Sunday 30 June 2024

Psalm 30

Background
It’s clear that this story in Mark’s Gospel – this ‘miracle-sandwich’ – was very significant. It reads like an eyewitness account: the details are so vivid and surprising. Why would Mark include such details unless it was exactly as he had been told? It was likely the eyewitness was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, who accompanied him through the streets of Capernaum and into the home of a 12-year-old girl.

Read the story again, imagining yourself as one of the disciples; or as Jairus, the father of the girl raised from the dead; or as one of the official mourners who suddenly find their sorrowful music needs to turn to celebration; or even as the woman with the bleeding condition, reaching out to Jesus in desperation, and finding God touching her – healing her pain and exposing her wonderful faith. You can see why Mark gave so much space to this story. There’s so much to explore!

There are interesting contrasts between the two female characters. (Unfortunately, we aren’t given the name of either, but maybe that was for their protection.) The girl was a child of a leader at the local synagogue, who would certainly have been considered part of God’s covenant family. Her family would have been well connected and well thought of and when they mourned, the whole community would mourn with them.

The woman on the other hand had suffered from a debilitating and socially unacceptable bleeding for 12 years. She’d spent all her money on doctors who were unable to do anything. She would probably have been unmarried because of the condition. And because the bleeding was probably gynaecological in nature, she would have been marginalised or excluded by the worshipping community because of regulations about cleanliness.

So, isn’t it interesting that Jesus dealt with the two so differently? He made sure everyone in town knew the woman was healed, and that she indeed had great faith to reach out with that intention. But he raised the girl from the dead quietly and privately, telling family and onlookers to say nothing. Maybe he saw the woman’s need for acceptance by the community, and the girl’s need for privacy. The girl had always been loved and accepted, and so she would continue to be.

Finally, I’m intrigued by the occurrence of the number 12. Mark was keen to mention ‘12 years’ in both cases. In the Bible, the number 12 gives a sense not just of completeness, but of God’s government; God’s kingdom; from the 12 tribes of Israel to the 12 disciples of Jesus. In the New Testament, we see God doing something new, through Jesus. God is bringing home the lost, freeing the captives, reaching out to the nations, and opening doors. In this gospel story we see God’s authority at work: not only valuing a child of God’s covenant people, Israel, with deep compassion, but also stopping to ensure that one who was lost and abandoned is treated with the same dignity and love and is welcomed back to the flock.

It's enough to make you want to sing:
He speaks, and listening to his voice,
new life the dead receive;
the mournful, broken hearts rejoice;
the humble poor believe! (Charles Wesley, Singing the Faith 364)

To Ponder:

• Which character in the story can you identify with most easily and why?
• Why do you think religions often find it more convenient to make rules that exclude, rather than accommodations to welcome those who most need communal faith and support?
• Who are the readily accepted and the easily excluded in your church? Why? What can we do to change or challenge that?

Bible notes author: The Revd Andrew Murphy
A Methodist presbyter in the East Mercia Circuit, Andrew is currently the minister of Harborough, Kibworth and Daventry churches. Married to Emily, with two children, aged eight and ten, he has been in the ministry for 16 years, previously serving in the Hinckley Circuit. A published hymnwriter, he trained at the Wesley Study Centre in Durham, supports Newcastle United FC, and is proud of his roots in Consett, County Durham.