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Scripture • World English Bible
Mark 5:21–43
21When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea.
22Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet
23and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”
24He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides.
25A certain woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years,
26and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse,
27having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes.
28For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
29Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”
35While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”
36But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”
37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
38He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.
39When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
40They ridiculed him. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying.
41Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha cumi!” which means, being interpreted, “Girl, I tell you, get up!”
42Immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement.
43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat.
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain
Reflection
Mark 5:21–43 gives us two urgent, overlapping scenes: a synagogue ruler named Jairus collapses at Jesus’ feet begging for his dying daughter, and in the crush of the crowd a woman who has suffered for twelve years reaches out and touches Jesus’ garment. Both are desperate. Both act in faith—Jairus with bold public pleading, the woman with a furtive, trembling touch. Both are met by Jesus.
The woman’s faith is quiet but decisive. She believes that even a touch—just brushing his clothes—will make her well. Jesus feels power go out from him, stops the press of the crowd, and calls her out of hiding. Instead of scolding her for coming amid ritual impurity or shaming her for secrecy, he restores her publicly: "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease." He names her, affirms her dignity, and sends her into community healed and at peace.
Meanwhile Jairus receives the startling news that his daughter has died. The natural response would be despair, but Jesus says, "Don't be afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36). Then he takes only Peter, James, and John into the house, excludes the noisy crowd, and speaks life into death with the words, "Talitha cumi!" The child rises and is given food—a sign that her restoration is full and embodied.
Together these episodes teach several things about faith in desperation. First, faith takes hold even when hope is slim. Jairus and the woman do not wait for perfect conditions; they reach. Second, faith isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some faith is bold and public; some is trembling and hidden. Jesus honors both. Third, Jesus’ power meets human need with compassion and authority. He responds to both illness and the reality of death, demonstrating that the kingdom he brings invades our deepest emergencies.
Notice also Jesus’ posture: he notices. He feels power leave him when the woman touches his cloak, he calls her by name, and he travels with Jairus to the house, entering the private sorrow. Jesus both pierces the crowd’s indifference and enters the family’s grief. His healing is personal and relational.
How should this shape our lives? It frees us to bring our desperate needs to Jesus without performance. It encourages us to reach in whatever way we can—public prayer, private petition, a symbolic act of faith—knowing Jesus sees and responds with compassion. It also reminds us that faith does not eliminate fear automatically; Jesus’ words to Jairus are not an invitation to bravado but to trust: don’t be dominated by fear—believe. Finally, the restored child is fed. Healing in Jesus’ work is holistic: spiritual, physical, relational. When Christ acts, he often calls his people not only to receive but to care for what is restored.
Putting Faith Into Action
- Bring your urgent needs to Jesus with simple honesty. If you’re afraid or ashamed, do what you can to reach—pray aloud, send a message to a trusted Christian, or symbolically place your hope before the Lord—and ask him to meet you in your weakness.
- Practice a two-fold faith: act boldly in bringing requests (like Jairus), and take small, courageous steps of faith when you feel too weak to do more (like the woman). Both are valid ways to reach Jesus; he notices and honors them.
- When Jesus responds, move toward restoration in practical ways. If you experience spiritual or physical relief, accept community support, rest, and practical care—Jesus commanded that the girl be fed. Faith often expects both a miracle and the ordinary work of rebuilding.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we bring our desperate places to you—our fear, our shame, our grief. Give us the faith to reach for you, whether boldly or trembling. Help us to trust your presence more than our reports, to hear your voice saying, "Don't be afraid, only believe," and to live into the restoration you give. Amen.
Memory Verse
Mark 5:36 — But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” (WEB)
“But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.””
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Bible Context
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Bible Context
Read all of Mark 5
Mark 5
World English Bible • WEB
1They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs.
3He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains,
4because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him.
5Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
6When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him,
7and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
8For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9He asked him, “What is your name?”
10He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding.
12All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”
13At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.
14Those who fed the pigs fled, and told it in the city and in the country.
15They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.
16Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs.
17They began to beg him to depart from their region.
18As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him.
19He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.”
20He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.
21When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea.
22Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet
23and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”
24He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides.
25A certain woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years,
26and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse,
27having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes.
28For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.”
29Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
33But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”
35While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”
36But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”
37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
38He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.
39When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
40They ridiculed him. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying.
41Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha cumi!” which means, being interpreted, “Girl, I tell you, get up!”
42Immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement.
43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat.
World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain