The living alive of Jairus' daughter (5:21-24a and 35-34)

[Stephan Choe]

Nov. 15, 2024

Key verses 41-42: "And he took the child by the hand and said to him: Talita kum! - which means translated: <Girl, I say to you, get up!> And immediately the girl got up and walked around, but she was twelve years old. And they were immediately astonished beyond measure."

The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha Gautama. Since his family belonged to the nobility, he grew up sheltered and carefree in the palace of his father. As a young adult, Siddhartha Gautama went on hikes in the surrounding area and was confronted for the first time in his life with other people's problems: you grow old, get sick, suffer pain, and die. He therefore looked for a way out of these sufferings. He then taught that one can achieve peace of mind from worldly worries by forgetting everything.

Unfortunately, forgetting is not a real solution to the problem of death.

But Jesus Christ gives us a real solution for overcoming the power of death.

Today we want to learn about the solution to the power of death through this text.

In the eastern region of the Sea of ​​Galilee, Jesus freed a crazy man possessed by evil spirits.

When Jesus returned to the western area, a large crowd gathered around him.

There was one in the crowd who desperately needed Jesus' help. His name was Jairus, one of the leaders of the synagogue. Jesus was asked by Jairus to help his daughter. So Jesus began to go to his house with Jairus. A large crowd followed him, and they crowded around him.

But his journey to Jairus' house was stopped by the woman who was bleeding. Therefore, Jesus healed her und helped this woman to believe in Jesus. How restless Jairus might have been while Jesus stopped to help the woman!? He must have been very disturbed by the thought that his daughter could die at any moment.

While Jesus was still talking to the woman, some from that house of Jairus brought Jairus the dreaded bad news: “Your daughter has died!” (35).

Her message must have hit Jairus like a thunderbolt. How frightened and desperate he must have been!

The messengers of the hopeless news added their advice: “Why do you continue to trouble the Master?”

They advised Jairus to stop burdening Jesus and instead prepare for his daughter's funeral. They advised him to quickly give up his hope of Jesus' help and to bury his daughter in the ground. They meant well. But through their advice, they inadvertently planted the seed of doubts about the power of Jesus in Jairus' heart.

Jairus war very afraid in this situation.

We can understand why he was afraid. On the one hand, he was afraid because his worst fear had come true and his daughter had died. On the other hand, because he felt the dark power of death.

Some say that death is just a natural phenomenon and the dissolution of the human body. But death is more than the physical dissolution of the human body. With death man is brought under the power of darkness. That is why everyone, when confronted with death personally, feels the dark power of the devil and becomes fearful.

What did Jesus do in this desperate situation?

Verse 36 tells us his reaction: “But Jesus heard what was said and said to Jairus: <Do not be afraid, only believe!>“

What did Jesus mean when he said, “Do not be afraid, only believe!”?

He wanted to say two things with his word:

First: Jairus should absolutely believe that Jesus is God's Son and God Almighty.

Jairus believed that Jesus could heal his sick daughter. But he became desperate because of his daughter's death, and he felt that Jesus could no longer help her because of his daughter's death. That's why Jairus was desperate.

But Jesus said to Jairus: “Don’t be afraid, only believe!”

With this word Jesus wanted to say that Jesus is the Almighty who can bring even the dead back to life. The Almighty is God alone. So Jairus should believe in Jesus as the Almighty God and overcome his fear of death.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus is almighty, just as God is almighty. So he is God incarnate. God can speak into existence from nothing and raise the dead.

In the 4th chapter of the Gospel of Mark we learned about an example of Jesus' Almighty. When Jesus said to the storm wind and the raging Sea of ​​Galilee, “Be still,” the storm wind and the sea obeyed him.

By raising Jairus' daughter from the dead, Jesus wants to teach us that we believe in Jesus as God and Christ incarnate and have eternal life. John 3:16 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”

Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God will be resurrected in glory and taken into the kingdom of heaven. The most serious crisis is the best opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and enjoy eternal life.

Second: Jesus teaches Jairus and us not to be afraid, but only to believe in Jesus. So he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.”

Jesus said to him: “Only believe!” With the addition “only” he emphasized that Jairus should absolutely believe in Jesus’ Almighty and His help and should not give room to fear and uncertainty.

