For the first part of this work in progress click HERE. For the second part, click HERE.
This is a work in process and there will most likely be typos and changes to it in the future.
The busy sounds of people rushing by to complete their daily chores quieted as Jairus pushed the door to the synagogue closed. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to quiet his racing thoughts.
Jairus focused on the words he had said to Josefa the night after the teacher had healed her.
Healed her? Brought her back to life?
Is that really what had happened?
Even now it was all too unbelievable to him.
He wondered, did he really believe this man, this Jesus was the true Messiah as he had told Josefa?
Maybe he had been wrong to say so. He’d spent his whole life studying the scrolls, learning of Moses and Elijah, about the prophecies of the Messiah. Now here he was almost completely convinced the man he had followed in the street, begging for him to come and heal his only daughter was indeed the Messiah. He knew he was being ridiculed behind his back by the other leaders of the synagogue for asking for Jesus’ help but he couldn’t deny what he had witnessed that day.
He remembered Josefa’s fever and how she’d no longer been able to stand. Miriam, his wife, had soaked cloth and laid it across Josefa’s forehead, hoping the cool water from the stream would revive her. For days they sat by her cot, holding her hand, Miriam weeping as Josefa moaned and faded in and out of consciousness.
“You know I told you about this teacher, this man they call Jesus? Miriam, are you listening? He’s been healing people. I saw him heal a man’s hand in the synagogue last week. The leaders were upset because it was the sabbath, but I saw the man’s hand. It was diseased, scarred, withered but Jesus held it, touched it and the hand was whole again.”
Miriam dabbed her eyes with her shawl as her husband spoke, barely listening as she watched her daughter’s breathing become more and more shallow. Dark circles were now under Josefa’s eyes.
“I will go to him, ask him to come,” Jairus was speaking again. He was pacing the floor, rubbing and pulling at the hairs of his beard as he always did when thoughts overwhelmed him.
“Do we now believe in such men who call themselves healers?” Miriam asked, weary from worry.
Josefa’s body shuddered with a convulsion. Miriam rushed to her, held the girl’s small frame against her chest. Josefa’s breathing became labored, shallow. Jairus saw the panic in his wife’s eyes and felt it rising in himself as well.
“We are losing her! Go! Go to this teacher and ask him to come!” Miriam’s voice was filled with fear. “He’s our only hope now!”
Jairus’ heart pounded as he ran from the house, out onto the crowded paths, pushing his way through travelers and locals and animals being led to market. He could see a crowd around a man in front of him. They were all moving one direction, calling out “Jesus!” Questions were being asked, some voices mocked, some sounded hopeful.
An image of Josefa’s pale frame flashed in Jairus’ mind and he tried to move faster, pushing more people aside. His chest felt tight, his breath more labored. Was this man he was trying to reach a heretic as the synagogue leaders and other rabbis said? What if he was crazy like the man who was called John the Baptist, who was covered in dirt and smelled and had spoke of a healer and prophet who would come to save the Jews?
Jairus’ foot caught a stone and he felt himself falling. The sand flew into his face and pebbles cut at his palms. As he pushed himself up he felt tears hot and stinging his eyes. He would never reach Jesus now.
He saw sandal clad feet before him and looked up.
“Let me help you,” a man with kind eyes and a smile held a hand out to him.
Jairus took it and stood slowly.
“Thank you,” he barely looked at the man, instead searching the crowd to see where Jesus had gone.
“Do you seek Jesus?” The man asked.
“Yes,” Jairus said, breathless.
“Come. I’m one of his followers. I will help you to him.”
Jairus looked at the man, noticed his unkempt beard and slightly frayed clothes. He nodded at him, seeing kindness and concern in his gaze.
The man gently touched the shoulders of those around them and people began to move aside. Ahead of them Jairus saw Jesus had paused and turned to the crowd. His eyes focused on Jairus who suddenly felt unsure, uneasy. Jairus dropped his gaze to the ground, overwhelmed with worry for his daughter and overwhelmed with the presence of a man who had performed so many miracles. His body felt weak from running, from being awake for so many days watching over his daughter.
He felt his knees give way and he fell to the ground before Jesus.
Sobs wracked his body as he lost control of control his emotions.
“Jesus,” he gasped out the name.
