5:35-43
The Dead Child Restored
“While he yet spake, they came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow with him, save Peter, and James and John the brother of James. And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he beholdeth a tumult, and many weeping and wailing greatly. And when he was entered in, he saith unto them, Why make ye a tumult, and weep? the child is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all forth, taketh the father of the child and her mother and them that were with him, and goeth in where the child was. And taking the child by the hand, he saith unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise. And straightway the damsel rose up, and walked; for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed straightway with a great amazement. And he charged them much that no man should know this; and he commanded that something should be given her to eat” (v. 35-43, R.V.).
There had been what appeared to the impatient and distressed ruler many vexatious delays to the visit of Jesus to his house where his sick daughter lay. It would seem, as already noted, that Jairus made two separate applications to Jesus before He acceded to the request and accompanied him. The crowd that gathered in the narrow streets—that multitude who, not knowing the law, were regarded by the rulers as accursed (John 7:49)—made progress slow and difficult. The episode of the healing of the woman appeared to be a further impediment in the way of the Master's mercy for him. And now while Jesus was pronouncing His final benison upon the woman (cp. Gen. 26:29) some arrived from the ruler's house with the sad tidings, anticipated but dreaded by him, that death had supervened. “Thy daughter is dead” was the message, closing, as he supposed, the last door of his hopes. He felt like Martha and Mary of Bethany, and might have expressed his feelings in their language, “Lord, if thou hadst been there, my daughter had not died.”
In the estimation of the messenger who delivered the message, the incident of the appeal to Jesus was of necessity closed. There now was no more to be done. “Thy daughter is dead: trouble not the Teacher” (Luke). And as if the distracted father was seeking to attract the attention of Jesus while He continued speaking to the woman, some said to Jairus, “Why art thou still troubling the Teacher?”
They gave expression to what would be the practical matter-of-fact opinion of the populace, if not of the apostles also, “What could the prophet of Nazareth do when death had seized its prey?” Believing He could do nothing, they would trouble Him no further. But, as an old writer quaintly puts it: “Here were more manners than faith; 'Trouble not the Master.' Infidelity is all for care, and thinks every good work tedious. That which nature accounts troublesome is pleasing and delightful to grace. Is it any pain for a hungry man to eat? O Savior, it was Thy meat and drink to do Thy Father's will; and His will was that Thou shouldest bear our griefs, and take away our sorrows. It cannot be Thy trouble which is our happiness that we must still sue to Thee.”
THE COMFORTING WORD TO JAIRUS
The rendering of the Revisers here, “But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken,” etc., has been justly questioned, since it is in direct conflict with the context. Jesus did heed the word spoken to Jairus and spoke in reply to counteract it, as the verse shows.
The verb, παρακούω, translated “hear” in the Authorized Version, occurs also in Matt. 18:17, where it is rendered “neglect to hear.” But in this connection (Mark 5:36) many scholars see sufficient ground for rendering it “over-hearing,” as the Revisers have done in their margin, and McClellan in his translation.
The general sense of the word seems to be that Jesus heard what the speaker did not intend He should hear, but He ignored the literal remark, and said what expressed His own purpose and allayed the anxiety of Jairus. Referring to this passage W. Kelly wrote, “It is doubtful whether the marginal 'overhearing ' should not rather have taken the place of the Revisers' text, ‘not heeding,' which would have suited if the Lord had said nothing. But He heeds the word spoken enough to bid the synagogue-ruler, “Fear not, only believe.' “
The Lord who prayed for Simon Peter that his faith might not fail in the hour of temptation and trial (Luke 22:32) also knew what untoward influence would be exercised upon Jairus by the tidings of the messengers and their abandonment of hope. “Perhaps the father's hope would have perished too and no room have been left for this miracle, faith, the necessary condition, being wanting, if a gracious Lord had not seen the danger, and prevented his rising unbelief. 'As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.' There is something very gracious in that 'as soon as.' The Lord spake upon the instant, not leaving any time for a thought of unbelief to insinuate itself into the father's mind, much less to utter itself from his lips, such as might have altogether stood in the way of a cure, but preoccupying him at once with words of encouragement and hope.” In like manner He said to another father, “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).
