Mark 5:24

Mark 5:24, in plain English

Jesus goes with Jairus, but there's a problem: the crowd is so thick they can barely move. Every second counts for Jairus' daughter, and the pressing crowd is slowing them down.

Why it's here

Imagine being Jairus right now — your child is dying, Jesus agreed to come, but you can't get through the crowd. The tension is unbearable.

Who's speaking

Mark describes Jesus heading toward Jairus' house as the crowd presses in.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus says yes and starts walking, but the journey is agonizingly slow. For Jairus, every second in this crowd feels like an eternity. And then — an interruption.

The scholarly reading

Jesus' willingness to go with Jairus (apelthen met' autou) demonstrates his responsiveness to faith. The pressing crowd (synethlibon auton) creates the conditions for the interrupting miracle of the hemorrhaging woman.

Language and setting

The dense crowd serves Mark's narrative purpose: it makes the woman's secret touch possible while also creating dramatic tension as Jairus' daughter deteriorates during the delay.

Voice

Mark narrates Jesus' movement toward Jairus' house amid the pressing crowd.

Significance

Jesus goes with Jairus immediately, but the crushing crowd slows them down. This delay — seemingly disastrous for Jairus — creates space for another miracle to unfold.

22A synagogue leader named Jairus arrived, and seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet

23and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”

24So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around Him.

25And a woman was there who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years.

26She had borne much agony under the care of many physicians and had spent all she had, but to no avail. Instead, her condition had only grown worse.

Read all of Mark 5 — A man possessed by a thousand demons, a woman who has bled for twelve years, a father whose daughter has just died — all healed in a single chapter.