Sermon – 6th Sunday after Pentecost – "Don't Be Afraid, Only Believe" – Mark 5:21-24, 35-43 – 7/16/06
July 16th, 2006Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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It is said that there is no emotional pain greater than that which parent feels at the death of a child. The pain that is felt at the death of a parent and even the death of a spouse doesn’t compare to the pain that is felt at the death of a child. From personal experience, I would certainly agree that this is true. And I know that those of you who have experienced the same will certainly agree. Even parents who have been so blessed as to never have experienced such a pain themselves would surely agree with this. And so, with that thought in mind, we meet a man named Jairus. He’s a father. He has a 12 year old daughter, and she is at the point of death.
Vs.21 – “And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about Him, and he was beside the sea.”
Last Sunday we followed Jesus as He and His disciples pushed off from Capernaum and set sail across the Sea of Galilee. Getting caught in a furious storm, Jesus commanded the wind to shut up and the sea to calm down. And it did. No sooner does Jesus step out of the boat on the other side than He’s met by a demon-possessed man. He had a legion of them. And Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the man. And they did.
And just like that, Mark has shown us that this Jesus has the authority to command both the destructive forces of nature and the evil power of the demons. Now, there is yet one more destructive power that we must know if Jesus has the authority to control – and that is the power of death.
That is what this episode before us this morning is all about. St. Mark wants us to know and believe that even death is subject to the authority of Jesus. Death listens to Jesus and when Jesus commands death to cough up what it has swallowed – it must expel what it has consumed.
Contrary to all appearances, death does not have the final word. It is the Word of Christ that has the last word – and by that Word, death is swallowed up by the victory of life.
By presenting us with this account, St. Mark is just being a good pastor. A good pastor knows that he must prepare his congregation for death, even while they’re still in the middle of life because death can come suddenly – even at the age of 12, or 16, or 3 months. There are lots of applications of the Christian faith to daily life that need to be addressed, but none more applicable to everyone than – death. Not every parishioner will be married, not everyone will have children, not everyone will suffer great illness or persecution – but every single one of us will face death – others and their own. How should we prepare for death?
Vs. 22-24 – “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored Him earnestly, saying ‘my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.’ And he went with him.”
Jairus is a man prepared for death. He knows to whom to go. He goes to Jesus, because he believes that Jesus can do something to help his dying daughter. We do the same thing every time we come to Jesus, who is found among us in His Word, imploring Him earnestly, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jairus believes the same, believes there is no where else to go but to Jesus whom he believes has the touch of eternal life. Faith clings to the promise of God. And the promise of God is all wrapped up in Jesus Christ.
You’ve got to be impressed with Jairus’ prayer. His prayer reveals his faith in Jesus. He doesn’t pray that Jesus would help him deal gracefully with the inevitability of death. He doesn’t pray that his dying daughter would be spared all suffering and die peacefully. His prayer is that Jesus would confront the death that is about to take his daughter and by the power that is His, overcome it. Silence it like He silenced the stormy sea. Cast it out like He cast out the demons from the possessed man. Spring the grip that death has on his daughter by the power that is His – a power so great that it would require only the touch of His hand and “she may be made will and live.”
And to that prayer, Mark simply reports, “and He went with him.” Jesus doesn’t ask to see Jairus’ credentials. He doesn’t tell Jairus what expects from him in return. He doesn’t tell Jairus what he should do. He simply “went with him.”
It’s just Jesus being Jesus, doing what Jesus came to do. “Call upon me in the days of trouble and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15). The Word of God is being fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ right before Jairus’ eyes and our ears. The Word of God creates faith in the heart to believe that what it says is true. And faith in the heart trusts that Word of God and asks with sure and certain confidence that God would do what God has promised by His Word to do. “And I will deliver you.”
And if the Word of God were the only word that speaks to us, we would find this whole matter of faith and trust in God to be easy and effortless. But the reality of life in a fallen world, is that God’s Word is not the only word that speaks into our ears and – God forgive us, it is not the only Word that we listen to.
Just as Adam and Eve listened to another word than God’s Word, so do we. And that other word contradicts God’s Word. God’s Word to Adam and Eve was that they may not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die. And that other voice spoke to Adam and Eve in direct contradiction to God’s Word saying, ‘you will not surely die.’
