Jairus' Story

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A Night of Hope Prayer and Bible Study Guide Thank you for downloading A Night of Hope Prayer and Bible Study Guide. By joining in with a Night of Hope through prayer, using this Bible Study or carving a pumpkin, you’re standing in solidarity with children who live in fear in the world’s hardest places and helping turn their fear into hope.

Jairus’ Story PART 1 – THE STORY Read Mark 21 v 21-43 together. After you have read it through once, go back and read it again. The second time, consider it from Jairus’ point of view – a dad who’s daughter is dying. At each stage of the story discuss, how was Jairus reacting and feeling? PART 2 – THE CONTEXT We’re told Jairus was a Synagogue President which meant he would have held particular roles and responsibilities in the Synagogue and would be well known in the local area. As Tom Wright writes:

“Local experts in Jewish law were upset at some of the things [Jesus] was doing; murmurs around the place suggested that if Herod Antipas got to hear of a new Kingdom of God movement there would be trouble. Jairus might well have felt he could do without someone likely to land the town in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. At best, he’d probably want to keep a safe distance”. 1

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Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone (London, 2004), p.59.

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Jairus’ decision to go to Jesus must have been complicated – desperation as he saw his daughter becoming more and more sick, dread of what would happen to his village if Herod Antipas found out, concern for his standing in the local Synagogue. Fear wreaths each step of Jairus’ journey.

PART 3 – DISCUSS As a group consider these questions: 

Where are you in this story?

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What things are going on in your own situation, which help you to identify with one of the people in this narrative?

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What does this story say to you?

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Is fear present in your own life?

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Sylvia’s Story Together, either watch Sylvia tell her own story in a short film here or read Sylvia’s story below: “My father died when I was just a baby so I live with my mother and many siblings. I’m fifteen years old. “One day, my brothers brought a man to our home and told me I had to marry him. They told me that if I didn’t, they would carry me to him and make me do it. I remember crying. I was crying a lot. I was begging them, no! “I ran away to one of my Uncle’s and I had to hide there for one week. When I came home, everyone was so angry.

They said they can’t take care of me anymore, because I’ve

refused to get married. “All of the girls who have been married off at my age are in a bad situation. What they are going through is really so hard. That would have been the same situation to me. “My sisters had told me of a lady called Ruth. A lady they knew from World Vision. I wrote a letter in secret and gave it to my sisters to give to this lady. She’s rescued so many girls and I knew she could help me. She met my brothers and she managed to stop them. She helped them see it was wrong. “I’m so happy now, now I know I don’t have to marry a man I’m afraid of, and that I can make sure my baby sister, Hope, is safe too.” Like Jairus, Sylvia was in an unimaginable situation. Fear wreathed each step of her journey as well: to disobey her brothers who were like her father, to run away from home, to agree to marry an older man she had never met.

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Both Jairus and Sylvia took an act of faith to overcome their fear. Though both situations are complex, and remain so, faith has turned their fear into hope. As Christian’s we seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We know God is greater than we can possibly imagine but we also know he chooses to work in partnership with us, in all our messiness and complexity. Jairus was able to go to Jesus, even though it could have been to the cost of himself or his village’s security. But the fear of not going was greater than the fear of going. Jesus turned his night of fear into a night of hope. Today, we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the millions of children who live in fear – of forced marriage, of human trafficking, of sickness and of malnutrition. Let’s act on behalf of children who cannot speak for themselves, let’s stand in solidarity with young girls like Sylvia and, this Halloween, let’s turn their night of fear into a night of hope.

Sylvia and her younger sister, Hope.

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Turn a Night of Fear into a Night of Hope ACTION 1: CARVE YOUR PUMPKIN AND MAKE A LANTERN OF HOPE Use the Night of Hope Guide, downloadable here, to carve a heart into your pumpkins and show we are standing alongside children living in fear in the world’s hardest places. Light your Lanterns of Hope and spend a few moments in silence, reflecting on this Bible study. ACTION 2: PRAY Lord we pray for Sylvia and the 13.5 million other girls who will be forced to get married this year: 

We thank you that Sylvia had the courage and determination to stop her marriage from taking place. We thank you that her fear of becoming a child bride has been turned into hope for her and her baby sister, Hope.

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We thank you for World Vision’s staff like Ruth, who helped stop Sylvia’s marriage. We pray that you will protect her and give her the strength and courage to protect more children from being forced into marriage.

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As fifteen year old Sylvia reflected “all of the girls who have been married off at my age are in a bad situation. What they’re going through is really hard”. We pray for community leaders in places that embrace child marriage. We pray they will understand the mental, emotional and physical damage girls go through when they’re forced to marry too young. We pray these leaders will influence their communities and help to end child marriage.

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Lord we pray for a Night of Hope, that you will use this night to reach out to children living in fear and, like Sylvia, turn their fear into hope. 5