“How excellent is your lovingkindness, O Lord! Therefore the children of humankind put their trust under the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 36:7)
Prop: blindfold
“Do you trust me?”
[Choose a volunteer to come up to the front. Blindfold that person, and then proceed to direct them down the aisle and to a location somewhere in the room or sanctuary. You could also allow someone from the congregation to guide him or her.]
How hard was that? Was it a bit scary? But you had to trust in the person guiding you. If you didn’t, you couldn’t move forward at all. Without that person leading you, you wouldn’t know what you might bump into. You trusted that person to keep you from harm and to lead you to a safe place.
I want you all to recite a psalm I know you all know by heart –Psalm 23. Let’s say it together.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want [for anything!]
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil,
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
What do you notice about this psalm? It’s a psalm about total faith! The Lord leads you, makes you lie down in the right places, restores you, comforts you, prepares a table for you, anoints you, overflows your cup, pursues you with goodness and mercy! And you depend upon that Lord’s graciousness! You trust that the Lord will guide you. But only when you let him!
Without that trust, you would not allow the Lord to bring all of that comfort, and restoration, and goodness into your life. That’s a different way of looking at it, isn’t it?
Without YOUR trust, there is only a one-sided relationship to the sacred covenant. We need to ACCEPT the friendship and grace of God. If we don’t, the offer can go unfulfilled.
I know that all of you have probably offered the hand of friendship to another at one time or another, and it was not received. Perhaps the person was angry, perhaps he or she was too caught up in their own turmoil to accept your kindness. Or perhaps, he or she just had a very hard time trusting, maybe couldn’t trust your love and your hand of friendship enough to allow him or herself to accept it, along with all of the help, healing, love that would have gone with it.
Many a relationship has been ruined upon the breakdown or lack of trust.
The “art of receiving” Jesus’ love and assistance is as important or even more important than the “art of giving.” Without first receiving, we have nothing to give.
Some of you may in the past have spent some time in therapy. Or maybe you yourself are a counselor, or therapist, or psychologist. If so, you know that the most important thing to establish between patient and therapist –before any groundwork can be laid, before any emotional wounds can be healed—is trust. The patient must be able to establish a trust relationship with the therapist. When that relationship is established, the patient’s trust gives “permission” to the therapist to engage in healing.
When Jesus says to those he engages with, “Your faith has made you well,” or “Your faith has healed you,” he is acknowledging, that person has put their trust in Him, has put faith in His identity as the Messiah and the Son of God, has put their life in the hands of God!
This is exactly what we saw in the scriptures for today. The woman, hemorrhaging for 12 years –no doctor could help her—recognized Jesus as the Son of God! She KNEW who he was. And she knew the power in the “wings” of his tallit (the cloak he wore with tassels on the four ends, worn by rabbis and male elders).
She recognized who he was, and she immediately put her entire trust in Him. Her faith that he could heal her was great. And it enabled him to connect with her spiritually, emotionally, bodily, and to effect wholeness and healing within her. In fact, God did all the work through him, without him physically even knowing it, until he felt “the power go out of him.”
God’s grace and power to heal, to lift up, to erase sin is awesome and can come upon you in the moment of your faith!
“Sin” in Jesus’ day was an interesting concept. It meant anything that kept you from being whole and in right relationship with God. The “sin” may not have been effected by you, but by something done to you. But if you were living in a state of “sin,” you were in some way not whole.
Do you carry around with you the guilt of something you did in the past? Maybe carry the shame of something you did and shouldn’t have? Or carry the weight of something that happened to you that put a damper on your life in some way or another? These are the chains that bind you down and keep you from feeling the wholeness and the peace and the grace that is yours as a child of God.
Jesus, with his healing, makes people whole. He returns them to right relationship, not just in the community or in the synagogue or the church, but most importantly, with God.
The woman in the scripture today didn’t hesitate, she knew Jesus could do it. The leader of the synagogue, Jairus, likewise, also knew Jesus could heal his daughter. But no one in the story realized, or even imagined that Jesus could raise a girl from the dead!
And I think today, we have no conception of how amazing the grace of God can be in our lives! No clue the extent of the power of redemption that God can effect in us!
Do you know that Jesus can make YOU whole? Do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus has the power to remake your life? To heal your spirit? To raise you up? To gift you the pleasures of God’s grace?
What sickness, what plagues in your life do you need healed by Jesus?
