Mk..6:35-43                 “Jairus’ Daughter”      tape 146b      8-25-2002

Last time: miracle within a miracle.  Christ’s mighty works were thickly sown.  If you sow seeds densely enough once in a while you will get two that land one right on top of the other.

Jairus’ daughter was dying, and on the way to heal her Jesus gets sidetracked with the woman who was hemorrhaging.  

As this man is undergoing the strongest possible human emotions for his daughter, Jesus stops to help this unclean, defiled outcast and calls her “daughter.”  The lesson couldn’t be more profound.

Jesus feels about her like Jairus felt about his own little girl.

But now that little girl is dead, and the father’s desperation is driven to the farthest possible extreme.  

You can’t read this account without noticing the dramatic contrast between the woman and Jairus.  The woman was the epitome of uncleanness, and Jairus was the picture of the most desirable kind of life.

In the stupidity of our flesh we always tend to think money and a good job and a nice family life are the antidote to sorrow in life.  

But there is no antidote to sorrow in this life.  Death comes to the halls of the palace as well as to the mud hut.  Every person in the world is equally dependent upon God’s mercy at every moment.

Total disaster is only a breath away from anyone.

Outside of God’s mercy and grace, there is no such thing as job security, or financial independence, or a promising future.

In between ministry

I love it that Jesus did the miracle of healing the woman right in the middle of going to help Jairus.  Not everything in Jesus’ life fit into a neat little story.  There were interruptions just like for us.

This is a great example of what I call the “in between” ministry of Christ.

We tend to think of the significance of our lives in terms of the peaks – the major events.  But look at how much Jesus did in between major events – on the way from one major event to another.

•	On the way out of the city he healed blind Bartimaeus
•	On the way to Emaus he reveals himself to the men
•	On the way across the Sea of G he stills the storm 
•	On the way to Galilee when He was fleeing Herod and the Pharisees, He stops and spends a whole chapter with the woman at the well.

Jesus seized every moment.   

So often we get consumed with the future or the past.  We think only the great moments matter.  And we are usually not in a great moment – we are either on our way to one or coming off one in the past.

But to God a day is like 1000 years (that means to God this sermon seems like it lasts 41 years – 

“Hey, it seems that way to me too!”  Each minute is 8.5 months!  Each second is over 100 hours)
The point is that to God 1000 years is not a long time, and a day is not a short time.  God is interested in the moment by moment existence of your life.  Don’t let a day be a short time.  Seize the moment.

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," [Luke: he knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live."  they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 

Jesus is always seeking to build people’s faith.

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.

Jesus masterfully dispenses with the crowd.  It would be easy to breeze over this without noticing the tremendous authority Jesus shows here.  

The crowd is there because they want to see what Jesus is going to do.  And they want it enough to where they were willing to give up a day and follow Jesus here.

I’m sure none of them wanted to leave, and the larger a crowd is, the harder it is to control them.  

But Jesus will not allow them to see.  He dismisses them.  You can just see Jesus standing right in that spot until every last one is gone – all but Peter, James and John (this is the first time we see this inner three).
 
Jesus considers this very important.  The only other times Jesus limited something to those three were the Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemane.  

So in Jesus’ eyes what is about to take place rates way up there in importance.

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, 

Jesus walked in on a real loud commotion.  It’s not the quiet, serene setting we have in our funerals.  In that culture they would make as much noise as they could to show how sorrowful they were.

There was a law that required that no matter how poor you were, you had to hire at least two flutes and one wailing woman if a family member died.  And the number you hired was to be commensurate with your wealth.

In his position this synagogue ruler would have no doubt been well-to-do.  So I’m sure this was a significant commotion.

38 with people crying and wailing loudly. 

Jesus could have just walked past them and raised this girl from the dead.  But He doesn’t.  Instead He somehow gets everyone’s attention.  

He does something to interrupt their normal funeral ritual, so He has everyone’s attention, and then He speaks in v.39.

39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 

Clearly the girl was dead.  Some skeptics have tried to suggest that Jesus is speaking literally here, and just pointing out that there was a misdiagnosis, and the girl was actually napping.

You would have to really have a bias against the supernatural to believe something like that.

Did the people really conduct funerals for girls who fell asleep?

Are we to believe that the girl laid down for a nap, and so they called all their friends and hired mourners, and sent for Jesus, and did all this just because it didn’t occur to anyone to shake her to see if she was sleeping?

Did Jesus come into this world to help wake up lazy kids from their naps?

Did this event get remembered and recorded in Scripture and passed down to be studied and preached, and has it been changing lives for 2000 years as one of the most celebrated acts in human history because Jesus woke a kid up from sleeping?

