The Life and Death of the Gospel, Mark 6: 14-29

Let me start today by posing a hypothetical situation to you.  If you were able to live a truly exemplary Christian life, a life of ministry, a life of righteousness, a life that pointed people to Christ - if that was something that not only your friends said about you, but also more importantly something that God said about you, how would you expect your life to turn out?  Wouldn’t you think that for such a person, there would be the proverbial “showers of blessings?”  Wouldn’t you expect at the very least, a long life, all your financial needs met, your health assured, your family’s well being? 

 I think if you are honest, deep down in your subconscious heart you would expect all those things on the life of someone who was truly a man or woman after God’s own heart.  That’s what the majority Christian view teaches, for the most part.  That if you live for the Lord, He will bless your life here on earth, and in fact, those blessings will be pressed down, shaken, and running over. 

I must confess that there is a part of me still that holds to that view as well.  In spite of having experiences to the contrary many times in my life.  I think we want to believe that a blessed life is the norm for the Christian life, and though times of tribulation and even distress like that which befell Job, for instance, are sometimes encountered, they are due to extenuating circumstances, and we should not expect that as the normal situation for the Christian.

Well, as a counter point to that subconscious or conscious mindset, I offer you today the example of John the Baptist.  I’m sure that most of you are well familiar with his life and need no review.  But some review is necessary, if only to illustrate the kind of man that John the Baptist was.  Because the end of his life does not bear testimony to the degree with which he was regarded by God.  

In fact, leaving aside a lot of the historical details of John’s life, the ultimate testimony as to what kind of man John was is recorded as spoken by Jesus in Matthew 11:11 where He said,  "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”  There can be no higher accolade given to men that that statement by none other than the Lord Jesus Himself.  No one up to that day had been born who was greater than John the Baptist.  

Yet, consider how this man died.  Alone, after having spent a year and four months in prison according to some commentators.  He wasted away all that time in a dungeon, practically forgotten about,  finally to be beheaded at the request of a viciously angry woman.  Something doesn’t seem fair about that.  The very people that he preached against, managed to have him killed.  And if some historians are to be believed, his decapitated head served on a charger was treated with public contempt by this same woman.

So how are we to view this man’s life?  There is no evidence of sin that he committed which would have brought on such an ignominious end.  And we cannot believe that God was so unjust as to forget about the good works that John did while on the earth.  So what are we to think in regards to this story? 

I will confess something to you.  I read several sermons in preparing for this message, secretly hoping that I might find a nice, tight little three point outline and a poem that I could borrow which would have answered my own questions regarding this event, as well as solve my dilemma on how to present it.  But as I reviewed several messages from my favorite stable of pastors out there whom I like to listen to, I found that they avoided the why, and just expanded on the what.  They took the parallel passages in the other gospels and added a lot of historical details and simply retold the story with a lot more in depth material than what Mark gives us.  But that approach doesn’t answer my questions.  And I think that perhaps it doesn’t answer your questions either.  

My purpose then today is not to teach a history lesson, or a geography lesson.  If you want that you can find it in most study Bibles.  But my purpose is to try to understand the principles of the gospel that Mark is giving us today.  Of all people, Mark could easily have embellished the story with a lot of biographical details about the Herods. He could easily have given us more history connected with this event.  But Mark, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, gives us this account, in all it’s brevity, for the purpose of teaching us some important lessons - the life principles of the gospel.  And so I want to try to examine that aspect today.  Though I admit that perhaps I will raise more questions than I will answer.  

I would like to build on the questions I started out with concerning our preconceptions about the blessings of God in regards to our lives.  There are two men in the Bible that we are told who never died.  One was a man named Enoch, who it was said in Genesis 5:24 walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.  The other was Elijah, who was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, while Elisha was looking on.  This is the same Elijah, by the way, that some said had come back to life in the form of Jesus, as we read in vs 15.  

So to expand on my earlier question, obviously these two men were special in the sight of God.   God enjoyed fellowship with Enoch to such a degree that He took Him to be with Him.  How, we do not know.  But one minute he was on the earth, and the next God took Him to be with Him. Hebrews 11:5 tells us that ‘By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.”

I remember my Dad attempting to dramatize it by saying that Enoch and the Lord used to walk together, perhaps in the cool of the evening as He had done with Adam and Eve before the fall.  And one evening, as they were walking and their conversation was particularly engaging, darkness began to fall.  And perhaps Enoch said, “Lord, it’s getting late.  Martha probably has dinner on the table.  I guess I better get back.”  And the Lord said, “Enoch, why don’t you come home to dinner with Me tonight.  I’ll send word to Martha so she won’t worry.”  And so Enoch and the Lord kept on walking and talking and just kind of faded into the evening dusk.  And Enoch was not, for the Lord took him.  

Now that would be a nice way to go, wouldn’t it?  Just be walking with the Lord, and you go around the bend out of sight, still walking and talking with the Lord.  And you walk out of this world into the next.  

Or how about Elijah?  What a triumphal way to end your life.  Elijah lived a life with supernatural power.  He performed mighty miracles.  He was a mighty man of God, and he left this world in a blaze of glory, with the thunder of horses hooves, and the rattle of chariot’s wheels, and a flaming fire enveloping all of it.  I can imagine that there was a special angel driving the chariot, and one minute Elijah is standing there talking to Elisha, and the next there is this whirlwind and fire and the chariot appears in a rush, and the strong arm of the angel reaches out and swoops Elijah off his feet into the chariot and they fly away into the clouds, leaving poor old Elisha standing there dumfounded.  

Those are great stories.  They are true stories.  And we are excited at hearing about such things which happened to mighty men of God.  But if the truth be known, and the Lord was to say to me or to you today, “You are highly favored among men.  You have walked faithfully with Me during your time here on the earth, and come tomorrow at this time, I will come and take you away from this earth to be with Me.”  Well, I hate to say it, but I think a lot of us might tell the Lord, “You know, I am flattered that you think so well of me and the ministry that I have done here on the earth, but the truth is I am not really all that anxious to leave right now.  I would rather spend a long life here on earth, and enjoy all the blessings that you can give me here on earth with my family and friends.  After all, I still have a lot of things I want to do before I leave. Thanks for the offer though.”