A lot of people say they can’t hear Jesus. They pray, and they wait for Jesus’ voice, but can’t hear him. And sooner or later, they wonder if God is really listening. But our scripture today tells us, even when Jesus may not be in our vision, even if we don’t experience the kind of direct communication that some claim to have, we know that Jesus is there. Jesus is always there. If we will reach out to him, touch even the corner of his garment with our prayer, we can be healed, made whole, resurrected in spirit and body through the living Lord.
In fact, sometimes Jesus is here in our wellness as much as in our sickness. Jesus is the Great Physician. But physicians now work harder to keep people from getting sick than making sick people well. Most fundamentally, faith does not so much make sick people well as keep well people from getting sick. Have you moved your life from a sickness paradigm to a wellness paradigm; from a sin paradigm to a holiness paradigm? Have our churches gone “holistic" and moved from being Illness Centers to Total Wellness Centers?
Jesus wants to dwell within you, keeping you whole, keeping you in relationship with him, if only you will trust him. It’s time to let go of your preconceptions, your doubt, your unbelief, your mistrust. It’s time to allow Jesus to lead you into a place of wellness.
We are a stubborn people however. This is why when Jesus was in Nazareth that he could do no miracle or healing there. They could not trust that he had the power of God upon him. They could not let go of their conceptions of him just as a boy who grew up in their synagogue.
When you insist on holding onto your doubts and misconceptions, you will prevent Jesus from healing you body and soul.
There’s an old parable told by Rabbi Edwin H. Friedman called “The Power of Belief.” Here is how he tells it:
One evening a man came home and announced that he was dead.
Immediately, some of his neighbors tried to show him how foolish this notion was. He walked, and dead men cannot move themselves. He was thinking his brain was functioning, and he was breathing; and that, after all, is the quintessence of living. But none of these arguments had any effect.
No matter what reason was brought to bear against his position, no matter how sensible the argument, the man maintained that he was dead. He parried their thrusts with ingenious skill.
He seemed to have a way of constantly putting the burden of proof on the other. He never quite came right out and said, "Prove it." But that was the message implied, not so much by how he answered as by how he avoided giving any answer at all.
Every now and then someone thought, "Now, I've pinned him down," having brought evidence so obvious no one could deny it. But then he would use his trump: "If I am dead, you do not exist either, since surely the living do not traffic with the dead."
Eventually most of his friends and neighbors quit arguing and the handful who were left, including his own family, became increasingly afraid.
Several reached the same conclusion: He had gone mad or, at the very least, was suffering from some erratic mental process. Exhaustion from work, perhaps? A brain tumor? He needs a rest, we'll call a doctor, perhaps a psychiatrist, maybe the family physician, or minister.
The man, however, was not upset by these suggestions. He shrugged them off without reply and finally said, "I don't know what's the matter with you all. It is just absurd to think of a dead man as tired, let alone sick."
His wife, almost literally beside herself, took to carrying on a dialogue within. ("If he believes this, then how can he say that? If he does that, how can he think this?")
As the mixture of fear and frustration thickened, it was finally agreed that outside help must be called. A psychiatrist was invited over to interview him.
After some preliminary greetings and a few routine questions, the doctor asked to see the man alone. He readily agreed. The two went into another room and closed the door. Now and then an elevated voice broadcast itself over the transom, although nothing could be understood. It was clear, however, that the voice they heard getting louder always belonged to the clinician.
Some time later, both men emerged. The doctor had his jacket over his arm, his necktie had been loosened and his collar opened (in fact, the button was no longer there). As for the man, he seemed totally unchanged. "Hopelessly psychotic," muttered the psychiatrist. "You will have to have him committed. He has lost all awareness of reality. If you want, I'll call the hospital and see if they have room."
"Now, really," said the man calmly, "what kind of therapy would you prescribe for a dead man? Surely, sir, if it were known that you had tried to cure a man who was not even alive . . . talk about losing one's grip on reality."
The doctor started to answer, caught himself, and then, with measured calm, said to the others, "I haven't finished dinner yet. If you want me to call the hospital, give me a ring."
A clergyman was sought. The family minister was unavailable. Which type would be best? The modern kind who had some sophistication about psychological problems? Or perhaps a good old fashioned fundamentalist? "Let's fight fire with fire," said someone. As it happened, that evening a well known evangelist was in town to speak at a nearby theater. When he heard about the problem he rushed over, thinking how his success might be used to introduce the show. Once again, the group was left to strain after the voices behind a closed door. Again, nothing that was audible, again the rising tone, again never the man's voice rising. This time the clergyman came out alone, stopped, looked at everyone, nervously kissed his little black book, and bolted out the door. Several cautiously peeked into the room; the man was fast asleep.
