A Desperate Dad

Living the Sweet Life

You’re one of the big dogs around town. The perks are crazy good. Best seats at the best restaurants. Tickets to all the big games. Absolutely no waiting for anything.

Okay, that might not be an exact picture of the sweet life Jairus is living in Galilee, but you get the idea. But as one of the head honchos down at the local synagogue, life indeed has its privileges.

Kind of a Big Deal

You might think I’m overstating the status of leadership at a local house of Jewish worship. But the synagogue is so much more than the building where folks go each Sabbath to praise the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

You see, the synagogue is hub of the wheel for life in town. Remember, in first century Israel, EVERYBODY is Jewish. And EVERYBODY you know goes to the same synagogue.

So as one of the rulers of the local synagogue, you’re kind of a big deal.

Is That Jairus?

That’s why people do a double take when they see you sprinting through town at top speed. That’s not Jairus, is it? No self-respecting leader of the synagogue would act the fool and run like a madman down to the docks!

But that’s EXACTLY what we seen in Mark’s Gospel when Jesus and His personal posse land their boat back on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Let’s just say they’ve had a quick and rather eventful trip to the far side.

A Late Night Storm

Our Savior and the boys found themselves in a vicious late night squall (Mk 4:35-41). If the disciples aren’t freaked out enough by the swirling winds and stinging rain, they really lose their minds when Jesus yells at the storm to stop…and it does! I mean who is this Guy?!?

Once on the eastern shore, a naked man living in a cemetery under demonic control confronts Christ (Mk 5:1-20). It seems the evil spirits living inside him know EXACTLY Who they’re dealing with.

Mass Swine Suicide

Our Savior tells them they don’t have to go home but they can’t stay here. The few thousand demons leave the man and cause a herd of pigs to commit mass swine suicide.

More concerned with the financial hit over lost livestock than the man gaining back his life and sanity, locals beg Jesus to go back where He came from. So with that, He heads back home.

Welcome Home, Jesus

“Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around Him on the shore” (v21). It’s quite a scene along the shore when the Lord and His crew land.

It appears that Jesus and the Twelve come ashore back in Galilee very near where they left. Luke points out that “the crowds welcomed Him because they had been waiting for Him” (Lk 8:40). Just picture a bunch of people on the beach wondering when the radical Rabbi/Carpenter will come back home.

Back home? Matthew tips us off that they arrive back in Jesus’ “own town” (Mt 9:1). If you’re keeping score at home, that’s Capernaum. He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, but our Savior has made Capernaum his base of operations (Mt 4:13; Mk 2:1).

Harmonizing the Gospels

While we’re looking at Mark’s version of the story, don’t miss out on using the other Gospels to fill in the gaps and add color to what you’re reading. It’s what smart folks who study the Bible call “harmonizing the Gospels.”

God inspired a wide variety of human authors to tell His story for a wide variety of audiences. For instance, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John share a lot of the same stories. But they were each writing to different groups of people.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke

You can find this particular story in three of the Gospels (Mt 9:18-19; Mk 5:21-24; Lk 8:40-42). Feel free to flip back and forth between them. Take advantage of the resources He has provided to you!

Comparing the different versions, we see that Mark is the only Gospel writer to describe the welcoming party as a “large crowd” (v21). He uses a word we translate “large” (Gr. πολυς/polus). It describe something near the top end of the scale or the greatest magnitude. The crowd may be large but Jesus is in charge.

A Leader of the Synagogue

Suddenly the mood changes. One moment the mob is cheering Jesus’ return. The next moment someone is frantically trying to get His help. “Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived” (v22).

As a “leader of the local synagogue (Gr. αρχισυναγωος/archisunagogos)” (v22), Jairus is one of the top dogs in the community. The elders would handpick a handful of men to direct the affairs of the local Jewish assembly.

Jairus the Pharisee

It’s his job is to choose the various readers and teachers in the synagogue, go over the messages and lessons to be taught, and make sure everything in the assembly is done properly especially according to Jewish tradition.

Jairus is almost certainly a Pharisee. You see, the Pharisees control the synagogues in the various towns while the Sadducees run the temple in Jerusalem. When you can’t make it to worship at the house of God in the big city, you gather with your friends and family at the local synagogue on the Sabbath.

When the Temple’s Not an Option

The idea of the synagogue came about 586 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple and hauled God’s people into slavery back to Babylon. Even if the temple wasn’t a pile of bricks, you’re still 900 miles away.

With temple worship not an option, the synagogue became central not just to honoring God but living in community with His people. Because Jewish law limited travel on the Sabbath to about 1,000 yards, people would live in villages and towns near their meeting place.

Falling at the Feet of Christ

Christ certainly has his share of run-ins with the leaders of the local synagogue (Lk 13:14). But we also several of these influential Jewish leaders place their faith in Jesus as Messiah, the long promised Hero coming to save God’s people (Acts 13:15; 18:17-18). I suspect it won’t be long before we count Jairus among them.

The normally dignified Jairus is clearly out of sorts. He’s freaking out. He’s desperate. He’s there for one reason. He’s there for one Person. Suddenly, he spots just One he’s looking for. “When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet” (v22)

In describing how Jairus falls before the Lord, Mark uses the Greek verb πιπτω/pipto. It does NOT paint a picture of propriety and decorum. This word means to collapse, come down forcefully from a higher to lower level, tumble into ruins, or falling on your face in worship and desperation.

