Today is the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. You can find a commentary for the first reading here https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2023/06/29/feast-of-st-peter-and-st-paul-29-june-1st-reading-acts-121-11/ and for the gospel here https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2022/06/28/feast-of-saints-peter-and-paul-29-june-gospel-reading-matthew-1613-19/
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.
The first reading this Sunday tells us that “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” He is the God of life. Jesus illustrates this in the gospel by raising Jairus’s daughter from the dead. Jesus has recrossed the lake and is back in Jewish territory, once again surrounded by crowds. Drama quickly intervenes for Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at the feet of Jesus, begging him to heal his daughter. Jesus immediately responds positively to the man and goes with him. But now the story suddenly changes for a woman intervenes. She has been suffering from a hemorrhage, probably some form of menstrual disorder, for years. As a Jewish woman, not only did this involve pain and weakness but it also made her ritually unclean. Therefore, she could not associate with others or partake in normal life. After years of failing to find a cure, she has not lost hope and believes that, if she can just touch Jesus, she will be healed.
However, the last thing most Jewish religious teachers at the time would have wanted was to be touched by an unclean woman so she surreptitiously touches the edge of his cloak. Instantly she is healed. Jesus, though, immediately realizes that something has happened and asks who touched him. Note that the disciples, as usual a bit dim, make fun of him because the crowd is so thick. He is being touched and jostled by numerous people so they cannot understand his question. But Jesus won’t let the woman get away for he wants to establish a personal relationship with her. She comes forward in spite of her fear and is commended for her faith and told her healing is permanent. Very often when Mark recounts a miracle cure, he portrays Jesus talking of the importance of faith. The woman’s faith may not have been profound, but it was enough for the healing to take place. Her faith established a real relationship with Jesus and for that he commends her.
Mark now returns to the story of Jairus’s daughter. Unlike many other leading members of the synagogue, Jairus seems to have no doubt that Jesus can heal the little girl – if he can get there in time. However, as we have seen, the pressure of the crowd and the healing of the woman slow down Jesus’ progress. So, it is perhaps not a surprise that people come from the house to say that the girl has died. They assume that there is no cure for death and so there is no point in bothering Jesus any more. But Jesus has other ideas and calls Jairus to even greater faith. He says that “the child is not dead but asleep”. For this, some people mock him.
Jesus is telling us here that death is not the end – that everything, even death, is under God’s control. Indeed, the restoration of the girl’s life is an extraordinary sign of Jesus’ power – a power than can belong to God alone. Notice how, once again, the miracle is undramatic. It takes place in front of only a small group of people, and Jesus simply takes her hand and tells her to get up. She instantly obeys. The Word that created the universe intervenes in this world to restore a single girl to life. And, Jesus, of course, thinks of her most immediate need – a growing child needs food. Finally, as so often in Mark, Jesus warns them not to talk about the miracle. However, it hardly seems likely that people will not talk when they see the girl who died walking around.
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