Environmental Control

Μὴ φοβοῦ, μόνον πίστευε (Do not fear, only believe.)

Mark 6:36b, SBL Greek Testament

No, this one isn’t another one about climate change. Rather, it is a good opportunity to explore a factor that crops up in some of Jesus’ interactions with people needing healing; namely the need to take control of the environment.

Remember the blind man Jesus takes out of the village (Bethsaida, in Mark 8) before healing him? When his eyes are fully opened, Jesus tells him to go straight home and not even enter the village. What was in the village? Something that wasn’t going to help the man; maybe people who would mock him, possibly even some root from which his blindness had arisen. We don’t know, but Jesus certainly did; and He wasn’t playing games.

And there is the Widow of Nain, in Luke 7; Jesus commanded her not to cry. That was at least an opportunity for her to respond in faith, but also quite likely Jesus cutting off a declaration of loss and despair from the one person with some authority over the dead boy and who therefore needed to be shut down (or up).

So here we are in Mark 5:21-43, the story of Jairus and his daughter, with the ‘interlude’ of the woman with the flow of blood.

We will pick up the story halfway through, except to note in passing that Jairus never said that his daughter was dying; nor did he say she was already dead. His exact words were “Τὸ θυγάτριόν μου ἐσχάτως ἔχει” – my daughter is in her last extremity; or she is in extremis. So his request that Jesus “coming might lay his hands on her in order that she be saved and live” was an genuine expression of faith (I think), which would account for Jesus immediately following him with all His disciples and the crowd.

In other words, my daughter is alive, just – and if you lay your hands on her she will be saved and live (but not otherwise). Jairus did well: declaring that someone is dying is not a helpful statement if you wish them to live!

So things change when the woman with the flow of blood is healed. Even as Jesus tells her that her faith has saved her, people come from Jairus’ house to say this:

Ἡ θυγάτηρ σου ἀπέθανεν· τί ἔτι σκύλλεις τὸν διδάσκαλον;

“Your daughter is dead; so why are you still annoying the teacher.” Not exactly the voice of compassion!

Jesus changes the plan at this point; so what is going on?

At the very least, there is an indication that the people who have followed Jairus are saying “you know perfectly well that your daughter is dead, so what stunt are you trying to pull?” “So why are you still bothering the teacher?” looks more like ‘putting the boot in’ than any concern at all for Jesus’ time being wasted.

Why was this so? We know Jairus was εἷς τῶν ἀρχισυναγώγων, “one of the …” – well, what were they? Rulers of the synagogue is a fair translation, as long as we realise that synagogue is a Greek word meaning “gathering” (ie a close synonym for ἐκκλησία – maybe gathered together as opposed to called together). And we simply don’t know that synagogues had rulers (although there is never any shortage of people asserting this and other biblical ‘facts’ on the basis of zero evidence).

Most of what we know about synagogues comes from 200 years later when the Talmud was being written. Until ruins of synagogues from the first century and earlier were found, there were even those who denied Jesus had ever seen a synagogue, let alone spoken in one.

Probably a better guess than ruler would be some equivalent of the French term, le responsable – not the caretaker, not the manager, certainly not the priest or pastor, but something of the person making sure that things happened on time and due order in a community space.

And it really doesn’t sound like Jairus was getting much respect from his role (which is sadly sometimes the lot of those who perform a public service of this kind). Jealousy and envy? Resentment? Who knows. But the people coming from his house to find him carry not one kind word of comfort, just a rather heartless rebuke.

At this point, Jesus is alerted. He instructs the ἀρχισυναγώγῳ “don’t fear, only believe” – and He refuses to allow anyone to come with Him, except Peter, James and John.

When He reaches Jairus’ house, I am sure He found exactly what He was expecting – a lot of confusion, wailing and crying, none of it genuine. Forget whatever you have heard about professional mourners, that is just a guess about something we have no evidence for. I think it is more likely that these people were there to feed on the grief of Jairus and his wife. Their insincerity is immediately apparent when Jesus tells them that the little girl is not dead, just sleeping. They LAUGH at Him. That is mockery, not grief.

One begins to understand why Capernaum featured in Jesus’ list of places that were going to wish they were somewhere less wicked, like Sodom or Gomorrah.

So He sees the wailers off. We are not told how, but the text doesn’t suggest anyone was trying to hang around after Jesus told them to go.

And then with just the parents and His three ‘inner circle’ disciples, He goes into the house, takes the little girl by the hand and tells her to get up. Which she does.

Jesus then tells them repeatedly – gave them many express orders – not to tell anyone what has happened; and to give her something to eat.

The sandwich we can understand, but why hide the unconcealable?

I don’t think Jesus is suggesting that they can pretend she did die after all; a twelve year old girl can’t be kept in a broom cupboard. People are going to see her in town. But He knew that people had it in for Jairus and his family, and would only take any information to work them harm if they could, whether practically or spiritually.

“So Mum and Dad, keep your big mouths shut, and just carry on as if nothing has happened. I mean it…”

Jesus at least thought that there were times when control had to be exerted over the immediate environment, both before and after a healing. I am not suggesting that we need to keep healings a secret – but we should at least be alive to the possibility that sometimes we should be doing the same as Jesus did.