No. 1.
“As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”— MARK 5:21-36
POOR Jairus! It was his only daughter, you see (Luke 8:42), and she lay a dying when he left the house. He had tried all means, you may be sure, and all had failed; but there was one hope left. What was that, do you think? If he could but find Jesus, Him of whose wondrous power he had heard, his beloved one might yet be saved. And he had found Him, and had fallen down in his deep distress at His feet, and had “besought Him greatly” to come and heal his child. Ah, he didn’t know Jesus! He needed no pressing. Jairus had but to tell his sorrow, and He was ready at once; nay, I doubt not He had crossed the sea on purpose.
What the poor father felt as he hastened on towards his home with the Great Deliverer beside him, a father’s anxious heart alone can tell. How glad he must have been! how grateful to Jesus for coming so readily! how anxiety and hope would in turns fill his soul, as he pressed on through the thoughtless crowd which “thronged” his gracious Companion! But, alas! just when the hope of seeing his dear child once more made well begins to cheer his drooping spirit, the terrible message comes, “Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?” How cruelly abrupt! What a heart that messenger must have had who could speak thus to a father, without a soothing word to prepare him for the sudden blow! And I think you may see also, that although the man speaks with seeming respect of “the Master” (or teacher), as he calls the Lord Jesus, there is secret contempt and opposition towards Him in his heart. It is as if he would say, “It’s of no use to bring Him any further; He can’t help you.” Poor Jew! he didn’t know Jesus, did he? He seems in such haste to hinder Jesus, if he can, from coming to the house at all, that he utters his hard, cold message as abruptly as possible, quite unconscious, it appears, that he has stabbed the poor father to the heart. Depend upon it, he had no liking for Jesus’ miracles of love and power. “But as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken,” before the stricken father could well feel the crashing force of the message, or utter a cry of pain, His precious sympathy, like a fountain welling over, is instantly in action. How beautiful is this! Quick to feel another’s woe, He anticipates the pang, and the ear, which had hardly yet drunk in the meaning of that bitter news, hears the gentle, loving voice of Jesus say, “Be not afraid, only believe;” and so, breathing words of comfort on his stricken heart, He goes with him to deliver.
“Thy sympathy, how precious!
Thou succourest in sorrow,
And bidet us cheer while pilgrims here,
And haste the hopeful morrow.”
Do you know what sympathy means? It means to feel with a person; not simply to feel for them, but so to enter into their sorrow or their joy as to feel as they feel. Thus we read, “Weep WITH them that weep.” (Rom. 12:15.) You see, it doesn’t say merely, “Weep for those that weep”— the hired mourners could do that (verse 38)— but “with them.” That is sympathy, and in the blessed Jesus you see it to perfection. Now every believer, young and old, has “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9, 10), and therefore can sympathize (feel) with another if he will; and if he does not, it is because that blessed Spirit is hindered or grieved. One may therefore well be sorry for a believer who shows little or no sympathy for others. There is something wrong, you may rely upon it. How is it, dear reader, with you?
K.