Please.

The girl was dead.  Of course she was dead.  Luke makes it clear in his account that her spirit was gone.

The reason Jesus calls her death sleep is because He’s making a statement.  Jesus is reinterpreting death from God’s point of view.  He is calling it temporary.  
Whenever you see the metaphor of sleep used for death in the NT, it’s highlighting the temporary nature of it.

In the kingdom, death is nothing but the prelude to resurrection life.  That’s all death is, so in that way it’s like sleep.

"Like its younger brother, sickness, death is an enemy. But it must yield to the powers of the messianic kingdom present in Jesus. In the presence of Christ, death becomes a `sleeping.'
  
40 But they laughed at him. 

This is the only place in the NT where someone is said to have laughed.  

The word used for laughter here is not the normal term for a joyful laughter.  It’s the word for a derisive, scornful, mocking laughter.  

Think of how offensive this was.  The poor man’s daughter had just died, this very day this poor man and his wife lost their only child, and here these people are laughing and mocking with a loud, vile, raucous laughter.

These paid mourners care nothing for his family.  I think he should get his money back.

This is how much faith the people had in Christ at this point.

“This great healer had arrived too late.  He shouldn’t have delayed.

Now this guy is going to try out his healing tricks on a corpse and make a fool of himself. He’s carried away by his own success. This should be good – we can’t wait to see this…

They didn’t get to see it, because in v.40 He puts them all out.

And that translation is a little mild.  The word is ekballo – to cast out (same word used of casting out demons).

He threw them out.

Jesus throws everyone out.  “All of you – out of the house.  Now – Go!”

I don’t know if He started shoving them out, or just intimidated them with His commanding authority, or if He started putting together another whip like He did in the Temple, or what.  

But one way or another He cleared the place, so now it’s just Jesus, three disciples, and Jairus and Mrs. Jairus. 

So now He has dismissed two crowds.  He got rid of the crowd that followed Him there, now He kicks out all the mourners including all the relatives and friends.

The dignity of Jesus and the miracle He was about to perform demanded proper silence.  The unbelieving, mocking crowd loses their chance to see.

People who mock things that are higher than them and beyond them can come to a point when they lose their privilege to see the mighty work of God.  They are not proper witnesses for something this wonderful, and so they don’t get to see them.

The widow's son at Nain, and Lazarus at Bethany were raised from the dead openly… 
But the people of Capernaum had ignored the lesser miracles of restoring health, and so now they were unworthy to see the greater miracle of restoring life. 

They are dogs and swine, and Jesus isn’t going to cast these priceless pearls to them just to watch them trample them underfoot.

Also, He didn’t want to raise this little girl and have her open her eyes only to be a spectacle of a gaping, gawking mob of unbelieving hypocrites who were just doubled over laughing at her funeral.

40 After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 

As they step through the doorway you can just feel Jairus’ throat tighten and the lump form, and a whole new fresh flow of tears begin streaming down their faces as they see her lifeless, pale body laying on the bed.

Now watch what a beautiful picture this is.

41 He took her by the hand

You and I don’t think anything of that, but everyone in that room would have been shocked at this.  Touching a corpse was the greatest defilement in Judaism.

And a high priest could never touch a corpse for any reason.

But when Jesus touches a corpse it doesn’t make Him unclean, because the moment He touches it, it’s no longer a corpse.

Jesus, our Great High Priest, is not capable of being defiled by death, because He’s the Author of life.

And He doesn’t just touch her, but He, very tenderly, takes her little hand in His…

and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").

Those people spoke primarily Aramaic, and Jesus’ teaching was probably mostly in Aramaic, but it was recorded in Greek, because that was the universal language at the time.

Mark is getting this information from Peter, who was there in the room when this happened.

Most of Jesus’ words just get translated into Greek, but here we get the exact sounds that came out of Jesus’ mouth.  

Peter was there, and no doubt he could never forget the sound of Jesus voice that day.  The rest of his life in his memory he could hear those words: “Tlitha koum” 

The Love, the gentleness, the caress of it lingered in his soul over the years, so much so that he couldn’t even think of it in Greek words – but only in the voice of Jesus in His very words.
 
Talitha koum!   These are the words her mom would have used when getting her up in the morning.  

Actually, the literal translation would be “Get up, little lamb.”  

It’s obvious the love and affection Jesus has for this girl.

In v.41 there are only 6 people in the room.  The little girl isn’t there – she has died, and her spirit is gone.

 [ Lk.Her spirit returned] 

Now there are 7 people in the room.

