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Raising Jairus’ daughter, 8:40-56.
o The
trial: For one thing, not only did this
man Jairus have a dying daughter, he also was in need of something supernatural
from Jesus when Jesus was distracted helping someone else. As we see in the story, Jairus learns that
his daughter has died after what seemed to be a brief distraction of Jesus by the woman with the issue of blood. Thus, what he needed was not just the normal healing; he now needed a resurrection. We note as well that he did not ask Jesus for
the resurrection; it may have seemed hopeless and too much to ask. It was Jesus who came up with that idea.
o The
miracle: It is interesting how Jesus
deals with this situation. He speaks of
the miracle as a healing; He tells Jairus, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and
she will be made well.” When He comes to
the house He assures the people that the girl is not dead but sleeping. Sleep
is often associated with death
(especially in John 11:11-13). To Jesus
death is not the final, impossible issue it is for us. We fear it because we have no answer. Jesus has an answer; no, Jesus is the
answer because He is the Son of God. So
the miracle is a resurrection, bringing the girl back to life. And as with His calming of the storm earlier
in this chapter, Jesus performs the miracle by speaking. Little
girl, arise!
o The
authority: John spoke of Jesus thus: In
Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). Jesus said of Himself, For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will
(John 5:21). Jesus is God, and God receives life from no other source. Life is inherent in God; HE IS LIFE and this
is true of God the Son (John 14:6). Thus
we do not say that Jesus has authority over death; we say that for Jesus, where
He is the essence of life, dealing with death is like waking someone up from
sleep or healing them of a disease.
o The
response:
§ Jesus’
words to Jairus, only believe (v50),
indicate the base line issue: do you trust Jesus? We are not told if Jairus believed but it
seems he did as he continued to lead Jesus to the house. God can work with or without our faith; He is
not dependent on us. But the issue for
us, and the difference in our lives has to do with, our willingness to trust
Him.
§ Jesus’
instructions not to talk about what happened in that bedroom that day further
point to the need of people to put their faith in Him. Jesus knew the tendency of people to follow
Him simply for the miracles and not because He was the Son of God and Lamb of
God and King of Israel. It is a question
we must ask: why do we claim to be followers of Christ? Is it because of what we want Him to do for
us? Or is it because we have come to
know Him as the Sovereign Lord?!
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