Mark 5:35-43, CEB - While Jesus was still speaking with her, messengers came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher any longer?”
But Jesus overheard their report and said to the
synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” He didn’t allow anyone to follow him except
Peter, James, and John, James’ brother.
They came to the synagogue leader’s house, and he saw a commotion, with
people crying and wailing loudly. He went
in and said to them, “What’s all this commotion and crying about? The child
isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.” They
laughed at him, but he threw them all out. Then, taking the child’s parents and
his disciples with him, he went to the room where the child was. Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha
koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.”
Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around. She was 12
years old. They were shocked! He gave
them strict orders that no one should know what had happened. Then he told them
to give her something to eat.
“Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” Jairus, the man to whom Jesus addressed these
words, had just previously heard, “you’re daughter has died.” As one who has three daughters, I’m not sure
I would be able to hear the second message, much less heed it, after hearing
the first. Nevertheless, this is Jesus’s
instruction to the father of a dead girl; “just keep trusting.”
As a pastor, I’ve sat with a woman who just laid the
lifeless body of her 11-month-old son in funeral home van and watched it drive
away. I’ve tried to provide comfort to a
father who had to cut down his son’s body after the son hung himself. I’ve held a two-year old all night long in
the hospital while he cried “Mama.” Over and over, all the while knowing that
Mama was never coming because she had drowned the previous afternoon saving his
life. I haven’t always said the words
that Jesus spoke, but I’ve always wanted to convey the same message. Just keep trusting.
I do that with the full knowledge that sometimes the ask is
impossible. How is someone is Jairus’s
place suppose to keep trusting? That
knowledge comes from personal experience of occasions when I have been unable
to just keep moving, much less trust. So
I know and have seen in others just how huge an ask trust is in such
situations. But Jesus doesn’t stop
there. He asks for the trust and then he
motions to Jairus to follow Him. It’s
almost like Jesus is saying, “follow me and I’ll show why you can keep
trusting.”
He does the same for us.
In those moments when trust seems about as possible as the titanic
rising to the surface, Jesus invites us to follow Him more closely. Watch what He does next. The “end” of the story is not the end at
all. As many a writers have said, “the
worst thing is never the last thing.”
Question: When have
you come to an “end,” only to find out later that it was not the end at all?
Prayer: God, in our
moments of hopelessness, help us to keep our eyes on where you are leading.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for the family of one of our longest duration members at Hernando UMC, Frank
Smith. He and his wife Doris have been
members since 1962.
Song: Give Me Faith –
Elevation Worship
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