The God of Last Resort, Part 5

The woman with the issue of blood had interrupted someone else who had petitioned Jesus. That someone else was a Synagogue Official. Look carefully and notice the significance of how Jairus interacts with Jesus:

Luke 8:41-42 "And behold there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet, and began to entreat Him to come to his house; for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes were pressing against Him."

In Mark 5:23b-24a the account reads, "...'come and lay Your hands on her, that she may get well and live...' And He went off with him;..."

Consider Jairus' plight. He works for the synagogue. His bosses, the Pharisees, are not fans of Jesus. But Jairus' daughter is dying. He has to decide which is more important--his job and his station in the community, or his daughter. Please understand: Jairus didn't have the New Testament to read in advance to see how this turned out before he went to Jesus! He put everything on the line for the outcome he believed he would get. But as a temple official, an employee of the enemies of Jesus, what would lead him to believe that the Prophet Jesus would help him? In his case, being Mr. Big in the synagogue was not a trump card for him, was it? What about you and me? There was a multitude of people pressing in on Jesus to get His attention. Why would He pay any attention to us?

There is an answer.

Jairus "fell at Jesus' feet," and began to worship Him and "entreat" Him. The "entreat" was Jairus' request of Jesus. To say it another way, it was his prayer and expectation. He said what he wanted Jesus to come and do, and what he expected the outcome to be, didn't he? "...lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." One more time: Jairus worshipped Jesus, asked Jesus to come and lay His hands on his daughter, and then declared that if Jesus would do that, his daughter would live.

Let's see if this can be more clear:

Jairus was seen worshipping Jesus.
He did not care if he lost his job, his position, or the pride his station in life could give him.
He did not care if he was criticized for being seen with Jesus.
He was clear about what he wanted Jesus to do.
He was convinced what the outcome would be for him and his family and considered no other.
But wait, there's more...

Luke 8:49-50 "While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, 'Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.' But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, 'Do not be afraid any longer, only believe, and she shall be made well.'

This all occurred while Jesus was distracted by the woman with the issue of blood. Wouldn't it have been easy for Jairus to take on the grief of his dauhter's death and blame it on that woman? Couldn't the spirits of arrogance, pride and position have spoken out self-righteously and ordered her stoned for being out in public in her medical condition? Notice how Jesus injected peace into the situation. He immediately spoke life into the situation by telling Jairus not to allow fear in his heart, to remain steadfast in faith believing that his daughter would be healed. Also notice the absolute brilliance of Jairus' response: He was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. If he had opened his mouth at that instance, in the pain his heart must have been in, nothing good would have fallen out of it. Many times I have wished that I had kept my mouth shut, have you?

We know the outcome. It was as Jairus had originally entreated Jesus, and as Jesus had promised, she was (as in verse 50), "made well." Incidentally, in the original Greek, "made well" is spelled sozo. Another way to say it would be, "...she was 'made whole'."

So I wonder. Considering what Jairus did, how he approached Jesus, and the risk he took to rely on Jesus only, I wonder if there are things in your life today that those same principles could be applied to in order to obtain a "God result?"