Jesus clearly demonstrated God’s attitude of positive recognition to those who showed faith in Him, when he gave exposure to the faith of a woman who for very good reasons had sought anonymity.  On the other hand those who showed no faith in God were denied the blessing of being witnesses to a great miracle. While great faith is always applauded in the Scriptures, weak faith is not rejected either. 

A significant part of Jesus’ ministry, was concerned with the education of his disciples as to the true nature of his person and their need for faith in him. Our lesson will among other things continue their education and ours. They will be reminded of His power over the natural word, the spirit world and over death itself. 

We could in fact re-title our lesson today as ‘ To whom do we turn in times of sickness and death?’  in order to emphasize the inability of nature and man's natural ability, as well as the weakness of the world to supply the needs of the multitudes of suffering hearts in this world. 

We must admit that sickness and death is a mystery for which we, in ourselves, have no answer and which, when others pretend to have the answers we end up greatly disappointed. 

Each one of us have probably experienced the sense of hopelessness, helplessness and inevitability, when death confronts us and our loved ones. 

So we hopefully will learn from today's lesson, that the only real option we have is to turn our hearts and eyes to God to see what is beyond the immediate painful circumstances.  Then we will see that God allows our many sicknesses and physical death that are so around us, to draw us to Himself, so that we will be healed spiritually. 

Remember that though Jesus has told us that death can come to us it is still not really “ death.” By this we mean that Jesus is the total master of death in whatever form it takes and death when Jesus is present is no longer “death”, for death has lost its sting, and the grave has lost its victory, holding now no terror at all. Why? For Jesus is the resurrection and the life. 

It is important to pay special attention to these two incidents, the first where a prominent Jewish official and a grieving father turns to Jesus when his beloved daughter faced impending death and in the other incident where a extremely sick and desperate woman who had faced many years of shame, embarrassment, isolation, and hopelessness was driven to turn to Jesus when all else had failed her. 

In the events preceding our text, Jesus had taken a break from his sea-side teaching in Capernaum and set out across the Sea of Galilee to Gadara with his disciples. While He got some much needed sleep, a violent storm suddenly sprung up and the waves threatened to sink the boat he and his disciples had taken. In a panic the disciples roused Jesus, who then commanded the winds and waves to be calm. A dead calm instantly followed. He then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith but this seemed to have blown right by them, as their anxiety was changed to dumbfoundedness at his control over nature, “What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” 

No sooner Jesus and his party landed, they were met by a demoniac named Legion who had previously terrorized the townspeople. Jesus commanded the demons from the man into a herd of swine feeding nearby, which then stampeded down a slope into the sea and drowned. When news of the man’s healing and subsequent events reached the town, Luke recounts that the town and surrounding areas were gripped with fear. There was no hint of gratitude on the part of the community and Jesus was unceremoniously asked to leave their coast.

Now, in contrast to the sickening display of ingratitude and unbelief he had met in the land of the Gadarenes, a large exuberant and expectant crowd that had gathered, greeted him on his arrival back in Capernaum.  

Our study will also shed some light on the question of God’s response time to what we see as our urgent situations. What we see as God’s delay however will oftentimes result in more blessings for us and God’s name being glorified.        

THE TEXT

Verse 40.   Capernaum had by now become Jesus’ home base and his popularity and esteem was at a peak, as a result of his teaching and healing ministry there. His movements and whereabouts were likely always known, so on his return from Gadara a large and enthusiastic crowd was waiting for Him.

Verse 41-42.   In the middle of his teaching Jesus was interrupted by the arrival of a local official named Jairus with an urgent request; his only daughter lay dying at home. So would Jesus come and heal her. 

We know that at that time there was limited medical knowledge.  The Roman and Greek doctors had all kind of fanciful potions and cures, but these often were of little help. 

Likewise, the mystery religions that abounded had much to say about the help offered to the sick by their priests and priestesses. Despite that, the society was filled with many that were ill with no hope for a cure. The hot baths of nearby Tiberius was of little help for the sick and dying. 

There was a thick crowd around Jesus, so people must have made way for this ruler of the synagogue to actually reach Him. Jairus prostrated himself before Jesus to make his request and we can be sure his peers would not be pleased with this posture. He might have been ruler of the synagogue but he paid homage to the ‘Great Ruler’.

Jairus could only have been driven by overwhelming fear that this twelve-year-old girl would die. By this time Jesus had so offended the Pharisees that the synagogues were no longer open to him and so he was out in the open countryside preaching on the hillsides. For the Chairman of the Board of Elders of the synagogue, a most privileged position, to overcome pride, prejudice, embarrassment and the threat of possible retaliation from the Teachers and prominent Jewish leaders for his stepping out of line, to openly come to this Jesus for healing, was a grave step. 

