Jesus Raises Jairus’ Daughter

Scripture Reference:
Mark 5:21-43

Suggested Theme:
Jesus cares about the big and small things that happens to us. We can pray and know God listens.

Memory Verse: “We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), then God cares about what we say. God listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us the things that we ask from him.” 1 John 5:14-15, ICB

Story Overview:

A synagogue ruler named Jairus had a little girl who was dying. He begged Jesus to come to his house and heal her. Jesus agreed to accompany Jairus but was detained when He stopped to heal someone else. Meanwhile, the girl died. When Jesus arrived at the house, He told the mourners that the little girl was not dead but just “asleep.” They laughed at Him. Then, everyone was astonished as Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.

Background Study:

You can also read this story in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:41-56. It takes place on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, possibly at Capernaum. As usual, a large crowd gathered around Jesus to hear Him teach and to see what miracles He might do.

There are really two stories in this section of Scripture. One is the healing of Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter, and the other is the healing of a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. The second story takes place in the middle of the first. In today’s lesson, we will concentrate on Jairus’ story.

As ruler of the synagogue, Jairus was probably a much-respected person. The synagogue ruler’s responsibilities often included administration, looking after the building and/or supervising the worship. He was not a priest or rabbi, nor was he paid or supported by the synagogue. People chose their leader out of respect. Jairus must have loved his daughter very much to risk the respect of his Jewish peers and go to Jesus for help.

As a parent, it must have been very difficult to wait while Jesus tended to others. Jairus knew his daughter was dying, and yet he listened to Jesus refer to a woman He healed as “daughter” (Mark 5:34). While Jesus called the woman “daughter,” friends came to tell Jairus that it was too late – his daughter had died. They might have thought Jesus could help with the problem when the girl was alive, but now, since the girl was dead, the problem was just too big for Jesus.

Jesus knew what Jairus was feeling and told Him not to be afraid but to just believe. The fact that he continued along with Jesus shows that he did indeed believe.

Jews did not embalm or cremate their dead, so burials usually took place within twenty-four hours. Sometimes professional mourners (and flute players Matthew 9:23) were called in to wail and lament. They were all in Jairus’ house, ready to take part in the loud funeral procession that would lead to the place of burial. It seems that things were already underway when Jesus arrived. All of these people knew the difference between a sleeping person and a dead person. They just laughed when Jesus said the girl was “sleeping.” But Jesus knew He was about to “wake her up.” We know she was actually dead because her spirit had left her (Luke 8:55). Jesus put the mourners outside and invited the girl’s mother, father and the disciples He brought to go with Him.

“Talitha koum!” (“little girl, get up”) is in the original Aramaic language. This is the language the Jews spoke in the first century, and these are the words Jesus would have said.

Everyone was astonished and joyous when the little girl was raised from the dead. But the little girl must have just been bewildered. Jesus shows sensitivity when asking someone to get her something to eat.

Way to Introduce the Story:

Show the children how to take their pulse and listen to their heartbeat. Discuss that these are signs that a person is still alive. The children will probably have seen some rescue-type shows on television in which rescuers are able to get a person to start breathing again. Even if rescue attempts had been performed on the little girl in today’s story, they would not have worked. She was dead. People were already getting ready for her funeral.
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The Story:

Many people gathered around Jesus to hear Him preach and to watch Him do miracles. There were old people and young people, rich people and poor people. Some people were sick, and others just wanted to listen.

One man who came to Jesus was named Jairus. A lot of people knew Jairus because Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue. Jairus’ job at the synagogue was to make sure that everything was ready when the people came to learn about God. Many people respected Jairus.

On this day, Jairus had a very big problem. His twelve-year-old daughter was at home in bed. His daughter was so sick she was about to die. Jairus had come to Jesus because he thought Jesus could make his daughter well again.

“Please, Jesus, come and put your hands on my daughter so that she can be well again!” Jairus begged Jesus.

So Jesus went with him. Jairus wanted them to hurry, but people kept crowding around, wanting Jesus to help them, too. Jairus waited while Jesus helped them.

Jairus saw his friends coming toward him. They looked very sad, and he knew they had bad news.

“Jairus you can stop trying to bother Jesus now. It is too late. Your daughter is dead,” the friends said.

Jairus was very sad. Jesus could have helped make his sick daughter well, but nobody could make a dead girl alive. That would be impossible!

When Jesus saw that Jairus was sad and afraid, He looked at him and said, “Don’t be afraid, Jairus; just believe.”

So Jesus, Jairus, Peter, James and John left the crowd and kept walking until they reached Jairus’ house. When they arrived, they heard lots of loud noise. People were crying and playing a kind of flute that people played at funerals. The dead daughter was lying down, and everyone was gathered around, feeling sad. Jesus told them to get out and quit all of the loud crying because the little girl was just sleeping.

Everyone laughed at Jesus because they knew that the little girl was dead. She had already stopped breathing, and her heart was not beating. Everyone left the room except for Jesus, His disciples and the girl’s parents.

Jesus took the girl by the hand and said, “Talitha koum!” which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’

Guess what! The little girl immediately got up and began to walk around. Jesus told the people to bring some food for the girl.

