ACC ~ Mark 5 v21 - 43

OVERVIEW:

Faith has powerful evidences, as seen in the new life that it creates (APHRAHAT). By healing and raising from the dead, Jesus showed compassion and demonstrated his messianic identity (PRUDENTIUS). It was not the mere manual touching of the Lord that healed, but touching the Lord with simple faith (BEDE). She who was perceived as being dead was given new life simply through the divine address (AMBROSE). The cry of anquish was itself a primitive form of faith (JEROME). She ate to confirm the authenticity of her resurrection (JEROME, THEODORET OF CYR). When we are made children of God by faith, life is restored (JEROME). The sole requisite to receiving new life is faith (AUGUSTINE, BEDE). If she were a witness to his divinity, he in turn was a witness to her faith (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). The one whose hands formed her from nothing in creation reformed her from what had perished (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS).

5:23 | Lay Your Hands on Her

WHOSE HANDS?

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Those who are sick do not lay down the conditions of how they are to be cured. They only want to be made well. But this man was a ruler of the synagogue, and versed in the law. He had surely read that while God created all other things by his word, man had been created by the hand of God. He trusted therefore in God that his daughter would be recreated, and restored to life by that same hand which, he knew, had created her. … He who laid hands on her to form her from nothing, once more lays hands upon her to reform her from what had perished. SERMON 33.3. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0227+, 33.37; SSGF 4:323**; CCL 24:188.

5:27 | She Touched His Garment

THE CRY OF ANGUISH

JEROME: The woman with the hemorrhage had spent all that she had on doctors. Hungering and thirsting, her spirit had died within her. Having lost everything she possessed, because her life was wasting away within her, she cried out to the Lord in anguish. Her touch on the hem of his garment was the cry of a believing heart. In this she is the figure of the assembly of God gathered from all nations. HOMILY 33. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0.592, 106.88; FC 48:241**.

DRAWING NEAR TO THE PHYSICIAN

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: No seas were ever so troubled by the ebb and flow of the tide, as the mind of this woman, pulled to and fro by the sway of her thoughts. After all the hopeless strivings of physicians, after all her outlay on useless remedies, after all the usual but useless treatment, when skill and experience had so long failed, all her substance was gone. This was not by chance, but divinely ordered, that she might be healed solely through faith and humility, whom human knowledge had failed through so many years. At a little distance apart from him stood this woman, whom nature had filled with modesty, whom the law had declared unclean, saying of her: She shall be unclean and shall touch no holy thing. [1] She fears to touch, lest she incur the anger of the religious leaders, or the condemnation of the law. For fear of being talked about, she dares not speak, lest she embarrass those about her, lest she offend their ears. Through many years her body has been an arena of suffering. Everyday, unceasing pain she can endure no more. The Lord is passing by so quickly. The time is short to think what she must do, aware that healing is not given to the silent, nor to the one who hides her pain. In the midst of her conflicting thoughts, she sees a way, her sole way of salvation. She would secure her healing by stealth, take in silence what she dares not ask for, guarding her respect and modesty. She who feels unworthy in body, draws near in heart to the physician. In faith she touches God. With her hand she touches his garment, knowing that both healing and forgiveness may be bestowed on this stratagem, undertaken due to the demands of modesty, and not as she otherwise would have preferred. She knew the gain she sought by stealth would cause no loss to him from whom she took it. … In an instant, faith cures where human skill had failed through twelve years. SERMON 33.4. [2]

[1] Cf. Lev 15:25.

[2] Cetedoc 0227+, 33.70; SSGF 4:324**; CCL 24:189-90.

IRONIES OF HER HEALING

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: Glory to you, hidden Son of God, because your healing power is proclaimed through the hidden suffering of the afflicted woman. Through this woman whom they could see, the witnesses were enabled to behold the divinity that cannot be seen. Through the Son’s own healing power his divinity became known. Through the afflicted woman’s being healed her faith was made manifest. She caused him to be proclaimed, and indeed was honored with him. For truth was being proclaimed together with its heralds. If she was a witness to his divinity, he in turn was a witness to her faith. … He saw through to her hidden faith, and gave her a visible healing. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON. [1]

[1] Leloir 1990:88; JSSS 2:129**.

5:33 | She Told Him the Whole Truth

FAITH AND TRUTH

JEROME: Note the separate stages; mark the progress. As long as she was hemorrhaging, she could not come into his presence. She was healed by faith and then came before him. She fell at his feet. Even then she did not yet dare to look up into his face. As long as she had been cured, it was enough for her to cling to his feet. She “told him all the truth.” [1] Christ himself is the truth. She was giving praise to the truth. She had been healed by the truth. HOMILY 77. [2]

[1] Mk 5:33.

[2] Cetedoc 0594, 3.9; FC 57:148*.

5:34a | Daughter, Your Faith Has Made You Well

WHETHER PROXIMITY ELICITS FAITH

AUGUSTINE: Few are they who by faith touch him; multitudes are they who throng about him. [1] SERMON 62.4. [2]

[1] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5

[2] Cetedoc 0284, 62.38.416.48; GMI 111.

