The Raising from the Dead of Jairus' Daughter

Introduction and Setting the Scene

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 26th, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to the fifth chapter of Mark's Gospel as we come this morning to read and consider together the last paragraph in that chapter, the last of the three mighty miracles recorded in Mark's Gospel, chapter 5. I begin the reading at verse 35 and will read to the end of the chapter.

0:47 While he yet spoke, they come from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying, Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? But Jesus, not heeding the words spoken, saith unto the ruler, The ruler of the synagogue, fear not, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow with him, save Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James.

1:17 And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and he beholds a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly. And when he was entered in, he said unto them, Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead. The child is dead, but sleeps.

1:37 And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all forth, takes the father of the child and her mother, and them that were with him, and goes in where the child was. And taking the child by the hand, he said unto her, Talitha, Kumi, which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto you, arise, and straightway the damsel rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed, straightway with a great amazement.

2:16 And he charged them much that no man should know this, and he commanded that something should be given her to eat. Let us again seek the Lord's face in prayer, asking that God, by the Holy Spirit, will reveal something of the glory, and the majesty of his beloved Son, as we contemplate his mighty works in this portion of his own word. Let us pray.

2:47 Our Lord Jesus Christ, we remember your word of promise, that when the Spirit would come, he would take the things of yourself, and reveal them to men. And though we know that promise, in a very special way, had fulfillment in the ministry of the apostles, we do know that it is the ongoing work of your Spirit to reveal you in all your glory and beauty and power. And we ask you, Lord Jesus, from your place of exaltation at the right hand of the Father, to send your Spirit upon this gathered people today, and upon the one who seeks to open your word, and together may we be given eyes to behold, your beauty. May our hearts be ravished with such a sight of who you are, in all the plenitude of your saving mercy and power, that we will find our hearts running out to you as never before, and our wills and affections wrapped up in yourself. O Lord Jesus, come and show us your glory, we pray. Amen.

4:09 Now those of you who have been with us for these consecutive expositions will know that the introduction and setting of this astounding miracle recorded in the portion read in your hearing is set before us in verses 21 to 24 of this same chapter.

4:36 Somewhere by the Sea of Galilee in the area of Capernaum, a great crowd has gathered to greet the Lord Jesus, upon his return from the area of Gerasa on the other side of the lake. And out of that crowd came a man of no little standing and position in the community, a man by the name Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue. And according to that paragraph bounded by verses 21 and 24, this man ran pressing through the crowd and prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus, and began to implore with great earnestness and importunity that the Lord Jesus would come and lay his hand upon his daughter who was at the very door of death. The Lord Jesus indicated his willingness to comply with his request, and with the crowds pressing in from every side, he set out with Jairus in the direction of his home. Along the way, according to verses 25, to 33, our Lord was interrupted by this strange experience of knowing that virtue and power to heal had gone forth from him. And there he discovers this woman whose case was hopeless,

6:02 the woman with an issue of blood, and having healed her by his grace, having healed her in response to the faith that he himself had created in her heart, the section closes with the Lord Jesus pronouncing a four-fold word of blessing upon this woman. In verse 34, we read the record of how our Lord, having discovered her, then spoke to her, saying, Daughter, your faith has made you whole, or saved you. Go in peace, and be whole of your plague. Well, apparently, in the midst of speaking those very words, there was another disruption in this scene with the crowd pressing in around the Lord Jesus, all of the attention now directed to this trembling woman who did not know how she would be treated when she was discovered, and while the very words of four-fold blessing are being spoken in her ears, the text says, verse 35, while he yet was speaking. So that this scene immediately is thrust upon us without any transition, without any intermission, without any interruption.

Scene One: Disheartening Information in the Crowd

7:24 And as we study the passage, we shall see that the action is gathered around three different areas. And so as we attempt to think through the passage, I have outlined the passage in terms of scene one, scene two, and scene three, in the raising from the dead of Jairus' daughter. Scene one I have entitled, The Disheartening Information Conveyed in the Midst of the Crowd. The Disheartening Information Conveyed in the Midst of the Crowd.

8:04 While Jesus is yet speaking, they come from the ruler of the synagogue's house. Who the they were, we do not know. For certain, it is unlikely that they were servants, because they speak with a measure of freedom and boldness that would not have been fitting for oriental servants. Probably relatives, friends, loved ones, intimate associates of Jairus.

8:33 But whoever they were, while Jesus is yet speaking, they get the ear of Jairus. And as soon as they get his ear, they convey some grievous information, and then they impart a very strong suggestion. The grievous information they convey is very simple. They came saying, Your daughter is dead.

