Alastair's Adversaria - Biblical Reading and Reflections: November 29th (Isaiah 42 & Luke 8:22-56)

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

Behold, my Servant. Calming the storm, delivering the Gerasene demoniac, and healing the woman with the issue of blood and Jairus' daughter. My reflections are searchable by Bible chapter here: https://audio.alastairadversaria.com/explore/. If you are interested in supporting this project, please consider supporting my work on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/zugzwanged), using my PayPal account (https://bit.ly/2RLaUcB), or buying books for my research on Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/36WVSWCK4X33O?ref_=wl_share). You can also listen to the audio of these episodes on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/alastairs-adversaria/id1416351035?mt=2.

Isaiah chapter 42. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth in what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will take you by the hand and keep you, I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare, before they spring forth

I tell you of them. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their in half, and their in Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the habitants of Sela sing for joy. Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise in the coastlands. The Lord goes out like a mighty man. Like a man of war, he stirs up his zeal. He cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes. For a long time I have held my peace. and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a woman in labour. I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste

mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into islands and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know. In paths that they have not known, I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, you are our gods. Here you deaf, and look you blind that you may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger whom I ascend? Who is blind as my dedicated one, or blind as the servant of the Lord? He sees many things, but does not observe them. His ears are open, but he does not hear. The Lord was pleased for his

righteousness sake to magnify his law and make it glorious. But this is a people plundered and looted. They are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons. They have become plunder with none to rescue, spoil with none to say, restore. Who among you will give ear to this? We'll attend and listen for the time to come, who gave up Jacob to the luter, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned, in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey? So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle. It set him on fire all around, but he did not understand. It burned him up, but he did not take it to heart. There are four passages in the Book of Isaiah commonly known as the servant songs after the work of Bernhard Dume.

The first of these so-called songs is found at the beginning of chapter 42. While some commentators adds 61 verses 1 to 3 as a 5th, the generally recognised servant songs are found here in chapter 49 versus 1 to 6, in chapter 50 versus 4 to 9, and in chapter 52 verse 13 to chapter 53 verse 12. The identification of these passages as servant songs has not been uncriticised. Doom's original theory treated them as secondary and independent bodies of oracles that were later added to the text that surrounds them. Comitators were thereby encouraged to abstract these from their contexts. Importantly, many who have accepted Doom's identification of these passages as servant songs have resisted his disconnection of them from their contexts, rather regarding them as a series of

text bound together in a meaningful narrative sequence and firmly embedded in their immediate settings. The conviction that the recognition of this common form of text need not entail the fragmentation of the text more generally does not by itself settle questions of what is called redaction history, the historical processes of compilation and editing by which the text was moulded into its final form. Many who would emphasise the unity of the final text would nonetheless regard the servant songs as later editions, which were carefully and sensitively woven into the fabric of their surroundings to form a unified literary work. However, I see no reason why such an explanation for these texts' presence is required. The question of the identity of the servant figure in these passages

has received extensive attention. This question has clearly been around for a long time, as the Book of Acts describes the Ethiopian eunuch asking Philip concerning Isaiah chapter 53, About whom, I ask you, does this prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? The Ethiopian eunuch's initial supposition about the likely figure in view, that it might be the prophet himself, is one that still has plenty of currency in academia today. John Goldingay and Norman Weibre argue that, rather than thinking in terms of some unknown servant figure speaking, we should generally interpret these as the prophet's self-characterization, the prophet in their understanding, whoever wrote so-called Deutero Isaiah. The prophet Jeremiah, for instance, characterizes himself in ways that sounds similar to the figure of Isaiah chapter 53

in Jeremiah chapter 11 verse 19. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes saying, let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. Christians have unsurprisingly followed the New Testament use of these passages concerning Christ. For instance, the words of Isaiah chapter 53 are applied to Jesus in places like 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 21 to 25. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. When reading Isaiah, however, it is important that we read it on its own terms. There are several Old Testament passages that are applied to Jesus in the New Testament, which nonetheless clearly don't have Jesus or the Messiah as their immediate

