Mark 5:21–43
This is a common story of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood. But I would like to look at it from a very different perspective. Her healing “cost” Jairus his daughter.
Are you willing to still wait on Jesus like Jairus did? Even after messengers came and told him his only daughter had died? Or you’ll become a “Pharisee” because you perceive people aren’t worth of healing and grace? Or you will give up entirely on your miracle and walk away?
A deeper look into the story
The Similarities
There are some similarities in both Jairus and this woman;
1. They both had issues. Jairus daughter was sick and the woman had an issue with blood.
All of us have issues. All of us are broken in one way or another. Nobody is perfect.
2. There was the same age issue. The woman had suffered for 12 years while Jairus daughter was 12 years old.
It doesn’t matter how long you have been broken, God’s grace will still reach you.
3. They both received their miracle
4. They were both desperate and at the end of themselves. And they came to the only person who could solve their issues.
When you have done everything possible and you are at the end of yourself, that is where and when Jesus steps in.
The Differences.
- Jairus had power and authority, the woman had none. Jairus was leader at the local synagogue.
But authority or not, these two came to Jesus, the Sovereign authority of them all. No matter your position or status, Jesus Christ is the Sovereign authority. The Bible says that every knee will bow down and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Romans 14:11).
2. Jairus is identified by his name while the woman is identified by her issue.
Sometimes, our issues “erase” our names and we forget who we are. The issues and our experiences become our new identities. And society does love labeling people. But while we label people according to their issues, we forget one universal truth; we are all damaged.
Despite his name, Jairus daughter was still sick. Identifying her with her issue didn’t keep the issue away. The thing with labels is that it doesn’t give you the true and the whole picture. Yes, she had an issue. But that’s not who she was. She was a daughter of God.
And during those days, according to the Jewish culture, her issue was considered unclean (Leviticus 15:25–27) and you had to stay away from people till you were clean. And everything you touched or anyone who touched you, became unclean.
So, for 12 years, this woman was unclean, rejected, couldn’t touch anything and couldn’t interact with anyone. She probably had listened to society’s way of trying to fix her or didn’t do anything more because she had lost hope. Or she believed she didn’t deserve healing because she’s been unclean for all these years after all. It had become her normal.
How many of us are have accepted “normal” things as normal but they aren’t? How many of us, because of the labels put on us, are putting up with “normal” relationships, marriages, jobs and character because that is what we think we are or deserve?
But she had had enough and took a risk and stepped out in the crowd and touched Jesus. And you need to step out of faith and drop the damn labels and be free!
Do you how much risk it took for her to step out? To get out in such a crowd? To touch the Jesus, the cleanest of them all?
Jesus became unclean for her to be clean!!
That’s why He came.
Then Jesus did the most scandalous thing.
He stopped and called her out from the crowd; the most damaged, most broken, most sinful. He called her from the crowd. And out of fear, judgement or condemnation, she was afraid of coming out. But Jesus will always vindicate you and wait for you.
And He called her daughter!
To remind her that she’s not her issues. She’s His daughter. The only time Jesus calls someone daughter. He made the most powerful statement for this woman.
No matter where you are, or how deep you’ve sunk, God’s grace and love will reach you.
We don’t hear about the woman again. Probably she fell back like most of us often do. Because after being defined for years by your issues, identifying yourself by your name feels like a struggle. You work at maintaining your name, you start working for the grace and the love you have received. You forget that grace is a gift and you can never work for it or earn it. You simply have to receive it as God gives you. Working for it is an insult to God.
And “Pharisees” get annoyed by this grace thing. They think some people, like this woman, don’t deserve it. So they work at condemning, judging and hating you for your healing. They get jealous and work so hard to inflict damage on you. And sometimes, unfortunately, they succeed because the people fall back. It shouldn’t be that way.
Some friends will hate you when you get healed because they no longer have power over you, their egos are no longer oiled and they are still broken because they are too proud to seek healing. So they start calling you names and doing character assassination of you. Sometimes, when people attack you, don’t take it personally. It’s a reflection and an attack of themselves. People can only love you to the extent they love themselves.
So, go ahead and be whole and healed. Go ahead and break those chains and free yourself!
That’s why Jesus came. The Pharisees will always be Pharisees; naysayers will always be naysayers no matter what you say or do.
I love savage Jesus; He doesn’t consult anyone or seek anyone’s opinion. He only seeks to do His Father’s will.
Jairus issue appeared to be more urgent and serious and desperate than the woman’s. But Jesus healed her first. That can be annoying if your perspective and heart is in the wrong place. “How can Jesus do that to me?”
You begin to murmur in your heart; “this woman is more damaged than me. She’s more sinful than me. She doesn’t deserve to be here. She doesn’t deserve the healing and the blessing. I’ve been serving you faithfully for years and you’re healing and blessing her first over me? You’re choosing her over me?”
Truth is, most of us can’t stand others being blessed more than us. We can’t stand others getting chosen over us. We are okay if they are blessed as long as it’s not more than me. That’s why most of us are jealous and miserable believers. We pray for others breakthrough as long as they don’t overtake us. Alternatively, we do everything to ensure they never have that breakthrough. Our love becomes conditional. People’s healing and blessings kills us.
Many of us in Jairus shoes get infuriated by Jesus. Some even leave the faith. We forget we were once damaged and blind until grace found us. We suffer from Christian amnesia; we forget we were once in the woman’s position and Jesus stopped for us. We forget that it’s not always about us. It had never been about us but Him.
Jairus daughter did die while Jesus stopped to talk to the woman. But Jesus did bring Jairus daughter back to life! Isn’t that even a bigger miracle?
All things work out for our good. Stop focusing on yourself and celebrate others until your time comes. Stop killing yourself with envy and jealousy just because Jesus stopped for someone else other than you. Someone you think isn’t worth it.
Who made you the judge?
Thank God He’s not a man.
3. The woman came from behind while Jairus approached Jesus upfront, in public.
Shame is a tool that society uses to shame women most especially. I am yet to meet a man who has been shamed. Where it’s been tried, the woman was always blamed.
And in all cases in the Bible where shame has been used as a tool against a woman, Jesus stood up for the women and set them free. Thank God for Jesu!
Because of shame, this woman came from behind; she probably had condemned and judged herself all these years. So there was nothing new these people could tell her that she hadn’t told herself. Plus, at this point, she really had nothing to lose.
Don’t let shame keep you away from breaking from bondage. You are a candidate for God’s grace no matter what you’ve done.
And can we stop shaming people and start normalizing practicing and extending grace?
Don’t forget that we are all damaged, we all have issues. The only difference was that this woman’s issue was physically visible. Yet for others and probably most of us, it could be the same kind of guilt, shame and disgrace but it’s at a personal level because it’s invisible to the outside world.
Some of us have wounds, trauma, mistakes, struggles, addictions that nobody else knows about except God and ourselves. And we fight to keep them personal and invisible to the outside because if the “skeletons” ever came out, we couldn’t bear the weight of the shame and the disgrace.
Some of us we are busy and good at condemning those who have failed publicly or caught doing the wrong things publicly yet we engage in them privately.
Pastor Robert Madu;
“Jealousy is the trophy that mediocrity gives to excellence.”
The problem with Pharisees is that they pick what they want to be loud about. But as a believer, you ought to be loud about everything. And stop the character assassination of family and friends who get healed.
Bishop David Oginde;
“The scandal of God’s grace is that it forgives the worst sinner that human beings would otherwise desire to die”
So, today, if God stops and heals someone you think isn’t worth it, remind yourself of that time He stopped just for you!
