There were three parents, with three precious children. Only children.
A woman had lost her son, her only son. As the procession passed, what overwhelming grief she suffered! To add to the torment, she was a widow. Stripped not only of her last remaining joy, but her last, flickering ember of hope.
Jairus was a great man and very devout. But neither his position or piety could prevent the virus. His dear little daughter, his one and only child, was on the verge of death. He was desperate. So as he sought after Jesus, the miracle Healer, time was of the essence. But the crowds slowed the Master down, and finally the time was up. His daughter was gone.
Another father came to Jesus. His one and only son had for years been plagued with a demon, seizing his weak and weary body, convulsing him, and even casting him into the fire. As the father watched, what agony! Could Jesus spare his helpless boy? His one and only son?
Because of Jesus, each precious, ‘one and only’ was spared. And in sparing them, their poor, tormented parents were spared.
Jesus was also a precious, ‘one and only.’ Not that He was the only child of Joseph and Mary. He wasn’t. But He was, is, and evermore shall be, the precious, one and only Son of the heavenly Father. From eternity, He is “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Yet in infinite love, to lost, undone parents and children, God did not spare His ‘one and only.’ He gave Him, surrendering Him to the cursed death of the cross, that by such a sacrifice we and our children may be spared for ever.
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Join us this Lord’s Day (Sunday), June 9, as we consider Jesus, the “only begotten Son,” whom the loving Father sent into the world. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 Jn. 4:9).
The Reformed Parish 
Excellent.