referent in their initial context. The New Testament writers read scripture typologically, recognizing the ways in which a passage could truly refer to Christ typologically even when Christ was not its direct referent. For instance, the young woman who would conceive and bear a son, whose name would be Emmanuel back in chapter 7 verse 14, almost certainly does not directly refer to Mary and Jesus. But the Gospel of the Bible is, which is the Bible of God. of Matthew is accurately reading that text when Matthew sees that text as indirectly referring to them and fulfilled by them. Throughout the book of Isaiah we have seen examples of telescopic prophecy, where different horizons of fulfillment are present for a single prophetic word. There is no reason

in principle then why we should reject readings that relate the servant to some figure other than Jesus, provided we recognize with the New Testament authors that Jesus is in some sense the true fulfillment of the figure of the servant. The identification of the servant with Israel finds some support in the wider context. In chapter 41 verses 8 and 9, for instance, we read, But you Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its father's corners, saying to you, you are my servant, I have chosen you, and not cast you off. At the end of this chapter, the blind and death servant is Israel. Likewise, the descriptions of Israel at various points closely matched

descriptions of the figure of the servant. They are both chosen and have the spirit given to them. The servants, some have argued, should be seen as a personification of Israel, which is often spoken of as if it were a single person, as Jacob, for instance. Yet considering the fact the servant ministers to Israel, for example in bringing back the remnant of Israel in chapter 49 verse 6, A simple identification of the servant with Israel seems to have its problems. There are various individuals with whom the servant might be identified. Probably the most obvious contender is a Davidic or Messianic figure, given the royal characteristics of the servant,

and the fact that David has referred to as the Lord's servant on many occasions in Scripture, not least in Chapter 37, verse 35. In connection with Messianic themes, commentators frequently observe the concept of corporate representation, where a single figure could stand for the entire people, the destiny of the whole, devolving onto one representative or representative group. Some have also seen mosaic parallels, which given second exodus themes in Isaiah, would not be entirely surprising. Given the way that the figure of Cyrus is spoken of in this section of Isaiah, he is a further

possibility that some have suggested. We could also follow those who question why we need to look for a single servant, rather than recognise different figures being addressed under this title, perhaps with a progression from a failed to a faithful servant. The true picture of the servant, however, is one that will most clearly emerge as we work through the actual text of Isaiah, and it requires that we read the servant material in its proper context. At the end of the preceding chapter, the Lord displayed the emptiness and impotence of the idols, now in contrast to the vain idols of the nations, The Lord presents his servant. The choosing, commissioning and equipping of the servant is suggestive of a royal figure.

In considering the concept of the servant, we might easily think of the servanthood in view in terms of menial labour and low social standing. But here, as often is the case elsewhere, the concept is an elevating one. The servant is the one who acts in the name of the Lord, appointed by him to act with effective authority in the world, to bring about his purposes. When the Lord calls David his servant, for instance, it carries this sort of sense. The servant here is the one by whom the Lord will bring justice to the nations, not merely to Israel, setting things to rights. In so doing, he will be upheld and empowered by the Lord's own spirit. In the Old Testament we see the spirit of the Lord coming upon anointed deliverers and kings at several points in the history of the nation.

The task of the servant, as described here, could be seen as a fulfillment of the calling of Israel, as Abraham was chosen in order that the nations might be blessed through him. The behaviour of the servant, however, would not be that expected of a mighty king. His establishment of justice would be distinguished by gentleness and compassion towards the weak and the faltering, towards those who would easily be broken, crushed or quenched by a typical ruler in their might and zeal. He would be patient and persevering in his pursuit of justice, and would not grow weary or give up before he succeeded in this task. In such behaviour, he would truly reflect the character of the Lord himself. The Lord speaks concerning and to the servant in the verses that follow. Once again the Lord reminds us

that he is the creator and sustainer of all, the one who gives all life and breath. The Lord underlines the fact that he is the one who called the servant. The servant is acting in his name, power and authority. The Lord called the servant in his righteousness, as an expression of his commitment to his promises and covenant, and he is going to uphold his servant in the entirety of his mission. The servant is given as a covenant for the people, likely Israel, and as a light for the nations. In describing the servant as a covenant for the people,

we might perhaps see him as the one who represents the fulfillment of the Lord's covenant promises, such that his sending can be identified with the gift of the covenant itself. All of the promises of God find their yes in him. To the nations, he would bring deliverance from the darkness of ignorance and the imprisonment of oppression, injustice and idolatry. Throughout this section of Isaiah, the contrast between the Lord and the idols and the false gods of the nations is prominent. This contrast once again comes to the foreground in verses 8 and 9, recalling statements like those of chapter 41, verses 21 to 23. Set forth your case, says the Lord. Bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.

