Focal Passage: Luke 8:41-42,49-56
When nothing else matters: In Luke 8:41-42 we find a narrative that most all of us can relate to in some respect. Jesus has just come from Gadara where he has restored a man possessed by a demon and returned to Capernaum.
There is a crowd gathered around Jesus and suddenly a man named Jairus fell at Jesus’s feet. He was a leader in the synagogue. His only daughter was dying. This story resonates with me on two very personal levels. First, I had the privilege to walk among the ruins of Capernaum with two of my granddaughters when they lived in Israel.
We arrived there early one morning and had the place to ourselves before the tour buses arrived fifteen minutes later. It was surreal to get a glimpse of Peter’s homeplace and to think of all the things that Jesus did there. I remember sitting with my two granddaughters among the synagogue ruins and talking about what it must have been like to actually sit and listen to Jesus as He taught the people.
The second way the story relates is the story of Jairus and I loved telling my granddaughters that story. Just a few years prior they had lived in Bulgaria and the eldest granddaughter became sick.
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At first, we were not alarmed and thought that she was just sick with a high fever. Then came the phone call that no grandparent wants to receive. The doctors in Bulgaria had found something in her neck and the state department recommended that they fly Addilyn to London to see a specialist. Then the call that they were going to take out a lymph node in her neck.
This is where I relate to Jairus. I was starting a busy day to a busy week of ministry and the whole world stopped. I crawled under my desk and started crying out to Jesus for my granddaughter. My mind went to the worst diagnosis. Nothing else mattered.
I stood in those ruins and wondered where it might have been that Jairus fell at the feet of Jesus and though it says that the crowd was nearly crushing Jesus, he met Jairus at his most desperate moment of need. Nothing else mattered to Jairus in that moment, but what is truly amazing, is that nothing suddenly mattered more to Jesus.
A big crowd and a big moment, but Jesus’ focus suddenly turned to a little girl that needed His attention and He walked away from the limelight into a very personal situation for a man and his only child.
Don’t be afraid: I love the next part of this story. This community had seen so many miracles at the hands of Jesus, but it didn’t matter. As the man was pleading for Jesus’s help, someone runs up and says, “Your daughter is dead, don’t bother Jesus with this matter.” Jesus responds with those famous words, “Don’t be afraid.”
When the waves are crashing in, when life is crushing you, Jesus assures us of His presence and His power. The little girl was raised from the dead in a very private moment in the confines of Jairus’s home. Jesus even told them to keep this between them and let the crowd think whatever they wish. My granddaughter had a very rare infection that took extended days of IV antibiotics, but the Lord healed her and raised her up. B&R
