Raising Jairus’s Daughter from the Dead (Mk. 5:21-24,35-43)

When Jesus had crossed again [in the boat] to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.  22 One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.”  24 He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.  

35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”  36 Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  37 He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.  38 When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.  39 So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”  40 And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was.  41 He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”  42 The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. [At that] they were utterly astounded.  43 He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Mark sandwiches the story of the woman with hemorrhages for twelve years between the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead.  Mark does that a few times in his Gospel.  These two stories are examples of unwavering faith in Christ.  The story of the Gerasenes demoniac (Mk. 5:1-20) and these two stories (Mk. 5:21-43) show that both Gentiles and Jews need the salvation Jesus offers that leads to life.  

When Jesus was asked to leave the Gentile territory of the Gerasenes (Mt. 8:34), he returned to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and was met by a large crowd that welcomed him.  Jairus was an important Synagogue official who came and humbled himself before Jesus.  He asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter who was, “At the point of death.”  Jesus frequently used the laying on of hands as a means of healing (Mk. 16:18; Lk. 4:40; Lk. 13:13).  To “Get well and live” (v. 23) was understood by early Christians to mean salvation and resurrected life.  Mark’s Christian audience would have interpreted Jairus’ plea to mean, “Please come lay your hands on her so that she may be saved and have eternal life.”  Jesus left with Jairus and was followed by the crowd.  Jesus stopped and had a dialogue with a woman who had been ill with hemorrhages for twelve years.  The woman had touched his clothes with the faith that she would be cured (vv. 27-28).

While Jesus was speaking with the woman, messengers from Jairus’ house came and told him that his 12-year-old daughter had died, and he should no longer trouble Jesus.  The messengers did not think that Jesus the healer could restore Jairus’ daughter to life.  Jesus told Jairus not to worry but to stay strong in his faith.  Jesus left for Jairus’ house with only Peter, James, and John (Mk. 9:2; 14:33).  When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house with his inner circle, he was ridiculed by the mourners because he said, “The child is not dead but asleep (v. 39).”  Jesus described her as being asleep because he was about to restore her to life, bring her back from a state of death to her previous mortal life.  This is different from a resurrection, which involves a permanent transformation and renewal where an individual is raised to a new, glorified state of existence that transcends physical limitations and mortality.  The girl’s parents along with the three apostles witnessed her being returned to good health by Jesus.  Jesus ordered those who witnessed the miracle not to tell anyone.  In Mark’s Gospel, this is known as the "Messianic Secret," where Jesus frequently instructs those he heals or those who witness his miracles to keep quiet about what they have seen or experienced.

Almighty God, help us to accept your gift of faith and we humbly pray that all we do in your name leads to the salvation of others.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.