Day 24 | Jairus’ Daughter

Read Mark 5:21-24, 35-43

In this famous miracle from the book of Mark, Jesus raises a little girl from the dead. A local synagogue leader, Jairus, comes to Jesus as He is teaching and begs Him to save his daughter. As He is speaking, a man comes and informs Jairus that his daughter is dead. Jesus assures him, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36). Jesus goes to Jairus’ house and finds his daughter there, dead. Jesus took her hand and told her to get up, and immediately she did.

Jesus did not have to raise this little girl from the dead. He could have continued teaching or comforted the man without performing a miracle. But He saw an opportunity to teach an important lesson. A leader of the synagogue had come to Him for help. Many synagogue leaders at this time were also Pharisees, who were among Jesus’ staunchest enemies. The humility and desperation required for Jairus to approach Jesus with a request as important as healing his daughter were immense. So Jesus made a display of His power beyond what even the highest religious leaders could perform.

On Day 20’s devotional, we saw how Jesus was superior to our civil authorities. Now we see his superiority to the religious authorities as well. We see how even those who led the people spiritually needed to rely on a higher power for works to be performed. From this we learn that only Jesus has the authority to save us, no other religious authority can do so, and for that we give Him all glory and honor. We respect all the authorities He has placed over us, but we know that all true religious authority belongs to Him.

Pray for 10 minutes