Today's main idea: Jesus gives his attention to people in deep suffering and has authority even over death. We can bring him our needs and trust his care when we cannot see what will happen next.
Read Slowly
Main reading: Mark 5:21–43
Alongside Mark: Matthew 9:18–26 and Luke 8:40–56.
Read Mark first. Notice who comes to Jesus, what happens while Jairus waits, and how Jesus treats each person. Then read Matthew and Luke for the details each account contributes.
In Day 12, Jesus calmed a storm and freed a man from evil spirits. Now Mark shows us Jesus' authority over sickness and death. Throughout these scenes, his power is joined to personal care.
Jesus Goes with a Father Who Needs Help
Jesus returns across the sea, and a large crowd gathers around him. Jairus, one of the synagogue rulers, falls at his feet. His little daughter is close to death, and he begs Jesus to come and lay his hands on her so that she may live.
Jairus has a position of responsibility in his community. Yet he cannot save his daughter. He comes to Jesus openly, admitting that he needs help. Jesus goes with him.
Luke tells us she is Jairus's only daughter in Luke 8:40–56.
Matthew's shorter account begins with the ruler saying that his daughter has already died in Matthew 9:18–26. Mark and Luke describe her dying when Jairus first comes, with news of her death arriving later.
Jairus' responsibility in the community cannot supply what his daughter needs. He brings that limit openly to Jesus, who goes with him. His position and his helplessness can be true at the same time.
When others depend on me, I may feel I must hide how much help I need. Jairus shows another response: bring the person I love and the need I cannot meet before Jesus.
Remember: Being responsible for others does not mean I must be able to rescue them myself.
Years of Suffering Have Not Put This Woman Beyond His Help
As the crowd presses around Jesus, a woman approaches from behind. She has suffered from continual bleeding for twelve years. She has spent everything she had on treatment, endured much under many physicians, and grown worse.
Her suffering has lasted a long time, and the help she has sought has not restored her.
Jairus is named and introduced as a synagogue ruler. This woman is unnamed and has spent everything she had. He comes openly and asks for help for his daughter; she approaches from behind to seek healing for herself. Jesus gives his attention to both. His care reaches people in very different circumstances.1
She has heard about Jesus. Believing that touching his clothing will make her well, she reaches out. Immediately, the bleeding stops, and she knows that her body has been healed.
Matthew and Luke specify that she touches the fringe of his garment. Jesus' power brings the healing, and he tells her that her faith has made her well.
The woman comes after years of disappointment because she has heard about Jesus. Her history tells us the depth of her need; his action reveals his power to meet it. The story gives her suffering a person to whom she can turn.
I can bring Jesus a long-standing burden without making it sound new or easier than it is. Even the weariness of asking belongs in an honest prayer.
Remember: A need does not become too old to bring to Jesus.
Jesus Gives Her More Than an Anonymous Healing
Jesus knows that power has gone out from him. He turns and asks who touched his garments. The disciples point to the crowd pressing around him, but Jesus continues looking for the person who touched him.
The woman comes forward trembling, falls before him, and tells him the whole truth. Luke adds that she explains publicly why she touched him and how she was immediately healed in Luke 8:40–56.
Jesus calls her “Daughter.” Jairus has come pleading for his little daughter, and now Jesus addresses this woman with the same family word. He speaks to her with tenderness while a father waits for help for his own child. Both receive his personal care.2
He confirms her healing, names her faith, and sends her in peace. Matthew also records his encouragement to take heart in Matthew 9:18–26.
Notice the order in Mark: she is already healed when she comes forward trembling. Feeling afraid does not mean she has no faith. Her trust has brought her to Jesus, and now his words give her assurance about what has happened.
Faith here means trust in Jesus, the one who can help her. She comes to him in need and receives his healing and words of peace.
Jesus gives the woman time to tell the truth and then speaks peace to her. Her trembling is present within the encounter he describes as faith. She receives his personal assurance while she is still afraid.
I can approach him without first producing a calmer version of myself. As I care for others, I can also make room for a story that takes time to tell.
Remember: I can come to Jesus trembling and still come in trust.
Jesus Calls Jairus to Trust Him After the Worst News
While Jesus is still speaking, people arrive from Jairus's house. His daughter has died. They ask why he should trouble the Teacher any longer.
Their words assume that death has ended the possibility of help. Jesus speaks directly to Jairus: “Do not fear, only believe.”
Jairus first asked Jesus to help a dying child. Now he is being called to trust Jesus after hearing that she is dead. Luke records Jesus also telling him that she will be well in Luke 8:40–56. Jairus has Jesus' word to rely on as they continue toward the house.
Look at how closely Jesus' words to them belong together. He has just affirmed the woman's faith, and now he asks Jairus to keep believing. Her healing shows the power of the one Jairus is being asked to trust. Read together, the two scenes give us an example of faith followed immediately by a call to faith.3
When we hear how Jesus has helped another person, we can let that testimony strengthen our trust as we bring him our own need.
The news from home tells Jairus to stop asking; Jesus gives him a reason to keep trusting. The woman has just received healing, and now Jairus must listen to the same Jesus in a changed situation. The promise comes from the one whose power he has seen.