That fits better with our paradigm of the Christian life, doesn’t it?  That God’s blessings on good people means that we get to enjoy life more abundantly, right here, for many, many years to come.  Well, I would suggest that such an attitude reveals much about our commitment to our Christianity and our walk with the Lord.  I would suggest that our commitment to the Lord is based more on what He can do for me in the here and now, rather than what kind of benefit I might receive in the hereafter. 

So John the Baptist illustrates for us first and foremost the kind of dedication and commitment that pleases the Lord.  John’s whole purpose was to introduce people to Jesus Christ.  He went about preaching repentance in order to prepare the way for the Lord’s ministry.  He said about Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  He had the right perspective about his purpose in life.  Jesus was to be lifted up, exalted, and he was to decrease.  In other words, he wasn’t interested in Jesus blessing his earthly life, increasing his horizons, building his kingdom.  But just the opposite, he was interested in blessing the Lord, increasing the reach of the gospel, building the kingdom of God.  

Not only did he have the right perspective, but he gave the right testimony.  He was salt and light to the world.  Not only did John preach righteousness, but he preached repentance,  he preached about sin.  In fact, John got pretty personal.  In vs.18, John told King Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” That kind of preaching did not go over too well.  John called the Pharisees who came to his church service on the beach, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come!” (Matt.3:7)  John was salt and light to a dark and corrupt world.  He called sin what it was.  He called people who sinned sinners.  And he called people to repentance.

Furthermore, John eschewed the benefits of this life in favor of the benefits of the kingdom. John didn’t concern himself with the niceties of this life.  He dressed badly.  He ate badly. He didn’t live in fancy houses, but he lived in the wilderness.  Matt. 3:4 “Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”  He was one of the giants of faith described in Hebrews 11 as one who lived as an exile on earth, who “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

And ultimately, his life was about showing people Jesus. John 1:29 When he saw Jesus coming to him he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  When that part of his ministry was completed, John soon faded off the stage, and found himself arrested and put in Herod’s dungeon for 16 months.  Mark tells us that Herod liked to listen to John preach.  I imagine that it’s possible Herod would call  him up out of the prison to preach a sermon to him, and maybe have some fun at his expense. He considered John a novelty, sort of entertainment.  But in the course of doing so, Herod became convinced of John’s righteousness, and holiness.  Maybe it was like the way some of you like watching scary movies, you don’t really believe them, but they scare you and entertain you at the same time.  And sometimes, late at night, they cause you to worry that there may be some truth to them after all.  Herod may have been like that with John.  He found his message disconcerting. 

But John’s incarceration raises the question, where is God in all of that?  John is a faithful servant of the Lord, and yet he finds himself suffering in prison for months on end, forgotten and forlorn.  And so we see in Matthew 11:3 that John sent word by his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”  John, though more highly thought of by God than any other man up to this point, has a moment of doubt.  He must have been suffering discouragement.  He was not having a good day, or week or month, for that matter.  Jesus wasn’t doing what John though the Messiah would do.  John probably expected Jesus to overthrow the kingdoms of the world and in due time He would set things right with John.  He would set him free from the dungeon.  

But Jesus doesn’t give him the answer he expects.  Jesus just confirms that He is doing the works of God. Jesus said according to Matt. 11:5 “the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.”  I can almost imagine what I would have said at that, if I had been in John’s place.  “Well that’s great! If you are doing miracles over there, then how about doing one in here?  Get me out of here!”  How many of us, reading of the miracles that Jesus performed, do not expect that He should do the same for us?  It may be a logical conclusion to the human mind, but it does not always fulfill the purposes of God.  The purpose of the gospel is not to make our lives here on earth better, to do away with our suffering, do enable us to live a trial free life, but to give us a sure hope of a better life beyond this world.

So John is left there in the prison, left there to suffer the horrors of life in a dungeon with the rats and bad food, and the indignities of being in chains.  But while he is there, I believe John comes to terms with God’s purposes, he is convinced that Jesus is the Christ, and he is satisfied to know that he did his job well, and that the gospel is progressing according to the will of God.  So John doesn’t send any more messages.  His disciples come less often.  And John must have turned his thoughts to going home to be with the Lord.  The things of earth became strangely dim, in the light of the glory that awaited him.

Well, not long after that, Herod’s birthday approaches.  And as Mark has told us in his gospel Herodias’s daughter comes in to dance before the dignitaries that Herod has assembled for his banquet.  And she so pleases Herod by her dance that he offers her anything she might want, even up to half of his kingdom.  So this girl goes to her mother, Herodias, and asks her what she should ask for.  Mark says that her mother has carried a grudge against John because of his rebuke of her marriage to Herod, and so she asked  for John’s head to be brought upon a platter.  Vs26 “And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison.”

Here is the part that is so hard for us to understand.  Given the exemplary life of John the Baptist, why would God let him die like this?  Beheaded at the request of a villainous, sinful queen, a woman who lived in incest, a woman who controlled her weak, evil husband.  Why did God allow such a good man to die such an ignoble death, and perhaps an untimely death at the hands of such evil people?  After all, John was probably only about 33 years of age at this point.  He had only preached about a year and a half.  What sense does this make? 

Well, the only sense is that John the Baptist walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.  Whether God took him by flight into the heavens by means of a chariot, or by freeing his spirit in one fell swoop of the executioner’s sword, the end result is the same.  John finished the purpose here on earth that God had given him, and so the Lord took him home to be with Him.  One minute, he was bending his body over the stone and laying his head upon the chopping block, his mouth moving in conversation  to God, and the next minute, the angels are ushering him into the presence of the Lord Himself, to hear “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt.25:21)

I think that this story of John’s execution is put here for a number of reasons. One of which is that it reinforces a principle we have seen twice so far in this chapter, and that is that the gospel will be rejected.  The very hometown of Jesus rejected Him in the opening verses of this chapter.  And then we see that various towns rejected His disciples as well, so that Jesus told them to expect it, and to shake the dust off their sandals as an indictment of their rejection.  Now we see this rejection of the gospel taken to another level, to even that of murder so that Herod and his wife might try to maintain their sinful life style  and might eliminate the reproach of the preacher of righteousness.  And so I believe that Mark has given us these examples, that he might illustrate the nature of the ministry of the gospel.  It is an adversarial gospel. It is an offense to the sinner.  It forces people to examine themselves in the light of the truth, and some people are going to reject it, and some will go so far as event to take vengeance upon you for your ministry.  

