Jairus's Daughter Bible story for kids

A boat was coming back across the water. Back over the Sea of Galilee, with Jesus inside. All the way to the other side again.

And on the shore, a great crowd was gathering. The Bible says they were all waiting for him.

Imagine the boat bumping up onto the shore, and Jesus stepping out beside the water. And all those people coming close.

Then a man came. His name was Jairus.

Jairus was a leader at the synagogue. That was the meeting house where the people of his town gathered to pray, and to hear God's word read out loud. An important man.

But when Jairus saw Jesus, he fell down at his feet. Right there, by the lake.

And he begged and begged. "My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live."

His little daughter. His only daughter, another Gospel says. And she was very, very sick.

The Bible doesn't tell us anything Jesus said just then. It only tells us what he did.

He went with him.

So off they went, up from the lake. And the whole crowd came too. The Bible says they pressed upon him on all sides.

Squash. Squeeze. Shuffle. Shoulders bumping. Sandals treading on sandals. Like a whole town trying to fit through one doorway, all at the same time.

Now, somewhere in that crowd was a woman.

The Bible doesn't tell us her name. But it tells us this. She had been sick for twelve years. Twelve whole years. She had gone to doctor after doctor. She had spent all the money she had. And she didn't get better. She only got worse.

But she had heard about Jesus. And she had a plan. A quiet plan, all to herself.

"If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well."

So she came up behind him, in the middle of all that squeezing and pushing. And she reached out one hand... and touched the edge of his cloak.

And immediately, she felt it. Right there in her body, she knew. She was well.

And immediately, Jesus knew something too. Deep inside himself, he knew that power had gone out from him.

He stopped. He turned around in the crowd. "Who touched my clothes?"

And his friends said, "You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'"

Everybody was touching him! Elbows, and sleeves, and bumping shoulders, all the way along the road.

But Jesus kept looking. The Bible says he looked around to see her.

And the woman came. She was trembling. She fell down in front of him, and she told him the whole truth.

And Jesus said, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

Daughter. That's what Jesus called her. Almost the very same word Jairus had used for his own little girl.

And while Jesus was still speaking, some people came from Jairus's house.

They had very sad news. His little girl had died.

But Jesus heard. And immediately, he spoke to Jairus.

"Don't be afraid, only believe."

Then Jesus let only three of his friends come with him. Peter, the fisherman. And two brothers, named James and John. This was a different John, not the John who baptized people at the river.

When they came to Jairus's house, it was very noisy. Lots of people were there, crying very loudly.

And Jesus said, "Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep."

Now, the little girl really had died. Everybody in that house knew it. So why did Jesus say she was asleep? I think it's because he knew what he was about to do. For Jesus, this was not the end of her story.

And the people laughed at him.

So Jesus sent them all outside. Every one.

Then he took the girl's father, and her mother, and Peter, and James, and John. And they went in to where the little girl was lying.

And now it was quiet. One small room. A mother. A father. Three friends. And Jesus.

Jesus took the little girl by the hand.

And he spoke to her in his own everyday language. The Bible kept the very sounds he said, so we can hear them, too. Listen.

"Talitha cumi!"

That means, "Girl, I tell you, get up!"

And immediately, the girl got up. And she walked!

The Bible tells us why she could walk. She was twelve years old. Not a little baby at all. A big girl.

Twelve years old. And do you remember the woman in the crowd? Sick for twelve years. That's how long this little girl had been alive. Every single day of her life.

And the Bible says everybody in that room was "amazed with great amazement."

Amazed, with great amazement! Amazed, and then amazed some more.

Then Jesus told them, very firmly, not to tell anyone. And then he told them one more thing. Something very ordinary.

He told them to give her something to eat.

After all that wonder, Jesus thought about her tummy.

The Bible doesn't say what she ate. Maybe a warm bowl of something. Maybe a handful of figs. But I like to imagine her sitting there, eating, with her mother and father beside her, watching every single bite.

A woman whose name the Bible doesn't even tell us. A little girl in a quiet room. On the very same day, Jesus had time for both of them.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Night-night, little one. May the same God who took a little girl by the hand, said "Get up," and then made sure she had something to eat... be with you when you get up in the morning, and think about your breakfast, too.