The Journey of Jarius

There's a way of reading the Bible that is popular among Catholics, but less so among Protestants. Rather than seeking to analyse and dissect the text for the author's intent, you try to imagine yourself as a person in the scene.

This can be dangerous.

After all, you can imagine all sorts and use this as a way to justify your own beliefs that have zero biblical basis. At the same time, it can engage a different part of our minds and help a message sink deeper into our hearts.

After reading the healing of Jarius' daughter to my kids last night, I started using this method to meditate on the passage. It made something stick to me that I had never noticed before.

Jarius went on a real rollercoaster ride

Imagine coming to Jesus as Jarius.

Your daughter is very ill, so ill that you know you need a miracle. Amazingly, there's a man in town who IS a miracle worker! You have hope that if he can come, your daughter might be okay. You just need to find him and convince him to come.

When you do find him, he agrees! Now he just needs to heal her in time.

You're rushing through the crowds, but he stops. Maybe you start to stress worrying if you'll get to your daughter on time. Then, you hear that Jesus healed a woman just like that! She touched him, and she was healed. You heard him say, "Your faith has healed you". Now you feel more confident! As long as you get to your daughter in time.

But then you hear the news — she's dead.

You took too long. Maybe if that woman hadn't stopped Jesus. Maybe if you'd got there sooner. It was always a long shot...

Then Jesus says these words

Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

You remember that he told the woman her faith had healed her. Could Jesus really do it? Elijah had raised the widow's son; maybe Jesus could raise your daughter.

So you dare to continue to believe. You return home, and Jesus heals your daughter.

The hope and fear of the woman's healing

I'd noticed the healing of the woman who had constant bleeding before, but I hadn't thought about how Jarius must have felt at that moment.

He's both seeing Jesus' power at work, giving him hope, while receiving news that it's too late for his daughter. I can imagine it feeling crushing. Your hopes were raised only to be brought to new lows.

I could so easily imagine someone hearing Jesus say she will be healed and think "no, sorry. We're too late." and then blame Jesus for helping someone else. After all, it's easy to see around us.

The ups and downs of healing today

Like many charismatic Christians, I've seen healings — big and small.

I was healed of a broken bone. I had friends healed of small injuries and sicknesses. Friends have had serious injuries (even a chronic neck one) and then recovered miraculously.

These moments feel like the healing of the woman — signs of God's kingdom at work today.

But I've also known crushing moments when a person in church has a terminal diagnosis. When we really need a miracle, and fast. When we pray every day with tears in our eyes for God to remove this illness.

And then we hear the worst news: they have passed away.

We could so easily blame God. Asking

• Why didn't he act?
• Why didn't he heal?
• Why did he heal someone else but not this person?

We could lose faith.

But Jarius didn't.

Jarius heard Jesus' promise and held on to it — even though it seemed impossible.

Having the faith of Jarius

A couple of years ago, I preached on "unanswered prayer". It was a mostly academic exercise at that time.

A year later, it came up again, but this time it was personal. My sister had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we needed a miracle.

That miracle never came. Last month, she passed away.

I hope and pray you never have to go through such a loss, but we will all have to deal with death at some point in our lives.

It would be easy to doubt. To think "that's it" and give up on God and faith. The harder thing is to have the same faith Jarius had. To know that God is good. To trust that he does heal. And to know that in the resurrection, we will see the answers to those prayers.

If you are going through a tough time, I pray you can have that same faith.