Mark 5:21-43 | George Percy Jacomb Hood | Do not be afraid; only have faith

Mark 5:21-43   Do not be afraid; only have faith

The Raising of Jairus' Daughter,  Painted by George Percy Jacomb Hood (1857-1929), Painted in 1895, Oil on canvas © Guildhall Gallery, London When Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lakeside. Then one of the synagogue officials came up, Jairus by name, and seeing him, fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.’ Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him. Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she spent all she had without being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his cloak. ‘If I can touch even his clothes,’ she had told herself ‘I shall be well again.’ And the source of the bleeding dried up instantly, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint. Immediately aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.’ While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the synagogue official to say, ‘Your daughter is dead: why put the Master to any further trouble?’ But Jesus had overheard this remark of theirs and he said to the official, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’ And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the official’s house and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child’s father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At this they were overcome with astonishment, and he ordered them strictly not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.   READ MORE     Reflection on the Painting The Gospel reading today presents us with two miracle stories about how Jesus healed people: the story of the woman with a serious haemorrhage and the story of the raising of Jairus’ daughter. At the end of the first of these stories Jesus gives us the key to his healing ministry when he says: your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint’.  As always, Jesus shows understanding and delicacy when approaching people who need help… and his authority over illness and death is supreme. Looking at our painting today, we see this delicacy expressed in Christ’s gestures: His left hand is relaxed, holding his belt; the other gently reaching out to the woman. He is bare footed, having taken off his dusty sandals, sign as a respect for the house who welcomes Him. Jugs in the top left corner are half revealed. Jugs probably holding medicine and ointments to heal Jarius’ daughter. But too late… There is a glimmer of hope, symbolised by the burning oil lamp beside her bed. The light in the painting is not emanating from Jesus, but from the dead woman. She is the one who will be raised. She is the centre of what is happening. Jesus in his understanding and delicacy is putting himself in the background and brings her back to life. As He said: ‘’Do not be afraid; only have faith’. She became alive again.  Miraculous things can happen when people have faith… by Patrick van der Vorst