Stories like those from today’s passage of Jairus’s daughter and the bleeding woman aren’t just about miraculous healings. They also reveal to us what radical love for our neighbor looks like, what it means to deny social norms, and how legalism is disrupted—things Jesus embodied when He walked on the earth. Everything Jesus does is radical, but this particular passage alights something deep within my soul. I am just bowled over by the goodness of our Savior. This passage shows us how everything takes a backseat to the divinity and radical love of Christ.
A woman with a twelve-year-long menstrual discharge, which has made her ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 15:25–27), goes into public looking for Jesus, believing He can heal her—if only she can touch the hem of His robe (Mark 5:25,28).
A leader in the local synagogue (Jairus) comes looking for Jesus, begging Him to heal his daughter (Mark 5:22–23). Jesus goes to the man’s house and touches his dead daughter, and miraculously, she is healed (Mark 5:41).
He healed the woman and He raised the girl from the dead, even though in doing so, He has also made Himself “unclean,” according to levitical law. He does not call attention to Himself, shouting from the rooftops, “Look what I’m doing! Healing WOMEN! Touching the UNCLEAN! Breaking the LEVITICAL LAW! And in the house of a SYNAGOGUE LEADER!” Instead, He speaks with gentleness: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36). He instructs those present not to tell anyone what He’s done (v.43).
Following the rules did not save Jairus’s daughter, nor did visiting the experts stop the woman from bleeding. But belief did—faith that Jesus was who He said He was and would do what He said He would do. Jairus and the bleeding woman did not let fear cover them, but rather an insistent, consuming faith.
Even as I type this, my heart is beating faster than it normally does, anxiety swelling up inside me for so many reasons. I’m worried about health, finances, my church family, the aftermath of tornadoes that touched down in our city in early spring, a global pandemic and resulting quarantine, the need for racial reconciliation within the Church and the country and around the world—and so much more. I fear death. I fear pain. I want to hunker down on the couch and never leave my house again.
But Jesus has two lessons for me from today’s reading in Mark. First, He calls me to live and love as radically as He did. Jesus denied custom and law to touch the sick and heal them. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus prioritizes the weak, the poor, the outcast, the suffering. As I seek to follow Him, I must do this too.
Second, I long for faith and love to chase away fear (1John 4:18), to trust the character of Jesus, to believe that He will accomplish all He has promised to do. I long to believe that the promise revealed to John in Revelation 21:4 is true: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.” His words are my only hope in life and in death: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”
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45 thoughts on "Jairus & His Daughter"
I pray that I would live like Jesus can do anything in my life and learn to love those around me like Jesus.
I needed to read this today specifically. I have been in a lot of physical pain recently, and just before I read this, I had taken a nap and did some EFT tapping to try and get rid of this migraine and pain but broke down in tears. God can heal me… And I believe He will. I know He does not waste pain. And though I don’t understand it, I will bring my pain and concerns to Him and lay them at His feet. I don’t know what else to do. Revelation 21:4 was comforting to read.
Did anyone see a connection in the woman bleeding for 12 years and Jairus’ daughter being 12 years old. I realize there is no reason to think the families are connected but it is fascinating to me the details in the Word of God! Both of them related to touch. Beautiful!
Nolvia, that is my favorite part of this gospel story, which is one of my very favorites of Jesus. My preacher preached on that one time. Jesus looked at people like her and blind Bartimaeus whom no one else would look at or touch, and He SAW them and LOVED them. He called her daughter. It’s just wonderful.
Amen
I didn’t notice this. Thanks for pointing this out!
Wow. No! Thank you for pointing it out. Everyday you discover something new in The Word!
My friend and I were just talking yesterday about how God wants us desperate. In the context of our broken world, that may sound wrong or make us uncomfortable. Typically, those seeking desperate people are looking to take advantage of them in some way, but our God is SO GOOD! He wants us to come to the end of ourselves (our constant up keeping of the facade/pretense that we somehow have it together) not so he can take something more from us, but so he can restore us. He’s just waiting for us to get over ourselves, and he’s always right behind us when we finally turn around.
I’m just reveling in the joy of knowing his goodness this morning. ❤️
Thank you for this
Although the focus is to be Jairus and his daughter, I’m thinking more of the lady who touched His garment. She had such faith that all she had to do was touch Jesus’s clothes and she would be healed. He felt the power draw out of Him. Does He feel when He helps us too? Does He tell us to go in peace when we ask something? Is the most important thing peace and we just don’t realize it?
Yes, Angela, may we rise above fear and complacency and the status quo, and reach out unafraid and boldly follow in the steps of our Jesus.
My pastor preached about these 2 events just a couple of weeks ago. His sermon was titled “Jesus Interrupted”, but he used the same word- radical. Most everything Jesus did was considered to be radical at the time. I think we often view them as just miracles. He behaved in a way that went against the norm. Yet he wasn’t afraid. He didn’t listen to the naysayers. He continued fulfilling his purpose.