The other reason that this story is given is to illustrate the purpose of the Christian life, to be willing to die to this world and offer up our lives as a living and holy sacrifice to God.  And even if we are killed for the sake of the gospel, we see that even a king cannot kill the gospel.  In vs 16 we see evidence that the fire that John the Baptist lit was fanned into even greater flames by Jesus Christ, and then in vs30 we foresee that same fire which will become a blazing inferno that would engulf the world through the ministry of the disciples.  Satan cannot stop the gospel, though he might even put some of us to death.

But even though some of us might die an inglorious death such as John did at the hands of our detractors, yet even that accomplishes the purposes of God.  For the purposes of God in such lives has been accomplished, and in killing us Satan only serves to usher us into the arms of God.  He cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  And he can only hasten our home going by the permission of the Lord.

It is human to worry about death.  After all, none of us have experienced it.  Fanciful tales to the contrary no one in our lifetime has died and come back to tell us about it.  So death is a mystery that is worrisome to us.  But let’s remember what Paul said in 2Cor. 5:6-8 “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--  for we walk by faith, not by sight--  we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” The hope of the gospel gives us courage in the face of death, knowing that to be absent from the body means we will be home with the Lord.

I won’t take the time today to expand upon what I believe the Bible says about heaven, or what it means to be at home with the Lord.  Other than to say as Paul said in 1Cor. 2:9 “but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

The point we need to be concerned with is that if we live, we live for the Lord,  and if we die we go to be with the Lord. In Phil. 1:21-23 Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.”  

And I guess that is where we come full circle.  To depart and be with Christ is very much better than to stay on in the flesh.  That is what Paul was able to confidently say, having seen the Lord, having been caught up into the third heaven and seen inexpressible things he wasn’t allowed to disclose.  Paul knew that what the Lord had prepared for us was more than worth all that this world might have to offer.  Everything, including life itself, is worth forsaking for the joy of knowing Christ, for the joy of being with the Lord.

Listen, this story of John’s execution reminds us that while it may look like sometimes that evil wins and the life of righteousness fails, the truth is that God’s plan will prevail.  His people will prevail.  The gates of Hell will not prevail against His church.  Whether by Christ’s second coming, or by our death - and all of us will die unless the Lord returns in our lifetime - whether by being taken up in the air or by being laid down in the grave, we go immediately to be with the Lord, and we will not miss this earth, nor the things of this earth, for to be with the Lord is very much better.

I will close by reading 1Thessalonians 5:9-11 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.  Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

The denigration and delegation of the gospel, Mark 6:1-13

I’m going to try to tackle two sermons in one this morning.  I should perhaps have broken the text into two messages.  But somehow I felt that the faster pace of Mark’s gospel lends itself to a faster paced exposition.  We can spend a lot of time on historical details, and so forth, and not place the proper emphasis on the principles being taught.  And I don’t want to teach you a prolonged history lesson this morning.  But I want to present what I think are life changing principles in regards to the gospel of Christ, which I believe are evident in these verses.  

So as we have previously noted, Mark is not writing a biographical history here, but a gospel.  That is; the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to earth as a man, in order to present the truth of God concerning His plan to redeem mankind from the penalty of death and to give him life.  In the passage before us today we see first the example of Jesus presenting the gospel, and then in the following verses we see the application of the disicples taking the gospel to the surrounding region. This good news of God’s plan is meant to be shared,  and in these 13 verses, we see that plan practically worked out, first by Jesus returning to His hometown, the place where He grew up and lived, and then His delegation of the ministry of the gospel to His disciples.  And as a commentary on how the gospel is carried out, I have called today’s message the denigration and the delegation of the gospel. 

Let’s look first at the denigration of the gospel.  To denigrate someone means to disparage, to criticize unfairly, to slander or defame someone.  And we see that here as Jesus returns to His hometown and the reception of Him there is to denigrate Him and scorn His message.  Now you will remember that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up in Nazareth, and He lived during His ministry in Capernaum.  Nazareth was about 20 miles from Capernaum. It was an extremely small town, only about 500 people at that time.  

This is the second time that Jesus came to His hometown.  About a year earlier He had come there, and if you remember that account in Luke chapter 4, when He had finished speaking in the synagogue they tried to kill Him.  Luke 4:28-29 “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;  and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.”  I’ve had some bad reactions to some of my messages before, but so far no one has tried to kill me.  So I guess I shouldn’t feel so bad when people reject my message, because they also rejected Jesus’s message.  And perhaps that is the primary reason that we are given this incident, so that we may know to expect opposition to the gospel, even hostility towards the messenger.  For if they were offended at Christ, then it stands to reason they will be offended at us. I think it illustrates that rejection of the message and denigration of the messenger is often the first response to the presentation of the gospel.

Well now it’s a year later since that first visit, they have obviously heard of the fame of Jesus during that time.  They have heard all the amazing things He had been doing.  And so Jesus comes back again, to give them one more opportunity to respond to the gospel.  And as was His practice, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and preached.  

And notice the response.  They don’t necessarily try to kill Him anymore, but they are incredulous at the wisdom of His teaching.  They say, ““Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

They admit that Jesus taught with a special wisdom, they admit that He has performed miracles, and yet their recognition of such things is overshadowed by their disdain for Him.  And I think that the reasons for their disdain is evident in their comments.  First of all, they call Him the carpenter.  I think the purpose in that title is to emphasize that He is not a priest, He is not someone classically trained in the school of the rabbi’s.  But He is a mere blue collar worker, a common carpenter.  Whether or not Jesus actually spent much time practicing carpentry is a matter of speculation.  No where else in the scriptures is this statement made.  In Matthew’s version of this event, He says that they said Jesus was the carpenter’s son.  Mark has a different emphasis which would be consistent with the practice in those days of a father passing on his trade to his son.  But we don’t know if that was necessarily true or not, it was just their accusation.  And while there is nothing wrong with being a carpenter, I think the emphasis was on discrediting Him as not being of the right school, not being backed up by the right institutions.  