When circumstances worsen, I can bring the new fear to Jesus. Another person's experience of his care can remind me whom I am approaching while I wait with my own questions.
Remember: Worse news can become a reason to lean more closely on Jesus' words.
Death Is Real, and Jesus Has Authority over It
Jesus allows only Peter, James, and John to follow him. At the house, people are weeping and wailing. When Jesus says the child is sleeping, they laugh at him.
Luke says the people know that she is dead, and later says that her spirit returns. His language of sleep points to what he is about to do: raise her as someone awakens a sleeping child.
Jesus puts the crowd outside and takes the girl's parents and the three disciples into the room. The crowd's certainty that nothing can be done does not determine what Jesus can do.
The crowd's certainty meets Jesus' authority. They know the child has died; he knows what he is about to do. Their laughter cannot determine the reach of his power.
In grief, I can acknowledge the reality of loss and still look toward Jesus as the giver of life. This scene gives hope its foundation in him, beyond what human judgment can see.
Remember: Jesus gives me someone to trust where my own understanding reaches its limit.
The One Who Raises Her Also Remembers Her Hunger
Jesus takes the girl by the hand and tells her to get up. Mark preserves his words, “Talitha cumi,” and gives their meaning: “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
She immediately gets up and walks. Mark now tells us that she is twelve years old. The woman has suffered for as long as this child has been alive. For one, twelve years have meant prolonged illness; for the other, they are her whole life. Learning the girl's age here draws our attention back to the woman and connects their stories.2
Jesus meets both the suffering that has continued for years and the crisis that has suddenly overtaken a family. We can bring him the burden we have carried for a long time and the news we have only just received.
The people with Jesus are overwhelmed with amazement. He strictly tells them not to spread the news and tells them to give her something to eat.
Notice the different settings. The woman comes forward and tells her story before the crowd, where Jesus confirms her healing. The girl rises with her parents and three disciples present, and Jesus tells them to keep the event private. One scene ends with a public word of peace; the other includes a quiet instruction to feed a child.1
The instruction about food is easy to miss after such an extraordinary miracle. But Jesus notices an ordinary need. He restores her life and directs the people around her to care for her body.
After raising the girl, Jesus tells the people with her to feed her. He brings life, then gives them an ordinary part in caring for that life. Their amazement has a practical next step.
When someone has come through a crisis, care still has work to do. A meal, a ride, or patient company can help them with the next ordinary need. Remembering that need is one way to follow the compassion Jesus shows.
Remember: When the crisis passes, love still notices the next ordinary need.
What We Learn About Jesus
Jesus has authority over illness and death. The woman's bleeding stops, and the dead child rises at his word. These events ask us to take seriously who he is.
His authority is personal. He goes with a frightened father, listens to a trembling woman, takes a child by the hand, and remembers that she needs food. The crowd does not make these individuals unimportant to him.
He invites trust. The woman reaches toward him, and Jairus is called to keep believing when the news becomes devastating. Both come to Jesus with needs they cannot meet themselves.
How the Reading Fits Together
Mark begins Jairus's story, pauses it for the woman's healing, and then returns to Jairus. The interruption allows us to experience the waiting. One person receives relief while another hears that his worst fear has happened.
The two stories belong together through repeated details: twelve years, two daughters, falling at Jesus' feet, fear, faith, and touch. Jairus asks Jesus to lay his hands on his daughter. The woman reaches out to touch his clothing. At the house, Jesus takes the girl by the hand and raises her. In each scene, a desperate need brings someone into personal contact with Jesus.
Matthew tells the events more briefly and records Jesus encouraging the woman to take heart. Luke identifies the girl as an only daughter, describes the woman's public account of her healing, and makes the girl's return to life explicit. These details deepen our reading while Mark remains our main passage.
Together, the scenes show us that Jesus' power does not make him distant. He attends to particular people in their suffering.
Take a Moment with Jesus
- What responsibility has made me reluctant to admit how much help I need?
- What fear could I bring to Jesus honestly instead of waiting until I feel calmer?
- Who has come through a crisis and still needs the ordinary care I could offer?
Prayer
Jesus, I bring you the things I cannot fix and the fears I find hard to say aloud. Help me trust your care when I do not understand the waiting. Teach me to listen patiently and to notice the practical help someone needs. Amen.
One Thing to Do
Contact one person who is ill, grieving, or worn down by a long difficulty. Listen without rushing to explain the suffering. Offer one specific form of help you can actually provide, such as bringing a meal or giving a ride.
Carry This with You
Jesus sees the person in the middle of the suffering. I can bring him my fear and learn from his patient, practical care.
Sources Consulted
Source citations
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Chelsey Harmon, Center for Excellence in Preaching commentary, on the contrasting circumstances and public and private settings. ↩ ↩2
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Michael J. Glodo, Reformed Faith & Practice commentary, on the repeated details connecting the two stories. ↩ ↩2
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Karl Jacobson, Working Preacher commentary, on Jesus affirming the woman's faith and calling Jairus to believe. ↩
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