Mark 5:21–43
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.
25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
As we noted yesterday this is another one of Mark's A-B-A literary techniques. The story of the hemorrhaging woman is meant to communicate an important theme for interpreting the story of Jairus and his daughter. That theme, which we identified yesterday, is faith when all hope is gone.
Jairus is said to be a ruler of a synagogue. His role was basically the administration of the local synagogue. He was a lay leader who was in charge of scheduling rabbis to teach, keeping up with the maintenance of the synagogue, security, and other things like that.
Some commentators, especially those in the 19th and 20th century in which Modernism was the prevailing ideology, took literally Jesus' declaration that she is "not dead but sleeping". The word sleeping can be used literally or metaphorically depending on the context. In this instance it is almost certain that he is using it metaphorically to refer to death (see 1 Thess. 5:10; John 11:11). In John 11:11 Jesus uses a different word for sleep in reference to Lazarus but the concept is the same that sleep can be used to refer to death. The fact that the mourners and the family laughed at this assertion also indicates that the girl was indeed dead. Professional mourners can likely determine whether or not a person is truly deceased. So this is likely not a case of a misdiagnosed death, but a resurrection. However, even if she wasn't deceased but severely ill, almost to the point of death, the miracle is still extraordinary in that she immediately got up and walked.
The emphasis in this story, however, is not on the miracle, which certainly is incredible and awe inspiring. The emphasis is on the faith of Jairus. When the report of the girl’s death reached them they decide not to bother Jesus anymore. But Jesus encourages him, "Do not fear, only believe." This story, in connection with the interrupting story of the hemorrhaging woman, points to this being the main point. When all hope is lost whether due to an illness that no physician can heal or even death (as hopeless as it gets), followers of Jesus are to continue to "not fear, only believe".
Similar to yesterday, faith is such an important part for us to have as we come to Jesus, believing that he is able to heal us. That said, one of the most damaging distortions of the gospel today revolves around this topic. So at the risk of losing the truth that faith is vitally important for us as we come to Jesus, the extra resources today again focus on recognizing the distortion of prosperity teaching and it's relation to faith. We are focusing on this again because this teaching creeps into all of our lives in one way or another. So check out more resources below and note the red flags to watch for with prosperity gospel teaching.