Thoughts going in, Sunday July 1st

Mark 5:21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?" 36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, ""Talitha koum!"" (which means "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

            This passage represents another one of those well-known "Markan Sandwiches," a story-within-a-story. It's the sort of thing that if it only happened once in a Gospel.... no big deal. But in Mark's Gospel--the shortest of all of the Gospels--at least one commentator counts NINE such "sandwiches." That's well beyond coincidence, and whereas older scholarship seemed to think of Mark the evangelist as somewhat disorganized or easily distracted, newer scholarship has come to see this as a distinctive literary device--not invented by Mark, but used brilliantly by him.

            So, all of that aside, what can we learn from this reading? Several things, no doubt. For instance, consider Jesus the exemplar minister. On his way to minister to Jairus, he's presented with an opportunity to minister to someone else in need. When this happens to us, it's usually disconcerting; it's usually troubling. We've already had to rearrange our schedule.... dinner is already going to be late because we've decided to do a charitable deed.... an act of Christian kindness for someone. What would happen if on the way to that act of Christian service, a totally unplanned, spur of the moment scenario of need should confront us? Would we seek to side-step it? "NOT NOW, NOT NOW, I'm on my way to do a charitable deed somewhere else," might be our first response. "Here's my card, call me tomorrow," .... or maybe we'd give the person someone else's phone number...or worse yet, ignore them altogether. Jesus, however, demonstrates an exemplar approach. He neither sidesteps the interruption nor does he completely forget about his initial commitment to help. In that sense, any of us who would seek to emulate the Lord in acts of Christian service can learn from the Master. But what else is going on?

            Surely one of the functions of Mark's Sandwich of these two stories is to introduce an initial contrast....yet for the sole purpose of ultimately blowing away all contrasts. Here's what I mean:  Take the man Jairus. First, he is of course A MAN... which gives him an automatic higher standing within the culture of the day. Not only is he a man, but he's the leader of the local synagogue. This is a position of authority and prominence... and like all positions of authority and prominence in this culture, it indicates that the man himself is wealthy. True, Mark does not present Jairus as a man who is trying to play off his wealth and position. He comes to Jesus and falls on his knees (v22). Yet, a reader of the era would naturally suppose that OF COURSE a holy man like Jesus would go and help THIS person.

            Next, take the unnamed woman. First, she's a woman...which in this culture automatically means that her standing is FAR LESS than ANY man's, let alone a man like Jairus. And, as mentioned, she's not even named...which gives her even less standing in the narrative. Add to that the fact that she's destitute. Evidently she had had means at one time, but the story says she's exhausted all of her means in an attempt to find a cure for her condition (v26). Finally, consider her particular malady, a continuous menstrual flow that makes her ritually unclean; it limits both her movement and acceptance within her culture. Jairus is a rich, healthy, man; she is a poor, unhealthy/unclean woman. The term "polar opposites" comes to mind....and here's where St. Mark strikes! By hooking these two people/stories together, Mark is teaching us some important truths about the universal need for Christ, and God's universal love and outreach to all. There are IMMENSE DIFFERENCES between these two people... yet Mark is, in essence saying, ....there's no difference between these two people. Concepts such as this may seem like no-brainers to us in our egalitarian "class-less" culture, but we need to remember that the idea that "all men [sic] are created equal" is an extremely recent blip on the radar screen of history. In Mark's day the idea that there is NO DIFFERENCE between Jairus and the unnamed woman would've been radical.

            Of course, that's part of the "good-news-ness" of Mark's gospel. The Christ has come. And he hasn't just come for rich and powerful men; he's come for all! The old spiritual "The Ground Is Level At The Foot Of The Cross" comes to mind.

Cheers,

TM