Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter - 5 August 2018

“A Father’s Worst Nightmare”

Luke 8:40-42, 49-56 (SBC, Sligo IE)

5 August 2018

INTRODUCTION:

            Being a father is not an easy job. It never has been, at least not if you are doing it correctly. Bringing children into the world and then doing your best to see that they turn out to be good, honest, loving, godly people is a big challenge! And I think that being a dad to daughters is especially challenging. Raising boys is somewhat easier for us because from the very start we speak the same language, being from the same planet and all. But with little girls it’s different. They are a mystery to us!

            That is because little girls are filled with cuteness and craftiness, sweetness and trickery, coyness and orneriness, all at the same time. A father is pretty much at sea from day-one. This beautiful little girl suddenly pops into his life and he has no idea what to do with her. But in no time at all she has her daddy wrapped around her cute little pinkie finger. She has herself all entwined in his heart in such a way that he will never get loose.

TRANSITION:

            In our passage for today a man experiences what would be a “worst nightmare” situation for any loving father. His little daughter has become ill and she is nearing death. The doctors have been unable to help her. It is clear that she has very little time left unless some sort of miracle occurs.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 40: And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

·         “And as Jesus returned…” Returned from where? It seems that after the casting out of the demons from the Gadarene demoniac, Jesus and His disciples made their way back up north 13 miles across the Sea of Galilee to the region of Capernaum and Bethsaida. The text does not tell us exactly where this next event occurred, but it most likely happened just outside of Capernaum. If you remember last Sunday’s message you will recall that according to Luke 8:26 Jesus had been ministering in the area to the north of the Sea of Galilee, especially in the region of Capernaum. But verse 26 says, “Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.” This was the area down on the southeastern shore of the lake. After Jesus cast the demons out of the possessed man, verse 37 tells us that Jesus and His disciples got back in the boat and headed up north again toward Capernaum in Galilee.

·         “…the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.” Wherever Jesus went there were always crowds of people anxious to see Him and to hear His message. So now once again Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd of people, pushing in, wanting to see Him and to touch Him. Moreover, sick people flocked to Him to be healed. On that day such was the case of one man in particular by the name of Jairus.  

Verses 41-42: And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; ⁴² for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as [Jesus] went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

·         “Jairus…an official of the synagogue.” Jairus was one of the Jewish leaders from that region. He may have been the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum, or he may have been from one of the nearby towns where Jesus had preached (cf. 8:1). His name was derived from the Hebrew word, “ya’ir,” meaning “Yahweh enlightens.” In the Greek text he is called an “ἀρχισυνάγωγος” (archisunágôgos), meaning “synagogue ruler.” His duties included the conducting of the synagogue worship and the selection of those who were to lead in the prayer, read the Scriptures, and preach. There was generally only one archisunágôgos to each synagogue. By the way, if Jairus was the ruler of the Capernaum synagogue then he very likely was one of the leaders mentioned way back in Luke 4:31-37 and 6:6-11.

·         Luke does not give us much in the way of details about the little girl here except to tell us that she was Jairus’ “only daughter” and that she was “about 12-years-old.” In our world that means that she would have been a 6^th grader, on the line between being a little girl and becoming a young woman. Can you imagine the pain and grief in this father’s heart? He was desperate to find help for his little girl. In Mark 5 in the parallel account of this event we read in verses 22-24, “Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at His feet ²³ and pleaded earnestly with Him, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’ ²⁴ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around Him.” Jairus knew that his little girl’s condition was critical and that every minute counted. If this story had occurred in 2018 she would already be on the LifeFlight helicopter headed to Sligo University Hospital.

·         Notice that Mark also tells us, “…[Jairus] fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly with Him.” Imagine what it cost Jairus to come to Jesus and publicly ask for His help. He had to lay down his prejudice, his dignity, his pride, his friends, and his future. This was professional suicide for him, but he did not care at that moment. Saving his little girl’s life was his highest priority, far above his own personal interests.

·         Something else important…in Mark 5:23 the form of the verb here translated “pleaded earnestly” means he kept on begging, repeatedly and desperately. He lost all semblance of propriety or formality. This was a desperate father, on his knees before the Lord, pleading for the life of his daughter. And what was the result of his plea? Jesus immediately went with him. What relief Jairus must have felt, knowing that Jesus was on His way to save his little daughter.

