Mark 5:23
And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, fell at Jesus' feet and urgently begged Him to come lay His hands on his little daughter who lay dying, trusting that touch would heal her so she would live. The most learned physicians had given her up to die. His heartbroken cry touched Christ's tender sympathetic heart with compassion, and Jesus at once set out with him toward his home a short distance away. Though the pressing crowd made their progress very slow while the anxious father feared being too late, Jesus heard that needy cry and raised the girl from the dead.
Jairus's Desperate Plea
The cry in the verse is that of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, a Jewish ruler and rabbi. He came to Jesus while Jesus sat at table in the house of Levi, faint and weary from teaching and healing, with people still pressing about the door bringing the sick, the deformed and the lunatic. His little daughter lay at the point of death and was dying.
The most learned physicians had given her up to die. Falling at Jesus' feet, he besought Him greatly in an urgent, heartbroken and distressed appeal. He asked Jesus to come and lay His hands on her that she might be healed and she shall live.
That asking expressed a distressed father's faith in Jesus' power to heal her by that touch.
Christ's Compassionate Response
The heartbroken petition of the distressed father for his dying daughter touched the tender, sympathetic heart of Christ and moved Him with compassion and willingness to help, for He does not overlook the needs of the humblest. Jesus at once answered the entreaty and set out and went with him toward his home a short distance away. That ready compliance surprised the disciples because Jairus was a haughty ruler, showing that even a synagogue ruler's appeal received His ready response.
Their progress was very slow because the crowd pressed on every side eager to see Him and beg His attention and aid, while the anxious father pushed through fearful of being too late. Jesus, pitying the people and deploring their spiritual darkness and physical maladies, stopped now and then to minister to their wants though nearly carried off His feet by the surging masses. His divine nature joined with human nature was so finely wrought that the least touch of faith brought a response, and hearing that needy cry He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. After raising her He showed thoughtful care for the simplest things of daily life by telling her parents to give her something to eat, teaching order and economy and faithfulness in little things and giving nurses and physicians an example of attention to small needs. Those He raised in His ministry, including Jairus' daughter, afterward remained subject to death and decay, unlike the saints raised at Christ's resurrection, who receive everlasting life.