The reading
1. What the Gospel says
Jairus falls at Jesus’ feet. The girl is twelve, at the point of death. News comes that she has died. Jesus says: do not fear. Only believe. He puts the crowd out, takes the child’s father and mother and three disciples, takes her hand, and says, in Aramaic, little girl, arise. She gets up and walks. He tells them to give her something to eat, and not to advertise him.
2. The woman on the way
The same hour holds the woman who had bled for twelve years. Her touch is not magic cloth. He feels power go out, turns, and speaks to her as daughter. Two twelves: a child of twelve years, a sickness of twelve years. The Gospel sets a public man and a hidden woman in one walk, and neither is a footnote.
Reading
How to read The daughter of Jairus
He tells them to feed her. A resurrection story that ends with breakfast is the opposite of a spectacle. The Church has always liked that sentence.
Church status
How this sign has been received
Sacred Scripture
Holy Scripture. Mark 5, Matthew 9, Luke 8.
Sources
- Mark 5:21–43
- Luke 8:40–56
For the classroom
The daughter of Jairus (The Gospel, Capernaum). Grade in this encyclopedia: Sacred Scripture. A synagogue ruler asks Jesus to come to his dying child. On the way a woman touches his cloak and is healed. In the house, where they are already weeping, he takes the girl by the hand and tells her to get up.
