Chapter 5
A Man From the Tombs
Mark 5:1-20
MARK 5:1-20
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
MARK 5:1-5
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.
A man from the tombs
Chapter Four ends with Jesus telling his disciples to “go to the other side.” Chapter Five begins with what happens when they get there. Not only was this the other side of the lake, it was also the other side of the religious spectrum. The people of this area (the Decapolis) consisted of ten cities that were detested by the Jews. In fact, they referred to these people as “Sons of Dogs.”
Who, in our culture, is referred to by such derogatory terms? Who is on the “other side” of the tracks, the economic divide, the religious divide? Are we following Jesus to that side?
It is not just where Jesus goes, but to whom he goes that is critical for us to understand. He takes his most intimate followers to a land which no self-respecting religious leader would venture and then goes to the worst place in that hated land and then he finds the most rejected person in the worst place in the most hated land. Jesus goes directly to “a man from the tombs.”
To follow Jesus is to go to the other side. Wherever I’m comfortable... leave it behind. With those whom I’m comfortable... leave them behind. My smugness and religiosity... leave that behind too. I must go to where I feel challenged and stretched. Then, I will understand what it means to be an intimate follower of Jesus.
MARK 5:6-10
6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
“What business do we have with each other...”
It is hard to believe that Jesus “stumbled” upon this man from the tombs. He goes purposely to the other side and right to the graveyard where this man has been forced to live in absolute anguish and isolation. Jesus cannot tolerate this man’s supernatural possession. Every time our Lord hears of pain, he immediately responds. He goes right to the source.
A few key words will give us a better picture of this man’s predicament.
He was possessed by many unclean spirits. The word, unclean [G169 Akathartos], also means “without pruning.” Christ uses the term in a parable about right living:
John 15:1-2
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
There are three very related words in these two verses:
1. Takes away [G142 Airo], this is a dramatic verb. It is used of someone being dragged away to be punished or — in this case, fruitless branches being dragged away to be burned.
2. Pruned [G2508 Kathairo], Jesus uses this word for a healthy branch that is trimmed so the fruit can grow. Left unpruned, the branch will steal nutrients from the fruit and the fruit will die. The “unclean spirits” that possess the man in the story will not be pruned. They are akathartos — without pruning. Undisciplined and unbridled, evil will steal the fruit from our existence.
3. Bear more fruit [G2513 Katharos], when properly pruned over years, the branch becomes strong. It bears crops for years and becomes resistant to disease. It not only produces fruit but also can be used in grafting other fruit-bearing branches.
What is “unclean” in us? What refuses to be pruned growing a life of its own but also robbing our life of life-giving nutrients. Is there an undisciplined part of our life that resembles the isolation and agony of the possessed young man?
MARK 5:6-13
6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
“Jesus, Son of the Most High God”
The Unclean Spirits who possessed this man recognized Jesus even when his own people did not. Even the demon that spoke in the Capernaum synagogue recognized Jesus saying, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God [Mark 1:24].”
What should this tell us? Recognizing Jesus is worthless — even demons do that — following Jesus is what matters. Will I follow him to the worst country and the worst neighborhood to restore the worst person?
“I implore you by God, do not torment me!”
The “undisciplined spirit” makes two requests of the Son of the Most High God (El Elyon):
1. He pleads, “Do not torment me.” To torment [G928 Basanizo] means to torture, but to also be tested against a touchstone. A touchstone was an oriental stone used to test the quality of metals. Torment, to the undisciplined, means being measured by the quality of his/her existence. What is our touchstone? How do we want to be measured? Let us live so that our lives will be measured against the touchstone of Jesus’ forgiveness. Let us be fountains of forgiveness bringing hope to all we see.
2. “He began to implore him earnestly not to send them out of the country.” Luke gives us a little more insight saying, “They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss [Luke 8:31].”
An abyss [G12 Abussos] was an ocean or a hole without a bottom. One inmate in a prison described his abyss to me like this; “My addiction was like an abyss with no euphoria. I would say, ‘It can’t get worse than this…’ but it did. I felt there was no light at the end of the tunnel, no hope upon which to cling. Worst of all, there seemed no purpose to my pain.”
This man rightly identified the abyss as living abysmally. What requests would I make of my Lord? “Do not torment me. Do not measure me against my actions. Do not make my life as abysmal as I have made other people’s lives.”
