Who is this?

The healing of women. Today we are looking at two well known healing stories, the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead and the healing of the woman with the hemorrhage. Please take a moment and read these stories found in Mark 5:21-43, here.

Context matters. Right before these stories, Mark tells the story of Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) where the disciples ask “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Next Mark relates the story of Jesus healing the demon possessed person who lived in the cemetery (Mark 5:1-20) .¹The people of the area are so frightened by this they ask Jesus to leave. Then the entwined stories of healing, a woman with a chronic illness and raising a girl from the dead (Mark 5:21-43). After all this, Jesus goes home and people who know him are astounded and perplexed.(Mark 6:1-13). In less than two chapters, Mark reveals Jesus as the one having authority over creation, who casts out a legions worth of demons, who can heal the incurably sick and raise the dead. Perhaps the gospel writer wants his readers to be frightened, astonished and to wonder, “Who is this?”.

Mark, as he sometimes does, has interwoven two stories about two very different women. One an adult woman with a chronic, debilitating illness and the other a 12 year old girl. The woman with the chronic illness has spent everything on seeking a cure. The girl, as the daughter of a leader of the synagogue, likely had some social status. These stories are about desperate people; a father pleading for help, a dying daughter, and a chronically ill woman who was getting worse.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the chronically ill woman. She has been the subject of some problematic exegesis². Many commentators and preachers have talked about how she was “unclean” and “ritually impure” and then assume she was ostracized and cut off from her community. They talk about how terrible it is that ritual or ceremonial rules would exclude someone³. This perspective is disrespectful of Jewish beliefs and culture at that time. This can, if we are not very careful, slide into the unsubtle assumption -Judaism bad, Christianity good. Followed by, “How wonderful that Jesus fixes that!” All the while ignoring that Jesus repeatedly affirms Torah⁴. And all the while not noticing the many ways today we exclude and ostracize someone for not following our religious rules.

In our rush to condemn Jewish practice and praise Jesus (by which we mean Christian practice) we miss something important. The text does not tell us that the woman is Jewish. It simply doesn’t say. Those preachers and commentators are assuming something the text does not tell us. I think this is an unwise assumption which can lead us into very unhelpful and even anti semitic readings.

Back to the story. There are no platitudes here. The stories of these two women reflect the reality of being human. The chronically ill woman has spent all her money trying to get better. Nothing has worked, and she is getting worse. Twelve years of blood loss, even “minor” blood loss takes a toll. She had to be quite ill and getting weaker. When Jarius’ daughter dies it is a tragedy. The weeping and wailing are expressions of unfettered, honest, raw grief. We are not told that the chronically ill woman’s suffering makes her stronger. Or that her reward will be in heaven. No one tells Jarius that his daughter is at peace and in a better place or that God needed another angel. Human tragedy is presented as human tragedy.

One of the ideas that the gospels are concerned about is who has power and authority? Is it the Roman Empire? The Emperor and his agents? The political and religious leaders? Is it the natural world filled as it is with death, illness, and tragedy? The gospels say no. Jesus is the one with power and authority. Mark tells us that Jesus ability to heal is so great, he heals without trying. He knows when he heals, but at least in this case, he heals without specific intention. Even death, cannot stop his ability to save. In the gospels, Jesus doesn’t look very powerful or authoritative most of the time. He walks around surrounded by the desperate, the sick, and the hungry. Jesus uses his power and authority to save. In the gospels salvation is not being taken off to some other place called heaven. Salvation, rescue, redemption, and saving happen right then and there.

These stories are familiar to many of us. Because they are familiar we forget the purpose of these stories of divine power are to leave us amazed, astounded, and not a little fearful. And like many encounters with the holy, every insight into who Jesus is and how God is present in the world raises yet more questions for us. We are left, with the disciples asking, “Who is this?”

1. Mark 5:1-20. This is the one where the demons ask to enter the swine and then the herd plunges off a cliff into the sea. ↩︎
2. Exegesis is the fancy word for “an explanation of a text, especially from the Bible, after its careful study” Cambridge Dictionary. org ↩︎
3. To be “ritually unclean” would prohibit someone from worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Scholars differ in their opinions about how much “ritual impurity” would affect someone’s daily life apart from Temple worship. Temple worship was not required of women, although women did travel to the Temple for worship. ↩︎
4. Jesus has his criticism of Torah interpretation, but not Torah itself. ↩︎