Jairus’s daughter
We come now back to Mark 5:21-24, and Mark 5:35-43 – the story of the healing of Jairus’s daughter. The bleeding woman text is sandwiched in verses Mark 5:25-34 (see yesterday’s post).
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.
<…the bleeding woman is healed here…>
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
1. Some of the Pharisees believed. (Mark 5:21-23, 36) This is important for us to remember. Why? Many times we like to clump folks together. We like to say, “the Pharisees were the religious folk, and they weren’t saved.” This is not true at all. Nicodemus, if you’ll remember, was a Pharisee, and he was saved (later in the Gospels, it’s recorded that he helped bury Jesus). Saul of Tarsus also was a “Pharisee of Pharisees”, yet was struck by the Lord Jesus Christ and made to believe – we know him now as “Paul”, the most prolific writer of our New Testament.
Why theologically though, is this important? It brings the truth of God’s word in Revelation 5:9:
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation…”
We see that no matter what station in life a person is (or what skin color, or what nationality, or ethnicity), Jesus can call them to Himself. It’s His prerogative. So, blanket statements like, “He’ll never be saved, because (fill in the blank)” are actually incorrect theologically. Jairus had faith – it was a gift of God.
2. There are those who will cause you to doubt. (Mark 5:35-37) When your faith is being stretched the most – stretched beyond what you can bear – that’s when folks see fit sometimes to question your faith – why it is you believe what you believe. This is God ordained? Why? Because it strikes down every logical explanation. He wants us to climb out on the limb of faith, and then gives us a saw to cut the branch! The whole point in this is to ‘rest in Jesus’. I think of the three going into the furnace in the book of Daniel, and what they said to the king:
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
We see the incredible “sawing off the limb, and let God be God” mentality here in these three’s faith. This is the essence of those who were talking to Jairus. This is why Jesus quickly told him (reminded him) who He was. “Remember who I am, Jairus. Don’t listen to them. It seems impossible, I know. Rest in Me.”
3. When Jesus shows up, people will mock. (Mark 5:38-40) We see that when Jesus comes into a situation, folks that don’t believe will actually mock him (and mock us). We see that in this situation, but also in our own situation, as well.
4. Jesus didn’t justify Himself, and didn’t defend Himself. (Mark 5:39-43) Notice the character of Jesus in these verses: When He was mocked, He could have wanted to prove His case; He could have said this, “OK, folks – you don’t believe that I have the keys to death? Here, watch this!!” – and subsequently prove to them that He is Lord. He didn’t do that, though. This reveals a truth about His character. He didn’t “prove” Himself to be right here. Why do we insist on doing that with folks? Notice that He didn’t reward their behavior with letting them see a sign.
Meditation: Why do I seek to justify myself, and prove that I am right to others? This is nothing but pride. I need to be like Christ insofar as letting others think what they think, and let God be God. Those closest to Christ use nay-sayers in their lives as “saws” to cut off their branch from the tree – that is, they rely completely on God. They climb out on that branch of faith where they still have just a little wiggle room and support from others, then the branch is completely sawn in two. God WILL NOT let them fall. Those closest to Christ crucify their reputation, their goals, their all for the sake of the glory of Jesus. I need faith like that. How do I obtain it? On my face before God – plead for Him to grant it.
This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 8:06 am and is filed under Devotional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
