Public Health England’s campaign as the restrictions of ‘Stay at Home’ have eased out, allowing six people or two households to meet outdoors since 29th March 2021 has been, “Hands, Face, Space & Fresh Air.” The campaign urges the public to stick to these rules and remember the key behaviours of washing the hands, wearing face coverings, making space and meeting in the fresh air to stop the spread of Covid-19. This guidance still continues and some have commented that these rules will have to remain in place for a longer period of time. In our moving forward, though it is hard to keep up, let’s stick to these rules as advised.
The text for this Sunday from Mark 5:21-43 is a passage where Jesus on his way to heal and resurrect the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus also heals a woman who was suffering from blood haemorrhage for twelve years. As I reflect on this text, I have noticed four important things in it, which are, touch, masks, distance and fresh air, which is to say in our modern contextual terms, is hands, face, space and fresh air. Let me explain it to you.
1. Hands/Touch:
We see three people involved in touching in this text. Firstly, it was Jairus on seeing Jesus fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” (22-23v). It was Jairus, who touches the feet of Jesus and requests Jesus to lay his hands on her daughter for healing. On that touch of Jairus, Jesus went with him to his house. This touch, I call ‘requesting touch.’ Hands and touch are for healing. The second touch is from an unnamed woman, who was suffering from haemorrhage, who was in a crowd on knowing about Jesus, came behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (27-29v) The woman received physical healing in her life at this touch, for there is healing of her disease. The interesting part of this touch is, now Jesus makes it a big deal to find out who has touched him as healing went out of him, asking “who touched me?” The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him and told him the whole truth. At this touch, Jesus heals her socially and spiritually appreciating her, ‘daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease.’ (32-34v). Here is the moment where the woman finds healing from her dis-easiness. This touch I call ‘restorative touch.’ The third touch in this text is when Jesus takes the unnamed dead girl, the daughter of Jairus, by her hand and says to her, ‘Talitha cum,’ which means ‘little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (41-42v). This touch I call ‘resurrection touch.’
2. Face/Masks:
In this given passage Jairus and Jesus are the ones, whose faces are well known and they have no masks on their faces. Jairus is a leader of the synagogue, who has a religious status, social status and economic status in his society. He commanded respect in the society, and when he came to plead Jesus to visit and heal her daughter, Jesus went with him. Next, we have Jesus who has become famous with his kind of movement, preaching, healing and challenging the powers, for which huge crowds followed him, everywhere he went. He healed the woman with haemorrhage and brought back life to the little girl in this given text. Two people in this text had to be masked with no face and no names mentioned here. The woman who was suffering from haemorrhage. Her identity was masked by patriarchy and prejudice, for no one remembers her name. It is so sad that eventually the readers of the text over the period of history called this woman as ‘a woman with a flow of blood.’ It is so unfortunate that her disease became her identity. She was masked by the religious law, for she was treated unclean because of her disease. She was broken physically enduring this pain of the haemorrhage for 12 years visiting every physician in her town. She was economically broken, spending money for her treatment. Not sure whether she had a family, if she had one surely, they would have accompanied her or would have pleaded for her like Jairus pleading for her daughter. Maybe due to her disease, she would have been a pain for her family and they would have left her on her own. With all these masks, this unnamed woman was de-peopled in her time and context. The next is the 12-year-old little daughter of Jairus. Again, she too was masked under patriarchy. No mention of her name here. The little girl was known as the daughter of Jairus. There is no record of her conversation in this text. All we know is she was sick on a dying bed, later died and Jesus brings life back to her. Her responses to resurrection were not recorded, whereas the recording of people weeping, wailing, laughing etc. were mentioned in this text. The 12-year-old girl was masked by patriarchy on one hand, and would have been masked as a child in the world of adults with no mention of her true self and identity.
3. Space/Distance:
When Jesus was surrounded by a crowd, who gathered around him as he crossed the lake by boat to the other side, Jairus with his religious and social status in the society could find space and access to Jesus and requested him to come and heal her dying daughter. Then the woman who was suffering with haemorrhage, she was on the margins of the society. Because of her disease according to the religious law, she was considered polluted and unclean and had to live outside of the city, away from the crowds. Anyone who touches her would also become polluted. She was untouchable and had to be socially distanced from the rest of the community. Her disease kept her at a distance, religion kept her at a distance, society kept her at a distance, family kept her at a distance and she was at a distance from her real-self. Finally, the little girl, daughter of Jairus. She was at a distance as she was on a deathbed, dying with her sickness, and so Jairus had to go to Jesus on her behalf. Halfway to Jairus house, they heard the news that her daughter died. And a dead corpse was also considered polluting and they would bury the dead body immediately. Anyone who touches a dead body is also polluted and they have certain rituals to follow to be cleansed again. The 12-year little girl who once was in the centre, due to her dad’s status and influence, is now on the margins, outside, due to her death.
4. Fresh Air:
There are several waves of fresh air in this text. Firstly, I recognise a breath of fresh air in the resilience of the woman who was suffering from haemorrhage, who took the risk, despite all the masks she had on her identity, despite the space and distance she had to keep from the society, she ventured to be in the crowd and receive healing from Jesus, even if it is to get a chance to touch his cloak. Jesus, by pressing to know who touched her in that crowd, was trying to recognise the resilience of the person who took courage and risk, defying the norms and rules in seeking healing. Imagine if this woman did not find healing that day, and if the crowd recognised that she was the woman with a haemorrhage, she would have received more insults and more punishment for defying those restrictions imposed on her. Her courage offers a fresh air to all the readers in the journey of faith. Secondly, the wave of fresh air comes from Jesus, who gave life to two unnamed women of his times. Jesus could have remained silent in that crowd without making a fuss of who had touched him. Yet, Jesus made that fuss, so that by recognising that woman of faith and courage in the public, he was offering a testimony to his disciples and the crowd to learn the kind of faith and courage this woman was showing in that busy, crowded public sphere. The wave of fresh air comes forcefully when Jesus heals the woman’s dis-easiness of masks, pollution and distance, and grants her freedom and liberation publicly. Jesus unmasks the masks of patriarchy, prejudice and pride. Thirdly, the wave of fresh air in this text is again found in Jesus laying his hand on the dead body of the little girl and bringing her back to life. Jesus willingly touched this dead girl, willingly wanted to take on her pollution of death and offered life to her in return. I think that whirlwind of fresh air was on the writer of this text, for he just recorded the Aramaic word ‘Talitha cum’ in wonder for ‘little girl, get up!’ The mystery and wonder of fresh breath of life remains unchanged, which is only to be celebrated.
In the context of social distancing today due to Covid, the calling for us as church is to be responsible in caring for one another, celebrating people and their identities, and offering to be waves of fresh breath of life, resisting exclusion and discrimination. The call for us as churches is to fight patriarchy and misogyny, and celebrate the equality of all genders. Let us like the woman be resilient and courageous in defying the rules in seeking and promoting healing in our midst. Let us like Jesus step out of the comfort zones in offering love and care to those people who are considered polluting and outcastes in our midst. Let us join with Jesus in addressing the dis-easiness of people who are struggling with mental health problems, with physical isolations, with grief, and with lack of companions, for we as a church should be a place of healing to all people in all places of our communities.
May the Spirit breathe in us the fresh breath so that we go out into the world as channels of healing, grace and love. Amen.
Raj Bharat Patta,
24th June 2021
Pic credit: https://coronavirusresources.phe.gov.uk/hands-face-space-fresh-air/overview/
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