Mark 5:21-43
Jairus’
Daughter and the Woman with Bleeding
There was a person named Jairus; he
was one of the synagogue leaders. His position reveals that he is a religious
leader, highly respected, affluent, and God-fearing.
However, when Jairus saw Jesus, he
came and knelt at Jesus’ feet. He pleaded earnestly with Jesus, “My little
daughter is dying, please come and put your hands on her so that she will be
healed and live.”
Although Jairus had a prominent
identity, he was willing to humble himself before Jesus. However, he already
had an established mindset for he instructed Jesus how to cure his daughter.
After hearing his words, Jesus
followed him anyway. A big crowd also followed and pressed around him. However,
unexpected things always happen during critical moments, causing plans to
suffer setbacks.
A woman who had been suffering from
bleeding for 12 years appeared at this moment. This is a gynaecological disease
which caused women to be ritually unclean and had to be isolated. 12 years was
a long period of time to suffer under the hands of many doctors, even up to the
point of exhausting all that she had. It was so sad that her condition did not
improve, yet became worse.
We can imagine the heavy burden this
woman was carrying! Yet, when she heard about Jesus, her hope was rekindled.
She came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she
thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
Who is this woman? She was in
poverty, unnamed, unknown, and desperate. She and Jairus came from different
backgrounds, but one thing they had in common: they came to Jesus to seek
healing. Of course, they both have faith in Jesus.
Can Jesus help these two different
kinds of people?
The woman literally squeezed into the
crowd, touched Jesus’ cloak, and guess what happened? Her bleeding immediately
stopped! She felt that her disease had been healed.
At the same time, Jesus realized that
power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who
touched my clothes?” His disciples answered, “You see the people crowding
around you, and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
Jesus kept looking around to try and
spot the woman who did it. The woman, knowing what had happened to her, became
afraid because she touched Jesus’ clothes while she was unclean, which also could
make Jesus unclean. She did not know that Jesus is filled by the Spirit and is
able to cleanse the unclean, and at the same time will not be rendered unclean.
The woman, trembling with fear, came
and fell at Jesus’ feet and told him the whole truth. Jesus said to her,
“Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your
suffering.”
Actually, Jesus should be rushing to
Jairus’ house, because his daughter was dying. But he stopped just to look for
the person who touched his clothes and to publicly reveal the truth. As a
doctor, this delay is a dereliction of duty. Jairus must be extremely
anxious and could be grumbling in heart.
While Jesus was still speaking, some
people came from the house of the synagogue leader, saying, “Jairus, your
daughter is dead, why bother the teacher anymore?”
Can you imagine Jairus’ emotions at
that instant? But right in such a collapse state, Jesus ignored them, and said
to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
In actual fact, Jesus was asking
Jairus to trust him, to have patience; there was no hurry in this matter. If
you were Jairus, would you believe Jesus’ words? You could leave in anger, but
you had just witnessed the healing of the woman suffering from bleeding, and
this incident might help you believe in Jesus’ words.
Jairus’ plan was interrupted by the
delay that Jesus caused, and it did not only result in the delay of the healing
of his daughter, it also caused his daughter losing her life. Jairus’ hope was shattered!
We, the readers are curious to know; could
Jairus have a turning point then? How can the mighty Jesus be so imprudent?
God’s mastery of time often makes us
dismayed. Many a time, he does not operate according to our schedule and plans.
God wants us to trust in him, be patient with him, and also accept the
alternative plan that he provides for us.
Previously, when Jesus calmed the
storm, Jesus is telling us that he allows storms to enter the lives of his
followers, and this does not conflict with God’s grace and love. Here, he
shows that the unreasonable delays and interruptions of life are also not in
conflict with God’s grace and love.
God loves us; He knows when it is
best to take action so that we can benefit the most. Under the providence
of God, our lives can accommodate delays and interruptions.
Jesus brought Peter, James and John
along with him to Jairus’ house. When they arrived, they saw a commotion, with
people crying and wailing loudly. Jesus went in and said to them, “Why all this
commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”
And the crowd laughed at him. Jesus
chased them all out, because they did not have faith. Jesus also did not want
their unbelief to bring negative influence on Jairus.
Then Jesus took the child’s father
and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went into where the child
was. Jesus took her by the hand and said to her, “Little girl, I say to you,
get up!”
Jesus touched the dead body and not
be defiled. But he gave life to dead bodies. He is a life-giving Lord, for Immediately,
the girl stood up and began to walk around. And she was already 12 years old.
Everyone was completely astonished.
Jesus later gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told
them to give her something to eat. Jesus had mercy and healed the woman who
suffered from 12 years of bleeding. He also had mercy and healed the precious
12 years old daughter of the rich man.
