Luke 8: 43 - 48 (RSV):
[43] And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and could not be healed by any one,
[44] came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased.
[45] And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the multitudes surround you and press upon you!"
[46] But Jesus said, "Some one touched me; for I perceive that power has gone forth from me."
[47] And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.
[48] And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."
"Who was it that touched me?" Notice the subtle change:
Mark 5: 25 - 28 (RSV):
[25] And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years,
[26] and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.
[27] She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.
[28] For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well."
Compare with the Lukan Passage, esp. verses 44 - 46. In many of the Markan Stories, there is a "Clue" given that points to something else:
"...and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse."
I assert that this may be easily seen as Political. The woman, taken as "Real", touches the fringe of Jesus' garment. That is enough at first.
Leviticus 15: 19 - 30 (RSV):
[19] "When a woman has a discharge of blood which is her regular discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
[20] And everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.
[21] And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
[22] And whoever touches anything upon which she sits shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening;
[23] whether it is the bed or anything upon which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening.
[24] And if any man lies with her, and her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.
[25] "If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness; as in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean.
[26] Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity; and everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her impurity.
[27] And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
[28] But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean.
[29] And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting.
[30] And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge.
Read as a Political Document, the Woman takes on the Symbolism of the Nation. It is Judah which is Unclean. The mistake I made in haste (..and the mistake I should never, EVER make), is the important point that the Woman touches, not Jesus, but the garment. If this is Political, then Jesus' Garments are Symbols for the Priesthood.
Something happened.
12 years later, the Political Ramifications are still playing out. The Scribes, for example, cannot report what they know to be True. Thus, the important point: The little girl is 12 years old:
Mark 5: 22 - 23, 39 - 42 (RSV):
[22] Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Ja'irus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,
[23] and besought him, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."
***
[39] And when he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping."
[40] And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.
[41] Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Tal'itha cu'mi"; which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."
[42] And immediately the girl got up and walked (she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
It is Jairus who is important. The Moffatt Translation brings this out:
"He was still speaking when a message came from the house of the synagogue-president, " Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher to come any further ? "
Matin Klatt wrote:The young girl on the other hand is having her first menstruation at the age of 12, in those days widely considered the right time for it, so she wasn't really ill either. However the consequences for her would have been similar to the plight of the woman because she would have been ritually impure too, only temporary, but how is a young terrified child to know...
Well stated. Compare with: "We have no king but Caesar". If the Political Movement succeeds, it will be a scary time for all the nation. Yet, the Movement shall succeed, against the Herodians and against the Romans.
[43] And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Thus are Revolutions nurtured.
As there were two "Crucifixions", one in the Synoptics, the other in John, there are two stories here. The Woman has had a 12 year period. She is Unclean. She touches "Jesus" and he becomes Unclean as well. The character is Unclean as a result of the touching of the GARMENT, however, not a touching of the person "Jesus". [Edit Note: If this Political Analysis is correct then the Garment aspect of the Story shows that the Priesthood is Unclean. The Nation is Unclean. The Priesthood, which represents the Nation in front of God, is Unclean by something IT did as well. This aspect is not present to the Transvalued story but is, and must be, central to the Original Story.]
The birth of the Political Movement came 12 years earlier. It has been ruthlessly suppressed but it has not died. Jairus asks "Jesus" to make one last attempt to eliminate the Herodians and the Romans, to not allow his daughter - Jairus' Daughter - to die. This character, a Priest, survived the first Death (For me, it's at the death of Herod and the ascension of Archelaus at the 4 BCE Passover) and knows that if he attempts this, he will go to his death.
'My God, my God, for this was I spared?"
Thank you, Martin. I apologize for the length of this and I hope this is not seen as hijacking the Thread. These two Stories, however, are Foundational. You don't have to agree with this Analysis. "It's just Mark". Compare "Are we to drown, for all you care?" in Mark, with "Save, Lord, we are perishing." The Judaic Culture is Transvalued into the story of a savior/god.
That's how you write a Gospel - for Roman consumption.
CW