9:02 Literally, your daughter died. Now one can only imagine how those simple words must have come like a tremendous jolt to Jairus. In his desperation, he had thrown himself down at the feet of Jesus. He had, with tremendous importunity, implored him, Please come and lay your hands upon my daughter, my precious little only daughter, who is at death's door, for I am confident if you will lay your hands upon her, she will be healed and she will live.

9:40 And so when the Lord Jesus complies with his request, the faith that brought him to Jesus is tremendously strengthened. And one can only imagine how that with every step in the direction of his home, his expectation increases, his sense of confidence that death will not snatch his little one away. For the mighty miracle worker, the Lord Jesus, is accompanying him, pressing through the crowds. And though temporarily, and though temporarily detained, still determined to go with him into his very house and there to lay his hands upon his daughter, that she might be healed.

10:20 And now in the midst of that growing groundswell of expectation, his friends whose faces he no doubt recognized, and in all likelihood whose faces bore on their very image the sad news that was to come from their lips, he hears the words he was expecting he would not hear, your daughter has died. And with that bit of sad information, they then convey a very strong suggestion, why trouble the teacher any further? And the word for trouble is a very strong word, and though in its metaphorical use something of the strength and vigor, found in its literal use, which means literally to flay someone, and though it is weakened, nonetheless they use a word which indicates that as the Lord Jesus was seeking to make his way to the house of Jairus, it was with tremendous difficulty. For you remember Luke tells us the crowd was suffocating him. And they say why subject the teacher to any more of this arduous labor of attempting to make his way through to the house, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any longer?

11:48 But then the text tells us in verse 36, but Jesus not heeding the word spoken. Now the word for not heeding is found only two other times in the New Testament, and it's in Matthew 18 in conjunction with that section on discipline, if he hear not the church. But in profane Greek literature it's used in another way, which means to overhear, and so the commentators debate, and you'll notice if you have a marginal rendering, the word overhearing is there, but really it makes no difference. Whether Mark is saying Jesus having heard what they said, but paying no attention to it, particularly the injunction that he be troubled no longer, or if he overheard, nothing in the substance of the story is changed. What Jesus does, immediately upon knowing that Jairus has received this doleful news that his daughter is dead, he immediately turns and speaks to him with two commands. The first one, stop being afraid. Stop fearing.

13:04 It's a present imperative, and it indicates that fear had already begun to replace faith. Faith had drawn him to the feet of Jesus. Faith had stirred him up to beseech with earnestness that Jesus would come. No doubt, faith had been strengthened with each step that brought him closer to his home and to his sick daughter.

13:30 And now the news, your daughter has died, began to erode and destroy that faith. And Jesus arrests that process with an imperative, Jairus, stop fearing. And then he says, only be believing. Let not the faith already gendered in your heart be replaced with unbelief.

13:58 Stop fearing. Only be believing. And according to Luke's account, the Lord Jesus gave him an additional bit of information and promise with which to buttress his faith. In Luke 8 and verse 50 we read, Jesus hearing it answered him, fear not, only believe, and she shall be saved.

14:33 She shall be made whole. So when he commanded him to stop fearing and to be an utterly believing man, he gave him a specific word of promise upon which to rest his faith. She shall be made whole. And in the context, that could mean only one thing.

14:58 The news had already come, she's dead. And when Jesus says, she shall be made whole, he's saying, I will raise her from the dead. Then by exercising that awesome magisterial authority and power, which at times is apparent in the ministry of the Lord Jesus, we are told that at this point, verse 37, Jesus suffered no man to follow with him save Peter and James and John, the brother of James. Now those of you who have been with us, remember those vigorous words that were used to describe the tremendous pressure of the crowd hemming him in from every side. Luke says suffocating him. It appeared from the time Jesus left the seaside where Jairus had fallen before him to this point where the woman sees such a massive, milling crowd that she's convinced she can touch him and sneak away undetected. It would appear as though the crowd were in charge of the circumstances.

16:14 But as I indicated in expounding the matter of the healing of the woman with an issue of blood, the crowd was not in charge, Jesus was. He was creating the very circumstances that would draw out the timid faith of that poor afflicted woman. And as soon as the crowd had served its purpose, for that miracle, we are told by Mark that Jesus suffered no man to follow him. He summarily dismissed the entire multitude, dismissed most of the apostles, and permitted only Jairus, Peter, James, and John to follow him to the house of Jairus. So scene one which begins with the milling, pressing, suffocating crowd. The trembling woman receiving from the lips of Jesus the fourfold word of blessing. And then these friends of Jairus approaching with this sad, this horrible news that the daughter has died.

