In Mark 5:21-43 we find two parallel miracles taking place around two very different people. First, we see Jairus who was a ruler in the synagogue. A well respected man, he spent his days being surrounded by people & with constant reminders of God. And we have an unnamed woman who had a discharge of blood – a disease which grew worse over the previous decade. She spent her days in isolation, an outcast in the Jewish society – deemed ritually unclean because of her condition (Lev. 15:25-27).
Under normal circumstances these two would never encounter each other – one at the top of the social & religious ladder & the other at the very bottom. And yet, since both live in a fallen world both are experiencing the pain of sickness. Jairus’ twelve year old daughter is dying & a woman with a hemorrhage has been dying for twelve years. In a desperate quest for healing they are brought together around Jesus.
Though they are as far from each other as the east is from the west – when they meet together around Jesus their lives move from extraordinarily perpendicular to unbelievably parallel:
- Both are out of options & both come by faith to Jesus.
- Both are desperate for healing & believe that a touch of Jesus is enough to bring restoration & newness of life.
- Both have to fight through the crowd to get to Jesus.
- Both fall at Jesus’ feet in utter submission & desperation.
- Both find grace, mercy & peace when they get there.
- Both experience total & complete healing – Jairus’ daughter is raised from the dead & the woman experiences immediate healing (& by the way – Jesus calls her “daughter” (v. 34) - the ONLY time in the Gospels He uses that term)
Click HERE to read the passage for yourself – I think you’ll be encouraged.
Click HERE for a little visual I put together to help illustrate the parallel nature of these miracles.
