Jesus uses the title, “Daughter”

Jesus uses the title, “Daughter.” I do not know what the proper term is, but Mark makes use here of a literary style where there are two stories, making a whole. Think of a sandwich where the filling is in between 2 slices of bread. More specifically concerning this text, a miracle within a miracle. The stories are the final 2 miracles in a section of Mark that include a total of 4 miracles. In these 2 miracles, Jesus exercises his power over sickness and death. These 2 stories, because they are part of a whole, have things in common as well as sharp contrasts. They are as follows: THE BLEEDING WOMAN JAIRUS AND HIS DAUGHTER A woman A man A woman A girl poor probably wealthy a nobody a somebody no status status anonymous "Jairus" no support from others Father pleads for daughter approaches Jesus secretly approaches Jesus publicly excluded from the Synagogue a Synagogue leader unable to have children a father There is another difference I would like for you to consider. How many of you recall the story of the raising of Lazarus? How many of you recall the raising of Jairus’ daughter? And if you remember both, which comes to mind first? I bet for many of you, Lazarus is the first and I bet it has something to do with the way that story is written. Nowhere do we find a name for either of the females, only Jairus and Jesus. Jesus often goes outside of the societal dictates of proper relationships. Jesus tended to treat men, women, and children equally. As he does this, he is teaching us about relationships between male and female in society. It is about relationships being a two-way process. Note that Jesus reaches out to the woman AFTER she touched him, and Jesus reaches out to the daughter whose father has compassion for his daughter to seek help for her in her illness and continues to pursue healing. The suffering Jesus is also the healing Jesus. Our lives in society and more importantly, as the people called ‘Christian’ are all about our relationships with other people, both Christian or not Christian, male or female, those who fit or do not fit what we believe about any topic. This story composed of 2 stories is about accepting people where they are, both reaching out and allowing others to come to us. This is a reminder for us to be open to the opportunities God places before us each day.