They would not believe! Will you?

Mark 5:22-43 NLT  

  22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” 

. . . 

  35  . . . messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” 

  36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” 37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

  40  The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.  43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Disbelief is a terribly restricting thing. Jesus had power to do God's will and God's will is not dependent upon our faith or lack thereof. However, the lack of belief is a poison that spoils everyone around the disbeliever when faith is called for. It was not that their laughter and disbelief would have prevented him from doing this great miracle that Jesus expelled all the family mourners who had gathered to do their religious duty. It was so that they would not interfere with the growing faith of Jairus and his wife. Notice in verse that Jairus had faith to come to Jesus and ask Him to "please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." No one in those days was known for healing someone and forestalling death from illness. There were doctors who tried this and that but Jairus had undoubtedly tried all those. Jairus came to ask for a supernatural miracle for his precious child.

On the way, Jesus was drawn into a different miracle and at its immediate conclusion, the enemy of our souls attacked Jairus with sad news from messengers about his daughter (v. 35). However, Jesus propped up Jairus in this attack saying "don't be afraid, just have faith."  Jesus tells us the same thing regardless of the threat or crisis we might think we are facing. We have the power to dismiss fear and embrace whatever comes our way when we are walking in the Holy Spirit of God.

As they arrived, the professional wailers were there doing their thing and Jesus stopped them telling them they were premature because the child was simply sleeping. True she was probably sleeping the sleep of death but where God is, all things are possible, even reversing the sleep of death. They would not accept this because they were not ready to accept that Jesus was the Son of God-- their Messiah, very God Himself but with them as a human being. Their laughter did not disturb The King of Kings but he did not want to permit it to shake the faith of the hurting parents and the three disciple witnesses. So the laughing 'mourners' were expelled. And their lack of faith caused them to miss out on the greatest thing they could ever see- Jesus raising the dead and restoring life.

It is no different today. People's unwillingness to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and God, and Savior, miss out on the greatest opportunity of their lifetime. They miss out on Jesus raising THEM from the dead.  We need to help them realize what they are missing and pray for them hear from the Holy Spirit of God. We also must be willing to disciple them. Whom have you shared this great news with recently?
Your Servant in Christ's Love

Dan

drdanelliott@gmail.com