·         But then the Lord got stopped by the crowd and specifically by a lady who was very sick and needed help too. We looked at her story last Sunday. What frustration Jairus must have felt as the minutes ticked by as he watched Jesus deal with someone else’s problem, someone who in a sense had jumped the queue and crowded into line and had now put the life of his little girl in even more jeopardy. Jesus was still talking with the lady that He had just healed on His way to Jairus’ place when some friends arrived from Jairus’ house with bad news.

Verse 49: While He was still speaking [to the woman], someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”

·         No one wants to be the bearer of bad news. It is a horrible job! As a police chaplain I often had to do death notifications and to deliver other bad news. Believe me, it is no fun! But I think it is even worse to be on the receiving end! Imagine Jairus’ pain as he heard those words: “Your little girl is dead. Come home and don’t bother the Teacher anymore.” Obviously, they had no faith that Jesus could do anything about the situation. Healing a sick person was one thing, but raising a corpse was another thing entirely!

·         And imagine the thoughts that might have started racing around inside Jairus’ head— “If Jesus had just been in a little more of a hurry, maybe He could have saved her. If that sick woman hadn’t butted in and drawn His attention away maybe my daughter would still be alive. Or, if I had just left home a little sooner maybe I could have gotten to Jesus in time.”    

Verse 50: But when Jesus heard this, He answered him [Jairus], “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”

·         Jairus heard their words and for a moment thought that all hope was gone. Jesus heard their words and ignored them, knowing full well that He had the power to bring the girl back to life. In that moment, Jairus had to make a choice about who to listen to—those who said, “Hope is lost” or the one who said, “Don’t be afraid, just trust Me.” The English text leaves out the emphasis that we find in the Greek text. Literally, Jesus said to Jairus: “Stop fearing! Keep on believing!” Jesus knew that hearing their report had struck fear into Jairus’ heart, but the Lord urged him not to forsake the faith that had brought him to Jesus in the first place. Fear is the opposite of faith. The one condition of God’s working for us is that we trust Him.

·         This story reminds me of the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11. Lazarus was Jesus’ dear friend. He knew that Lazarus was very sick, yet Jesus deliberately waited until after Lazarus had died to begin the journey from Galilee to Bethany. And He took His sweet time about getting there—4 days! Why? Because He knew exactly what He was going to do. He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead right in front of a multitude of mourners. And before He did it He told Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

Verse 51: When [Jesus] came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.

·         As they approached Jairus’ house they were met by a mob of people crying and wailing, mourning for this little girl who had just died. Mark 5:38 says, “When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.” Matthew’s Gospel reports in 9:23 that the professional mourners had already arrived (“flute players”) and they were making a lot of noise. Jairus was a leader in the Jewish community and was apparently well-loved. The little group of six made their way into the house. There Jesus addressed the crowd that had gathered inside the house just outside the bedroom where the body was resting.   

Verse 52: Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”

·         Their mouths must have all dropped to their chests! How could He say such a thing? Didn’t He know a dead body when He saw one? Remember, these people lived with death. They were used to seeing it. They knew a dead person when they saw one, and this girl was definitely as dead as a doornail!  

Verse 53: And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.

·         This was not happy, carefree laughter in the humorous sense, but rather laughter of derision, scorn, and unbelief. They thought they knew better than Jesus. It was this false “knowledge” that blinded their eyes to the truth of what was taking place.

·         Some have taken Jesus’ words about the child not being dead but asleep to mean that she was not really dead, but only in a coma of some sort. However, skip down to verse 55 and you will notice that it says, “…And her spirit returned…” making it clear that she had been dead. Christ’s reference to death as sleep was intended to suggest that the little girl’s condition was temporary, not permanent, and that she would awaken from death. It is interesting that Jesus said the same thing about Lazarus in John 11:11, 14 and he had been dead for 4 days by the time Jesus showed up! He had even started to decompose and smell bad. Still, Jesus said, “He is asleep.”

·         Something else I find very interesting… the Early Church always described the believing dead as “asleep in Jesus” (cf. 1 Thess. 4:14). Because of that, for a long time the Greek-speaking Christians called their burial places, κοιμητήριον, “koimetérion” (sleeping place, bedroom, resting place). From Greek this word was transliterated into Latin as “coemetérium” with the same meaning, a sleeping place. It is from this Latin word that we get our English word, “cemetery,” originally meaning a sleeping place for those who have died in Christ. On the other hand, the English word, “graveyard” merely indicates a place where holes were dug (graven) in the ground. For unbelievers that is all they have to look forward to—a hole in the ground!

