Jesus Heals a Sick Woman and Resurrects Jairus’ Daughter
And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. (5:21-24)
It happened often in my ministry that a crowd would press around me. I followed the Father’s direction, and it attracted many to me. It was not always easy to handle, sometimes with a boat, sometimes by getting in a place people would not guess. As you do the works of the Father, as you learn to listen to my voice and to follow me, fruits will naturally appear. Fruits of holiness, fruits of love, fruits of healings, fruits of miracles. Don’t focus on the fruits but on God, and show the way to the Father through all you do. I am the way to the Father, invite people to me and to discover the joy of forgiveness, the peace of the Holy Spirit.
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (5:25-29)
Faith is so simple, yet so many struggle to come to simple faith. Faith is not abstract, it prompts action. Faith implies obedience, listening to God. This poor woman needed help, and she had learned that men could not help. When she heard of the healings through me, she was interested. She began to hope, and when she had an opportunity she took risks. In these days, she was considered impure because of her flow of blood, and therefore she was not supposed to touch anybody. This brought isolation to her life, isolation and despair. Yet, she was bold enough to risk shame and rebuke when she touched me. As she touched me, she accessed the power of love that was in me, that came from the Father, and because of her faith she received the healing that she had hoped for in her body.
And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ “ (5:30-31)
When this woman touched me, I sensed power flowing out of me, and I knew that something had happened. Yet, I was not a battery full of electricity, from which people were invited to draw. I was not an object but a person, and I knew that I needed to find out who did touch me and draw power out of me. I wanted to encourage not only the healing but more importantly the relationship with the Father. The power that was in me came from the Father, and I wanted to show the way to the Father in all I did.
And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (5:32-34)
The woman knew that she was the one I was looking for, and she became fearful of rebuke or worse, of losing the healing she had just received. She was considered impure, because of her flow of blood, and therefore became like an object to avoid and could not easily develop relationships. She touched me as if I was also an object out of which she could get what she wanted, with the hope that nobody would notice. I did notice, and I was not an object.
I called her out of her cloak of shame, and invited her to the relationship. She was so afraid, yet it was very important. Healing is not a matter of technique, but first of all a matter of love. The Father did not create humans as robots but as persons designed for fellowship and for love. In medicine, in your present world, many think of persons as objects, having them simply go through tests, and trying to mend the bodies like you mend a machine.
The Father did not create humans as machines. There is an intricate relationship between body, soul and spirit. Not recognizing this reality leads to much pain and unnecessary expenses. Many people are not so much interested in healing and loving, but rather in mastering the creation. The more they try to master, the more the Father shows them the limits of technique. Humility is so simple, the Father is so merciful. Yet, since the science of medicine does not integrate faith, it creates many unnecessary and expensive steps toward healing. The Father is the source of medicine, the only one who knows fully His creation. He can use medicine as well as many other ways for healing bodies. Sometimes what is needed is forgiveness, sometimes it is casting out evil spirits, sometimes it is simply praying in love for the person, sometimes it is through a pill or through a surgery that the person will get better. In focusing only on the body, at the expense of both the soul and the spirit, is both foolish and expensive. Psychologists do learn to see the link between body and soul. Yet, the most important link to see is the link between spirit and body, how the quality of the relationship with the Father has a direct and important impact on both the soul and the body. As long as medicine does not recognize this link, as long as physicians don’t recognize the importance of a good relationship with the creator, many will spend huge amounts of money for little results or even for more pain, as it was the case for this woman.
She was not an object to mend. She was created for relationships and I called her out of the darkness. She first confessed what she did and why she did it, hoping for grace. She hoped to be forgiven, yet I wanted much more than that for her. I wanted for her a deeper healing. She thought that her disease was only a matter of blood. I knew that her disease was also of not knowing God as her loving father. This healing was a perfect way to teach her how much she was loved, that she was a child of God. The first word I spoke to here was “daughter,” because I wanted her to learn that she was the daughter of the loving heavenly Father. She was a person, a part of the family of God.
I then said to her “your faith has made you well,” stressing that what happened was not only about power like when you plug a machine into a socket, but mostly about the relationship between the Father’s love in me and her faith. Faith brings hope, and through me her hope was fulfilled. By stressing her faith I wanted to encourage her, to help her see that her inner attitude played a key part in her healing. I did not come to distribute healing like a machine distributes goods. I came to show the path to the Father, to manifest His tender love for His creation, to encourage every person to come to the heavenly Father with hope and faith. The Father’s gracious love is abundant, and through faith you can learn to access it. God’s purpose is to teach how to love, and healing is one of the key ways he uses to teach this lesson.
