Life-giving
By Bishop Richard Henning

In Mark’s Gospel, there is an interesting phenomenon whereby the text will begin a narrative only to shift the focus and then return to the original issue. Scholars call these passages “Markan Sandwiches” and propose that the arrangement of the narrative reveals the center story as having the key to interpreting the whole extended passage. In an oral culture, the “sandwiches” have the added benefit of assisting the listener to understand and remember the narrative.
 
In the lengthy passage from Mark for this Sunday, we have a classic example of a Markan Sandwich. The narrative begins with a dramatic appeal to Jesus by the Synagogue official Jairus on behalf of his gravely ill daughter. While Jairus’s words and action are borne of desperation, they demonstrate his faith in Jesus. With great humility, he throws himself to the ground before Jesus, “pleading earnestly.” 
 
As Jesus sets out in response to the appeal, the narrative is interrupted by the story of the encounter between Jesus and a woman with a hemorrhage. This woman, also desperate, has great faith in the power of Jesus to heal her affliction. In contrast to the less respectful treatment of Jesus by His Own disciples, the woman also falls at Jesus’ feet and speaks with humility. Jesus observes in response that her faith has “saved” her – indicating both physical healing and something more.
 
Finally, the text returns to the story of Jairus and His daughter as a second great miracle unfolds. In this case, Jesus does more than heal a disease, he raises up a dead child even as her family have begun the mourning process.
 
This passage is rich in insights regarding Jesus’ identity, the nature of His ministry, and the beauty of discipleship. As we have seen many times in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus reaches across the cultural and religious boundaries of His day, to touch the untouchable. The nature of the woman’s condition renders her unclean. More than suffering from physical affliction, she is left spiritually and emotionally bereft by her condition. The child, already dead, is also unclean and Jesus’ touch should taint Him rather than enliven her. 
 
The Jewish conception of God holds that God is the author and giver of all life. Our first reading from Wisdom touches on this assertion. Many ancient religions saw creation as material and therefore inferior to spiritual realities. Judaism asserts the fundamental goodness of creation, goodness that comes from the perfection and goodness of the Creator. And so, Wisdom speaks of God’s role in bringing life. In our passage from Mark, then, we should notice that Jesus is engaged in the “business” of God – he has delivered one woman from deadly illness and another from death itself. 
 
Notice also that the text provides a linking detail between these two very different persons and situations. The woman has been afflicted for 12 years, the child has died at 12 years of age. The woman’s illness does more than threaten her life, it destroys her capacity to give life. For the Jews of Jesus’s day, a woman’s capacity to bear children was a privileged participation in the divine work of life. The child has dies just at the age when she would enter puberty and be capable of child bearing. The two women have been restored to life and to the capacity to give life. And this is made possible by faith in the Lord Jesus Who brings the abundance of God’s life to bear on afflicted human beings. 
 
Perhaps we might consider this abundance as we hear the words of Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. He asks them to live in generosity for others, not to win fame or favor, but out of gratitude for the gifts of God. 
 
Paul’s words challenge and invite us to approach the Lord with the humble faith of Jairus and the woman. Can we throw ourselves to the ground in utter trust? Can we be open to His healing touch? As we hear these readings, we pray for healing for ourselves and for others. We pray for the capacity, like Jesus, to see beyond the boundaries imposed by human sin and narrow mindedness. And above all, we pray that we will ourselves be graced to participate in God’s life-giving work.