Crumbling and Tumbling Down

Remember the story of the drowsy teenage boy in Troas sitting in a window listening to Paul? When the apostle’s message runs till midnight, the kid doses off and “dropped (Gr. πιπτω/pipto) three stories to his death below” (Acts 20:9). Yup, the very same word. You’ll be glad to know that the apostle miraculously brought him back to life (Acts 20:11).

We find it again when the writer of Hebrews flips through the scrapbook and talks about the crazy conquest of a key enemy city. “It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the wall came crashing down (Gr. πιπτω/pipto)” (Heb 11:30).

Jairus crumbles at the feet of Christ. He’s clearly a broken man as he crumbles to the ground. This proud religious leader is in ruins. Mark doesn’t say anything about his tears but if we squint, I think we can see them.

A Devastated Dad 

What in the world could wreck Jairus this way? Well, he’s about to tell Jesus. He “pleaded fervently with Him. ‘My little daughter is dying,’ he said” (v23). A dying daughter  has totally devastated him.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Desperate times call for Jesus.

Face Down in the Dirt

This one verse drips with this dad’s desperation. Face down in the dirt, Jairus begs Jesus. The word the NLT translates as “pleaded” (Gr. παρακαλεω/parakaleo) emphasizes the physical closeness and intimacy of the interaction between the two.

It’s not so much calling 9-1-1 but physically running to someone who can help, getting in their face, and almost forcing them to help. And the grammar tells us Jairus cries for help are non-stop and unrelenting.

Begging and Pleading

Just so we get this dad’s distress, Mark adds that he pleads “fervently” (v23). In doing so, the author uses that very same term (Gr. πολυς/polus) he uses to help us get our heads around the big crowd back in verse 21.

In other words, Jairus’ can’t get much more urgent. He doesn’t ask once. He doesn’t ask nicely. He begs. He pleads. Incessantly. Relentlessly. Persistently.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Desperate times call for Jesus.

His Baby Girl

If this father’s love is not tearing your heart in half already, just wait. He pleads with the Lord to come help his “little daughter” (v23). The word in the original language (Gr. θυγατριον/thugatrion) is a very special and very tender term of endearment.

Most Bibles translate it as “my little daughter” (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, NRS, YLT, BBE, NLT). I suggest we read it as “my baby girl.” A little later Mark tells us she is twelve years old (Mk 6:42). Dr. Luke adds that she’s Jairus’ only daughter (Lk 8:42).

This is daddy’s baby girl. I don’t need to tell you that the father/daughter relationship is special. Just ask any guy who’s stopped by to meet his date’s dad. Jairus’ little girl has her daddy wrapped around her finger. As her first hero, that’s a very good thing.

A Terminal Diagnosis

His twelve-year-old daughter is “dying” (v23). In the Message, Jairus says, “My dear daughter is at death’s door” (v23 The Message). Dr. Luke describes her diagnosis as terminal and that “she was dying” (Lk 8:42).

Matthew goes even further and says she “has just died” (Mt 8:18). Does Jairus actually believe Jesus has the power of resurrection and could bring her back from the dead?

A Touch from the Healer

Whether she’s still hanging on or not, Jairus knows there’s only one Man who can help. Can’t you see his tearstained face begging Jesus? “Please come and lay Your hands on her; heal her so she can live” (v23).

It’s interesting that the very same word we read here as “heal” (Gr. σωζω/sozo) is the one we see lots of other places as “save.” It has a wide range of meanings depending on how it’s used. Everything from save from death, deliver, preserve from harm, rescue from danger to cure from sickness or disease, or restore to health and well being.

Christ Is the Only Cure

What a powerful reminder that Jesus is not just our Savior but our Healer. He comes to our rescue and yanks us out of the pit of sin and pride (Ps 40:1-2). Christ is the only cure for our terminal case of sin sickness.

The Law is like an MRI that diagnoses our spiritual disease. It’s a great tool but no matter how many times we go in for tests, God’s rules can’t heal us. The only remedy for our sin is the Gospel. Only when we place all our trust in who Jesus is and what He’s done are we cured forever.

Doubling Down on Jesus

But Jairus doubles down on Jesus’ ability to heal his baby girl. She’s so young and has so much life left to live. Only if he can convince Christ to come and cure his daughter will she have a chance to grow up.

Little does this dad know that the Lord has something even better in mind for her. Something better for ALL of us. Jesus says He’s come to give each one of us a lavish, overflowing life (Jn 10:10).

Hoping for a House Call

But in the desperation of the moment, Jairus doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about any of that. He just needs the Great Physician to make a house call. And there’s no time to waste!

Imagine his joy when the Lord says agrees. “Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around Him” (v24). What a wild scene! A frantic father. The miracle-working Healer. And a mob that crushing to get to the Christ.

So what happens next? We’ll have to wait. On the way to Jairus’ house, Jesus gets sidetracked by someone else at wit’s end. But that’s another story for another day.

Take a Walk in Jairus’ Sandals

In the meantime, put yourself in Jairus’ sandals. What would it take for you to toss your status in the toilet? To set your pride aside?

A personal crisis has a way making us throw our pride aside. Managing our image no longer matters. It reveals who we really are. It exposes us. We take off the mask.

When that happens, we suddenly realize we're powerless. We've got nothing. No answer. No cure. No hope.

All you can do is cry out. Call out to God at the top of your lungs. Who cares if you look foolish? You don’t care. You need help. You need Him.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Desperate times call for Jesus.