17:23 That scene closes with the crowd dispersed and only Jesus, Jairus, Peter, James, and John making their way to the house of Jairus. Now from the disheartening information conveyed in the midst of the crowd, we come to scene two. And this scene is in what we would call the porch and the main gathering place in Jairus' house. And I'm describing it as the oppressive conditions discovered in the house of Jairus.

Scene Two: Oppressive Conditions in Jairus' House

18:04 The oppressive conditions discovered in the house of Jairus. Verse 38. And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and he, that is the Lord Jesus, beholds, and the emphasis falls upon an activity that was not a cursory glance. He looks with a view to looking long enough to take in the situation.

18:32 He beholds a tumult and many weeping and wailing greatly. As the Lord Jesus approached that home, he beheld a scene that was described as a tumult. And here again, it's a vigorous word. Some of you will remember that riot that occurred in Acts chapter 19 at Ephesus.

18:56 Well, when chapter 20 begins, the word tumult is used to describe that riot. Here was a situation that appeared to anyone observing it impassionately or dispassionately and with some measure of objectivity, nothing short of a tumultuous situation. Unlike the climate usually maintained in our funeral homes, which is generally subdued and reserved, not so in Palestinian culture. According to the text, there was loud weeping and wailing.

19:33 Luke uses a word in chapter 8 in verse 52 which means there was a beating upon the breast. So get the picture. Loud weeping, wailing, some in the midst of their wailing, beating upon their breasts. And then add to that the little stroke that Matthew gives us in Matthew 9, 23 that there were flute players.

19:58 Not flutes after the order of a modern symphony orchestra, but flutes that had a shrill and piercing sound. And so you see why Mark describes it as Jesus beholding a tumult. Here was a veritable cacophony of wailing and weeping like the wailing and weeping of hell itself. This was part of the tradition that had developed in Palestine.

20:25 One commentator succinctly describes it this way. The wailing women and flute players were paid professionals. And we may be sure that they staged their best performance for this prominent family and because of the loss of an only daughter. With hair streaming wildly, beating their breasts violently, these women uttered loud, heart-rending wails and bursts of sobs.

20:53 The standing of the family called for a goodly number of these women. Rising above their noise came the piercing sound of the flutes. Many condoling friends of the family were also no doubt present. The whole house was full of commotion and of the most disturbing din.

21:14 And this is what greeted Jesus when he arrived. The custom of this artificial type of mourning extends far back even to the times of Jeremiah. You have a reference in Jeremiah 9, 17. You have another reference in Micah.

21:31 And it is found among both Jews and pagans. So here then is what I am calling the oppressive conditions discovered when the Lord Jesus came to the house of Jairus. Now entering the house, verse 39, when he was entered in, he said unto them two things by way of question. Why all this to do?

22:01 Why make ye a tumult and weep? What is the purpose of all this carrying on? The wailing, the weeping, the piping of the flutes, the beating of the brass. It is totally incongruous with what is going on here.

22:18 And then he makes a statement. The child is not dead, but is sleeping. The child did not die. She has merely fallen asleep.

22:33 Now what did Jesus mean by this? Did he mean to tell these people that whoever said that the girl is gone was mistaken? Was he saying that in the inner death chamber there lay someone merely in a coma, but still the spark of life within her? Not at all.

22:55 According to Luke chapter 8, verses 53 and 55, there is no question whatsoever that she was clinically, really, truly dead. For in Luke chapter 8, verse 53 we read, They laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. They had a certain knowledge that she was dead. And Luke, with his more careful physician's description of her being raised to life, says in verse 55, and this is peculiar to Luke, And her spirit returned, as the body apart from the spirit is dead. That's death. When the spirit leaves the body, her spirit had left. She was clinically, really, biblical, dead.

23:54 It was a corpse in that inner chamber. But what Jesus was saying was this. Why all this to do? Why are you carrying on as though this is a case of irreversible death?

24:07 The child is not dead. That is, she is not in a state in which death will continue to hold her. She is in the state of a child who goes to sleep at night and yet awakes in the morning. Because the Lord Jesus had come with the purpose to raise her from the dead and was utterly and absolutely certain of his power to do what he had come to do, he dares to assert she is not dead.

24:40 She is only sleeping. Now, how did the professional mourners and the relatives and loved ones who were gathered there, involved in this wailing and weeping and beating of the breast, how did they respond to Jesus' statement? Did they rejoice and say, Bless God, she is only sleeping. Jesus of Nazareth, go and awake her from her sleep.

25:06 That would have been the response of a strong and vigorous faith. The response of a weak faith would have been, O Jesus of Nazareth, can it be that you are saying she is only sleeping because you purpose to raise her from the dead? We have never seen anyone raised from the dead. We have read in our ancient writings that she is only sleeping because you purpose to raise her from the dead.