Thus He strengthened the wavering faith in the ruler's heart by His word of comfort and assurance, “Fear not, only believe,” adding, according to the narrative by Luke, “She shall be made whole.”
THE MOURNERS WHO SCOFFED
The Prince of Life passed onwards to the house of death. Mourners were already there, making a great tumult with their weeping and wailing. It is a divine injunction to “weep with those that weep,” and examples are not wanting in scriptural history. The house of Joseph and his brethren mourned for the death of Jacob with a “very great and sore lamentation” at Abel-mizraim (Gen. 1:10, 11). Job's three friends wept for him in his sorrow, with loud voices, rending their mantles and sprinkling dust on their heads, and then sat with him in silence for seven days (Job 2). Jeremiah lamented the death of king Josiah (2 Chron. 35:25), and also for the desolation of Jerusalem and of the temple in the book of his Lamentations.
These examples possessed sincerity, but genuine mourning which arises from neighborly sympathy became perverted into shallow professionalism. Lamentation degenerated into an art, in which some acquired eminence by reason of their skill (Amos 5:16). Mourning women held themselves in readiness to come and take up a wailing for the departed (Jer. 9:17, 18), sometimes expressing themselves in elegies (2 Chron. 35:25).
The Lord who was Himself ever tender and gracious to the distressed and afflicted rebuked the display of perfunctory grief over the daughter of Jairus. Entering the court of the ruler's house, He said to the hirelings, “Why make ye this tumult and weep? The damsel is not dead but sleepeth.” This severity of the Lord was directed against their hypocrisy and sham, for their sympathy was not sincere like that, for instance, of which the Psalmist wrote, when he says, “As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I afflicted my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother: I bowed down mourning as one that bewaileth his mother” (Psa. 35:13, 14, R.V.).
The words of the Lord drew forth only laughter and derision from the ignorant and insolent attendants. In the house of the ruler of the synagogue there would be an exceptional number of these owing to his rank, and the menials would be more insolent to the prophet of Nazareth because of the contrasted social position of their employer. His words, “The damsel is not dead,” came into direct conflict with their professional knowledge, and they had no faith in Him nor reverence for His sayings to counterbalance His seeming contradiction of fact. Hence the Lord's dignified reproof of their clamor only awakened in them a sense of the grotesque coupled with some malice at His interference; and they laughed Him to scorn. It was the laughter of folly, as that of Abraham and Sarah was the laughter of incredulity (Gen. 22:17; 18:12).
Alas, that it fell within the scope of the appointed sufferings of the Messiah to be exposed to such ridicule from man. But it was written of Him, “All they that see me laugh me to scorn” (Psa. 22:7), and the climax in the fulfillment of this scripture was reached at the cross. He was the Servant whom man despised and the nation abhorred (Isa. 49:7).
It is profitable to study in the New Testament records the variety of forms in which man exhibited his scorn and contempt for the patient and gentle Savior. Some passages are collected below. We read that men
(1) mocked (ὲμπαίζω) Him, Matt. 20:19; 27:29, 31, 41; Mark 10:34; 15:20, 31; Luke 18:32; 22:63; 23:11, 36.
(2) reviled Him (βλασφημέω), Matt. 12:31; 27:39; Mark 3:28; 15:29; Luke 22:65; 23:39.
(ὀνειδίζω), Matt. 27:44; Mark 15:32.
(λοιδορέω), John 9:28 Peter 2:23.
(3) derided Him (ἐκμυκτηρίζω), Luke 16:14; 23:35.
(4) spoke evil of Him (κακολογέω) Mark 9:39.
(5) spoke against Him (ἀντιλέγω; “contradiction"), Heb. 12:3.
(6) wagged the head at Him (κινέω T. K.), Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29.
(7) laughed Him to scorn (καταγελάω) Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:10; Luke 8:53.
The perusal of the above passages will induce the sad and humbling reflection that divine goodness when manifested in the Incarnate Son of God became an object of malicious mirth and insensate mockery to all classes of men. As the Psalmist foretold, He was the song of the drunkards, and those that sat in the gate spoke against Him (Psa. 69:12). Yet Eternal Love triumphed over all such obduracy and hatred, and the testimony for God shone ever brightly, and never more so than amid the gross moral darkness displayed at Calvary.
“'Mid sin, and all corruption,
Where hatred did abound,
Thy path of true perfection
Shed light on all around.
O'er all, Thy perfect goodness
Rose blessedly divine;
Poor hearts oppressed with sadness
Found ever rest in Thine.”
THE WITNESSES
The multitude which had followed Jesus through the town were not allowed by Him to approach the house of Jairus, which indeed was already occupied by another crowd. The Lord having entered the house put forth the noisy mourners, as Peter afterward did in the case of Dorcas. They, accustomed through their ill-favored calling to the sight of the dead, knew that the damsel was certainly dead, and it was beyond them to understand that what was death to man was sleep to the Lord. They were quite out of place where the Quickener of the dead was, and accordingly they were ejected, like the chaffering traders from the temple-courts at Jerusalem. Not all the apostles even were admitted to the death-chamber; three only were selected-Peter, James and John. The raising of the widow's son and of Lazarus was done before the eyes of the public. In this case the dead child was within doors, and therefore the circumstances must necessarily be more private. The three disciples chosen were adequate to render testimony to the fact of the resurrection. For while two witnesses were sufficient to render evidence valid from a judicial standpoint, three ensured an amplitude. Two witnesses, according to the Apocalypse, will be raised up to testify of imminent judgment (Rev. 11), but there are now three that bear witness in the world to the gospel of the grace of God—the Spirit, the water, and the blood (1 John 5:8).
The father and mother were present also; for the Lord recognized the prior claims of natural affection. This feature is particularly prominent in connection with the miracles of the resurrection. Those raised by Him were this damsel, the only daughter of Jairus, twelve years old; the only son of his mother, and she a widow; and Lazarus the only brother of his two orphaned sisters. In each of these instances there were special reasons for the poignant grief of the bereaved.
And now with what tender compassionate solicitude did the Blessed Master lead the grief-stricken parents into the presence of the silent dead, accompanied by the three wondering apostles. The number of the company was six, but this was quickly increased to seven, for, to the astonishment of the spectators, the little maid was brought back to the “land of the living.”
THE DAMSEL RAISED
The Lord acted at once with simple directness. He took the child by the hand—a similar action is recorded in the restoration of Peter's mother-in-law. He then called to her, saying, “Damsel, arise,” Mark preserving the actual Aramaic words employed, “Talitha cumi.”
There was an immediate response from the spirit-world. In the words of Luke, “her spirit came again.” This is in accordance with the general phraseology of scripture wherein death connotes the departure of the soul and spirit from the body. Rachel, “as her soul was in departing,” named her son Ben-oni (Gen. 35:18). Elijah prayed concerning the dead son of the widow of Zarephath, “Let this child's soul come unto him again” (1 Kings 17:21). Stephen at his stoning said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).
The re-animated body of the daughter of Jairus rose up instantaneously, strengthened as well as vivified, for she was able to walk about, as Mark states with the detail characteristic of his style. She was twelve years old, and therefore able to walk in the ordinary course of nature, but here the action demonstrated that her restoration was as perfect as it was immediate.
It is instructive to note that the Lord in this instance, as in others, recognized the identity of the person with the body. He took the child by the hand, and called to her, not to it, “Damsel, arise.” At Nain He said to the body on the bier, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” At the grave in Bethany, He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” This is also the scriptural usage elsewhere: thus in the Acts we read that “devout men carried Stephen to his burial” (Acts 8:2). And at the appointed moment the Lord will come with a shout (that is, a call of relationship) and the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thess. 4); according to the Lord's own words, those that are in their graves will hear His voice and come forth (John 5:28, 29).
The simple and dignified conduct of the Lord on this occasion is in striking contrast with that of the Old Testament prophets in the performance of similar miracles. The Lord spoke and acted in His own right, while the prophets had to look above with earnest fervor for the power that was not in themselves to raise the dead. Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD.... And the LORD hearkened unto the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived” (1 Kings 17:21, 22). So also Elisha, after prayer, “lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned and walked in the house once to and fro; and went up and stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes” (2 Kings 4:34, 35). How different was the procedure of the Lord: taking the child by the hand, He said, “Talitha cumi,” and immediately she arose.
