Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – 2 Kings 16-20
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 5:36-43
Jesus overheard their words. Then He turned to look at Jairus.
Jesus: It’s all right. Don’t be afraid; just believe.
Jesus asked everyone but Peter, James, and John (James’s brother) to remain outside when they reached Jairus’s home. Inside the synagogue leader’s house, the mourning had already begun; the weeping and wailing carried out into the street.
Jesus and His three disciples went inside.
Jesus: Why are you making all this sorrowful noise? The child isn’t dead. She’s just sleeping.
The mourners laughed a horrible, bitter laugh and went back to their wailing. Jesus cleared the house so that only His three disciples, Jairus, and Jairus’s wife were left inside with Him. They all went to where the child lay. Then He took the child’s hand.
Jesus: Little girl, it’s time to wake up.
Immediately the 12-year-old girl opened her eyes, arose, and began to walk. Her parents could not believe their eyes.
Jesus (to the parents): Don’t tell anybody what you’ve just seen. Why don’t you give her something to eat? I know she is hungry.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
When I read the story of Jarius’ daughter being raised from the dead today, once again, something caught my attention that had never caught my attention before. I’ve read this story many times and I’ve read the words and as I focused on these words, I even remembered the words, but they never really caught my attention and caused me to question why they were there. The words are quite innocuous. I’ve never thought much about them before. Here they are – “…the 12-year-old girl…”.
What’s important to Mark that he would point out that the person Jesus raised in Jarius’ household was a 12-year-old girl? First of all, Jarius was not a Jew. He was a friend to the Jews, but not a Jew. It was unusual for a Jew to visit his house or for him to ask the assistance of a Jewish teacher. So that’s the first unusual part of the story. Jesus goes into the house of this Gentile to do something for him. But it still begs the question about this particular detail.
We could think about the fact that children and the elderly then and now are the throw-aways of society. Women had a lot of children because many didn’t make it to adulthood. But this young girl had reach the age of twelve, the age at which as a Jew she would have participated in her bat mitzvah. She passed the age at which her parents were no longer held accountable for her transgressions of the law but she was now fully responsible for upholding the law or bearing the punishment for failing to do so.
We could think about the importance of this young daughter to Jarius and his wife. As a 12-year-old, she was about the age for marriage at that time. To lose her at that age was both an emotional and a financial blow to Jarius and his family. Perhaps she had already been pledged to someone in the community. If the dowry had been paid and Jarius and his wife had already spent it, they could be in serious financial trouble. The grooms father would want repayment.
We could think about the twelve years of life this young lady brought to the family through the years. She was fully vetted as an active member of the family. She brought them joy, laughter, anxious moments, pain, excitement, every emotion imaginable, and now she brought them extraordinary sorrow. They knew she would soon make her own family in her own household, but she would always be a part of their home, too. But now her short life was gone almost before it could start.
So why did Mark point out this small detail? This point about Jesus going to heal a 12-year-old girl? Children were the throw-aways of society, then and now. If you were going to discard someone, it would be one of those two groups. Second, the child was a she, not a he. Women held little or no standing in the societies of Jesus’ day. The feminist movement was unheard of. Today’s Shariah laws concerning women would have been considered left-wing liberalism in those days. Women had no rights. Life was harsh. Third, with all these cultural things weighing against any hope for this young life, we see that if no one else does, Jesus cares. He goes out of His way to meet the need of this young lady and her family, even to the point of reminding them that after not eating for the time she lay in state while the professional mourners wailed by her side, she would be hungry. Her parents should hurry and fix her something to eat.
What’s the point? If Jesus cares about such an insignificant person in the society of His day, certainly, He also cares about you. He will help you when you call on Him.
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