"While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?" But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe." And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He *said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep." They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're so grateful to have you here, it is such a great privilege to study God's Word with you today.
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're so grateful to have you here, it is such a great privilege to study God's Word with you today.
It's easy to become annoyed when people interrupt us in the middle of something important to have a conversation, or to become irritated when unexpected delays occur that interfere with our personal schedules. It's actually rather comical, even as I was working on this message, I experienced numerous interruptions and several unexpected delays and started to become annoyed before I was humbly reminded that they are both part of God’s divine design. Jesus would have not gotten irritated, He would have used each opportunity to glorify His Father in heaven. Not only was Jesus accessible but He was compassionate, caring and sensitive to the needs of those around Him, making time to minister to others when they approached Him.We all need to be able to remember that, including myself and when I forget, I thank God for graciously reminding me, it's always enlightening. If I hadn't been working on this message, perhaps it might have escaped my notice that was God weaving His divinely purposed interruptions and delays into my schedule.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are so thankful for Your Word and for Your gracious reminders that it's never about us, but always about You. How Your Word speaks powerfully into our lives at just the right time. Lord, we’re so thankful that You are always interruptible, always accessible whenever we come to You in desperation and You always respond. Father, we pray that by Your grace You would penetrate every hardened heart with that message, grant every sinner the repentance necessary to come to Your Son, our Savior, confessing their need for salvation. We know that You have the power to make it happen. That’s why these things are written, that people might believe in Jesus and confess Him as Savior and Lord. O' how we long for that glorious moment when we will dwell with You forever, until that day, may we faithful confess before men all the great many things You have done in our lives. Lord, when things don’t go as we plan, help us not to become irritated, but to trust You and the plans You have for us in these situations.
We ask and pray these things in Jesus name
Amen
Today's Message: Divine Interruptions and Delays Part 2
Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 5, verse 35 and following, as we conclude our study in this wonderful chapter. I pray it has touched your heart as it has mine. May we all learn from His example. I invite you
to follow along with me as I read to
set the text in our minds. Mark 5:35-43
"While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?" But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe." And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And entering in, He *said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep." They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat."
Every miracle that Jesus did validated He was Who He said He was and He accomplished them with a touch or a word. Yet, people mocked Jesus, spit on Him, mistreated Him and led Him away to be crucified. In John 13:16, Jesus said
"Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him." Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised when people mock and ridicule us for our faith. He's already proven He has the power cleanse lepers, make the lame walk, the blind see and heal the sick. In John 11:26, Jesus said "And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" It’s one thing to claim to do something, it's quite another to be able to do it. Today, we’re looking at the evidence of Jesus' unmistakable power to conquer death. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
will be changed." For the believer, death is only sleep.
Let's look at verse 35, "While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?" "While He was still speaking," Mark doesn't tell us who He was speaking to or what conversation was about, but we do know He had been speaking to the woman, perhaps He’s finishing up His conversation with her. I imagine Jairus must've have been thinking, as any desperate parent would, "If it weren’t for the interruption from that woman, Jesus could have already healed my daughter. He could have healed after He healed my daughter. After all, she's been sick for 12 years. What difference would another 30 minutes make?" As we noted last time, interruptions and delays are all part of God’s divine design.
Then Mark tells us "they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?" Hardships are a normal part of life, God often uses them to deepen our faith. I believe that it is important to remember that, during those times when He seems to be silent, making us feel like He has abandoned us. Jesus stopped what He was doing to deal with a desperate woman who was in need, however, the delay has now proven to be deadly. Matthew adds the synagogue official bowed down before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." It's sad that so many Christians today think they're too important to be bothered by those in need. There's little wonder critics have said of the church, "If those hypocrites are supposed to be representing God, I don't need Him!" I believe that we who claim to follow Christ should all examine ourselves!
I'd like you to notice those coming from the house of the synagogue official called Jesus Teacher, "didáskalos," in case you missed it, that's what He was known as, the Teacher, not as a miracle worker. His message not the miracles are what is most important, it's still true today. God can and does still grant miracles, but even with the miracles of healing, this life is temporary, the message of eternal life is what we need to proclaim.
Verse 36, "But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe." We can just imagine what Jairus is feeling. I love the tenderness of Jesus as He's calling him to have faith even in the midst of what seems to be impossible. In the Greek, He’s saying, "Keep on believing, keep trusting. Stop fearing, only be believing." Luke adds that Jesus said "Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well." If that’s the attitude that Jesus calls Jairus to have, how much more is this the attitude we are to have today? There's going to be chaos in this fallen world but when things seem impossible, replace your fear with faith! We have nothing to fear, Matthew 19:26, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." The Lord is our stronghold, we are to trust Him in times of trouble.
