Jesus heals
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| Jairus' daughter: Stained Glass, All Saints, Nazeing (Photo credit: TheRevSteve) |
When Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe the same event, the first evangelist
usually abbreviates his account. Our passage, for example, describes the
Lord’s healing of the hemorrhaging woman and the raising of Jairus’ daughter,
an episode also found in Mark 5:21–43 and Luke 8:40–56. Matthew 9:18–26 leaves out details found in the second and third gospels, including the synagogue ruler’s name (Jairus) and Jesus’ order to feed the young girl after He resurrects her. Also, Jairus in Matthew’s gospel says that his daughter is
already dead when he greets the Savior (9:18), whereas Jairus in Mark 5:22–23and Luke 8:41–42 says she is dying. These accounts do not contradict one
another, Matthew just shortens his narrative to give the urgency of Jairus’ words, not every single detail of the story (Mark 5:35; Luke 8:49). Even if Jairus’ daughter has not yet died when he first meets Jesus, she is certainlyas good as dead, and only Christ can help her.
A woman who has been suffering a discharge of blood for twelve years
approaches the Lord on His way to Jairus’ home (Matt. 9:20). She is probably
afflicted with unending menstruation, which makes her ceremonially unclean and unable to associate with others lest she “pollute” them (Lev. 15:19–30).
Effectively, she is an outcast and must avoid crowds. Yet she is desperate for
wholeness and believes Jesus can heal her if she touches the fringe of His
garment (Matt. 9:21) — tassels sewn on the clothing of Jewish men as a
reminder of God’s commandments (Num. 15:37–41; Deut. 22:12). No doubt,
superstition is mingled with the woman’s hope in Jesus, but she is still
restored, and Christ reveals that this healing comes through her faith in Him,
not the “magic” of His cloak (Matt. 9:22). Matthew Henry writes that faith is
the “grace of all others [that] gives most honor to Christ, and therefore He
gives most honor to it.”
Arriving at Jairus’ house, all hope seems lost, but Jesus, who holds the keys
to death and hell (Rev. 1:17–18), knows that His power renders the girl’s
demise only temporary. Amazingly, this Nazarene overrules death’s cruel hand
and shows those who would ridicule Him who the fools really are (Matt.
9:23–26).
As when He healed the leper (Matt. 8:1–4), Jesus again shows His ability to
make clean the unclean. These miracles are clear evidence that the old
distinctions between the ceremonially clean and unclean pass away in the new
covenant, for in Christ, God will cleanse all that brings pollution. There are
no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God. If you know Christ, He is even
now cleansing you and thereby enables you to approach Him with gladness.
