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Jairus and his daughter

Biographical

The most famous nameless daughter of the New Testament is Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter, who was raised from the dead by Jesus. Jairus was a ruler of a synagogue elected by elders of the community, and it was his duty to look after the order of the divine service. His office was one of the most respected in the community, and no doubt his only child of twelve years was loved by all his people. One day, as she lay at the point of death, her father hastened to Jesus, then at Capernaum, beseeching him to heal her. But as the anxious father spoke with Jesus, a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years touched Jesus' garment, and the multitude thronged about him. This pause must have been a great test of Jairus' patience and faith, as he knew how necessary it was that Jesus hasten to his daughter’s bedside. While Jesus paused to speak to the woman, messengers came from Jairus' house saying, 'Thy daughter is dead'. Until then, he had besought Jesus to heal his sick child, but now she lay dead. To the mourning Jairus, Jesus spoke the confident words, 'Be not afraid, only believe'. When Jesus had healed the woman with the issue of blood, he hastened on to the house of Jairus, taking with him Peter and James and John. Upon entering the house, Jesus found it filled with noisy mourners. Even the flute players had gathered to play for the last rites of the dead. But Jesus rebuked the mourners, saying, 'The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth'. Then he went in to where the sick child lay, taking with him his three disciples. He said to her, 'Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. The Gospel writer, Mark, in his graphic way tells us, 'And straightway the damsel arose, and walked'. And Luke, the physician, makes this comment, 'And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway:....And her parents were astonished'. In their astonishment, the joyous parents forgot that their daughter needed food, but Jesus did not forget. Turning to them, he commanded that something be given her to eat. Her hunger, a natural condition after a long illness, also made Jairus and his wife more aware that their only daughter was not only alive again but fully restored to health. Though Jesus told her parents to tell no one what had transpired in this room of death, Matthew reports that 'the fame hereof went abroad into all that land'.

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