A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

In the New Testament (Mark 5:21-43 & Luke 8:40-56), there's a seemingly simple story concerning a girl who has died and a woman who touched Jesus' robe for healing. On the surface, it's about receiving miraculous healing by having faith in Jesus. But, as I was reading this passage today, I realized some details in it that offer a more profound deliverance, for me at least. 

The woman has been afflicted with an unending menstruation for twelve years at this point. Twelve years of being a woman of child-bearing age yet without the ability to conceive due to this abhorrence. On the other hand, we have a girl dying in the intro and dead upon arrival that happens to be twelve years of age. Dead when the woman's menses stopped. 

What I realized about this story is that it's not just about two females but one. The fact that the story has been told as one, linked through Christ's actions, reveals the integrity of the two females' indivisibility. As Mark 4:12 states, "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving [...]," we must go beyond the visual that's been placed before us by both Mark and Luke's storytelling. If we only ever stop at the literal for our understanding, we fail to know the truth of God's word. This is symbolic storytelling at its best. 

So, if there's a symbolic story to be had, what's it telling us?

Well, before I finish the thought on the one woman (via two connecting stories), I want to also point out the part when the woman touches Jesus' robe and he turns asking "Who touched my clothes?" (Mark 5:30). And, in Luke 8:46, instead of only thinking the following thoughts, he states out loud to the crowd, "[...] I know the power has gone out from me." This appears to be about the only variance between the two storytellings of Mark and Luke. While Mark has been told from the perspective of Jesus as Servant, Luke tells the journey of the Son of Man. The perspectives indicate a difference in position. Whether from the authors perspective or society's perspective makes no difference as they are each representative of an aspect of our personhood. But, more importantly, the words he thought or spoke discloses a key component of how Christ operates within us.

The perspectives are important as neither Matthew (Jesus as King) nor John (Son of God) make mention of this narrative. The Son of God already has divinity. The King, by historical & biblical recognition, also has spiritual authority. A mere man and a servant though?! Heaven forbid, right? But, here, the Christ has acknowledged that his own power has left him, into someone who does not hold a position of authority. She is receiving it through faith. The implication then would be that following Jesus' ascension, we all have Christ within, if true believers. He becomes a part of us, not remaining outside of us.

That brings us back to the two females mentioned. As we receive the Christ within through our faith, we are empowered with the resurrection and reclamation of our original divine self that places us back on to the path that God originally intended us for. When the woman receives healing, the girl dies but is reborn through Christ. The indivisibility of the two female personas reveal a woman who has been reborn into her natural, divine state as intended because of her faith. All things are possible through Christ.

The brilliance of the Bible I cannot stress enough, if we're willing to peal back the layers - revealing truth upon truth upon truth... The Book of Ezekiel with its talk of alien craft was the first to indicate to me that man has 4 faces, just as God has 3 (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Each of the gospels should be analyzed from the perspective of those four faces that we operate from. Throughout our lifetime, if we are walking a path led by God, we must gain experience in each role. In a sense, most of us begin in the role of the sovereign, with all of our needs being met by our caretakers. As we grow older, we delve into a learning stage in how to operate within society that relegates us to the servant who caters to others' ideology. Eventually, we grow into one who plays various roles of wife, husband, friend, coworker - learning more of who we may be or may become. And, finally, only a handful of us, who keep their eyes on Christ and place, literally, everything we know, think, feel, and do into his capable hands will become the Son (or Daughter) of God and be reborn in his image, his divinity that renews our spirit as the driver of this body temple and heals us in every which way.