Now when Jesus came back [to Galilee], the crowd received and welcomed Him gladly, for they were all waiting and looking for Him. And there came a man named Jairus, who had [for along time] been a director of the synagogue; and falling at the feet of Jesus, he begged Him to come to his house, For he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As [Jesus] went, the people pressed together around Him [almost suffocating Him]. Luke 8:40-42 [AMP]
A little bit shorter of a post today — As I was reading the return of Jesus from across the lake (Sea of Galilee), this story of Jarius (A synagogue leader whose name means “Yahweh Shines”) falls at Jesus feet in a desperate request to save his only daughter of 12 years old who was dying.
There is so much more to this story that I will get to tomorrow, but the one thing that kind of hit me was the similarity of this story and the Centurion who also came to Jesus about a sick servant girl. Jarius was a devote follower of the God of Israel and the Centurion was a Gentile (Roman Soldier). Yet, it was the Roman Centurion (a Gentile) who believed that Jesus could heal His servant girl from a distance and the Jewish Leader felt it necessary that Jesus needed to come to his house and lay His hands on his daughter to heal her.
Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, I tell you, not even in [all] Israel have I found such great faith [as this].
Luke 7:9 [AMP]
The truth is that since Jesus is God and His healing ability has no boundaries. It is the measure of Faith of the requestor that shows Jesus the strength of their devotion. Jesus even called out the fact that the Centurion had more faith than He had seen in others. So, what does that mean for me?
Application:
As a Jesus follower and one who meditates on the Word of God, do I put limitations on the ability of the God I serve? God’s will is perfect and He hears everyone of my prayers; His answers to our needs come in many ways and there are things that will happen to me in my life that are for His Glory and plan that I may never see the benefit of my suffering or waiting. I think of the 2 families we know that lost pregnancies yesterday. One that was really far along and another that was in the first half of the pregnancy. I know that both of these families had saturated their pregnancies in prayer; but God has a different plan and their suffering will play a part in the building of God’s Kingdom and their own good. It will take a measure of faith to see beyond their pain and grief but that Hope we have in Jesus, the God we serve Who can do anything from anywhere, will keep us to the end.