Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 5
July 26, 2009
Lincolnton, NC
(545)
AV Translation:
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's
house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50 But when Jesus heard
it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
1901 ASV Translation:
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's
house, saying, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Teacher.
50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made whole.
51 And when he came to the house, he suffered not any man to enter in with him, save Peter, and John, and James, and the father of the maiden and her mother.
52 And all were weeping, and bewailing her: but he said, Weep not; for she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 But he, taking her by the hand, called, saying, Maiden, arise.
55 And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately: and he commanded that
something be given her to eat.
56 And her parents were amazed: but he charged them to tell no man what had been done.
Luke's Record:
- I. The "Intro": Jairus' Plight.
- A. The highly contrastive "welcome" of the crowd [See Notes from June 28, 2009 (536)].
- B. The enormous responsibilities of Jairus [See Notes from July 5, 2009 (538)].
- II. The "Twelve Years" Issue [See Notes from July 12, 2009 (540)].
- III. The Woman's Action and Its Consequence [See Notes from July 19, 2009 (542)].
- IV. The Intensification: "Thy Daughter is Dead".
- A. "While He yet spake..."
- 1. Luke is deliberately tying Jesus' insistence upon dealing with the woman who touched Him to the fact that the daughter of Jairus died.
- a. Who is to say that He would not have gotten to the ruler's house before she died if He had simply gone there? Many had been healed by touching His garments (Luke 6:19), so one more could not have made much difference.
- b. What Jesus was actually "saying" when the news of her death was, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Proceed into peace."
- 2. Luke chose to use the most general word for "spake" (laleo) instead of the doctrinally significant word (lego). It is almost as if he was attempting to make Jesus' progress toward the home of the ruler of the synagogue a deliberately slow thing on Jesus' part.
- B. "...a certain one comes from [those of] the ruler of the synagogue saying..."
- 1. The focus is two-fold: the "ruler" status of Jairus and the "content" of the message.
- a. We know the man's name; it is not used.
- b. Luke switches from the most general word for "say" to the content-significant word.
- 2. The "ruler" is dealt a "significant" blow.
- C. "...your daughter has died ... trouble the teacher no longer..."
- 1. Physical death is clearly considered "hopeless", though Luke has already shown us that it is not (7:11-17) and told us that this report had gone out everywhere so that the likelihood of Jairus' ignorance of it is low. What this clearly does is show how tenuous "faith" is when the issues are highly personal.
- 2. The "teacher" is clearly seen as of no further use and "troubling" Him is of no further benefit.
- a. The outstanding man of faith (7:1-10) was recorded as having said "Lord, trouble not Thyself; for I am not worthy...". But the "ruler" had no qualms about it. This sense of entitlement is extraordinarily dangerous, but its existence is automatic to those of "privilege" unless there are some serious counter-measures already in place.
- b. When "entitlement", as an attitude, is attached to "the teacher", as an identifier, the exercise of "faith" is unlikely.
- D. "But Jesus ... answered ... Do not continue to be afraid ... only believe and she shall be saved..."
- 1. There is no record of whether Jairus did what Jesus said. The record simply tells us what Jesus told him to do. However, the record does tell us that when the words of Jesus were literally fulfilled, the parents were "astonished". This indicates that Jairus had not "only believed".
- 2. The question of "faith", though, is this: at what point does what God says 'generically' get to mean 'me'? The woman with the issue of blood had, according to Mark 5:28, somehow gotten past that point. The messenger from the death-watch had clearly not. If being "astonished" means that Jairus had not really "believed", he had not gotten there either even though Jesus specifically addressed him with His words. Thus, even having Jesus directly apply the "faith" issue specifically was insufficient to create the "faith".
- 3. The only significant differences between the woman and the ruler are two: her "problem" was not as great as physical death; and she did not have the same "status" as he. This is an oddity. Typically, those with the "entitlement" mentality just assume that they are to be among the privileged and those without it typically assume they are not "worthy". But, in this case, the woman who would not have automatically had a sense of entitlement did have a sense that "generic" includes "me" and the man who did have that sense did not have the same sense. This implies that when "faith" is involved, it is the lack of the sense of entitlement that empowers. This is in harmony with the fact that "faith" is a consequence of God's special work of "convincing" and that He opposes the proud. Those who have no sense of entitlement are open to that convincing and those having it are not.
