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Chapter 27MedVC.1.27

De puella suscitata, et Martha curata

The Healing of Martha in the Crowd

Jesus is asked to heal a ruler's daughter, but on the way Martha, gravely ill, touches the hem of his garment in faith and is healed, revealing Christ's patience amid the pressing crowd.

At the request of one of the leaders, the Lord Jesus went with him to heal his daughter.✦ Since a large crowd was going with him, there was among them a certain woman, gravely ill, who is said to have been Martha, the sister of Mary Magdalene —✦ and she said to herself: If I only touch the hem of his garment, I will be made well.✦ And approaching with fear, she touched it, and she was set free.✦ But the Lord Jesus said: Who touched me?✦ And Peter answered: Lord, the crowds press in on you and jostle you, and you say, Who touched me?✦ Notice here the patience of the Lord. For he was often jostled by the crowds, because they wanted to draw near to him.

Faith Commended and Humility Exalted

Jesus acknowledges the power that went out from him, Martha is healed and commended for her faith, and the author draws out lessons on humility, the common good of making miracles known, and the blessedness of being as the humble hem of Christ's garment.

But Jesus knew what she was saying. And again he said: I have felt power go out from me.1 Then Martha made the matter known.2 The Lord gladly healed her, and afterwards had great familiarity with her.3 And then he said to her: Your faith has made you well. In this miracle, then, you have the commendation of faith. You also have this: that the Lord wants miracles to be made known for the common good. But as far as he was concerned in himself, he was hiding it out of humility, so that here you also have this point: for what had been done by divine power, he was attributing it to her faith.4 . Here you also have something very notable for the safeguarding of humility, which blessed Bernard introduces in this way: Whoever serves the Lord perfectly can be called the hem, as it were the last part, of the Lord's garment, because of their humble reputation.5

All Power Belongs to the Lord

The author exhorts the reader to attribute all healing power to the Lord alone, not to oneself, and concludes with Jesus raising the ruler's dead daughter, confirming that every good gift flows from Christ.

So anyone who has reached the point of knowing that the Lord hears them in healing the sick, or in other miracles, shouldn't be puffed up by this, or take credit for it — because it wasn't they who did it, but the Lord. Even though Martha here touched the hem of his garment, trusting that by its touch she would be healed — and so it happened — the healing power didn't come from the hem, but from the Lord.✦ And that is why he himself said: 'I felt power go out from me.'✦ Take this to heart, then: never permanently attribute any good in yourself to yourself, because everything comes from the Lord Jesus. At last the Lord Jesus went to the ruler's house, and finding the daughter dead, he raised her up.✦

Read the original Latin

Ad petitionem cujusdam ex principahbus ', ibat Dominus Jesus cum eo ad sanandum fiham suam. Cum ergo lurba magna iret cum eo, intererat quaedam mulier graviter infirma, quae dicitur fuisse Martha soror Mariae Magdalenos, qu. e intra se dicebat: Si tetigero tantum fimbriam vcstimenti ejus, salva ero. Et cum timore approximans, tetigit, et hberata est. Dixit autem Dominus Jesus: Quis me tetigit? Et respondit Petrus: Domine, turhce comprimunt te et affligunt, et tu dicis: Quis me tetigit? Vide hic patientiam Domini. Nam saepe comprimebatur a turbis, quia volebant ei approximare.

Jesus autem sciebat quid dicebat. Et iterum dixit: Ego sensi virtutem ex rne exiisse. Tunc Martha negotium pubhcavit. Libenter eam Dominus curavit, cum qua muham famiharitatem postea habuit. Et tunc dixit ei: Fides tua te salvam fecit. In hoc ergo miraculo habes fidei commendationem; habes etiam, quod Dominus vult miracula nota esse propter utilitatem communem; sed quantum iu se, propter humihtalem abscondebat, ut hic etiam habes: quod enim divina fecerat potestate, fidei illius attribuebat. . Habes etiam hic quoddam valde notabile ad humihtatis custodiam, sicut beatus Bernardus hoc modo introducit: " Quihbet perfecte Domino serviens, potest appellari timbria quasi ultinia pars vestimenti Domini, propter suam humilemreputationem.

