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A medical center in Edmonton, Canada, recently launched a pilot program to recruit and train volunteers who will serve as greeters in the emergency waiting area. The greeters' mission is to provide comfort and to support patients and family members who must often wait hours before being seen by one of the medical staff. This initiative was prompted by a survey that showed that customer satisfaction was especially low by those people who had to use the medical center's emergency facilities.
Nobody likes to wait, even under the best of circumstances. Waiting with a loved one who needs medical treatment is even more stressful. Imagine what it must have been like for Jairus as he waited for Jesus to help his daughter. According to the biblical text, she was already at the point of death when this synagogue ruler came to Jesus and pleaded for His help.
Jairus was a person of authority in the synagogue, serving as chairman or president of its board of elders, and he was used to being treated with deference. One dimension of Jairus's role as president of the synagogue was to discipline its members. It must have been especially difficult for him to wait while Jesus dealt with a woman in the crowd whose condition would have made her an outcast in his assembly.
While Jesus spoke to the woman who had just been healed, messengers arrived to tell Jairus that his daughter had in fact died. They seem to convey their news with a bluntness that's hard to explain. Perhaps they were frustrated because they had warned Jairus against seeking help from Jesus. They assumed that Jairus was now needlessly troubling Him, since his daughter was already dead.
The mourners at the house show a similar callousness, moving from weeping to laughter in a matter of minutes. Their attitude could indicate that at least some of them were professional mourners, hired for the occasion by the family. Or possibly they understood Jesus' statement to mean that He would raise the girl from
the dead—and they did not believe Him.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Jesus urged Jairus to take courage, saying, “Don't be afraid; just believe” (v. 36). Our Lord must have recognized that the delayed answer to Jairus's request was a breeding ground for doubt.
In the same way, we can be tempted to doubt when the answers to our prayers seem to be delayed. During the long wait it can bolster our faith to remember how God has answered our prayers in the past. If you keep a prayer journal, take the time to review God's answers to your requests.
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