It was now decided that the family doctor should be called. He had known the man since he was a little boy, and besides being a physician with a reputation for patience and skill, he was respected everywhere for his homey wisdom. He came quickly, and after one or two questions in front of everyone, asked the man in a no nonsense way, "Tell me, do dead men bleed?"
"Of course not," said the man.
"Then," said the doctor, "would you allow me to make a small cut in your arm, say above the elbow? I will treat it; there's no reason to worry about infection. I'll stop the flow immediately, and we can see, once and all, whether you are dead."
"Dead men do not get infections, nor do they bleed, doctor," said the man, as he proceeded to roll up his sleeve.
With everyone watching anxiously, the doctor deftly slit the flesh, and blood came spurting out. There was a gasp of joy throughout the group. Some laughed, others even applauded, though a few seemed rather to be relieved.
The doctor quickly dressed the wound and turned to everyone, saying, "Well, I hope that puts an end to this foolishness." Everyone was congratulating the physician when they suddenly realized that the man was headed for the door. As he opened it, he turned to the group and said, "I see that I was wrong." Then, as he turned to leave, he added, "Dead men, in fact, do bleed."
If only our faith in Jesus could equal our stubbornness.
Perhaps that inability to see and hear Jesus is just merely one more “inhibition” in the landscape of our faith. It’s time to remove all of those inhibitions now. Let’s be a church where faith overflows from all of us. Lord, make us a church where the base is faith, tied together by the lace of love, showing the face of hope. Will you be faith-based, love-laced, hope-faced?
Let’s take some time now in prayer, allowing Jesus to enter into your soul and into your life. Close your eyes for a moment, and let go of all of the inhibitions that keep you from putting your entire trust in Jesus’ healing power.
Now come forward to receive your Holy Communion with the living and powerful Lord. Let Jesus heal you, lift you, make you whole. Give him your trust. Give him your life.
Come…in the peace and love of Christ.
Based on the Story Lectionary
Major Text
Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home (5:21-5:43)
Minor Text
Genesis: The In-Breathing of Adam by the Holy Spirit and God’s Calling Out of Adam and Eve
Genesis: The Story of Noah -- the Raising Up of New Life and God’s Salvific Power
Genesis: The Story of Joseph (interrupted by the Story of Judah and Tamar) (37, 38, 39)
Psalm 16: God’s Deliverance
Psalm 41: God’s Deliverance
1 Kings: Elijah raises a widow’s son (17:7-24)
2 Kings: Elisha raises a Shuumanite woman’s son (4:8-37)
2 Kings: a man is raised by merely coming into contact with Elisha’s bones (13:20-21)
Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home (9:18-9:26)
Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home (8:40-8:56) and at Nain (7:11-15)
Peter heals paralyzed Aeneas in Lydda and raises Tabitha (Dorcas) in Joppa (Acts of the Apostles 9:32-43)
Paul raises the boy Eutychus during his time teaching in Troas (Acts of the Apostles 20:7-12)
Paul’s “apron” contains God’s healing power in itself (Acts of the Apostles 19)
Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home
[Jesus had just returned from Gadarene and was teaching by the sea (perhaps in his home) when a leader of the synagogue (presumably in Capernaum) came up to him.]
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.
Then suddenly, a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”
Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
And the report of this spread throughout that district.
Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home [the recommended text]
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.
Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “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.”
So he went with him.
And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.
Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
Immediately, her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.
Immediately, aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’
He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”
He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.
When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
And they laughed at him.
Then 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.
He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately, the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age).
At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing Power at Jairus’ Home
Now when Jesus returned [from Gerasene], the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.
Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
He said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.”
When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.”
When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.”
And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
But he took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat.
Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
Image Exegesis: Your Faith Has Made You Well / The Fringe / Hidden and Revealed
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand at the last day upon the earth: and after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet from my flesh shall I see God…” (Job.19:25-26)
What is life, but the presence of God’s breath?
From the first stories in Genesis, through the miracle of Pentecost, the scriptures are filled with stories that remind us that God’s breath is the reason we have life, and God’s power supercedes all disease, sin, infirmity, death.