Let us work to be like the disciplined servant who took what his overseer had given him and invested everything in his Lord’s service: “His master said to him, ‘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. [Matthew 25:23].’”
About two thousand of them…
Instead of being measured against their abysmal lives, the demons plead to be sent into a herd of swine. Thinking that Jesus was Jewish, they must have believed he would find no use for pork. Jesus grants their request but in a twist of fate, the pigs dive off a cliff into the ocean (also known as the abyss). It is important to realize that even these pigs would not tolerate the undisciplined spirits. Even the pigs had more sense than some people!
It is also important to note that this was a substantial herd of pigs. Two thousand pigs would be a large herd even by today’s standards. These people would not own such a herd personally. They either owned it collectively or managed the herd on behalf of a local potentate or the Romans. Either way, this wasn’t a small investment — it was a regional economy!
Jesus was willing to trade an entire regional economy for one life; a life that was rejected even by those whom the Chosen People rejected. Our compassionate Lord sought out this person and traded everything for him — everything for a man from the tombs.
Would he do the same for you? Of course! Does he ask us to do the same for others? What does he require of his followers in the boats [Mark 4:36]? That they stay behind while he seeks out the rejected man? No! We are followers precisely because we will go where Jesus goes. We will go there AND we will gladly trade everything for one lost soul.
MARK 5:14-20
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
The very man who had had the “legion”
History will only know this man as “the man who had had a legion.” or the “man from the tombs.” His whole life is weighed against what Jesus did for him. How poignant. How ironic. What a defeat for Satan.
Imagine the joy of having our entire life remembered because of God’s miraculous presence. Who cares about human titles and possessions?
“Report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
This man wants to follow Jesus back to Israel where he will most certainly face the prejudice of the Jewish people. What does he care though? He has been denigrated his entire life. However, Jesus has a greater mission in mind for him. In an act that must have given the Apostle’s cause for thought, Jesus turns this man into his first missionary. Even the Apostles are not quite ready for this task and when then will be, they will only be sent in pairs and solely to their own people [Mark 6:7-13].
With no biblical background, no formal training this man is given a simple mission: “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
Later [Mark 8 Jesus will return to this area and — instead of chasing him away — the crowds will follow him. He will feed four thousand people on these very shores [Mark 8:1-10]. Someone must have converted those crowds from rampant fear to wondrous acceptance. Only one person could have done this work — the man from the tombs. There are people with years of seminary training who have less impact on their neighborhoods than this man had on his region. Why? They try to convert others with head-knowledge or emotionalism or they don’t even try at all. How many times do we think that it is the job of the sheep to find their way to the fold? The man from the tombs only had one statement he could make; “You know who I was — now look at who Jesus made me.”
If all of our head knowledge doesn’t lead us to go out from Jesus and speak from a basis of personal transformation, then we lack the credibility to invite. You can argue with theology. You can argue God’s existence, but you can’t argue personal transformation. No one in this man’s region could argue that this was once “a man from the tombs.”
Mark 5:21-43
“Arise!”
Mark 5:21-43
MARK 5:21-43
21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. 22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet 23 and *implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” 24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.
25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse- 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ “ 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 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. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
35 While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. 39 And entering in, He *said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. 41 Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.
MARK 5:21-23
21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. 22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet 23 and *implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”
The point of death
What is it about human nature that makes us put off the most important things until a crisis looms? So often we coast in our relationships until they skid into a wall. We think nothing of a sixty-hour workweek but can’t find time for dinner as a family. We carry a grudge for years and find that we can’t let go of the hatred even though we can’t remember why we were so angry. We live lives of quiet loneliness and sorrow because those things that could build our friendships, family, and faith get our leftover attention and energy. Then, one day it is too late. We have waited too long. When we behave like this we are like the Rabbi who did not run to Jesus until his daughter was “at the point of death [G2079 Eschatos].”
Take a moment to examine your life today. What is at the “eschatos” — the point of death — in your life right now? What part of your spiritual or relational life is barely breathing? Find ways to make those areas (family, friendships and faith) a higher priority than accumulating beyond your reasonable needs. Do something different this week. Before scheduling anything else, book time with God, schedule an appointment with the people in your own family. Then, after prioritizing God and your family, then set up the rest of the week.
She will get well and live
We know that Jairus’ day ends in good news despite the fact that he waited “to the point of death” to call upon the Lord. This is the focal point of this reading illustrating the character of God: When is it too late to call upon Christ? We will never be too late in this life. As long as there is life — there is possibility.