It's understandable that when we find ourselves in a difficult situation like Jairus, we become fearful and doubtful. If we don't believe in Jesus' help and his love, we become prisoners of the power of death and darkness. Of course, it is not easy to believe in Jesus' help and love in a hopeless situation and to defend ourselves against sadness and doubts.

I often find myself in such a situation. I then fight against the doubts, and this fight is not easy to overcome. But I experience that God helps me and gives me victory.

When we find ourselves in difficult situations, we should have absolute faith in Jesus' power and help. Then we can overcome fear and despair and experience peace and joy. Of course, this fight is a very tough fight. But it's worth it, because Jesus certainly helps us and gives us great joy. That's why we need the determination to believe absolutely in Jesus' love, his almighty, and his help. This is how we can overcome any doubts and sadness and win.

When Esther, my wife, went to Heavenly Father on December 13, 2019, the devil's temptation was great that I might become very sad. But God helped me so that I could remain joyful that she was resurrected to the kingdom of heaven and that she also always accompanies me in spirit. God's help is truly wonderful. Faith in God and his love is victory for us.

When Jesus came into Jairus' house with only Peter, James and John, he saw the commotion and how much they were weeping and howling. There was such an atmosphere there that everyone felt the power of death first hand. All were prisoners of the power of death. Facing the power of death, they all cried hopelessly. Of course, they wanted to comfort Jairus' siblings by crying. With their weeping they wanted to tell Jairus' sister that they should bury their hope in their brother as quickly as possible.

We often see people weeping at people's funerals. Of course, weeping has a psychological effect that makes you less sad after weeping. But weeping can’t make the cause of sadness go away. The world without Jesus is similar to a house of mourning. When someone dies, people wept for a few days and try to forget it. Because people are afraid of accepting the reality of death.

How did Jesus react to the people crying?

Jesus said to them, “Why are you crying and weeping? The child has not died, but is sleeping!”

Jesus rebuked the weeping people for weeping and wailing over the sleeping child. Above all, Jesus rebuked them for their hopelessness and despair in the face of the power of death.

Of course, the death of a person is the cause of sadness for everyone. But if we believe in Jesus Christ, we know that physical death is like a short nap, because everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be resurrected and be in the kingdom of heaven. When we fall asleep at night, we don't notice how time passes. And we get up again in the morning. Even if we sleep for 7 to 8 hours, we don't know how much time has passed because we were still sleeping.

It is the same with our physical death. When we physically die, although it will be hundreds or thousands of years after our physical death according to earthly time, we will notice it. Rather, after physical death, we will be resurrected and be in the kingdom of heaven. Just as one feels comfortable after an afternoon nap, we will feel very comfortable after the resurrection. This is a miracle of God's grace. That's why we don't need to be sad if we or our loved ones are to die physically. Rather, we should rejoice in the grace of the Lord and in the new world.

That is why there is no more death in Jesus Christ. In him there is only life. That's why Jesus said in John 5:24, "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death to eternal life."

So: if we believe in Jesus Christ, we already have eternal life. This is good news for everyone. We thank God for this news!

People have the habit of not quickly believing good news, but quickly believing bad news. The people who heard Jesus' words did not believe his word but laughed at him. Therefore, Jesus drove out all these unbelieving people, and took with him only Jairus and his wife and three of his disciples, and went into the room where the child lay. It is often helpful to create an atmosphere of faith in order to accomplish God's work.

How did Jesus bring the dead girl back to life?

Jesus took the deceased girl by the hand and said to her, as if awakening her from her sleep: “Talita kum!” – which means: “Girl, I say to you, get up!”

The twelve-year-old girl immediately stood up and walked around.

Jesus' word is God's word. It can bring the dead to life because Jesus is the Son of God. Through this raising of the dead he proclaimed his divine glory. God created heaven and earth through his word. Jesus is God incarnate. That's why we should believe in Jesus as the Son of God. And if we believe in Jesus as God's Son and Christ, he saves us from the power of death and gives us eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. This is the good news for all people. That's why we should believe in Jesus Christ and give him glory. We should spread this message to all people so that they may believe in Jesus Christ, have eternal life, and glorify God.