Mark 5:41 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Talitha cumi’ – an Aramaic expression meaning ‘Little lamb, arise’. It is the most affectionate of terms; she will be his little girl, one of his family. The call of Christ is expressed with tenderness. Jairus had asked Christ to lay his hands on her, but he does it differently and according to his own timetable, he took her by the hand and told her to arise. He does not lift her; she stands up. He took hold of her, not roughly, but taking responsibility for the situation. A relationship of affection was established. How gently he awakens her: his voice cuts through the boundary of death and life. He took her by the hand. To the Jews this was an awful thing to do. The ceremonial law taught that if you touched a dead person you became unclean; you then needed ritual cleansing. This law was given to teach Israel the difference between clean and unclean by means of a picture; it taught the need for forgiveness. Anybody who touched a dead body was regarded as unclean for seven days, and must purify himself ceremonially on the third day (Numbers 19:11-12). Furthermore, a priest must not touch a dead body at all unless it was that of close family member (Leviticus 21:1-4). But Christ willingly becomes contaminated and communicates life to her. It is as though he drains her record of sin from the record book. Our contamination passes to him; his life passes into us. To become our sin bearer he had to identify with us as our surety and become responsible for all our guilt. He had to be united with us and we with him, so that he suffered our eternal punishment and we are raised together with him to life.