Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 2 Study # 2
February 8, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(206)
1901 ASV
22 And there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing him, he falleth at his feet,
23 and beseecheth him much, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death: [I pray thee], that thou come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be made whole, and live.
24 And he went with him; and a great multitude followed him, and they thronged him.
25 And a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 having heard the things concerning Jesus, came in the crowd behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I touch but his garments, I shall be made whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her plague.
30 And straightway Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power [proceeding] from him had gone forth, turned him about in the crowd, and said, Who touched my garments?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35 While he yet spake, they come from the ruler of the synagogue's [house] saying, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Teacher any further?
36 But Jesus, not heeding the word spoken, saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Fear not, only believe.
37 And he suffered no man to follow with him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38 And they come to the house of the ruler of the synagogue; and he beholdeth a tumult, and [many] weeping and wailing greatly.
39 And when he was entered in, he saith unto them, Why make ye a tumult, and weep? the child is not dead, but sleepeth.
40 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.
41 And taking the child by the hand, he saith unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise.
42 And straightway the damsel rose up, and walked; for she was twelve years old. And they were amazed straightway with a great amazement.
43 And he charged them much that no man should know this: and he commanded that [something] should be given her to eat.
- I. The Details of "Believing".
- A. There is coming (Present Tense in use in historical narrative, a matter of emphasis upon the content being presented).
- 1. The "one" who "is coming" is from among "the rulers of the synagogue".
- a. The noun is plural (as correctly translated by the NASB's rendering, "one of the synagogue officials").
- b. Mark's use of "archisunagogon" is deliberately emphatic: he uses this word four times in his record, all of which uses are in this account in spite of his name being given.
- 1. Luke only uses this word twice in his lengthy Gospel and in the first use (Luke 8:49) it is a deliberate use to identify an "archon" of the synagogue (8:22). He is the only other New Testament author to use this combination word.
- 2. John, in his Gospel, uses "archon" to identify Nicodemus in respect to his acknowledgement that Jesus had to have come from God (John 3:1).
- 3. Thus, Mark's four uses of this word, as noted above, in spite of his name being given, indicates that it is important to know that those in high positions in the synagogue were not all self-deluded "unbelievers" using specious arguments against Jesus' identity.
- a) Mark's references to "synagogue" are enlightening.
- 1) His first reference, in the opening paragraph of Mark's actual record (the preceding verses being a kind of introductory prelude), is a record of the actual condition of the synagogue in that it had a man with an unclean spirit in it and this was not "problematical" to the attitudes of the synagogue (1:21-28).
- 2) His second reference, building upon his first, is a record of Jesus doing His first (in Mark's record) "healing on the sabbath" (1:29-34) that brought out the entire city to the door of Peter's home.
- 3) His third reference made Jesus' initial ministry labors focus upon "the synagogues" of Galilee (1:39).
- 4) And, then, the fourth record presents the reality of just how far into apostasy the synagogues had gone (3:1-6) and how angry Jesus was with their leaders.
- 5) This record of "Jairus" is our next brush with "synagogues" and their leaders.
- b) Mark and Luke are the only ones who identify this man by name (Jairus) and both of them only record this name once. Matthew simply records this event in respect to an "archon" who came to Jesus because his daughter was nigh to death, or, as the NASB translates, "has just died" (a conflation of the event for Matthew's particular purpose). This means that Mark's inclusion of his name has significance.
- c) The name "Jairus" had its origins in the Hebrew language and referred to Jair, which means "he enlightens". That this particular "ruler of the synagogue" was named after a "namesake" that refers to "one who enlightens" may well indicate Mark's intention to, though focused upon his position as a ruler of an apostate synagogue, indicate that he was one who was "enlightened" and could, therefore be "one who enlightens others".
- 4. It is significant that Mark's opening "issue" at this stage of the record has to do with a man who "believed" (Jesus said to him that he was to "keep on believing" when the death of his daughter was announced).
- a) Because Mark's focus in this context is upon "the effects of believing/disbelief", it is notable that he begins with a man whose status was as one "in leadership" who did not accept the "He is from the devil" argument. [It would have been unconscionable for Jairus to appeal to Jesus for a miracle if he actually believed Jesus was "of the devil". The leaders of the synagogues were not above being "unconscionable" (as the records of the New Testament make abundantly clear), but when a man's daughter's life is at stake, we are being presented with a profound level of what made up Jairus' "love" and "faith".]
- b) It is also notable that Mark's record is of Jesus going deeper into the argument that "He is The Mighty One" by raising a dead person back to life.
- c) Mark apparently thought to dispell the notion that "only the ignorant, unwashed, masses believed in Jesus" (John 7:48, 49).
- d) It is also likely that Mark wished to reveal the "level of desperation" that pushed a "ruler" to reject the majority opinion of such "rulers". [It is often the case that people that are desperate fall back upon what they "know" for sure, not what they prefer to "believe".]