The scripture for this week is astounding in its storytelling, in its images, and in the blatant signs of God’s power within the Messiah, Jesus.
There are several instances in the gospels in which Jesus raises from the dead. He raises the son of the widow at Nain. He raises Lazarus. And he raises Jairus’ little girl. Each of the stories are unique, but the witness about Jairus’ daughter is particularly unusual in that the story is interrupted by another story –that of the healing of a hemorrhaging woman.
This is a deliberate literary device that also tells a larger story by inserting a “teaching moment.”
The passage is immersed with many images and metaphors: the number 12, the words “talitha coum,” the tallit and tzitzit (cloak and tassels), the interruption itself or “selah,” the blood, word “daughter,” sleep/death, and the “fringe.”
Two primary themes run through both stories like a thread: the theme of hiddenness, and the theme of faith and loyalty to the all-powerful and gracious God.
Jesus heals first by his clothing (touch), then by his words (voice). In the first case, he has initially not actively approached the woman, nor touched her, nor spoken to her. She touched the tassel of his robe. She approached him unawares. He merely felt his power flow out of him.
In the larger story, Jesus uses a simple common command, and simply reaches for the girl’s hand. Yet the power of God is present and powerful in the voice, and the girl is not only healed, but entirely resurrected.
Both body and spirit obey him. Both blood and death can’t defeat him. He is victor over all. Jesus cannot be contained.
In the case of the dying girl, Jesus does not rush to reach her. He doesn’t need to. He pauses to ask about the woman who touched him. Jesus doesn’t need to rush to the side of the girl in order to get there before she dies. Jesus’ power is not the knowledge of triage, his power comes from the Triune God! We can’t know if the delay is deliberate, but we can know that by the time Jesus reached the girl, she was dead. And that was important to the story, to the acknowledgment of the identity of Jesus, and to the lesson about faith that the witness is trying to tell. For Jesus, death is no more threatening than sleep.
Both the woman and the girl had uncurable afflictions. Jesus’ healing power is not just about his identity as the messiah, but as having the power of God. The kingdom had come!
And nothing can hinder the power of faith.
Several metaphors are outstanding and serve the major themes.
The number twelve (12) is in Hebrew the perfect number. It’s symbolic for God’s power and authority, and symbolic of the wholeness God bestows when one is healed and resurrected.
God’s power is indisputable.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand;
And meted out heaven with a span;
And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
And weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
(Isaiah 40:12)
The number twelve in Hebrew is called “lamed.” Lamed is considered the heart of the Hebrew alphabet and said to represent the “king of kings.”* Lamed is the tallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet and represents “heart knowledge.”
One of the most important images in the story of the hemorrhaging woman is the tallit. The tallit is the mantle worn by rabbis and Jewish males. On the four corners are placed the tzitzit, or tassels in blue and white. This garment is mentioned many times in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, and it is also mentioned by the prophets that a sign of the messiah will be the healing in his “tzitzit” or “wings.” [You can learn more about the tallit in one of our former image exegeses, The Cloak.]
In 2 Kings 2, the passing of the mantle in fact from Elijah to Elisha represents the passing of the power of God that rests upon him. The garment that rests upon the one who wears it, or spreads out upon another, represents the hovering of the Holy Spirit over the face of the waters in Genesis. (Genesis 1:2).**
In the raising of a boy by both Elijah and Elisha, they laid their bodies over the deceased to “warm” them. In other cases, the mantle itself contains healing, as in the “apron” of Paul.
Both Paul’s “apron” as well as the bones of Elisha are so ingrained with God’s healing power that merely touching the bone or garment is enough to heal and raise from the dead! Such stories are similar to the healing of the hemorrhaging woman, who touches the hem of Jesus’ garment and is immediately healed.
The power of the “fringe” to the “fringe” is paramount in Jesus’ healing story. Not only is the person in question a woman, but she is bleeding for 12 years and therefore has been in a state of being “unclean” in the eyes of the synagogue and the Jewish authorities on the “law.” When Jesus heals her, she is not only restored in spirit to God, but restored within the community, her family, and her faith. Those living on the fringe of society are those whom Jesus most praises for their faith. In this story, she touches the “fringe” of his garment, knowing in her heart and mind that she will be healed, because she knows exactly “who” he is and what kind of power he has!
The two most interesting tidbits about this story however are 1) that the story is “sandwiched” in the midst of the story about the dying girl and 2) she attempts to touch Jesus in secret.