·         We must remember that from the viewpoint of the Lord of the Universe physical death was not that big of a deal. For us, death is the great enemy, the thing that eventually defeats every one of us, but for the Lord Jesus it posed no threat or difficulty.

  

Verse 54: He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!”

·         Mark’s account tells us in 5:40-41, “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. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha, koum!” (which means, “Little girl, arise!”).”

·         “After He put them all out…” meaning the other relatives, friends, and professional mourners. The only ones He allowed to go in to witness this miracle were the girl’s parents and three of His disciples. Everyone else was sent outside the house to wait and see what would happen.

·         Why did Jesus do it this way? Maybe it was to cut down on the noise. Maybe it was to calm the situation. I think that it was also because He wanted to emphasize the result, not the means to the end. This was not about His technique of raising dead people. This was about the fact that He is Lord of life, and is Sovereign God in the flesh. He could have performed this miracle in any number of different ways. He chose to do it merely by speaking to her and calling her spirit to return to her body. In the process, He healed whatever illness had caused her death in the first place. In an instant she was totally healed and restored.

·         By the way, Mark is the only one of the Gospel writers to give us Jesus’ exact words. The Lord took her by the hand and spoke to her in Aramaic, “Talitha, koum!” Those two gentle words simply mean, “Little girl, arise!” Mark inserts the words, “I say unto you…” giving us a sense of the force of Jesus’ command. This was not a prayer, but rather, a command from the Sovereign Lord of Heaven. Death had no choice but to give her up.

 

Verse 55: And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.

·         Notice the word, “Immediately…” It didn’t take any time at all. It happened so fast that I’m sure the disciples and her parents were totally taken aback. Mark tells us in 5:42, “Immediately the girl stood up and walked around…At this they were completely astonished.” I should say so! Can you imagine the joy that those parents felt? Can you hear their voices lifted in praise to God? I can.

·         Why did Jesus command that she be given food? Perhaps for two reasons:

1.    First, because He knew that she had been ill for a while and had probably been unable to eat. Now that she was healed she would be ravenously hungry.

2.    Second, as a further proof that she was indeed alive, back from the dead. Jesus used this same proof with His disciples after His own Resurrection (cf. Luke 24:41-43). He ate with them.

 

Verse 56: Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

·         Isn’t this a curious thing? How were they going to keep this wonderful miracle a secret? For one thing, Jairus’ house was surrounded by people waiting to hear the news, good or bad, one way or another. And certainly, when his little girl appeared, alive and happy and in perfect health, all the people were going to want to know exactly what had happened. How could Jesus possibly expect these grateful parents to obey this command to not tell anyone about this?

·         Some have said that He did not want the parents to go out telling what had happened in order to try and forestall a widespread furor that might precipitate a crisis situation before it was time for Him to go to the cross. Others have theorized that Jesus was using reverse psychology. By saying, “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this,” He was secretly prompting them to tell everyone. I don’t think so, however, because that would mean His commands are not to be followed but to be interpreted, looking for hidden meanings. I am sure He meant what He said, but they were weak and unable to keep their mouths shut.

·         Matthew reports what happened in 9:26, “And this news went out into all that land.” Apparently, these happy parents were unable to keep a secret! Good news always has a way of getting out!

CONCLUSION:

I love this story because I can relate to it on so many levels. It cost Jairus to come to Jesus to ask for His help. We do not know the end of the story, but I can imagine that it might have cost him his position in the synagogue. We do not know what ever happened to the little girl either, but I imagine that for the rest of her life she told everyone she met the story of what Jesus had done for her.

            After Lazarus was raised from the dead (cf. John 11) we know that he became a fearless witness for Christ, so much so that the Jewish leaders decided to kill him too, just to get him out of the way. John 12:9-11 says, “Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there [in Bethany at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus] and came, not only because of [Jesus] but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him.”

            You may think that you do not have a dramatic story to tell. Jesus did not save you from a life of crime, or drugs, or prostitution, or violence. Maybe you came to faith in Jesus as a child at VBS, or in Sunday School, or kneeling at your mother’s bedside. What you need to understand is that you too were dead, and Jesus brought you to life. You were “dead in trespasses and sins” and Jesus raised you to newness of life and made you a new creation. You were a lost lamb and Jesus came and found you. You were a child of the devil and Jesus saved you and made you a child of God and a joint-heir with Christ. Do not ever sell your conversion short! It cost God just as much to save you as it did to save Jairus’ daughter or the very worst of sinners!