Mark 5:21-36 (NIRV)
21 Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It landed at the other side. There a large crowd gathered around him. 22 Then a man named Jairus came. He was a synagogue leader. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He begged Jesus, “Please come. My little daughter is dying. Place your hands on her to heal her. Then she will live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large group of people followed. They crowded around him. 25 A woman was there who had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. 26 She had suffered a great deal, even though she had gone to many doctors. She had spent all the money she had. But she was getting worse, not better. 27 Then she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 She thought, “I just need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” 29 Right away her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body that her suffering was over.
30 At once Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd. He asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people,” his disciples answered. “They are crowding against you. And you still ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around. He wanted to see who had touched him. 33 Then the woman came and fell at his feet. She knew what had happened to her. She was shaking with fear. But she told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.”
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. He was the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36 Jesus heard what they were saying. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”
For the Adults:
This passage contains the first two parts of a three part story. Bible scholars call this a “Markan Sandwich.” Mark starts a story about Jairus’ daughter, then interrupts it to tell the story of a woman who was miraculously healed by her faith, and then, just when we think Jesus has taken too long and Jairus’ daughter has died, we find out that Jesus is Lord over sickness AND death!
Interestingly, this un-named bleeding woman is the only person healed by Jesus without asking him - she just had that much faith! But even with all the faith she had, she was still scared to admit that she touched Jesus. When I was in the hospital bleeding non-stop, Pastor Parker came and prayed over me. I felt a little embarrassed that my pastor saw me with a bucket full of blood - and I was worried about it accidentally splashing on him as he drew near. He may have been worried about that too, but he didn’t show it. Blood is gross…blood is unclean. In Jesus time, this woman would have been considered unclean as well. Still, she had the guts to brave the crowd and touch Jesus - and Jesus didn’t even mind! Jesus invites us all - the sick, the unclean, the poor, the downtrodden. We are all are welcome.
Pastor Parker invoked the story of this full-of-faith woman as he prayed for me in the hospital that day and her great faith has been on my mind ever since. Since then, I physically reach out during my prayer time to “touch Jesus robe” as I pray for continued healing for myself. But I need much more than just physical healing. We are all unclean, but thanks be to God, faith in Jesus heals!
Today, we stopped reading before we find out the conclusion to the story. This will allow your kids to “guess” what will happen next: Do they think Jesus has the power to raise a little girl from the dead? By the way, a dead body would also have been considered unclean - and Jesus seems to have no problem with that either!
Family Devotional:
Enter:
What made you happy today?
What made you sad?
Did you see God at work in our lives today?
Hear:
Read the passage.
Pause:
Sit for a few moments…see if you can sit longer than yesterday!
Wonder:
Who were the main characters in the story? Jairus a Jewish leader from the synagogue (synagogue is a fancy word for the Jewish church); Jairus’ daughter; a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years; Jesus!
What was interesting about this story?
How do you think Jairus felt?
How do you think the woman felt when Jesus asked who touched him?
How does this story apply to our lives?
Tomorrow we’ll read the end of the story. What do you think happens to the little girl?
Bless:
Affirm what was discussed about the story.
Revisit the things the kids brought up during the “Enter” time.
Pray together:
Praise God, Give thanks, Pray for others, confess sins, Praise God!
Example:
Dear God, we praise you because you put the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky. We thank you for stories of Jesus and people who have had faith in him. Please heal those that are struggling through this virus and forgive us for the times that we’ve done wrong. Thank you for our family and this time together!
Amen!
Wrap up with this video, but know that it gives away the ending!