Have you ever wondered how Jesus healed so many people?
Some days, Jesus was a pretty busy fellow. People clamored around him to hear his words of wisdom, to ask for healing, or just to be near him. Wouldn’t you have done the same thing?
Jairus searched for Jesus
One day he was making his way through the crowds when one of the local synagogue officials, a man named Jairus, came up and asked him to come to his home to heal his dying daughter. Naturally, Jesus went with him. You can read the whole story in Mark 5:22-43 and Luke 8:41-56.
Jairus was a local Jewish leader. It may seem odd that he waited until his daughter was on the verge of dying to ask Jesus for healing.
But we don’t know all the circumstances.
He could have been trying to find Jesus for days. Or, maybe he was hesitant to go to Jesus because of how other Jewish religious leaders had disapproved of him. We don’t know, so perhaps it’s not really important to the story.
Jairus valued his daughter
The important thing is that he did search for and find Jesus and ask him to come heal his daughter. That shows us something important about Jairus. Regardless of the circumstances, he did come to Jesus for help. He had faith that Jesus could help him and save his daughter.
Can you imagine the relief Jairus must have felt when he found Jesus? And when Jesus agreed to come, it must have been an immense burden lifted off his shoulder. He had renewed hope that his daughter, his only child, would be healed. She was only twelve years old.
Sometimes we hear that in Bible times people didn’t value daughters as much as they did sons. Another thing that is clear about Jairus, he loved and valued his daughter enough to search for Jesus and ask for help.
Who touched me?”
So, Jesus agrees to come heal the little girl and as they’re making their way through the crowd, Jesus stops suddenly and asks, “Who touched me?”
His disciples are with him and they’re a bit perplexed. The crowd is shoving and pushing him around to get close to him and he wants to know who touched him. Everyone was touching him, for crying out loud!
But Jesus knew someone had touched him with a very specific plea for help and he asked again “Who touched me?”
A woman in the crowd came forward trembling and explained she had convinced herself that if she could just touch the hem of his garment, she believed she would be healed of a hemorrhage that had plagued her for 12 years. She had spent all her money on physicians but had not been healed.
The hem of his garment
Have you ever wondered why this woman believed if she touched the border of Jesus’ clothes that she would be healed?
Well, she must have heard the stories of people being healed by Jesus. It gave her hope and faith that she could be healed too.
But I wondered if there were any deeper meaning to the fact she wanted to touch the hem of his clothes. I found this reference in Numbers 15:37-40:
37 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
The boarder or hem of the garment was to remind the Israelites to obey God’s commandments and be holy. The woman who sneaked up behind Jesus to touch his clothes was probably well aware of this. It was part of the Jewish culture.
She was reaching out to touch and acknowledge Jesus’s holiness and obedience to God’s commandments. To her, it must have seemed like a pretty reasonable thing to do. She convinced herself that all she needed to do was touch his clothes to be healed.
Now, for whatever reason, she didn’t feel comfortable coming up to Jesus directly to ask for healing. Maybe she was embarrassed and shy. More likely, she knew she shouldn’t even be out in public with the bleeding problem. And certainly not in a crowd where she might touch people. Jewish law considered women like her as unclean.
She didn’t want to make a scene, but that’s exactly what happened anyway.
Jesus stops and deals with her tenderly. She thought she was healed because she touched his clothes, but Jesus corrected this misconception. He said it was her faith that healed her, not touching the hem of his garment.
More than just a physical healing
But the healing of the physical problem was not all she needed to be healed of. After the physical healing, Jesus said,
34 “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” Mark 4:34 NKJV
It’s one thing to be healed physically, but to let go of all the mental and emotional baggage associated with a long-term illness is another thing altogether.
I think Jesus was telling her that she was free not just from the physical condition, but from all the burdens of the past twelve years as well.
She had a right to be completely free from any bad effects from the past.
Hey, what about Jairus’ daughter?
So here’s a wonderful healing. The crowd sees it and is once again impressed and inspired by Jesus. No wonder they were all wanting to hang out with him.
But let’s get back to Jairus.
If you had been Jairus, how would you be feeling at that moment? I would have been pretty impatient. I would have probably been thinking,
Jesus, this lady can wait. We all know her. She’s had this problem for years. My daughter is about to die. My need is more urgent than hers. Why don’t you come back to her after you heal my daughter?
