Matthew: Healing in His PresenceSample

Two Healings

Today’s passage has not one but two healings! Matthew chooses to tell you the highlights of these unbelievable events, but I encourage you to read the other accounts that have more details in Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8: 40-56.

Let's start with a man named Jairus. He is a Jewish synagogue ruler who kneels before Jesus as a desperate dad seeking help for his daughter. Jairus says, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Think about this request. It's bold! Can you imagine having just lost a loved one, yet believing Jesus could bring them back? Jairus’ faith is so strong that he believes Jesus can bring his daughter back to life. Jairus steps out in faith by taking Jesus to his house a house where his daughter lies dead.

While they are walking, a woman who had been suffering with bleeding for 12 years scrambles to touch Jesus in a large crowd. Due to her bleeding ailment, this woman was an outcast in her society. She takes a huge leap of faith to go into town and risk possible punishment. She believes that if she just touches His cloak, she’ll be healed. So inching her way into the crowd, she touches Him and at that very moment she is healed!

Although many people crowd around Jesus are bumping into Him, when the woman touches Him, Jesus actually feels His power release from Him. There is something different about her touch. Her desperate act of faith is what catches His attention. He says to her, “Your faith has healed you.”

Now let's not forget about Jairus. He needs Jesus to hurry over to his home to heal his dead daughter. There are mourners wailing and crying on her behalf at the house. But when Jesus arrives, He tells the mourners to leave saying, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." And Jesus walks into the room, takes her hand and she gets up. Jairus has his daughter back!

Both the woman and Jairus were desperate for healings. Their situations both seemed hopeless, yet they still sought out Jesus as the only One who could change their fates. And Jesus saw their great faith and granted their individual requests.

Questions:

1. When have you had to step out in bold faith like Jairus, trusting Jesus even when the situation seemed hopeless?

2. What risks might you need to take - like the woman reaching through the crowd - to receive the healing or breakthrough you’re believing for?

3. How does Jesus’ response to both Jairus and the woman challenge the way you think about faith and healing in your own life?