A sob choked his words and he thought he wouldn’t be able to finish.
“Jesus, my little girl is dying. Please. Come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
He felt tears rush down his face and he was startled by emotions he usually tried to keep locked inside.
He felt a hand on his head, on the covering he wore there.
“Come, rise and let us go to her,” Jesus voice was calm, gentle.
His followers helped Jairus to his feet and Jesus motioned for him to lead the way to his home. The crowd surged around Jesus and they all began to move with him, as if one combined force, following Jairus. Several moments of chaos followed and Jairus felt a rush of frustration as the crowd pushed between him and Jesus.
“Jesus! What does God ask of us?”
“Jesus, what happens when we die?”
“Jesus, will I find wealth?”
People cried out as they walked. They pushed against each other, each person wanting to get closer to the man so many were talking about.
“Who touched me?”
Jairus faintly heard Jesus’ voice over the noise of the crowd but he could barely hear what he was saying. He tried to push forward in the crowd, looking over his shoulder every few steps to see if Jesus was following.
“I felt power go from me,” Jesus spoke louder to one of his followers. He stopped and turned to look behind him. “Who has touched me?”
The people in the crowd murmured and grew quiet. Jairus stopped to see why Jesus wasn’t following.
“Master, there are people all around you and you are asking ‘who touched me?’” one of Jesus’ disciples laughed slightly as he spoke. His tone was incredulous, tinged with annoyance.
Jairus knew this was the man called Peter – a local fisherman who now followed Jesus. Many whispered surprise Peter, known as brash and abrupt, was following a teacher of God.
“Somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out from me,” Jesus said.
His eyes scanned the crowd around him but no one answered. They looked at each other confused and unsure why Jesus was concerned.
A woman’s voice could be heard softly, barely above a whisper.
“It was me.”
“Who is speaking?” One of Jesus’ disciples asked. “Please, come forward. Answer the teacher.”
The crowd moved aside and a woman, head down, moved toward the front. She dropped to her knees, her head bowed low, her clothes tattered and stained. She clutched her hands before her and tears dripped off her face and into the dirt.
Jairus felt anxious. He wanted to grab Jesus by the arm and drag him forward, back to his house and his daughter, but at the same time he was entranced by the scene unfolding before him.
The woman glanced upwards at Jesus.
“It was me,” she said softly.
“I knew if I could just touch the hem of your robe…”
Her gaze fell again on the ground.
“I’ve been to every doctor. I’ve been bleeding for 12 years. No one will come near me, teacher. I am unclean.”
Some in the audience winced and a few stepped away from her, covering their mouths.
Tears continued to stream down her face.
“I have tried everything. I heard of your miracles and I knew – if I just touched the hem..”
Her fingertips grazed the edge of his robe again. She could barely speak as she sobbed.
“Master, the bleeding. I can feel- it’s stopped. Something is … something is …..different.”
Jairus felt his heart pounding heart and fast. If this woman was sure she had been healed, if she was saying simply touching the hem of his garment was enough to heal her then he was indeed a powerful man, a messenger of God. If healing flowed from him so easily then there was hope for Josefa.
Jesus kneeled before the woman, reached out and took her hands in his. He touched her chin and lifted her face toward his.
“Daughter, your faith has made you well.”
Jesus kissed her forehead gently and wiped the tears from her face. He stood and helped her to stand with him.
“Go in peace.”
A sob escaped her lips and she kissed Jesus’ hand as she held it. She backed slowly away.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
A hush had settled over the crowd. Some of the women dabbed their eyes and men talked quietly to each other, shaking their heads with furrowed eyebrows.
Jairus felt a sense of urgency rushing through him, tensing his muscles. He needed Jesus to hurry. He felt at hope at what he had seen and he wanted the same for his Josefa and his family.
“Jesus, my daughter… please …”
Jesus turned toward him and nodded.
“Of course, let us go…”
Jairus felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Josiah, his servant from home, standing next to him, his face stained with tears and dirt.
“Master, there is no need to hurry now. Josefa-“ his voice trailed off and Jairus began to shake his head.
“There is no need to bother the master now,” Josiah said. “She’s – “
“No! No!” Jairus wouldn’t let him finish.
