Story 89: The Tender Love of the Lord
Imagine what it was like to be a disciple of Jesus. They saw Him heal with a power nobody had ever seen before. They stood by Him as He confronted the most influential men of His day. They watched Him silence the storm with a word. They saw Him restore a wildly dangerous man to sanity, calming the storms in his heart and mind.
Such utter victory seemed to flow through this magnetic Teacher. He looked so different from the Messiah they had been taught to look for all their lives, but as they were given glimpses of His majesty, the disciples of the Lord were growing in their faith. Here was a Man that they would follow even if the religious leaders of the nation were against Him. Here was Someone that they would be loyal to even when His family and the great multitudes rejected Him. Even if it happened over and over again.
The people of Garasenes were so terrified by the transformation of the demonized man that they sent Jesus away. As Jesus climbed back into the boat to leave the region, His disciples went with Him.
Did they wonder how it was possible that so many rejected Him? Were they angry at the Garasene townspeople who had missed the glory of the miracle? How could these people ask Jesus to leave? Were they amazed that out of all these people, they were the ones who had been given the treasure of believing faith?
The Lord Jesus and His followers sailed back to the region of Galilee. The great crowds of people were there waiting for Him before His boat landed. Jesus stayed with the crowd along the shore.
As He was teaching, a man came up to Him and fell at His feet. It was Jairus, one of the officials who ran the local synagogue. What could possibly bring him to Jesus, the Man that the rabbi’s and religious leaders of Jerusalem were seeking to put to death?
Jairus had only one daughter, and she was twelve years old. At that very moment, she was lying in her bed close to death. In desperation, this loving father had come to search out the only hope he had left for his girl. His crisis moved him past the social pressures that might have otherwise kept him away. He begged the Lord from the deep anguish that was in his heart, “‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’”
Jesus immediately rose up and went with Jairus. The crowds followed Him as well, pressing in all around Him and crushing Him as He moved forward. Can you imagine the scene as they walked to Jairus’ home?
As they went, a woman crept up behind Jesus in the crowd. She had been suffering for twelve years from bleeding. She had gone to many doctors and been through many difficult treatments as they tried to help her. The woman had spent all the money she had in search of healing, but nothing had worked. She had only gotten worse. Imagine how it would feel to constantly bleed. The constant washing, the smell, the way her Jewish family and friends would have to distance themselves because her blood made her ritually unclean. What a painful, lonely life! And it had been a long loneliness. Twelve years in isolation and shame is very, very long. But she had heard about Jesus, and word of His remarkable healings had given her hope.
She inched her way up to Jesus through the dense crowd, thinking that if she only touched His cloak, she would be made well. She didn’t want His attention, she was ritually unclean, and anyone who touched her would become unclean. And she didn’t want to bother Him. Perhaps if she only touched the hem of His garment, He wouldn’t even notice! She reached out for Him, and when her hand fell upon the fabric of His clothes, she felt the flow of her blood dry up. She knew, after so many years of living with her condition, that her dreadful affliction was gone. She was healed.
Jesus felt the power go out from Him, and He turned around. “‘Who touched Me?’” He asked. Everyone around Jesus denied that they had purposely touched him. Peter said, “‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’”But Jesus knew that in the midst of all the movement of the crowd, someone had reached out and touched Him with their need and with faith. “‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from Me,’” He explained. Whoever it was mattered enough to the Lord to stop in the middle of the surging crowd on His way towards another urgent need.
The woman was terribly afraid. She knew she could not get away without being noticed, and she understood the majesty of the Man who was asking for her. She trembled and fell to the ground at His feet. She told Him the whole truth in front of the entire crowd.
Jesus looked down and said to her, “‘Daughter, take courage. Your faith has made you well: go in peace and be healed of your affliction.’” I'm not sure how you hear the voice of Christ in your mind as you read this, but try reading it with the extreme tenderness and gentleness that words seem to imply. What an incredible moment for that precious woman. What a remarkable thing for the crowd to witness...this broken that they had likely shunned for years treated with such love by the man they were all enthralled with. Jesus had a way of walking into the sinful dynamics of humanity's failure to love and bring incredible goodness and truth.
What a beautiful Savior! What a powerful Lord! What an amazing effect the woman’s faith had on that power! But the greatest blessing of all was that Jesus called her “daughter.” She had become a member of the Lord’s family of faith.
Even as Jesus was saying these words, someone came from Jairus’ home. They said, “‘Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any longer?’”Jesus ignored the discouraging message. He turned to Jairus and said, “‘Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.’” Imagine what the rest of the road felt like for Jairus as they made their way to his house! As they went inside, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone come with Him except Peter, James, John, and the girl’s parents.
The house was already full of people and was in noisy disorder. Professional mourners had come to weep and wail over the death of the girl. There were flute players and loud laments. The Lord said, “‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’”Jesus had not seen the girl yet. How did He know whether she was dead or not? Well, the fact is that she had died, but Jesus had come to raise her back to life. He had full confidence in front of all those mourners to declare that He was about to make His own words true! Death had no real power in the presence of the Lord of all Creation.
The people who had come to show their grief over the girl broke out into cynical laughter at the words of Christ. Who did He think He was? They were certain she was dead! These people who were paid to come and mourn the death of the girl could easily sneer at the hope of her healing. Very false people, indeed.
The Lord said, “‘Depart; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.’” The crowd was put out of the house, and the three disciples and the parents went with Jesus to see the girl. The Lord took the child by the hand and said, “‘Talitha, kum!’” That means “‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’” The spirit of the girl returned to her, and she got up immediately and began to walk around. He had not only raised her from the dead, He had restored her full strength and health! The parents and the disciples were utterly amazed.
Jesus had not done this miracle to impress the crowds or send a message to the world. The Lord acted out of compassion for a desperate father and a little child whose lives had been marred by the Curse. He didn’t want the message of this wonderful miracle to spread. He gave them orders not to tell anyone. Just as Jesus had changed from open proclamation of the Kingdom to teaching through the veil of parables, the miracles were now acts of secret, quiet compassion. These treasures belonged only to those who believed. Those who scorned the works of God lost the privilege to see His wonder. The spiritual leaders of Israel had committed an extreme sin, showing that their hearts were utterly hardened. From this point on, the Lord Jesus would be very selective about who He revealed His Gospel to.
After the little girl was up and healthy, Jesus reminded them to feed her. In the midst of all that was going on around Him, the Lord was mindful of the simple needs of the child. He loved her with the same attentive care that He had loved the bleeding woman. They both had great value in His sight.
Somehow, rumors of the miracle ended up spreading throughout the land of the Jews. Imagine the Pharisees of Galilee who already wanted Jesus dead. What did they do when they learned He had raised the daughter of Jairus to life? Imagine the gasp through the crowds as rumors of yet another miracle spread. Imagine how the talk went as travelers walked the road to Jerusalem, sharing the latest remarkable news about this Jesus who roamed the hills of Galilee. What did the religious leaders in Jerusalem do when they found out that just days after they had declared that Jesus was empowered by Satan, He had raised the daughter of a synagogue leader from the dead?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmVxRl5bc4Y