Thirteenth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: What If Jairus Suffered Denial 如果雅依洛不能承受女兒的死亡
I enjoy watching movies because they tell stories, which I may not be able to go through and experience in person. Indeed, watching movies is safe in the sense that you are only a bystander, an outsider. You have no share in the consequences of the events. One of the more memorable movies I have watched is a 1970 Japanese movie called “Dodes’ka-den” which tells the stories of people who live in their fantasy worlds. Dodes’ka-den is rather prophetic in the sense that nowadays many people are unable to bear the brunt of stresses living in the modern society. They construct a “safe house” in their heads and stay inside. The most remarkable of all is that some of them are able to interact with the real world outside and manage to survive and even prosper. Is this not Virtual Reality or Meta-verse all about? However, a lot of them have become dysfunctional and ended up seeking psychiatric treatments. How pitiful!
The gospel today is the familiar “sandwich” miracle in which Jesus healed a bleeding woman on His way to raise the daughter of Jairus, one of the synagogue officials (Mark 5:22). One verse stood out in particular today to catch my attention. It reads, “Your daughter is dead; why trouble the teacher any longer?” (5:35). We have been interpreting this verse in a traditional manner in which the daughter died while Jairus and Jesus were returning home. Somehow, I discover another possibility to interpret this verse today.
The twelve-year-old girl had died. Jairus was in shock and could not accept the reality. He was in the first stages of grieving: denial and even anger. Death causes great shock in people and the shock is inversely proportional to age. The younger a person dies, the greater the shock his death imparts on the loved ones. “No way. It is not real. It is impossible for my endearing little daughter to die” etc. Before they are prepared and ready to accept the reality, people usually deploy the defence mechanism of denial. This happens in scientific researches as well as day-to-day social interactions.
People also usually try to cover up their mistakes with anger. “It cannot be my fault. It must be you who made the mistake”. Feelings of injustice would well up as well. “She was so young and so … It is not fair for so adorable a girl to die so young” etc. Perhaps Jairus did not want to show the emotional tumults he was undergoing and affected the other family members. He left home to grieve and on his way, Jairus met Jesus, an enemy of the Pharisees as well as a famous miracle worker! Now Jairus found a bargaining option. “Lord God, King of the Universe, the True Judge. I will love this enemy of ours if You let my daughter live!” He acted immediately. “Seeing Him [Jesus], he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him” (5:22b-23a). You can imagine how desperate Jairus must have been that he fell at his enemy’s feet in humility! Jairus did not fall into depression because Jesus was merciful. Without hesitation, Jesus went off with him … Later people from Jairus’ house arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why trouble the teacher …” (5:35), meaning Jairus, wake up and be realistic! Take courage. Come home to face the reality. How could you leave the corpse of your daughter unattended? Go quickly to bury her before the sun set. Why waste your own time and trouble the teacher …
Jesus was famous for exorcisms, healing illnesses and even calming the storm. But raising the dead would be His first attempt and there was no precedence. Now, Jairus could not brush away the possibility of Jesus’ failure. If Jesus succeeded, Jairus’ dream world would come true and he would be able to live happily ever after! If Jesus failed, Jairus had to return to the real world where his daughter was dead. This was exactly what Jairus tried to run away from in the first place because he did not have the courage to face such a cruel reality. This fear was genuine and appropriate for the moment. I would not blame Jairus for his fear because this was his first encounter with the Son of God. He might be familiar with the technicalities of the Law but he might, like Saul, the student of Rabbi Gamaliel, have no previous relationship with the Lord (Acts 9:5a)! Our sinfulness lies in the fact that we trust our technologies and ourselves more than we trust in God! In this light, we understand why Jesus told Jairus not to fear but to believe in Him (Mark 5:36b). Faith helps us sustain till we see something realized. Jairus needed faith to sustain himself till Jesus raised his daughter. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence [ἔλεγχος] of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
Now the merit. In traditional interpretation, the bleeding woman and Jairus’ daughter were the major beneficiaries of Jesus’ miracles. Jairus’ role was only collateral and secondary. However, the interpretation proposed in this reflection restores Jairus’ position that he deserved because the gospels retain his name while the bleeding woman and the little girl remain anonymous! What is the significance of Jairus? A quick answer is that he is a portrait of most Christians. The little girl was dead. We only know that she was 12 years old. Her life does not inform our faith. The faith of the bleeding was strong and enabled her to unlock Jesus’ power. We may learn from her and even envy her. But we are unable to imitate her because our spiritual experiences are unique and different. It is not advisable to do what she did. Thus, she does not help us improve our relationship with the Lord.
Beloved brethren! Jairus was different because he was one of us: defensive to the point of being nearly dysfunctional, utilitarian and the most important of all, fragile in faith! Jairus prompts us to rely more on the steadfast love of the Lord for us. He is a more helpful comrade in our journey home. Amen. God bless!
Picture Credit: groupbiblestudy.com
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