I. Jairus: Desperate Faith Falls at Jesus' Feet — Mark 5:21–24
Mark 5:22–23 "Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, 'My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.'"
- "My little daughter is dying" — desperation strips away every layer of status
- Jesus drops everything mid‑teaching and goes with him; Jairus feels relief — "He's coming. This is going to work."
II. The Interruption: A Woman with Nothing Left — Mark 5:25-34
Mark 5:25-29 "And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering."
- Twelve years bleeding — medically bankrupt, ceremonially unclean, socially radioactive
- Her theology was messy, almost superstitious — but Jesus honors the reach of faith, even when the theology is wobbly
- Jesus stops the emergency. Jairus is losing his mind: "My kid is dying, Jesus. Move."
III. "Your Daughter Is Dead" — When the Worst Happens Anyway — Mark 5:35-36
Mark 5:35-36 "While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. 'Your daughter is dead,' they said. 'Why bother the teacher anymore?' Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, 'Don't be afraid; just believe.'"
- The bottom falls out — in public, in front of the man who could have stopped it
- "Why bother the teacher anymore?" — it's over; plan the funeral
- Jesus doesn't let Jairus spiral. Before Jairus can do the math, Jesus cuts in: "Don't be afraid. Just believe."
IV. The Wait Is How He Loves You
- Jesus is not slow despite His love — He is slow because of His love
- If Jesus had run straight to Jairus's house, Jairus would only know He can fix a fever. Because Jesus waited, Jairus learns He can raise the dead.
V. "Talitha Koum" — Little Girl, Get Up — Mark 5:37-43
Mark 5:41-42 "He took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum!' (which means 'Little girl, I say to you, get up!'). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished."
Mark preserves the Aramaic — someone in that room never forgot the sound of those words.
VI. You're Not Waiting for Jesus to Arrive — You're Walking with Him
- By verse 36, Jairus isn't standing in the crowd hoping Jesus will show up — Jesus is walking right next to him.
- If you are a believer, you are not in the crowd hoping Jesus will come — you are walking next to Him on the way to the house, even if uncertain of how He will make things better.
✝️ "Don't be afraid; just believe." — Mark 5:36
5/17/26 | Pastor Samuel Sutter
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"When Jesus speaks to the leader he says 'Do not be afraid, just believe.' He does not say 'Be patient.' ... Keller makes another point I really like, and it's central to the Gospels themselves. 'Be aware that when you go to Jesus for help, you will always both give to and get from him far more than you bargained for.'"
— Tim Keller, King's Cross
James A Brooks: Whereas 4:35-41 displays the power of Jesus over nature and 5:1-20 his power over demons, 5:21-43 emphasizes his power over sickness and death. The major theme in the two miracle stories in 5:21-43 is healing / salvation by faith. Both bring out the compassion of Jesus for those who had a lowly place in Jewish society: two females, one of whom was a child, the other an outcast due to her continuing state of ritual impurity. Jesus did not neglect the needs of a lowly woman to impress an influential religious official. Both incidents show that when human means have failed, God through Jesus can succeed. The juxtaposition of the faith of a humble woman and that of a religious dignitary reinforces the importance of faith. All must have it! Even the number "twelve" (v. 25, "bleeding for twelve years" and v. 42, "twelve years old") and touching (vv. 27-31, 41) provide a link between the stories.
Craig S Keener (on Mark 5:25): This woman's sickness was reckoned as if she had a menstrual period all month long; it made her continually unclean under the law (Lev 15:25-28) — a social and religious problem on top of the physical one. Sometimes this condition starts after puberty; if that was true in her case, given a common ancient life expectancy of about forty years and the "twelve years" that she had been ill, she may have spent even half or all her adult life with this trouble. Since she could not bear children in this state, and Jewish men often divorced women who were incapable of bearing (cf., e.g., Pseudo-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 42:1), this woman probably had never married or (if the sickness began after marriage) had been divorced and remained single. In a society where single, celibate women could not easily earn much income, the illness affected virtually every area of her life.
A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament: "Talitha cumi. These precious Aramaic words, spoken by Jesus to the child, Peter heard and remembered so that Mark gives them to us. Mark interprets the simple words into Greek for those who did not know Aramaic."
R. C. Sproul: "Do you ever find it difficult to wait for God? ... True faith, the Christian faith, is not about believing that God exists, but it has to do with believing God, living your life on the basis of trusting in the promises that He has made. ... Rather than wait for the promise of felicity and joy that He gives to those who trust in Him and who obey Him, we say, 'I can't see Him. Where is my God? I will seek my own way for happiness and fulfillment. I want it now. I want it here. I just can't wait for it.' But the Word of God says, 'Though it tarries, wait for it.' That's what men and women of faith do."
Tim Keller, King's Cross: "God's sense of timing will confound ours, no matter what culture we're from. His grace rarely operates according to our schedule. ... It's not 'I will not be hurried even though I love you'; it's 'I will not be hurried because I love you. I know what I'm doing.'"