How much easier this life of faith would be if the only Word we ever heard was the Word of God. But there is a cacophony of other voices shouting at us all the time – and each one is more clever and deceptive than the other.
Vs. 35. “While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further.”
It’s another voice speaking into Jairus’ ears another word, contrary to the Word of Jesus. It says, “it’s too late. Nothing further can be done. Not even Jesus has the power to do anything now. Forget about Jesus. It was nice to have some hope to cling to while you could but now its time to get real. Forget all your religious superstitions and grow up. She’s dead.” And with those words spoken into Jairus’ ears, his confidence and assurance of faith is shaken and a shudder of fear and terrible grief comes over him.
Vs. 36. “But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’”
“Do not fear, only believe.” Here is the great challenge that Jesus sets before, not only Jairus, but each and every one of us. Which word will you believe? Your experience tells you that death is final. There’s nothing can be done once the doctor says, ‘we did all we could do.’ But Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…”(John 11:25). Which word will it be?
“Do not fear, only believe.” If Jesus is who He says He is, then there’s nothing to fear. And if He’s not, “then we are of all people to be the most pitied…” and there’s every reason to be afraid. So which will it be? Will your fear overcome your faith or will your faith overcome your fear? It’s not easy is it? And so, like another man with a dead daughter, we cry out, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”
Vs. 37-40. “They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ‘sleeping.’ And they laughed at him.”
From eye level, they appeared to be nothing more than professional mourners, come to pay their respects and comfort the grieving. From a more elevated and heavenly view, they had a striking resemblance to a talking serpent from a long ago garden.
They laughed at the Jesus. His Word was ridiculous. They called Him a fool. A religious fanatic who had no business interjecting His pious opinions into the scientific world of biology and medicine. We believe what we see. We draw our conclusions from what we see. Go where the data leads. No pulse, no breath. She’s dead.
But with Jesus, things are never the way they appear to be. The wisdom of the wise is really foolishness and the foolishness of faith is really the wisdom of God. Those who were laughing and alive were really dead in their sins and those who were dead with no hope but for Jesus were really alive. “As you see it, this little girl is dead but as I see her she is alive and sleeping.” With Jesus, things are not as they appear.
“As you see it, you are sinful and unclean. But as I see you, you are my saints and more holy than the angels in heaven.” “As you see it, your life is coming to an end. But as I see it, your life is hidden in me and just as I have overcome death and the grave, so shall you walk in newness of life.”
Vs. 40-43. “He put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl I say to you, arise. And immediately the girl got up and began walking and.. He told them to give her something to eat.”
With just the word of His mouth and the touch of His finger, this girl gets up from her sleep and wondering what all the fuss is about asks, ‘what’s to eat?’ Luther says, that Jesus raises this girl from her death easier than parents raise their children from their sleep. From personal experience, I would certainly agree that this is true. Parents, we ought to think about this text every time we have to push and prod and yell and scream to rouse our children from sleep. One day Jesus will just touch them and say “Talitha cumi” and they’ll wake up in heaven.
What Jesus does with this daughter of Jairus, He does so that you would believe that He has the power over death – even your death, even the death of your children. And that by believing you would not fear. What Jesus demonstrates here in Jairus’ house, He would demonstrate conclusively in Joseph’s tomb. That we would believe and not fear, He Himself would enter into a three day death sleep, only to awaken to life – and appearing to His disciples, He asked that they for something to eat. That is the prototype. Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, Lazarus – they’re all just types of the prototype. And so are you.
Here is what we are to expect from Jesus. One day we too will enter into our own death sleep only to be awakened by the word and touch of Jesus – “Talitha cumi.” It will seem as if we just dozed off. But when we awake, everything will have changed. The perishable now imperishable. Mortality now immortality. No fear and no faith, but seeing Jesus face to face, He will lead us to our seat at His heavenly banquet table where we will eat with all the saints of heaven.
But in the meantime, “do not be afraid, only believe.”
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» "Fruit of the Spirit" – 9 Sermons» Sermon Index – Lutheran – LCMS
» Sermon – Pentecost – 'The Day of Pentecost" – Acts 2:1-21 – 5/27/07
» Sermon – Pentecost 6 – "Predestination" – Ephesians 1:3-14
» The Season Of Lent
» Sermon – Pentecost 18 – "Is It Lawful To Divorce?" – Mark 10:2-16 – 10/4/09
