Legion, a bleeding woman and a dead girl: Jesus' authority over demons, disease and death

The Gospel of Mark is anonymous, but early tradition from Papias, reported by Eusebius, ties it to John Mark, interpreter of Peter. Most scholars date it to the 60s AD and hold it to be the first Gospel written, though some argue for the priority of Matthew. It was probably written for Gentile Christians, by tradition in Rome. Chapter 5 is among Mark's most detailed stories, and the vivid details (the name Jairus, the twelve years, the exact Aramaic words) suit a tradition close to eyewitnesses, whom early tradition names as Peter. The inner three, Peter, James and John, are present at the raising.

The chapter follows the stilling of the storm. The boat crosses the Sea of Galilee to the east side, which was Gentile land belonging to the Decapolis, a league of ten Greek-style cities. The name of the region is uncertain in the manuscripts. Mark and Luke have 'Gerasenes', Matthew 'Gadarenes', and some manuscripts 'Gergesenes'. Gerasa (modern Jerash) lay some thirty miles from the lake. Scholars suggest a town of a similar name on the shore, or a district of Gerasa's territory reaching to the water. The question does not affect the meaning. Matthew 8:28-34 has two men, while Mark and Luke (Luke 8:26-39) tell of one.

The second part of the chapter takes place back on the western shore. Jairus, a leader of a synagogue, begs Jesus to heal his daughter, and on the way a woman with a bleeding is healed. Matthew (9:18-26) and Luke (8:40-56) tell both, with Matthew shortening the account and saying the girl had already died. All three place the events in Galilee in the middle of the ministry, about AD 29.

These are miracle stories, a form in which the main point is who acts and what he shows about himself. Mark gives details with an eye on the contrast between fear and faith. In 5:15 the townspeople are afraid, in 5:33 the woman trembles, in 5:36 Jesus tells Jairus not to be afraid, and in 5:42 the family is astounded. The structure is also a sandwich, as in 3:20-35. The healing of the woman is inserted into the story of Jairus, and the delay tests Jairus's trust. The two stories explain each other: an incurable illness of twelve years meets a girl who has lived twelve years.

The chapter is full of ritual uncleanness. The man lives in the tombs, which were unclean (Numbers 19:11-16). The pigs were unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). The woman's flow of blood made her unclean (Leviticus 15:25-27). The dead girl's body was unclean (Numbers 19). In each case Jesus does not become unclean. The uncleanness is removed.

Several readings are offered for details. Some scholars see in 'Legion' and the drowning a hint of Roman occupation. Others find that reading strained, because 'legion' could simply mean a large number. Some have suggested that the girl was in a coma, because Jesus says she is 'asleep'. The text does not support that. The messengers say she is dead, the mourners laugh because they know it, and Mark records the astonishment. The class reads the story as Mark presents it, and sees 'asleep' as a way of speaking of death that the New Testament uses elsewhere.

Verses 1–10

Jesus is met by a man with an unclean spirit who lives in the tombs. He cannot be held by chains and cuts himself with stones. Mark's description is the most extreme case of the power of evil in the Gospel. When the man sees Jesus, he runs and kneels, and shouts, 'What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?' The title 'Most High God' was used by Gentiles for the God of Israel (as in Genesis 14:18-20). The spirit begs, 'not to torture me!' Jesus had already commanded it to come out. Asked its name, it answers, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' A Roman legion was a unit of several thousand soldiers. The name here means a vast number. The demons beg not to be sent out of the region.

Verses 11–17

They ask to enter a herd of pigs, and Jesus gives permission. About two thousand pigs rush down the bank and drown in the sea. Pigs were unclean for Israel, and the setting is Gentile. The details raise questions about the owners' loss and the fate of the animals. Mark does not discuss them. The effect is to show the destructive aim of the demons and the extent of Jesus' command over them. The herdsmen report it, and the people come and see the man 'sitting there and clothed and in his right mind', and they are afraid. Mark does not say they disbelieve. They beg Jesus to leave. The one who frees a man is more frightening to them than the madman.

