Let us read Luke 8:49–56.

“While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.” (Luke 8:49–56)

There was once an experiment designed to see how much a patient trusted his doctor. Without telling the patient about the experiment, the doctor instructed him to do things that had nothing to do with his illness. He told him repeatedly to sit down and stand up, and even had him stand with his hands raised.

Surprisingly, the patient did everything the doctor told him to do. After the experiment, he was asked, “Didn’t you think those instructions were strange? Why did you do everything the doctor told you?”

The patient gave a very simple answer: “Because he is a doctor.”

People readily accept the words of someone they trust. On the other hand, when they do not trust someone, they find it difficult to accept that person’s words, even when those words are true.

Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, had an only daughter who was dying. He fell down at Jesus’ feet and pleaded with Him to come to his house. Jesus went with Jairus toward his home.

But while they were on their way, someone came from Jairus’ house and said, “Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.”

When Jairus heard those words, everything must have seemed to be over. Until that moment, he still had hope that if Jesus came, his daughter might live. But the moment he heard that she had died, there seemed to be no reason left to hold on to that hope.

It was precisely then that Jesus said:

“Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” (Luke 8:50)

When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, the people were already weeping and mourning for the dead child. Jesus said:

“Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” (Luke 8:52)

Then the people laughed Him to scorn because they knew that the child was dead.

In fact, their laughter was a natural reaction. If the girl had merely been sleeping, the people would not have been weeping and mourning as they were. No one there was unable to distinguish between sleep and death. If someone insisted that something black was actually white, people would probably question either his eyesight or his sanity. To those people, the words of Jesus must have sounded just as unreasonable.

But Jairus was different.

Jairus also knew that his daughter was dead. Yet he did not leave Jesus. He did not give up in despair and turn back. He continued walking with Jesus toward his house.

The Difference Was Trust

What separated Jairus from the others?

It was the difference in whom they trusted.

The people trusted more in the reality they could see and knew to be true. Therefore, they could not accept Jesus’ words, “She is not dead, but sleepeth.”

Jairus, however, trusted Jesus more than the reality he could see and understand. So when Jesus said, “Fear not: believe only,” Jairus held on to His words and continued walking with Him.

If we were to tell people, “Because Jesus has washed away all my sins, I am holy before God,” some might think we were out of our minds. Those who know us especially well might say, “I know you. You call yourself holy? Even a child would laugh at that.”

Then what is the difference between those who laugh at us and us?

Again, it is a difference of trust.

We trust God, who declares that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all our sins. They trust what they see and what they know about us.

Trusting God Is the Essence of Faith

Abraham is one of the clearest examples in Scripture of this principle of faith. Romans 4:19–21 describes his faith this way:

“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” (Romans 4:19–21)

Consider Abraham’s circumstances. He was about a hundred years old, and his body was as good as dead. Sarah’s womb was also beyond the natural ability to bear a child.

In essence, this was the same kind of reality Jairus faced. Just as Jairus faced the undeniable fact of his daughter’s death, Abraham faced the undeniable fact that he and Sarah were naturally unable to have a child.

Yet Scripture tells us that Abraham did not become weak in faith.

It was not because Abraham was unaware of his physical condition. He knew it very well. But he trusted God more than the circumstances before his eyes. God had said:

“Lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:10)

Sarah herself had initially laughed within herself when she heard that she would have a son. Yet she too eventually trusted the faithfulness of the One who had made the promise. As a result, countless descendants came from them. Hebrews says:

“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.” (Hebrews 11:11–12)

Here we see that Sarah did not merely believe a promise. She trusted the faithfulness of the God who had made the promise.

This is the essence of faith.

A person who trusts God holds on to His Word.

Following the Example of Those Who Lived by Faith

Scripture records many people who trusted God, and their stories were written not only for them but also for us. Romans 4 says:

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:23–25)

Abraham and Sarah knew the reality of their own bodies, yet they laid aside their dependence upon what they could see and trusted God.

In the same way, rather than making what we know about ourselves the final standard, we must trust God, who justifies us through Jesus Christ.

Jesus was truly delivered for our offences, and He was raised again for our justification.

Therefore, just as Jesus said to Jairus, He calls us to trust Him:

“Fear not: believe only.” (Luke 8:50)