42 …he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.

With those two little words Jesus restarted her heart, restarted her breathing, repaired the brain damage and all the rest of the tissue damage throughout her body, and, more than all that, restored her spirit back to her body, and gave her life once more.

Suddenly this girl, laying on the bed, opens eyes and sees the kindest, most loving face she had ever seen looking down at her, no doubt smiling.  

The very first thing she notices is that her hand is in the strong, reassuring grip of His.  Her family is there.  

Next she notices she doesn’t feel sick anymore …at all! She feels fine.

42 the girl stood up and walked around.

She has energy.  She doesn’t feel like lying down.  She doesn’t need any rest.  She has an appetite.  She is completely, totally, instantly restored.

Learn to Appreciate Providence

As I was preparing this sermon, I was thinking about how much more exciting these stories would be if you didn’t all already know how they ended.

None of you get alarmed or start ringing your hands in worry when you read that the girl dies.

We see that and just think, “Oh, I guess this will be a resurrection story instead of a healing story.  Ho Hum.”

That’s not to imply that we aren’t thrilled by it.  It’s God’s Word and it shows us the Lord Jesus Christ, and we love that.

But we tend not to get too worked up worrying about Jairus’ daughter, because even if you don’t remember this particular story, you know it will turn out just fine in the end.

Just think what a difference it would make in your heart if we could train ourselves to read our own lives the way we read the Gospels.  

To illustrate what I mean, let’s take a moment and read this account like we read our own circumstances.

Up until v.40, Jairus is having a really bad day.

What rotten luck!

What did he do to deserve this?  

Of all the people in Capernaum, this sickness happens to strike his only child.  And now she’s dead, because it took Jesus so long to arrive.

If only they lived closer to the lake!

If only they would have gotten moving faster.  If only Jesus hadn’t run into that delay.  If only his daughter could have hung on just a little longer…

But none of those factors were different, and the shattering reality is, his precious daughter is dead.

Before that we saw the bad luck of the disciples, when they happen to get caught in a freak storm on the lake, or when they happen to pull up on shore right where the demoniac lived.

But nobody ever calls any of that bad luck, because we know what’s happening.

We see all that and it’s obvious enough to us that it’s not luck, it’s not chance, it’s not random – it’s nothing less than the intentional, purposeful workings of Jesus in His perfect plan.

In SS we have been learning that everything that happens is the work of God either through miracle or through providence.  

I heard this week about a man who took his wife, Barbara to the hospital for a routing surgical procedure.  Afterward she kept bleeding, the surgeons assumed they nicked an artery, and told the man she would be in surgery another 15 minutes.

That 15 minutes turned into over 5 hours.

Throughout the night it became apparent that the bleeding just wasn’t stopping.  By 1:30 am she had lost 2/3 of her body’s blood, and her heart was pounding out 140 beats per minute to try to circulate that little bit of blood she had left.

They called in some specialists, but couldn’t figure out the problem.  

A distant friend who really didn’t know her very well happened to stop by to drop off a gift.  She wouldn’t have even known Barbara was in surgery, except for a chance meeting with Barbara’s husband in a part of the hospital where this woman normally never went.

When she saw she had walked into a family crisis, she started to leave.  

But then someone said to her, “Don’t leave.  Barbara needs some encouragement.  She thinks she's dying.  Something about the blood not clotting.”

That comment sparked an old memory.  Years ago, when she was a lab technician, she was bored one day and she and another lab tech decided to run blood tests on each other.  

For some reason this lady showed those test results of that other technician to a blood specialist, who noticed a disorder.   He said, “Tell your friend she has a rare blood disorder, and that if she is ever in an accident she could bleed to death.”

It turns out that friend – the other lab technician, was Barbara’s niece.  

Immediately this woman checked to see if Barbara had this same disorder and found that she did.  They then knew how to treat it, and Barbara’s life was saved.

That whole thing happened because this woman was too busy to visit Barbara until her lunch break, which resulted in her coming at just the right time.

We hear stories like that and bless God for His working through providence.  

God could have used a miracle instead – have a hand appear in the O.R. and write the name of the blood disorder on the wall.  And that would have been wonderful.  But to me it’s even more amazing how God orchestrated all the circumstances the way He did through providence. 

People making normal decisions of their own free will – killing time as a bored technician, visiting a friend on a lunch break, etc.  And God worked it all out exactly how He wanted it.

It is the doctrine of providence that to me is the single greatest encouragement in times of trial and difficulty.  

What happened in that hospital was a massive coincidence.  But, if you think about it, everything that happens is a massive coincidence.  

