During a recent campus ministry seminar, I was comforted and blessed by a sermon from a retired pastor. He preached from Philippians about the confession of the Apostle Paul: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). The message that for a Christian, death is not necessarily a bad thing—that it is not a loss but a gain—was impressive. Listening to that sermon, I felt a sense of transcendence over death. It wasn't that I suddenly attained a profound enlightenment, but I came to think that death doesn't have to be so worrisome, and I could face it calmly.

However, while my own death may be one thing, the death of others—especially close and loved ones—truly grieves us. Particularly when they are standing at the boundary between life and death, and we are watching from the sidelines, we cannot help but feel a sense of helplessness and frustration, realizing we can do little to help. I think of a father in today's scripture passage as one such person. His name was Jairus, a synagogue leader in Capernaum. A synagogue leader was a person responsible for overseeing the worship and affairs of the local synagogue, someone respected within the Jewish community.

1. Pain Can Also Be a Channel for Grace

This Jairus's daughter, who was twelve years old, fell sick and was dying. The heart of any father with a daughter is the same the world over. To a father, a daughter is the most loved person in the world, the one he most wants to protect. Watching a beloved child suffer, a father would likely think, "I wish it were me who was sick, I wish I were the one enduring this pain." If an unsaved child were destined for eternal hell, and if it were possible to take their place, fathers would willingly endure that eternal suffering instead. There is no other reason. It is simply because she is their precious daughter.

Love is often described as treating someone preciously and giving them everything they need in this world without holding back. However, the true love I am thinking of involves having concern even for the soul of the person I love.

The synagogue leader, due to his position, was someone who might have kept a distance from Jesus. But Jairus fell at Jesus' feet. He pleaded earnestly for Him to save his daughter. He laid down everything he had—his status, his pride—for his daughter. There is no moment more urgent or desperate than when a person is at the crossroads of life and death. In today's scripture, while Jesus was on His way to heal Jairus's daughter, another person appears.

While going to save Jairus's daughter, this desperate woman showed up. She had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent all she had on many doctors, but her condition only grew worse. It says she suffered greatly because of it. However, in a situation where every second was critical for Jairus, this interruption must have been truly unwelcome. He couldn't very well tell her, "My case is more urgent; you get healed later." He couldn't say that because she, too, was desperate. Albert Schweitzer championed the philosophy of "Reverence for Life." It is an ethical idea that we must respect and love every living being with a will to live, with fear and reverence. In that sense, both this woman and Jairus's daughter are precious because they are beings with a will to live, and we empathize with their suffering.

Clearly, their suffering was intense. Yet, there is a positive aspect to this pain. It drove them to draw near to the Lord. If this woman and Jairus had not experienced suffering and illness, they might have lived comfortable lives without giving much thought to Jesus. It was when they had lost everything that they came before Jesus. We learn an important lesson here: While it's certainly better to be without pain, suffering can become a channel that leads people to grace. As a pastor, I hope and pray that believers live happy lives within the Gospel. However, even when difficult things happen in our lives, believers should not lose heart. Rather, we should take it as an opportunity to rely more on God. The more our hope in the world fades, the closer grace may actually be. I pray for the grace of God, who works all things together for good, to hold onto us.

2. Contact with Jesus Brings Restoration and Healing

The woman with the hemorrhage possessed a simple, childlike faith. She thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will be healed." Though it was a faith as simple as a child's, she was healed. In contrast, news arrived that Jairus's daughter had died. People then told Jairus to give up, as it would be useless for Jesus to come any further. But the Lord said, "Do not be afraid; only believe." He entered Jairus's house, took the dead child by the hand, and raised her up.

I believe there is one crucial common element that links these two events. That element is contact with the Lord. A touch occurred. However, there is a slight difference between the two. The woman's touch was voluntary. She, by faith, reached out and touched the fringe of Jesus' garment first. But in the case of the girl, because she was already dead and unconscious, she had no faith. Instead, the Lord took her hand, raised her up, and restored her life.

From this, we learn an important lesson about salvation. Salvation requires personal faith. There must be individual faith, like the woman's belief that she could be saved just by touching His garment. However, salvation is also entirely by God's grace. The twelve-year-old girl came back to life not because of her own faith, but by God's sheer grace. Our own salvation requires us to reach out our hand to the Lord—we need to have faith. Yet, ultimately, salvation is the complete grace of God, who takes the hand of us, who are like the dead, unable to do anything for ourselves, and raises us up. Therefore, we must become believers. Also, we must become people who are grateful for grace.

When the Lord took the hand of Jairus's daughter to raise her up, He spoke the word "Talitha koum." "Talitha koum" is an Aramaic phrase consisting of two words meaning "Little girl" and "Arise!" It is said that "koum" (arise) is a gentle word, like a mother tenderly waking her child. This scene brought back an old memory. When we were sick as children, our parents would worry. They would place their hands on our heads and pray. They would offer warm words of comfort, saying, "You need to get up now." In that gentle command, "Arise," I feel the deep love and compassion of the Lord. People said the girl was dead, but the Lord said she was not dead but sleeping. His interpretation of death was different. For the Lord, death is not a period but a comma. Just as one wakes someone who is sleeping, He speaks the word, "Arise." Through Jesus' touch and His word, the deepest pain and despair were healed and life was restored.

3. Grant Us the Grace of Talitha Koum

In our lives, we also face many problems and difficulties. There are issues that we cannot heal on our own. We must bring those problems before the Lord. This is because healing and restoration occur when we come into contact with Him. Among all the problems in this world, the greatest is death. Death is life's biggest fear, as we often think of it as the end, the final period. However, hearing the voice of the Lord who says, "Talitha koum," gives us courage. In the Lord, we can gain the courage and faith to view death merely as a comma. When we trust in the Lord's power over death, nothing is frightening. We gain the courage to endure all the hardships of this world.

"Talitha koum" is the Lord's declaration of restoration and healing for our wounds and pains. Furthermore, "Talitha koum" is a message of comfort and restoration—telling us to arise and walk again—addressed to souls walking on a dark path in life, those fallen into spiritual slumber, or those wounded by sin. We must believe that we can be restored even from despair and come before the Lord. A failure in the process is not the ultimate failure. We must rise again! We must go forward together! Therefore, we seek the grace of Talitha koum. We pray for it. The grace of ‘koum’ (arise) must manifest in our lives. The Lord must raise us up. We must not die, but live; we who are lying down must arise. We must pray for those who are sick in the church. The best we can do is to not forget them, and to pray for them. "Let the restoration and healing of Talitha koum take place."

Furthermore, we must pray for the families of the believers and for our children. "Let them participate in the Lord's power and work." "Raise them up strongly from their weak faith."

I earnestly bless and pray that the grace of Talitha koum will come upon all the believers in our church.