25:32 We have read in our ancient records of several of the prophets who by the power of Jehovah raised men from the dead. But, O Jesus of Nazareth, our faith is weak before such a thing. But, Jesus of Nazareth, though our faith is weak, do that which will cause us to believe that she is only sleeping. They did not respond in the full strength of faith.

25:58 They did not even respond in the full strength of faith in what is one of the most arrogant, disrespectful and blatant manifestations of unbelief found anywhere in Scripture. This is what they did. It says they laughed him to score. The professional wailers and mourners became cursed unbelieving laughers.

26:25 You see how deep was their grief? From wailing and mourning they turn now to laughter. The wailing and the mourning were the artificial tricks of their trade. They could turn on their wailing and their tears and their mourning and the beating of the breast with no affinity whatsoever for the bereaved.

26:47 They were paid to do it. It was their job. But here no one was paying them to laugh. Their laughter sprung up from the depths of a horrible spirit of cursed unbelief that dares to mock the Son of God.

27:03 I say it is one of the most shocking passages in Scripture. And in my preparation every time my eyes would fall upon the text my own soul would feel something of the shock and the horror that mere creatures of the dust would dare to mock out the Son of God. And that is exactly what they were doing. The veil of secrecy is thrown over what this laughter of derision must have done to the sensitive holy soul of our blessed Lord. You talk about suffering at the hands of sinners. Who can measure the pain that our blessed Savior must have felt when in the confidence of His own power as an act of compassion upon a desperate soul who was so desperate to save her daughter from the dead. And He meets with derision and scorn and stinging bitter unbelieving laughter.

28:32 The second scene closes on that oppressive note. The girl is dead in the death room. For that laughter was the laughter of the spiritual dead who mock at all reality who mock at everything pertaining to the uniqueness of Jesus in His person and in His power. Death death death everywhere in Jairus's house there is death.

Scene Three: Marvelous Transactions in the Chamber of Death

29:12 From the disheartening information conveyed in the crowd of scene one to the oppressive conditions found in the house in scene two we now consider the marvelous transactions in the chamber of death scene three. The marvelous transactions in the chamber of death. The first thing recorded in this scene in life on the last day in the chapter four is the daily bread of death where we lay our hands on the table and we watch the coming of death and death was, whatever was the death chamber, whether it was her little bedroom, whether it was an upper room, we do not know, but there was a room where she was, as we would say, laid out in death. And the first thing Jesus does is to expel, and that's the word used here, the very word that is standard to use when the Scripture describes the casting out of

30:40 demons, the thrusting out of laborers. So Jesus did not just politely dismiss them, he expelled them. You kids know the difference, don't you? The end of the day comes and the teacher says, all right, class is over, you're all excused. But now you've got a smart aleck in the class, some kid that's really fresh, and the teacher says, Johnny, you're expelled for three days. That means you're thrown out. You see the difference between excusing, dismissing, and expelling? Class dismissed, school's over, everyone is excused, school's over, the word used is expelled. There was something of the holy anger of Jesus precipitated by

31:27 the mocking, derisive laughter of unbelief. And as we shall see in our application, there's such a mingling of those holy emotions in our Lord Jesus, the tenderness, the sensitivity, the authoritative bearing, at times the flashes of holy anger. He expelled them all, their laughter of unbelief, shut them out from the glory of this amazing miracle. He put them all forth, and he went into where the little child was. I wonder, could it be that this is the first time the father's eyes saw his daughter in death? If it is, as we've conjectured, that the mother remained behind. Perhaps she was there when she saw her daughter breathe her last, and now that distraught mother and this father in the presence of Jesus, Peter, James, and John, comes into the chamber of death. And as they do, the Lord Jesus walks over to where the lifeless form of that little girl lay, and the scripture tells us that he does two things. First of all, it says,

32:41 he takes the child by the hand. And the verb for take, again, is a vigorous verb. He did not merely, very gently, just lift her lifeless hand, but the verb means that he grasped it. He laid hold of that lifeless hand with his own strong hand. And then, having laid hold of her lifeless hand, he said unto her, Talitha cumi. Talitha cumi. Talitha cumi. Now, these are Aramaic words, and after the Jews had been dispersed throughout some of the Gentile nations after the captivity, and they no longer spoke what we would call pure Hebrew, but they picked up other linguistic forms, and that language was called Aramaic, and many of the Jews were what we would call bilingual. They spoke Hebrew, Aramaic. Many