Everything that ever happens to you is a result of thousands of factors involving millions of people in chains of events going back thousands of years.

If some settler, 200 years ago, would have turned right instead of left, my life today might be completely different.

We get excited about coincidences that result in something we really like.  But the things we don’t like, or don’t even notice, in the scope of eternity may turn out to be far more important and far more beneficial to us.

The bottom line of all this is this: If I walk out of the grocery store and discover a huge scratch along the length of my brand new car, I can look at that the same way I look at the event with Barbara.

The massive string of contingencies that led to my car being the one that got scratched is just as much a perfect work of art as the string of events that saved Barbara’s life.  (I know that, because I know God is all-powerful and perfectly good.  He only does what’s best).

Those of us who struggle with believing that should memorize John 4:6  Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

When you understand the providence of God, that becomes an exciting verse.  God’s man in God’s place at God’s time ready to do God’s will.  Everything in the fullness of time.  

An hour earlier and He would have missed the woman at the well.  An hour later and she would have been gone.  Ever notice how Jesus is always at the right place at the right time?  How did he know to be there?

Was it like I heard a pastor say, “The Holy Spirit told him, ‘Go to Samaria now’.”  No.

How did he end up in that place at that time?  The text tells us.  2 things:
1.  The evil, wicked, vile Pharisees made their move.  That got him moving that way.
What got him to top then and there?
2.  He was tired.  Hot, tired and thirsty.

God used evil men’s evil intentions and actions and Jesus’ own human frailty and limitations to place him right in the center of his will.  Just like Joseph.  This is why we don’t have to get too worked up over evil men or our limitations.  God leads you even by means of foolish authorities and “mishaps” and evil intentioned men doing dumb things.  

**************

42  At this they were completely astonished.

The Fountain of Life touches this dead, decaying, lifeless mass of dormant tissues, and pours into her life, and brought her back from the dead.

This isn’t just a clever Rabbi.  This is the Author of Life Himself.  This is the very one who breathed into Adam the breath of life at the very beginning.

Now all their joy is restored – even more joy than they had before she got sick.

**************************
I can’t help but think about several of you, who have tragically lost loved ones.  

Others have suffered other horrible losses and have felt the unbearable sting of living in a cursed, corrupted, sinful, dying world.

Maybe you read this story and think “That’s great for Jairus.  But Jesus didn’t come to my house and fix my problem.  He hasn’t put the shattered pieces of my life back together.”

He will.  

Sure, there may be a longer gap in between than there was for Jairus, but I hope you understand Jesus did this as a promise – just like all His miracles.  

The fact that we have a longer interval in between our loss and our restoration doesn’t make it any less certain.

He didn’t do this just for Jairus’ sake.  He did it to announce to the world that He is the one with the ability and the will to restore life, and when the time is right He will come again and restore all things.

“But what about in the mean time?  I know heaven will be wonderful, but what about now?  How can I cope?”

In this life you are like Jairus prior to v.37 – just standing there helplessly watching Jesus attend to someone else.  What should you do?

Perhaps we should do the same thing Jairus did in his interval – fall at Jesus’ feet, and trust Him.  Don’t be afraid.  Only believe.
 
What else can we do?  Where else can we go?  He alone has the words of eternal life.

43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, 
Matthew:  News of this spread through all that region.

The point isn’t so much to keep it a secret.  That’s impossible when there is a entire crowd in the middle of a funeral ceremony – all prepared to mourn for 30 days.  It will be obvious that the girl is alive.  The crowd will want to know all the details, but they lost their chance.

The point is He didn’t want them going around spreading the word like the man at Gadara.  

The Lord is in full control of His self-disclosure.  Some people he wants out there telling everyone, others he does not.  

In Israel, the more word got out, all it tended to do was hinder Jesus’ ministry by causing all of Jesus’ time to be dominated by the shallow, unbelieving crowds who were only interested in seeing a show.

Jesus only accepts those who come to Him on the basis of faith.  And so the primary task of telling the world about Christ was to take place after Christ was no longer physically on the earth.

and told them to give her something to eat.
The parents are so astonished they are momentarily rendered unfit parents – Jesus has to tell them to give her something to eat.

This shows the totality of the restoration to life.  She’s fine.  She even has an appetite.  

Despite all His mighty power to rob death of this tender victim Jesus is not too great to think of this ordinary need of food.  It is a tender and a lovely touch in the narrative.  

Imagine that dear little 6th grader sitting in the kitchen enjoying her plate of cookies with a milk mustache - Jesus sitting across from her (maybe enjoying a lemonade Himself), the ecstatic parents and the amazed inner circle. 