And I can confess that sort of criticism can take you down a notch.  I never graduated from seminary.  I never even completed university.  And from time to time someone will approach me after a message and ask questions about my training or lack of it.  So I understand the criticism and how it can be intended to denigrate you.

Secondly, they try to discredit Him by inferring that He was the illegitimate son of Mary.  You need to remember that Mary was technically unmarried when she gave birth to Jesus.  And the public perception was such that Joseph her husband sought to put her away privately.  So this charge of being born out of wedlock was something that was hurled at Jesus from time to time, and now here it is again in His hometown.  And this is a small town.  Everyone knew everything about everyone.  And  his own family, His mother and brothers and sisters, were undoubtedly right there in attendance.

There is a possibility that the whole family clan wasn’t thought of all that highly.  They seem to disparage Jesus because they not only know Him and had known Him all His life, but they know HIs family.  Sometimes some members of our family can give the whole clan a black eye, can’t they?  We don’t know much about a couple of members of His family.  We know James, who became the leader of the church of Jerusalem  a few years after Pentecost, who also wrote the book of James.  And we know Jude, who wrote the book of Jude.  But the other two brothers, Joses and Simon, are not known.  Perhaps they were the  black sheep that hurt the family reputation, I don’t know.  And of course, they mention that Jesus had sisters.  Now there is some controversy about this, because the Catholic Church contends that Mary was a perpetual virgin.  So they say that these were either children from another marriage of Joseph, or they were cousins.  I don’t find any reason to believe they were not Jesus’s natural born half brothers and sisters.  The Bible doesn’t teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin.

By this time, it is believed that Joseph was long dead.  And so Jesus as the oldest child would have responsibility for the family as the head of the house over seven or more other siblings.  Therefore, it is possible that Jesus worked at carpentry until the other sons were old enough to take responsibility before leaving home. Under those circumstances they probably were very poor. But that is speculation.  In fact, the only Biblical record we have of Christ’s activities prior to His public ministry is when He was 12 years old, and then we see Him in the temple, about His Father’s business.  And afterwards He returned to Nazareth, where it is said in Luke 2: 52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”

But as we see, when Jesus left Nazareth to begin His ministry, He fell out of favor with His hometown.  They became offended at Him.  And so in response to their criticism, Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” Sometimes your own family, your neighbors, have the hardest time accepting the fact that God decided to use you in some way. They think they know all about you, and certainly God wouldn’t have passed over them to  reach you. I guess the modern equivalent of that is the saying we have today, which is familiarity breeds contempt.  Having grown up around them, even though His behavior was beyond reproach, they find it offensive that He should now be in the position of teaching them concerning righteousness.  They find it impossible that He could be the Messiah.  He was too common looking.  He wasn’t the type of person that they thought the Messiah would be like.  

Whether they realized it or not, they were fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53 which says, “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

I find such critical attitudes prevalent today in the church.  I often hear people begin a sentence with the phrase, “I am looking for a church that….”  The idea often expressed is a personal preference based on a perception of what they think constitutes the perfect pastor or the perfect church.  It’s a dangerous thing, actually, to look for a church that fits your template.  God doesn’t necessarily work that way.  He picks the foolish to shame the wise.  The weak things, to shame the mighty. (1Cor.1)  

These Nazarenes identified the one thing which was the definitive thing about Christ.  And that was His teaching was the wisdom of God.  It was the truth.  And Jesus taught in John chapter 7 that if you believed His word, then you would believe that He had come from the Father.  His message was truth, and truth was of God, and so therefore, He was of God.  That is the opposite of how we would approach a messenger, isn’t it?  If someone came to your door and said I have a message from God, we would probably say we want to see some identification.  Some sort of proof that they were from God.  And if we could validate their credentials to our satisfaction, then we would be more inclined to believe the message.  But Jesus came with the message, and He says the message is the truth and it authenticates Me.   Believe the truth and you will believe in Me.  

But people don’t look for the truth like that.  People look at the presentation, they look at the packaging.  They are more interested in presentation than it’s substance.  And Jesus didn’t have the right pedigree.  He didn’t have the right package for them.  So Mark says that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.  Let me tell you what constitutes this great sin called unbelief.  Unbelief is prejudiced rejection of the truth.  It doesn’t mean that you don’t understand, but that you reject it based on prior prejudice against it.  Unbelief is nothing short of hatred.  It’s the kind of prejudice which causes things like racism.  It’s a refusal to see the truth, because you don’t want to believe it, not because it isn’t so.

And so it says that Jesus could not do no mighty works there, because of their unbelief.  Not that Christ had no power in himself to work miracles, because of their unbelief, but it was not fit and proper that he should do any there, since such were their prejudices against him.  Faith wasn’t required for  the miracle, but belief was the means by which Christ was pleased to exercise miracles.  So it was not that He could not do miracles, but that He would not do any mighty works in such a hostile climate.

But if some will not believe, then Jesus leaves those and goes to other villages where He might find a more receptive audience. If those who were first invited will not come in, then we are to go into the highways and byways and seek others.  Jesus is the sower, and He sows the seed in  fields here and abroad in hopes of finding fertile soil where it will be received and take root. So to that end, Jesus not only goes to preach in other villages, but He sends out His 12 disciples to do as He does, preaching and healing and casting out unclean spirits throughout the farthest regions of Galilee.

Now there are seven characteristics of the disciples ministry that are given to us.  And I have to believe that since Jesus sets these standards, they are applicable for us in the church today.  After all, we are commissioned to do the same thing they were doing, to go into our neighborhoods, our hometowns, and to the surrounding regions and preach the gospel, to make disciples of all men.  So as we look at this last section, I want to identify these seven areas that are fundamental to the  ministry which the Lord has delegated to us.  And that is what the church is to be about. Proclaiming the gospel to the world.  That’s job one.  

So the first point I want to make is that there were 12 ordinary men.  Even as Jesus was criticized for a lack of pedigree, you can lay the same charge against these men.  They are ordinary men.  They are mostly blue collar types, fishermen, tax collectors, guys without any formal training other than they had been with the Lord now for about 2 years. Not a priest among them.  No rulers of the synagogues.  No saved rock stars or ex pro athletes.  Just 12 regular guys that were probably the last guys you would have picked to set the world on fire. Now they were not just following Jesus anymore, but they were stepping out on their own, and following the example that He had given them in ministry.  

