Healing the woman with a flow of blood and resurrection of Jairus’s daughter.

(Mat.9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:41-56).

Having entered the boat with His disciples, the Lord sailed back to the opposite western bank of the Gennesaret Lake, where the township of Capernaum was situated. Here, a multitude of people awaited Him, among them being Jairus — one of the synagogue’s leaders — whose only twelve year old daughter was close to death. Although the leaders of the synagogue belonged to the party that were hostile to Jesus (John 7:47-48), he apparently had heard about the many miracles that were performed by the Lord and perhaps, having witnessed the healing of the Centurion’s servant, was fervently aroused with the hope that Jesus would heal his daughter. Although Jairus did not possess the faith for which the Centurion was commended for by the Lord, He nevertheless went to the synagogue leader’s house and upon Jairus’s request, to lay His hands on the dying girl. Seeing this, the crowd streamed after Him with unusual curiosity toward Jairus’s house, and as everyone wanted to be close to the Great Miracle-worker, everybody jostled Him.

One woman who suffered from a flow of blood for 12 years and had lost all hope of a cure, squeezed her way behind Jesus and unobtrusively touched His clothing. According to the Law of Moses, women suffering such a disease were regarded as unclean and were obliged to stay home. They are not permitted to come into contact with anyone (Lev. 15:25-28). However, this unfortunate woman had such a fervent faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that she decided to leave home and come into contact with His clothing, in the certainty that this contact will give her a total cure. And her faith was vindicated: she was cured instantly as she felt the source of the flow of blood desiccate. Saint Mark gives the most detailed account of this event. He relates that as Jesus felt His strength leaving Him asked of those surrounding Him: “Who touched My clothes?” (Mark 5:30; Luke 8:45). Of course He knew who did this, and posed the question for the people’s edification by revealing the faith of this woman, and the miracle that followed because of it. The woman, realising she could not hide, fell before the Lord’s feet and exposed the truth to everybody. According to the understanding of the Jews, in entering the crowd and making every person that she came into contact with unclean, she committed an offence; consequently, she awaited in fear and trepidation the condemnation for her act, but the Lord calmed her: “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace” (Luke 8:48; Mat. 9:22 and Mark 5:34).

During this time Jairus’s daughter had died, and one of the domestics came to relay this sad message and to request not to burden the Teacher unnecessarily. Seeing the lamentation of the grief-stricken father, the Lord calmed him: “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well” (Luke 8:50; Mark 5:36). Arriving at the house, they found professional mourners invited to cry over the dead girl. This type of mourning over the dead usually went on for 8 days, and over a well-known person — one month; flutes and pipes accompanied it. The Lord said to Jairus and his domestics: “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping” (Luke 8:52; Mat. 9:24 and Mark 5:39). These words cannot be taken literally. Just as with Lazarus, having reposed 4 days in the coffin and commencing to decompose, the Lord said that he had fallen “asleep” (John 11:11-14), and only later added: “Lazarus is dead.” The authentic death of the girl was so obvious to everyone that they began to laugh at Jesus. Because such a great miracle could only be witnessed by those worthy and capable of evaluating this enormous Divine omnipotence, the Lord directed that everybody to leave the room, except for His 3 Apostles — Peter, James and John — and the parents of the dead girl. Taking the girl’s hand, the Lord calls, saying: “Talitha, cumi,” which means: “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” (Mark 5:41; Mat. 9:25 and Luke 8:54), resurrecting her immediately. With that, notwithstanding her long period of grave illness, she was so strong that she began to walk as fully fit. While everyone was amazed, the Lord directed that she be given some food so as to convince her parents, that before them was their real daughter — and not an apparition. As was His custom, the Lord banned the spreading of news about the miracle.