If we were to ask whether Jesus plays favorites, I think most people would say that’s an easy question. The answer given would be, “Of course not.”

In one sense, however, that answer would be incorrect. The Lord does spend time with, and reveal more of Himself to, those believers who are faithful to Him and want to know more about Him (John 2:23-25). Jesus did have an inner circle of disciples who were given the privilege of seeing things the others did not. After all, He took only three of His disciples with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration.

I suppose we could say that these are not examples of playing favorites. Instead, the Lord is training up those who will be in leadership roles. They need special training. Also, the Lord offers fellowship to all believers, so if some do not want to know more about Him, that’s their decision, not His.

However we would describe what might look like favoritism in some cases, it is also clear that at the very core of Christian experience, the Lord does not have favorites. All believers have eternal life. All can spend time with Him and walk in His paths. Any believer can be great in His coming kingdom. He does not favor some over others because of their wealth, power, fame, or physical looks. When viewed this way, the answer to the original question is indeed an easy one.

Even though this is a question with an obvious answer, it is always good to see illustrations of it in the Scriptures. One is found in Mark 5:34, a verse from the account of the woman with an issue of blood.

If a person thought that Christ would favor some ahead of others, this woman would be a strong candidate for being less favored. She was poor. She was sick. She was a social and religious outcast. Her religion strongly suggested that God was angry with her. There was a high likelihood that she was alone in this world and without a husband.

Jesus was going to the home of a man. That man was important. He was a leader in the community. He was respected. He was probably fairly well off financially. He had a family. The woman with the issue of blood probably thought that Jesus would, of course, rather spend time with the man than with her. It would never even occur to her to ask the Lord to come to her home. She must have thought that between the two of them—her and this man—Jesus would certainly see the man as His favorite.

But Mark explains that she got it all wrong. The man had a problem; that’s why he had come to Jesus in the first place–his daughter was dying. The reason Jesus was going to his house was to heal her. This would not surprise the woman. This man, in her mind, deserved this special attention from the Lord. He was rich and important. Being this man’s daughter, as well as being young and innocent, meant that the young girl was also important. Such a girl deserved Christ’s personal attention.

The woman wanted the Lord to heal her, too. But she could not expect the same special treatment. Instead, she would sneak behind the Lord and touch Him without His knowing it. She believed that if she did so, she would be healed. She had to do it this way. There was no way that the King would do for her what He was doing for this man and his daughter.

We all know the story. After she touched Him, she was healed instantly. Her plan had worked. But she got more than she bargained for. The Lord called her to Him and called her daughter (5:34). In the very next verse, people come from the important man’s home to tell him that his daughter has died. Mark wants us to see the connection.

Of course, Jesus goes to the home of the man and raises the little girl from the dead. The description of how He treats the little girl in raising her is, perhaps, the most tender picture of the Lord in the NT (5:41-43). Of course, the man’s little daughter was important to the King.

But so was the other daughter in the story. Mark puts them side by side to make that point (5:34-35). The little girl was important to the man who came to the Lord. She was his daughter. And Jesus tells this woman that she is His daughter. She was just as important to Him as the man and his daughter were. She was as important to Him as the little girl was to her dad. The Lord does not play favorites.

Aren’t you glad He doesn’t?