Talitha cumi [Girl, Get Up]

The people of the world look on miracles with curiosity, or fall into unbelief once a miracle costs them something; the people of God, however, must have their hearts set firmly on the Word. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, laid aside his position and his pride to plead with Jesus to save his dying daughter. The woman with the discharge of blood was unclean, and she came forward in fear, yet she believed that if she only touched his clothes she would be made well.

Jesus rose above both the eyes of the crowd and the purity regulations of the law. The touch of an unclean woman could not defile his power; instead, he gave her life. When he sees faith that clings to him earnestly and a heart that is sincere, he answers, and in answering he reveals his glory.

Yet when word came that his daughter had died, the gratitude in Jairus’s heart turned to anger, and his faith was shaken. To show that he is the Lord of life, who raises the dead, Jesus commanded the girl, “Talitha cumi! Girl, get up!” Even where despair looks like death, the place becomes a place of life once the word of Jesus is proclaimed, and so the faithful must hold to faith instead of fear.