Verse 37, "And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James." Notice that Jesus thins out the crowd, obviously He couldn’t take everyone with Him, it would have been too much for the house of the synagogue official, the crowd was massive. He didn't even take the twelve, He allowed only His inner circle, Peter and James and John. By the way, this is the first time we see Him isolate these three, but it's not the last is it? I believe we should learn that even Jesus only gave Himself intimately to an few. Why not Andrew, he and Peter were brothers? Sometimes Andrew is included in the inner circle, but he wasn't with Peter and James and John at the transfiguration was he? Perhaps three is the perfect number for Him to work with, or because He was preparing them for leadership, to become the channel through which the experiences and the instruction could be taken back to the rest.
Verse 38, "They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing." By the time Jesus arrived the funeral was already in full force, everybody is there. Funerals in the first century were much different from the somber funerals we have today, where people are speaking quiet, so not to create a disturbance. That was not how they did it, they were filled with the tearing of clothes, it is required that you tear your clothes and wear them over a thirty-day period
to show your mourning, there was frantic weeping and wailing, loud hand clapping from hired professional mourners to magnify the agony and get everybody else weeping and wailing, and there was at least two flutes playing dirges. With all the commotion going on, you would never imagine this was a funeral, it was very chaotic, noisy scene. You may remember King Herod "The Great," was so concerned that no one would mourn his
death that he ordered a large group of distinguished men be killed at
the time of his death to cause more widespread grief.
Verse 39, "And entering in, He *said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep." Matthew adds that He said, "anachóreó," which is strong language meaning to leave or get out. Luke then tells us He said, "Stop weeping." In other words, "Why are you causing such an uproar, it’s pointless this child has not died, but is asleep."
Verse 40, "They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was." When Jesus said she was sleeping everyone started laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. The world still mocks what they can't understand today. Ignorance is pretty predictable isn't it? He had already told them to get out, but they didn't leave, instead they're mocking Him as though He is a fool. It's the verb "katagelaó," they're laughing with scorn. It may seem odd that they go from weeping and wailing to laughing with scorn, but remember, they’re hired professionals who are not really grieving. Now He begins to drive them out or "ekballó," the same word used when He cleansed the temple, and emptied the place driving them out of with a whip. This is not the passive Jesus we hear so much about today. As we mentioned earlier, death for the believer is a temporary condition, like sleep. When we die, though the body sleeps until the day of resurrection and our soul goes immediately into the presence of the Lord.
Then, "He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was." The implication is He literally takes them, I can just see Him tenderly putting His arms around the grieving parents, or taking them by hand as He led them into the house, because our Savior has a tender, loving heart. Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit." "And His own companions," meaning He took Peter, James and John along with Him into the room where the child was. Luke adds "He did not allow anyone to enter with Him,"
here we see His sensitivity, taking great care to give the family some privacy.
Verse 41, "Taking the child by the hand, " He did the same thing for Peter’s mother-in-law, didn't He? He didn't have to go to Jairus' house, He could have healed her from where He was. It's personal. Then, "He *said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Literally, "Little lamb, arise!" That a beautiful term of endearment used to describe a small child! Even though she's twelve, she's still a dear little lamb in the eyes of Jesus, the Great Shepherd. By the way, only Mark records the original Aramaic phrase which was the daily language spoken in Israel at the time of Jesus.
Verse 42, "Immediately the girl got up and began to walk," it's the verb, "peripatéō," patéō means to walk, peri intensifies it, so immediately she got and began to walk around everywhere. This little girl is really going full speed ahead, she had the strength that any normal twelve year-old would. Notice there was no need for physical therapy or rehabilitation because Jesus doesn't do anything half-way, does He? Every miracle recorded in Scripture is instantaneous and complete. Luke adds, "And her spirit returned." As for those who witnessed this amazing miracle, "they were completely astounded." One minute she was dead and the next minute she was alive, healthy and walking around.
That brings us to verse 43, "And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat." Have you noticed that He seems to always be saying not to tell anyone? Scripture never gives us an explanation for it, but I believe it's because He doesn't want to create a situation that would prompt the religious leaders who hated Him to expedite their plans to kill Him or to keep messianic expectations to a minimum, after all, the people already tried to force Him to be a king. He's working according God's timetable, not man's. It was not yet time to spread resurrection the message, with the cross is still a few months away. The Gospel message must include the cross to give eternal life to the spiritually dead. I am so grateful that on the cross, He exchanged for my wretchedness for His His righteousness! That's why we preach Christ crucified.
At the end of the verse, He said that something should be given her to eat. I love that, a miracle brought her to life and a meal would keep her alive. Jesus cares about all our needs, even a missed meal.
In Closing..
Jesus wants to give you eternal life, don’t wait for a crisis to happen and death is too late. Today is the day of salvation. John 1:12-13 says "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." Are you ready to become a child of God? If so, reach out to Jesus in faith and ask Him to deliver you today. You'll be glad you did.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen