Seeing with the Eyes of Divine Love

Seeing with the Eyes of Divine Love 

In our passage today from Mark 5:21-43 we find two interwoven healing stories: the healing of the woman who has been bleeding for 12 years, and the raising of Jairus’  12 year old daughter. 

It is important to remember that Mark's Gospel is set against the backdrop of Roman-occupied Palestine, where social hierarchies and purity laws deeply influenced daily life. The society was stratified by gender, health status, and religious purity, creating distinct boundaries between the "clean" and "unclean," and between the powerful and the powerless.

In telling the stories of these two healings, the writer of Mark’s Gospel sandwiches one story within the other and so he highlights the connection between the two stories and these two women. Jairus, is a synagogue leader or ruler, and thus he represents the established religious authority, He is also one of those who sits on top of the pile in a heavily patriarchal society that was probably quite similar to the patriarchal culture of the Taliban in Afghanistan today.  On the other hand the haemorrhaging woman epitomizes the marginalised and the excluded, because she is a powerless woman living in a male dominated world, made even worse due to her continuous bleeding, which would have made her ritually unclean.

The woman’s condition had lasted twelve years, paralleling Jairus' daughter's age, which underscores firstly the length and depth of her suffering. According to the laws of Leviticus (15:25-27), her condition made her perpetually unclean, isolating her from society. She had spent all her resources on physicians without finding a cure, leaving her in economic desperation.

By touching Jesus’ cloak, she transgresses the social and religious boundaries of her culture. She breaks the rules of what was right and proper both culturally and religiously. And so her act of faith is both bold and desperate. Jesus' response, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease,” not only heals her physically but also restores her social identity. By calling her “daughter,” Jesus publicly acknowledges her worth and reintegrates her into the community. And so Jesus directly challenges the oppressive purity system that had marginalized her.

Jairus, on the other hand, as we have already noted, is a figure of authority, and yet in the story, he humbles himself before Jesus. His daughter, at twelve years old, stands on the cusp of womanhood. In fact she is officially of marriageable age, which for anyone living in the western world is almost inconceivable to imagine. Can you imagine your 12 year old daughter, niece or grand-daughter being married off at 12 years of age to a man probably at least ten years older than her. It is just unthinkable. What must this have been like for these young girls?  It must have felt like a death sentence to many of these young girls. This is the patriarchal culture she has grown up in. But she is deeply loved by her father.  He is a desperate father who humbles himself before Jesus probably as a last resort.  

But Jesus' journey to Jairus' house is interrupted by the healing of the haemorrhaging woman. Within the culture of the day, this is a rude interruption by a nobody.  The writer of Mark’s Gospel seems to be deliberately juxtaposing not just the difference in social status between this unclean marginalised women and the Synagogue Ruler, but also juxtaposing the faith of the two. When news arrives that Jairus’ daughter has died, Jesus' statement, “Do not fear, only believe,” emphasizes faith over fear, a recurring theme in Mark.

The raising of Jairus’ daughter helps to emphasize Jesus as the Lord of Life. The Mission of Jesus is to raise people up from their places of death, but it also underscores his challenge to societal norms. By touching the dead girl, Jesus again defies purity laws (Numbers 19:11). His command, “Talitha koum,” meaning “Little girl, get up,” is one of those tender and beautiful moments in the Gospels intimate and compassionate, that reveal Jesus personal concern and love, the value that he sees in this little girl before him. 

Ched Myers, in his book "Binding the Strong Man," interprets these stories as a critique of the socio-political structures of the time. Jesus' actions subvert the existing order firstly by prioritizing compassion over ritual cleanliness. Jesus also reveals that he is not a Biblical fundamentalist. He ignores two very clear Biblical laws to act on the side of life and compassion.  Wholeness and compassion are more important that Biblical rules for Jesus. 

Secondly, He is not swayed by the social standing of the synagogue ruler.  He allows himself to be interrupted by a women of low standing and in effect makes Jairus wait.  His willingness to be interrupted by this marginalised women of low standing emphasizes that Jesus sees her as having equal dignity with Jairus. It suggests that when Gods Kingdom begins to reign in our hearts, we begin to see with new eyes and we no longer distinguish between important people and unimportant people.  All become seen through the eyes of Divine Love as having equal value, and equal dignity.  And so the story suggests that the Way of Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus begins to change the way society is ordered and structured and the value we give to different people in society.  

Lastly, the significance of the number 12 in this story shouldn’t be overlooked.  The number 12 in the Bible represents the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 35:22-26). By highlighting the fact that the haemorrhaging women has been suffering for 12 years and that the little girl is 12 years some commentators suggest that it is highlighting that all is not well within the nation of Israel.  It is a culture in which women bleed metaphorically and little girls experience a death in their spirits. 

Jesus is creating a new Israel where women no longer bleed and their dignity is restored and where little girls are raised up to new life and new hope. 

I end with words from two of our other lectionary passages that speak of the new life and new hope that life lived in God brings - 

Psalm 30   11 You turned my mourning into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

Lamentations 3:22-23   “The steadfast love of G-d never ceases, G-d’s mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”