Let them bring them and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome, or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Do good or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. The work of the servant would serve as a demonstration of the Lord's sovereignty in history and his sole claim to worship. The glory belongs to the Lord alone, and any worship

of idols denies him his proper Jew. We should remember that this is all still part of the Lord's debate with the nations and their false gods, which began at the beginning of the preceding chapter. At several points in the Psalms, for instance, Psalms 96, 98 and 149, the Psalmist speaks of singing a new song to the Lord, an expression that we also find on a couple of occasions in the book of revelation. The new song seems to be a fitting response to a remarkable new manifestation of the Lord's majesty and righteousness here displayed in the commissioning of the servant and his actions within history at this time. Verses 10 to 12 describe the assembled voices of the peoples, united in praise of the Lord in their many and various locations, locations from the furthest extremities of

the earth to the nearby desert regions. The Lord himself is going forth like a champion for battle, roaring as he charges his foes. For so long it seemed as though the Lord was silent, even absent, but now with the Lord's mighty shout, all of that will change. The Lord compares himself to a woman at the point of labour, about to deliver her child into the world, as she gasps and screams in her pangs before bringing forth something remarkable and new, so will be the Lord's action in the world at this time. Imagery of birth pangs elsewhere are used of arrival at the point of crisis. Verdant places would be made barren and well-watered places parched. When the Lord crushes his foes as a mighty warrior, he will deliver and guide his helpless people,

providing for them all of the way, keeping his covenant commitment to them. Once again we might hear reminders of the exodus here. No idol the Lord declares could perform such wonders. All who trust in such idols would be put to shame. Having just spoken about the servants' deliver, and leading the blind, verse 19 might surprise us, as it speaks of the Lord's servant, as himself blind and death, describing the servant in a manner that should remind us of chapter 6 v. 9 to 10. And he said, go and say to this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand, keep on seeing, but do not perceive, make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand.

stand with their hearts and turn and be healed. The blind and death servant is clearly Israel, insensitive to the word of the Lord, and manifestly incapable of performing the mission of the one in whose name he is supposed to act. The Lord had chosen Israel out of all of the nations, and commissioned him to bear his word, committing the oracles of his truth to them, revealing his glorious law to them at Sinai. The purpose of the Lord was for the revelation of his righteousness, but the people are languishing, spiritually insensible and oppressed by their foes, with none to deliver them. No one even seems to be reflecting upon their sorry history in order to draw its proper lessons. The prophet himself addresses Israel concerning some of the

lessons that should be learned from its painful experience. Its condition is on account of their rejection of the Lord and his ways. The Lord is the one who brought disaster upon them. Israel, the Lord's failed servant has not considered its sins and the Lord's judgments. They have not taken the appropriate lessons to heart and amended their ways. It would presumably only be as the Lord raised up his faithful messianic servant that the failed servant of Israel would be restored and in the messianic servant enabled to perform its divinely intended mission. A question to consider. Matthew speaks of verses 1 to 4 of this chapter being fulfilled in chapter 12 verses 6. 17 to 21 of his gospel. How might the prophecy of the servant here be related to Jesus?

Luke chapter 8, verse 22 to 56. One day he got into a boat with his disciples and he said to them, Let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him saying, master, master, we are perishing. And he awoke and rebuke the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, who then is this that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him? Then they sail to the country of the garrisons, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus has stepped out

on land. There met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, What have you to do with me, Jesus?

Son of the Most High God, I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under God and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Jesus then asked him, What is your name?

And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him, and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these, so he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind, and they were afraid, and those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the garrisons asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. so he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him,

but Jesus sent him away saying, Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, and falling at Jesus' feet he implored him to come to his, house, for he had an only daughter about 12 years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people

pressed around him, and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased, and Jesus said, Who was it that touched me? When all denied it, Peter said, The crowds surround you and are pressing in on you. But Jesus said, Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me. 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. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, your daughter is dead, do not trouble the teacher anymore.