Notice Jesus sent them out two by two.  That’s a good model for ministry by the way.  You can encourage one another.  You can help one another.  You gain strength from one another.  But I hope that the lack of a companion doesn’t hinder you from proclaiming the gospel.  As they become more mature in the days after Pentecost, you will see more of them stepping out alone.  So don’t fail in ministry because you don’t have a partner.  

Secondly, they were to be in total dependence upon the Lord. Jesus told them not to bring money, or food, or even a change of clothes.   I think this principle is probably the least employed today in the church.  If you’re looking for an excuse not to minister, then you are probably going to claim the lack of funds, or the lack of resources, or the lack of support as a reason that God is not leading you in it.  You’ve heard the quote, “where God guides, He provides.” Well, my suggestion is that is overused.  God wants us to step out in faith, without a safety net, so that we might be totally dependent upon Him.  It doesn’t mean that we don’t plan, or that we don’t prepare, but that we don’t rely upon favorable circumstances or favorable winds before embarking on ministry.  If God says go, we say, how far.  We just go, and let God take care of the provision.  

I’ve found in 16 years of ministry that more often than not God has let me think I was going to starve, that I was going to run out of gas, or whatever my fear in the  circumstances provoked, but in reality God never left me without enough to do what He wanted me to do.  

And I can’t help but see another principle hidden in this instruction of vs 8, He added, "Do not put on two tunics.”  They weren’t even to have a change of clothes.  That’s pretty radical evangelism there folks.  But the principle I think is this, that as Christians, we are not to be about collecting wardrobes, collecting cars, or houses - all the financial emblems of success in the world.  Not tied down by things, by financial commitments that keep us from being devoted to the business of the kingdom. These things of the world keep us so busy that we are of little use to the kingdom.  The point is that the extra weight of this world’s goods will slow you down.  Hebrews 12:1 says “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

Well, for that principle to be effective, it must be tied to the third principle.  Third, they encouraged hospitality. Vs.10 And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.”  Fellowship is essential to the practicality of the gospel.  Fellowship or communion was to be the ordinance of the church in a formal congregation, but there is also a need in practical everyday Christian fellowship. It’s the principle of sharing, and providing for one another’s needs.  It’s important to spend time with one another and get to know one another.  Christian doctrine is not all just theory, but it also needs to be practiced.  And the way you do that is to practice hospitality with one another.  Invite someone to your home to eat, to hang out, to get to know one another.  And I will suggest that you reach out to a broader spectrum of people than you would in a secular setting.  Don’t just gravitate towards the kind of people that you like.  Deliberately seek out the person that never gets asked out to a meal. Deliberately seek out those who might be alone. Christian love is to be made practical by practicing hospitality and putting the needs of others above your own.  

Fourth, they experienced rejection. Jesus told them in vs.11 "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them." Listen, Jesus was rejected by His own family, by His hometown.  So they would experience no less.  In John 15:20 Jesus said "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”   

There are going to be some that reject the truth, or reject the messenger of the truth, and there will be some that will believe.  But we are not responsible for their belief or unbelief.  Results are not due to our charisma, or to our personality or lack of it.  We are responsible to sow the seed.  God is responsible for the growth.

But notice that Jesus said to shake off the dust off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.  That was a practice among Jews that they would do when they had to walk across a Gentile area.  They had a view of anyone that wasn’t a Jew, that they were dogs, like wild, snarling, dirty dogs, and so when they could they avoided walking through a Gentile area, but when they couldn’t avoid it, they would stop on the other side, in plain view of the Gentiles of course, and ceremoniously take off their sandal and shake the dust off them as if to say “I don’t want to even track your dust back into Israel.”  It was a kind of condemning thing to do.  And so here Jesus is instructing HIs disciples to use that same method against the Jews who did not accept His gospel. 

But in the Lord’s case, it wasn’t meant to be mean, it was meant as a judgment against the unbelieving town.  In Matthew’s version of this event we read that He adds, “It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.”  In other words, Sodom would have repented at the preaching of the gospel and the accompanying signs that were given in Galilee.  Jesus would give that same judgment against Capernaum, the other hometown of Christ, in Matt. 11:23-24 where He says "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.  Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Listen, not everyone who hears will believe.  But God has sent us to preach the gospel to everyone, so that everyone will be without an excuse on the day of judgment.  There are many people that have rejected my preaching, but I still fulfill my ministry that they might be judged for their unbelief.  A lot of people are not going to have an excuse on the day of judgment because they heard the truth and they rejected it.  And it’s not going to matter if they didn’t like the preacher, or they didn’t think he was funny enough, or nice enough or refined enough.  They will be held accountable for hearing the truth and walking away from it, just as the people of Nazareth and Capernaum will be judged for looking at Christ and saying, “Nah, He doesn’t look like a Messiah to me.”

Fifth, they preached repentance.  Ah! that’s why people rejected them. Vs 12 "They went out and preached that men should repent.”  It’s not simply enough to believe, it’s also necessary to repent.  That was the message of John the Baptist, he preached a baptism of repentance.  That was the message of Christ, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  And that is the message of the disciples.  On the day of Pentecost, it was still the message of the Apostles.  Acts 2:38  Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Repentance needs no interpretation here. I preach it every week. But once again I say that to repent is not merely to feel sorry that you were caught, or to feel sorry about the consequences of your sin, but a desire to turn from your sin and go in the opposite direction.  And perhaps your sin has such a hold on you that you don’t feel that you can turn, then turn to God and confess your sinfulness and that you need Him to change your heart, and change your mind and will and take away your desire for that sin.  Call on Him with all your heart and mourn for your sin.  That is repentance.  

And I got news for you.  Repentance is a daily exercise for most of us mortals.  Recognizing how we have fallen and asking God to renew us , to purify us, so that we might be useful to His kingdom.  David prayed in Psalm 51 a prayer of repentance.  It’s a good template if you want to repent.  He prayed, “Renew a right spirit within me.  Create in me a clean heart O God.”   That’s the attitude of repentance that makes us useful to the Master.

