THE TOUCH THAT HEALS
Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15;
Mark 5:21-43 or 5:21-24, 35b-43
Sue Knutson was hiking alone in the mountains when her foot slipped between two boulders. She felt sharp pain in her ankle, and then collapsed on her back.
Miles from civilization and medical care, Knutson, a nurse, held her leg in the air and used the only resource available—her hands—to reduce the swelling and shooting pain. She held her hands a few inches from her ankle and breathed deeply and slowly. The pain began to ebb, and after thirty minutes she was able to limp to the road unassisted. At the emergency room, doctors said she had a severe medial lateral sprain and she’d have to be in a cast for four months. Six weeks later, her ankle had healed enough for doctors to remove the cast. Knutson had used the power of touch.
Jairus represented the upper crust of society – the synagogue ruler – rich; powerful; religiously prominent. The woman in the crowd was a social outcast. Since she was haemorrhaging, she was considered unclean and therefore not allowed to set foot in the synagogue.
In each situation, Jesus’ touch makes the person whole. His touch stops the woman’s haemorrhage, and she is healed. It brings the corpse to life, and the young girl gets out of bed. God, in Jesus, loves into life and wholeness these two vastly different people. And restores them to community and communion.
Even more, he establishes a relationship with them! He calls the woman “daughter”; she is not untouchable. By calling Jairus’ daughter “little girl”, Jesus establishes with her the same relationship. God, in Jesus, makes them his children.
This story is not merely about these two daughters of Israel. It’s about the creation of a new Israel. Mark has seeded this story with clues. How long had the woman been bleeding? Twelve years. How old was the little girl? Twelve years. Every Jewish person reading this story would see the repetition of the number twelve as a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel.
This Gospel reveals Jesus as the source of life and healing; it reveals our God as “pro-life”! God wants his people to live full lives; he wants us to share his life forever. As the first reading says: “God takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living... he fashioned all things that they might have being.”
Each of us—in some way or another—needs healing.
Like Jairus’, we need to come to the Lord, fall on our knees and plead with him to lay his hands on us. Or like the woman, we need to touch him. May we hear his words “talitha koum” addressed to each one of us, and experience healing and wholeness. And may we, in turn, touch others to health and wholeness.
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