He felt bile rushing up into his throat and his hands began to shake. He pressed his hands to his head, as if trying to wake himself from a dream.
“Josefa…” he felt the tears hot on his face and he clutched his robe against him as pain seared through his chest. “Oh God. God help me.”
He looked up as Jesus touched his arm.
“Do not be afraid. Believe.”
Jesus’ eyes were kind but Jairus’ mind was reeling. If only Jesus had moved faster. If only that woman hadn’t stopped them. Josefa would still be alive and her laughter would still fill their home.
“She’s gone,” he told Jesus. “We cannot save her now. You can not heal her. If only – ”
Jesus looked over Jairus’ shoulder, his gaze moving above the crowd.
“Come, lead me to your home.”
Jairus did as Jesus told him but his legs felt as if they were weighted down. Before they even reached the corridor where his home was he could hear the wailing and knew mourning had already begun.
Mourners were outside the home, trying to comfort Miriam, who was clearly in shock as she pulled at her clothes and repeated “no. no. no.”
Jairus rushed toward his wife, grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her against him. She clutched at his clothes and shoved her face into his chest.
“She’s gone. She’s gone. Oh, Jairus. Our little girl is gone.”
Jesus pushed forward in the crowd. He laid his hand against Miriam’s back to comfort her.
“There is no need for tears,” he said with a gentle firmness. “The girl is not dead. She is merely sleeping.”
An angry voice shouted over the noise of the crowd.
“She’s dead! You give these people false hope!” a man shouted. “You are a liar and a fool! Like all who have come before you!”
Other voices joined in agreement.
“You say you can heal but you only bring hallow promises to these people,” a man sneered.
Jesus stood with his back to the crowd, kneeling down beside Miriam and Jairus.
“Send these people away and come inside with me,” he instructed. “Peter, James, John, come with me.”
Jairus opened his eyes to the sound of someone moving inside the temple, interrupting his thoughts and memories of that day.
“Jairus? Is that you?”
He recognized the voice of Ezra, another leader in the synagogue.
“Yes, Ezra. Good morning.”
Ezra walked toward him holding scrolls.
“Have you come to help me organize these for the scribes?” his mouth lifted in a wry smile.
“I did not but I am glad to help,” Jairus said returning the smile.
The men laid the scrolls on the table next to a bottle of ink.
“I do not know how so much has become in disarray in here – and outside,” Ezra said.
He looked at is friend and noticed Jairus was pulling at his beard, as he often did when deep in thought.
“Tell me, Jairus. How is Josefa recovering?”
Jairus smiled. “Well. She is well. It is – dare I say it? A miracle indeed.”
Ezra nodded but his expression grew serious.
“Jairus, I must ask you – I’ve heard many talk of what happened with Josefa. Is it true, what they say? Was she dead before Jesus arrived?”
Jairus felt his muscles tense. He was unsure what Ezra hoped to learn with his questions. He pondered how to answer, but knew telling the truth might encourage Ezra to help him understand more what had happened.
“Miriam and her hand maiden said there was no breath. She was cold when I entered the home and I felt no heartbeat beneath my hand. Her skin –“ he felt his breath catch in his throat and he paused to choke back emotion. He shook his head as if to shake the image from his mind. “Her skin was pale, tinged with blue. And… so cold.”
Ezra put his hand on his friend’s arm and squeezed it slightly.
“You’ve been through much, my friend,” Ezra said.
He opened a scroll to read it’s contents, rolled it again and stuck it back in a space in the temple wall.
“What do you believe happened that day?” Ezra asked.
“I don’t know, friend. I truly don’t. All I know is she was gone and when Jesus came she arose at his bidding. He took her hand and instructed her to rise and live and she did.”
“After all you have seen .. .” Ezra paused in stacking the scrolls and turned to look to Jairus “After meeting this man who calls himself the Son of God – who do you say he is?”
Jairus realized he didn’t know how to answer. He had seen Jesus do miraculous things and heard of even more. He believed his daughter was still living because Jesus touched her, but was he truly the son of Jehovah or was he simply a great teacher, so holy Jehovah used him to heal.
He looked Ezra in the eyes, opened his mouth to answer and then closed it again.
“Ezra – I wish I could say, but truly, I do not know what to believe about this man.”
Boondock Ramblings 