" Qui ergo ad dictum statum pervenerit, quod sciat se a Domino exaudiri in hberandis infirmis, vel aliis miracuhs, non extollatur propterea, nec sibi attribuat, quia non ipse, sed Dominus fecit. Quamvis enim hic Martha tangeret fimbriam, ad cujus tactum se hberari confidebat, et sic contigit, non tamen a fimbria, sed a Domino virtus hberationis exivit. Et propterea ipse dixit: Sensi virlutern ex me exiisse. Nota ergo hoc bene, et nihil boni tibi in perpetuum attribuas, quia totum est a Domino Jesu. Tandem Dominus Jesus ivit ad domum principis, et inventam filiam mortuam suscitavit

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.9.18-Matt.9.19;Mark.5.23;Luke.8.41-Luke.8.42 — While he was saying these things to them, a ruler came and knelt before him, saying, 'My daughter has just now died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.' Matt.9.19 — And Jesus rose and followed him, and his disciples did also. Mark.5.23 — And he begged him earnestly, saying, 'My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be healed and live.' Luke.8.41 — And behold, a man came whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And this man fell at the feet of Jesus, and he was begging him to come into his house. Luke.8.42 — because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as he went, the crowds pressed in on him.
  2. ↩Matt.9.20;Mark.5.25;Luke.8.43 — And behold, a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the hem of his garment. Mark.5.25 — And a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years Luke.8.43 — And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by anyone,
  3. ↩Matt.9.21;Mark.5.28;Luke.8.44 — For she said to herself, "If only I touch his garment, I will be made well." Mark.5.28 — For she was saying, 'If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.' Luke.8.44 — She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped.
  4. ↩Mark.5.30-Mark.5.34;Luke.8.45-Luke.8.47 — And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" Mark.5.31 — And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'" Mark.5.32 — And he looked around to see the one who had done this. Mark.5.33 — But the woman, having feared and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell before him and told him the whole truth. Mark.5.34 — And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace and be healed of your affliction." Luke.8.45 — And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched me?" And when all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing in on you and crushing you." Luke.8.46 — But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone out from me." Luke.8.47 — But the woman, seeing that she had not escaped notice, came trembling and fell before him, and declared before all the people the reason she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
  5. ↩Mark.5.30;Luke.8.45 — And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" Luke.8.45 — And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched me?" And when all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing in on you and crushing you."
  6. ↩Mark.5.31;Luke.8.45 — And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'" Luke.8.45 — And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched me?" And when all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing in on you and crushing you."
  7. ↩Luke.8.43-Luke.8.48 — And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by anyone, Luke.8.44 — She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped. Luke.8.45 — And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched me?" And when all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing in on you and crushing you." Luke.8.46 — But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone out from me." Luke.8.47 — But the woman, seeing that she had not escaped notice, came trembling and fell before him, and declared before all the people the reason she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. Luke.8.48 — And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace."
  8. ↩Luke.8.46 — But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone out from me."
  9. ↩Luke.8.40-Luke.8.56 — Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Luke.8.41 — And behold, a man came whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And this man fell at the feet of Jesus, and he was begging him to come into his house. Luke.8.42 — because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Luke.8.43 — And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by anyone, Luke.8.44 — She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped. Luke.8.45 — And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched me?" And when all were denying it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing in on you and crushing you." Luke.8.46 — But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone out from me." Luke.8.47 — But the woman, seeing that she had not escaped notice, came trembling and fell before him, and declared before all the people the reason she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. Luke.8.48 — And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke.8.49 — While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler's house came, saying, "Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any longer." Luke.8.50 — But Jesus, having heard, answered him, 'Do not fear; only believe, and she will be saved.' Luke.8.51 — When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother. Luke.8.52 — All were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep, for she has not died but is sleeping." Luke.8.53 — And they were laughing at him, knowing that she had died. Luke.8.54 — But he, taking hold of her hand, called out, saying, "Child, arise." Luke.8.55 — And her spirit returned, and she rose at once. And he directed that something be given her to eat. Luke.8.56 — Her parents were astonished, but he told them to tell no one what had happened.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source reads 'rne', a scribal error for 'me'. Translation follows the corrected reading.
  2. 2 ↩Source reads 'pubhcavit', a scribal error for 'publicavit' (made public/made known).
  3. 3 ↩Source reads 'muham' (scribal error for 'magnam') and 'famiharitatem' (scribal error for 'familiaritatem'). Translation follows the corrected readings.
  4. 4 ↩Source reads 'iu se' (scribal error for 'in se') and 'humihtalem' (scribal error for 'humilitatem'). Translation follows the corrected readings.
  5. 5 ↩Source reads 'humihtatis' (scribal error for 'humilitatis'), 'Quihbet' (scribal error for 'Quilibet'), 'ultinia' (scribal error for 'ultima'), and 'humilemreputationem' (scribal error for 'humilem reputationem'). Translation follows the corrected readings.

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