Year of the Bible
Mark 5
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Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark, Chapter 5:
Jesus and his disciples have crossed the Sea of Galilee and are now on the eastern side, in an area called the Decapolis, a region with a predominantly Greek Gentile (non-Jewish) population. Here Jesus demonstrates that his divine authority for victory over evil and the response of discipleship is not limited to Jews (vs. 19-20). Back on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus returns to the Jewish population and heals the daughter of a synagogue leader and a woman with a chronic condition. Both a young girl and a woman considered “ritually impure” were considered “lesser” members of society. For Gentile and Jew, older and younger, faith saves--bringing healing and resurrection (vs. 34, 42).
The Gospel According to St. Mark, Chapter 5:
Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had come out of the boat, there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him; 7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; 12 and they begged him, “Send us to the swine, let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them leave. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it told what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their neighborhood. 18 And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But he refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all men marveled.
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was be side the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, 23 and begged him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24 And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.” 29 And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cum”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
*Daily Lectio Divina Question:
Today we read about the power of healing, raising to life, and expelling demons that Jesus has (v. 13, 29, 41-42), Do I truly believe this is possible and that Jesus can also heal me? Lord, please teach me in the silence of my heart, the place where I can listen to Your voice, if there are any evil spirits or sins which I need you to renounce so I can grow in holiness and do Your will.
Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan, an adult faith formation apostolate. cbsmich.org/join
Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further
Marcos 5
1 Y llegaron a la orilla opuesta del mar,
a la región de los gerasenos. 2 Apenas
salir de la barca, vino a su encuentro desde
los sepulcros un hombre poseído por
un espíritu impuro, 3 que vivía en los sepulcros
y nadie podía tenerlo sujeto ni siquiera
con cadenas; 4 porque había estado
muchas veces atado con grilletes y cadenas,
y había roto las cadenas y deshecho
los grilletes, y nadie podía dominarlo.
5 Y se pasaba las noches enteras y los
días por los sepulcros y por los montes,
gritando e hiriéndose con piedras. 6 Al
ver a Jesús desde lejos, corrió y se postró
ante él; 7 y, gritando con gran voz, dijo:
–¿Qué tengo yo que ver contigo, Jesús,
Hijo del Dios Altísimo? ¡Te conjuro
por Dios que no me atormentes! 8 –porque
le decía: «¡Sal, espíritu impuro, de
este hombre!»
9 Y le preguntó:
–¿Cuál es tu nombre?
Le contestó:
–Mi nombre es Legión, porque somos
muchos.
10 Y le suplicaba con insistencia que
no lo expulsara fuera de la región.
11 Había por allí junto al monte una
gran piara de cerdos paciendo. 12 Y le suplicaron:
–Envíanos a los cerdos, para que entremos
en ellos.
13 Y se lo permitió. Salieron los espíritus
impuros y entraron en los cerdos;
y la piara, alrededor de dos mil, se lanzó
corriendo por la pendiente hacia el mar,
donde se iban ahogando. 14 Los porqueros
huyeron y lo contaron por la ciudad
y por los campos. Y acudieron a ver qué
había pasado. 15 Llegaron junto a Jesús,
y vieron al que había estado endemoniado
–al que había tenido a «Legión»–
sentado, vestido y en su sano juicio; y les
entró miedo. 16 Los que lo habían presenciado
les explicaron lo que había sucedido
con el que había estado poseído
por el demonio y con los cerdos. 17 Y comenzaron
a rogarle que se alejase de su
región. 18 En cuanto él subió a la barca, el
que había estado endemoniado le suplicaba
quedarse con él; 19 pero no lo admitió,
sino que le dijo:
–Vete a tu casa con los tuyos y anúnciales
las grandes cosas que el Señor ha
hecho contigo, y cómo ha tenido misericordia
de ti.
20 Se fue y comenzó a proclamar en la
Decápolis lo que Jesús había hecho con
él. Y todos se admiraban. 21 Y tras cruzar de nuevo Jesús en la barca
hasta la orilla opuesta, se congregó
una gran muchedumbre a su alrededor
mientras él estaba junto al mar.
22 Viene uno de los jefes de la sinagoga,
que se llamaba Jairo. Al verlo, se postra
a sus pies 23 y le suplica con insistencia
diciendo:
–Mi hija está en las últimas. Ven,
pon las manos sobre ella para que se salve
y viva.
24 Se fue con él, y le seguía la muchedumbre,
que le apretujaba.
25 Y una mujer que tenía un flujo de
sangre desde hacía doce años, 26 y que
había sufrido mucho a manos de muchos
médicos y se había gastado todos
sus bienes sin aprovecharle de nada,
sino que iba de mal en peor, 27 cuando
oyó hablar de Jesús, vino por detrás entre
la muchedumbre y le tocó el manto
28 –porque decía: «Con que toque su
ropa, me curaré»–. 29 Y de repente se
secó la fuente de sangre y sintió en su
cuerpo que estaba curada de la enfermedad.
30 Y al momento Jesús conoció
en sí mismo la fuerza salida de él y, vuelto
hacia la muchedumbre, decía:
–¿Quién me ha tocado la ropa?
31 Y le decían sus discípulos:
–Ves que la muchedumbre te apretuja
y dices: «¿Quién me ha tocado?».
32 Y miraba a su alrededor para ver a
la que había hecho esto. 33 La mujer, asustada
y temblando, sabiendo lo que le había
ocurrido, se acercó, se postró ante ély le dijo toda la verdad. 34 Él entonces le
dijo:
–Hija, tu fe te ha salvado. Vete en
paz y queda curada de tu dolencia.
35 Todavía estaba él hablando, cuando
llegan desde la casa del jefe de la sinagoga,
diciendo:
–Tu hija ha muerto, ¿para qué molestas
ya al Maestro?
36 Jesús, al oír lo que hablaban, le dice
al jefe de la sinagoga:
–No temas, tan sólo ten fe.
37 Y no permitió que nadie le siguiera,
excepto Pedro, Santiago y Juan, el
hermano de Santiago.
38 Llegan a la casa del jefe de la sinagoga,
y ve el alboroto y a los que lloraban
y a las plañideras. 39 Y al entrar, les
dice:
–¿Por qué alborotáis y estáis llorando?
La niña no ha muerto, sino que
duerme.
40 Y se burlaban de él. Pero él, haciendo
salir a todos, toma consigo al padre y
a la madre de la niña y a los que le acompañaban,
y entra donde estaba la niña.
41 Y tomando la mano de la niña, le dice:
–Talitha qum –que significa: «Niña,
a ti te digo, levántate».
42 Y enseguida la niña se levantó y se
puso a andar, pues tenía doce años. Y
quedaron llenos de asombro. 43 Les insistió
mucho en que nadie lo supiera, y
dijo que le dieran a ella de comer
Pregunta de Lectio Divina del día de hoy
Hoy leímos sobre el poder de sanar, resucitar y expulsar demonios que tiene Jesús (v. 13, 29, 41-42), ¿De verdad creo que esto es posible y que Jesús también puede sanarme? Señor, por favor enséñame en el silencio de mi corazón el lugar donde puedo escuchar Tu voz, si hay espíritus malignos o pecados que necesito que me expulses para que pueda crecer en santidad y hacer Tu voluntad.
La Biblia de Navarra
Permiso para usar esta versión de la primera edición de la Biblia de Navarra
para el Año de la Biblia del Obispo
dado por Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A. (EUNSA).