Earnestly Approach Jesus

Mark 5:21-24 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.
 
THE people of the Gerasenes didn’t want Jesus. The people of Capernaum did. At the beginning of his gospel, Mark told how people earnestly came to the Jordan to repent and be baptized. This was to prepare to see the Savior. And when the Savior came, the news spread. People are amazed to hear that the Teacher and the Healer is among them. They can touch the man whose words calmed the wind and the waves. Huge crowds earnestly seek him. God’s people are starving for the Bread of Life. They are parched for the Living Water. They are lost for lack of a Good Shepherd. In Jesus they see the One who can fill their spiritual hunger, ease their hopeless thirst and guide their lost lives.
   Then Jairus came with his desperate need. One of Capernaum’s highest officials pleads with Jesus. His daughter is dying. The synagogue ruler earnestly needs the one who can heal all diseases! This high-ranking man goes down on his knees. Jairus pleads for his daughter’s life, “Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." He has no doubt Jesus will save his daughter. How different Jairus was from some synagogue rulers and Pharisees who went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:14)
   How did Jairus gain the faith for such an earnest prayer? Surely, it was the Holy Spirit who moved Jairus to this faith. So let’s understand how the Spirit did so.
   In Mark 1-3, we read of Jesus being in the synagogue in Capernaum. He taught with authority: Mark 1:22 One time the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Jesus then exorcised a demon. Mark 1:25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” Another Sabbath he healed a man with a shriveled hand. Mark 3:5 “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
   Jairus was the synagogue ruler. He witnessed. He learned. He believed. Now a great test came to his belief. His daughter needed him. Would he succumb to the unbelieving Pharisees’ pressure? Or would he submit to the Holy God? He knew what he had seen. His love for his daughter stirred him to trust the power of the Living God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
   How do you go to Jesus? Do you think, “I’ll pray once and wait to see if anything happens.” “If I have time, I’ll read some Bible today.” Is he your main thought or an afterthought?
   The evidence is clear. Listen to the Bible’s testimonies of his work. Hear from people he has healed. You need him, too, to fill you, quench your thirst and lead you to healing. He deserves your full attention.