What a scene.

We’ll let them enjoy that fellowship, and we’ll let the sounds of their joyful conversation fade as we close our time with our hearts warmed as we think about our future when we will someday sit at His table.

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Benediction:  2 Co.1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 1 Pe.5:10,11  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Sight and Sound

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" 
When people called Jesus “Son of David” He didn’t answer.  He didn’t respond to that title – perhaps because it was a political title?

28 When he had gone indoors,   (no privacy - relentless)
Jesus did not respond while they were following Him.  This gives Jesus a chance to expose their faith.  Some people will get in a crowd and join in the shouting, “Mercy, Son of David” and as soon as Jesus is around the corner forget all about it.  

Jesus does not attend to them until He has them alone in His house.  People will say lots of things in a crowd, but what you say with the crowd doesn’t matter.  There comes a time when each of us faces Christ alone.  What do you say to Him then?  What do you say to Christ in the isolation of your own soul?  Anything?

the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied. 29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored.

Christ was going to heal them, but He delayed.  Delay weeds out unbelief.  People who pretend to have faith but don’t, when God doesn’t instantaneously respond in the exact way they demand, tend to turn away.   Those people, in this case, after calling out once and having Jesus ignore would turn away and say, “Fine.  I knew He was a fraud anyway.”

So Jesus again exposes genuine faith.  
He withholds the blessing.  Sometimes God, in His Wisdom, delays & stores up kindness toward us.
Ps 31:19  How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you 

Christ is the Fountain of light as well as life; 
By raising the dead, he showed himself to be the One Who first breathed into man the breath of life, 
By giving sight to the blind, he showed himself to be the One Who first commanded the light to shine out of darkness.

This is a great promise to every blind person.  I get excited just about being able to see colors someday!

The giving of physical sight illustrates the giving of spiritual sight.  Natural man is spiritually blind.  No spiritual truth can be figured out unless it is revealed (much of philosophy and psychology is worthless)

29 According to your faith will it be done to you
Sometimes faith results in a miracle, other times a miracle results in faith, other times there is no connection whatsoever.  

There are no miracles of giving sight to the blind in the OT – and none in the NT other than those done by Jesus directly.  When Jesus commissioned the Apostles to go out to do miracles in Mt.10, He mentioned most everything but that (including raising the dead)

And yet, Jesus did more miracles of giving sight to the blind than any other category (Morris). 

Enlightenment

30 Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this."
sternly  Very strong – to roar or storm with anger, to snort

How?  Pretend to be blind?  Must mean not to become evangelists like in Gadera (some are called to that, others are not).

31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region. 
Honor is like the shadow, which, as it flees from those that pursue it, so it pursues those that flee from it.
The deeds of Jesus were so wonderful, they couldn’t be kept secret.

It is strange to see this kind of disobedience.  As you read through the gospel accounts, every time Jesus speaks, things happen.  The demons obey instantly, diseases flee, death releases its grip at Christ’s command – even the wind and waves obey instantly and totally.
But He gives one, simple command to humans, and they disobey.  Human beings are very unique in that respect.  One of the great mysteries of theology.

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke.

While they were going out.   Constant pressure – Jesus was followed by a never-ending stream of tragic individuals.

Here Jesus gives sight and speech.  These miracles remind us that human physical ability is given by God, and therefore there must be some reason.  God could have made us all blind and none of us would have known the difference.  But God gave us facilities of both perception and communication.  We are stewards of our ability to perceive and speak.  We were not given those abilities just to make life more interesting, we were given them for a purpose.

If you were hired at a job and your first day walked into your office, and in the middle of your desk was some strange tool.  You would ask your boss, “What am I supposed to use this for?”  God has placed you here with a whole set of tools.  Your first question should be, “What am I supposed to use them for?”

Does God have any reason not to take your sight away tomorrow?  (other than His mercy)  Your speech?  I’m not suggesting He will, but if they are not being used for Him, why shouldn’t He?

 The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." 
The Rabbis taught and nothing happened.  Jesus spoke and demons fled, storms were silenced, nature snapped to attention, the dead were raised, sins were forgiven, and the Kingdom of God was established.  The contrast was obvious.  Jesus’ words and deeds were nothing less than the presence of Kingdom of God. 

34 But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons." 

When they condemned him for forgiving sin (v. 3) it could be understandable, for conversing with tax collectors and sinners, (v. 11), for not fasting (v. 14), but when they vomit out this accusation, they show that their hearts are just pure, vile, wicked 100% evil.
PRAY
BENEDICTION: 2 Co.1:3  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort