33. Jairus

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[Katy]

Q1.Jairus knows Jesus can heal his daughter. He comes in humility to Jesus and asks Jesus to come with him to his home so Jesus can puts His hands on her so she will be healed and not die. He believes that by Jesus just putting His hands on his child all will be well. Jairus daughter is very special because she is his only daughter. On the way to his home one of Jairus friends arrives with news of the child’s death, but Jesus tells him “Don’t be afraid, just believe and she will be healed”. Jairus took Jesus at His word and continued with Jesus towards his home. Jairus faith was rewarded when Jesus raised the child from the dead and returned her to her family. Each stage of Jairus journey showed us clearly that he believed in Jesus and the power that He had. Even when events appeared to go wrong he still trusted Jesus and did as Jesus told him.

Q2.For many years I waivered between strong faith and weak faith but no matter how bad things were, I knew if I committed the situation to God and pleaded with Him to help me , He always answered and those were the times I believe He picked me up and carried me through the situation! I always experienced a change in how I felt, not so isolated, or that just maybe I could carry on, or a sense of His peace which passes all understanding, or a feeling of forgiveness or tenderness towards the person who was causing me hurt or frustration. Yes I am back on my feet and have a must stronger faith than doesn’t wax and wane as it used to. 
Q3.Jesus loved Jairus as He does each one of us. Jesus will not  allow Jairus to give up despite the desperate news he has received. Jesus immediately turns to Jairus and tells him not to be afraid, just keep believing and all will be well. Jesus will not abandon him but when Jairus faith is weak , Jesus will ‘carry him’ with his faith, until his faith grows stronger. And this is just what Jesus does for each one of us, we just have to turn to Jesus and ask for help.

Q4.When Jesus arrived at the home of Jairus the mourners were already there and the wailing had begun. Even when Jesus arrived it continued until Jesus told them” Stop wailing”she is not dead but asleep”! Their response was to laugh and scoff at Jesus. Jesus did not want this negativity present in the room as He spoke words of life to the child. The people were speaking from a physical point of view, whereas Jesus wanted her parents to have faith and believe that He could raise their child. Jesus was training their faith, He also allowed John, James and Peter because He was training them to have faith as well even in dire circumstances. Jesus may have been preserving this young woman dignity by keeping those present to a minimum. At age twelve or thereabouts she was probably shy and self conscious. 
Q5. It has shown me the importance of believing what God says. We can only see things from our own human perspective and God’s ways are higher and different from our ways. We must see beyond the obvious! 
I think Jesus is showing us that He is always ready to prop up our limping faith in times when we feel wounded and bruised and feel like giving up. We must follow His lead when He says to us “ Don’t be afraid , Just believe, I will help you”! We must keep going and not give up, Jesus will always answer our cry for help.

[hanks]

1. What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith?

Jairus came immediately to Jesus and knelt down in front of Him begging that He come to his home because his twelve-year old daughter was dying. He was desperate and obviously believed in Jesus’ power and authority to heal his only daughter, but unlike the centurion (7:6-7), Jairus only had a partial faith in Jesus, not realising or understanding that Jesus could heal from a distance. How different he was from the centurion who said, ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof … Say the word, and my servant will be healed’. Jesus went with Jairus to his home, not holding his deficient faith against him. Being a ruler of the synagogue, it must have taken Jairus a great deal of humility and courage to approach Jesus and ask for His help. For by this time the Jewish religious leaders were already plotting to kill Jesus.

[hanks]

2. Have you ever had a time spiritually when you felt God "carried you" in spite of your weak faith? If so, when? Has He set you back on your own feet again yet?

Yes, in my stupidity I bought into a business with unbelievers; not having earnestly prayed about it beforehand. I had only been a believer for about 2 years and after about 6 months into the business I realised it was not viable, and I stood the chance of losing my investment. It was a most trying moment and had both my wife and myself on our knees. After much prayer, sweat and anxious moments I only suffered a minor loss. But it was close and I could have lost a substantial amount. In spite of my weak faith, after all had been over, I realised God had stepped in and saved the situation from my perspective. There was definite divine intervention. Yes, and He has set me back on my own feet again. Only this time I had learned a hard lesson and from then on God was involved in all my business decisions. To Him goes all the glory!

[hanks]

3. Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

By the time Jesus managed to get away from the crowd to go with Jairus to his home, his daughter had died. He was advised that Jesus would not be able to help and they were not to bother the teacher anymore. It was assumed that the interruption as Jesus healed the woman was fatal and that it was now too late, and He was now helpless to do anything about it. It is hard to believe that they had not heard the news about the raising of the son of the widow in Nain (7:11-17) or that it was somehow never considered. Jairus's crisis must have made him feel confused, afraid, and without hope, but in Jesus there is both hope and promise, what is needed is faith. Having overheard, Jesus encouraged the distraught father with a word of hope – “don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed." He meant something similar to that which he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has healed you.’ It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that He was talking about. Jairus was also taught that with Jesus, it is never too late, there is always hope. After graciously reassuring Jairus, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the house.

[hanks]

4. Why did Jesus exclude everyone but the parents and His closest disciples from the girl's room?

As soon as He arrived at the home, all were wailing in despair, even some of it done by hired mourners. Jesus told them to stop because the girl was not dead, but sleeping, causing them to ridicule Him, because they were positive that she was dead. So, He put them all out! This situation was much too tender and special for Him to allow dozens of unbelieving spectators to watch. Undaunted, He went to the room, taking with Him only Peter, James, and John, along with the parents to the motionless child, and taking her by the hand, said in Aramaic, “My child, get up.” Immediately the twelve-year-old girl got up and walked. The relatives were stunned, and doubtless delirious with joy.

[hanks]

5. What lessons does this passage teach you as a disciple? What do you think we disciples are intended to learn from this?  

This passage teaches me that as a disciple, the amount of faith is not important as its genuineness. That is, it’s not so much about the quantity of faith but of its quality. There has to be complete trust and loyalty to God, a humble obedience to God’s will, and a readiness to do whatever He calls me to do. But, this type of faith is not something I can obtain without help; besides faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). Growing in faith is a constant process of daily renewing my trust in Jesus. It does not matter how much faith I have; I will never reach the point of being self-sufficient. If there is any shortfall Jesus Himself will make up the difference! We are intended to learn from this that biblical faith is what God requires when all human hope is gone. We see this in the case of the woman – she had faith that Jesus could heal her, when all human hope was gone. She had seen all the doctors, and they had only made her condition worse. She had spent all of her money, so that she had no remaining options. The same can be said for Jairus, once his daughter had died he saw no hope. Biblical faith produces hope, it does not depend on it for its existence. Faith was not the result of hope (human hope) but the response to the absence of it.

[Irmela]

1. What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith?

We meet Jairus when he comes to Jesus at the same time as the welcoming crowd does. He was well-known to all in the district, as he was the director of the synagogue, and very likely held in high regard. He falls at Jesus'  feet, thus humbling himself and showing his need  for help and faith in believing that help will be received from Jesus. 

Going was slow in the crowd that day. Then we are told about the woman who pressed in and was healed and then that blow from the man who said the child was dead. almost scornfully saying to leave the teacher be. (Jairus' move to fetch Jesus for His touch of healing, seemed to be all in vain). 

From Jesus' supporting answer we can assume that Jairus was alarmed by this news, he was visibly struck with fear (what now ...   I trusted and it was for nothing). His faith hit rock bottom but Jesus propped up his waning faith by saying, "Simply believe, and she shall be well. " 

This is what Jairus then did. He continued to walk with Jesus until they came to the house and could go in together. 

2.  Have you ever had a time spiritually when you felt God "carried you" in spite of your weak faith? If so, when? Has he set you back on your own feet again yet?

Yes, when my contract was finished and the  need for younger people to be instated was great, I was no longer needed to do what I loved to do, with a passion. I had to leave and start somewhere else. I was devastated to say the least. BUT God carried me all the way. He has enabled me to start helping elsewhere. 

3.  Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

Jesus does not let us give up. From His side He is always there even should we have to face a death when we had prayed for and hoped for healing. In this instance Jesus said to Jairus, "She is not dead, she is only sleeping."  Jesus wanted Jairus to trust beyond the normal. Through this, He teaches us the same. Trust Him, He stands by you and holds you. (Speaking from experience not hearsay. We lost four loved ones in one go, as teen-agers). If we give up it is our choice not God's. 

4.  Why did Jesus exclude everyone but the parents and his closest disciples from the girl's room?

There was too much mockery and unbelief. There were also so many people. Who do you choose to come in and who do you not allow to come in?  Favoritism???  That is not Jesus'  way of working. That would have been bedlam anyway. 

Also the young girl had been sick, thus in bed. Having a crowd watch her. Not such a fantastic idea. 

She'd be hungry. Need quiet and loving surrounding not chaos at this time. (Can you imagine the hysterics if the crowd was let in) 

5.  What lessons does this passage teach you as a disciple? What do you think we disciples are intended to learn from this?

We do not always need a crowd, in on, where Jesus does the "heart-work." Quiet and aloness is also ok. Do not judge the next ones faith, belief, trust etc. Stand by them. Faith is there, it might just need to be propped up by someone and this could be you. Encourage don't break down. 

[haar]

1.    What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith?

Faith that started strong bud declined significantly at news of his daughters's death

2.    Have you ever had a time spiritually when you felt God "carried you" in spite of your weak faith? If so, when? Has he set you back on your own feet again yet?

