The Servant's Authority
Book of Mark Chapters 4 and 5
Before we get to Chapter 5, we get to read about the authority and the deity of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
We read of the many parables that give us some of the truths of Heaven in ways we can understand.
The miracles the Lord did and the lessons He has taught us attest to the absolute authority of our Creator.
The four Gospels contain many Scriptures reflecting upon the absolute authority of the Messiah, our Savior.
Every miracle is backed up by Scripture such as, the miracle of healing the blind man.
Psa 146:8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
The water to grape juice in Cana. We should understand that the Lord Jesus would never make wine!
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
The feeding of the five thousand.
Isa 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
The Lord's authority over the animal world.
Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.
The raising of the dead.
Isa 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
We should consider these things that only God can do, as we take a closer look at the miracle when the Lord raised a young female child from death.
*****Mar 5:21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.
The Lord Jesus had now crossed by over the Sea of Galilee again, to a location near Capernaum which had become His base after he had left Nazareth again according to Scripture.
Mat 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Mat 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
We can find these things prophesied in the Book of Isaiah.
Isa 9:1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
Isa 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
We begin to see that the Lord Jesus could be no one else, but the Messiah come from Heaven!
There were so many things that the children of Israel had missed from the Old Testament, and much of the reason was that the Priests refused to teach the truth of the Word of God just like so many are doing today.
From this point to the end of this chapter, we will see how the support of the multitude will always change.
We will also see how those who should have supported Jesus refused to do so.
His friends said that Jesus had gone mad and insane.
We must believe Jesus and show our faith in Him.
We may have to go against our friends.
The religionists said that Jesus was demon possessed.
Religionist do not really know the truth of God.
His own family said He was an embarrassment to them.
We must surrender to Jesus regardless of what our families think of us!
These things will always be said about the true Christian and we will have to deal with them all our lifetime, without sin.
As soon as the feet of the Lord Jesus touched the shoreline one of the rulers of the local synagogue came running to Him.
The fame of our Lord Jesus had spread everywhere.
*****Mar 5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
Mar 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
Mar 5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
We might ask ourselves, was it just his lucky day?
We know the Lord did not heal everyone He came in contact with, and we know He knew ahead of time who had ailments and who did not.
We must know there was a reason behind every move the Lord made, but we already know of His great compassion for all humans.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Some people say that Jesus had to be very careful that He did not go against the teachings of the Old Testament, the Laws of Moses, and all the things written by the prophets but this is simply not true!
The Lord did not need to put forth effort, because these are all things that He just did because He is the True and Living God!
If Jesus had not done the things, He did then, He would be outside His character!
This father was desperate and he knew there was no other means to save his daughter than the Lord Jesus Christ!
But Our Lord will not do anything if there is a lack of faith!
1) This man exhibits humility and falls at the feet of Jesus.
2) This man exhibits believing, because he knows Jesus is omnipotent, has all power and the power to heal and bring new life.
3) This man boldly goes to the Lord Jesus in the face of all the people, many of whom would not react well, because he was a ruler of the synagogue.
None of the synagogues recognized the Lord Jesus as the Messiah.
The Lord Jesus went with him because these are the actions, we must all take to be saved! It is called faith!
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The Lord Jesus will meet the needs of the desperate if they have that saving faith!
A crowd was gathered including the twelve disciples and they all went toward the place of Jarius.
*****Mar 5:35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
Mar 5:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
Our lesson skips right over the woman who had an issue with her blood for twelve years, who just touched the robe of our Savior and was immediately healed.
This was also a message of faith from someone desperate for life!
Even though there was great rush for the Lord Jesus to get to this child before she died, the Lord Jesus did not have to rush and took the time to heal that woman.
If Jarius had the faith that he said he had, he would have known that there is no need to rush the Almighty God.
He is the giver and the taker of life!
Did Jesus know this child would die if He did not get there in time? Sure He did!
Though we cannot always understand why the Lord does what He does, we can understand that there is reason and purpose in every move that Jesus made while He was upon this world.
One of those was the fact that He wanted to establish His resurrecting power!
The Lord Jesus also wanted to show the difference between little faith and true faith.
True faith has no feeling of hopelessness!
True faith has nothing to do with fear and despair!
