When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,’” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha kown!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. Mark 5:21-24, 35-43
I. Jairus was a synagogue ruler, which meant he typically had others to go for him and take care of things on his behalf.
Jairus was not a priest or minister, but rather would be viewed as an elder or deacon of the synagogue. He was the head deacon even.
It was his duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to examine the discourses of the public speakers, and to see that all things were done with decency and in accordance with ancestral usage.
Jairus was a man of great power, authority and significance.
Jairus was not willing to send a servant to Jesus. He was going there himself. This was his daughter, and he forgot about his position as ruler and only cared about his role as father.
II. Jairus fell at the feet of Jesus. He understood that all things were possible from this position. He laid aside his position of prestige.
As the ruler of a Jewish synagogue, it would not be considered appropriate or acceptable to worship a man.
JAIRUS’ NEEDS WERE MUCH GREATER THAN HIS PRIDE AT THIS POINT. THAT IS WHAT WILL GET THE ATTENTION OF JESUS.
Jairus was desperate, however, and realized that this man, Jesus, had something about Him that no one else had. It is possible that Jairus did not realize yet that Jesus was Messiah as was the case for most Jews of His day.
III. Jairus made his request of Jesus very plain. He didn’t beat around the bush. He was praying earnestly for his daughter.
How often do people come to Jesus in prayer, but never really ask for what they are really needing?
We are encouraged in God’s Word to make our requests known unto the Lord and that is exactly what Jairus was doing.
IV. The desperate and earnest cry of this father caused Jesus to change His direction and go with him.
The desperate cry of someone in need will always get the attention of Jesus.
Throughout the life of Jesus, we read of instances where He stopped or changed His course in response to the cry for help of someone in need.
V. Circumstances arose to rock the faith of Jairus. His daughter was dead.
Jairus must have known when he got to Jesus that his daughter was near death, but would the fact that she was actually dead change his faith?
He stood there as Jesus talked to some woman who had touched him. Didn’t Jesus know the seriousness of his need?
Does it seem sometimes that our needs are put on hold? Does it seem sometimes that God is delaying or sometimes even insensitive to what we are facing?
VI. Jesus directly challenges Jairus to continue to believe.
Jesus is always looking for faith that perseveres.
Jesus was pleased to find that even though circumstances didn’t line up with faith at the moment, Jairus was unwilling to give up hope and belief that Jesus could heal his daughter.
How often do we sacrifice our real need by settling for something less?
What if Jairus would have said, “Never mind, Jesus, just come and speak at my daughter’s funeral.”
VII. Jairus was allowed to see the miracle.
As a result of his perseverance and refusal to give up, Jairus was able to see the miracle of Jesus.
How often do we not see the miracle because we quit believing a little too soon?
I believe Jairus and his house saw who Jesus really was on that day – the Messiah.
VIII. Jesus restored the responsibility of fatherhood to Jairus.
Jesus instructed them to feed the girl. I imagine that he looked straight to Jairus and essentially said, “Time to do your job.”
Jesus puts a high priority on family and on parenting. He didn’t tell Jairus to get back to his religious or church post. He told Jairus to take care of his daughter.
