Jairus, a Persistent Faith
Jesus spent a lot of His earthly ministry meeting with and helping people. Many of these were among the poor or lower classes of people, but He also ministered to those who had status. Jairus was one of these, a synagogue ruler, who came to Jesus when his daughter, his only child, was dying. His concern, in approaching Jesus for help, makes him a great father!
Luke who was a doctor tells us what happens in his gospel account. (Luke 8:41-56) “And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and pleaded with him to come to his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying.”
So out of sheer desperation, Jairus went to find Jesus and ask Him, interestingly, to only come to his house. And Jesus agreed to go with him.Verses 43-48 relate an incident that happened as Jesus was walking with Jairus back to his house. A woman, who had a serious medical problem of her own, came behind Jesus, touched part of His clothing, and was instantly healed. When Jesus asked who had touched Him, the woman explained everything. Jesus gave her a warm and comforting parting thought and continued on His journey with Jairus back to the house.
After the woman was healed by her faith in Jesus, Jairus heard the bad news from a messenger.
(Luke 8:49) While he still speaking, someone came from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying to him, Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Master any more. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
One of the most unpleasant things anyone has to do is inform a person that a loved one has died. Many, if not most, of us recall hearing the news that a parent, grandparent, sibling, or even child has lost the battle for life—and is dead. It couldn’t be easy for anyone to bring such a message to a father, especially Jairus, who knew his daughter was dying already.
Now, he receives word that she’s dead. Even worse, the messenger adds a perhaps well-intentioned remark, “don’t bother the Teacher (there isn’t anything He can do for her now, is implied).” Jairus must have felt any number of emotions at this time: grief, now that she’s gone; dismay, as he had no other children; uneasiness, because what would the members of the synagogue think (oh, he must have sinned greatly or his child wouldn’t have died); maybe even more emotions.
Please keep in mind that most people back then seemed to think that if something bad happened to you, or your children, it was a result of sin. The disciples themselves were still thinking of this at a later time when they and Jesus found a man who had been born blind (John 9). They asked Jesus who had sinned, either the man or his parents, because the man was blind from his birth. Jesus, however, didn’t think that way at all!
When He heard the message, and perhaps saw the result it had on Jairus, Jesus then gave Jairus some very comforting words: “Stop fearing, only believe (that I can do something about this) and she’ll be made whole (I’ll restore her to you).” When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Jairus’s persistent faith had been rewarded and his daughter was now alive again. He had continued to believe in Him despite people laughing Jesus to scorn at the very notion that his daughter was not dead. There was great joy in his household when his daughter was restored to life.
A persistent faith is a good quality to have, which means that faith triumphs over difficulties that come our way. St Paul is a great example of this, in his missionary journeys he says in 2 Corinthians 11:24 - 26 five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,… In spite of all these difficulties Paul did not give up, but remained faithful to the end when he died as a martyr for the christian faith.
In our own faith journey through life there will be issues and difficulties that will take time to resolve and we will have to work our way through them with Jesus by our side, but he has promised that he will never leave or forsake us.
We will be rewarded by our persistent faith in Christ by the free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of our sins when we pass through the gateway of death into heaven where there will be no evil and we will be reunited with our loved ones in the faith.