But it’s probably not the best thing to interrupt Jesus while he’s healing someone, so Jairus kept quiet, hoping, hoping, hoping Jesus will get to his daughter in time.
Bad news doesn’t stop Jesus
Finally, Jesus finishes talking to the woman who touched his garment, and right at that moment, word comes from Jairus’ house that his daughter is dead so there’s no need for Jesus to come after all.
Poor Jairus. What an emotional roller coaster.
He had been worried about his daughter but when he finds Jesus, his hope is renewed. With the delay because of that woman, he’s worried all over again that it will be too late. He could probably tell Jesus was wrapping up his conversation with her and his hope is rekindled, but then dashed completely when he hears his little girl is dead.
Imagine you were Jairus
Put yourself in Jairus’s sandals.
Think of all the thoughts that instantly start to fly around in your head in this kind of situation: Why didn’t I come sooner? Why did Jesus have to talk to that woman so long?
But Jesus doesn’t give those doubts and fears even a moment to wreak havoc on Jairus. He says simply, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” (Mark 5:36 NKJV)
Have you ever felt the rug pulled out from under you from some tragedy and that everything seemed lost and your faith was crushed?
When that happens, listen for the voice of Christ saying, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe in me and everything will be okay.”
What Jesus did not say
It’s important here to point out that Jesus did not say, “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t get there in time. It must have been God’s will that your daughter wasn’t healed. He has called her home.”
Some Christians say that same sort of thing today. But Jesus never did. We should adopt his attitude and follow his example.
I believe Jesus could have healed Jairus’ daughter the minute her father first asked him for help. He didn’t have to be physically present.
He could have raised her from death with a word, immediately after he heard she had died.
But there was more to be healed than just a little 12 year old girl.
Jairus also needed to be healed: of his fear, his despair, and any self-condemnation he might be feeling for not getting to Jesus sooner. Jesus didn’t just tell him not to be afraid. He put feet on his words and started walking to Jairus’ home. It was clear he was going to do something.
Jesus’s body language spoke loud and clear
Once more, imagine if you had been Jairus, what would you be thinking as you walked with Jesus to your home having just heard the bad news that your daughter had died?
What does Jesus’s body language say to Jairus?
I doubt if Jesus was taking timid little steps wondering what the outcome would be when he got to Jairus’s home. He walked with spiritual assurance and confidence, knowing already what the outcome would be.
Jairus may have picked up on this and wondered if he dare to hope once more.
We don’t know what they talked about, or if they talked at all, but by the time they arrived at Jairus’ home, I think this previously distraught father was feeling a little more at peace. Jesus was at his side acting like everything was going to be okay.
“She is not dead”
When they finally arrive, the weeping and wailing of the mourners greets them. No wonder. Everyone felt the tragedy of the little girl’s death. But Jesus made a simple declaration that broke the spell of grief. He said,
“Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” Mark 5:39 NIV
Imagine now if you had been one of those mourners. They were probably t hinking: Ha! Are you crazy Jesus? We know she’s dead. We saw her.
Now, instead of mourning the girl, they are scorning Jesus with harsh laughter. (Mark 5:40)
But that’s exactly what Jesus intended.
He had to deal with all their negativity and reroute it. He changed their thinking with about a 90º turn, but he wasn’t done with them yet. He kicked them all out of the house. He didn’t want that negativity around when he went to see Jairus’ daughter. He only took her parents and Peter, James, and John with him.
If you were one of those mourners…
…and Jesus just had just shut you out and gone into the house acting like he was going to do something.
This would have had another effect on their thinking and was part of the bigger healing.
How would feel? What would you be thinking? You’ve just been kicked out of the house. You were showing your love and support in the best way you knew how and Jesus comes along makes a hurtful remark about the little girl not being dead, then kicks you out.
I would have probably been pretty upset too and wondered how on earth Jesus could say such an insensitive thing.
Imagine how the conversation might have gone”
“That Jesus guy is just too much. Who does he think he is? That little girl is dead. I saw her.”
“Why did he kick us out? What does he think he’s going to do?”
