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Book of Mark

Mark 5:21-43 (Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman)

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to @#!*% for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her @#!*% stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing[d] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Note:
v22 – Jesus recrossed the Sea of Galilee, probably landing at Capernaum. Jairus was the elected ruler of the local synagogue. He was responsible for supervising worship, running the weekly school, and caring for the building. Many synagogue ruler had close ties to the Pharisees. It is likely, therefore, that some synagogue rulers had been pressure not to support Jesus. For Jairus to bow before Jesus was a significant and perhaps daring act of respect. (Source: Tyndale LASB)

v23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
(Source: enduringword.com)
i. It may be that the man held a firm superstition in his mind, believing that the healer had to be present. It may be that he was just accustomed to thinking that way, and never really thought about a person being healed in a different way. Whatever the reason, by the way he thought, this man put Jesus in a box. “To heal my daughter You have to come and lay Your hands on her.”

ii. When a Roman Centurion came to Jesus in a similar situation (Luke 7:1-10), Jesus didn’t even go to the centurion’s house to heal the servant. He simply pronounced him healed from a distance. But here, Jesus did not demand that Jarius show the same faith the centurion had. Jesus responded to the faith Jarius had, and He asks us to give to Him the faith that we have.

iii. “This was weakness of faith, far short of that of the centurion, who yet was a Roman soldier; whereas Jarius was a learned Jew. Knowledge is therefore one thing, faith another; and the greatest scholars are not always the holiest men.” (Trapp)

v32-34 – Although the woman was healed when she touched him, Jesus said her faith healed her. Real faith involves action. Faith that isn’t put into action is not faith at all (James 2:17)

v38 – Loud weeping and wailing was customary at a person’s death. Lack of it was the ultimate disgrace and disrespect. There we some people, usually women, who made mourning a profession and were paid by the dead person’s family to weep over the body. On the day of death, the body was carried through the streets, followed by mourners, family members and friends. (Source: Tyndale LASB)

v39-40 – Today, most of the world laughs at Christ’s claims, which seem ridiculous to them. When you are belittled for expressing faith in Jesus and hope for eternal life, remember that unbelievers don’t see from God’s perspective.

v26 “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”

ii. When a soul is sick today, they often go to different “doctors” and spend a great deal of time and money, only to suffer many things from many physicians. A sick soul may go to “Doctor Entertainment,” but finds no cure. They may pay a visit to “Doctor Success” but he is no help in the long run. “Doctor Pleasure,” “Doctor Self-Help,” or “Doctor Religion” can’t bring a real cure. Only “Doctor Jesus” can. (Source: enduringword.com)

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