NEW TESTAMENT CHARACTERS.

JAIRUS AND HIS DAUGHTER.

The Synagogue Ruler.
Synagogues were governed by rulers rather like churchwardens, deacons or elders in modern churches; except that as the Synagogue was central to community life, its rulers were important to the whole society.

It was Jairus among others by whose invitation Jesus preached in the Capernaum Synagogue. He had seen many healings, but now his daughter was dying and Jesus was on the other side of the lake.

So Jairus was on the shore waiting for the familiar fishing boat, now known so well in Capernaum as the boat from which Jesus preached and in which He sailed to visit other parts of the coast. We can feel the worried father’s impatience as it drew nearer, but he was not alone. A crowd was waiting on the shore as usual.

By the time the boat was moored and the party disembarked, Jairus was surrounded, but with his daughter’s life in the balance he got his word in, “Please come, my daughter is at the point of death.”

Jesus followed him towards his house but as always hampered by the people around Him and there was an interruption.

Miracle not Magic.
A woman wanted Him to heal her but dared not speak out loud in front of the people. Her complaint was hidden under her clothes, a discharge of blood which she hated to admit but which no doubt had left her both anaemic and lonely. Medical science had little to offer apart from quack remedies. Now she found herself in the town where there was a notable healer. She dared not miss the chance. Might even the touch of His clothes be enough?

She struggled through the crowd, reached Him and touched the hem of his coat, hoping maybe for some mystic healing power in it and also hoping to get away healed but unseen.

Jesus could not let it go like that. Miracle is not magic. There is always a personal relationship involved in a miracle, an involvement with God in Christ’s name, with the Holy Spirit and probably with some human link. If the woman had gone home and told people, “His coat healed me” it would sound like magic, leaving out God and also her faith in Him.

So Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” to which Peter answered that there was a whole crowd of people around Him pressing on Him. But the woman knew what He meant.

She admitted to the touch and to the healing and Christ admitted to the personal relationship which made it miracle not magic - “Daughter, your faith has healed you, go in peace and be well.” Now she would go away and say “Jesus healed me,” and forget about His coat.

The Daughter.
It was only a very short delay, but to Jairus it came after the wait for the boat to arrive and be moored, then for Jesus to work His way through the crowds. And as he feared most, they approached the house only to be met with they news that his daughter was dead.

In a daze, Jairus heard Jesus say all would be well, and he followed Him to the house not knowing what to make of it. When they arrived mourners were already wailing and playing mournful music on their flutes.

The child had not long been dead; so if these are professionals, as it would seem, they had gathered like vultures before she even died, ready to make a great dirge and receive the family’s largess afterwards. As soon as the death was announced, the noise began.

We can imagine what Jesus thought of this exploitation of grief without comfort. He sent them away adding, “She is only asleep.” They laughed at Him - instant confirmation that they were not genuine comforters.

He then took in His three closest associates, Peter and James and John (it was actually the first time He had so picked them out) leaving the other nine outside to keep the crowds and mourners in order. With the father and the mother they went in and Jesus simply took the girl by the hand and without any preliminaries, said, “Come on lass, up you get.”

The aramaic words “Talitha Cumi” were burned onto Peter’s memory. When Peter told Mark the incident we can almost hear him refusing to let the words be changed into Greek, they had so impressed him as they were spoken.

“Give her something to eat,” - preparing food was the best therapy for the bewildered parents and she was probably hungry.

“Don’t tell anyone about this,” - the dismissed mourners could think what they liked, maybe she had been asleep after all.

It was all so quickly done with no ceremony, no long prayers, no explanations. Then it seems that Jesus and the twelve slipped out and left the town, keeping one step ahead of the wave of publicity which could follow them if the truth leaked out.

References
Matthew 9:18-26 Mark 5:21-43 Luke 8:40-56