I then said to this dear woman that she could go in peace, in the peace of knowing that she had a loving heavenly Father. So many persons in this world have had bad fathers, that they imagine that the heavenly Father is the same. This was a major reason of my coming on earth, to show how good the heavenly Father is. Healing without peace is not complete. What the Father wants is for persons to be at peace, this unity that is given by love and that rejoices the heart. I came to bring peace with God, as the prince of peace, to give a peace to humanity that could not be obtained without me.
I came to give my life for the wicked, to offer my body as a sacrifice of love. Through my sacrifice, the Father could open a way to reconcile humans with him. I was the way, I am the way of reconciliation between God and man. Through me you can receive peace with God, so that your life takes its full meaning and deep happiness becomes possible and real. This is the real healing, this is the full healing, when your relationship with the Father is mended by our grace, when you enter in fellowship with God through me. All those who are weary and heavy laden are invited to come to me. I came to give the peace and rest that the Father wants for each human. Follow my teachings, welcome me as your Lord and Savior, and I will guide you in the path of peace and joy, of rest and true happiness.
While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. (5:35-37)
I did not come to impress people with power, but to show the way to the Father. I came to teach what love is, and how to receive and share the Father’s love. Jairus had just seen the importance of faith, when I spoke to the healed woman. Now, I wanted to teach him to believe, to develop this life-giving relationship with the heavenly Father. He was a ruler of the synagogue, yet he needed to learn to believe in the ruler of the universe, in his love and mercy. Fear is a major hindrance to faith, and I often had to say to people ‘do not fear’. By closing the door to fear, you can open the door to faith. If you let fear fill your heart it will be very difficult if not impossible to come with faith to the Father. To help him to move from fear to faith, I took with me only my three closest disciples, Peter, James and John, who were growing in their faith in me and in the Father. I wanted to help this human father to discover the love of the heavenly Father. I did not come to heal only individuals, but also to heal families and communities.
They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. (5:38-40)
Here is a secret of faith: the way you look at reality has a direct influence on what you will be able to do through faith in God. People saw the girl as dead, I saw her as asleep. Death was considered as final, the end of life. Being asleep is temporary. I came to bring faith that death was not the end, that the Father could resurrect people. I had to show it during my life, I had to show it through my death and resurrection.
When your way of seeing reality differs from others, you risk to be mocked. Yet, you have to learn to walk by faith and not by sight, to follow my way of love and to learn to manifest this love through all you do. Don’t despise the persons who criticize you, but don’t let neither criticism rule in you. Often, the Father will be able to teach you through critics, but don’t let them harm your relationship with me or with the Father. There is a difference between useful criticism and mockery. Mockery had to be dismissed, and I put these mockers outside, allowing only the parents and my three disciples to come with me.
Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (5:41-43)
The Father had shown me what He wanted to do, and I simply had to follow his lead, asking the girl to rise. Miracles are not about you, but about the Father, who wants to lead you on his path of love. I showed the way, and I want to show you how to follow this way. Learn to listen to my voice and to follow me in all things, learn to accept me as your shepherd and guide. As you discern my voice, I guide you on the path of the Father, and through you the works of the Father will be manifested. Some will receive forgiveness, others will be healed or resurrected, demons will be cast out, guidance and love will be found.
My purpose was not to impress people, but to show God’s love to a family. Once this goal was reached, I had to be careful to avoid even more pressure from the crowd. I charged the family not to share what happened, because I wanted to go out of the village quickly. It is clear that they would not be able to hide the resurrection of their daughter for long, yet I needed a moment to get out of the crowd safely.
When the hope of people rises, you have to be careful that they don’t make of you an object, an idol. I did not come to be the center, but to lead people to the Father. It is true, I am man and I am God. Yet I came to show the way to all humans, and this way involves that all glory goes to God, and that you have to lead people to God, to peace with God. That was the way for the sick woman, that was the way for the sad father Jairus, that is the way for you. Healing and resurrection are tools that the Father uses to lead to Him. They are not goals but tools of love.
Learn through faith to listen to me and to follow me, so that the Father’s love shines through you, so that many seek and find peace and joy in fellowship with God.
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