Christ Helps Them All
The stories of Jairus' daughter and an unnamed woman.
It’s rare for one gospel story to unfold inside another. Mark employs this kind of writing feature a bit, and pretty strongly this morning. The juxtaposition between Jairus’ daughter and the unseen woman is powerful.
Jairus is a man of privilege - known to the people present there. He needs Jesus’ help and has no problem publicly asking for it. The woman is not only unnamed here, but feels as though she doesn’t deserve to be known and certainly not in the act of seeking Jesus’ help. She didn’t even want Jesus to know she was getting his help.
The woman’s condition had begun about the time the young girl was born. Twelve years. Twelve is an important number in scripture, usually reflecting on something along the lines of communal completion, unity, and solidarity (like the twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve disciples). Jairus’ daughter (known and privileged) and the unnamed woman (unknown and un-help-able) are united in their need as well as in Jesus’ salvation.
Maybe you know people like Jairus - bold in their faith, more than willing to speak up for the whole group to hear even as he asks for Jesus’ help. Maybe you yourself are more like the unnamed woman - don’t want to be noticed, but desperate for Jesus’ help.
Christ helps them all.
Both cried out in different ways — one aloud, one in secret — and Jesus heard them both. The Lord accepts our prayer, even the ones for which we may have no voice.
Mark 5:21-43
Jesus crossed the lake again, and on the other side a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. Jairus, one of the synagogue leaders, came forward. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded with him, “My daughter is about to die. Please, come and place your hands on her so that she can be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.
A swarm of people were following Jesus, crowding in on him. A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse. Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed. Her bleeding stopped immediately, and she sensed in her body that her illness had been healed.
At that very moment, Jesus recognized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”
His disciples said to him, “Don’t you see the crowd pressing against you? Yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus looked around carefully to see who had done it.
The woman, full of fear and trembling, came forward. Knowing what had happened to her, she fell down in front of Jesus and told him the whole truth. He responded, “Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace, healed from your disease.”
While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”
But Jesus overheard their report and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John, James’ brother. They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” They laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was. Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.” Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. They were shocked! He gave them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them to give her something to eat.
Psalm 6:6-10
I’m worn out from groaning. Every night, I drench my bed with tears; I soak my couch all the way through. My vision fails because of my grief; it’s weak because of all my distress. Get away from me, all you evildoers, because the Lord has heard me crying!
The Lord has listened to my request. The Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and completely terrified; they will be defeated and ashamed instantly.
Prayer
God,
On this day when many celebrate mothers and maternal figures, we pause to remember the beauty and complexity of nurturing love. We thank you for the ones who, like Jairus, boldly advocate for those in their care — speaking out, reaching out, asking for help. We also thank you for the ones who, like the unnamed woman, carry their needs quietly — unnoticed by many, but never unseen by you.
For those who mother by birth, by adoption, by fostering, by mentorship, or by quiet presence — thank you. And for those for whom this day brings grief, absence, longing, or pain — we hold space and ask for your nearness.
Your son, Christ, stopped for the woman no one else saw. And he walked with the man everyone knew. You gave healing freely to both — not based on status or strength, but on faith and need.
Help us to believe that you do the same for us. Draw near to every heart today — the bold and the weary, the joyful and the aching.
Remind us that we are known, we are heard, and we are held.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.