There is beauty in the Greek translation of Jairus’ statement to Jesus. The term “to get well,” is summed up by one word; “If you touch my daughter; she will be saved [G4982 soza].” The word is very particular, it means:
1. “You can make my daughter whole.”
2. “You can protect and deliver my daughter from illness.”
3. “You can save my daughter’s soul.”
Did Jairus have any idea what he was asking beyond the physical restoration of his daughter? My sense is that — as the town Rabbi — he spent a long time sweating over this conversation with Jesus before he actually called upon him. Like many of the Rabbi’s and religious leaders of his time, Jairus would probably have been pretty dubious about Jesus — if not outright hostile. It took a lot of nerve for him to admit that Jesus might be the only one who could truly; “Save his daughter.”
Have I fully called upon Jesus yet? Have I reached the point where I am ready to cast aside my “religious beliefs” for a relationship with Jesus? Am I yet needful of the one relationship that will “save, deliver and make my family whole?”
To be “saved” by Jesus is not an existential experience. To be saved means that Jesus brings wholeness to my relationships, protection and delivery from “near death,” and eternal salvation.
What am I waiting for? Am I — like Jairus — not moving because of personal pride or concerned about “what others might think” if I turn to Jesus for help? When will I finally be willing to sacrifice my pride for my family’s salvation?
MARK 5:25-29
25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse — 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Immediately... She was healed of her affliction
Mark wants us as caught up in this woman’s story as when he heard it for the first time from the lips of Peter. He wants us to understand how long this woman waited, the agony of her isolation, the inability of the doctors to offer any comfort and the indignities of her life because of the religious prejudices in her society. He wants us to understand this because he wants to contrast the failure of this world with the “immediate” (Mark’s favorite word) healing touch of Jesus Christ.
I have seen this touch at work first hand on nearly a daily basis. I have witnessed men and women who were overwhelmed by isolation, emptiness, compulsions and addictions that were “immediately” healed by the touch of Christ. Even though the long work of recovery lay ahead of these people; I was privileged to watch at the moment they moved from victims of their circumstances to victors over the binding habits of sin.
“Immediately,” should be a primary word in the vocabulary of Christians today. Do we rush to the possessed, the “almost dead” and the untouchable immediately? Do we tarry over what if’s? “What if” others see me around them? “What if” I am rejected? “What if” I lose control of the situation?
So?!!! What if? What if Jesus had worried about those issues before reaching to us when we were sinful, diseased or untouchable? When my defenses say, “What if?” I know that is the place the Lord calls me to go.
MARK 5:30-35
30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ “ 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 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. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
“Who touched Me?”
Here are the major points of the story of the bleeding woman:
· No one is unclean to Jesus.
· Jesus is abundant hope to the absolutely desperate.
· The touch of Jesus heals even the one who seeks to hide their wounds from him.
· There is nothing hidden in Christ.
· There is no reason to hide from the God who restores dignity.
The story of this woman is the story of every wounded sinner condemned by man. God saves, restores, makes whole, recovers, sets free. This reading dramatically tells us: “We have nothing to hide from this Savior.”
“Daughter...”
The true healing for this woman came at the moment Jesus called this woman; “Daughter [G2364 Thugater].”
For eleven years she had been an excluded outcast. Through Christ she became intimate family. However, Jesus doesn’t stop with a personal act of inclusion. Notice how he publicly includes her as well. He also publicly pronounces her healed. These acts of Jesus not only include her in his family but give notice to others that they must also take her in.
Jesus restores her to health but — greater still — he restores her to family. From the moment her bleeding began until the moment when Jesus turned his eyes upon her we can be assured that she had not been called “family” or “daughter.” The healing was total: Salvation, cleansing, and restoration, all rolled into one. She was not just restored to health, she was restored to family and realized that God had always loved her — even when no one else would!
Jesus revealed to his followers that relational restoration was just as important as the woman’s physical restoration. We need to do a better job of understanding that aspect of Jesus’ healing if we are going to be salve to a broken world. In the culture of the hemorrhaging woman, religion was exclusive. To Jesus, the first words of healing were inclusive. He doesn’t call her “friend,” or “woman.” He calls her daughter, even before he speaks the words of healing.
Is that the sequence of faith in our lives? Do we begin healing, restoration — indeed salvation — with words of inclusion? Do we make the outcast “family?”
