V.35 While Jesus was speaking to the woman, Jairus is given bad news; “Your daughter is dead.” The statement that is said by those who came to give Jairus the dire news is telling; “Why trouble the Teacher any further?” They assumed as others would, that the girl’s condition is now irreversible and without remedy.
V.36 Jesus quickly corrects this thought by insisting that Jairus stop being afraid and continue to believe, to literally “keep on believing.” Jairus stood at the place between fear and faith.
What a timely message for us today in view of the present Corona virus pandemic that has seized our country and most of the world. We often find ourselves like Jairus, standing between fear and faith. Fear grips us in the present, in a moment of time, but faith lets us see beyond the moment to something more lasting and much more real.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is more of a description of what faith does rather than simply a definition of what faith is. Substance means “essence” or “reality”, but it takes on a rich meaning in this passage. Here it suggests a support, something to stand on or under, which gives us assurance. Faith treats thing hoped for as reality, a present support in times of fear.
Evidence means “a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested. Faith gives evidence that what is not yet seen is real, which in turn defuses fear.
When Jesus finally arrives at Jairus’ house He finds “a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly” (v.38). Public mourning at this time and in this culture was loud and boisterous. They were mourning the death of Jairus’ daughter.
When Jesus entered the house, he told the assembled mourners to stop their wailing because, “The child is not dead, but sleeping.” Then He ordered the mourners out of the house, went into the room where the girl lay, took her by the hand, told her to get up and then ordered those who had witnessed what He had done to keep silent about it, even as they were overcome with amazement.
Ronald Kernahan writes, “It is hard to imagine a more improbable set of instructions. Was there any possibility that the mourners would not realize that the child was up and walking around? What were the odds that the rest of Jesus’ disciples would not hear the story? What details of the raising of the daughter of the synagogue ruler could be kept secret even under the tightest security? All the combined details of this miracle story—that Jesus took the child by the hand, spoke to her in Aramaic and told her parents to give her something to eat—do not constitute a secret worth keeping.”
There are at least two reasons why Jesus tells them to keep the matter to themselves. By ordering them to keep quiet about the matter, it would have allowed Jesus to exit quietly, as opposed to being mobbed by the crowd. Also, Jesus did not want to be known primarily as a miracle worker, which may have had people seeking Him for the wrong reasons. The miracles that Jesus performed served as signs which pointed to the reality of who He was, not an end in themselves.
Thought: Perhaps there is (or was) something in your life that once seemed full of life but now may appear dying or dead. Perhaps well-meaning friends and family members have even, in one way or another, verified to you its death; a desire, a business, a ministry, to name a few. Has that happened to you?
Maybe God has closed the door in that area of your life. Or perhaps God want to bring back to life what we have deemed to be dead. Maybe Jesus is saying, “Why make this commotion and weep? The ________________ is not dead, but sleeping.”
I share this thought because it’s personal to me. You see, there was a time when I thought that my pastoring another church was dead. I thought that God had closed the door on that part of my life. But He didn’t. It was as if He said to me, “Why make this commotion and weep? The calling I gave you to Pastor is not dead, but merely sleeping.”
Might there be something in your life you considered dead, a closed door, that the Lord is telling you is merely asleep? Could He be speaking to you, “I say to you, arise”?
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