Welcome to the Lessons Learned blog series! I gave an introduction to this series in its previous installment (located on Writing to Inspire; link to follow this article), and Hannah gave me a beautiful intro over here.
Let's just dive right into the goods, shall we?
Scripture Reference: Mark 5:21-43
Further Reading: Matthew 9:18-26;
Luke 8:40-56
What does faith look like in the
midst of a parent’s worst nightmare?
When Jairus’s twelve-year-old
daughter lay dying, he chose to leave her side to seek help from Jesus, Who had
recently performed many miracles and healed a plethora of people. Considering Jairus was
“one of the rulers of the synagogue” (Mark 5:22), it may have been a tough
choice from where he stood in the community. Synagogue leaders would have been expected to be knowledgeable about the Old Testament as well as
the Jewish rules and customs. To admit that he had no answers as to how to help
his own child might have been a blow to his human pride. Yet, he not only
sought out Jesus but also “fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly” (Mark 5:22-23)
to save his daughter’s life. The setting aside of pride made way for a
beautiful display of sincere humility. Jairus didn’t care what the multitude of
onlookers thought of one of their religious leaders begging on his knees on the
dusty road; he only wanted his daughter to live.
Honoring the man’s faith, Jesus
went with him. What an encouragement to Jairus! It was apparent that Jesus
intended to heal the man’s little girl. How bolstered Jairus’s heart must have
been…
Until Jesus was interrupted by a
woman needing emergency healing for an ailment the local doctors had made worse
for twelve years. This delay was complicated by the disciples’ arguing over the
possibility of figuring out who it was in the multitude pressing upon Jesus
(Luke 8:45). Once the woman stepped forward, Jesus had a discussion with her
about her faith (Luke 8:47-48).
Through that entire exchange, we
hear nothing from Jairus. Was he alarmed that Jesus would pause on the way to
healing the daughter Jairus so dearly loved? Was he patient and willing to
share the Healer with others who needed His touch just as desperately as the
girl waiting upon her deathbed at home? Did his work as a synagogue leader
prepare him for just such a time, since he would have experience with
prioritizing the needs of his congregation?
As if waiting for Jesus to finish
with the woman and hurry to follow through on coming to Jairus’s house wasn’t
trying enough, the situation drastically worsened: “While He was still
speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, ‘Your daughter
is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’” (Mark 5:35). Discouragement
kills hope, and fear that one’s worst nightmare is coming true paralyzes a
person. Jairus’s so-called friends also urged him to not bother Jesus any
longer, since the mission of healing was now a lost cause.
What was Jairus thinking in those
moments when their message of doom sank in? Was he devastated? Grief-stricken?
In shock? Afraid? Angry? Disappointed? Embittered?
We aren’t told, but I think that’s
intentional. Why? Because it’s more important for us to learn the proper
response to discouragement, fear, and “friends” telling us our request is
invalid or unworthy or too late.
Jesus instructed Jairus, in the
darkest moment of his life, to not cling to fear but rather to believe that his
daughter would be made well. To believe in the power Jesus possessed to reach beyond a "lost cause" in order to do the
impossible and raise Jairus’s daughter from the dead. How utterly impossible
would that feel, having just heard that his daughter had been taken from this
life? Yet, with Jesus, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13), even believing
that one’s deceased daughter would be “made well.”
Once Jesus, Jairus, and the
disciples finally arrived at the house and Jesus had confronted and removed the
noisy mourners, He invited Jairus and his wife (as well as three disciples; see
Mark 5:37) to come close as He healed the synagogue ruler’s daughter. That intimacy of being
invited to be a direct eyewitness to Jesus’s miraculous work was a precious
gift granted because of Jairus’s faith and patience through the journey toward
this very moment. Had Jairus balked or let fear or discouragement consume him
at any stage, he may not have been permitted to see the miracle occur… or Jesus
may have withheld the miracle due to the lack of faith (Matthew 13:58). Jairus’s faith
through trials and personal attacks was crucial to the healing that was to
come.
After Jesus healed the girl,
Jairus and his wife “were overcome with great amazement” (Mark 5:41-42). Their
little girl had died, but Jesus restored life to her, and she immediately got
up and walked around. That must have been an astonishing thing to witness! Can
you imagine the parents’ extreme elation, relief, and gratitude at having their
lost daughter restored to them? They probably wanted to shout the fantastic
news of Jesus’s healing miracle from the rooftops…
“But [Jesus] commanded them
strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given
her to eat” (Mark 5:43).
Once again, Jesus shifted Jairus’s
focus from the human response (celebration; telling everyone what just
happened) to the God-directed response (feeding the girl to renew her energy
and strength; doing the next right thing). This instruction may have had a
deeper meaning for Jairus. It’s possible that this new directive to feed his
daughter was representative of a restoration of his family unit, bringing them
closer than they might have been prior to the miracle. It also may have been
the start of a shift in Jairus’s priorities. Perhaps rather than spiritually
feeding the synagogue-goers first, Jairus was to start at home, making sure his
family was taken care of (physically and spiritually) before he attended to his
duties to the synagogue and community.
Whatever the reasons were for Jesus’s
final instructions to Jairus, we may learn quite a lot from Jairus’s encounter
with the Teacher and Healer.
Lessons Learned
* Setting aside pride allows room
for sincere humility to shine.
* Asking for help isn’t always
easy, but it may bring renewed hope and answers.
* Patience might be tested to the
limit and forced to increase, but the wait is worth every moment we fight for
belief in Jesus’s work in our lives.
* When faced with roadblocks
called Fear, Discouragement, and Negativity, we may choose to embrace
companions such as Courage, Hope, Faith, and Belief.
* In life’s toughest, darkest
moments, we may come closer to Jesus and lean on Him for encouragement to keep
going, hope that the fight will one day be won, and strength to keep believing
that He has good plans for us.
* Rather than taking care of
others and giving our family our leftover energy and attention, we may choose
to make caring for our family a top priority and ministering to others a
natural byproduct of Jesus’s work in our hearts and home.
How may you apply one of these
lessons to your daily life this week?
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