A Tale of Two Daughters, Part 2: Healing and Life!
Mark 5:35-43
Introduction: Last week we focused on the first part of this
story, which are two stories that are interconnected in this section of Mark, adapting
for the title of this scene the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities, “It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That is what two lives in
this context of Mark must have felt at the end of the scene we looked at last
week: For one, a touch, and a woman who
Jesus tenderly addresses as “daughter,” is healed — the best of times! And then Jairus gets the horrible news, his
beloved daughter had died — Hope shattered! The
worst of times? Remember the context
in Mark, Jesus has been revealing His authority - over nature, over sickness,
over demons, He is Lord! Now He will reveal to the few He allows to see that He
is the resurrection and the life! That truth changes everything for those who
will trust Him! Only God could know the things He knew… Only God could do the
things He did. Remember…
The setting: The crowd, and then the healing of the woman
who had suffered for 12 years. Then Jesus asks who touched Him! The accompanying
exchange delayed Jesus from arriving sooner at the home of Jairus. The man’s 12-year-old
daughter had been gravely ill, and now word came: she had died! Would they have
gotten there in time without the delay? It is notable that Jesus initiated the conversation
with the woman, she had only reached out and touched the fringe of His garment
as He passed. Yet He is never in a hurry, and He is never late. It is
remarkable that there is no indication that Jairus had become frustrated or
angry about the delay. We can only imagine what he thought! But we see…
The BIG Idea: If Jesus is who He claimed to be, then we
can take Him at His word, we can trust Him even in the most desperate
situation. We’ll consider that from 3 perspectives…
1) Fear challenges hope; 2) Faith overcomes
Fear, even fear of death; 3) The Object of our faith makes the difference – It
is not our great faith, but our great Savior who brings hope.
I. Fear
challenges hope: Why bother the teacher
anymore? (35). The
implication of the question is that there is nothing else anyone can do, it is
over Jairus, your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher anymore? Why indeed. It only makes sense if He
is more than just a teacher (35)! Did the miracle Jairus just saw stir faith? He
would have never known about it if Jesus didn’t stop and talk to the woman. Did
He look at Jesus with hope even as he received the terrible news? We don’t
know. To heal the sick was one thing. But now the news arrives…
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?"
The
timing: While He was still speaking…
Notice the timing… Mark draws attention to the timing of the arrival of the
messengers from the house of Jairus, while
He was still speaking they
came. What was Jesus saying? He was speaking to the healed woman who had bowed
before Him, and told Him the “whole truth.” And Jesus said to her,
"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in
peace, and be healed of your disease."
He addressed her tenderly as “daughter,”
and said “your faith has saved you…”
Jesus’ words seem to show that she had experienced more than mere physical healing.
Somehow, what started as almost superstitious faith had been corrected and fleshed
out, as Jesus turned, called her out of the crowd, and spoke to her. It seems she
recognized more about who Jesus is, falling down before Him and telling Him
every-thing. He was no mere healer and prophet. He cared about her, He
affirmed her faith, and He spoke “peace” over her. But was Jairus’ faith
perhaps deepening too? As Jesus addresses this woman as daughter, Jairus
receives the news about his daughter…
Heartbreaking news… was all hope gone?
Fear challenges hope. It may be that Jairus had come to Jesus seeking a healer,
a miracle worker. Now He saw Jesus take a moment to call out this woman who had
touched Him and been healed of her infirmity. And He called her out not for
rebuke, but gently, with compassion… with love, commending her faith. But how could he still believe, his own daughter
had died! Why bother the teacher anymore? Perhaps Jairus was stunned, so he said
nothing, but Jesus knew the fear that was welling up in his heart. Who is
this man? More than a teacher, much more. He is the resurrection and the
life! That truth changes everything for those who will trust Him! It is not the
greatness of our faith, it is the greatness of our God that is reason for hope!
That is the BIG Idea: If Jesus is who He claimed to be, then we can take
Him at His word, we can trust Him even in the most desperate, the most hopeless
situation.
II. Faith
overcomes fear, including the fear of death
(36-40a)! “Fear not, only believe!”
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.
The admonition: “Do not fear, only
believe…” Think of how many people we have seen react in fear in
this context of Mark’s Gospel. The disciples were “afraid” of the storm on the
lake (4:40) and then “feared a great fear”
when Jesus stilled the storm. The people across the lake were filled with fear
when they saw the healed man sitting clothed and in his right mind, and in fear
they asked Jesus to leave their region. The woman who had just been healed in
this context fell before Jesus in “fear
and trembling.” Then Jairus gets the news, and Jesus says “Do not fear…” This was likely the
greatest fear of Jairus… that he would be too late, that his daughter would die
before he could get back to her with Jesus. Death is an enemy as old as the
Fall. Remember God had warned Adam and Eve that disobedience would bring death:
“…in
the day that you eat of it you shall surely die…” (Gen 2:17). The wages
of sin is death… (Rom 6:23). Paul reflected on that consequence of human
rebellion when he said,
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the
world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men
because all sinned… (Rom 5:12).
Jesus came to provide an answer to the curse
for all who would trust Him. In the great resurrection chapter, I Corinthians
15, Paul said in 15:54-57,
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is
swallowed up in victory." 55
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and
the power of sin is the law. 57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of Jesus fear, even fear of death,
does not have the final word! Fear started with the Fall. Adam hid because he
was naked and afraid. Here we see the alternative to fear: “…only believe!” Jesus says “Do not be afraid… only believe!” I remember
hearing in a seminar on discipleship the speaker saying that discipleship is
really the process of moving from unbelief to belief in more and more areas of
our lives. Trusting Christ alone and His finished work for our salvation is
only the beginning. Then we must increasingly submit areas of our lives to Him
as we recognize how His person and work impacts our living. Jairus could trust
(or at least hope!) that Jesus could heal his daughter in her sickness… but
what could He possibly do in the face of death? Jesus says don’t be afraid,
only believe, trust me. Some of the best examples of faith in the gospels are
not Jews, but rather gentiles! In Luke’s Gospel he is relating the stories of
some the miracles Jesus did, and we read in Luke 7:2-7…
2 Now a centurion had a servant who was
sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about
Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his
servant. 4 And when they came
to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have
you do this for him, 5 for he
loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue." 6 And Jesus went with them. When
he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him,
"Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under
my roof. 7 Therefore I did
not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.”
Lord, you don’t need to come, I’m not worthy
of that. Just say the word and it is enough. That is faith! Jairus had a level
of faith, but he wasn’t going to let Jesus out of his sight, he was bringing
Him to his daughter! But now it was too late… Or was it? Why bother the teacher? If He is a
mere teacher, why indeed! But He is Emmanuel, God with us, and that makes all
the difference in the world! Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, only believe!”
Who is this man? At a friend’s tomb, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life!” That truth changes everything
for those who will trust Him! That’s the
BIG Idea: If Jesus is who He
claimed to be, then we can take Him at His word, we can trust Him even in the
most hopeless situation. So 1) Fear challenges hope; 2) Faith overcomes fear…
and…
III. The
Object of our faith makes all the difference (40b-43). It is not our great faith, it is our
great Savior that is our hope. Whatever
we face, Jesus is able to do more than we would ask or think. He is with
us! Jesus allowed only a few to witness
this miracle…
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.
Only a few were allowed in. Jairus, his
wife, the three disciples, and Jesus himself go alone into the room where the
girl is. Why? Wouldn’t everyone there know what had happened when she walked
out alive? Perhaps… at least those with
eyes to see and ears to hear would see God at work. Those hardened in their
unbelief might reason, “Well, what do you know, I guess Jesus was right, she was only sleeping!” Or worse, “We can’t
have this man doing these things, soon everyone will follow him!”
Those who witnessed the miracle were not to make it known (contrast
5:19). The man across the lake who had been freed from the Legion of demons was
told to go home, to his own people, and to tell them what great things the
Lord had done for him. Here, Jesus first limits the number of those who
directly saw the miracle (only three disciples, and the girl’s parents are in
the room), but also tells those who did see not
to make it known! Why again do we see this theme of Jesus seemingly controlling
the spread of the reports and testimony of the miracles that He was doing? He didn’t come to win a popularity contest. Jesus
came to give His life a ransom for many, to be the sacrifice and substitute who
would make it possible for humans to be reconciled to God. The story is moving
toward a climax at Calvary (and the Garden tomb!) but that time had not yet
come.
