Gospel Irony

One of my favorite stories in Luke's Gospel is about the sick and dying daughter of Jairus (a synagogue leader), and the woman with the issue of blood. Here it is from Luke 8:
40 So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. 41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. 43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. 45 And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?" When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'" 46 But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace." 49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher." 50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." 51 When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52 Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping." 53 And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise." 55 Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat.

Is that a great story or what? Here we have a man who is probably skeptical about this Jesus fellow, but he's desperate. His daughter is sick and dying and he has heard that Jesus can heal. Relieved and excited that Jesus has agreed to go with him to take care of his daughter, Jairus must have been taken aback when Jesus suddenly stopped in the middle of the crowd. Enter a woman with an issue of blood. Jairus didn't recognize her at first, but then, he recoiled at the sight of her. She was the woman he had removed from the synagogue years ago...God was obviously judging her for some horrible sin or else she would have been healed of her bleeding. And since by her bleeding she was unclean, she had to be removed from the fellowship of the faithful. What was she doing in the crowd? This was obviously a terrible breech of the law. Jairus made a mental note. "I must deal with this as soon as my daughter is better. Okay, Jesus, let's get moving," he thought.

But Jesus wasn't moving. He was stopping to talk to this sinful woman. He was spending way too much time with her. Jairus was growing more nervous by the moment. And then he heard Jesus speak words that should have been reserved for his daughter, "Your faith has made you well."

"That's good, Jesus, now let's get moving. We are wasting valuable time on this sinful woman." At that moment, a friend of Jairus, and one that obviously didn't approve much of Jairus going to Jesus in the first place, arrived from Jairus' house and announced with disdain in his voice, "Don't bother the teacher any longer, your daughter is dead." Isn't that an amazing irony? The woman Jairus had kicked out of the synagogue years earlier was now the person responsible for delaying Jesus long enough that Jairus' daughter didn't receive the healing touch of Jesus. Instead this sinful woman had gotten the touch, and Jairus' daughter was dead.

All the color must have drained from Jairus' face. He probably felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. Jesus saw the terror in his eyes and immediately said, "Don't be afraid. Only believe. She will be made well." And one of the neat things about this is that Jesus has just given Jairus a lesson in faith. If the faith of a woman Jairus believed to be sinful ccould make her well, then shouldn't the faith of a synagogue ruler be just as effective? And in the end, it all turned out exactly like that. The woman was healed. Jairus' daughter was raised from the dead. And my guess is that Jairus forgot all about his mental note to chastise the woman.

I love Gospel irony!