synagogue, known to all. Jairus makes a very significant gesture; he throws himself on his knees at the feet of Jesus. He is faced with a problem he cannot solve; he feels helpless in the face of approaching death to take his daughter away. He gave her biological life, but now he sees that this life is ending and can do nothing about it. 

This is what happens with our humanity; man does not generate any other life than the one destined to biological death; therefore, if we look at things from a material point of view, every birth only increases the number of mortals; death always comes and takes this creature away. The only thing the human being can do is postpone this defeat, but in the end, one must resign to this fate. Jairus has understood that this is the condition of humanity; his daughter represents the reality of every human being; he has understood, however, that Christ can do something for her to avoid the victory of death. We shall see what Jesus will do: it will be the victory over biological death, but this is only a sign of the real victory. 

What does Jairus say to Jesus: "Please, come lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live" and Jesus departs and goes with him. There was a great multitude following him and gathering around him. It is important to notice the presence of this great multitude that crowded around Jesus, following him, pushing him. Some want to attract him to their side; some cultivate false expectations of him, they expect what he has not come to give. It is not enough to be around Jesus or be enthusiastic admirers of Jesus... NO. It is necessary to understand what he can give us. 

And amid this crowd, we find a woman who approaches Jesus. She is looking for something he can give in a different way than the others. Let's hear what she expects from Jesus: 

"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, 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." 

We have already seen that blood is the symbol of life, and to lose blood is to lose life; this is the condition of this woman who is losing life, and it is the image of the condition of humanity. From the moment we are born, from the moment we receive biological life from our parents, every moment that passes is a loss of life. We can try to hold on to it a little longer; we turn to doctors, but still, life is gone. And all the attempts of humanity, with all its capacity, cannot end this loss of life. They try hibernation, cloning, hybridization, man-robot, trans-humanism, and post-humanism. 

People are willing to give all their money not to lose their lives, but as Psalm 49 says, “No matter how much you pay, it will never be enough to redeem your life and live forever.” So, if life goes on like a candle that is consumed little by little until it finally is extinguished, it is over, there is nothing left, what to do to hold on to life? For many, it means to enjoy it, to think of oneself, and to do what one likes. This woman has heard of one who can stop the loss of life; she believes in him and says to herself: “If I succeed, even if only to touch his mantle, I will be saved”; ‘I will stop losing my life.' She does not say 'healed' but 'saved.' Salvation means no more loss of life. 

Here the attention is directed to the robe of Jesus, the cloak, and it is important what this robe represents. The robe is the extension of our body, of our person, and the very symbol of the person is our outward appearance, actions, and how others see us. Let us remember that Paul insists much on how the disciple must put on the garment of Christ, his person. Whoever meets a disciple must recognize in him the garment of Christ, the likeness of Christ; and Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark, in chapter 2, this garment must be completely new; not an old garment with some new cloth. This garment, this robe, is none other than humanity with which the Son of God has clothed himself. 

We see God in this humanity; this is his robe; this is the humanity that must be touched if life is to remain and not be lost. And a little further on, it will be said that it will be enough to touch even a fringe of this mantle. Everywhere, in the villages, in the towns, in the cities, in the countryside, they put the sick in the squares, and they prayed to be able to touch even the fringe of Jesus' cloak. What does it mean? To stop losing life, you must touch this humanity of Christ, to unite your life to this life of his, which is a donated life. If you live united in this life, the time that passes is not a waste of life but is true life that will never be destroyed; if you keep it for yourself, life will be lost; if you donate it, it becomes love, the divine in us. And this donated life is not lost anymore. 

This is what Jesus says: Whoever loves his life, whoever keeps it for himself selfishly, loses it, but every gesture of love that you made in the giving of yourself is life preserved and then the life of the one who has touched the mantle of Jesus is not a candle that burns and then goes out without a trace, but it is like a tree that grows evermore until it is fully mature, bearing firm fruit in every season. To be wise, therefore, means to lose no more life. 

This woman acted secretly; she was behind Jesus' back; she did not want to be seen; she did not want anyone to know. Why? Because she was afraid, ashamed, because she made a gesture that the religious institution condemned in the name of God. Jesus disagrees with this religious institution and wants to do away with this image of God that marginalizes impure people. Let's listen to what he does: 

"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, '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 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.'" 

I believe that in Jesus' place, we would have behaved differently. We would not have called that woman there in front of everybody. She had acted in secret, trying that nobody would notice because she was ashamed, she knows her condition, and people consider her an impure person to be avoided. And she is also afraid because she violated the rules that oblige her to keep away from everyone, like lepers, because if she touches anyone in the marketplace, she makes them unclean. And she also feels far from God because God is the God of life, and she is marked by death. Because she loses blood, she loses a life. But Jesus calls her before the whole world. 

