After Mark presents Jesus as having dominance over the Sea (Mk. 4:35-41) and over a legion of demons (Mk. 5:1-20), he now presents Jesus as having dominance over death's forces (5:21-43). For the first time in Mark's gospel, the relationship between and new life received from Jesus is introduced. For the first time, the phrase "your faith has healed you" is spoken by Jesus.
The idea that faith has something to do with healing was already implicit in the healing of the paralytic (2:1-12). Later, in the account of Jesus' work in his own hometown, Mark will underline the relationship:
And he could not do any miracles there,
only that he cured a few that were sick,
laying his hands upon them.
And he wondered about their unbelief...(Mark 6:5-6)
There are actually two stories of faith in Mark 5:21-43 that became the occassion of new life being infused upon the sick and the dead: that of Jairus and that of the woman with an issue of blood. The story can be divided thus:
| Verses | Description |
| 21-24 | Introduction: The request of Jairus |
| 25-34 | The woman who touches Jesus by her faith |
| 35-43 | Jairus' daughter restored to life |
The two stories of the healing of a woman and a young teen-ager is occassioned by the request of Jairus for his daughter: that Jesus lay his hand on her so "she may be saved and live." The verbs for "to save/be saved" and "to live" will be key ideas in the narrative. The verb "be saved/save" will appear again in v. 28 and v. 34 respectively in the story of the woman whose vitality was ebbing away in the blood issuing from her. The verb "to live" will no longer be used, but Mark lets it be understood in "she was healed" (v. 28) and "she got up and walked around" (v. 42). The hemorrhaging woman was healed and the girl stood up and walked around as she awakens from her deathly slumber.
"Your faith has saved you" says Jesus to the woman who he encounters only after she has been healed. Of all those jostling Jesus in the crowd -- and hence, were practically touching him -- only she by her faith was able to release an outpouring of vitality from him. The "dynamis" that comes out of Jesus seemed to replace the vitality that has been going out of her those twelve years of hemorrhaging and heal her from her affliction. Blood gushing out of her continuously has kept her unclean and therefore unfit to join the assembly of God's people and even from her own household (cf. Lev. 15:19-30. The phrase used to describe the woman's condition here is similar to the one used in this levitical section about women with issue of blood). The healing therefore restores her not only to her family, but also to the people of God. Jesus attributes this to her faith, the faith that was able to touch him.
This episode about the woman with an issue of blood prepares for the episode on the restoration of Jairus' daughter. But was faith involved here? Surely, it was. When Jairus was informed of the death of his daughter, Jesus tells him: "Do not be afraid; just have faith." In the previous story about the calming of the storm, "fearfulness" was mentioned in contrast with "faith": Why are you so afraid,, Jesus told his disciples, Don't you have faith yet?. In front of death and its forces then (as the waves that threatened to sink the boat), Jesus invites people to have faith in Him. And it is the faith of Jairus that becomes the occassion for the salvation of his daughter. (There will be another case of a father's faith bringing about the healing of his son in Mark 9:14-29). It is interesting to note that Jesus calls in the wife and "those who were with them" (perhaps the servants?) to be with Jairus at the place where the girl lay dead. This is understandable given the fact that Jairus is the head of his household (wife and other members); the head must be joined to its body). Through the faith of the household (by virtue of Jairus' faith), the raising up of the daughter is effected.
"Raising up", egeiren is a verb of the resurrection. Mark intentionally gives the idea that the healing of the daughter of Jairus is a foretaste of the Resurrection. Remember that even the healing of Peter's mother-in-law is presented in the same manner (see Mark 1:29-31)
Faith is required for the forces of the Resurrection to be released and to bring wholeness. Faith is required for those capable of it, like the woman with issue of blood. For a child who was incapable of it -- she was dead -- the faith of her father was needed. By her faith, the hemorrhaging woman was not only restored to health, she was also given the possibility to return to her family and to claim her place in the midst of the assembly of God's people. Jairus daughter was not only restored to life, she was also restored to her family. Thus, faith not only brings about newness of life. It also brings about communion.