Jairus did not think like the Centurion (Matt. 8:5) who desired Jesus only to speak the healing word at a distance. 

One might think that Jairus’ faith was weak, and maybe it was, but we should consider his vulnerability and the grave implications of the step he was taking. He would have heard his colleagues speak about Jesus as a lawbreaker and blasphemer, who thought that he was Messiah and he would have listened to their angry denunciations of Him.  But he would also have heard about or seen one or more of the many healing miracles of Jesus. 

Now he was faced with a choice. The issues around Jesus were not simply issues good only for theological debate or for speculation. For him this was a very risky venture, he was helpless and powerless to do anything about his dying daughter and so love of his daughter overrode all concern about his official position, his reputation or stature.  He made his request to Jesus face-to-face.  

Jesus understood all this. Christ complied with his request and went along with him.  

Verse 43-44.   ……an issue of blood…her problem was clearly female in nature and beyond known medical cure at the time. Her situation was chronic and medical bills had exhausted all her resources; not to mention what she had endured with all the attempted cures and what they might have done to her physically, emotionally and psychologically. 

The nature of the problem was such that she would not care to make a public complaint of it. On top of what modesty would press on her, she was ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:19, 25-27) and should not have been in public, in a crowd jostling with people, not to mention touching the ‘Rabbi’. For twelve years she had lived under this burden. 

It is not difficult to understand why she approached Jesus unseen from behind. She was likely physically weak and emaciated from her condition but her faith was robust and strong. The crowd provided the necessary cover to cloak her intentions but even so, getting close enough to actually touch Jesus was no easy feat. Earlier (vs.19) we saw where Jesus’ mother and brothers couldn’t get close to Him because of the crowd. This woman  physically worked her way to within touching distance of Jesus and then reached and touched his clothes. 

She believed if she could only touched his clothes she would be healed, she would then just melt back into the crowd, secretly healed and anonymous. Instantly on touching Jesus she was healed and knew it. 

This does not mean that there were any magical properties attached to Jesus' clothes.  It is likely however that given attitudes and beliefs current at the time, we can detect elements of error and superstition in her approach, but nevertheless she believed in the healing power of Jesus and that once she made contact with him in any way that could be a healing point of contact. 

Whatever one might think about her faith, the important thing was that her faith was in Jesus.  He was the object of her faith and she was convinced that just touching the hem of his garment would be sufficient to make her well. She decided somehow that it was worth it to try to get help one more time, to at least see if God would help her. 

In doing this touch she ignored the fact that she would be possibly making Jesus unclean. She could suffer terribly for such an action, for there was a price or punishments to people making others contaminated.  But she was desperate and was quite prepared to pay the price for her cure. One can just imagine the terribly mental turmoil that she was experiencing.  

Of course we know that it was not possible for the woman to have been healed without the Lord's conscious willing of it and awareness of it. Great as her faith was, her thought that she could steal a cure without Jesus knowing was not going to happen.

Verse 45.   Suddenly, the ‘perfect crime’ was about to be exposed; Jesus was not about to allow this unusual and great faith of this woman to go un-noticed as she had desired. He asked what appeared to all, including the disciples to be a ridiculous question. Here he was being bumped by a crushing, over-enthusiastic mob and then can ask who touched him.  

We should bear in mind that at this point the disciples are still not fully aware of Jesus identity and it’s implications. So Peter, ‘mister spokesman’ took him to task for his question.  

One writer notes: Seeking the identity of one person who touched Him in a crowd of touchers and shovers was seemingly an impossible task. More than this, it seemed to be a fruitless task. What difference did it make anyway? And even more distressing, it caused what seemed to be an unnecessary delay, so that the daughter of Jairus, who was virtually at death’s door, was “needlessly endangered.”

Amusingly all denied touching him.

Verse 46.   Jesus persisted with his question and of course he knew who had touched him and why (Mark 5:32). He could recognize one healing touch in a hundred of random ‘touchings’. He was sensitive enough to know the difference between the jostling of the mob and the grasping of a faithful soul. 

He would have the crowd know of her great faith but in consideration of her modesty one commentator remarks: Jesus spared the unfortunate sufferer the necessity of confessing her pitiful illness while it still continued, but reserved her confession until she could make it with the joy and vibrancy of health restored.

We should understand that Jesus can still heal in the absence of faith. 

…made thee whole.. may be rendered ‘saved’. So our Lord not only effected a physical healing but also a spiritual healing, the forgiveness of her sins based on her public confession and demonstrated faith in Him.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS?

We can learn a few things from this.

