”Don’t Be Afraid. Only Believe.” (Mark 5:21-43)

The light of his life had been eclipsed by the shroud of fear that came with the thought of losing his 12-year-old daughter. Yet there still remained a glimmer of hope. This hope opened the door of faith through which he walked, leaving his daughter on her deathbed in search Jesus. When he fell at Jesus’ feet, he abandoned his pride and his status as a synagogue leader. He became a beggar, begging for the life of his child.

She had been reduced to a beggar. For 12 years she had bled. Hope seemed like a cruel thing to her, because it had led her to seek help from many doctors. She had suffered both pain and humiliation for 12 long years at their hands. Yet still her life flowed ceaselessly from her body. How much longer until death would claim her as his own? Yet still there was a flicker of light. Hope whispered to her heart the name of Jesus.

Because of the blood that flowed incessantly from her body, she could never have approached the Rabbi-physician in the way Jairus had on behalf of his daughter. Her touch, her very presence, would have rendered Jesus unclean. Belief conquered both her fear and the dread of exposure. She felt invisible in the crowd that thronged Him. She timidly reached out her trembling hand and touched the hem of His garment. Her feeble faith was met with healing power. But before she could escape inconspicuously into the horde of humanity, He stopped and asked, “Who touched me?”

He stopped. Jairus’ heart was pounding. His 12-year-old daughter was dying. But his heart was not the only heart that felt as though it would burst through its rib cage. She had been found out! Barely able to walk, she came to Him with great fear and trembling. And like Jairus had done before her, she fell at His feet. He called her “Daughter.” And with the tenderness of a father He restored not only her health but her dignity. He looked at her with eyes of love and told her that her faith had made her well. He told her to go in peace and to be free from the severe pain that had tortured her for so long. She would no longer be considered the walking dead.

While Jesus was speaking comfort to the woman, Jairus felt a black wave of  horror engulfing him when he heard the report that it was now too late. His daughter was dead. Jesus responded by saying, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36). To fear would be to withdraw from the light into the darkness; to flee from the hope of life into the despair of death. Jairus’ daughter was dead, but at Jesus’ invitation he had replaced fear with faith. The result of Jairus’ faith was that he received his daughter back from the dead.

Today if you find yourself at the feet of Jesus on your behalf or on the behalf of someone you love, whether you consider yourself worthy or unworthy, hear the words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36).