Your faith has made you well
This sentence clarifies the miraculous works of Jesus. The phrase, “Your faith has made you well,” is really an extension of our theme word “to save [G4982 Sozo].” Both terms come from the same source. It is really one word instead of four. The phrase, “Your faith has made you well,” is simply, “Sozo.” To say, “Make my daughter whole,” or “Your faith has made you well,” is no different than saying, “Save my daughter,” or, “Your faith has saved you.”
Jesus offers salvation. He does it without hesitation. He doesn’t care if the person is a daughter of the most elite citizen or the most outcast Jew. He immediately saves them.
Can you see the multitude of sorrows that salvation covers? It is Christ’s immediate response to sorrow, sickness, isolation and the loss of a loved one. What do we have that cannot be brought before our Savior? Who do we think cannot be lifted before him for restoration?
It is important to also note that what Jesus calls “faith,” we might call “desperation.” Like Jairus, this poor woman tried everything and everyone else. Jesus was her last resort after eleven weary years of total rejection. We can confidently cling to this beautiful passage; “Your faith has healed you.” We can turn to Jesus in desperation — even after we have tried everything else — and he will not reject us. He will not say; “Well I could have told you that wouldn’t work.” He won’t sneer and state; “It’s too late now.” He will immediately restore, heal and include us. He will save us.
The desperate sinner is the beloved of God, the child of God. The lamb sought by the shepherd. In Christ, they are restored, included, healed… saved!
MARK 5:35-38
35 While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” 36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” 37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.
“Why trouble the Teacher anymore?”
“Why bother?”
How often do we hear that in our culture. As if our efforts make no difference or we don’t have time to change an injustice. Yet, the world is reshaped daily by those few who do bother themselves on behalf of others. No one in their right mind sets out to change the world. The ones who move their world really start out with one injustice in mind, onelife that needs help.
The sorrow is how very few really do bother and how many are just like the crowd in this story who said to Jairus; “It’s too late to make a difference anyway.”
“Why bother? Why be concerned (troubled)? Why make an extra effort? Why put yourself out on a limb?
Why? Because Jesus bothered! It was never too late for him. His is the hand that reached through the mask of death to restore this little girl. We should never say; “It’s too late to bother Jesus.”
It is precisely when others give up — at the point where everyone tells you that it is not worth trying anymore — that we who follow Christ must switch from diminishing hope to unconquerable faith.
I am reminded of this everyday when I walk home. The name of the street I live on is Liberty and it is literally one block south of a street named Hope. The saving [sozo] liberty of our Lord can always be found just one block beyond hope.
“Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”
Often, it is the simplest phrases of Jesus that are easiest to believe and hardest to obey. We need to remember that what makes the words — “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe” — so astounding is not only their content but also their context.
Someone might stand in front of a congregation on any given Sunday and preach; “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe!” Heads would nod, the preacher would be patted on the back and people would drive off to their homes still troubling over the morning’s gossip pages. Yet Jesus did not preach these words to a congregation. He pronounced them looking deep into the eyes of a man who had just been told that his daughter had died. “Only [G3440 Monon] believe [G4100 Pisteuo],” Jesus says this personally to the religious leader. The message is not to the crowd, not to the disciples, but to face-to-face, to a devastated father.
Who can tell what was on Jairus’ mind. He had waited “too long.” Then, when he had finally gone to Jesus, the crowd had overwhelmed them and slowed them down. He must have thought, “Why in the world would Jesus stop for an unclean woman when my little girl is dying? I am the Rabbi! Isn’t my daughter more important than that woman?”
Time. Precious, valuable time was wasted on someone unworthy. All those years of holding his little girl’s hand, talking about God and playing silly games. All that time gone in an instant, in the span of a moment that it took to lift a sinful woman from the dirt. Time. It was gone. Jesus had wasted it. Now, his daughter, a Rabbi’s daughter, was gone.
And Jesus has the audacity to say to him (and us); “Don’t be afraid? Only believe.”
Such a command would be impossible if Jairus was not standing there looking into Jesus’ eyes. Close enough to breathe his breath. “Only believe.”
“Only…”
The most powerful words of Jesus were rarely spoken in a synagogue. It was Christ’s words in the context of the street, in the lands of Samaria or the Gerasenes, in the last Passover meal before his death. It was content in context. We can have the right content but if we don’t place ourselves in the context where Jesus was found then we rob his words of their greatest impact.
