Mark 5: 21–43; Matthew 9: 18–26; Luke 8: 40–56 Jesus Heals A Crippled Woman

Target year level: Year Six

Scripture text

World behind the text

This text appears in all three synoptic gospels which means it originated as part of the oral tradition that was used to create Mark’s Gospel. When a story appears in multiple Gospels we use the term ‘multiple attestation’, which means the story is being attested to by a significant number of the early Christian communities.

In Mediterranean culture in the time of Jesus, the honour-shame social code was very important. In the context of an honour and shame society, this story compares Jesus’ response to an honourable man (Jarius) and a ritually ‘dishonourable’ woman, suffering from constant bleeding. There are a number of medical conditions that might have contributed to the woman’s bleeding. The important point to note is that in that culture and time, this woman would remain ritually impure under The Law and completely isolated from her husband and the wider community. In short, it was a social and a religious problem as well as a physical one. If the woman touched anyone or anyone’s clothes she caused that person to become ritually unclean for the rest of the day. The Jewish notion of tum’ah and taharah, are translated as “unclean” and “clean,” or “impure” and “pure”. If we strip the words “pure” and “impure” of their physical connotations, and perceive their true spiritual meaning, we would see that what they really signify is the presence or absence of holiness. For further information, see Tum’ah As the Absence of Holiness in the article, On the Essence of Ritual Purity.

The woman’s presence in the crowd was socially unacceptable and her touching of Jesus’ garment would really be a scandalous act of faith.

In Luke’s version of this story, the text actually states that the woman “came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes”. A study of the world of the time of Jesus would suggest that this is a reference to the prayer shawl that Jesus would have worn, as a faithful Jewish man, which was hung with tassels and known as a tzitzit. The tassels were a physical representation of the 613 commandments or mitzvah. When the woman touches the fringing, or tzitzit, it is a physical reminder of the mitzvah, calling Jesus to remember what he needs to be faithful to as Jewish man.

People who lived in the time when the text was written would have also known the significance of the number 12, which represented a whole cycle of life. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve followers of Jesus and twelve was the age of Jesus’ ‘bar mitzvah’ in the Jewish community. Twelve would have also been around the age when childhood was ending, so Jairus’ daughter has lived a whole cycle of her life but the woman of faith has also lived a whole cycle of her life ostracised from others. Her quality of life is so low that she risks everything and breaks many of the social rules of her time in order to be healed by Jesus – and it is only her incredible faith that provides her with the strength she needs to receive the healing she so desperately requires.

World of the text

It is important to read and consider the similarities and differences in the three versions of this story. Who are the characters in each story? (Note who is named and who is not named in the different versions of the story e.g. Jairus is known only as “the ruler” in Matthew.) Where does each story take place? When does each story take place? What happens in each story? What are the similarities and differences in what happens in each story? What was Jesus’ reaction? What does he say in all three stories?

In all three accounts the woman touches the cloak of Jesus. All accounts have Jesus responding in the same way. Jesus refers to her as ‘Daughter’ which signifies that he is honouring her as a “Daughter of Israel”, worthy of respect. Her healing is presented as God working through Jesus. In Matthew’s account, the ruler (presumably Jarius) comes and kneels before Jesus. The implication here is Jesus is seen as a man of authority and worthy of great respect. All three texts name Jarius despite the fact that his name is not actually used in Matthew’s account.

The focus of this text needs to be on the woman’s faith, and not what was wrong with the woman. Clearly the woman was suffering from a medical condition that was unable to be cured in her time by traditional methods. Professor Amy-Jill Levine points out that the text does not reveal the source of the bleeding – the woman could have been bleeding from her head or her feet. What is important is to keep the focus on the woman’s quality of life and what her faith then enabled her to do.

This story is a healing miracle. We know this because the scene of touch is incorporated into all three accounts. When understanding miracle stories, the focus is not so much on the physicality of the miracle event but rather the social transformation that takes place in the life of the person being healed. This is a story of restoration. Jesus restored the woman’s dignity; shame is transformed into honour in the presence of the crowd of onlookers. The crowd is left with the challenge of being able to live in a way that gives honour to those who are isolated and estranged from the community and by an overly strict adherence to The Law.

Most miracle stories followed a stylised structure that helped people remember the stories during the time of the oral tradition. The pattern usually followed three stages: setting (a description of the person and their illness), cure (the method used to cure) and the cure performed and finally, acclamation where onlookers affirm the transformation they have witnessed.

The picture of Jesus as healer is central to the synoptic gospels. Multiple versions of the same story are frequently found. Jesus’ healing ministry is distinctive in two ways: First, healing was central to his ministry and second, he doesn’t ask God to intervene on behalf of the sick but heals the person directly; each healing episode is a manifestation of God’s power working in and through Jesus. Jesus often emphasised faith in his healing ministry as is the case in all three accounts of this story.

