As Jesus of Nazareth was working as a
carpenter in Galilee and young Saul of Tarsus was studying under Rabbi Gamaliel
in Judea, far away on
the western end of the Roman Empire a baby girl was born into
the imperial family. She was the second
daughter of the well-known and
well-respected General Germanicus, who was responsible for maintaining order on
the western frontiers and enforcing Roman Law. The mother was Agrippina the
Elder, and the baby’s name was Julia Druscilla.1
She was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece of Emperor
Tiberius, sister of Emperor Caligula, niece of Emperor Claudius, and maternal aunt
of Emperor Nero.
That same year, a Jewish couple on the far
eastern boundary of the Empire welcomed a baby girl into their family. The child’s father was the well-known and
well-respected Jairus, who
would go on to serve as an administrative official in the local synagogue. He
would be in charge of arranging weekly services and keeping order, with the weighty
responsibility of enforcing Jewish Law.
Around this time a young lady was having
complications with her menstrual cycle. The bleeding wouldn’t stop, and as long
as it continued, there would be physical, financial, and social repercussions.
Her health would deteriorate, as prolonged menstrual bleeding leads to
anemia, along with fatigue, weakness, and pain. She would eventually spend all that she had on
doctors and medical treatments, only to get worse.2 Because of ceremonial
uncleanness she was untouchable (Lev. 15:19-27, 31), and it would be up to the
synagogue officials to enforce segregation policy.
Twelve Years Later …
Julia Druscilla was living the life of
luxury and privilege as a pampered little girl in Rome, while her great-uncle
Tiberius reigned in decadence and corruption.3 “Why does the way
of the wicked prosper?”
(Jer. 12:1b).4 On the other side of the Empire, the 12-year-old
daughter of Jairus was critically ill, and the feeble, impoverished, ostracized
woman was still bleeding. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” (Psa. 34:19a).
Then Jesus came to town.5 He was thronged by a multitude of curious and needy people, but when Jairus arrived on the scene, they made enough room for him to fall down at the Lord’s feet. The distraught father urgently pleaded with Jesus to come quickly to lay healing hands on his dying daughter. With no time to waste, they headed toward Jairus’ house.
Then Jesus came to town.5 He was thronged by a multitude of curious and needy people, but when Jairus arrived on the scene, they made enough room for him to fall down at the Lord’s feet. The distraught father urgently pleaded with Jesus to come quickly to lay healing hands on his dying daughter. With no time to waste, they headed toward Jairus’ house.
Along the way the procession was
interrupted. A desperate, hemorrhaging woman needed to make contact with Christ,
but the crowds made no room for her as they did for Jairus. She had to fight
her way through from behind, apparently on her hands and knees reaching through
legs and ankles to touch the very bottom of his garment. The Lord stopped. The
only one who could save the only child of an anxious father, stopped! Turning
around in the opposite direction, he asked, in the groping crowd, who touched
him?
As Jairus feared for his precious daughter,
Jesus affectionately calls the fearful woman, “daughter.”6 This
is the only occasion in the biblical record he uses this endearing address.
Jairus had asked the Lord to come touch his ailing daughter, and on the way the
Lord was touched by his own ailing daughter. Despite her consigned impurity
and the Law forbidding that she be touched, Jesus could do what the Law was
incapable of doing. Her faith had brought her to Christ, and she was healed at
once and told to go in peace.
By this time Jairus’ little
girl had died, robbing her heartbroken loved ones of their peace. If it hadn’t been for the
interruption, the Lord would have gotten there sooner. Others advised Jairus not to
trouble the teacher, but the teacher advised the troubled father to replace
fear with faith. The Great Physician dismissed the ridicule of unbelievers, and
with the grieving parents and three of his disciples he enters the little
girl’s room, taking her by the hand. Immediately she is raised back to life.
Ten Years Later …
At the age of 22 Julia Druscilla became terminally
ill. If only the Messiah were there to take her by the hand and restore her life.
Unfortunately, her great-uncle Tiberius had appointed a military prefect,
Pontius Pilate, to govern the imperial province of Judea, and he had ordered
the Messiah’s brutal execution a few years earlier. Julia Druscilla died in
Rome on the 10th of June AD 38. Her loved ones, especially her brother Caligula,
greatly mourned her loss. With no hope beyond this physical world, Emperor
Caligula had the Roman Senate declare his sister Panthea, “all-goddess.”
Meanwhile, on the far eastern side of the
Empire, the Lord’s disciples “throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were
edified” (Acts
9:31), including those who had been touched by his healing hand. Saul of Tarsus,
now himself a follower of Jesus, was back in his hometown (v. 30) getting
prepared to carry the message of the risen Savior all the way to Rome. It would
take several years through numerous obstacles and hardships. He would be
falsely accused of inciting insurrection against Julia Drusilla’s uncle
Claudius (Acts 17:7) and eventually stand trial before her nephew Nero (Acts
27:24; 28:19). From Rome the apostle would go on to write, “All the saints
greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household” (Phil. 4:22).
The Moral of the Story
Jesus is
the answer, for the world today. Above him there’s no other, Jesus is the way.7
--Kevin
L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Julia Druscilla was born
in Abitarvium, Germania (modern-day Koblenz, Germany) on 16th September AD 16. It was the Roman year 769 Ab urbe condita (from the founding of the city of Rome), but since
the medieval period dates have been calculated according to the purported year
of Christ’s birth: anno Domini (AD), “in the year of the Lord.” At the
age of 3, when Julia Druscilla’s father died, her mother moved her and her siblings to
Rome.
2 Mark 5:25-26.
3 Tacitus, Annals VI.50,
51.
4 Scripture quotations are from
the NKJV.
5 Parallel
accounts are Matt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56, although Matthew appears to give
an abridged version of the story.
6 Matt. 9:22;
Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48.
7 Lyrics
by Andraé Crouch.
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Posts: Noah and Her Sisters
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Thank you Kevin, makes you really think more deeply into the lives of the people involved.
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