The words of Jesus were meant for the streets. They were meant for the grieving and the broken. “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe!” These words are meant for a heart torn by loss and sorrow. This “ain’t Sunday preaching.” It is the word of God where the rubber melts on the pavement. Our Lord’s words were rarely a pleasant quip that could be mused over at brunch. His words remain the restoration, healing and salvation of God. Preached where most of us do not want to go. That is where Good News has the greatest impact. In the most desperate circumstances, beyond hope, in places where people are saying; “It’s too late to bother.” It is unbelievable content in an unimaginable circumstance.
MARK 5:39-43
39 And entering in, He *said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” 40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was. 41 Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. 43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.
“The child has not died, but is asleep.”
The reality that Jesus presents is 180° different from the reality seen by those around him. Whereas they see death and finality, the Lord sees life and peace. Jesus’ reality is so at odds with the those around him that they commence verbally attacking him. One day the crowds will kill Jesus in their hatred of his reality. On this day they just laugh at him.
Should we expect less? To follow Christ is to have a different reality from this world. We can expect to be derided by some and even hated by others. Yet, we no longer live at the whim of other’s opinions. The cynicism and derision of this world cannot possibly overshadow the reality of Jesus.
In Christ there never is a “beyond hope.” Not in our relationships, communities or world. All creation “groans towards salvation.”
Romans 8:22
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
When the reality of other’s tells you, “Don’t bother, you may as well quit. It’s too late.” Look instead to the reality of Jesus. Let the “Talitha kum reality” become yours.
Taking the child by the hand
We might underplay this statement, thinking that Jesus held this little girl’s hand and gently woke her. Not so! The actual term [G2902 Krateo] implies that Jesus “seized” her hand. He “yanked” her from death’s grip. Jesus takes command of the situation. He doesn’t sneak in with a bowed head and say; “Oh please, pleeeze get up, my reputation is on the line here.”
He chases out the naysayers and the professional mourners. He allows only his closest disciples access to the room along with the desperate mother and father. He takes command!
Let’s not whine our way into God’s kingdom. Let’s not display his light to the darkness apologetically. Seize the hand of loss and yank it back from the jaws of death.
Psalm 138:3
On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.
Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Acts 4:31
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 14:3
Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.
2 Corinthians 3:12
12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away.
“Arise!”
There are so many characters in this play in which we could imagine ourselves. We could be Jairus, the anxious Rabbi and father. Waiting until the last moment before asking Jesus to come to his house. We could be the woman who snuck up to Jesus out of desperation after trying every other possible cure. We could be in the anonymous crowd observing the situation or with the Apostles admonishing Jesus for asking; “Who touched me?” We could be the cynics snarling and chiding our Lord for his miscalculation of reality. Yet, almost all of us fit the state of the little girl lost in “near-death.”
As we already know, Jesus “seized” her from the brink. He “yanked” her back from what appeared to all observers as death. Jesus commands this little girl to; “Arise!”
The Greek term for arise [G1453 Egeiro] is also fascinating. The root word is “agora [G58]” and means to gather — as in a crowd assembling for a march. The word, “egerio [G1453],” was used in rousing someone from sleep or disease, but it was also used for shaking someone from a stupor. It would refer to a life-changing event, command or challenge that would pull someone out of obscurity, inactivity, nonexistence or — in this case — near-death.
Jesus commands each of us to “Arise!” To pull us out of our stupor, out of the darkness, out of obscurity, nonexistence, or near-death and into his reality.
We are not supposed to be “live lives of quiet desperation” as Thoreau so aptly put it. We are called to a new reality, a larger mission, indeed an incredible commission. We have a world full of people to reach. Our lives are to be models of joyful anticipation.
This passage has been about desperate people and how the Talitha Kum Reality of Jesus Christ can miraculously save the despairing from the brink of despondency. To follow Christ is to reject cynicism and its companion, sarcasm. Sydney Harris (American journalist and cartoonist, 1917-1986) once said, “A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, he is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.” Does that sound like a follower of Christ? No!
Our lives revolve around leading others through the transition from helplessness to purpose and hopelessness to joy. It is about never closing the door on God’s ability. It is about salvation as a way of being: Restoring, healing and making family of outcasts.
It is about being woken up, being alert, being “yanked back” from near-death. From all these situations, our Lord commands us: “Arise!”