33:42 of them also had to learn other languages. They had to learn other languages if they were in certain forms of commerce. But here we have the quote of the very words that Jesus spoke. And that little word, Talitha, is a word whose root meaning is little lamb. And the little boy was called a Tali, and the little girl a Talitha. And so the Lord Jesus uses an unusually intimate, tender word, and says, little lamb, little girl, little sweet one, cumi. That is, arise out of sleep and get up. And some of the commentators, more than one of them, says it could well be that every morning when Mama went in to wake this girl up, that these may have been the very words she used every morning. Little lambkin, time to get up and get ready for school. And if

34:44 she were talking to a little girl, she would say, little lambkin, little girl, little sweet one. And if she were talking to her daughter that way, morning after morning, she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. If that's so, do you see the mother-like tenderness of Jesus? That she would have awakened from the sleep of death as though it were any other morning when she awakened to get ready to go off to school. With her mother's hand grasping hers, and with the first words breaking through her consciousness, little lambkin, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand upon her daughter and said, Talitha, cumi. And she would have gone in and laid her hand fanfare the scripture tells us. After the interpretation of the words, damsel I say unto thee arise, and straightway, without any delay, without any intermission, immediately the damsel rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. Talitha, Kumi, she rises

35:51 up, she begins to walk, and the five that are standing around with the Lord Jesus, the reaction in them again was immediate, and they were amazed, straightway, with a great amazement. And we've encountered that word before. That's the word I've translated in modern Indian. They were blown out of their minds. This is the word translated several times in the New Testament, to be beside yourself. When Paul said, if we be beside ourselves, if we're out of our minds, it's unto God. They were blown out of their minds. They could not believe what they saw. She was dead, but now she lives. She lay in the horrible clutches, the icy fingers of death, but now she's alive and walking and breathing. And they were there so overwhelmed with amazement that they forgot she had probably been a number of hours without ordinary food and nourishment. And with a beautiful stroke of tenderness, we are told that after Jesus charges them much, that no man should know this, that is, that they should not emblazon this abroad. It would make its own story, and it would make its own natural inroads to the community, but he did not want them to major upon this. He then commanded that something should be

37:18 given her to eat. You see, the mother was so irresponsibly giddy with the joy that her daughter was alive, she forgot to mother her daughter. So the Lord Jesus mothered her and provided food that she might be strengthened. And there the scene closes with that tremendously encouraging, exhilarating picture. And if we just let our imaginations run loose for a little, we can only, only begin to conceive of the tears of joy. The hugs and the kisses, and from hugging, pushing her out at a distance, it's really you, it is you, and then hugging again. And you know what happens when there's been an amazing deliverance far short of being brought back from the dead. And these were human beings with all of those emotions. And again, I like to think of the Lord Jesus beholding all of

38:12 this with the smile of delight and joy, as his own mighty power has brought such liberation, from heaviness, and oppression, and light has come into the midst of the darkness. Well, that's the story. You say, well, that's a very touching story. It is. But you see, it's not here just to be a touching story. And I've not labored hours to understand what the Holy Spirit has said. I've not labored hours to structure it and try to make it live to you, just so you go out and say, you know, that preacher's not a bad story teller. No.

Jesus as Sovereign Conqueror of Death

38:50 No. That is part of sixteen chapters of material that begins with the words, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And this story is part of the good news that God bears to

39:08 men in every age. And I want us to consider in the time that remains this morning, some of the major lessons that are in the passage, and that's all we can consider. And the first ones pertain, of course, to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Whenever there is an event in which there is a healing, in which there is a mighty work by the Lord Jesus, Mark is always careful that the biggest spotlight with the highest wattage is always focused upon Jesus. The Holy Spirit is to testify to Jesus. And it is the ministry of the Spirit to think of the things of Christ and to reveal them unto us. And so in this passage, the great points of application are those which come with reference to the Lord Jesus Himself. Let me point you to two. First of all, we behold in this passage, Jesus as the mighty Lord and sovereign conqueror of man's greatest enemy, death itself.

40:24 There is no one here who would debate the fact that death is man's greatest enemy. Whatever else man can accomplish, whatever else he can overcome, there is all that is intended unto man once today. And every one of us, whatever has at his return, the news will be heard, and the news will be heard, and the news will be heard. And the news will be heard, and the news will be heard, and the news will be heard.

41:04 As it came to die, that I am the capable reality of death, what do we men need to know?