We ought to be more sensitive to what is happening around us and not to come out looking clueless like the disciples, when things happen. Unfortunately we are all weak in this respect and as a result our churches are weaker.  

Jesus knows that there are many people around who want him and his life transforming power desperately, but they don't know how to ask for help properly or how to frame their desire.  They know they want God or something from God and they want God to love them but they do not know what to say, what to do, or where to go. 

We must be more open to what is going on in the hearts and lives of people, be more compassionate and discerning and be much quicker to lead them to the truth, instead of leaving them to be caught in the traps of the cults and in the arms of those that will misinform and exploit them. 

All kinds of things happen around us for a purpose and we must think exactly as Jesus thinks and be led by the Spirit in responding to the actions of people. 

Secondly, we must note that Jesus is the answer to the needs of people.  We must tell them about the love of God and the love of Jesus, take them into the presence of Jesus so that the Holy Spirit can teach them and have them experience the life of Jesus personally. 

We must never get trapped into thinking that we can meet people's needs by church programs and activities.  If we get into that trap we will always disappoint people. Simply inviting people to come into fellowship is not the best thing we can offer to people, for first we must lead them to meet Jesus face-to-face, for there is repentance, love, and life. 

Jesus was on an urgent mission, for a little girl was dying, a very important man was pulling him,and the disciples were ridiculing him.  But He knew that somebody needed him,and giving them help at that moment was more important than anything else. 

This lowly, marginalized woman would get his attention now, for the high status Jairus was not more important that her.  Her honest cry for help God would not ignore. 

The shepherd would always leave the ninety nine sheep and find the one that needed him and so we know that each and every need would be sought out by him. 

The power of the Holy Spirit had gone out of Jesus to heal the woman and Jesus immediately sensed the loving and compassionate action of his Father and the Spirit. 

Jairus should have been encouraged and his faith strengthened by what he heard, despite the delay in Jesus going to his house. He should have realized immediately, that if simply by touching the hem of his garment, without Jesus’ direct word of healing, a woman had been healed, this man could do anything and his heart should have been quieted. 

The disciples, the crowd and us can see the absolute necessity of faith in our relationship with our Lord. We must believe Him for who He is.

Verse 49.   Back to Jairus’ situation. Clearly the child was alive when he left his house or this messenger would not have come. Equally clear is that Jairus’ faith was not shared by all in his household. Their view was your daughter is dead, there is nothing Jesus can do now. Maybe he could heal a sick child but no one had power over death. 

Note that these people would have heard about all the miracles, how Jesus had done great things without measure, but for them it was over, there was no hope, and Jairus might as well come home and mourn.

Verse 50.   Jairus’ faith might have faltered at the news and Jesus moved quickly to reassure him.  

Let us be honest with ourselves and admit that even just after we see a miracle in front of us, our faith will falter when our bad news comes.

We know that we cannot trust for strength in the sight of our eyes, but should only trust in the person of Jesus. 

Note Jesus’ words here are for all Christians…fear not: believe only... From Jesus’ statement the centrality of belief to an effective spiritual life and a proper relationship with God is evident. 

The Scriptures have always defined correct doctrinal belief in minute detail. For example, belief in the existence and the character of God is essential (Hebrews 11:6). Belief in the deity of Christ is also considered essential to a right relationship with God (Matthew 16:13-19). The belief in the humanity of Jesus is also critical (1 John 4:2-3).  

Also belief in the resurrection as both a doctrine and as a historical event is required. So the Scriptures teach that there must be correct understanding and belief for one to be accepted by God. 

One writer rightly warns that there must be more than a warm, positive, affirming feeling toward Jesus. 

DEFINITIONS OF ‘BELIEF’ 

One Bible dictionary describes the Hebrew word meaning “ believe” to mean, “ to remain steadfast”. (Genesis 15: 6; Exodus 4:1; Numbers 14:11 etc.)

The Greek word means, “ to be persuaded” of God's revealed truth. (Acts 17:4; 27:11; 28:24), is also used to mean, “ to adhere to, rely on” God's promises, as in Matthew 8:13; Mark 5:36; John 3: 16, and so on.

The Dictionary points out that in a scriptural sense, this is faith in its larger usage, that is, not as mere credence or confidence, it represents four principal ideas. One commentator writes:

“ The first, is personal confidence in God;

second, a creedal or doctrinal concept of the essential body of revealed truth (Luke 18: 8; 1 Corinthians 16:13; 2 Corinthians 13: 5; Colossians 1:23; 2:7; Titus 1:13; Jude 3);

third, faithfulness as an evidence or fruit of the believer’s trust in God (Galatians 5:22-23);

fourth, a designations for Christ as the object of faith (3:23-25). As personal confidence in God, it is of immense importance to clearly distinguish three features of faith.  