Sixth, they showed compassion.  Vs 13 “And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”  Listen, there is a need for Christian compassion for those that are sick with the sickness of sin.  James 2:15-17  “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,  and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

There is a danger in Christianity today to look down upon the sinner from our lofty perch in the church of righteousness and see that poor soul in addiction, or adultery, or poverty and say that their sin has brought this consequence upon them and it is not really helping them to try to relieve their circumstances.  We see their circumstances as a just judgment of God.  But our position is not to be a judge, but a giver of mercy.  What mercy you have received, give it to others who need mercy.  Jesus healed out of compassion for the souls who were enslaved by Satan to sin and were reaping indirectly or directly the consequences of sin.  All suffering ultimately is a consequence of sin.  And all of us are sinners.  All sin leads to death. And all of us need mercy.  There will be a judgment of us all one day.  But James says, in chapter 2:13 “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”

And then finally number seven, they were obedient.  Vs30 “The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.” That’s kind of what church ought to be like.  You come back together every week and report all that you have accomplished as ministers of the church during the previous week.  I suggested the other night at Bible study that we all make a commitment that we will ask at least one person a week to come to church.  You don’t have to ask just one, but you at least ask one.  And I suggested that if we did that every week, then in a month we could expect to see at least one person come to church as a result of our asking.  I can’t guarantee what kind of results we might see.  But I can guarantee you that if you will believe in the power of the gospel, and you are obedient to the mandate of our Lord, then we will see some people respond to the truth.  We will see a lot of rejection as well.  But that is part of the plan.  We just need to be faithful to do our part, and let God take care of His.  I pray that you will be obedient to your ministry this week.  Go out and proclaim the gospel and come again next week and give your report of what the Lord has done.  

The Gospel’s salvation illustrated, Mark 5:21-43

Today we are looking at a tale of two daughters.  Two females, both referred to here in the text  as daughters. One is older, having been sick with a serious ailment for 12 years, and one who was only 12 years old, being sick unto death.  Mark doesn’t give us insight into why these two daughters are connected in this way, but it is evident that they are connected for posterity by the very chronology of the events described.  There are two separate events recorded here, but the second plays out in parentheses, so to speak, after the first incident has already begun.  And I have to believe that in the providence of God, these two events are meant to be looked at as a couplet.  They are not intended to be studied separately, but concurrently, because together they will provide a clearer, more detailed picture of what God intends for us to understand.

I have said on numerous occasions, that every miracle presented in the gospels is intended as a spiritual parable designed to teach us a spiritual lesson.  Now that is a very important principle to understand, otherwise you will miss the point of the passage altogether.  Do you remember what Jesus said in chapter 4 what a parable was designed to do?  It was used to deliver truth to a larger audience, while at the same time veiling it to those who are not spiritually appraised.  Real spiritual truth can only be discerned by those with spiritual insight who receive spiritual illumination from God.

So that principle applies  here as well in studying this spiritual parable.  If you do not have spiritual insight when studying this text, then you are likely to assume that Mark’s purpose is just to record the supernatural miracles that Jesus was able to perform.  And that superficial understanding is going to lead to an attempt at a superficial application, which is that you will expect God to do the same miracles today at every occasion of illness or death.  And yet nothing can be further from the truth or the point of the text.  If that was the goal of these miracles, then why would Jesus drive everyone out of the house, so that no one witnessed Him raising Jarius’s daughter from the dead, except for His three closest disciples?  Why would Jesus command them not to make known what He had done?  Isn’t that counter productive?  I mean, if that power was available today, then we would broadcast it, wouldn’t we?  We would go into every hospital, every funeral home, and deliver people from sickness and death. We would use miracles as an evangelization tool to reach the masses. That is the logical extension of that kind of application.

But in fact, Jesus does the exact opposite.  He illustrates in the way that He performs these miracles that they are intended to be spiritual parables designed to teach spiritual principles to those who are seeking spiritual truth.  Thus, His statement in the previous chapter, (Mark 4:25) Jesus says "For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”  And in vs11 He said "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,  so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.” In other words, the parables are meant to veil truth from the masses, while revealing truth to the believer. Jesus isn’t interested in attracting the masses just for the sake of drawing a crowd.

The purpose then of the truth contained in parables according to 4:12, whether a parable in word or in deed, is to illustrate salvation.  And in this illustrative couplet we are looking at today, we see two aspects of salvation illustrated; one, salvation from sin, and two, salvation from death.   

Now then let’s take a look at both of these miracles as Mark lays them out for us, and let’s see what principles of salvation Jesus is teaching us through these incidents.  The text starts with a man named Jairus, a synagogue official, coming to Jesus about his daughter that was lying at the point of death.  And he implores Jesus to come home with him and heal her.   

The fact that he is a synagogue official is interesting, because for the most part, such people were part of the same class of religious officials such as priests, scribes, Pharisees, etc, who were hostile towards Jesus.  Jesus threatened the livelihood and power of such people, because He exposed the corruption and hypocrisy of the Judiastic system.  A synagogue was the primary religious meeting place for religious Jews who were living outside of Jerusalem.  A synagogue would be the equivalent of the local church.  So this high ranking official, who is probably hostile to what Jesus is teaching, suddenly is confronted with the impending mortality of his daughter.  And as many of us that are parents know, perhaps by experience, all prejudice, all reservations go out the window when the life of your child is on the line.  You are willing to do anything to get help in that kind of situation.  So we see this official suddenly break rank, and having every certainty that Jesus can heal, go and throw himself at the mercy of Jesus.  

That attitude on the part of Jairus illustrates  an essential prerequisite to salvation. There has to be a humbling of yourself, relinquishing of your authority, of your pride, and bowing down at the feet of the Savior.  When times are good, when everyone’s healthy, it’s easy to think you don’t need the Lord.  But when you or your loved one is staring at death’s door, then a lot of times that rebellious facade falls away.  And that sort of humbling of oneself is a prerequisite.  Bowing down at the feet of someone is the posture of a beggar.  And that is the attitude which we are to have in regards to salvation. In Matt.5:3, in the sermon on the mount, Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  He is speaking of the need for a person to realize their abject poverty in coming to Christ for salvation.

