Perfecting an Imperfect Faith, Part 5 | Perfecting Imperfect Faith

Luke 8:49-56

Having refocused Jairus, he turns toward Jairus’ house, and here in the narrative, this is where the focus shifts again. We see Jesus interacting, here, with those who do not believe. Very different from Jairus. And for those who do not believe, this is point two in your outline, Jesus requires unbelievers to, well, believe his Word. You might expect that. Jesus requires unbelievers to believe his Word. That is where they start. There’s no comfort, there’s no hope, there’s no peace, there’s no joy, there’s no satisfaction, there’s no contentment without faith. They have to start by believing his Word.

Look at verse 51, “When Jesus came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and the mother of the child. And all,” that is, all others, “were weeping and mourning for her.” Jesus, Jairus, Peter, James, and John, they proceeded to Jairus’ house, and they went alone, so that they could take care of Jairus’ daughter without this crowd following after them. But then, having arrived at the house, they encounter another crowd of people, verse 52, all these people who are weeping and mourning.

Jesus, here, Jairus, his inner ci, circle of disciples, they had left one crowd behind to encounter another crowd, a crowd of rejoicing people to face a crowd of mourning people. A second crowd assembled at Jairus’ house. They were in the throes of this unbridled emotion, dramatic displays of grief over the death of the little girl. Can you imagine the kind of chaos that would have ensued had those two crowds met together at Jairus’ house? Now, as Jesus interacts with this unbelieving crowd, relatives, neighbors, friends gathered outside of the house to mourn, pay their respects, get ready for the funeral, there are three things, here, I want you to notice. We’ll walk through them one by one. Three things to notice as Jesus deals with the unbelievers in this section.

First of all, notice that the gathered crowd there, they confirmed the death of the little girl with certainty, which, by the way, certifies the reality, the certainty of the resurrection that’s to follow. Very important. The presence of the professional mourners tells us that the death of the little girl, for the whole crowd there, everybody around, it’s a foregone conclusion. So not only do the professional mourners confirm the girl’s death, along with the messenger’s report which confirmed the girl’s death. Notice that the scorn of the crowd, the scorn of the crowd, their laughter, reveals their certainty about her death. Look at how people react to Jesus’ assurance in verse 52. “All were weeping and mourning for her. But he said, ‘Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.”

Now notice, not supposing she was dead, not thinking she was dead. That’d be a different verb, verb tacheo. This is the verb oida, as in knowing facts, as in realizing, perceiving, comprehending. They knew she was dead, and any suggestion to the contrary elicited their immediate scorn even in the face of death. First thing to notice, then, the independent verification of the little girl’s death by the messenger, verse 49, the professional mourners who were already on scene in verse 52, and then their derisive, scornful laughter in verse 53. Why did they laugh? They knew she was dead.

Secondly, I want you to notice, here, in the midst of this, how, once again, Jesus cares for Jairus. In the middle of the commotion, in the chaos of emotional grieving, this mind-numbing noise of flutes, and wailing women, and drums, and all the rest, notice how, notice how, here, Jairus is just passive. I mean, he’s the head of the house, but at this point he’s on autopilot in the scene. He is unable, here, to take charge. He’s unable to speak to, this is his house, but he’s unable to, to speak to this crowd, to give any direction at all to demonstrate authority.

What does Jesus do? He steps in and gives the gift of his leadership. He takes over. Luke tells us in verse 51 that “Jesus allowed no one to enter the little girl’s room with him except Peter and John and James,” the, “and the father and mother of the child.” But we read in Matthew 9:25 and Mark 5:40 that Jesus had to put the crowd outside. That’s not to say outside the little girl’s room. They wouldn’t have all been stuffed in there, but outside of the house.

Look, Jesus is not going to quench the dimly burning flax. Instead, he stepped in to do what Jairus was unable to do. He led. He gave the gift of his leadership. He put the mourners outside the house. He exercised his authority for the care of Jairus and his wife, both of them grieving as they’re looking down upon the lifeless body of their, their little girl, their 12-year-old daughter. So these verses help us to see, first of all, the certainty of death, which then verifies the certainty, the, that verifies the resurrection just a few verses away. And they also help us see the Savior’s care for Jairus in his hour of need.