Verses 18–20

The healed man begs to go with Jesus, the very word used of the Twelve in 3:14. Jesus refuses, and says, 'Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.' The man goes and proclaims 'how much Jesus had done for him'. The two statements are put side by side: the Lord has done it, and Jesus has done it. In a Gospel that otherwise commands silence, this man is told to speak. He is the first missionary to the Gentile cities of the Decapolis.

Verses 21–24

Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus' feet. 'My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her.' Jesus goes with him, and the crowd presses on.

Verses 25–34

A woman has been bleeding for twelve years, has 'spent all she had' on physicians, and has grown worse. Under Leviticus 15 she was unclean and anyone she touched became unclean. She touches the cloak, thinking, 'If only I touch His garments, I will be healed.' At once the bleeding stops. Jesus, aware that 'power had gone out from Him', asks who touched him. The disciples find it absurd in a crowd. She comes forward 'trembling in fear' and tells him 'the whole truth'. He calls her 'Daughter' and says, 'your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be free of your affliction.' The Greek verb translated 'healed' can also mean 'saved'. Jesus does not leave her to slip away. He brings her into the open so that her healing is public and she is restored to the community.

Verses 35–43

Messengers arrive: 'Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?' Jesus tells Jairus, 'Do not be afraid; just believe.' He takes only Peter, James and John. At the house he finds the weeping and wailing and says, 'The child is not dead, but asleep.' They laugh at him. He puts them out and takes the parents and his three companions inside. He takes the girl by the hand and says the Aramaic words 'Talitha koum!', which Mark translates: 'Little girl, I say to you, get up!' She gets up at once and walks, for she was twelve. He orders them not to tell, and says to give her something to eat. Taking a corpse by the hand would make a person unclean under Numbers 19. Here instead life passes from him to her.

The chapter teaches that the kingdom of God confronts every form of ruin. In one chapter Jesus meets spiritual bondage, chronic illness and death. He is not defeated by any of them. The Bible's account of evil spirits is plain here: they are real, personal, strong, and subject to Jesus' word. They know who he is, and they must ask permission. The final defeat of the powers is taught elsewhere (Colossians 2:15; Revelation 20).

The chapter also teaches about faith and fear. Faith is not first a belief in a theory but a trust that comes to Jesus, as the woman does, against all odds. The Greek that Jesus uses to Jairus is a present command, which can be read as 'keep believing'. The raising of the girl is an instance of the Bible's hope that God gives life to the dead (1 Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2), and prepares for Jesus' own resurrection.

The mission of the healed man is the first sign that the good news is for Gentile lands as well as Israel. It anticipates the commission of Matthew 28 and the spread of the gospel in Acts. Uncleanness is also overcome by touch from Jesus. Leviticus separated the clean from the unclean in order to teach holiness. In Jesus holiness is not contaminated; it spreads.

Mark 5 shows Jesus acting as the stronger one he described in 3:27, who enters the strong man's house and plunders it. That is a fulfillment within Mark's own story. The legion is cast out and the man is restored.

Mark also quietly identifies Jesus with God. Jesus tells the man to report what 'the Lord' has done, and the man reports what 'Jesus' has done (5:19-20). The demon calls Jesus 'Son of the Most High God' and adjures him by God, a sign of how the spirits perceive the one before them. The sea in which the pigs drown may faintly echo Exodus 14-15, where the sea overwhelmed Pharaoh's army. Mark does not draw the link, so it is tentative.

The raising of Jairus' daughter has Old Testament precedents in Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:32-37). Both prophets prayed and stretched themselves on the child. Jesus takes her by the hand and speaks. Her 'sleep' is best read as an echo that anticipates his own resurrection, since the New Testament uses sleep for death that will be reversed (John 11:11-14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). The woman's healing shows his power flowing from him with a touch, and his insistence on a public meeting shows his care for the person. The one who makes the unclean clean is also the one who stands between death and life.