TOUCHING IN DOUBT

BEDE: Some “seeing see not, and hearing do not hear.” [1] So also some who touch, touch not, when they approach the Lord not in simplicity of soul, but in doubt or in duplicity. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.5. [2]

[1] Mt 13:13.

[2] Cetedoc 1355, 2.5.360; GMI 111*; cf. WSA 3 3:158. It was not the mere manual touching of the Lord itself that healed but touching the Lord in simplicity of soul.

5:34b | Be Healed of Your Disease

THE WAY OF HEALING

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: Provide remedies suitable to every patient’s case. Cure them, heal them by all means possible. Restore them soundly to the church. Feed the flock, “not with insolence and contempt, as lording it over them,” [1] but as a gentle shepherd, “gathering the lambs into your bosom, and gently leading those which are with young.” [2] CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 2.3.20. [3]

THE HEALING IMPERATIVE

PRUDENTIUS:

Members filled with leprous ulcers,

flesh corrupted and decayed,

“Go and wash them, I command you”;

what he ordered then is done;

Wounds are healed by pious cleansing,

swollen flesh grows smooth again. [4]

Now on eyes, by lifelong darkness,

shrouded from the light of day

Thou dost spread a clay of healing, made

with nectar from thy lips;

Soon the blinded orbs are opened and

rejoice in late-found sight. [5]

Thou dost chide the angry tempest

and the savage hurricane,

Which upheave the tossing billows

and beset the fragile boat;

At thy bidding winds are subject,

and the rolling waves are stilled. [6]

Then a woman, weak and timid, touched

his sacred garment’s hem: Instant was the blessed healing, and

the pallor left her cheek,

As the hemorrhage she had suffered

through so many years was stopped. [7]

Lazarus for four days buried, hidden in the sunless tomb,

He restores to life and vigor, giving power to breathe again,

And the soul returning, enters flesh now crumbling to decay. [8]

HYMN 9. [9]

[1] Cf. Ezek 34:4; Mt 20:25.

[2] Cf. Is 40:11.

[3] PG 1:637; ANF 7:405. The healing ministry of the church is adapted to each particular adversity confronted.

[4] Mt 8:2-3.

[5] Cf. Jn 9:1-7.

[6] Cf. Mt 8:24-26.

[7] Cf. Mt 9:20-22; Mk 5:25-34; Lk 8:43-48.

[8] Cf. Jn 11:38-44.

[9] Cetedoc 1438, 9.31; FC 43:62-63.

5:36 | Do Not Fear, Only Believe

THE SOLE REQUISITE TO RECEIVING NEW LIFE

APHRAHAT: When the chief of the synagogue asked him about his daughter, Jesus said to him: “Only firmly believe and your daughter shall live.” [1] He believed and so his daughter lived and arose. Similarly when Lazarus died, our Lord said to Martha, “If you believe, your brother shall rise.” Martha said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe.” [2] And he raised him after four days. … So let us draw near then, my beloved, to faith, since its powers are so many. For faith raised up [Enoch] to the heavens [3] and conquered the deluge. [4] Faith causes the barren to sprout forth. [5] It delivers from the sword. [6] It raises up from the pit. [7] It enriches the poor. [8] It releases the captives. It delivers the persecuted. [9] It brings down the fire. [10] It divides the sea. [11] It cleaves the rock, and gives to the thirsty water to drink. [12] It satisfies the hungry. [13] It raises the dead, and brings them up from Sheol. [14] It stills the billows. [15] It heals the sick. [16] It conquers hosts. [17] It overthrows walls. [18] It stops the mouths of lions, [19] and quenches the flame of fire. [20] It humiliates the proud, and brings the humble to honor. [21] All these mighty works are wrought by faith. Now this is faith; when one believes in God the Lord of all, Who made the heavens and the earth and the seas and all that is in them. He made Adam in his image. He gave the law to Moses. He sent his Spirit upon the prophets. Moreover he sent his Christ into the world, that we should believe in the resurrection of the dead; and should also trust in the efficacy of our baptism. This is the faith of the church of God. So distance yourselves from all divinations and sorceries and Chaldean arts and magic, and superficial prayers and rites and moons and seasons, from fornication and lewd music, from vain doctrines which are instruments of the adversary, from the allure of honeyed words, from blasphemy and from adultery. Do not bear false witness or speak with a double tongue. DEMONSTRATION 4.17-19. [22]

[1] Cf. Mk 5:35-36.

[2] Cf. Jn 11:23-27.

[3] Cf. Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5.

[4] Cf. Gen 7:1—8:22; Heb 11:7.

[5] Cf. Gen 21:1-3; Heb 11:11-12.

[6] Cf. Gen 22:1-19; Heb 11:17, 34.

[7] Cf. Gen 37:28.

[8] Cf. Mk 12:42-44.

[9] Cf. Heb 11:27-29.

[10] Cf. 1 Kings 18:38.

[11] Cf. Ex 14:21.

[12] Cf. Ex 17:6.

[13] Cf. Ex 16:15.

[14] Cf. Heb 11:35.