And note a couple of more things indicated in his approach to Christ. Jairus recognizes that his daughter is dying.  No one can receive salvation unless he first recognizes that they are lost and they will die in their sins, eternally estranged from God. Death is the punishment for sin for which all men are destined. Romans teaches us that the wages of sin is death, and death has passed upon all men, because all have sinned. So there needs to be a recognition of that penalty of death. 

But that leads to  the other thing indicated in Jairus’s approach; a belief that Christ has the power over life and death. Jesus taught that He was the way, the truth and the life.  And somehow Jairus has believed this and come to Jesus as the source of life for his daughter.  I want to elaborate for a second on that statement though, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  That statement could have equal signs between the three aspects of Christ.  The way = the truth = the life.  God has established a way for man to live.  That way is the truth of God.  And following that truth produces life with God; vibrant, meaningful, fulfilled, joyous, abundant and eternal.  

Well, at this point in the story, we come to an interruption, what might be considered as a parentheses. In writing, when you add parentheses it is for the purposes of further explanation.  And so I think that is what is intended here.  This parenthetical interruption provides further explanation of this sinful state that produces death. And that parenthetical explanation comes in the form of a woman who approaches Jesus who has had a hemorrhage for 12 years.  And I think that the significance of the 12 years is that it ties her to the daughter of Jairus who Mark tells us in vs42 was 12 years old.  So, in that sense, it would seem that this woman, whom Jesus calls “daughter” in vs.34, is to be looked at as a further commentary or exposition of the condition of the first daughter.  As the first daughter is dying, the second daughter serves as a more in depth look at that condition.

So notice what Mark tells us about her condition.  First of all, we are told she has a hemorrhage for 12 years.  What this probably was, according to many people that are a whole lot smarter than I am, is a vaginal hemorrhage, which not only was a serious physical ailment, but in Jewish society, especially according to Jewish law, it would have made her a social outcast.  She would have been unable to go to the temple, she would have been excluded from relations with her husband, and she would be considered “unclean.”  Now I am not going to comment on all of that beyond what has been said already, except to say that this concept of being unclean is another prerequisite for salvation. The law of God reveals that all of us are sinners, and as such, all of us are considered unclean. Our sins have made us unclean in the sight of God.  Our sins have put up a wall between us and God and we are helpless to remove it.  

Notice that this woman had used all her money to try to have her condition helped by doctors, and yet it had only gotten worse.  What a picture of our sin situation!  We spend all our resources trying to get better a better life, trying for self improvement, trying to improve our standing, and yet, if we are honest, we just end up going from bad to worse. Sin is an affliction that curses life.  Our situation is hopeless.  We hopelessly estranged from God and all our efforts can do nothing to alleviate our affliction.  

But, thankfully for this woman, vs27 tells us that she had heard about Christ.  Someone told her about the Lord, and in her hopelessness, she suddenly sees a ray of hope.  Listen, we all believe that everyone needs to be saved, don’t we?  But do we realize that if they are to be saved, then they must hear about the Lord? And if they will hear, then we must tell them?  Or are you hoping that someone else will tell them?  Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  Jesus later in vs34 will say, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.”  But before her faith could save her, she had to hear about the Lord.  

Imagine if you knew the solution to cancer and didn’t tell anyone about it.  That would be almost criminal, wouldn’t it?  And yet you know the way of life, but you keep it to yourself.  I have a feeling that will one day be considered almost criminal as well.  That you hid the truth under a bushel, and did not let the world know that there was a solution to their deadly infirmity.

Well, this woman heard enough about Jesus to desperately want to see Him.  And then an even more bold plan took form in her mind; “If I just can touch his garment, then I can get well.”  Some of you may have a translation which shows the literal meaning of a word, when it is different than the editors have translated it.  And in this case, you might see an asterisk or something which indicates the phrase “get well” has another literal meaning.  Well, the Greek word is sōzō, which means to be saved.  And I think that is just further justification for my exposition of this miracle as a parable teaching a greater spiritual truth.  Our salvation is accomplished by the power of salvation which comes through Jesus Christ.

Notice that when she touches His cloak, in vs30, it says, “Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth.”   Her touch of Jesus’s garment is symbolic.  It represents first of all that we must apprehend what He has done for us on the cross.  Jesus died for the sins of the world upon the cross, but the sins of the world are not expunged, unless one personally looks upon the serpent on the tree.  We must apprehend by faith in what Jesus did on the cross, FOR US.  We must receive Him.  We must believe that His blood avails for me.  That Christ died for my sins.  I must take Him to be my Savior.

And then I think the fact that she touches His garment is an illustration that we are clothed in His righteousness.  Jesus’s righteous robe, you will remember, was not torn, but it was left there at the foot of the cross to be worn by the worst of sinners.  And by laying our hand upon Him, our sins are transferred to Christ, and His righteousness is transferred to us.  Just as in the Passover lamb, their hands were laid upon the innocent lamb, which signified that their sins were passed on to him, and the lamb would be slain for the forgiveness of sins.

Well, as the story tells us, the woman was healed instantly of her disease, and the blood flow stopped.  And Jesus calls out to the crowd pressing around Him, “Who touched Me?” Now the way this is written reveals the way that it looked to those in attendance, but certainly Jesus already knew who touched Him.  He knew everything about this woman.  He was fully man, but He was also fully God.  So He knew, when hundreds of bodies were jostling about Him, when many hands were reaching out to Him, He knew that this one trembling hand had reached out to Him in faith, and power had come from Him to her in response to that faith, and she had been saved from her disease.  And so He asks this question not because He does not know who touched Him, but because He wants her to know the full extent of her healing. 

Vs. 33 “But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”  Notice,  first of all, her confession.  Romans 10:9 tells us that confession is necessary for salvation:  “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And James speaking in chapter 5 vs16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  Confession of your sins is a necessary component of salvation.

And then notice “Your faith has made you well.”  Actually, this is the same word as we looked at before, sozo, "your faith has saved you.” Jesus is indicating much more than just physical healing, but spiritual salvation as a result of faith.  Mark, more so I think than all the other gospel authors, makes much of the principle of faith.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.”  Faith is the conduit of our salvation.  In Hebrews 11, all the heroes of the faith are displayed for us, that we might know that we, even as Abraham and all the rest, are saved on the basis of faith, even as this daughter of Israel.

