At His Feet (Mark 5:21-43)

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. (Mark 5:21-24 NIV)

Jarious was a synagogue leader at the time he asked Jesus for help.  This meant one of two things.  Either he believed that Jesus was the Messiah they had all been waiting for, or he didn't care about that possibility and he just wanted his daughter to be healed.  The second possibility is a big one, because Jesus wasn't a popular topic of discussion among the synagogue leaders.  Some believed he was sent by God.  Others believed he was not.

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:25-34 NIV)

On the way to help the man's daughter, Jesus encountered a woman who desperately needed healing.  There was no doubt what she believed.  She was confident that just touching his clothes would be enough.  She was right.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?" Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." He did not let anyone follow him except e Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:35-43 NIV)

When Jesus raised Tabitha from the dead, many people would not see it that way.  He woke her from "a sleep."  This would be much easier to believe than to believe he brought someone from death to life.  Those closest to him, however, knew the truth.  She was dead.  Now she was alive.  Jesus has the power to conquer death!

How about you?  Do you believe?  Would you be a synagogue leader who believed Jesus was sent by God or not?  Would you trust Jesus as much as the woman with the bleeding disorder?  Would you recognize what Jesus did when Tabitha "woke up" from her "sleep?"  Do yop believe Jesus has the power over death?