The Power Of Touch Series

Verse 34 tells us that she wasn’t just healed but was also saved: “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” I love that He calls her, “daughter.” He does so because she has just entered the family of God through faith. She goes from living with shame to having a name as a daughter of the King! For twelve terrible years she had been a nobody and now she is a somebody!

It was her “faith” that made her well, not something inherent in his clothing. The word “well” is translated as “saved” in other passages and means, “to be kept safe and sound.” She’s told to go in shalom, and to be healed of her disease. She was delivered from her sickness and her sin.

A Dead Daughter

After calling this nameless woman “daughter,” we see in verse 35 that some messengers come from Jairus’ house and report to the man with fame: “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”

I can’t imagine what Jairus must have been thinking. If it weren’t for the interruption from the woman, Jesus could have already healed his little girl. This delay caused the death of his daughter. Why couldn’t Jesus have come back later and healed the woman? After all, she had been sick for 12 years. What would another 30 minutes matter?

Perhaps you’ve heard this saying: “God is never late; He’s seldom early; He’s always on time.” To which I add: And He can be trusted. So, here’s a question. Are you OK with a divine delay? When God delays it doesn’t mean He doesn’t care; rather, He is weaving His ways and His will in such a way that this delay will result in greater glory for Himself and greater faith for us. Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Delays are really part of God’s divine design and interruptions are part of God’s appointments for us. It was kind of comical when I was working on this message at McDonald’s and was interrupted by a customer who wanted to have a conversation. When I realized that this was God’s appointment for me I was able to share the gospel with her and invite her to Edgewood. I might have missed this if I would have just gotten irritated.

I love the tenderness in verse 36 because Jesus knows this ruler would start falling apart at this news: “Do not fear, only believe.” Literally, He’s saying, “Keep on believing, keep trusting. Stop fearing, only be believing.” Jesus was calling him to have fervent faith in the face of what seemed impossible. Jesus then thins out the crowd in verse 37: “And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.”

There were three key elements in Middle Eastern funerals from the first century – the tearing of clothes, hired professional mourners and at least two flutes playing dirges. Funerals were filled with frantic weeping and wailing and loud handclapping. With that as background, let’s imagine the scene laid out in verse 38: “They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.”