This week's gospel text finds Jesus once again arriving to a gathered crowd and a waiting crisis. Upon his arrival Jesus is immediately approached by Jairus, a leader in the local synagogue. This time, however, Jairus does not represent ecclesial authority. Rather, he symbolizes every desperately worried parent that ever lived. Imploring aid for his grievously ill child, Jairus throws accepted standards of behavior to the winds and falls at the feet of this virtual stranger. Jesus responds instantly, without questioning Jairus about any aspect of himself or his daughter. The text simply states that "he went with him."

Sensing high drama in the making, the crowd trails Jesus and Jairus. Here the story suddenly shifts. Mark now zooms in on a woman stubbornly threading her way through the cro…