The man was desperate. The most skilled doctors had tried to save his daughter but could do nothing more. She was just 12 years old, and now she was dying. What could be done? Desperate to save his daughter’s life, he decided to reach out to One he had heard could perform miracles. Although a leader in the synagogue, Jairus was not too proud to humbly ask Jesus for help.
Jesus had just returned from the other side of Galilee where He had healed the demoniacs, and a great crowd surged around Him as He stepped off the boat, eager to listen to His teachings and witness His miracles. And as usual, there were many sick people longing to be healed.
After hours of teaching and healing, Jesus, faint and weary, “left the multitude in order to partake of food in the house of Levi.”1
It was there, at the home of Levi Matthew, that Jairus found Him and immediately fell at the Master’s feet. “My little daughter lies at the point of death,” he cried. “Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live” (Mark 5:23).
We are told that “Jesus at once responded to the entreaty of the stricken parent, and went with him to his home.”2
Slow Progress
Although Jairus’ home was not far, progress was slow as people pressed around Jesus, hoping to gain “His attention and His aid. The anxious father urged his way through the crowd, fearful of being too late. But Jesus, pitying the people, and deploring their spiritual darkness and physical maladies, stopped now and then to minister to their wants.”3
It was during this slow journey that the woman with the flow of blood, longing to be healed, reached out in faith and touched the hem of Christ’s garment. Instantly that touch of faith was rewarded. Rather than moving on, Christ took the time to call attention to this woman and publicly affirm her faith. “Daughter,” He said, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace” (verse 34).
Surprisingly, “the delay of Jesus had been so intensely interesting in its results that even the anxious father felt no impatience but watched the scene with deep interest.”4 He was encouraged to see this woman healed, and believed Jesus would be able to heal his daughter, too.
Soon, however, a messenger pressed through the crowd with news that the child was dead. Hearing this sad message, Jesus immediately turned to Jairus and said, “Do not be afraid; only believe” (verse 36). With these words of hope, Jairus pressed closer to the Savior as they made their way to his home.
A Perceived Delay
Jesus’ promise to Jairus is similar to what He told Martha after her brother, Lazarus, died. “Your brother will rise again,” said Jesus (John 11:23).
Nevertheless, in both cases, death seemed to have occurred because of the perceived delay of Jesus.
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha cried (verse 21). And yet she revealed faith like that of Jairus, stating, “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You” (verse 22).
Wonderfully, the faith of Jairus and Martha was rewarded—Jairus’ daughter was restored to life and given back to her overjoyed parents, and Lazarus was raised publicly to the amazement of all.
It is interesting that two of Christ’s most profound miracles—raising the dead to life—took place after a painful waiting period for those who had experienced loss. They could not understand why Jesus seemed to delay coming, and yet we are told, “God’s purposes know no haste and no delay.”5
Living by the Father’s Timing
Throughout His life on earth Jesus lived by His Father’s timing. He was born “when the fullness of the time had come” (Gal. 4:4). His “anointing,” or baptism, and death, came at the very times given in the prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27. When pressed by His brothers to go to the feast in Jerusalem, He answered, “You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come” (John 7:8). But when His time came, Jesus “lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You’ ” (John 17:1).
To live like Jesus is to know “no haste and no delay,” but to instead rely fully on God’s timing, which is always perfect.
But too often we want good things to happen now, not later. We want to have answers to our pressing questions now. We want to have our problems and situations solved now. We long for pain to end now.
And yet God, in His wisdom, wants us to learn to trust Him. He often uses waiting times to build our faith and help us change and grow. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) that is developed only under trial, so it is important not to run from difficult situations. In James 1:2-4 we are given this divine counsel:
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
When we learn to trust God and wait on Him, even when the situation seems impossible, we will, looking back, see that God’s way and God’s timing is always best.
1 Ellen G. White, Redemption: or The Miracles of Christ, the Mighty One (Silver Spring, Md.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1877, 2018), p. 93, https://media4.egwwritings.org/pdf/en_3Red.pdf.
2 Ibid., p. 94.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid., p. 97.