Mark 5:35–43

The ruler was impatient and distressed. To him, Jesus' visit to his house, where his sick daughter lay, had met many annoying delays… The crowd that gathered in the narrow streets made progress slow and difficult. The healing of the woman appeared to be a further obstacle in the way of the Master's mercy for him. And now, while Jesus was speaking His final blessing over the woman, some arrived from the ruler's house. They brought the sad news he had expected but dreaded: death had come. "Your daughter is dead" was the message, closing, as he supposed, the last door of his hopes.

In this case the messengers were quick to bring bad news. Whenever there is bad news to tell, there are always people at hand ready to tell it. Few, by comparison, tell good news; may the Lord raise up more such.

This person little knew either the power of His hand or the tender love of His heart. However deep our sorrows, however great our trials, we need not fear to "trouble" the Lord with our burdens. He was here to share our griefs and bear our trials.

As an old writer puts it: "Here were more manners than faith: 'Do not trouble the Teacher.' Unbelief is all for caution, and thinks every good work tiresome. What nature counts troublesome is pleasing and delightful to grace. O Saviour, it was Your food and drink to do Your Father's will. His will was that You should bear our griefs and take away our sorrows. Our happiness cannot be Your trouble, so we must keep coming to You."

At the very moment of the woman's deliverance the case of Jairus' daughter took on a darker look. News of her death arrived. Those who sent the message assumed that disease might disappear before the power of Jesus, but that death lay outside His reach… Death is the most hopeless thing of all. Can He triumph over that? He can, and He did.

Death, for man, is the end of hope; and, as far as he is concerned, it is meant to be so. For this very reason, it is here that God can show Himself where man is powerless. "Do not fear," says the Lord in answer to such a message; "only believe." Unbelief may claim its right to mourn and weep, though much even of this is unreal. But faith alone can see the glory of God.

Bad news met the ruler's ear while Jesus was crowning His mercy to the woman who touched Him. How swift His goodness is to shield a weak heart from despair! "Do not fear, only believe." This was not troubling the Teacher; it was His proper work.

In the story of the dying child, do we not see a picture of the nation's moral condition when the Lord was present? At the end of the story the Lord raised the child from death. In the same way, when He returns to earth, He will revive the nation. Meanwhile the story of the woman teaches us that wherever people have faith in Christ, they will receive the blessing.

The general sense of the word seems to be this. Jesus heard what the speaker did not intend Him to hear. But He ignored the literal remark. He said what expressed His own purpose and calmed the anxiety of Jairus.

If a gracious Lord had not seen the danger and stopped his rising unbelief, perhaps the father's hope would have died too. Then no room would have been left for this miracle, since faith, the necessary condition, would have been missing. "As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He says to the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe." There is something very gracious in that "as soon as." The Lord spoke at once. He left no time for a thought of unbelief to slip into the father's mind, still less for the father to speak it aloud. Such a thought might have stood in the way of a cure. Instead He filled his mind at once with words of encouragement and hope.

Death, for man, is the end of hope; and, as far as he is concerned, it is designed to be so. For this very reason it is here that God can show Himself, where man is powerless. "Be not afraid," says the Lord in answer to such a message; "only believe." Unbelief may claim its right to mourn and weep, though much even of this is not real. But faith alone can see the glory of God.

Jairus had been quite confident about His ability to heal; but now, what about death? — that was the great test of his faith, and of the power of Jesus. "Be not afraid, only believe," was the word. Faith in Christ will remove the fear of death for us as well as for him.

This person little knew either the power of His hand or the tender love of His heart. However deep our sorrows, however great our trials, we need not fear to "trouble" the Lord with our burdens. He was here to share our griefs and bear our trials. Entering into the feelings of the poor father, the Lord drops a word of comfort into his heart — "Be not afraid, only believe."

It is these small touches that make us acquainted with the Saviour. Thank God, we can speak of His power; but how good it is to see His heart, before He put out His power.

Now, as for the child He was travelling to, no remedy was available. Jesus finds her dead, but does not fail in the purpose of His journey. He raises her again, for He can give life. So it is with Israel too. On the way, those who had faith in Jesus were healed, incurable as they were in themselves; but as to Israel, the nation was dead in trespasses and sins. Outwardly this seemed to stop the work of Jesus. But grace will restore life to Israel in the end.

Many crowns are His, and we delight to crown Him Lord of all; but no crown that will ever adorn His head will ever change His heart. The love that could weep with Martha and Mary has not altered in the slightest. The heart that had compassion on the widow of Nain still beats in sympathy with sorrowing saints. The same tender love sustained the broken-hearted Jairus. It can still say with infinite compassion to a broken-hearted believer, "Be not afraid, only believe."

