Read Mark 5:21-24, 35-43

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.’”  (John 11:25, NLT)

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 189: Talitha Koum. In the previous devotion, the bleeding woman was discussed. If you recall, she had come to Jesus utterly desperate to be healed after 12 years of bleeding. Those 12 years also amounted to 12 years of being rejected and isolated from community. They equaled 12 years of spiritual deprivation because she was deemed unclean and impure.

What was not mentioned in the last devotion is just how the woman came in contact with Jesus. Her story is sandwiched between the story of Jairus and his daughter. Jairus was a leader in the local synagogue and he came to Jesus to let him know that his daughter was actively dying.

Jesus agreed to go with thim and that was where he was heading when the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years found him and touched his robe. Thus, the bleeding woman was a detour on his way to visit with this dying girl. This detail alone should tell us that Jesus saw everyone as equal and that no one was deemed “out of his way” or “not important enough” for him to give his attention to.

With that said, the diversion took enough time that by the time he actually arrived to Jairus’ house, the little girl had died. When the arrived, there was much wailing and mourning going on and everything seemed to be in vain now that she was dead. In fact, messengers came to Jairus and told him that it was not worth troubling “the Teacher” now that his daughter had died.

What was Jesus’ response? “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Then he went into Jairus’ house with Peter, James, and John. He made everyone else wait outside. Inside, the family members were found to be weeping. Jesus assured them, “The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The people who heard Jesus say this laughed at him, because they could not believe what they were hearing. Clearly this little girl was dead and Jesus was just out of his mind!

Seeing the crowd’s unbelief, Jesus took Jairus and his wife into the girl’s bedroom. Jesus went to her side, held her hand, and uttered these Aramaic words, “Talitha Koum”, which means, “Little girl, get up!” In that very moment, Mark tells us that the girl stood up and then walked around. Everyone who witnessed this were completely amazed! Of course, as is par for the course in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus told the people there to not tell anyone what they witnessed!

What a powerful and profound miracle to have witnessed. What’s more this miracle foreshadowed his own resurrection, which was the ultimate display of his power over death and the grave. Even when the messengers pronounced the daughter’s death to Jairus and were urging him to not trouble “the Teacher”, Jesus ignored them and went to the girl anyway. The result, Jairus’ daughter was resurrected, showing all who witnessed the ultimate power of FAITH.

The challenge for us is to self-reflect on our own faith. Do we REALLY and TRULY believe that Jesus is GOD and that in Jesus rests the full power and authority of God? Do we believe that Jesus has the power to bring us into full and EVERLASTING LIFE? If so, how does that change us from who we are to who God has created us to be.

Let us be a people who respond to Jesus as Jairus and his wife responded to him. Let us invite him into our homes so that he can take over as Lord of our lives. Let us NOT laugh at him when he says that he can wake us up into the resurrected life. Christ is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and waiting for us to open up and let him in. I pray that you answer him and let him reign supreme in your heart and over your life!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
““Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” – Jesus Christ  (Revelation 3:20, NLT)

PRAYER
Lord, I open the door of my heart to you. Come in and rule over me so that I may serve you and be one of your Kingdom Builders. Amen.