Thirdly, notice how Jesus requires, here, unbelievers to believe his Word. We’re back to our main point, here, the second point. Jesus requires unbelievers to believe in his Word. He puts them outside, and he will not allow them to witness the miracle. He puts them outside. He makes them wait and ponder his word to them in verse 52, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping.” Jesus knew what he’d do for Jairus by raising his daughter from the dead, and with that in mind, he gave the crowd, this unbelieving crowd, he gave them the test of his Word: “Do not weep, for she’s not dead, but sleeping.” Now, would they believe that word, or would they reject it? In the moment, notice that they rejected it, right? So they’re not going to have the privilege of witnessing the miracle of the girl’s resurrection.

As Edersheim put it, “By their conduct they had proved themselves unfit to be witnesses of Christ’s great manifestation.” Why were they unfit? Because they were not believing. They, instead of believing him, they laughed at him, they scoffed at him, they scorned his word. Instead of considering it with humility and faith, they derided him in laughter. Look, if they’re not going to take the Messiah at his word, they no longer belonged in this believing house.

Now we know what’s going to happen. Jesus is, Jesus is going to raise this little girl from the dead. And in a very short while, this crowd gathered for mourning, preparing and getting ready for a funeral procession to lead to the outskirts of town, to the burial area, this crowd is going to find out funeral’s been called off. How many times you hear that happening? This deed is not going to remain hidden. They would see the result of the resurrection. They wouldn’t witness this resurrection as it happened. And they would have to think back to what Jesus said. They would have to think back and consider his Word more carefully. Jesus said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping.” And the initial reaction of the mourning crowd is to reject his word and refuse to believe him.

But after seeing the girl alive and well and walking around and playing with her friends again, to continue rejecting his word means they would be forced to deny what they knew to be true, namely that the girl had most certainly died. They would have to deny that fact, deny all their experience, deny their sense perception. Not only that, but they’d have to go back and admit, whoa, Jesus was right. She wasn’t dead. She’s, she’s only sleeping.

The next test would be of their humility, that they would have to go back to Jesus and show remorse, repentance, ask his forgiveness for laughing him to scorn. Most reasonable course for them to take, here, knowing for certain that this little girl had died, and then seeing the little girl alive and well, laughing and playing, the most reasonable, rational course of action would be to believe in Jesus Christ, to repent of their derision, and scorn, and all their sin, and to join Jairus in worship on their knees before Christ, confessing all their sins, asking for his forgiveness. That’s reasonable, that’s rational.

So in another demonstration of divine wisdom, here, Jesus has left these unbelievers in quite a bind. He’s requiring them to consider his word. And as they see the evidence of his resurrection power, they’ve got to go back and reconsider their scornful laughter, their rejection of his word. They need to repent and believe. He will not show them the miracle. He requires them to take him at his word first, to believe his word first, to trust in him fully, and then he’ll show him all his wonders.

Well, let’s look at the final two verses as Jesus turns his attention to believers, caring for all those who believe in him. After the severe testing of faith, this is point three in the outline, our final point for today, Je, point three, Jesus teaches believers to rest in his care. Jesus teaches believers to rest in his care. Again, Jesus had put the unbelieving crowd outside of the house, which had to bring the noise level down quite a bit. As verse 51 says, “He allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James, the father and mother of the child.” This one is just for the believers, just for the members of his family, the family of faith. And this is an intimate time, when Jesus is going to bring resolution to the tension of the test of faith that these dear folks had been enduring.

Here’s where the relief comes. Look at verse 54, “But taking her by the hand, he called saying, ‘Child arise.’” It’s a translation of what Jesus said. Mark gives us the Aramaic words that Jesus actually spoke in Mark 5:41, “Taking her by the hand, he said, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’” So Mark translates it into the Greek for his Greek readers. “Talitha cumi,” so tender. He spoke to her, there, in her native tongue. He used probably the same words that her own mother had used every morning to awaken her from her sleep.