The text says that she was afraid and kept trembling. Jesus wants her to be seen because Jesus wants to say in front of everyone that we must put an end to this idea that the person is impure; one can do impure things, but the person is never impure; they should not be ashamed neither of physical diseases nor moral diseases. It must come to an end, says Jesus, with this pagan image of God that keeps away and does not want to have any contact with those who are considered impure. These are beliefs that have been instilled by religious authority and Jesus wants to make them disappear. 

The woman confesses in front of everyone what has happened. Jesus' answer: "Daughter"... this is how God considers this woman who was sick, but this sickness, in the symbolism of this narrative, indicates the loss of life condition of the people. Even those in this situation are always sons and daughters of God. Moreover, let us note that she is called, thus, no one else among the multitude. 

God does not consider anyone impure, and He doesn't want anyone to feel marginalized because one is losing his life. People can be sick, but God loves them; people have invented these separations, and God wants to erase them. And she is praised for her faith. She came to Christ, not by pushing or by force because one can be part of the crowd, one can be an admirer of Jesus or participate in a religious festival, but this is still not touching Christ. To touch him with faith means to unite one's life to his, and then one stops losing life. 

Jesus, in the end, says to the woman: 'Go to peace, 'shalom,' to joy, to the fullness of life.' You know that God loves you, so you are at peace. Then, the narration continues with the story of Jairus. Let's listen: 

"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 synagogue official's house, 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." 

He who believes in Christ touches his mantle and trusts in his proposal. He tells you to surrender your life, so you may stop losing it. You build a life that remains. Also, in the believer, doubts can arise because he can see that life goes by fast and ends with death, and he sees that the destiny of all is the grave, the end of everything. 

Doubt may also arise in the believer, and he may wonder, will I have no regrets if I have given my whole life? Wouldn't it have been better if I, too, had enjoyed it as so many do? Friends tell Job this: 'Resign yourself; death has conquered, and your daughter is dead.' To Jairus and us believers, Jesus answers: "Do not be afraid; just have faith." This fear may arise, but 'do not listen to it, do not be afraid of death, keep trusting in my proposal.' Jesus, accompanied by Peter, James, and John and goes to the house of Jairus. In this house, there are cries of pain, lamentations, weeping... typical scene of the oriental practices. In the face of death, people only lament or curse the sad fate... that has befallen humankind, a destiny from which no one can escape. 

How does Jesus see death? He enters this house and says: "Why all this commotion and weeping? The girl is not dead but asleep." This is the image used by Jesus and later picked up by the primitive communities; Paul also uses the image of death as a sleep; it is not the end; it is an awakening. It is a feeble image, but if the Lord touches the deceased; they are no longer dead but alive. It concludes a form of life that is biological, but who gave his own life, has kept life because it remains eternal in love. "They ridiculed him." They mean, 'Here comes another with a soothing, with a new imaginary proposal of an answer to the riddle of death.' 

Let us hear how Jesus acts: 

"Then he put them all out. He took the child's father and mother and those 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 amazed. He ordered that no one know this and said she should be given something to eat." 

When Jesus arrives at the house of Jairus, he throws them all out; he cannot bear that in the face of death there are cries of despair, weeping, and wailing. This form of mourning was practiced before he came; Qoheleth was right when he said, ' The fate of plants and animals and man is the same.' It is the same biological life that is destined to end, but now Jesus has come and invited us to see death in a different way. It is not a bad thing; it is the destiny of human beings. 

The person cannot be different, cannot be immortal because they would no longer be human. The Son of God has now touched this humanity; no longer has only a biological life that ends but a life that he has brought about and delivered just when he touched this humanity when he became one of us. 

Let us see how Jesus now relates to death: He enters the room where the child is and brings witnesses with him, both parents, that is, those who gave birth to this life destined to end. They must verify their incapacity to preserve life; biological life is destined to end; it cannot be made eternal, not even by God because it would dehumanize us; we would no longer be human. Then, he brings the disciples, who must witness what happens when he touches this humanity. 

"He took the child by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum,' which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise!'" Egéirein' means 'arise.' Since the Son of God touched humanity, death has been de-dramatized, it has lost its sting; it has been definitively defeated. Let's pay attention: Jesus made a healing gesture; he brought this girl back to this world, to this biological life, as doctors do. 

Jesus made a prodigious gesture, but this is not the victory over death. Victory over death means to give life by touching this humanity, by giving it a life that is that of the Eternal. When the biological life ends, this life of the Eternal continues; this is the victory over death. Jesus's gesture is only a sign of his power to give a life that conquers death. 

And the last recommendation he makes: "Then he said that she should be given something to eat." This life that he gives when he touches humankind, which is the life of the Eternal, must be continually fed with his word; his word which tells us that this life of the Eternal is nourished when you give your life out of love, that is, when you resemble the life, which is the life of the heavenly Father. 

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.