He would not let the crowd that had followed Him through the town come near the house of Jairus. Another crowd was already inside it. When the Lord went in, He put the noisy mourners out, as Peter later did in the case of Dorcas. Their unpleasant trade had made them used to the sight of the dead, so they were sure the girl was dead. They could not grasp that what was death to man was sleep to the Lord... He did not admit even all the apostles to the room where she lay. He chose three only — Peter, James and John. He raised the widow's son and Lazarus in full public view. Here the dead child was indoors, so the scene had to be more private.

The three disciples chosen were enough to give testimony to the fact of the resurrection. Two witnesses were enough to make evidence valid in a court of law, so three gave more than enough. Revelation tells us that two witnesses will be raised up to testify of coming judgment (Rev. 11). But three now bear witness in the world to the gospel of the grace of God — the Spirit, the water, and the blood (1 John 5:8).

There were three occasions (all special in character) on which Peter and the two sons of Zebedee were alone privileged to accompany the Lord Jesus. We refer to His journeys to the holy mount, to the house of Jairus, and into the recesses of Gethsemane.

These three were the only ones allowed to be there when the Lord raised Jairus' daughter. That already tells us something about the relationship these disciples had with the Lord Jesus. They were also the only three disciples who went up the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord, where they were shown a picture of the millennium... Third, in one of the most painful moments of the life of the Lord Jesus, those three alone were allowed to go with Him into the Garden of Gethsemane. There He was in great agony as He looked ahead to the work He was to do.

He goes in with chosen witnesses, pillars among the Jewish believers. He turns out the empty mourners who mocked His words of comfort. Then, in front of the parents and His companions, He wakes the girl from the sleep of death, to their great amazement. So at the end of the age He will raise up Israel.

The witness of the three disciples was all that was needed. They stand for the core of the faithful remnant, at the time when Israel will be brought to spiritual life after the Tribulation. The father and mother stand for the older natural tie — Israel linked to the fathers.

We are plainly told that when the Lord raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, no one was with Him but Peter, James, and John. Yet not one of the three mentions it, striking as the fact is, and important as it is in the story of our Lord's ways. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who were not there, all name it and give the details.

There does not seem to have been any "service" or prayers at the burial of the dead. When Lazarus died, Jews were with the family, mourning four days after the death. In the case of the daughter of Jairus there was a "tumult", with weeping and great wailing. These were probably hired mourners, as is still the custom today, since "musicians" were there too.

Genuine mourning, which grows out of a neighbour's sympathy, was twisted into shallow professionalism. Grieving became an art, and some grew famous for their skill at it (Amos 5:16). Mourning women stood ready to come and raise a wail for the dead (Jer. 9:17-18), sometimes putting their grief into funeral songs (2 Chron. 35:25).

The Prince of Life went on to the house of death, where mourners were already making a great commotion with their weeping and wailing. God commands us to "weep with those who weep," and Scripture has no shortage of examples. The Lord Himself was always tender and kind to people in distress and pain, yet He rebuked this show of going-through-the-motions grief over the daughter of Jairus. He entered the courtyard of the ruler's house and said to the hired mourners, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping." He was severe with them because of their hypocrisy and pretence, for their sympathy was not sincere.

Mourners already surrounded the house, and they thought the loudest wailing was the best proof of real grief. The Lord Jesus rebuked this useless noise and told them the girl was not dead, but asleep. Then the people laughed at Him in scorn. That was foolish. They did not see that He had deeper reasons for speaking this way than they understood. To Him death is no more a problem than sleep.

The Lord's words drew only laughter and mockery from these ignorant, rude attendants. The ruler of the synagogue held high rank, so his house would hold an unusually large number of them. The servants were ruder still to the prophet from Nazareth, because their employer stood so far above Him socially. His words, "The child is not dead," clashed head-on with their professional knowledge. They had no faith in Him and no respect for what He said, so nothing weighed against what looked to them like a plain denial of the facts. Their laughter was the laughter of folly, as the laughter of Abraham and Sarah was the laughter of unbelief (Gen. 17:17; Gen. 18:12).

He goes in with chosen witnesses, leading men among the Jewish people. He puts out the empty weepers who scorned His words of comfort. Then, in front of the parents and His companions, He wakes the girl from the sleep of death, and they are amazed. So at the end of the age He will raise up Israel.

