Jesus’ powers of being able to perform miracles started spreading between the people so when Jesus arrived in Jewish territory, a huge crowd had formed (21). The large crowd shows how well the word had spread and how many people wanted to see Jesus and his miracles. One person in particular, Jairus, was in urgent need of Jesus’ miracles, and he came to beg for Jesus’ help (21-22). Jairus was a Jewish leader, and during this time, Jewish leaders tended to be suspicious of Jesus. The leaders were angry that Jesus’ teachings differed from their own teachings.
Mark makes a point to show that Jairus was a Jewish leader because Jairus falling at Jesus’ feet and begging for Him to heal his daughter represents that Jairus had trust in Jesus despite his Jewish background and what the other Jewish leaders believed at the time. Jairus begs for Jesus to “come lay a hand on her, so that she may be made well, and live,” and Jesus follows Jairus immediately to his daughter (23-24). Even though Jesus knows Jairus is a Jewish leader, Jesus knew Jairus believed in Him.
Jesus did not care what your background was, as long as an individual had faith in Him, Jesus would help those in need. The story of Jairus is interrupted by another story of a lady who had been suffering from hemorrhages for over 12 years and had no results from the many physicians she had visited (26). The woman had only heard of Jesus’ healing powers and had never seen them in person. When she saw Him in the crowd, she touched Jesus, and her hemorrhages immediately stopped (30).
According to the purity code during this time, a bleeding woman would have been seen as “unclean,” and by touching another man she would have made the man “unclean” too (Footnote 25-26). In the situation however, touching Jesus was necessary in order for the healing to work. The woman took it upon herself to be healed, and Jesus is the passive conduit in which the healing power goes forth (Footnote 27-33). When Jesus described the “power going out from himself” He was describing the ability to perform the miracle and the healing power connecting and transferring to the woman in need. 30)
When the woman touched Jesus, Jesus responded by asking who touched Him. (30) The woman came to Jesus and fell down in front of Him in fear she had disobeyed Jesus (33). Jesus did not ask who touched Him because he was angry, rather he asked the question because he wanted to know who had put their faith in Him. Jesus was pleased with the woman, and He told her that her faith made her well and to go in peace and to be healed of her disease (34). Jesus giving her peace showed that He was happy to heal her.
The woman would also be able to go in peace and not have to live her life thinking she “stole” the blessing. Since the woman believed in Jesus’ abilities, the miracle of healing the woman worked, because all Jesus wanted was for people to believe (30-34). When Jesus and Jairus were told the daughter is already dead, Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe” (36). When Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the house, they found everyone mourning the loss of the daughter. Jesus then asked them why they were crying when the daughter was only “sleeping” (39).
At this, the people responded with laughter, and Jesus took them outside while we brought the mother, father, and the people that were with Him into the room where the daughter was (40). Jesus took the girl by the hand and spoke, “Talitha cum” and the girl immediately woke up and walked around (41-42). This healing was similar to the woman with the hemorrhages because the girl was healed from Jesus’s touch, and the healing occurred immediately after. After the child was cured, Jesus commanded the ones He was with to keep the miracle a secret, and He also told them to give her something to eat (43).
This miracle is known as a Messianic Secret because Jesus told the witnesses to not tell others about what they saw. If the story of the cure got out to people Jesus worried the people would not truly believe, but rather only want Him to heal and perform miracles for one’s own selfish reasons instead of having faith in Him. Mark includes the commands given by Jesus because by giving the girl something to eat, this proved she was actually healed and was not a ghost. The miracle stories were very similar. Jesus was able to heal both the daughter and woman by touch.
In the little girl’s story Jesus also spoke a command, whereas, in the story of the woman with the hemorrhages, He did not. Also, in the story of the little girl, she was dead when Jesus healed her, and in the story of the woman she was alive. These miracle story showed Jesus not only had power over sickness, but He also had power over death. Mark wanted readers to understand Jesus’ great powers and have faith in Him. Both the girl and woman were cured because they had faith in Jesus, and that is all Jesus cared about in order for him to perform the miracles.
