Luke 8:40-42a

Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.

What would you give for the life of a loved one?

In some ways, this is a ridiculous question. The answers are simultaneously: anything and I don’t know, it’s too hard to think about.

That’s the situation Jairus is in. Luke tells us that he is a leader of the synagogue. More than that, we learn that he falls at Jesus’ feet – a mark of supplication and not something leaders usually do. And that he begs Jesus to come to his house – a mark of desperation and something leaders definitely don’t do.

But he does. Because it’s his daughter. His only daughter. And she’s dying.

It’s conventional wisdom that religion grows best in situations of distress or oppression. The cynical would say that’s because when we are desperate we will try anything, even believe things that most of the time we find too outlandish to believe.

But I wonder if it might instead be that when we are desperate we take a better measure of things. We see more clearly the fragility and preciousness of life until suddenly things like our pride or position or status or power – those things that consume far too much of our attention under normal circumstances – don’t really matter anymore and we are willing to recognize our dependence on others and on God.

We have no idea what Jairus was like before this tragedy. We only know that in his hour of absolute need, when the life of his beloved daughter hangs in the balance, nothing else matters, and he is eager to receive Jesus’ help.

And that, as we’ll see, is enough.

Prayer: Dear God, you desire always and only to be in relationship with us. We may only come your way in times of need, but even then you will neither forsake nor forget us. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.