Does she believe that she is unworthy, and therefore doesn’t want to disturb him? Is she embarrassed by her state of uncleanliness? Does she think he might reject her if she asks? Or can she not get his attention, and simply reaches out as he is going by? We really don’t know. But we do know that she initially doesn’t want to be found out. She just surrupticiously wants to touch just the edge of his garment, knowing that it will be enough to be healed of her illness. She doesn’t need his full attention, doesn’t need to “ask” his graciousness. She thinks perhaps, he won’t notice. She will simply, lowly as she is, touch only that little bit of his robe, and surely it will be enough to heal her.
But Jesus notices! And not only notices, but –stops. And asks who touched him. She waits, hoping he will move on, hoping the others won’t know it was her, since she dared to touch the great rabbi, she –an unclean woman. But he won’t let it go. Finally, she reveals herself. Reveals that she is healed!
She falls down before him in humility, and declares to everyone listening, that she was healed merely by the unknown touch of Jesus’ garment.
And he tells her –“Your faith has made you well. Go in peace!”
Important about this inserted story is that Jesus did not actively seek to heal her. In fact, what healed was the touch of the tzitzit on his garment. Not only is this a sign of his Messiahship but a sign that it was God’s power that healed her, and not something specifically that he “did.” There was no trick, no interaction between them, no magician’s wave of wand, no medical magic. She was healed by the power that rests upon and within Jesus –the power of the One True God.***
Also important to the story is the theme of “hiddenness.” Hiddenness occurs in both the structure and the themes of the stor(ies).
Why is this story sandwiched or “hidden” within the other? For very good reason. And we’ve seen something quite similar before –in Genesis.
In the story of Joseph, Genesis 37 begins with the initial story of Joseph. His brothers throw him into a pit to die. When that part of the story closes, he’s not yet dead….but is whisked off to Egypt, although the brothers don’t know that.
The story then interrupts in Genesis 38 with an internal story about one of the brothers, Judah, and his interaction with his daughter-in-law, Tamar –and another theme of “hiddenness” and God’s grace and power.
In the story, Judah has been unfair and has offended God by not taking care of Tamar by giving her to his youngest son. So Tamar hides herself, lays with Judah, and takes his staff and seal as a form of “ransom” for final payment. Eventually, as Tamar becomes pregnant and is accused of being an adulteress, she comes to Judah (the head of the tribe and the lawgiver) with the “proof” that the child is his. He has no choice then but to absolve her. Her son becomes a link in the genealogy of the Messiah.
In Genesis 39, the story then returns to Joseph in Egypt, whom the brothers assume dead, and who later unveils himself to them, as alive. With that, they are reunited.
The internal story of what Judah learned about honesty and loyalty to God’s chosen one (without question even if you don’t agree with who it is) informs the Joseph story.
The themes of “hiddenness” and “revelation,” death and new life, God’s power and grace, permeate both stories. In a sense, we read the story not as a linear path, but as a round rabbit hole, in which we descend into the center of it, in order to understand the periphery.
The pattern of descending and ascending occurs here in the gospel story as well. In the beginning, the girl is dying, and the leader of the synagogue (Jairus) begs Jesus to come and save (heal) the girl before she dies. Then, the “selah.”
During the “selah,” we learn about the meaning of true faith, and the power and grace of God through the person of the chosen Messiah through the story of the hemorrhaging woman. And then, we return to the original story.
When Jesus reaches the girl, we are told, she is already dead. This is extremely important to this witness. He is now not there to “heal” her, because she is already gone. In fact, Jairus’ friends and family tell him, “Leave the rabbi alone.” “She’s already dead. It’s too late.” They are already in the midst of mourning her passing with instruments, and songs, and wailing, and crying.
And Jesus says, “Why are you mourning? She is only sleeping.”
The people are laughing at Jesus, because he speaks of the girl as merely sleeping. Sleep is the “selah” itself. Jairus, who initially put his faith in Jesus, now doesn’t know what to think. His daughter is dead. No one recognizes that the power and grace of God resides in Jesus, so that “death” is no more than sleep. No one sees him for who he is. No one sees the girl’s spirit for what IT is –simply “sleeping.”
But we know from the inserted story, that Jesus’ power comes from a source so awesome, that he doesn’t even need to be aware of it. Only God can effect healing. And only God –can effect resurrection! To God, death is merely like a pause, or a sleep. Her resurrection is her “8th day.”
