Mark 5:21-43
Jesus Heals a Dead Girl and a Suffering Woman
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It landed at the other side. There a large crowd gathered around him. Then a man named Jairus came. He was a synagogue leader. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He begged Jesus, “Please come. My little daughter is dying. Place your hands on her to heal her. Then she will live.” So Jesus went with him.
A large group of people followed. They crowded around him. A woman was there who had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. She had suffered a great deal, even though she had gone to many doctors. She had spent all the money she had. But she was getting worse, not better. Then she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. She thought, “I just need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” Right away her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body that her suffering was over.
At once Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd. He asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
“You see the people,” his disciples answered. “They are crowding against you. And you still ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
But Jesus kept looking around. He wanted to see who had touched him. Then the woman came and fell at his feet. She knew what had happened to her. She was shaking with fear. But she told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.”
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. He was the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Jesus heard what they were saying. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”
He let only Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, follow him. They came to the home of the synagogue leader. There Jesus saw a lot of confusion. People were crying and sobbing loudly. He went inside. Then he said to them, “Why all this confusion and sobbing? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.” But they laughed at him.
He made them all go outside. He took only the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him. And he went in where the child was. He took her by the hand. Then he said to her, “Talitha koum!” This means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” The girl was 12 years old. Right away she stood up and began to walk around. They were totally amazed at this. Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know what had happened. And he told them to give her something to eat.
Mark 6:1-6
A Prophet Without Honor
Jesus left there and went to his hometown of Nazareth. His disciples went with him. When the Sabbath day came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these remarkable miracles he is doing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son? Isn’t this the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were not pleased with him at all.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own town. He doesn’t receive any honor among his relatives or in his own home.” Jesus placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them. But he could not do any other miracles there. He was amazed because they had no faith.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