Conclusion
We see that in this episode of Jesus’
delay and interruption, both Jairus and the woman had to pay a bigger price,
and at the same time also received more than what they asked for. Let me
explain:
Jairus asked Jesus to heal his dying
daughter. He initially thought that it was sufficient for Jesus to reach his
house on time. In the end, he had to wait until his daughter died, and still
had to believe in Jesus’ words, that his daughter was only sleeping. The end
result was that Jesus went to his house, raised his daughter from the dead,
just like waking up from a deep slumber.
The woman suffering from bleeding thought
that it was sufficient to muster up courage, squeeze into the crowd, and
secretly touch Jesus’ clothes, but Jesus wanted her to publicly reveal her
unending unclean bleeding.
By this, Jesus wanted her to
understand that it is not right to secretly be healed and then leave. This will
cause her to have the superstition that the ability to be healed is controlled
by her.
Instead, Jesus wanted her to reveal
the truth and her identity, in order for her to know that it is faith that
healed her. This faith is the beginning of her relationship with Jesus, and her
life had been changed since then. There is a very big difference between being
healed due to a superstitious thinking, and having a life changing experience
and then following Jesus.
Through publicly revealing the truth,
Jesus also confirmed to the crowd that the woman had been cleansed, and they
should receive her back into the community.
Today, when you seek help from Jesus,
you also need to be mentally prepared; Jesus might ask from you more than what
you are willing to give, however he will also give you more than what you have
asked for or can imagine.
Therefore, surrender yourself to
Jesus, trust and believe that he will make things right. Jesus will lavish his
grace on you in front of everyone!
Application
Many times, we do not understand why
God delays in taking actions. We panic when we face unexpected circumstances or
misfortunes, even up to the point of complaining against God and losing faith
in God.
We also feel discouraged and
depressed because our plans are interrupted or suffer setbacks.
We might not realize that this
attitude shows that we are arrogant. We are not God, yet we always think that
we know and master “the method and time to solve the problem”. Therefore, God
often use delays and interruptions in our lives to drive away our arrogance and
self-righteousness.
Perhaps you have arrived at a stage
now where your life has been interrupted by unexpected circumstances? What did
God delay in your life? Did you feel depressed or despair? Are you going to
give up? Have you lost patience with God?
The key is that you do not know the
true and best solution and schedule. The true solution -- like Jairus and the
woman suffering from bleeding – is to continue trusting in Jesus and to obey
his commands, never give up. Then, you will receive beyond that which you have
asked for.
Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, and
he knew that the girl has truly died, but yet he said that the girl is just
asleep. Jesus went to her bedside, took her by her hand, and said to her,
little girl, get up. This is an intimate way of calling, just like a mother
holding her child’s hand and say, “Darling, time to get up!”
Jesus confronts death – human’s most
ruthless mortal enemy – with full of power and held the girl’s hand and say, with
me holding your hand, death is just like sleeping! Jesus’ actions and words not
only are full of power, they are also full of love. When a mother holds the
child’s hand, the child will surely feel that everything is fine.
Jesus is way more considerate than
our earthly parents. Today, he still holds your hand and leads you through the
darkest nights and valleys. He is the ruler of the universe, the Lord who set
the stars in their place. When the time comes, he will say to you, “Darling,
it’s time to get up.”
What gives Jesus the ability to hold
your hands and lead us across the darkest valleys?
Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:4 says, “For
to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power.
Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our
dealing with you.”
Paul stressed that Jesus was
crucified in weakness, in order that we might live by God’s power. Jesus became
weak in order for us to become strong.
To a child, there is nothing more
fearful than losing grip of the parent’s hand in a crowd or darkness. However,
when Jesus carried the sins of the world on the cross, God the Father let go of
his hand. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus died and descended into the
dead so that we can break free from the chains of death. Jesus knew the fear of
being separated from God, and that’s why once he holds our hand, he will never
ever let go of us.
Jesus knows that there is only one
way to the Crown of Glory, that is the way of the cross, and there is only one
way towards resurrection, which is to experience death. He persevered and
obeyed God the Father’s plan, step by step walking towards the cross, walked
into hell and by that he became the salvation of the world.
Jesus’ healing of the woman suffering
from bleeding is also a foreshadowing of his crucifixion – he lost power, in
order that she gained power. He lost his life on the cross, in order that we
may gain eternal life. Only through experiencing weakness and death can Jesus
impart power and life into us.
We have such a powerful, loving and
tender Lord. How can we give up without trusting him? How can we pester him
without waiting for his guidance? How can we be impatient with him?