41:28 Men and boys know that one has come into this situation and manifested that he is the sovereign Lord and conqueror of death. And what did Jesus have to do in this passage to show Himself to be the Lord of death? Did He have to go through any greatism of spiritual trauma and have to pray for three nights and three days? Did He have to go through a long time trying to exorcise the power and say, little lamb, can get up? And death, in the face, she comes alive. That's the Lord Jesus, the sovereign Lord and King over that king of terrors, death. No wonder the Scripture says

42:45 that Christ, to light in the gospel, His mighty power to say to death, you much though hated to me. Resurrection in the life, He said, he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I'm personally convinced that the full-blown biblical doctrine in the New Testament, that death is but a sleep for the believer, has its roots in such passages as these. You remember what He said about Lazarus? He's just asleep. He says she's just asleep. What is the Lord Jesus doing? He's laying the groundwork for the full-blown New Testament

43:37 doctrine, that through His death, died on behalf of sin, bearing death, namely the wrath against sin, for the wages of sin is death, by dying. And so for believers, bread of death, and for believers to live, the undefined understanding of what death can and cannot do for them, is beneath the New Testament law. The New Testament law is the law of death. The New Testament law is the law of death.

44:13 The Holy Gospel states that этот, if you are in Christ, shall rise in theаютсяک in Christ, is but a falling asleep in Jesus, to await the morn of resurrection, when He will say to you, my precious one, arise! And the scripture says, when He speaks, the dead in Christ shall rise. It doesn't make any difference whether it's one little twelve-year-old girl in an inner chamber, or the most Millions of his saints from all ages. He is the Lord of life and prince over the power of death.

Jesus as Omnipotent Graciousness and Gracious Omnipotence

44:53 And surely that message lies on the surface of the passage. But also we see in this passage, with reference to our Lord, a most moving demonstration of power and tenderness. As I tried to find words to express it, I said, should I call it omnipotent graciousness? Or gracious omnipotence?

45:18 But whatever it is, you see the two set one against the other. The big word we use for that is juxtaposition. You see this flashing of the deepest tenderness. And then a manifestation of omnipotence and power that is all-threatening.

45:37 It's in this passage that the crowd that seemed to be master of the day, hemming him in, pressing him, suffocating him, choking him, those are the vigorous words used when the crowd is serving.

45:55 What was there in his countenance? What was there in the tone of his voice? What was there in his bearing? There was something that when Jesus desired the presence of that which was awesome in him, and almost ghostly, the mourners doing their thing, he cast them out.

46:24 Apparently no one objected.

46:28 And when he comes to encounter death head on, eyeball to eyeball, hand to hand, death is no match for him. Here is omnipotence that controls massive crowds with the words, with the words, frightening and awesome, in the presence of such power. And if that's all that was revealed of our Lord Jesus, we might admire him, but we'd never be bold enough to draw near to him. He would be in essence like that mountain that burned with fire, and shook and quaked.

47:12 Men did not come. And I say, what a marvelous display of power. Let's hug the mountain. It says they trembled and they feared.

47:23 And if this is all there was of our Lord Jesus, we too would only tremble in fear. But you see, woven through this display of his power that is almost threatening, is his tenderness. You see how he tenderly strengthened the faith of Jairus. Yes, Jairus had a measure of faith that caused him to press through the crowd.

47:45 He was a marked man, a well-known man. In that area, the scribes and Pharisees who were opposing Jesus were everywhere to be found. But he broke through all of them, fell at the feet of Jesus, publicly identified himself with him and cried out, Oh, if you come and lay hands upon my daughter, she will live. And what did the Lord Jesus do?

48:08 When Jairus hears the news your daughter has died, he saw into the heart of Jairus, and he could see that measure of faith beginning. To shrink. And so he tenderly and graciously says, Jairus, stop being afraid. Then he gives him a promise he never gave him at the beginning.

48:32 Because his faith was not assaulted at the beginning as it was now. And with this greater assault comes a more explicit word of promise. And he says, only believe. I do intend to go and to heal, to make whole your daughter.

48:50 Then you see the tenderness of Jesus in strengthening the faith of Jairus. Then you see the tenderness of Jesus in insulating the family from that heartless crowd of professional mourners. Can you imagine them trying to enter into the joy of what Jesus was about to do and then did with these people wailing and mourning and crying and beating their breasts and tooting their flutes? Lord Jesus very tenderly insulated that believing man and his wife and Peter, James and John from that climate of skepticism, of unbelief, of mockery, of cynicism. And then, of course, his tenderness in the very way he took hold of the hand of that girl, knowing that when she would awake she would probably be a bit unsteady, not for lack of strength, but simply having been in a prone position for so long, not for lack of strength, but simply having been in a prone position for so long, not for lack of strength, but simply having been in a prone position for so long, not for lack of strength, but simply having been in a prone position for so long, that he did not merely take her hand, but Mark says he clasped her hand. And he does not say to her, young woman, but he uses that term of endearment, probably the very word that her mother had used. He spoke with all the tenderness of a mother.