Saving faith is inward confidence in God's promises and provisions in Christ for the salvation of sinners.  It leads one to trust solely in the person and work of the Saviour Jesus Christ (John 3: 16; 5: 24; Ephesians 2:8-10).  Such faith gives the believer an unchangeable and unassailable position described in innumerable passages as being “ in Christ” (Roman 8:1; Ephesians 1: 3; etc.)           

So Jesus tells Jairus, ‘don’t worry, exercise faith in me, that I am able to raise her from the dead and I will do it and she will be completely restored’. 

The alternative to believing in Jesus’ ability to raise his daughter was indeed bleak, bury his only child and this is the option that those who reject Jesus have chosen for all eternity. 

Note, Christians can be reassured that God will intervene to bolster their faith in the times of crisis’ in their lives. 

Note now that Jairus did believe, accept what Jesus told him; he did not tell Jesus not to bother to come, but went with Jesus. 

He accepted Jesus’ two instructions; first, stop being afraid, and second, only believe.Remember that the first one must be followed or the second one will not work.

Verse 51.   Jesus only allowed Peter, James and John, his closest disciples and the parents of the child to enter the house. There was already a crowd at the house and the company that arrived with Jesus was close to a mob. Jesus is not afraid of public scrutiny in this kind of miracle, he did raise Lazarus and the widow’s son publicly. 

Still it was important that there should be witnesses to the miracle and five witnesses were enough to establish the fact. The fact that the child was dead was established beyond a doubt by the presence of mourners, the statement of Jairus and the messengers; all the people were satisfied of this fact. If she was presented to the people alive, the proof of the miracle was complete. Five sober witnesses are always better than the confused voices of a rabble. These were the same disciples that were with him in the mount of transfiguration and garden of Gethsemane, (Mark 9:2; 14:33; 2 Peter 1:17-18). 

Note, Jesus miracles primarily were proof of His Messiahship, they helped people and public spectacle was never part of his agenda.

Verse 52-53.   There was wholesale weeping and mourning at the death of the child and Jesus statement…weep not; she is not dead…did not go down well with those who heard it. 

Jesus used this statement on other occasions when he intended to raise someone from the dead, (John 11:11). The reality is, in his presence death is merely sleep, for He is the resurrection and the life.  

Jesus words have some application to all believers, in that we should not sorrow over death as those that have no hope. Death is but sleep to those who die in Christ, not only as it is a rest from all the toils of the present time, but as there will be a resurrection and a rising again to all the glories of the promised eternity 

One writer comments:

The maid is not dead, but sleepeth. It cannot be supposed that our Lord means literally to say that the child was not dead. Every possible evidence of her death had been given, and he acted on that himself, and conveyed to the people the idea that he raised her from the dead. He meant to speak in opposition to their opinions. It is not unlikely that Jarius and the people favoured the opinions of the Sadducees; and that they understood by her being dead that she had ceased to be, and that she would never be raised up again. In opposition to this he used the expression she sleepeth; affirming mildly both that the body was dead, and implying that her spirit still lived, and that she would be raised up again. A similar mode of speaking is seen in John 11:11: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." The sacred writers, who hold the doctrine of the resurrection, often spoke of the dead as sleeping, 2 Peter 3:4; Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 15:6,18 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15. The meaning of this passage then is--the maid has not ceased to exist; but though her body is dead, yet her spirit lives, and she sleeps in the hope of the resurrection. 

….they laughed…This was sarcastic, derisive and mocking laughter and further confirmed the fact that the child was dead. Actually Jesus gave them a word of comfort but it was a case of casting pearls before swine. They disqualified themselves as witnesses to a great miracle. 

Verse 54-55.    The mockers and scorners were put out and Jesus resurrected the child by merely taking her hand, as awaking one from sleep and saying ‘Maid arise’. Immediately the child came back to life and knowing children’s first thought when they wake up, he commanded that she be fed.  

This text is consistent with the teaching of other scriptures that man is comprised of at least spirit and body.

Verse 56.   The expected astonishment of the parents and we can imagine nothing less of the crowd and loved ones that waited outside. It is important to note that astonishment and wonder does not equal belief. 

So we learned that God’s view of sickness and death is very different from that of the world. 

So we turn to Jesus in all kinds of sickness and death, knowing that healings are designed by God to give us the hope and the assurance that Jesus will reach out to those that place their faith in him as Lord and savior.  

Jesus will give spiritual and physical healing, and he is the only one that can truly do that.  The world despite its talk can do comparatively little.