Jaris' Daughter Healed - Mark 5: 21-45 Devo

February 2, 2020

Devotional

“Jairus’ Daughter Healed”

Mark 5: 21-45

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Monday: “Fell at His Feet” - Mark 5: 21-24

  We don’t know much about Jarius beyond what we find in this text. He was a leader at the synagogue and he had a daughter who was very sick. Yet, because we know that Jarius was part of the synagogue, we can assume that it probably wasn’t a very popular decision amongst the other leaders who disliked Jesus, to come to him for help. 

Yet that is exactly what he did. Because his love for his daughter outweighed the fear that he may have had at others in leadership. 

We are told that Jarius came and fell at the feet of Jesus, a sign of total and utter desperation. His daughter was nearing death. Could Jesus come and help? Just come and lay his hand on her and she could be restored. 

We all probably have had experiences in our lives where the love we have for others who are dear to us has lead us to our knees before Jesus. Where we have risked what others may have thought about us because we knew that what Jesus has to offer is much greater. We, like Jarius, fall before Jesus is an act of desperation. 

What has made you desperate to come before Jesus?

Prayer: God, we thank you for the ability to come before you, no matter what we may be facing. Speak to our desperate hearts, O God, and bring healing into our broken lives. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Endured Much” - Mark 5: 25-28

In contrast to Jarius, we find this woman who is equally desperate, but we are not told her name. She has tried everything, enduring over twelve years, bleeding that could not be stopped. She had heard about Jesus and the power in his healing and as she saw him in the crowd that day she thought it may just be her one and only chance to find healing. 

But while Jarius believed that Jesus had to come to his daughter and touch her to bring healing, this woman thought that if could just touch his cloak, maybe she could be made well.

What Jarius and the woman both had were hope. Hope in Jesus. Hope in what he could offer. Hope that lead them to risk it all. 

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. Hope is an act of faith. Faith that leads us to seek out Jesus in the first place. 

How are hope and faith related in your life?

Prayer: Lord, help us to fully claim that our hope, our help, our faith, rests in you. Encourage us we pray, when we like the woman in this text, endure much. Lead us again to your presence. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Healed” - Mark 5: 29-34

The woman touched Jesus’s cloak and she was healed. But Jesus reminds us that it wasn’t the act of touching that healed her so much as her faith in Jesus. 

This scripture has been twisted to tell those who haven’t found the healing they may be seeking that it is a lack of faith that holds them back. But really, seeking after Jesus in and of itself is an act of faith. 

Rather, over time we come to see that healing can look many different ways. For this woman she was healed in her body. For others of us, we may find a different type of healing, a healing that we never expected and may not even recognize yet. But when we come before Jesus we do find healing. 

What healing have you experienced through Christ in your life?

Prayer: Almighty God, we confess that sometimes we miss the point. Sometimes we are so insistent that healing can only look one way that we miss what you are doing in and bringing into our lives. Forgive us, O God, and open us up to your healing in your perfect timing. Amen. 

Thursday: “Do Not Fear” - Mark 5: 35-36

The phrase “Fear not” or “do not fear” is found hundreds of times in scripture. And the most common thing about the phrase is that it is conveyed at times when fear is perhaps the most common response. 

Jarius has just heard that his daughter is dead. The people are trying to tell him to send Jesus away, for surely there is nothing more that Jesus can do. Yet, it is into this space of grief and fear that Jesus tells those gathered to “do not fear”.

But he doesn’t stop there. He continues, telling folks to believe.

Sometimes fear can hold us back from belief. Fear can get in the way of recognizing what Jesus is up to, blocking our hearts and our sight, from what is to come for the Kingdom. 

How are fear and belief working in your life?

Prayer: God of Grace, thank you for inviting us to fear not, especially when it is our most natural response. Thank you for inviting us into something new through belief. Let our eyes gaze upon you, at all times, we pray. Amen.

Friday: “Get Up” - Mark 5: 37-43

  Everyone gathered in the house that day thought it was the end of a little girls life after only twelve years. In fact, when Jesus told everyone that she wasn’t dead, just sleeping, they laughed at him in disbelief. But this was not the end for the child - there was more to come. 

Jesus took the girl by the hand and commanded her to get up. And that is exactly what she did. 

Sometimes we need Jesus to tell us to get up as well. We need Jesus to take our hand so we can find new life. Abundant life. Life that leads to amazement. And that is exactly what Jesus offer us, if only we listen to the cry of his heart. 

Where are some places you have heard Jesus commanding you to get up?

Prayer: God, free us to get up. Free us to go forth. Free us to share your Kingdom’s message through our lives, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic to prepare for worship: “Death of John the Baptist” - Mark 6: 1-29