This week’s chapters are full of Jesus’s power. In Matthew 9 He forgives and heals a man who could not walk, opens the eyes of two blind men, and helps a man speak. In Matthew 10 and Luke 9 He calls twelve Apostles, gives them His power and authority, and sends them out to teach and to bless the sick. He tells them Heavenly Father notices even a little sparrow that falls, and that the very hairs on their heads are numbered (Matthew 10:29–31). Luke 9:23–24 adds that following Him sometimes means giving something up.
For eight-year-olds, the star is Mark 5:22–43, two miracles tangled together on one road. Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, begs Jesus to come heal his dying twelve-year-old daughter. On the way, a woman who had been sick for twelve years, and had spent everything on doctors, reaches through the crowd and touches His clothes. She is healed at once, and Jesus stops to find her, calls her “Daughter,” and tells her that her faith has made her whole. While He is still talking, messengers say Jairus’s girl has died. Jesus turns to the father and says, “Be not afraid, only believe.” At the house He takes her hand, tells her to arise, and she gets up and walks. Then, like a loving parent, He tells them to give her something to eat.
Kids notice the number twelve: the girl was twelve years old, and the woman had been sick for twelve years. Both needed Jesus, both had people who might have said “It’s too late,” and He had time and love for both. Nobody in the crowd was too small for Him to notice.
The Apostles connect it to today. Jesus gave the Twelve priesthood power to bless the sick, and we have living Apostles now. The children have seen that same priesthood power in blessings from a father, grandfather, bishop or ministering brother. Faith does not mean we never feel afraid. It means we bring our fear to Jesus and trust Him. If a child in your class has lost someone they love, be gentle: Jesus doesn’t always heal or raise people right away, but because of Him everyone will live again.