While the Lord Jesus Christ was still talking to that woman who did have that blood issue, someone from the home of Jairus came with some terrible news, his daughter had died.
Did the Lord Jesus cause this death? No
We can only imagine how Jairus felt having just witnessed the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and realizing had Jesus not stopped to do this, that He may have made it to his daughter before she died.
Jairus was devastated and crushed and believed it was now too late to save her life.
We know that the Lord Jesus is never too late, but that He is always on time!
What did the Lord Jesus say to him? What happened to your faith?
"be not afraid, only believe."
Fear is the exact opposite of faith!
Believing God eliminates fear!
Believing that God actually cares and will deliver us through all of our fears, is essential in our relationship with the Lord.
The Lord certainly cares about our feelings and our times of despair.
Without believing that God cares for us, will lead to fear!
We should understand that we will face things in our life that no other human being can help us with, but then there is Jesus who cares for us if we only trust Him.
For those who do not know the Lord in a personal way, they have no one to go to and they will be filled with fear and despair.
The Christian should never feel this way!
Though we cannot help it, there is little need to mourn over the death of a Christian as they have returned to the God who created them!
There is very little mourning in faith!
If we mourn, let us mourn for those who do not know the Lord our Savior.
There is never a time that the Lord Jesus can do nothing!
There is never a time that God is twiddling His thumbs or even wondering what He should do next!
There was no need for the crowd to go any further because so many of them had no faith at all.
*****Mar 5:37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
Mar 5:38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
Mar 5:39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
Here we see the first time that the Lord Jesus only took Peter, James, and John, with Him, to be witnesses of things not permitted to be seen by the other nine.
Jesus did the same thing at His Transfiguration.
Jesus did the same thing when He was under agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The thing that Jesus was about to do, to raise this child from the dead, did not need to have those that might have doubt in the same room!
We should understand that the family of this child would surely mourn for her, but most of those remaining were hired to mourn.
It was a belief of the Jews, that those that were hired to mourn would make it easier for those in the family.
Notice Mark writes that it was tumultuous and more like a commotion, but it also tells us that the child had already died before Jesus had arrived.
Jesus first words were: Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
Jesus Christ is the Lord of Life because He is Life!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
We will learn as Christians that a believing faith will be scorned by this world and we see this more today than at any other time in history.
We will also be abused and persecuted by those who have no faith!
*****Mar 5:40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
The Lord let them have their laughter because He knew they were about to be silenced!
The Lord Jesus and Peter, James, and John, along with the two parents, entered into the room where the dead child was lying.
All the rest were deemed unworthy to witness the power of the Messiah.
The reason that no one sees the miracles that happen in today's world, is the fact that there is no faith!
Even in the Church there is a great lack of faith today and the Church has lost its power!
It is no wonder we seldom hear of the miracles of God anymore.
The power of Jesus Christ over all evil spirits, over incurable sickness, and over death itself, demonstrates His deity and how He honors simple faith above all other of our characteristics.
Jesus walked over to the child to do what He came to do.
*****Mar 5:41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Mar 5:42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
The Pharisees had concluded that the Lord Jesus had a devil living within Him.
The relatives of Jesus had said Jesus was a mad man and beside Himself.
The Lord Jesus had begun teaching by parables so people could see without perceiving and hear without understanding.
But the Lord Jesus proves He is the Master of all the forces in this life.
The Lord Jesus proves that He is not only the Master of Life, but also the Giver of Life!
Mark preserved the actual words that Jesus said here, no doubt getting them from Peter the eyewitness.
We all know that our children are special to us at any age and we know that they grow so fast, but that age just before they blossom into adulthood is truly a special time.
This young lady was twelve years old preparing to take on the world when for some reason, she had succumbed to death, but as we know Jesus changes things!
Straightway this child rose up and walked and all that were in the house of Jarius, were astonished.
The Lord said, feed this child for she is hungry.
*****Mar 5:43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
By eating, she could prove to all that she was no spirit but had returned to normal existence.
Even when this child was restored to life, then she would have to return to the things of this life that sustained life, such as food and water.
It was for the sake of these parents that Jesus brought this girl back to life!
Her life in no way could change the providence of God for this world.
This is why God can answer prayer!
This child completed her growth in a home of saving faith and at death she returned to Heaven because this home had faith!
Amen
