talitha cumi

Think of a person mentioned in the Bible. Got one? Okay, who did you think of? 

Maybe you thought of a disciple like Matthew, James, or Philip. Maybe you thought of an Old Testament hero such as Moses, Abraham, or Noah. Or perhaps you thought about Jesus. 

Did you think about a woman? If not, think of one now. Ester. The woman at the well. Mary. 
Men might be called to lead the church, but we can learn so much from the women in the Bible. Let's take a closer look at some of their stories. 

"On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your disability.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God." 

Luke 13:10-13

We don't know much about this woman. The Bible doesn't even include her name. And yet, she was used to glorify God. 

Think about things from her perspective. She had been stuck in the same position (literally) for eighteen years. They didn't have the medical advancements we have today. She couldn't just pop to the nearest drugstore and buy a back brace. She couldn't have corrective surgery done. She had no options. 

Imagine being in her shoes. She goes to the synagogue. People are most likely staring at her. She would've been an outcast. Out of the blue, a man calls her over to him. Maybe she knows it's Jesus, maybe she doesn't. He puts his hands on her, probably making him the first one to touch her in years. She might look up to see him smiling as he says "woman, you are set free from your disability." Just imagine that. Suddenly she feels no pain. Suddenly she is free. And what does she do? She praises God. 

We should have that same response. When we see God work in our lives, our first reaction shouldn't be "Finally, I've waited long enough!" It should be "Thank you." We are going to go through periods of waiting in our lives. This woman waited eighteen years. But look at how God used her to further his kingdom!

Next let's look at Mary. Of course we all know her as the mother of Jesus, but there was more to her than that. 

We know she had more children after Jesus. 

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us?"

Matthew 13:55-56

Since Mary was a virgin when she had Jesus, the siblings are technically half-brothers of Jesus. Interestingly enough, the Bible never gives names for Jesus' sisters. No one knows for sure how many sisters he had, but it had to be at least two since the Bible says "aren't all his sisters with us?" 

Unfortunately, many believe that Joseph died before Jesus began his ministry. The last time the Bible mentions him is in Luke 2:41-52, when Jesus is lost for three days, only to be found teaching in the temple in Jerusalem. 

We have further proof of this. During the crucifixion, Jesus assigns Mary a caretaker. 

  "When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved [John] standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." 

John 19:26-27

Had Joseph been alive, he would've been the one to take care of her. In addition, we know it wasJoseph of Arimathea who prepared Jesus for burial, a task that Jesus' dad should've completed. 

All of this couldn't have been easy for Mary. We know that Jesus' siblings didn't believe he was the son of God until his death and resurrection. This probably led to the fair share of fights and squabbles in the family. "MOM! How come Jesus never gets in trouble?!" In addition, Mary had to watch her firstborn be tortured and killed without the support of her husband. 

God used Mary, though. The pain had a purpose. He used her to fulfill one of the most important promises in history. He used her to bring THE son of God to Earth! 

Finally, let's look at one more story in the Bible. 

You might be curious about the title of this post. Maybe you think I sneezed while writing it. It's actually Aramaic, and it is used in the following passage. 

"When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cumi!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, arise). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished."

Mark 5:38-42

I've grown to love that phrase. Jesus loves us so much, he will bend down, lift our chin, and say "Arise. I've got this." He is a father comforting his daughter. 

How encouraging is it to know that the God who created stars and electrons and everything we see wants to take us by the hand and guide us.