I am generally a man who has faith in the Lord but have my moments when doubts set in. When that happens, I usually do as sinking Peter did when he was walking well on sea but looked away from Jesus, saw the stormy waves, started sinking but immediately called out to Jesus to save him. And He did and will also rescue me from declining faith when cry out to Him.

3.    Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

To make a great teaching to the disciples and others of the great power of God to raise the dead.

4.    Why did Jesus exclude everyone but the parents and his closest disciples from the girl's room?

He wanted to get the "spoilers" and those that doubt out of the way. He also wanted privacy for the little girl and her family

5.    What lessons does this passage teach you as a disciple? What do you think we disciples are intended to learn from this?

Even when my faith is sliding away, Jesus is still faithful and is around to prop up my faith. It is very important to note that nothing is ever too late because the Lord that raised Jairu's daughter is still abundantly able to raise back to life, anything of ours that has died eg our faith, a love one, business etc

[Nandita]

3. Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

Because Jesus cared about Jairus, his pain, and his problem. Jesus wasn't going to stop helping Jairus just because Jairus thought Jesus could help no further. He wasn't going to stop helping Jairus because Jairus stopped having faith. He wasn't going to stop helping Jairus because the problem got trickier. 

 

And this holds true for us today. We shouldn't stop believing or praying just because the problem looks harder— or impossible— to solve. We shouldn't stop believing because we think it's too late to turn to God. We shouldn't stop praying because we think there's a cut-off point for action or result that we've missed.

 

God can work in all situations. However weak our faith, complex our problem or limited our dreams— we shouldn't stop praying or believing. God can overcome any problem. And if we find it hard to believe we can ask him to help us overcome our unbelief, too!

[Old Jerry]

What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith?

 

A. Jairus’ action tells us he had faith enough to come to Jesus to heal his daughter but not enough for the resurrection.

 

Have you ever had a time spiritually when you felt God "carried you" in spite of your weak faith? If so, when? Has he set you back on your own feet again yet?

 

A. I have had a time when I was spiritually “carried” in spite of my weak faith. It was I was going through a divorce. And yes He has set me back on my feet.

 

Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

 

A. Because Jesus knew that if Jairus just had faith the things would turn out right.

 

Why did Jesus exclude everyone but the parents and his closest disciples from the girl's room?

 

A. Jesus excluded everyone out of the room because he didn’t want the unbelievers to interfere with what he was going to do.

 

What lessons does this passage teach you as a disciple? What do you think we disciples are intended to learn from this?

 

A. If we believe that even what we think is impossible it could come to past.

[kreilly]

Why did Jesus exclude everyone but the parents and his closest disciples from the girl's room?

I think Pastor Ralph made a good point that the statement "not to bother the teacher anymore" is really an attack/temptation from the devil.  Satan is the father of lies and likes to insinuate untruths into our lives that we will not recognize as being inherently evil.  I think Jesus limited who was allowed into the room to limit the spiritual attacks from unbelievers.  Jairus' faith had been under attack enough that day.  Jesus was protecting him from the evil one, as we ask Him to do in the Lord's prayer.  He will protect us as well, if we ask Him.

[Godswriter]

1.    What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith?

It states how he wanted healing for his daughter and wanted to see her alive and well and no longer sick anymore. However he didn't realize how much faith he would need to have in order to be able to ask for what he wanted

2.    Have you ever had a time spiritually when you felt God "carried you" in spite of your weak faith? If so, when? Has he set you back on your own feet again yet?

Yes I have so many times when I thought I could not go on anymore. However I know that I have felt the presence of the Lord and felt Him carry me through the storms of life when I couldn't go on anymore on my own. The most recent experience was Oct 2020 the time I landed in the hospital for 3 days. 

3.    Why didn't Jesus let Jairus give up?

Because He wanted to him to know that the Lord had not forgotten him at all but remembered his request

4.    Why did Jesus exclude  but the parents and his closest disciples from the girl's room?

Because of the fact that He alone knew that they were skeptical of what they would think when he went ahead and brought her back to life. This also was a learning experience for the disciples as well.

5.    What lessons does this passage teach you as a disciple? What do you think we disciples are intended to learn from this?

That in order to be heard by the Lord that you need to be willing to be open to change. To be competely honest and open to the Lord by continually praying for what we desire in Christ's name

[George L]

1. What do Jairus' actions in this story tell us about the state of his faith? He was totally at the end of his rope.
   Can we imagine the pressure on church leadership to deliver a miracle within the family of leadership. We are the ones who are expected to have a more special relationship with the heavenly. Jairus was beyond what the Rabbi’s of his temple could do. Beyond what his own prayer had accomplished. And then there is this neighbor Jesus of Nazareth with a special reputation matching the prophecies of the messiah. End of our rope, one path open, so act or fail becomes  our choice. Always our test of faith. The christian’s version of, Lights Up Full, Curtain Rises, you are onstage to show what you believe. It is not comfortable. It is part of the apostles walk. The believers growing up. Especiallybon your own first opening night.