“Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old).”
Mark 5:42
Today we talked about “the woman who touched” in Mark 5 - about how she pushed through her pain, poverty, public disgrace, private prison and progressive death sentence to carry out a wild plan: put on on a costume, sneak through the crowd on Main Street in Capernaum, get close enough to Jesus to grab the tassel on His prayer shawl - because maybe, just maybe, His power would be contagious like everyone thought her problem was.
And it worked! She was healed and what’s more, Jesus called her his daughter. It was beautiful and filled with hope for all of us who wear our costumes to cover up our own problems.
But wait! There’s something super cool we didn’t get to - a number. Specifically, the number 12.
The story starts with Jairus - a rich, important, well-connected man who asked for Jesus’ help. Turns out he had a daughter at home who was so sick she was dying. He begged Jesus to come to his house and heal her. Jesus said yes and the excited crowd made their way to Jairus’ place.
The problem was that at a certain point, Jesus stopped. He paused. He wanted to know who touched Him. Can you imagine what Jairus was feeling in that moment? If I was the dad of a dying little girl, I would be furious! I would be frustrated, confused and filled with anxiety. He had to be thinking, “Who cares who touched you! We have to GO. We should have already been there! Don’t stop. Don’t pause. Let’s move!” But Jesus did stop and pause and He had a whole public conversation with this woman who had been suffering and was now healed because of her gutsy gamble of grabbing Jesus’ garment.
I know what it’s like to be frustrated with Jesus and His timing. Do you? I know what it’s like to wish Jesus acted faster and more along the lines of your personal desires. But this scene was actually really important for Jairus. I don’t know for sure, but it’s possible that in Jairus’ frustration he could have thought to himself, “Look Jesus, I know you’re single and childless. You’re amazing and all, but you don’t know what it’s like to be a father. You don’t know how it feels to have a sick daughter at home. You don’t know what it’s like to have a twelve year old little girl who you love dying in front of you.”
Mark tells us that after the woman who touched was healed, she told her whole story - about how she had been progressively getting worse - daily dying for twelve years. At the end of her story, Jesus said something to her (in front of Jairus) that He never said to anyone else. Jesus called her His daughter. Whoa. After Jesus went to Jairus’ house and raised his little girl from the dead, Mark slips us this tiny detail we better not miss - she was twelve years old. Jesus was letting Jairus know, “I have a daughter too. You have a 12 year old daughter suffering and at the same time, my daughter has been suffering for 12 years. I know what you’re going through better than you can possibly understand. Hang in there and trust me.” Whatever you’re facing, He gets it. He understands. He knows how it feels and He knows exactly how He’s going to make it all right in the end.