Then, at the end of the chapter, the Lord is in the presence of death; but He will not allow death to stay in His presence. "The child," He said (and how true it was!), "is not dead but sleeping." Just so the Spirit says believers are asleep, as in, "God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep." Unbelief may weep, and wail, and make all sorts of commotion, and with little feeling after all; for it can just as easily laugh Jesus to scorn.

Let us look closely at the words used here. We may be sure they are exact, as always in Scripture. "Jesus died;" His saints only "fall asleep." With Him it was truly death. It came in all its reality and severity, as the judgment on sin — the sign and picture of a deeper judgment. With them it is only "sleep" — rest and refreshment, from which they rise to a day that never ends and never fades.

He knew that hers was the sleep of the redeemed, not the death of the lost, and as with Lazarus later, He came to wake her out of that sleep.

Real mourning that grows out of neighbourly sympathy had turned into shallow professionalism. Wailing became an art, and some became well known for their skill in it. The Lord was always tender and gracious to those in distress and pain. Yet He rebuked this show of routine grief over the daughter of Jairus. Entering the courtyard of the ruler's house, He said to the hired mourners, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping." The Lord aimed this sharp word at their hypocrisy and pretence, for their sympathy was not sincere.

His words, "The child is not dead," came into direct conflict with their professional knowledge. They had no faith in Him and no reverence for His words to balance His apparent contradiction of the facts. So the Lord's dignified reproof of their noise only struck them as absurd. There was some malice in it too at His interference, and they laughed Him to scorn. It was the laughter of folly.

They believed their senses, not His word; and the scornful will not see the blessing. But He took hold of her hand and called her to get up. Then her spirit returned — for it had gone — and she rose up immediately.

He goes in with chosen witnesses and turns out the empty weepers who had scorned His words of comfort. Then, in front of the parents and His companions, He wakes the girl from the sleep of death, to their great amazement. So at the end of the age He will raise up Israel.

The heart is deeply bereaved. But it is also carried a little upward and onward. The tenderest affections are wounded. But faith and hope are fed. "The eye of him who has seen me shall see me no more" — "neither shall his place any more behold him." But why do we make this commotion and weep? Our child is not dead but sleeps.

He arrives at Jairus's house, where He finds mourners — no doubt paid mourners. He said to them, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at Him. They would have lost their work, so to speak, if she was not dead, and their pay would be gone too. Man had introduced all that. All they had to do was step aside, if He was there. "Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord."

His words, "The child is not dead," clashed head-on with what their trade had taught them. They had no faith in Him and no respect for what He said, so nothing outweighed His apparent denial of the facts. The Lord's calm rebuke of their noise only struck them as ridiculous, and they felt some spite at His interference. So they laughed at Him. It was the laughter of folly, as that of Abraham and Sarah was the laughter of unbelief (Gen. 17:17; Gen. 18:12).

Sadly, such ridicule from man fell within the sufferings appointed to the Messiah. But Scripture said of Him, "All who see me mock me" (Ps. 22:7), and that word reached its climax at the cross. He was the Servant whom man despised and the nation abhorred (Isa. 49:7).

The Lord Jesus reproved this useless noise and told them the girl was not dead but asleep. To Him death is no more a problem than sleep is.

On a later occasion the Lord speaks of Lazarus as "sleeping." It was His way of speaking. He raised this girl from her bed, the young man of Nain from the stretcher he was carried on, and Lazarus from the grave. Each case needed the same power — the power of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. Unbelieving people may be ready to explain this away and say it was a trance. But the case of Lazarus disproves any such idea.

As for all the rest who were weeping and wailing, they laughed at His words, "Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping." So He put them out. They believed their senses, not His word; and the scornful will not see the blessing.

Some feelings in other people are wrong and unbelieving. We must not get tangled up with them, or we will not be able to exercise faith towards God. Our love for those who really need it demands this. The truest love and the holiest faith sometimes look very harsh to the false feelings of man, and very foolish too. But faith acts on its own resources. The result will show where truth and power and goodness were. He cast them all out. We must act decisively at times towards men, if we would act faithfully towards God.

The Lord, having entered the house, put out the noisy mourners, as Peter afterwards did in the case of Dorcas. They, used through their unpleasant trade to the sight of the dead, knew that the girl was certainly dead, and it was beyond them to understand that what was death to man was sleep to the Lord. They were completely out of place where the Quickener of the dead was, and so they were ejected, like the bargaining traders from the temple courts at Jerusalem.

He goes with chosen witnesses, leading men among the Jewish believers. He turns out the empty mourners who scorned His words of comfort. Then, in front of the parents and His companions, He wakes the girl from the sleep of death, and they are amazed. So at the end of the age He will raise up Israel.

