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.”
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.
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