Bible Lessons for the Little Ones

 •  6 min. read  •  grade level: 6
 
(Read Matt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:25-43.)
YOU remember, dear children, that, when the centurion at Capernaum wanted the Lord Jesus to come and heal that servant who was so dear to him, he asked some of the chief men of the Jews to go and beg the Lord to come to him. It may be that the "ruler" mentioned in this chapter was one of those "elders of the Jews" who went with the centurion's message. If so, he must have heard the words which Jesus spoke when He said to the centurion, "Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
“There came a certain ruler, and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live." Mark and Luke tell us that the name of this "ruler of the synagogue" was Jairus, and we learn, too, from Luke that the child now at the point of death was his only daughter. The Lord Jesus went with Jairus at once; He was always ready for anyone who really needed Him. Remember, dear children, that He is just the same now as He was then; though the place in which He is is so different, He has not changed, so we may be quite sure that He is ready to help any little child who has learned that he cannot do without Him. This poor child needed more than help from Him—she needed life—for soon a message came to Jairus to tell him that it was too late for any cure; his little daughter was dead, and so it was of no use to trouble the Master any further.
“But when Jesus heard, it He answered him, saying, Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole." He was "the Resurrection and the Life," and so it was as easy for Him to give back life to this child as it would have been to heal her, as He did so many others. But why did He delay on the way? Perhaps He could have been in time to find her still alive if He had not done so. Was it the crowd around Him that kept Him back? No, it was not the crowd, dear children, but one poor sick woman, who had found that she could not get on without Him. She had tried all the doctors she could find, and after all she was no better, but rather worse, and now she had nowhere else to go, so she went to the Lord Jesus.
Don't you think that every one in that crowd had heard of Him as one who could heal the sick and give sight to the blind? I am sure they had; but they looked at Him just as people do now at any one of whom they have heard much; and then they went away without receiving any blessing from Him. She went to Him because she needed Him, and she knew there was no hope for her except in Him, and so she touched the hem of His garment. This "hem" was a border or fringe, probably of bright blue mingled with white.
We read of many whom the Lord Jesus touched, and we know how His touch had made the leper clean, and how it had made the fever go away at once; but was it of any use, do you think, for the poor woman to touch Him? He had not called her to Him; He was going with Jairus, but did He, therefore, pass her by? Dear children, did He ever pass by any one that wanted Him? Was He ever too busy—He who calls Himself the Good Shepherd—to look after one stray sheep?
This poor woman had heard of His healing others, but now she had come to Him for herself; she had put forth her hand and touched His garment, and that one little trembling touch had made her quite well, for it was the Lord Jesus whom she had touched. She would have been quite glad to have gone away now that she was well; but the Lord wanted her to be not only well but quite happy, and so He said, "Who touched Me?" and when she had told Him everything, He said to her "Daughter, be of good comfort"— the very words He had used in speaking to the poor man of whom you read lately, who had been brought by his friends and laid before Him, "Be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Would not this poor woman have lost much if she had gone away without hearing Him say this? First she had heard that He had cured others, and she had thought, perhaps, He would cure her: now she was quite well and strong, and she found, too, that the One who had made her well was her Friend, that He loved her. She could tell other people now that He had cured her, and this was very different, was it not, from hearing of Him as One who could cure? Do you all, dear children, know the Lord Jesus in this way? Can each of you say "He loved me and gave Himself for me"?
But we must not forget the little girl in the ruler's house; the Lord had not forgotten her, though He had delayed a little on the way. When her father got that sad message about her, the Lord, for the first time, chose three of His disciples to go with Him, and they went to the ruler's house. These three were Peter, James, and John—do you remember any other times when He had these three with Him? When they came to the house they found the mourners already there, for in the East, as you may have heard, a funeral takes place just a few hours after death. This time the mourners were not needed, for Jesus took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, "Talitha cumi," which is, being interpreted, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise." Here again we have the touch of His hand. He comes to us just where we are; He comes close to us, and He loves to have us close to Him. He spoke to the little girl just as her mother would speak to her when she called her first in the morning. "And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years.”
The Lord had given back her life, and do you think that He was content to leave her there? No, He did not leave her until He had told the parents to give her something to eat—for life is a dependent thing; that means, it must be kept up. And just so it is with the life He gives us in our souls; He not only gives it, but He keeps it up. He takes care of us all the way. Why do you think He told the father and mother to give this child something to eat? Perhaps it was because they were so glad and so surprised to have her back again that they would have forgotten all about it. Even a father or a mother may forget sometimes, but you know the Lord Jesus never does forget.