Review

In the concluding scene of the First Gospel, while issuing the famous “Great Commission” to His disciples, Jesus makes this bold and forthright assertion:  “All authority (exousia) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). 

These words, though recorded by Matthew, contain the essence of the Gospel of Mark.  As we’ve been discovering, it would be fair to say that the unrivalled authority of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, is the heart and soul of this powerful little book.  We might even go so far as to contend that Mark’s message reflects the message of the New Testament as a whole; for in an important sense, Jesus’ claim to absolute authority is the Word that brings the kingdom and turns the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  It’s the challenge that makes tyrants tremble and causes despots to turn sick with fear.   

This is the note on which we ended last week’s discussion:  our study of the healing of the woman with the hemorrhage.  Quoting commentator Eckhard Schnabel, we said that this woman’s great faith – the faith that saved her and made her well – can be defined precisely as her “personal conviction that Jesus has divine authority to heal her.”^[i]

With this miracle of mercy behind Him, Jesus presses on to the house of Jairus where the synagogue leader’s young daughter has been lying at the point of death.

“Keep on Believing”:  Verses 35 & 36

35 While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher any more?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” [ii]

Just as the middle section of Mark’s narrative “sandwich” draws to a happy conclusion, our double episode takes another jag.  We now learn that, even as Jesus was pausing by the wayside to look after one suffering individual, another lost her life – a familiar scenario in the era of COVID-19.  Jairus’ little daughter is dead.  And the hopelessness of the situation is reflected in the words of the messengers:  “Don’t bother the Teacher any further.  His services are no longer required.”

Jesus, of course, pays them no heed.  “Not so fast,” He seems to say, speaking directly to the grieving father.  “Do you honestly think there is such a thing as a problem I can’t handle?  Is there any time, no matter what the circumstance, when My help isn’t required?  I’ve got more up my sleeve than you can imagine.  All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth.  Your role is simply to trust.”                           

“Only believe.”  Sounds simple, right?  We know it isn’t.  But the good news is that this isn’t a one-time-only, all-or-nothing proposition.  On the contrary, it’s an ongoing challenge – a marathon rather than a sprint.  The Greek verb Mark uses to translate Christ’s Aramaic is pisteue, a present-tense imperative.  It’s a command word that urges constant, persistent, ever-renewed, decisive action in the moment-by-moment here-and-now.  It means more than just “believe.”  It has the force of “Keep on believing.”  Believe, even when you think you can’t.  Believe and then believe again.  If you question your convictions, don’t stop there – counter your questions with different questions.  Push back and push ahead.  If you fall down, get up and go on.  Put your fears aside and keep on believing!                 

Playing It Cool:  Verses 37-40

37 And He allowed no one to follow with Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 And they came to the house of the synagogue official; and He beheld a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep?  The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 And they were 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.    

Apparently Jairus is convinced; sufficiently convinced, in any case, to put one foot in front of the other and move forward with Jesus at his side.  Jairus believes in the present tense, even though at this point he sees no reason to be hopeful.  His determined resignation in the face of despair illustrates the biblical principle that “faith is the assurance (substance) of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  It reminds us that “Hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Romans 8:24, 25).

When they get to the house, everything is in an uproar.  The “commotion” Mark describes – the loud weeping and wailing, probably accompanied by the skirl of two or three bone or reed flutes – was all part of the service provided by paid professional mourners.[iii]  Their job was to kick up a huge fuss as a way of demonstrating the family’s grief and protesting the obscene horror of death.  But Jesus puts a lid on all this as soon as He steps through the door.

“What’s the big deal?” He asks, casting an eye around the room.  “Don’t you know she’s only sleeping?”  Their sudden laughter is an indication of the sincerity of their “grief”.  This is just another “gig” as far as most of these folks are concerned – a matter of indifference, whether laughing or crying.  But Jesus sees things differently. 

In fact, Jesus is the only one who really knows what’s happening here; the only person present who grasps the true significance of the case.  On the one hand, He’s fully acquainted with the tragedy of death.  He knows its pain from the inside out.  On the other hand, He realizes that death doesn’t get the final word.  He is supremely aware of Himself as King, and He knows that the King has all authority – even authority over death.  So His first act upon arrival is to scatter the confusion and put a damper on the drama.  His strategy is to play it cool.  “Let’s stop the circus,” He says, “and restore some perspective to this situation.”                                 

After downplaying the hype, His next move is to shrink the crowd.  Here again Jesus shows us that “small is beautiful,” that individual need takes precedence over public show, and that privacy is the proper context for an encounter with the divine (Matthew 6:6).  On the cusp of a miracle like the one Jesus is about to perform, most modern “faith leaders” wouldn’t miss the opportunity to issue a press release and get a contingent of cameramen on the scene.  But that’s not the Master’s way, nor is it the point of His kingdom.  He has no interest in stirring up publicity or staging a media event.  Instead, He quietly ushers everyone out of the house except for those few who are most personally and immediately concerned.  Then, in the company of the parents and His three closest disciples, He steps into the girl’s room.              

Staying Focused:  Verses 41-43

41 And taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”) 42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk; for she was twelve years old.  And immediately they were completely astounded. 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.    

Once within that silent, private sanctuary, out of the limelight and away from the hoopla, Jesus gets right down to work.  Instantly He takes stock of the situation, assesses the problem, and addresses the need.  He makes no use of spells or incantations, after the fashion of the healers and exorcists of His day, nor does He shout, strut, parade, or put on an impressive show of power.  Instead, He performs four very simple acts, each of which underscores the priority He places upon the needs of the individual as over against the demands of the crowd.

First, He walks up to the bed and takes the child by the hand.  As in the case of the woman with the hemorrhage and so many of the miracles narrated in the Gospels, the healing Jesus administers in this instance is associated with skin-on-skin touch.  It’s by way of this human contact that Christ applies the  supernatural remedy.  Through His touch He becomes the up-close, living, breathing incarnation of God’s love.  As His followers, we can do the same.      

Second, He supplements the touch with words; for as we know, it was not merely by an act of power, but by the Word of God that the worlds were made (Hebrews 11:3).  Jesus Himself is the creating, sustaining, healing, and resurrecting Word of God (John 1:1); and so, while touching her hand, He bends over the “slumbering” child and speaks to her.  “Talitha kum!” He says.  This is no magical formula, but a phrase drawn from the everyday life of an ordinary family.  These are the words with which any mother might rouse any child in the morning:  “Time to get up, little girl!”  Mark leaves the Aramaic untranslated because, to his way of thinking, it’s an indispensable detail of the scene as it actually unfolded.  Peter, Mark’s eyewitness source, remembers it just so.  

Third, when the girl gets out of bed and begins to walk around – an earth-shattering event which is nevertheless related in the most matter-of-fact language – Jesus tells the others to “Get her something to eat.”  According to the written accounts we possess, Jesus only raised three people from the dead during the course of His earthly ministry:  Lazarus; the widow of Nain’s son; and Jairus’ daughter.  This, then, is an extremely rare occurrence as well as an astounding miracle.  And yet instead of calling attention to His feat – instead of saying, “Look at what I just did!  Now are you convinced?” – Jesus stays focused on the needs of the individual.  After all, this girl is only twelve years old and she’s been through an ordeal few of us can even imagine.  She has died and come back to life again!  As far as He’s concerned, it’s obvious what needs to happen next:  Take care of her immediate needs.  “Get her something to eat.”  This is the thought that occupies Him in this moment of moments.

Finally, Jesus concludes with a familiar refrain:  “Don’t let anyone know about this.”  Here again He presents Himself to us as the “Incognito Messiah,” the Savior who, as far as possible, tries to keep His mind-blowing, death-defying exploits under wraps for fear that they will be misinterpreted and the true nature of His kingdom misunderstood.  It’s a command that no one will be able to keep, of course:  the cat will be out of the bag just as soon as Jairus’ daughter is presented alive to family members, neighbors, and friends.  But Jesus issues it anyway, not because He desires to saddle Jairus and his clan with an impossible burden of secrecy, but because He wants us to know that publicity, hype, showmanship, and advertising are no part of His agenda.  What He cares about is the sacred and solemn task of linking the individual with God.          

Final Thoughts

In the last couple of chapters Mark has recorded four miracles illustrating four different aspects of Jesus’ authority:  authority over nature (4:35-41); authority over demons or arkys (5:1-20); authority over illness (5:21-34); and last of all, authority over death (5:35-43).  This, as we said at the beginning of this entry, is the message of Mark’s Gospel in a nutshell:  “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth.”  

We should add that, in a very real sense, these acts of power are nothing in and of themselves.  They are not “proofs” of anything, but rather “signs” (to use John’s term).  Their function is to direct our attention beyond the healing or deliverance of the moment to a larger truth:  the growing realization that this Man from Nazareth is something more than He seems to be.  Exactly what that “something” is has yet to be fully revealed.  But for the moment these miracles have the effect of raising disturbing questions in the minds of everyone who witnesses them – questions powerful enough to engage our curiosity and keep us wondering what’s going to happen next.   

---

[i] Eckhard Schnabel, The Tyndale Commentary on Mark, p. 127.

[ii] This week’s Scripture quotations come from the New American Standard Bible. 

[iii] “Even the poorest in Israel do not hire less than two flute players and one wailing woman.” (m. Ketub 4:4; quoted in Schnabel, p. 128).