When Jesus comes back across the sea, He performs two remarkable miracles, the first performed while He is on His way to the second. The woman with the issue of blood was healed while Christ was on His way to the house of Jairus.
Here is the situation. As usual, Jesus was crowded with multitudes of people (v. 21). Literally, Mark tells us the crowd gathered “upon” Him. He was ministering there near the sea. One of the rulers of the synagogue came and fell before Christ, beseeching Him to come lay hands on his daughter, who was about to die (vv. 22-23). He says many things to persuade Christ to come, indicating his frame of mind. Jesus agrees to come, but as He walks He continues to be thronged by the mob. In that crowd was a woman with an issue of blood who touched His clothing from behind (vv. 27-28). Jairus has to be beside himself with the delay.
The woman who touched Jesus was immediately healed of the affliction, and Jesus noticed power gone from Him. He turns around to look, and begins asking who touched His clothes. His disciples, probably impatient on behalf of Jairus, say, in effect, “Look at this crowd! What do You mean?” (v. 31). Jesus ignores them and continues to look around (v. 32). The woman, knowing herself to have been discovered, comes forward, fell before Christ and told the whole story (v. 33). Jesus hears the story, and dismisses her in peace (v. 34). Please note that not all who touched Jesus touched Jesus.
She had been in the hands of impotent physicians. Mark makes a point of telling us that she had spent all her money on medical care, and the more she spent, the worse she got (v. 26). She had suffered many things (above and beyond the suffering of the disease) from many physicians, and presumably had written many checks. We do have some idea of the kind of care she received (for this kind of malady) from the Talmud. One was to drink a goblet of wine mixed with powder made from rubber, alum, and garden crocuses. Another was a dosage of Persian onions cooked in wine, administered with the statement, “Arise out of your flow of blood!” Another treatment was sudden shock, or, if that proved insufficient, she could have tried carrying the ash of an ostrich egg in a particular kind of cloth. Not surprisingly, such talmudopathy (to coin a term) did not quite do the trick. And while we are very grateful for the advances of medical knowledge, we must still remember that all true healing is in the hands of God.
Messengers come while Christ is delaying, and say that the girl has died (v. 35). Jesus, very thoughtful of Jairus, tells him not to lose hope (v. 36). What follows is the first recorded miracle of resuscitation, of raising someone from the dead. Christ permits only three disciples to come with Him (v. 37). When they get to the house, the mourners (probably hired) were already at work (vv. 38-39). In Israel of that day, even the poorest man was required by custom to have at least two flute players and a wailer. Jairus probably had a lot more. How quickly their tears turned to scorn shows they were hired guns (v. 40). Jesus kicks them all out, and goes in to her, along with father and mother, and the three disciples (v. 40). He took the girl by the hand, and speaking in Aramaic says, Talitha cumi. “Little girl, arise.” She was raised, and they were all thunderstruck (v. 42). Jesus tells them (strictly) to keep it quiet, and commands that food be given to her (v. 43).
In his narration, Mark places a number of interesting details right alongside one another. The first is the matter of falling prostrate—the demoniac named Legion had fallen at Christ’s feet. Jarius does the same. After she was healed, the woman with the hemorrage also fell before Him. The second is that twelve years—the woman had been sick for twelve years. The girl who was raised was twelve years old. Third, the healing was felt—the woman felt in her body that she was healed. Christ felt in His body that He had healed. Fourth, there were two daughters—Jairus is concerned for his daughter. Christ delays coming to his house in order to heal His daughter. And last, we see an interesting teaching on clean and unclean—Christ comes from the tombs, is touched by a woman with an issue of blood, and Himself touches a dead body. But He is never made ceremonially unclean; the process goes the other way. And always will.