50:11 And then while others are so preoccupied with the joy of her being brought back to life, it is Jesus that cares for her physical needs. Now am I reading something indistinct? Am I reading something in to say this is a display of his tenderness? That is the Jesus of the Bible, the Christ of infinite tenderness, who sees little faith, and when it begins to wane is determined to fan it into stronger faith, the one who would insulate his people from those things that would sap their joy and would keep them from the enjoyment of his own gracious works.

50:48 He is the Christ, who is aware of all the needs of his children. And I say in this passage there is, as in no other that I have yet seen in the Gospel of Mark, that beautiful fusion of omnipotent graciousness and of gracious omnipotence. Now let me ask you a question. Do you feel comfortable with that Jesus?

51:17 There is no other. And there are some whose Jesus is all omnipotence. And oh how they so exalt majesty and his power and the glory and essential deity and the rights of his throne that he becomes in force, are never in void to him. And there are others.

51:55 They have got a Jesus who is all sweetness, nothing but sweetness, holy sweetness, sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus, until it comes out your ears and it is sickening like ten spoonfuls of sugar on a small bowl of cereal. All skin crowds, oh no they are Jesus. Unconditional love. Loves everybody, everything, everywhere, all the time, no matter.

52:28 Sweet, sweet Jesus, sweet, sweet Jesus, sweet, sweet Jesus. There is never anything to cause terror and dread and awe and fear and reverence and trembling. My friend, that is not the Jesus of the Bible either. You say, well that is my Jesus.

52:47 Well you go to hell with him. Because that is where he has been spawned. That is not the Jesus conceived in Mary's womb. That is not the Jesus raised in Nazareth.

52:59 That is not the Jesus by the shore of Galilee. He doesn't demand discipleship. He doesn't demand the cutting off of right hands, the plucking out of right eyes. Father, mother, sister and our own lives.

53:38 That lets you go on clinging to your eyes and to your lawless lifestyle. But you incorporate him as your spiritual high. And sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus, sweet Jesus. No, no my friends.

53:53 The Jesus of the Bible is omnipotent graciousness. And he is gracious omnipotent. That is the Jesus of this passage. But then the second point to focus in this passage is surely upon the contrasting attitudes and dispositions of faith and of unbelief.

The Contrasting Attitudes of Faith and Unbelief

54:21 And it is right that it should be so. Because next to Jesus, the great theme of the gospel is, what are you going to do with him? Believe him or refuse to believe him? He that believeth shall be saved.

54:34 He that believeth not shall be damned. Do you see the great contrast of faith and unbelief in this passage? If the biggest floodlight is upon Jesus, the next biggest one is upon this issue. Notice on the one hand, the faith of Jairus.

54:53 This man believing. His faith was at stake. He was attacked by the news that death had taken over. His faith was strengthened.

55:07 What is the great lesson of faith that we are to learn in that? Here it is. It is that God's delays in the face of great need are often calculated to strengthen faith to receive greater blessing than we ever hoped for. You see, his original faith was this.

55:28 Come, lay your hands upon her, that she'll be healed and live. He had faith to believe that he would see Jesus heal his daughter of her sickness. And the Lord delayed long enough to let his daughter die. Why?

55:46 That he might reward that faith with an even greater display of his power, namely, a resurrection from the dead. And often that's the way God deals with us. We've been pleading some blessing from God in a disposition and posture of faith, and he delays and delays and delays and delays. And then we hear news that causes our hearts to despair.

56:14 While we're waiting in the posture of faith, we hear things that seem to erode whatever little faith we have and put us in the way of unbelief. Child of God, remember this story. The discipline of delay was in order to manifest the glory, a dimension of Christ's glory that otherwise would not be seen. Isn't that true in the whole story of Lazarus?

56:39 They said, Lord, if only you'd been here, something wonderful would have happened. Lazarus would not have died. He said, I stayed away because I want something better to happen. I'm going to raise him from the dead.

56:50 And so often we're like that. Oh, Lord, if only you'd come at this time and done this and that. And the Lord says, no, look, I know better. I have dimensions of my glory that I purpose to show you.

57:02 Believe on, pray on, wait on, hold on. Oh, may God teach us that lesson of faith. For some of you who are visitors amongst us, that's been the lesson of faith of this very building you see erected around us. Delays, disappointments, and yet in every area we can see that the delay resulted in something far better than we were asking God for.

57:29 And had he given it, when we asked for it, we'd have missed so many blessings. Isn't that been our experience? God has taught us that in the very practical experience of this building. But then, of course, there is the great lesson of unbelief in this passage.