I like, here, that the ESV translators retained the emphasis on, calling. “Jesus took her by the hand, and then,” ephonesen, “he called,” “he called.” Clearly an effectual call, isn’t it? Because as soon as Jesus called to her, when he spoke those words in verse 55, her spirit returned. In other words, the girl was not sleeping in a literal, wooden, literal sense. Her spirit had left her body, and her spirit had to return to her body.

But notice that her spirit, wherever it was, obeyed the call of Christ. This is an effectual call, like the call of salvation for his people. The body, the corpse, is lying there, unable to hear a thing. Auditer, auditory nerves are not working, brain’s not processing, nothing’s working. The spirit has left, the body is dead. He’s not trying to animate a body. He’s calling to a spirit.

This is the call of salvation for his people. Calvin provides a viewpoint we need to see here. He says, “Naturally, this cry was of no avail for recalling the senses”, of the, “of the deceased young woman, yet Christ intended to give a magnificent display of the power of his voice, that he might more fully accustom men to listen to his doctrine.” That’s an important note. If Jesus says it, if God says it, we need to listen. Why? Because his word, his voice, has power. Calvin continues, “It is easy to learn from this the great efficacy of the voice of Christ, which reaches even to the dead and exerts a quickening influence on death itself.”

Same thing happened, by the way, when Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb. He’d been in the dead, in the tomb four days. And in that case, Jesus also called out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” Lazarus came out. His hands and feet were bound with linen strips, his face is wrapped with a cloth, and Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go.” The quickening power of the effectual call of Jesus Christ. He commands the spirit to return. The spirit returns. He gives life to the dead.

Take another look at verse 55. “Her spirit returned. She got up at once, and he directed that something should be given her to eat. These parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.” The departure, here, of the little girl’s spirit, it was obvious to everyone. All of Jairus’ friends, and family, and all the crowd around, it was obvious. Their physicians declared her dead. Everybody knew she was dead. They’re preparing the funeral.

Now that her spirit has returned to the body, something equally as obvious, by the way, she got up at once. The Great, the Great Physician, here, declares her to be living. “Child, arise.” And notice, Jesus immediately attends to the little girl’s health and well-being. He ministers health and well-being, not just the little girl, but to all the believers in the room that day. So we might call him, as the Great Physician, he’s not only a general practitioner; he’s a specialist in all areas of medicine.

Notice the several marks of the tender, loving care that Jesus lavishes on these believers. They’ve just endured a severe test of faith. Their faith has been further strengthened, further perfected by Christ. Jesus, here, isolates them from the unbelieving crowd so he could care for them in very special, very particular ways. He’s teaching them, here, to rest in his care, that believing in him is worth it, that their faith is rewarded with peace and rest.

First, you can write these down. I got, like, six of these, six of these, I believe. First, Jesus teaches them to rest in his care by ignoring the impurity in the room. Notice he doesn’t treat the girl like a defiling corpse. He doesn’t keep his distance to protect his own ceremonial ritual purity. He reaches out, and he touches the dead girl as if he’s awakening a sleeping daughter, because he is. So Jesus is not concerned about becoming ritually defiled by touching a corpse according to the law. The power of God flows through him, verse 46. He makes the impure pure. He makes the unclean clean.

Listen, that tells us something, beloved. Before God, in our sin we are all unclean, the lot of us. We’re all sinners, having fallen short of the glory of God. But we can rest in his care, knowing that he is not averse to reaching out and touching us. You know, as promised, Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they’re red like crimson, they shall become like white wool.” Look, we can rest in his care, that he will reach out and touch us in our uncleanness, in our defilement, and he will purify us and make us whole and clean again.

If you’re here and you’re not a believer, please let that sink deep within your heart, to know that there is nothing, as Cory ten Boom, said, I believe it was her, said, “There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” He will care for you. He did not come to call the righteous, but he came to call sinners to repentance. He didn’t come for the healthy; he came for the sick. He came to raise the dead, like you and me.