“You know, I saw him heal a blind man the other day. If he had gotten here sooner, I think he could have healed her.”
“He sure walked in there like he was going to do something.”
“I wonder what he’s doing in there.”
Now, I realize this conversation is just my own imagination. Please take it in that spirit. I’m not trying to add anything to the Bible. I just want to get the full meaning. To understand everything going on in a story, it’s helpful to look at things from the perspective of everyone involved.
By shutting these mourners out Jesus was not just shutting out the doubting, negative attitudes these people had.
A complete 180º
Jesus was actually giving them a moment to think more clearly. His bold declaration that the little girl wasn’t dead, along with his body language as he entered the home, said he was going to do something.
He turned those folks from mourning to derisive laughter, and perhaps to curiosity as to what he was doing inside. Then, when they see the little girl alive, they can say with Jesus, “She’s not dead.” It’s a complete 180º shift in their thinking.
This is so typical with Jesus. He always deals with the thoughts of those he heals as well as the thoughts of those around the one he heals. It’s all part of the bigger healing.
Jesus heals Jairus’s daughter, but how?
Well, he was Jesus, right? He just said the word and someone was healed.
But there was actually a spiritual methodology, if you will, and mindset that were crucial to Jesus healing someone, including Jairus’s daughter.
Jesus was imbued with the awareness of God’s kingdom here on earth. The keynote of his gospel was always, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” In this kingdom there is no death (see Revelation 21:4).
Jesus came to bear witness to this truth. That’s why he could proclaim the little girl was not dead.
He knew that spiritually, in the kingdom of heaven, which he could see was at hand, she was alive. His spiritual vision pierced through the dark mists of human perspectives about life and death.
Jesus did not make his conclusion about what was possible to God based on what the five material senses told him. In fact, he said we can’t rely on those senses to be able to judge a situation correctly. He said,
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24 NKJV
Jesus did not judge by the appearance of things
If Jesus had judged the condition according to what appeared on the surface to be true, he would not have been able to raise Jairus’s daughter.
He saw beyond what his ears and eyes were telling him and bore witness to what was true in the kingdom of heaven.
This is what judging rightly, or with righteous judgement, is all about. Seeing what is true in the kingdom of heaven.
Because he saw beyond the appearance of things, he acted differently than everyone else who only saw what their human faculties told them.
Can we heal as Jesus heals Jairus’s daughter?
Jesus took the hand of the lifeless form and told her to get up, fully knowing that she would respond. And of course she did.
Is it possible for you and me to have that same confidence whey we pray for ourselves or for someone else?
In principle, the answer is, Yes. But in practice it’s not always the case.
But it is possible since “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). When we see and think and act with this mind of Christ, we will have the same awareness that heaven is at hand and we will heal as Jesus did.
I know this is true, because I have seen it with my own eyes.
How does this story apply to you and me?
When you read the story of Jairus and the woman who touched Jesus’ clothes, think about how it relates to your life.
Do you have the same expectancy of healing they did? Do you think you have to touch Jesus or he has to be physically present to be healed?
The Spirit of Christ is completely present today to heal us, to take away our doubts and fears, to walk with us, to calm us, to correct our misguided faith, and more than anything to reveal how much God loves us and how worthy we are of His love.
Will you search for Christ in the highways and byways of today’s world, with the crowd pushing and shoving for attention, as Jairus searched for Jesus?
Will you reach out to touch the hem of Christ’s garment, the spiritual purity and compassion that heal?
Or better yet, will you put on the Christly garments of heavenly inspiration and Christlike-mindedness which is fully aware of the presence of the kingdom of heaven here and now?
Jesus has walked in the way to show us the way. Jesus is the Way.
All we have to do, it sounds so easy, is follow in his footsteps, one step at a time.
And we can do this.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
Bible References
Numbers 15:37-40 KJV
37 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
Mark 5:34 NKJV
34 “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Mark 5:36 NKJV
36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
Mark 5:37 NIV
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
Mark 5:39 NIV
39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”
Mark 5:40 NIV
39 But they laughed at him.
Revelation 21:4 NKJV
4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
John 7:24 NKJV
24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Mark 5:41 NLT
441 “Little girl, get up!”
1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV
16 we have the mind of Christ”