Jesus says the words, “talitha coum” (or cumi), and takes the girl’s hand, and she rises and begins walking around. Again, Jesus doesn’t do any elaborate “triage,” he doesn’t wave a magic staff, or do any special techniques. He doesn’t say any “magic words.” He simply says, “Little girl, get up!” It’s a common phrase. And her “sleep” (the mask that appears to be death but is not) is removed, and her life is revealed! She is revealed to be alive. And Jesus’ identity as the true Son of God is also revealed!
Similar to the Joseph story, the family, who witnesses the event, now realize who Jesus actually is! And are astounded! The “mask” has been removed.
She is not a ghost, for Jesus instructs her parents (as he will do in his own post resurrection appearance), to give her something to eat. This is a bodily resurrection! THIS is real! And they “recognize” both her life, and Jesus’ identity.
The stun of this story would not be as riveting and effective without the inserted “teaching” story that resides in the middle. Not a mistake, the order of the story appears the same in all three gospel stories –on purpose.****
Jesus calls the hemorrhaging woman, daughter, and Jairus’ 12 year old daughter, little girl (maiden).
Both the woman and the girl have the Hebrew number “12” in their stories. While the woman had been hemorrhaging for 12 years, and now was healed, the little girl who was age 12 is not raised. The Hebrew number of both healing and resurrection, and the number of faith of the heart, as well as the number of the Messiah, both of them were made “whole” and “perfect” in God, at the moment of their healing/resurrection. The woman’s 12 years of suffering and sin is over, and she is now made perfect and whole again. The girl’s 12 years of childhood is now culminated in her resurrection to go on to adulthood in wholeness and perfect in God’s sight.
Not only were women and girls considered less important in Jesus’ community, but he calls the woman, “daughter” of God, “maiden” of God. They are both now “little ones” in God’s kingdom.
Jesus “calls us out” from a “death” of the spirit, and lifts us into new life! And in doing so, we all become God’s little ones.
Healing through faith is a very interesting part of both of these stories. The hemorrhaging woman “knows” that Jesus can heal her, that all she needs to do is touch his garment, and she will be healed. In an act of “daring,” she approaches him unawares. Likewise, the leader of the synagogue also approaches Jesus in a similar manner, although the people around him falter when they see the child dead, and only after her resurrection, are they “astounded.”
The covenant relationship with God is just that –a relationship. It takes not just God, but YOU. Why does Jesus say to the woman, “Your faith has healed you?” Because in order for Jesus to infiltrate your heart, heal your spirit, make you whole, you need to put your trust in him entirely. The more you place your life and mind and heart in another’s hands, the more they can influence your thinking, your feeling, change your life.
We know this to be true in the realm of therapy. Ever so much more in the realm of God! In order for God to change our lives, we must first open ourselves up to God’s grace and redemptive power. In order for Jesus to live in you, you must trust to let Him change your life!
*for more see www.hebrew4christians.com
**for more on the tallit and tzitzit, see the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, 1905, p. 676
***For more info on the power of the garment, see also John D. Garr, “The Hem of His Garment: Touching the Power in God’s Word, p. 127. The tallit is as a tent or tabernacle and represents the ten of the resurrection body. It becomes in this story the vestures of the redeemed, the symbol of healing and resurrection, the tent of “perfection.”
****While some “fringe” sources claim a double meaning with the words “talitha cumi,” suggesting that the phrase “Little girl, get up!” is also a Hebrew way of saying “rise in the power of the tallit.” However, there is no authoritative nor substantive reason to believe this is the case. Etymologically, the word tallit is an entirely different word and would not most likely translate into that phrase grammatically that way. Also, we have no passage in any of the three gospels that mention Jesus laying his tallit upon the girl (although it’s tempting to suggest he might, after reading the similar stories of Elijah and Elisha). And we do have both Mark and Luke telling us the exact translation of the phrase, so that we cannot be confused otherwise. While it’s common to have word plays in the scriptures, I feel that the internal story is more important for its themes of “hiddenness” and God’s power and grace, than simply the metaphor of the tallit itself. We do know however that he was wearing it, and surely it would have touched her, as he reached for her hand. Surely the power that rested upon Jesus was in play, as the Messiah demonstrates his power of resurrection! But the words, “talitha cumi” have much more importance in calling her a “little girl” than in pointing to his cloak.
