Jairus

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Jairus (Greek: Ἰάειρος Iaeiros, from Hebrew: יאיר Jair or Yair, "YHWH enlightens, God will enlighten, God will teach") was a synagogue leader in Galilee according to the New Testament accounts. In all three synoptic Gospels (mark 5:22–43, Matthew 9:18–26 and Luke 8:49–56) the raising or healing of Jairus' little daughter is described, most extensively in the Gospel of Mark. Here, the Christ-I has a healing effect even in the physical body. At the same time, the spirit of the ancient Indian culture is reawakened in a renewed form.

The raising of Jairus' daughter

Ilya Repin, The Reawakening of the Daughter of Jairus (1871)
Gospel of Mark

„22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, 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 discharge 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 will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out 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 happened 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 overhearing[5] 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 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? 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 cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.“

Gospel of Matthew

„18 While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. 20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23 And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 26 And the report of this went through all that district.“

Gospel of Luke

„40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 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, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him. 43 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased. 45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 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. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” 49 While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” 50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” 51 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. 52 And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.“

Rudolf Steiner points out the karmic connection between the blood-fluid woman and Jairus' little daughter. The healing is possible because the Christ can now work through his macrocosmic I into the physical body.

„So the Christ Jesus is to heal the twelve-year-old little daughter of Jairus. How can she be healed, for she is near death? This can only be understood if one knows how his physical illness is connected with another manifestation in another person, and that he cannot be healed without considering this other manifestation. For when the girl, now twelve years old, was born, there was a certain relationship with another personality which was deeply rooted in karma. That is why we are now told that a woman, who had been suffering from a certain illness for twelve years, came up behind the Christ Jesus and touched the seam of his garment. Why is this woman mentioned here? Because she was connected in her karma with this child of Jairus. This twelve-year-old girl and the woman who has been ill for twelve years are connected, and it is not for nothing that this is presented to us like a numerical mystery. This woman approaches Jesus with an illness that has lasted twelve years, and she is healed - and only now was he able to go into the house of Jairus, and now the twelve-year-old girl, who was already thought to be dead, could be healed.

That's how deep you have to go into things to grasp the karma that goes from person to person. Then one can see how the third of the effects of the Christ Jesus - that on the whole human organism - is shown. It is with particular reference to this that one must consider the higher efficacy of the Christ as shown to us in the Gospel of Luke.

Thus we are shown in a vivid way how the I-being of the Christ worked on all the other members of the human being. That is what is important. And the writer of the Gospel of Luke, who in these passages in particular is concerned with the representation of the healing effects, wanted to show how the healing effects of the I represent to us the unfolding of the I at a high peak of human development, and he shows how the Christ had to work on the astral body, on the etheric body and on the physical body of man. Luke has, as it were, presented the great ideal of the development of humanity: Look to your future; today your I, as it has developed, is still weak, it still has little dominion. But little by little it will become master of the astral body, of the etheric body and of the physical body and will transform them. The great ideal of the Christ is set before you, who shows humanity how the dominion of the I over the astral body, etheric body and physical body can be.“ (Lit.:GA 114, p. 170)

„In previous discussions of the Gospels, I have already referred to the significant passage concerning the healing, or one could also call it a revival, of the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus. We are talking here among adults, so I can mention this, I would like to say, deeper medical-occult knowledge that arises from this revival for those who penetrate it spiritually-scientifically. The little daughter is twelve years old. The Christ Jesus approaches her - you can read the more detailed circumstances in the Gospels - in order to heal her, who is already thought to be dead. It is strange that one can never come to an understanding of such things if one does not examine such a passage according to what precedes and also according to what follows. In the Gospel in particular, people like to tear out the individual parts too much, always reading this or that, but they are connected with each other. Immediately before - you will remember - there is a passage in the Gospels where Christ goes, called to the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, where he is touched, his cloak is touched by the so-called woman with the flow of blood, by the woman who had the flow of blood for twelve years. She touches his garment. What happens? She is healed. He feels a power emanating from him. The word comes again, which one only understands if one correctly understands the concept of faith just mentioned before: Your trust, your faith has made you well. - Now it is said profoundly in this passage of the Gospel: She had the disease for twelve years; and the little daughter is twelve years old, lived twelve years here on the physical earth. What did the little daughter of Jairus not have, what did she lack? She can't mature, she can't reach maturity; she can't reach what the woman had twelve years too much. And by healing the woman who has twelve years too much, he feels the power flowing out of him. By going there, he transfers it to the twelve-year-old daughter, gives her the opportunity to mature, that is, awakens the power in her without which she would have to wither away, and thereby, as it were, awakens her to life. What is there? Nothing less than that the Christ does not live in himself with all his substantial beingness, but lives in all his surroundings, and is able to transfer the forces from one person to another; that he transforms the forces in which he lives selflessly outwardly from one person to another. That is what is there. He can go out of himself, actively go out of himself. That lies in the power he feels just now, as it arises in him when the woman touches his coat and has the great confidence.“ (Lit.:GA 175, p. 207f)