The beautiful image here is that while touching an unclean (or dead) person would make a normal person unclean, Jesus, the pure and undefiled God-in-Man passed HIS purity to other people making them clean without defiling himself. It’s a beautiful image of Salvation. When we believe in Christ, he takes our sinfulness on himself and we become pure and undefiled in the sight of God. His purity transfers to us without diminishing his own. Such grace, such beauty, such love. And then we are commissioned as purified people to pass the message around: come to Jesus; he will make you clean.
Sweet Dorothy, praying for you and your sister and all those grieving your losses. Thankful you have felt the prayer support offered on your behalf. God bless you as you move on from here. ❤️
Right now, with life slowly inching back toward normal…my struggle is with fear of complacency. I don’t want to go back to the way things were in the church before this pandemic interrupted everything. I believe that God is calling his church to awaken…I guess it starts with me, and rather than fear falling back into complacency, I just need to live out what God has been teaching me over these months of isolation. Faith over fear! Reminds me of yesterday’s study on Peter too. Sensing a theme?
Wow. This has to be one of my favorites that I’ve read. Thank you for this. How relevant this will always be. ❤️
I barely have strength to type. My own illness is worse today than normal. I can so relate to this worn woman who was not helped by doctors. My story is similar. And though we don’t live in a culture which knows and practices the stringency of the Leviticus Laws, there is still a kind of stigma that exists. But, my hope is not in the culture, but in our Creator! I say this feeling the fear and trembling of this woman with a long-term suffering. I say this with what feels like the “little faith” of yesterday’s study. So I plead to the Lord, “I believe! Help my unbelief!” Please pray for me. Thanks!
Praying for you, dear Diana ❤️
Don’t be afraid. Only believe. >> This is a verse I will be referencing and referring to ALL THE TIME! I believe this is the truth!! ❤️❤️
Fear…just another four letter word. Fear has stopped me in my tracks time and time again. Fear of failure. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of rejection. Fear of abandonment. Those (rare) times I have acted boldly are not nearly as memorable as the times I slunk away—”woulda shoulda coulda” moments. Jesus acted boldly and responded favorably to others who did the same in God’s name. May I take advantage of bold opportunities to speak or act in faith.
Both the woman with the issue of blood and Jarius were dealing with health issues.
The woman had tried everything in her power and yet for 12 years had suffered both from the illness and the stigma of being constantly unclean. This would have caused a type of isolation or quarantine from others, probably physical weakness, and scripture tells us nothing had helped, she was worse. Her faith told her Jesus could/would heal her, but the years of being unclean, unworthy, weighed so heavily on her that she tried to get close enough to touch Him for the healing, without “bothering” Jesus.
Jarius didn’t have “time,” his daughter was dying. He had one hope, his faith in Jesus Christ. This powerful man came humbly before the Lord and begged for Jesus to come.
Jesus knew the woman had touched Him taking healing with her. He brought her healing to light, not because the touch upset Him (as I believe she feared), but so that she would know His love. He stopped, in the moment, so that she would know that she, and her needs mattered.
When Jesus stopped to help the woman, I can only imagine Jarius’s panicked heart. There wasn’t time to stop. I’m sure he was glad for the woman’s healing. He recognized that he was at the mercy of Jesus, on Jesus’s schedule, and yet his daughter’s life lay in the balance. Then worst seemed to happen, she died. Except, Jesus is not bound by time. Jesus is not bound by death. He encouraged Jarius to not be afraid, but believe. And, Jarius’s daughter was healed.
Our Creator-God, El Elyon, meets each of us right where we are. Our differences do not hinder Him, He created us. He loves us, in the present. He is limitless. He is almighty. He is.
In the He Reads Truth devotional today I quote, “The faith we are called to have as Christians is powerful because our faith is in the finished work of our God, not the future work of our own hands.” Powerful Jarius, the weary-worn woman with the issue of blood, and tomorrow’s woman at the well…they all, we all, have a different story and yet, our God, our Savior and Lord, is present in the present intimately with us; “way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness.” Our God. Our Father.
Well said!
And imagine the pain of guilt for the bleeding woman if Jairus’ daughter had died. Jesus also spared her that weight. He is totally benevolent. Always—but not without cost. He felt “the power go out of him.” When we serve as he did, it will deplete us for a time. But the fount supplies all we need.
❤️love it.
I’ve always judged the Pharisees and those who spoke out against Jesus saying “you’re breaking the Law!” How can they not see this is the Christ? The one they’ve been waiting for? Who cares about the Law? But then you read passages like Leviticus today. They’d spent hundreds of years observing this Law, meticulously. And Jesus just waltz in and not only touches one unclean person but TWO (women no less) in complete opposition to the Law. Our God is RADICAL and frankly a rebel. I love it.
Has anyone else noticed how Jesus tells the people after His miracles not to tell anyone but if you go on and read they go out and tell everyone. I’ve always wondered about that. Why does He tell them this if He knows they are going to go out and tell people. Wow, Melanie, said it in her devotional. We have to have faith and believe. That is so much easier said than done. Revelation 21:4 is something I needed right now, to be reminded that God has my back in my grief and mourning. My faith got me through the death of my son and it will get me through the death of my niece. I have told my sister, “We now have two guardian angels, one for each shoulder.” SRT sisters, I thank you for all your prayers for the few months, they have helped me make it through. It is time to start a new season in my life I believe.