Everyone was astonished when they saw the girl walk around. Jesus made a dead girl alive again. Jesus could do anything!
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Ways to Tell the Story:

This story can be told using a variety of methods. Always remain true to the facts found in the Bible but help children connect to its meaning by using drama, visual aids, voice inflection or other group participation.
Click here for visual aids and story-telling methods.

Click here to download these illustrations and the slideshow. Be selective. Each teacher is unique, so only use the illustrations that best relate to how YOU tell the story in THIS lesson. Too many illustrations can be confusing, so eliminate any that cover other stories or details you do not wish to emphasise in this lesson.

Review and Reflection Questions:

Review questions help children remember and know the facts of a story, while reflection questions encourage them to internalize its meaning and implications for their lives. Asking at least one of each type of question can help strengthen a child’s spiritual development and help them connect to God. Click here to learn more about review and reflection questions.

Review:

1. What was the name of the synagogue leader who asked Jesus to come and heal his little girl who was dying? (Jairus)
2. Why did it take Jesus so long to get to Jairus’ house? (He was healing another woman)
3. What happened while Jesus was healing the woman? (Jairus’ daughter died)
4. What did Jesus tell Jairus when he realized his daughter was dead? (“Don’t be afraid, just believe”)
5. What did the mourners do when Jesus said Jairus’ daughter was sleeping? (Laughed at Him)
6. What did Jesus do to bring the girl back to life? (He took her hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”)
7. How old was Jairus’ little girl when Jesus raised her from the dead? (Twelve years old)
8. What did Jesus tell the little girl and her parents to do? (Give the little girl something to eat and tell no one what had happened)
9. What did Jairus learn from this miracle?
10. What does this story teach you about God? What does it teach you about Jesus?

Reflection:

1. How do you think Jairus felt when Jesus stopped to heal someone else instead of hurrying to heal his daughter?
2. Why do you think Jesus stopped to heal the woman?
3. What do you think the mourners in Jarius’ house sounded like?
4. If you were one of the mourners, and Jesus told everyone that the girl was asleep, not dead, would you have laughed? What would you have done?
5. How do you think the little girl felt when Jesus brought her back to life?
6. Why do you think Jesus told the girl and her parents not to tell anyone about the miracle?
7. How would you have celebrated Jesus’ miracle if you were Jairus and his family?
8. What kind of things can we ask Jesus for help with? (Emphasise that the children can ask Jesus for help with anything, whether small or big. Ex: help with food, shelter, medicine, tests, friendships, being afraid, etc.)
9. Jesus cared very much about Jairus and his daughter. When Jairus asked for help, Jesus wanted to help him. What do you need help with? (Suggestion: pray and ask Jesus to help with these things)
10. What questions do you have about prayer?

Prayer:

It is important to guide children in learning how to pray. In prayer, children can connect with God and learn that He hears and answers them. God can become a life-long friend who is with them every moment of their lives. Try using a variety of prayer methods from time to time so that the children can learn to connect with God in different ways. Note that you can pray at any time throughout your lesson. A variety of prayer methods are found here.

Song Suggestions:

• J-E-S-U-S Cheer Song
• Cast Your Burdens
• The Potato Chip Song.
• Refer to the Song Page on this website for more options.

Activities and Crafts:

(How to choose the best learning activities for my teaching situation)

Activities:

• This is a good story to act out. Re-enacting the death of the girl could include checking for a pulse, breathing or a heartbeat. Children will enjoy playing the parts of the professional mourners so they can dramatically wail and lament.
• Divide the children into two teams. Give each team a bowl of popcorn or some sort of lollies (candy). Give the teams a few minutes to confer among themselves. When the teacher says “go”, the first team has five seconds to say something Jesus did that would have seemed impossible to those around Him (they can think back on earlier lessons this term). If they can say it in five seconds, then all team members get to eat a bite of popcorn. If they can’t, then the other team gets to eat a bite of their popcorn. Teams take turns until all the popcorn is gone.
• Before today’s session, write the memory verse (1 John 5:14-15) on a large piece of paper. Cut the paper into pieces like a puzzle. Hide the puzzle pieces around the room. When you say “go”, the children will go find the pieces and put them together to form the puzzle.
• Play “hangman” using words from the memory verse or from today’s story.
• Invite the children to respond to this story using the adaptable “God’s Story” printable reflection page. Free printables for this story.

Crafts:

• Guide children in making prayer cards. Children write prayer requests on index cards or thick paper and take them home as prayer reminders. For more information and ideas, follow the link to Prayer Cards.
• Print bookmarks, trading cards or timelines (printable pages).
• Visit the Teaching Ideas page for additional activities and crafts.

Other Online Resources:

• Colouring page with text (Ministry Spark)
• Colouring page (Sermon 4 kids)
• Craft to print (Jesus without language)
• Printable craft for the story of Jairus’ daughter (Jesus without language)
• More activities (Children’s church)
• Skit: This is a fairly simple skit with good banter between characters. It could be done with just two narrators or actually acted out with several actors. (Dramatix)

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