The Revival and Renewal of the Ancient Indian Culture

With the revival of Jairu's little daughter, the spirit of the ancient Indian culture was reawakened in a renewed form:

„When the Christ Jesus walked on Earth, only the degenerate descendants of the third post-Atlantean cultural age were left. The second post-Atlantean age had almost completely disappeared from the Earth as a bearer of culture; only a few followers of the much degenerated Zarathustra religion lived scattered here and there. But the first, the ancient Indian cultural age, the oldest and most spiritual, had its descendants both at the time of the Christ Jesus and in our own time, even though the culture had become infirm and diseased by materialism. It is that age which will rise last of all, which must wait longest.

And this resurrection is told to us in a mysterious way in the story of the resurrection of Jairus' twelve-year-old daughter and the preceding healing of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.

The girl is close to death, the Christ Jesus is to heal her. But the woman is also alive, whose illness began with the birth of this girl. The blood, the life, flows out of her. She is what has become of the once flourishing spiritual culture of ancient India, what could not be cured by the doctors, for no yoga methods, no Vedanta philosophy, in all their sublimity, could save Indian culture from ruin.

She is karmically connected with the girl who is twelve years old, which means that the development of the etheric body is close to being completed. The ancient Indian cultural period was the time of the development of the etheric body. What was laid in this etheric body as a germ in the ancient Indian culture is to be resurrected and preserved for the last, the seventh age.

But this resurrection can only take place after the woman is healed. She comes from among the people towards Christ "from behind" (Luke 8:44), touches the hem of his garment and she is healed because "your faith has made you well" (Mark 5:34). She is healed because she had faith in the Spirit embodied in the flesh on earth. And when she is healed of the hemorrhage, because she has touched the garment of Christ Jesus of her own free will, that which was once a living power in her and which is now dying, even considered dead, can also be raised: It is the little daughter of Jairus, a "chief of the school," for the first cultural period was that of the Brahmins, the priests. A great crowd is around the dead girl, "weeping and wailing"; they are again the members of the first post-Atlantean age, lamenting for what is past. Matthew mentions the pipers (Matthew 9:23) playing at the dead; Krishna also played on the flute and the people followed this sound.

But the Christ Jesus drives them all out. A great mystery will take place, for the resurrection of the very first age with its development of the etheric body has to do with deep mysteries of human nature. He only takes with him Peter, John, James, the father and the mother of the child. With the Christ Jesus and the child himself there were seven persons together: the three soul forces, the three spiritual forces and the Christ as the cosmic I. The etheric body of the child was thus reflected in the etheric body of Peter, John and James. Thus the age of the ancient holy Rishis was reflected in these seven persons present. As the rishis could only work when they were seven together, so the girl could only be raised when the seven number of forces were present. And she is healed and the Christ Jesus tells them to feed her. For before that, the ancient Indian culture had not needed to eat, it had received its knowledge directly from the spiritual world through the wonderful development of the etheric body. But it has run out of this nourishment. Now it is to eat from what its surroundings can give it. "And the Christ Jesus forbade them sternly, that no one should know. A commandment that obviously cannot be understood in the physical-real sense. But the mysteries which took place with this resurrection were to remain unknown and hidden for a long time.“ (Lit.:GA 264, p. 233ff)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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