Read Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56. In these accounts, Jesus performs two miracles of healing. The first of these is raising Jairus’ daughter to life after she had died. Sandwiched between the beginning of this account and its conclusion is the healing of a woman from severe continual menstrual bleeding. Matthew’s account states that the daughter of the synagogue official had just died or was just about to die (came to an end). Mark states she was holding at the last; that is, at the point of death. Luke says she was dying or had died. The idea of all of these is that she was at death’s doorstep; at any moment, she could go. That there was absolutely no time to waste. This man, when he came to Jesus, knew his daughter was just about to die and could quite likely die before they could get there. Time was critical!
1. What did Jairus request that Jesus do?
Come to his house and heal his daughter. One must remember that many people of that day and age believed that a healer had to be physically present and have contact with the sick in order to heal them.
2. Put yourself in Jairus’ shoes. Suppose you were riding in an ambulance with your critically injured daughter hovering between life and death on the way to the emergency room. Time was of the essence; every second could make a difference. Halfway there, a pedestrian blocks the path of the ambulance and requests treatment for a chronic nose bleeding condition, a serious, although not life-threatening condition. How would you feel?
Probably greatly frustrated, afraid, angry, desperate and discouraged.
3. Do you think the woman who was bleeding knew of Jairus’ desperate need?
Who knows, but at this point, all she was thinking about was her own needs.
4. What did the woman believe she needed to do to be healed?
She thought she had to touch at least the hem of his garment.
5. What did Jesus tell her was the basis for her healing?
Her faith
6. Describe how Jesus dealt with Jairus when he was told it was too late, that his daughter had died.
He told him not to doubt, just believe.
7. Why do you think Jesus instructed them to give this little girl something to eat?
It could be that she had not eaten in a very long while and desperately needed nourishment. It could also prove that she was not just a spirit but truly raised to life again. Spirits did not eat physical food. By eating, she demonstrated she was alive indeed. See Luke 24:36-43.
Read Matthew 9:27-8. Matthew includes two events here not recorded by the other writers; the first a miracle in which Jesus restores the sight to two blind men and the second in which He restores speech to a man unable to speak.
8. What was the question our Lord asked these two blind men?
Do you believe that I am able to heal your blindness?
9. As Jesus healed these two blind men, what two things did He tell them?
a. According to your faith, let it be done unto you.
b. Do not let anyone know about this.
10. Why do you suppose Jesus told people not to tell about miracles done for them?
He did not want the crowds coming just to see the miracles. Crowds hindered His ministry in training His disciples for their coming ministry.
11. Compare the reaction of the common people and the religious leadership to the miracles our Lord was performing. (See verses 33 and 34.)
The common people marveled and said, we’ve never seen anything like this, but the religious leaders said He did it by the power of Satan.
12. What was our Lord’s reaction to the crowds which followed Him and hindered His ministry?
He had compassion for them.
Read Matthew 13:53-58 and Mark 6:1-6. Jesus goes back to His hometown to preach and proclaim the message of the coming Kingdom.
13. What was the reaction of the people in His hometown to our Lord’s ministry?
They were offended at Him; they did not believe He could do these things.
14. How did the unbelief of the people of our Lord’s own hometown affect His ministry there?
He could do no mighty work there.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. Too seldom do we consider the needs of others when we request something of our Lord; we are only concerned with our own needs and desires. In God’s answering, He deals with all His people. Often, we fret and worry and become discouraged when God does not answer our prayers immediately. Sometimes we might believe Him to have delayed too much. The fact is, we do not see the whole picture. We see only a very limited part of the puzzle, not anywhere close enough to make an accurate determination of what should be done. God will do what He will do for our good. This we must believe even when we cannot understand how it can be so. Delays are only times when God is working in areas we do not see!
2. Without faith, it is impossible to please God! It is to be noted that while God wants our faith to be perfect, complete and strong, He rewards faith even when it is not. Both Jairus and the unnamed woman had faith, but it was not exactly correct. There were some misconceptions with what they believed. Their doctrine was not perfect. Jairus believed Jesus had to come to his home before his daughter died. We know that our Lord could have healed the girl with a word without ever leaving the place where Jairus first found Him. The woman believed she had to touch the hem of our Lord’s garment, but we know that this was not at all necessary. All she needed to do was believe. Note that our Lord specifically instructed her that her faith, not touching the garment, had made her well. But God healed both Jairus’ daughter and this woman.
If God required that we have perfect faith before He granted requests or that we have precisely the correct doctrine, then very few requests are going to be answered and granted. God requires faith, just a little, as small amount as a single mustard seed. He is gracious and even grants our requests when our doctrine and ideas about Him are in error, as long as faith is present.
Does this mean that doctrine is unimportant! By no means! We must continually strive to accurately understand our Lord, the teachings about Him and His work. But praise God, He does not wait until we get to the point of maturity and accuracy before He answers! He deals with us where we are.
Has God healed believers in special healing rallies where the evangelist/healer lays his hands on those who come forward, or has He healed believers who have laid their hands on a radio or television set while a televangelist pays for them? I believe he has. While I also think there is much fraud and some is simply emotional, God honors a believer’s faith even when it is not perfect. Let us praise Him for this!
3. God often waits until the circumstances are beyond human control so that the glory and credit go to Him rather than us. In the cases of Jairus’ daughter and the woman with the chronic bleeding, the condition was beyond human help. The daughter had died. The woman had exhausted her resources, and the doctors had failed. Then God steps in and heals. Can any of the glory be given to man? Not at all!
Why doesn’t God do something, we ask. Things seem to be getting worse and worse. The condition deteriorates beyond help. We plead with God, and there appears to be no answer. Then finally, it comes. Why did He wait so long? We think that He could have saved us much suffering and worry. He waits, not to cause us pain, but to make sure we realize that it is He who is in control, not man. He waits so that our faith in Him will grow and increase.
4. We must learn to have compassion on people, even those who hinder and thwart our ministry.