57:46 And dear people, may God write upon our hearts what to me is a frightening thing in this record of unbelief. I heard a Scottish preacher preach on this text a few months ago. And it was hard for me to come to the passage and not see anything but this. Because he preached with such unction and clarity.

58:07 Look at the text. It says that when they laughed him to scorn, what did Jesus do? Verse 40. He put them all forth.

58:15 And the title of his sermon was The Excluding Power of Unbelief. The Excluding Power of Unbelief. He said those people never saw Jesus take her by the hand. They never heard his word, talefi koume.

58:30 They didn't see her rise up and walk. Unbelief shut them out from the glory of the power of Christ manifested before their eyes. And that's what unbelief always does. Unbelief excludes you from seeing what others see of the power and the grace of Christ.

58:56 Skepticism. Cynicism. I'm from Missouri. Show me is an attitude.

59:06 That hellish spirit of unbelief will always exclude you from hearing the tender words of Christ, from seeing the mighty power of Christ. And ultimately you see unbelief will exclude you forever from his presence when he says, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire. Dear people, unbelief is a horrible thing. Marvelous things can go on around you and you never see it.

59:35 That's one of the most amazing things as a pastor. To preach in a service like this and have some go out who've had such a sight of Christ in their own hearts and feelings with God that they hardly know whether they're in the body or out of it. And others it's just been another ho-hum service. Why?

59:55 Same circumstances. Some have been shut out. Cursed spirit of unbelief. While others by faith have seen and have tasted and enjoyed the good things of God's grace.

Death is No Respecter of Persons: A Call to Children

60:15 And then the final note, and I only touch on this briefly. This passage, if it teaches us anything, teaches us that death is no respecter of persons. It tells us she was 12 years old. 12 years old.

60:30 12 years old. Not 21, not 60, not 70. Death came to a child who'd lived long enough for the parents to become deeply attached to her. She stood on the threshold of all their dreams and longings for her as a woman.

60:50 Now to begin to be fulfilled and death came. And close the book at least for a few hours. Dear children, last thing the world pastor wants to do is scare you with carnal fears. But God hasn't sent me a little book and in it written down all the names of you children and said, this one's going to live to be 70, this one's going to live to be 68.

61:18 Some of you may not live to be 12 years old. It's appointed unto men once to die. You don't know when. I don't know when.

61:31 How it behooves us to have living union with Christ now so that when we die we fall asleep in Jesus. That sleep will be for us even if we are but children what it was for that girl. That death will be for us what it was to her. She is not dead.

61:51 She sleeps in the truest full blown biblical doctrine. That's what we can say of everyone who dies in Christ. He, she is not dead. He sleeps.

62:03 She sleeps awaiting the day of resurrection when the Lord Jesus will say His great, His grand, His glorious, His final, to all of His own. You are not prepared to die dear children. There is only one way to get prepared. You go to Jesus the Lord of death and the Lord of life.

62:25 The Jesus who died that you might not die the death that you deserve for your sins. You ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you and make you His child so that if you should be cut off in the midst of your years though we'll grieve and mourn and weep at your loss we can lay your remains with the confidence that when Jesus comes it will be your day of resurrection to life and to glory to join us again in His presence. Oh for the sake of your soul and if you have any love to your mom and dad for the sake of their own rest and peace for the sake of all that is sacred and noble and upright and good and just and holy don't delay seeking the Lord. Remember your Creator in the day of your youth precious children seek the Lord while He may be found call upon Him while He is near as surely as Jesus raised that twelve year old from physical death He can raise you from spiritual death by the power of His grace go to Him and ask Him to do what only He can do may God help us to lay to heart the great lessons of this wonderful story of our Lord raising from the dead the daughter of Jairus

Closing Prayer and Benediction

63:51 let us pray Our Father we do thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ we praise You for all that He is in His omnipotence and power and sovereignty able to say of Himself all authority in heaven and in earth is given unto me but we thank You for His gentleness His tenderness His compassion His sensitivity and oh how we pray that You would reveal Him to the hearts of some who have never seen any beauty in Him oh Lord give them a sight of the beauty of Christ and the suitableness of Christ to their deepest need as sinners and give them to embrace Him and to own Him as their own we pray that You will help us ever to feed upon Him help us to learn the lessons of faith and of unbelief may what we have contemplated this morning be etched upon our hearts by the power of Your Spirit and may it bear fruit unto everlasting life receive our thanks for Your word for the gift of Your beloved Son may the blessings of Your grace and presence rest upon us

65:20 as we part from one another may it be to spend this day in Your presence in all of our contact with one another may we be instruments of grace to each other bring us back together again this evening full of joy and expectancy may Your servant who comes to us come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ hear our prayer and receive our thanks as we come in Jesus name amen