The Lord having restored the damsel's life by His own inherent power, directed the parents to give her food. For the life restored needed the usual means of sustenance, and it was in their power to supply this, no miracle being required. The Lord expects us to do what we are able of ourselves to do, and only exercises His own might where our impotence is displayed.
Eating a meal afforded, in a simple manner, further evidence of the reality of this resurrection, and such a test the Lord applied in His own case (Luke 24:41-43).
RETICENCE IMPOSED
The small company of beholders was amazed with a great amazement at this miracle. Giving life to the dead was a climax to the mighty miracles and wonders and signs wrought by Jesus. The public raising of the widow's son probably preceded this case in point of time, and with it constituted the two witnessing works of this kind in Galilee, the third of these miracles being performed at Bethany in Judea.
The Lord charged them (presumably those present in the room where the damsel was) that no one should know this. The injunction seems to be in the sense that they were not to set themselves to spread the news of the miracle. It could not imply that the raising of the child was to remain a secret; for the fact of the dead daughter of a public personage such as Jairus coming back to life could scarcely be hidden.
A similar injunction laid on the disciples by the Lord on another occasion is recorded in this Gospel, and in that case the context throws some light upon the reason for this prohibition. After the Transfiguration, speaking to the same three witnesses, the Lord “charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of man should have risen from the dead” (Mark 9:9). This restriction was removed after His own resurrection, for He said to them, “Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Accordingly at Pentecost Peter testified in Jerusalem to the Jews of “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you” (Acts 2:22). In like manner Peter testified to Cornelius of the same wonderful works (Acts 10:38).
Before the coming of the Holy Spirit the apostles had not learned the secondary value which miracles have in the dealings of God with men, as compared with the moral and spiritual power of the word of the gospel. The Lord had to rebuke the exhilaration of the Seventy because they found themselves able to work miracles (Luke 10:17-20). Here He restrained their natural impulse to spread the news of this marvelous work of His.
THE SIGN-CHARACTER OF THIS MIRACLE
The raising of the daughter of Jairus, together with the episode of the healing of the woman in the crowd, forms a further illustration of the character the service of the Messiah would and did assume in consequence of His rejection by the nation at large. In the fourth chapter He is set forth, by parables, as the Sower; in this as the Healer and Life-giver, by miracles. And while He demonstrated, in the country of the Gerasenes, His power over Satan who had the power of death, He showed, in the house of Jairus, that one actually dead was not beyond His salvation.
The dead damsel was a true figure of the daughter of Zion when her King came to her. A few “babes and sucklings” cried, Hosanna, when Messiah came to Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah, but the nation, through the mouth of its leaders, solemnly denied Him in the presence of Pilate, and declared, “We have no king but Caesar.” Israel, knowing not the anointed Son of David, was like Nabal of old, whose “heart died within him, and he became as a stone.”
This figure of death applied to the Jews is a stronger metaphor than that of the unfruitful soil employed in the preceding parable. Indeed no more impressive term is used throughout scripture to describe the hopeless spiritual condition of the people, beyond all human remedy as it was. But the Lord was able to restore even in such a case as this. For this purpose He had come, and He was on His way to accomplish redemption for Israel. And during His progress to the house of death He was accessible to any needy person who had faith enough to touch Him as He passed by.
But in a coming day all Israel shall be saved in accordance with divine promise. The Lord will yet bless the daughter of Zion, and will give life to His people, even though they be not only dead like the daughter of Jairus but in the grave like Lazarus. This figure of resurrection was applied by the prophets to the national restoration of the chosen people. Daniel spoke of the day when “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Dan. 12:2). And Ezekiel prophesied still more precisely of the time of Israel's future blessing, under the vision of the valley, full of dry bones which lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. This vision was explained to be a token of what Jehovah meant to do. He: said to the people through the prophet, “I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel” (Ezek. 37:12).
In the New Testament the apostle Paul used the same figure in connection with the same subject. Writing, in the Epistle to the Romans, of the setting aside of the children of Israel, and of their future restoration, he says, “If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15).