The
messages last week and today we called A
Tale of Two daughters. The answer to the question about “why” Jesus was limiting,
or a time, the testimony of His works could be called The tale of two Lazaruses! What is the connection? As far as I can
find, the name “Lazarus” only occurs in two contexts in the Bible. Once the
name is used to describe a poor man in a story Jesus told in Luke 16:19-31. The
other is Jesus’ friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from Bethany
(John 11:1-50; 12:10). In the first story, Lazarus, a poor man, dies and is
taken to “Abraham’s bosom.” The rich man dies and is in torment in Hades. There
is a great gulf between them, and the rich man pleads that someone be sent back
to warn his brothers so that they not come to that place of torment. The final
exchange gets to the point of the parable:
29 But Abraham said, “They have Moses
and the Prophets; let them hear them.” 30And
he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they
will repent.” 31 He said to
him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be
convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Lk 16:29-31).
The point is that they have the Word of God. If they won’t hear and believe the Word,
they won’t believe even if someone comes back from the dead to warn them. Jesus
is pointing forward to the resurrection, and the refusal of many (most!) to
recognize the truth and submit to His Lordship. Is that really true that many people
won’t be convinced by the testimony of someone who died and came back? Well, the
other Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany, answers that
question.
The second “Lazarus” is the one who dies in John 11. There are a few
parallels between John 11 and this miracle in Mark 5. For one thing, we see a
“delay” in Jesus getting to the dying person. In the story of Jairus’ daughter,
it seems to have been only a matter of minutes. But when Jesus heard Lazarus
was sick, he delayed two days before
setting out for his home (Jn 11:6)! In both cases someone in the story thinks
it is too late, if Jesus had gotten there sooner maybe He could have healed the
sick person, but now it was too late, the one they loved had died! In both
cases Jesus uses the euphemism of “sleep” to describe death. In John 11, after
raising Lazarus from the dead, what happens? The leaders plotted to kill
Jesus (11:53), and not only Him, but Lazarus as well! That is how
determined they were in their unbelief. We read in John 12…
9 When the large crowd of the Jews
learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to
see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death
as well, 11 because on
account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus (Jn 12:9-11).
Jesus was not late in Bethany nor was He late in
our passage in Mark 5. His timing was in fact perfect. He is never in a
hurry, He is never late! He was revealing His glory to those who had eyes
to see. Others were determined in their unbelief, they wouldn’t believe even if
someone came back from the dead. Faith comes be hearing, and hearing by the
Word of Christ. So, keep sowing… some seed will fall on fertile soil, some
will believe!
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
Fear challenges hope, faith overcomes fear, the object of our faith, Jesus, is
the resurrection and the life! That changes everything for those who will trust
Him! That is the BIG idea: If Jesus is who He claimed to be, then we can take
Him at His word, we can trust Him even in the most hopeless situation.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Remember the question the disciples asked in the boat: “Who is this!?”
1) Mark has been answering that and more: Who
is Jesus? Why did He come? What does it mean to follow Him? Has Mark’s answer
to those questions been resonating with you? Trust Him, Faith overcomes fear!
If God is for us, who can stand against us?
2) Communion is a good time to reflect on what
it means that God became a man to rescue us from sin and to give us true life. The
price has been paid, the gift has been offered. Has your heart been opened to
reach out your hand and receive the gift of the King? Trust Him! Remember who
He is, remember what He did for you! Communion is a time to remember, and a
time to worship! Like the healed woman, like Jairus, fall down before Him!
3) What frightens you? Is there an area of
your life where you have found it difficult to trust Him? We all have our
moments. Stewardship of your finances? “How can I afford to give… and ten
percent at that?” He says, don’t be afraid, only trust me (In fact, He said in
Malachi, “Test me in this…”!). Health
issues that you, or someone you love, are dealing with? Jesus says, don’t
be afraid, only trust me. A prodigal son or daughter, or another loved one,
who is far from the Lord, seemingly in bondage to the enemy? You fear for
their soul, their eternity. Jesus said, Do not fear, only believe. Love them, keep
telling them the truth, keep praying. He is listening, He hears.
His Word won’t return void, it will accomplish His purpose in His time. “In
the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome
the world!” He is saying, it
won’t always be easy. It is not all smooth sailing, but don’t be afraid, trust
me, I’ve got this, and I can bring good out of every storm.
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