Daughter of the King, praying for you, Jesus protection and provision, may you feel His strength and love around you as you look for work. And find a position that truly blesses you. Blessed Beth thank you for your words. Lovely. May we all be about our Father’s business of loving others with His mercy and grace. Draw near Sisters for He loves us so completely.
I am also greatly struck by remembering Jesus’ radical love, how He denied social norms, and disrupted legalism. I am unsure of what I am doing in the efforts of racial reconciliation and the long-needed justice work in systemic racism, but I will look to Jesus. I have felt God impress upon me these past few days that I really need to immerse myself into scripture. It is this reminder that as I desire to do this work well, I need to remember God’s love and the justice work of Jesus. God, forgive us as we try to do this work on our own. Lead us Jesus. Help us to love radically, it is hard and scary and sometimes we just do not want to – help us. Help us not to be afraid, but to only believe. Guide us Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
How can we radically love others in these times? The word radical struck me as I recently saw a quote “your current idea of what is radical might be the future’s vision of what is just.” What Jesus did in His day and age was radical. What we see happening now in response to racial injustices is considered radical by some. Regardless of one’s stance on this issue, we are called to love others with the radical love of Jesus. I firmly believe that God loves and celebrates diversity and we see that manifested in the gifts and talents He has given to each one of us. Like Blessed Beth mentioned, her way of radically loving is writing cards, praying, and cooking for her neighbors. For me I feel called to march in solidarity with those suffering and marginalized through protesting. How has God called you to radically love others in this time? I pray that we would have eyes to see where God is leading us, ears to hear Him speaking to us “Don’t be afraid; only believe” and hands and feet to walk in obedience to His calling. <3
Love this, Taylor!
❤️
Andrea– I love how you pointed out the contrast between the way the man approached Jesus and the woman approached him. And I love that Jesus stopped and tended to the woman’s needs FIRST. He paused to love and reassure a woman who considered herself nothing rather than continue on his path with the synagogue leader. That is radical.
“…an insistent, consuming faith…” LORD, I pray that I will not let the noise of the chaos in our world deter me from striving to live my life for YOU. I pray that I will not be afraid, but boldly seek YOU with an insistent, consuming faith.
Needed this…unemployed for SO long trying to break into the workplace after being a SAHM now in a toxic home environment.
Lord, grow in me an insistent, consuming faith that dispels my fears and keeps me about Your business. I believe, help my unbelief!
Jesus is so good at being a calming presence. He didn’t berate the unclean woman or Jairus for pressing through the crowd to reach Him. He didn’t berate the woman when she confessed that it was she who touched Him. He didn’t let a group of mourners prevent Him or distract Him from responding to a father’s plea. Jesus knew Who He is and what He is about. Nothing and no one would deter Him.
As a believer, I know the whole story. I know the whole Truth. So when I read news reports or watch it on television or the internet, I remember Jesus’ words: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” These are very unsettling times, yes. But Jesus remains on the throne, remains in control, remains about His business and His promises will be fulfilled. So I can take heart and take courage. I can press through the crowd of bad news. I just keep pressing on to Jesus, His calming Presence.
Good morning Churchmouse, I needed to hear these words this morning.
As I was reading the text I couldn’t help but see the contrast in how each person approaches Jesus. Jarius approaches boldly with confidence. In contrast, the bleeding woman, likely filled with shame over her sense of uncleanliness has an indirect approach, as she comes up behind him. I sometimes can relate to the feeling of just wanting to sneak in unnoticed for a brief touch of Jesus. . I think about the times, I avoid going directly to Him, maybe out of shame, thinking my requests are unworthy or that I can just handle it in my own strength. I love the change in her once Jesus notices. No longer burdened by her shame, she falls at his feet, surrendering and sharing her story.
I love what you said about “wanting to
I’ll try that again lol …. I love what you said about “wanting to sneak in unnoticed”. I feel like I do this a lot. I have tried lately to pray bold prayers. It still feels awkward at times, and maybe a little taboo? But we can have a bold faith like this woman and Jairus. “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” How tender Jesus is with us, and our doubts.
Thank you for sharing! Love this thought!
The all encompassing power of Jesus … we see it in scripture and we say “Miracles!” as His acts of healing, forgiveness, grace and mercy are beyond our comprehension, while He is just being Jesus, son of the Almighty God. I am humbled and weeping at the power of our Lord, praying for my faith to strengthen, for my eyes to be opened to the miracles still happening today and for people to see Him through unworthy me. Thank you, Jesus!
Joining you in that strong & beautiful prayer!
❤️
I can so relate to wanting to remain at home, listening to the birds, feeling safe being about my Father’s business. I notice though his desires of me are gradually increasing. In March it started with increased work with the church prayer time, putting out more and more requests and praises, then writing inspirations to individuals daily, another step into writing thank you’s to individuals in my life, then to making masks. Now food for neighbors, they are so sweet. I never want any of this to change the list goes on and on but I won’t take up your time. I know He has more for me and I will have to leave my home and I know it will be ok because I am about My Father’s business doing what He desires of me, what more could I ask.