Second thing, second point. Jesus teaches them to rest. He teaches them to rest in his care by hastening to help them, hastening to help them. All the delay, after all that delay, now there’s no delay. Jesus raised this girl, and he did it immediately. Her spirit returned. She got up at once. No hesitation, no delay. Even when there seems to be a delay, like needing to care for a woman afflicted with this mysterious condition for twelve years, that only gives us an opportunity to see God care for us more powerfully. When God wants to act, he’ll do it immediately. There will be no delay. He’ll hasten to help when it’s his time to help.

Third thing, Jesus teaches them to rest in his care by confirming their faith, by confirming their faith. Note, the Great Physician verifies the miraculous healing by having the little girl eat some food. What does that tell us? Well, it tells us she’s not a ghost. She’s not an apparition. She’s, this is not some vision they’re having. She is the same flesh-and-blood daughter with the same appetite. She’s eating a bit of food, just like she’d done before the illness struck. So he teaches, he teaches them to rest in his care by confirming their faith.

And then, fourth, Jesus teaches them to rest in his care by providing for physical needs. This is of special interest to root, Luke, the writer of this Gospel. He’s the beloved physician, and he admires, here, the care of a fellow physician. Frederick Godet says, “He acts like a physician who’s just felt the pulse of his patient and gives instructions respecting his diet for the day.” This little girl had long been without sustenance due to her illness. She just needs a little nourishment, little snack. He’s calm, he’s in total control. He cares for the physical needs. He knows our needs, too, takes care of them.

Fifth thing, Jesus teaches them to rest in his care by helping them return to normal life. Granted, it’s normal with a qualification, here, that their little girl’s just been raised from the dead. That’s not normal, okay? But they have grown stronger in believing, and they need to return to a life of normalcy. How does he do this? Again, having her eat something, having her, them get her something to eat. This is getting back to some semblance of normalcy. No more routine thing than feeding and nourishing our bodies, right? Not only that, but he helps them as parents get back into their role as parents, not to be overwhelmed with the amazement of the miracle here, but to get them back to their parents.

Jairus earlier, remember, he’s just, he’s on autopilot. He’s flowing through the narrative, numb. Now he brings them back to their senses, hey, by the way, she might need a little food. And they come, snap back into their role as parents and get back to normal, caring for her physical needs. And then to help them get back to normalcy, he provides them with a little space to get back to normal. He commands them in verse 56, he charged them to tell no one what had happened. What’s that about? As we said, word’s going to get out. The funeral is going to be called off. But in obedience to Jesus, the command that he just gave them allowed them some breathing room as a family.

He charged them this so that they wouldn’t become overwhelmed by all those who were curious, who wanted them to rehearse this miracle. They would not be allowed to become distracted by the many who would want to hear the story again and again. They would have to resume life as usual, silenced, not talking about the miracle. So Jesus teaches Jairus to rest in his care by ignoring the impurity, hastening to help, confirming his faith, providing for physical needs, helping his family return to normal life.

Let me give you one more, okay? This is the most joyful mark of his care. Sixth thing, Jesus teaches them to rest in his care by giving them cause to worship, to worship. Her spirit returned, she got up at once, give her a snack, and then this, verse 56, “and her parents were amazed.” They’re amazed. They are overwhelmed here, utterly astounded. They are forever inclined, now, to give thanks to God, to praise his name, and to worship in joy and gratitude at this personal expression of power in their family.

Look, Jesus delights to amaze us with his power, overwhelm us with his care, fulfill our every desire in believing that we can give glory to God in joy and gratitude. And we didn’t just get raised from physical death; we got raised from spiritual death. We have new life in Christ. That’s the greatest miracle of all. Amen? Bow with me in a word of prayer.

 Heavenly Father, we do want to thank you as we come to the end of this fantastic chapter of Scripture. We want to thank you that you have shown us the care of Jesus Christ for his believers, for his faithful. We thank you that you have made us believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you’ve granted us the gift of faith, that we would repent of our sins and believe, and now we come before your table to fellowship together, to express our joy and our gratitude, confess our sins, if necessary, but to have a clear conscience and a heart full of worship for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.