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 Luke 9:2 “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

   The message to be preached at this time was to the Jewish nation. The sick were healed as an evidence of the authority of the disciples to preach this message. They were telling Israel that the long awaited Messiah had come.

Heavenly Father, You are always faithful. You do not change even though we lose sight of You and forget what we know of Your goodness. You so often remind us of Your truth. What a mercy that is! We must remember and see and praise You, for You are worthy. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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 Luke 9:1 “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.”

The twelve disciples are the nucleus of what becomes the church. Early on Jesus gave this pre-birth church the power and authority it needed to do what it does. In this case He enabled the disciples to represent Him in the work that He was currently doing.

Power denotes ability. Without Him we cannot do what needs to be done in the church. We will be weak and unable to make a difference without His power. Beyond this, we need His authority in what we are doing. When we try to act without it, the church does not reach the world in the way it should. This leads to a bad reputation and a poor testimony. We cannot forget the importance of this power and authority from Christ.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your power for action in this world! The ravages of sin have left so much pain and suffering. The hope the world claims is empty because of sin as well. Without Christ we would have nothing with which to combat this plague. You know exactly what we need. Thank You for Your provision! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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 Luke 8:56  “And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.”

   Imagine this from the perspective of the girl’s mother. She was apparently not with Jairus when he went to speak with Jesus. So, once her daughter perished she may well have thought there was no hope. In this case, she would have been waiting for Jairus to return so that the funeral process could begin in earnest.

   Instead, Jairus shows up with Jesus. And the whole situation is shortly reversed. Just think of the feelings involved in this interchange. I am sure Jairus and his wife never saw this coming and they certainly never forgot it.

   Here again we find Jesus limiting the spread of news about the miracle. Jesus understands us better than we understand ourselves. He allowed the miracle of Lazarus to be proclaimed. But that press served mainly to get Him targeted. The religious elite at the time was not at all friendly to truth.

   Heavenly Father, You make us different just by Your Presence. If You hid Yourself from us entirely, what would we be? Oh thank You for showing Yourself! Though we understand You imperfectly, to try is the redemption of our souls. Thank You for Christ and hope of salvation through Him! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 8:55

Some folks will be curious. I understand, I’m one of them. Where did this girl’s spirit go while away from her body? And would she have remembered? And, why was she hungry?
The simple answer is that we don’t know. But, based on what we do know, there are some good guesses. Her spirit was likely in a place the Jews would have called ‘Abraham’s Bosom’. This was a division of Sheol or Hades, the abode of the dead, where righteous souls awaited judgment. And, no she very likely didn’t remember it afterwards.
As far as the hunger situation goes, I think it is quite likely that malnutrition could have contributed to her condition. This is not to say that Jairus and his wife were bad parents. In that time, though, things like dehydration and lack of needed vitamins and so forth was not well understood. 
Heavenly Father, thank You for caring for us. We see death and destruction in this life and we want to blame someone. And often we blame You. Help us to see that it is Your intention for us to wonder why. You want us to seek to understand. Your desire is for us to know the truth about sin and its consequences. To let us live in this state of anxious trouble without giving us the truth would be horrific. But, You have given us the truth. You have revealed Yourself. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen. 

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Luke 8:54

Simple. Powerful. Confident. Sometimes people get the idea that Jesus was hesitant. They think He was unsure of Himself. They think maybe He didn’t know for sure what He was capable of. Well, none of these notions come from Scripture. The picture here is plain. Jesus knows exactly Who He is and exactly what He is doing.
Heavenly Father, thank You for another day. We think of each day, and each breath, as a forgone conclusion. But no less was done to start today than to start the very first day. You are at all times the One and Only Who can sustain this massive creation of Yours. All else are tiny in comparison with You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen. 