World in front of the text

Honour and shame are still important social codes in contemporary Australian society. Students need to consider who and why some groups in their community are given honour over others. Similarly, why some groups and individuals are shamed and why? Healing is a core concept central to the story and worthy of exploration. Who in our local community and wider society need healing and how might we contribute to a culture that emphasises healing and forgiveness? Students might consider in what ways they might need healing; what are the emotions, thinking and feelings that we sometimes hold on to that prevent us from living life in all its fullness (envy, jealousy, anger)?

Faith is another important concept to be explored. What is faith? How might my faith be made manifest in my actions and service to others? How might faith be helpful in times of difficulty?

Three worlds of the text teaching strategies

World behind the text strategies

Teach about:

the Jewish Prayer robe (tallit) & therefore the link of the tassel (tzitzit) to the 613 commandments (use pictures) or borrow/buy one.
ask students “What is the significance of touching the robe?” Break open vocab.
the cycles of life, importance of number e.g. 12. Draw / find a picture of these and connect a description to them.
Why was Jesus wearing a tzittzit?
What does it remind Jewish people of? Students access chabad.org and search ‘tzitzit’
In the life of Jesus, purity laws existed. Create a fact file by addressing these questions: What does it mean to by pure? What are purity laws? What is it like not to be in community?
Use an image set in the time and use this to identify certain visual items/aspects eg. the tzitzit. Do a SEE, THINK, WONDER after viewing the story on Visual Bible (cue to 1:04:27)
Students highlight aspects / words of the text that are new and need to be investigated. Who's who in the synagogue - roles and hierarchy through a Social Ladder strategy (A-Z strategy book)
What is the role of a physician at the time and the concept of healing in that time? How did one become a physician/doctor in these times? Was it medical training; religious persuasion; expectation of family tradition etc?
Explore the role of women in the time period
Explore preparation of High Holy Days of Jewish Beliefs.
Complete KWL about Purity Laws
Explore grieving rituals - "Weeping and Wailing" Luke 8:52
Explore clothing of the time. Students could dress paper dolls in appropriate clothing to gain a deeper understanding of the symbolism, meaning and ritual of the clothing worn by Jewish males. Use a comparison tool to look at the text using a complete Jewish Version of Text.

World of the text strategies

Use a Jewish dictionary to clarify terminology/new words and compare and contrast with the NRSCV version. Use a compare and contrast table (what is common, what is different?)
Create a Story map to retell the healing story
Use the Social Ladder strategy to see ‘who is who’ in the cultural context of this healing story. Who speaks and who is silent? Why?
Create a story map using Luke’s version addressing:
- What type of writing is this text?
- What was the 'power' Jesus felt?
- Who are the characters in the story?
- What is the actual beginning/middle and end of the story?
Who was Luke writing for - who is the audience?
What are the similarities and differences between the texts
What do you think is the main scene in this story? why? Illustrate this scene.
Highlight key words/unknown words across the selected texts and then look up in the dictionary/Jewish dictionary.
Using a bible comparison tool, like a 3-way Venn Diagram, compare the similarities and differences between the versions diagram to look at the (Luke, Mark and a Jewish version) texts.
With a Y Chart, what might characters within the story Looks/Like/Sounds?
Character Think-out-louds, for students to express what the characters might have been thinking. After reading the scripture and seeing visual story of Jarius’ daughter, predict events, character thoughts to a given text.

For examples use the Prediction circles strategy (in A-Z strategy book).

Some guiding questions might be:

what's the issue? who speaks and who doesn't?
what happens before the story? / what happens after?
what might Jesus say?
how was the girl feeling, thinking, what did she say?
how did she feel after…?

World in front of the text strategies

What does it mean to be clean and unclean today? How are some people treated in our society?
What is spiritual cleanliness? Social Justice concerns? Caritas, Catholic Missions, SVDP, Rosies Van etc.
Link to Catholic Social Teaching
Ask representatives from the local social action groups into the classroom to tell their story.
Examine a modern global example in situation/place where someone has taken great risk, shown courage and faith e.g. refugees. Bring it to the kid's everyday life- e.g.'s relevant to them - local level.
Make connections through explicit teaching: Playground experiences of isolation?
What avenues are there for people in desperate situations to reach out for help? Link with local parish groups
Evaluate what appear to be acts of desperation and consider the faith involved/required for the person/people to act in such a way - Newspaper watch for a week. How could this link to being an outcast on social media in today's world?
Examine ways in which I can be "healing" and accepting towards others.
Contribute to a class list of situations/ occasions of hardships which occur in our society - what effects of isolation can result from each hardship. Create an ‘if … then’ web to explore how isolation can be reduced to help people in different situations.

Further Information

Telling Stories about Women, Amy-Jill Levine (YouTube 1hr 19mins)