But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, do not fear, only believe, and she will be well. And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said,

Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the house, hand he called saying, child, arise. And her spirit returned and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed and he charged them to tell no one what had happened. In Luke chapter 8, Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples and goes out to sea. This is a story that might to some degree remind us of the story of Jonah. Jesus is asleep in the

boat like Jonah was asleep in the boat. He's going to a realm associated with Gentiles. A great storm arises. Frightened sailors wake the sleeping character. There's a miraculous stilling of the storm as a result of some action by the main character and then the sailors marvel. Here, however, Jesus is not thrown like Jonah into the water. Rather, he is the one who calms the storm through his word. There's a reversal as well. Jesus rises and the storm sleeps. He rebukes the and the waves, much as he rebukes demons on other occasions. Perhaps we should see some connection between this story and the story of the resurrection. Jesus is asleep in death.

Jesus rises up and stills the power of death itself. Jesus is in control of the situation, even though he seems to be completely out of control and disconnected in sleep. In this story then, we probably have a sign of what is yet to come. They go to the realm of the garrisons. It's a Gentile region. There Jesus encounters things associated with great impurity, demonic possession, tombs and pigs. And there's an extensive description of the demon-possessed man. They try to bind this man and they can't bind him.

Jesus is the one who ultimately will bind the strong man. Satan himself, one whose power is manifested in this demon-possessed man. The demons address Jesus as the eschatological judge. He's the son of God who will condemn them to their ultimate fate. they do not want to be sent into the abyss. And perhaps this is an attempt to counter Jesus' power by naming him in some magical way. Jesus then counters by asking the demon what its name is. It declares itself to be Legion, referring to a number, a huge demonic force.

Legion also reminds us of the Roman military forces that would be associated with their legions. Another interesting detail that might help us to read this passage better is to recognize that the wild boar was the symbol of the Roman legion in Palestine. The demons beg him to send them into the pigs. And entering the pigs, the demons don't seem to be able to prevent the pigs from rushing down, careering towards destruction in the waters. The herd is drowned in the waters, the Legion is drowned in the waters, like Pharaoh's army was drowned at the Red Sea. Jesus is the son of God who binds the strong man here. When news of this great exorcism reaches the people of the region, they beg Jesus to depart from them. The begging of the demons and the begging of the garrisons seem to be connected with

each other. There is most likely something else going on here, and it seems to be the reversal of the scapegoat motif. When you usually have a scapegoat, it's one or two people that are cast out from a city in order to establish peace by projecting conflict onto a single or a small group of enemies. Here, however, it is the multitude of the demons that go into the sea and the one man who are saved. Jesus, however, is then called to go away. He is the one who has unsettled the social order. And the association of the begging multitude of the demons with the begging multitude of the people of the garrisonsesians suggests maybe something more of what's going on here. As long as all the demons were entering this demoniac, the garrisons were dealing with their demons. But as soon as the

demoniac is freed, they lose the lightning rod for their demons. Similar patterns can be seen in many societies. It is not uncommon to see in a family that there is one member onto which all the dysfunctions of the family are projected, and if that member is ever released from their dysfunctions, the whole family is thrown into chaos. When they no longer have a particular member onto which to project their demons, they each have to deal with their demons themselves, and that is a crisis. Perhaps something similar is happening with the garrisons. They also seem to be afraid of Christ. Christ has bound the strongman, but they do not want to be. want this power near at hand. They felt that they could manage the power of the demons, but they cannot

manage the power of Christ. Many people would prefer to manage evil powers than be subject to a good power. However, the demoniac is filled with thankfulness and he wants to go and join Jesus on his mission. Jesus, however, sends him back to his people to tell them how much God has done for him, and he goes around telling them how much Jesus has done for him. The shift there should not go unnoticed. After returning from the land of the garrisons, Jesus performs two entangled acts of healing. Both of the people being healed are women, and both of them are connected with the number 12. The woman with the discharge of blood has suffered from it for 12 years, and the daughter of Gyrus was 12 years of age. Jairus was one of the rulers of the synagogue. He would have led

