Mark 5:21-43 - Seeing Jesus: Gospel of Mark

Mark’s gospel raises two primary questions: What is the Kingdom of God like, and who is Jesus? In Mark 5:21-43, these two questions are answered by two unique and yet interdependent miracles: the healing of the hemorrhaging woman and the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter. In this sandwiched account of two slow-paced miracles, we see the nature of the Kingdom of God pushed to the forefront as a new contour of the identity of Jesus as the divine Messiah of Israel is revealed in a new light. As Jesus’ identity slowly unfolds through the demonstration of his power in his earthly ministry and miracles, those who encounter him are called to put their trust in him despite life's disruptive and unpredictable circumstances. Rather than providing explanations to questions about suffering, meaning, and death, Jesus is revealed as a person to put our trust in. Here, we see the disruptive nature of divine grace amid our desperation and grace that inhabits our pain and suffering, takes us by the hand, and says to us as a loving father says to their children, “Love, I know it’s hard right now, but everything is going to be OK.” The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of grace that does not conform to our own understanding but conforms us into the image of its King, the Son of God, as we are called to more deeply trust in the ultimate and final reality of this King’s victory, power, and grace.