Well, we can put the other parentheses after vs.34, and we return in vs 35, as they say in television, to the previously scheduled presentation.  That is, we return to the dire situation of Jairus’s daughter, who is lying near death.  Jesus has been delayed for some time with the woman.  That incident was probably summarized for us by Mark, and could well have taken some time to be concluded and all the while the 12 year old girl lay dying.  But now there are people who come running up to Jairus to tell him that it’s too late, his daughter had died.

I can only imagine the impact that must have made on poor Jairus.  Here he had the cure, he had the Healer, and they were on the way, and yet they were too late.  His beloved daughter had died.  “Why trouble the Teacher any longer?”  What’s the point? It’s too late, everyone go home.

But I think Jesus planned it this way all along.  He had a greater purpose, a greater glory in mind.  So Jesus, “overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.’”  Now that’s a really significant statement there by Jesus.  “Do not be afraid any longer.”  What had Jairus been afraid of?  His daughter dying.  There was no longer any reason to be afraid, she was dead.  But only believe?  What did that mean?

Well, faith and belief are the two ways of saying the same thing.  And belief means not only believing who He is, but what He came to do.  I suggest that it meant that through Christ, we who had been under the fear of death are set free from that enslavement, through faith in Christ.  Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,  and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Listen, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that life in Christ is far more abundant life than we can imagine.  But one thing we can know for sure, that as Jesus said in John 11:26 “everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”  God is able to raise the dead.  He is able to give life to those things which are dead.  And all of us, the Bible says, were dead in our trespasses and sins.  But through the blood of Jesus Christ our sins are washed away, and we receive everlasting, eternal, abundant life, even the life of God.  So that we no longer need to fear death of the body, because He is the source and sustainer of our life.

Well, Mark tells us that when they came to the house, Jesus allows only Peter, James and John to accompany Him inside.  I addressed the reason for this in the introduction.  Jesus is not interested in attracting people through a miracle ministry.  He is interested in teaching the saving truth of the gospel.  And so He chooses these three to impart a deeper spiritual truth to, who will then teach others.

And notice the commotion, the professional wailers, that’s what they were.  Whether they were already hired, or these were just neighbors that responded in the typical fashion of the culture, to wail and rip their clothes as a show of mourning and grief.  They are in stark contrast to Jesus who is composed, in control, and confident that the girl is not dead, but sleeping. 

Listen, I don’t have time to belabor this point too much this morning, but it’s important to understand that the death of a believer is referred to in the New Testament as sleeping, or entering their rest.  The death of an unbeliever though is referred to as dying.  Now the Bible is not teaching soul sleep as some people have erroneously inferred from such references, but rather it’s teaching that the body sleeps, while the soul and spirit are alive.  

So Jesus says that this little girl is not dead, but that she is sleeping.  I think that is some indication that the age of accountability is not until sometime after the age of 12.  It’s possible that this girl was a believer, that somehow though there is no indication that her father was a believer at this point, yet somehow the girl had been.  But I think it’s more likely that she was saved by virtue of her age.  The Bible teaches that children under the age of accountability are safe from condemnation.  And so this girl is brought back from the abode of the dead, which is Paradise, and is given back to her parents.  

But as He approaches the house and says this statement that she is not dead, notice that the mourners start laughing at Jesus.  That would indicate that even in their mourning these people were not sincere.  A lot of commotion and noise does not necessarily indicate sincerity nor truth.  

Jesus gets the people together who are interested in truth, who believe in Him; her parents and His three disciples, and He puts the rest out.  The believers are privy to a greater revelation, but for the skeptics, even what they had would be taken away.  

So Jesus holds the little girl’s hand and says, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.”  I want to just point out one more essential point of salvation that is taught here.  And that is the power of the word. The word of God is powerful unto salvation. It is living, and active, and able to pierce the hardest heart, even a dead heart.  Christ is the Word made flesh, the word incarnate.  And so the Creator of Life, the Giver of Life speaks to her, and she responds.  Her soul and spirit immediately return to her body, and she gets up and starts to walk. 

And then Jesus tells her parents to give her something to eat in vs.43.  I’m sure she needed to eat after her ordeal.  Who knows how long her little body had probably been without food in the days of her illness.  But it’s also a sign that she was now completely revived and healthy.  You know, there have been reports of people in some countries who sat up in the coffin at their funeral.  And there have been incidents where it seemed someone came alive only to find out later that it was some sort of muscle spasm.  But when Jesus speaks life into her, she walks, and she eats.  She is totally alive and acting normal for a 12 year old kid.  She probably had a lot to tell her parents as well.  I would have liked to be in on that conversation.  

But if there is one other application you can make from that, it’s that when the Lord gives life it’s not just to be propped up in a chair, like there is hardly any spiritual life in you whatsoever.  My daughter brought home some old tintypes she found at an antique store yesterday.  And there we’re two photographs that were very unusual.  They were both photographs of dead people who were all dressed up and propped up on a stand.  And the only way you could tell that they were dead and not alive was that you could see the bottom part of the stand on the floor behind their feet.  They were all dressed up, their eyes were open, but they were stone cold dead.  One of the photographs she found was of a little girl dressed up in a little fancy dress and shoes.  It was kind of sad.  

But I couldn’t help but think that’s like a lot of people in church today.  They are all dressed up, their eyes are open, they look alive, but in reality they are dead.  There is no spiritual life there whatsoever.  But when God makes someone alive, they walk, they talk, they eat.  They exhibit spiritual life, walking after the Lord, working for His kingdom, speaking the word of God to those who are in need.  

Well, let’s be sure that we have the life of God living in us.  What a tragedy to go through life, spending all your time and resources, filling your life with activity, with work, with even religious activities, and yet be unsaved.  These two daughters illustrate all that is necessary for salvation, for real life in Christ.  I hope that everyone  hearing me today have been saved; that you have entered that life; you have humbled yourself, you recognize the uncleanness of your condition, you know you are a hopeless sinner whose only hope is in Christ.  And by faith in what He has done, you have received His righteousness in exchange for your sins.  And if that is true in your life, then the evidence will be that you have spiritual life, and you can have confidence that this life extends beyond the grave, even into eternity.