services and other things like that. That Jiris was the ruler of the synagogue, elumes the fact that opposition to Jesus among the religious leaders of Israel was far from total and complete. Jesus is requested to lay his hand on Jairus's daughter and to heal her, and he goes with Jairus, but on the way he's thronged by the crowd and the woman with the discharge of blood comes up and touches his garment. What she has is presumably a chronic hemorrhaging of blood rather than just abnormally severe menstruation. She has spent all of her living upon physicians, and we should bear a mind that Luke is the one who's writing this, a physician himself. The effect of this would have been to render her permanently unclean. It's probably one of the reasons why she approaches Jesus in the way that she

did. If she'd been more open in her approach, she would probably not have been able to approach him at all. Many doctors had tried to help her, and they had just increased her suffering and consumed her resources. And Jesus' healing then contrasts with the failure of all of the experts. She had heard about Jesus, and we should consider the fact that she was probably, confined to the margins of society by her condition. She was in many respects, some from an utterly different station in life from Jairus. She believes that if she were just to touch Jesus' garments, she would be healed. There's similar beliefs in Acts chapter 5 verse 15 and 19 verse 12. Such a touch would be defiling, even if it would not be as defiling as touching someone's flesh.

A defiled person would have to wash themselves and also wash their clothes. But here, the transmission goes in the other direction. Rather than impurity being transmitted, cleansing is transmitted. There's a life that overcomes impurity. And the woman with the issue of blood is healed by the man with the issue of life. To his disciples' amazement, Jesus inquires who touched him. Jesus recognises what has happened. And in calling for the person who touched him to make herself known,

the stage is set for an act of recognition, blessing, an inclusion that completes the healing. She has been excluded on account of her condition, and in publicly bringing her to light, Jesus is including her once again. You can see a similar thing in the story of the woman who washes his feet. Her exclusion is challenged by Jesus' statement concerning her that she is forgiven. The intent then is not only that she should be healed of her physical condition,

but that she should be included once more. When the woman reveals herself, she comes in fear and trembling and falls down before him. This is a response not unlike that which we see when God appears to people in Scripture. She tells him everything, and Jesus blesses her and addresses her as daughter, telling her that her faith has made her well. Faith here is not intellectual belief, so much as confident and daring trust. The prominence of faith in this story, as in that of Jairus, that continues after it,

should also be related to the language of salvation that occurs in both. The salvation seems to refer to physical healing, and the language of faith could be interpreted narrowly too, but Jesus routinely connects physical and spiritual senses of these things. Faith is a practical confidence to look to Jesus for deliverance, not just in spiritual matters, and our tidy divisions between physical and spiritual can prevent us from understanding this point.

As in the story of Jaris's daughter that follows this, early Christian readers probably place themselves in the position of the woman with the discharge of blood, recognizing her experience as a model of Christian experience more generally. And we should do this too. Her being addressed as daughter at the end might also remind the reader of the new family that Jesus is forming around himself. But all of this creates a delay,

and by the time that Jesus reaches the house of Jiris, Jiris's daughter is dead, the feared crisis has hit, and there might seem to be nothing more to be done. Jesus, however, calls Jiris to keep his confidence in his sufficient. for the situation. There are many similarities to be observed between this story and the story of Lazarus in John chapter 11. Encountering the mourners, telling them that the dead person is sleeping, delaying until the person is dead. Jesus performs this miracle with only Peter, James and John of his

disciples present. They are privileged witnesses to his power, his power over death itself. And saying that the daughter was sleeping would make people think of the resurrection when those sleeping in the graves would be awakened. But this was a long-distant hope for the end of all things. It wasn't really something that could address the immediacy of the grief that they felt right now. But Jesus can refer to death this way as sleeping because in him the resurrection and the life had entered into Jairus' house. He is the one who can awake people from death itself.

Jesus takes the girl by the hand and addresses her, telling her to arise. the reference to a rising naturally and appropriately, I think, makes us think of resurrection. Perhaps giving her something to eat is also in part to make us think of the later proofs of Jesus' own resurrection given in taking food. It's not merely for the girl's recovery of strength. Jesus once again strictly instructs those present to keep the raising of the girl a secret, although the fact that he takes Peter James and John with him makes clear that he wanted the event to be witnessed and later spoken of openly. However, to tell it yet, before Jesus' own resurrection,

had disclosed his true power over death, would be premature. A question to consider. How might we fill out further the connection between the woman with the issue of blood and Jaris' daughter and Israel as a nation?