[15] Cf. Mt 8:26.

[16] Cf. Mt 9:2, 22; Mk 2:5.

[17] Cf. Heb 11:34.

[18] Cf. Heb 11:30.

[19] Cf. Heb 11:33.

[20] Cf. Heb 11:34.

[21] Cf. Heb 11:26; Jas 4:6.

[22] NPNF 2 13:351-52**.

5:37 | He Allowed No One to Follow Except Peter, James and John

WHY ONLY THREE?

JEROME: Someone may wonder or ask: Why are these three apostles always chosen and the others sent away? Even when he was transfigured on the mountain, these three were with him. [1] Yes, these three were chosen: Peter, James and John. But why only three? First there is the mystery of the Trinity embedded in this number, a number sacred in itself. Second, according to Moses, Jacob set three peeled branches in the watering troughs. [2] Finally, it is written: “A three-ply cord is not easily broken.” [3] Peter is chosen as one upon whom the church would be built. [4] James is the first of the apostles to be crowned with martyrdom. [5] John is the beloved disciple [6] whose love prefigures the state of virginity. HOMILY 77. [7]

[1] Cf. Mt 17:1-3; Mk 9:2-4; Lk 9:28-30.

[2] Gen 30:38; to stimulate the animals to reproductive activity.

[3] Eccles 4:12.

[4] Cf. Mt 16:18.

[5] Cf. Acts 12:2.

[6] The beloved disciple, whose love anticipates the tradition of sexual chastity in apostolic ministry. Cf. Jn 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20.

[7] Cetedoc 0594, 3.31; FC 57:149*. Within this inner circle we find the prefiguring of the apostolate, of martyrdom and of purity of heart.

5:39 | The Child Is Not Dead but Sleeping

THE AWAKENING VOICE OF THE LORD

AMBROSE: And what shall I say about the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, at whose death the people were mourning and the flute players were playing their music? [1] On the assumption that she was indeed dead, solemn funeral services were already being performed. But her spirit returned immediately at the voice of the Lord. She arose with revived body and partook of food to furnish proof that she was alive. [2] ON HIS BROTHER, SATYRUS 2.82. [3]

[1] Cf. Mt 9:23.

[2] Cf. Mk 5:38-43; Lk 8:52-55.

[3] Cetedoc 0157, 2.82.294.1; FC 22:233*. Cf. Ambrose On Belief in the Resurrection 2, NPNF 2 10:187. She who was perceived as being irrevocably dead was given new life simply through the voice of the Lord.

WHETHER THE CHILD WAS DEAD

AUGUSTINE: He comes to the house, and finds the customary funeral rites already underway, and he says to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” [1] He spoke the truth. She was in a certain sense asleep—asleep, that is, in respect of him, by whom she could be awakened. So awakening her, he restored her alive to her parents. SERMON ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 48. [2]

[1] Mark 5:39.

[2] Cetedoc 0284, 98.38.593.16; NPNF 1 6:414**; cf. WSA 3 4:45, Sermon 98.4. Her assumed death and sleeping in relation to him is seen in the light of her awakening to him.

THE LONG-SUFFERING OF PARENTS

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Let us, if it is pleasing to you, speak for a moment of the pains and anxieties which parents take upon themselves and endure in patience out of love and affection for their children. Here, surrounded by her family and by the sympathy and affection of her relations, a daughter lies upon her bed of suffering. She is fading in body. Her father’s mind and spirit are worn with grief. She is suffering the inward pangs of her sickness. He, unwashed, unkempt, is absorbed wholly in sorrow. He suffers and endures before the eyes of the world. She is sinking into the quiet of death. … Alas! why are children indifferent to these things! Why are they not mindful of them? Why are they not eager to make a return to their parents for them? But the love of parents goes on nevertheless; and whatever parents bestow upon their children, God, the parent of us all, will duly repay. SERMON 33.2. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0227+, 33.13; SSGF 4:322-23*.

5:43 | Give Her Something to Eat

AVOIDING DELUSION

JEROME: For whenever he raised anyone from the dead [1] he ordered that food should be given him to eat, lest the resurrection should be thought a delusion. And this is why Lazarus after his resurrection [2] is described as being at the feast with our Lord. AGAINST JOVINIANUS 2.17. [3]

[1] Cf. Mk 5:43; Lk 8:55.

[2] Cf. Jn 12:2.

[3] Cetedoc 0610, 2.17.325.13; NPNF 2 6:401.

VALIDATING THE RESURRECTION

THEODORET OF CYR: For since eating is appropriate for those living this present life, the Lord necessarily demonstrated this by means of eating and drinking, thus proving the resurrection of the flesh to those who did not think it real. This same course he pursued in the case of Lazarus and of Jairus’ daughter. For when he had raised up the latter he ordered that something should be given her to eat. [1] DIALOGUE 2, THE UNCONFOUNDED. [2]

[1] Cf. Mk 5:43.

[2] TLG 4089.002, 147.15-20; NPNF 2 3:198. Eating by those raised demonstrates their return to actual life, thus validating the reality of the resurrection.