35While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"
36Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
37He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). 42Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
BACKGROUND READING:
Luke 7:11-17
John 11:1-44
Dig Deeper
As we mentioned yesterday, this is one of those passages that is particularly beneficial to enter into and think about from the perspectives of the different people involved. Can you imagine being Jairus during this very real event? His daughter is ill, near the point of death. He must have been numb with grief, fear, horror. He goes and does what all of his learning, education, and common sense tell him not to, he seeks out Jesus. This is his last shot, it may be her only hope.
Just when all may have seemed lost, he finds Jesus, and actually gets to talk to him. Then this woman interrupts, seeking healing of her own. But this isn’t a life-threatening sickness. Couldn’t she have waited for this? This could be done later, how selfish this woman must be. And what about Jesus? Why is he taking his sweet time?
Imagine Jairus’ feelings when some men come and tell him that his daughter is dead. Could she have been saved if this woman hadn’t slowed Jesus down? Then they tell Jairus not to bother the teacher any more.
Has the tiny seed of faith that he came to the teacher with been lost? Just when it seems, though, that the realization of fear will overtake him and destroy his faith, Jesus turns to him and says, Don’t be afraid; just believe. This is exactly what the sick woman had just demonstrated. She overcame her fear with faith.
As they got near, it would have been obvious that Jarius’ daughter was dead. The Jews had an established grieving ritual which had probably swung into action by now. Professional mourners and flute players would be immediately brought in and the family members would be able to publicly give vent to their feelings.
Jesus, however, would take no part in the official grieving. He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except his three closest disciples. Jesus says she’s not dead but asleep. Perhaps Mark is hoping that his readers will hear echoes of the previous chapter’s story of the seed and the plant. It goes to sleep and rises up, and now this girl will do the same. It’s yet another sign that the kingdom of God is coming in the unlikely form of the son of a carpenter in a small town by the lake. It’s also a foreshadowing of how this story will end, with people coming to see a dead body that is no longer there, but has been raised by the power of God.
The response of the mourners was to laugh at Jesus, but he didn’t let that deter him. He took only five people with him into the room where the dead girl is lying. Jesus grabs her hand and tells her to get up. She gets up, and then we are given a detail that seems would not have been made up: Jesus says, give her something to eat, because she’s hungry.
Why did Mark leave the Aramaic, talitha koum, untranslated? Why not write it in Greek the way the rest of the book is. There are, after all, only a handful of occasions in Mark’s gospel where he leaves words in the original language that Jesus spoke. The answer is probably pretty simple. Tradition holds that Peter was Mark’s primary source for this gospel. These words probably stuck in their memory and made a deep impression. When Peter told the story, he probably kept those memorable words in the original language, as he heard them the day Jesus spoke them.
A deeper question is why did Jesus apparently only raise three people from the dead? There must have been many other recently deceased people in his vicinity during the three, or so, years of his ministry. Some people might raise the question of fairness. If Jesus raised a few people from the dead, why not more? Why not everyone? This way of thinking misses the whole point. Jesus wasn’t coming to be a one-man liberation or healing unit. That wasn’t the point. His ministry was pointing to the real healing that God would accomplish through his death and resurrection. It was pointing to the age to come. These were signposts. Signposts are important but they are not the destination.
Again, Jesus tells them to keep this quiet. If the authorities knew that Jesus had power even over death, their response might be swift and fear-driven. This was a clear challenge of the powers-that-be and the time for a face-to-face confrontation had not yet come.
Devotional Thought
Even though his close disciples had seen Jesus do some incredible things, Mark will make it clear that they still do not yet understand who Jesus is. What marvelous things has God done in your life? Do you recognize his full power over all circumstances or do you still not completely get it? In what area of your life have you yet to realize God’s full power?
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