The daughter of Jairus was brought back to life, and her body rose up at once, strengthened as well as made alive. She was able to walk about, as Mark notes with the detail typical of his style. She was twelve years old, and so able to walk in the ordinary course of nature. But here the action showed that her restoration was as perfect as it was immediate.

The simple, dignified way the Lord acted here stands in striking contrast with the Old Testament prophets when they performed similar miracles. The Lord spoke and acted in His own right. The prophets had to look above and plead earnestly for power to raise the dead, because that power was not in themselves. Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD… and the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah, and the child's soul came into him again, and he revived (1 Kings 17:21-22). How different was the Lord's way. He took the child by the hand, said, "Talitha cumi," and at once she got up.

The glorious Person who spoke these words is none other than the Son of God… Into a scene of sorrow and death He brought the perfection of a love which "casts out fear" and "is strong as death." His voice of love has mighty power, and it scatters the darkness of death's night. He used the words a mother would use to wake her child at the start of a new day — "Talitha Cumi." The greeting "Talitha" holds the thought of "freshness." "Cumi" carries the suggestion of "established," "standing up in strength." Happy indeed are those who, in answer to the voice of the Son of God, are made to live, and to "walk in newness of life."

The same twelve years measure the length of the woman's bleeding and the age of the child raised from the dead. The same meaning must attach to them in both cases. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with him" (Eph. 2:4-6). This goes beyond what we find in Mark. The words "with Christ" show Christ to be the Worker of the miracle of resurrection, in a deeper sense even than in the Gospel. In the Gospel we see a miracle of power. In the letter it is a miracle of righteousness, and yet of grace toward us.

The word is ἔκστασις, "ecstasy," in which, as it were, the mind is carried beyond the body. It is translated "astonishment" in Mark 5:42, and "amazement" in Acts 3:10. It is rendered "trance" when Peter saw the vision of the sheet let down from heaven. The same word is used when Paul in the temple saw the Lord and heard Him speak to him.

Jairus felt how powerless all religious and legal machinery is in the presence of death. So he made his appeal to the Son of God… He took only Peter, James and John with Him into the death-chamber. There He overcame death at once by His life-giving word. It was enough for Him to say "Damsel, arise." Her spirit came back from the unseen world and joined the body again. This is a blessed foretaste of what the same gracious One will do in a spiritual way for her whole nation when He comes again!

But the beginning of verse 43 is in sharp contrast to verses 19 and 33. There is to be no testimony this time. We suppose this is because of the contemptuous unbelief that had just been shown. At the same time there was the most careful thought for the child's need of food. There had been the same care a little before for the spiritual need of Jairus. He thought both of her body and of Jairus's faith.

Why in this gospel more than any other does the Lord Jesus command silence like this? I think it is because Mark's is the gospel of service. The truth is, service is not a thing to be trumpeted by those engaged in it, or by their friends. Whatever is from God, and is done toward God, can safely be left to tell its own tale. It is what God gives and does, not what man says, that is the real point of holy service.

The Lord charged them (presumably those present in the room where the girl was) that no one should know this. The instruction seems to mean that they were not to set themselves to spread the news of the miracle. It could not mean that the raising of the child was to remain a secret. Jairus was a public figure, and his dead daughter coming back to life could hardly stay hidden.

The Lord, having restored the girl's life by His own inherent power, directed the parents to give her food. This was because the restored life needed the usual means of support, and it was in their power to supply it. No miracle was required. The Lord expects us to do what we are able to do of ourselves, and only exercises His own might where our helplessness is shown.

No wonder her parents were astonished at that word of power. They were so bewildered that they seemed unable to act. Or was it that in their joy at receiving their only child alive again they forgot everything else? He did not forget. He knew her needs and cared for them, and she was only a girl. Did He ever use His power without revealing His heart? He "told them to give her something to eat." Even the mother did not realise, in her wonder and joy, that the child needed food — but He did. He was more thoughtful for her than her own mother.

It is not only His tenderness; He also commanded that they "give her something to eat." What is that, if we take it out of the figure and apply it? He is the one who gives life, and He is the one who provides for the support of the life He gives. What is the "something"? Shall I tell you? Christ. Not doctrines, not theories, not notions, not thoughts, not opinions. Christ is the "something." If He has given you life, if you have felt His touch of power, He commands that something be given you to eat. And He commands that to His servants. He did not say it to the girl here; He commands His servants — and one feels the responsibility of it.

In front of the parents and His chosen witnesses, He wakes the girl from the sleep of death, and they are amazed. So at the end of the age He will raise up Israel.