Daily Devotional • May 23
A Reading from Luke 8:40-46
40 Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’s feet and began pleading with him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying.
As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. 43 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. 45 Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” 47 When the woman realized that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. 48 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
49 While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.”50 When Jesus heard this, he replied, “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.” 51 When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James and the child’s father and mother. 52 Everyone was weeping and grieving for her, but he said, “Do not cry, for she is not dead but sleeping.” 53 And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But taking her by the hand, he called out, “Child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once, and he directed them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astounded, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.
Meditation
“Do not fear, only believe…” If you take away only one phrase from today’s reading, let it be this one. Fear is the Devil’s best tool: it distorts our innate sense of self-preservation and turns it into an obsessive shield that can block us from experiencing some of life’s most profound joys.
Jairus, a leader of the faith community, begged Jesus to heal his sick daughter because he believed that he had the ability to do so. The long-suffering woman took much more of a chance in approaching our Lord because in the community’s eyes she was of little significance: a ritually unclean peasant. How dare she presume to approach Jesus, much less to touch him. Nonetheless, her faith gave her courage and touch him she did.
Faith is the key that unlocks divine power. It is not the quantity of faith that matters, but its quality—an unwavering belief in God’s ability to act, even in the face of apparent impossibility.
The healing of the woman and the raising of Jairus’ daughter also reveal a deeper theological truth: In Christ, the boundary between life and death, health and sickness, is not absolute. The power of God is not limited by earthly constraints. In a world marked by suffering, pain, and death, these healings are signs of the Kingdom breaking through, offering a glimpse of the restoration that Christ promises.
This passage invites reflection on the role of faith in our lives. It challenges us to ask: How are we reaching out to Christ in the midst of our own suffering, doubts, or hopelessness? Like the woman, do we trust that Christ’s power to heal is accessible in even the smallest act of faith? Like Jairus, do we bring our desperate prayers to the feet of Jesus, trusting that He holds power over both life and death?
In the Eucharist, we encounter Christ, not merely in the symbolic “touch” of his body and blood, but in the profound reality of his presence with us. And like the faith of the woman and Jairus, it is the openness of our hearts to his healing that makes space for God to work in our lives.
The Very Reverend David duPlantier has served as Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans, LA since 2002. He is founder and chair of the board of the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing initiative: https://jerichohousing.org
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
Galilee Church, Virginia Beach
The Diocese of Moosonee – The Anglican Church of Canada