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Luke 8:53

And they were right. She was dead. Or at least she was beyond any help that any but Christ could give. But, being right doesn’t excuse the derision with which they responded to Jesus.
As humans we often choose to mock others because we know we are right. But, there are several reasons we should avoid that choice. First, we might be wrong. Second, being right in no way justifies mockery. Third, deriding others very rarely casts one in a good light. And finally, being right and noisy leaves you only correct. Being right and quiet renders you correct and wise.
Heavenly Father, thank You for so often protecting us from ourselves. Your mercy is all that keeps us from immediate destruction. And only by Your grace can we obtain life. Thank You for every breath! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 8:52

Why would Jesus tell people to stop crying? He seemed very considerate of people’s feelings on other occasions. What happened here?
Notice in the following verse the reaction of those he spoke to. They laughed at Him. These who were crying and wailing were not the close family, but friends, acquaintances, and maybe even hired mourners. They were not crying involuntarily as those overcome by grief. They were mourning as a matter of duty, as a part of the funeral traditions. So Jesus was not unsympathetic. He was halting the funeral.
Saying the girl was asleep was Jesus’ way to indicate that the girl would live again. Though it is possible that this girl was in a state that she could nowadays be resuscitated, Jesus did use this manner of speaking in reference to Lazarus. And in the case of Lazarus, irrecoverable death was absolutely certain.

Heavenly Father, thank You for understanding us. Your love and care for us is wonderful. We praise You as the beneficent Creator. You are so powerful, good, and gracious! Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 8:51

Jesus makes no sense to us sometimes. We would think He would want anyone and everyone in the house. But, we have to stop ourselves and look at the context. Remember the unbelieving servant that came to Jairus and told him not to bother Jesus? This individual was left outside. And Jesus took only the disciples closest to Him in many such cases.
Why? Jesus didn’t do miracles for purposes of popularity. He did them for belief. He didn’t want a crowd of fickle ‘followers’ that would leave Him when He asked too much. He was after a group of dedicated disciples that would be loyal, even to death.
Heavenly Father, help us to remember that only when we are faithful in the little things do You allow us to be involved with the big things. We will praise You for Your great wisdom! Jesus always did exactly the right thing. Your power and intelligence is perfectly manifested in him. Thank You for Christ! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 8:50

The words of Christ here are so important. He tells Jarius not to be afraid. He tells him to just believe. And, he assures Jairus that He can save the girl.
This is a beautiful verse. It really sets before us the right relationship to have with Christ. Fear is an awful enemy. The devil will try to use it anytime we are going to let Christ do something in our life. So first Jesus addressed it. Then, faith is really a matter of trusting the Lord. Just to allow Him into the situation is what He is saying here. He is telling Jairus that he need only let Christ into his life, and Jairus’ daughter would be fine. And that is nothing short of a picture of salvation. 
Heavenly Father, fear keeps us away so often. We will lift our hands to you and invite you into our situation. You are welcome in our lives. You are the One who matters in our experience. Without you, our very lives are invalidated. We will give You the praise for You alone are worthy! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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Luke 8:49

Here Jesus is referred to as ‘The Teacher’. The speaker here is simply informing Jairus that his daughter has died. But the completely hypocritical reference to Jesus was done almost without realizing it. This is not uncommon among those who wish to honor Jesus as a great person, but have no real trust in Him at all.

What is the nature of this hypocrisy? To call someone ‘Teacher’ and act as if that person can heal the sick, yet in the same breath deny that they can raise the dead, is incongruous. Many have been great teachers, but that wouldn’t automatically make them able to heal Jairus’ daughter. So as many have, this person is trying to respect Jesus as some great human; but not recognizing Him as more than human, the individual’s attempt is nothing short of confusing. Beyond that it implies that Jesus had other things to do besides being a comfort to this, now grieving, dad.

It is here that we are asked to make a choice. Do we leave Jesus to be limited like the rest of us? Do we assume, as many have said, that He never intended for us to see Him as anything more than a great human teacher? Or, do we now follow Him to the presence of death and watch as He breathes life as He has into every one of us? You must decide. But make no mistake, this choice will decide all for you.

Heavenly Father, I will praise You for Christ today. He alone can breathe life into our troubled souls. Only by Him may we escape this body of death and live full and free in all the glory You have intended. Thank You for Jesus! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.