Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 2 Study # 14
June 1, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus' responses to the manifestations of unbelief and faith illuminate, again, His non-negotiable: Faith.
Introduction: In our studies of the intertwined stories of the ruler of the synagogue and the woman with the on-going issue of blood, we have determined that Mark's purpose in the record was to establish, for the disciples, the main truth for all of mankind: God absolutely requires "faith" in the relationship that He offers to men. This is not to say that He absolutely requires "faith" in order to be gracious to men, but one-way "grace" does not a relationship make. God is generally "gracious" in His dealings with all of His creation, but He does not extend the benefits of a "relationship" with Himself to anyone who rejects His grace-based self-revelation. His goal in extending grace to men is to either draw them into a personal relationship with Himself, or to make them inexcusably accountable so that He may be vindicated in His judgment of them on the day when He brings all of creation into judgment. Thus, "salvation is
by grace
through faith" and "judgment is a
demonstration of the
rebellion of disbelief and a rejection of the grace of God".
The study before us this evening is a return to the record of the resuscitation of the "little daughter" of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue in light of Mark's greater thesis: "faith" yields the promised outcome and "unbelief" leads to divine ostracism as Jesus brings God's "grace unto Life" and "grace unto Judgment" theses into overt demonstration.
- I. "Grace Unto Judgment".
- A. Those "judged" are the friends and family of "the ruler of the synagogue".
- 1. The designation of the father of the "little daughter" as "ruler of the synagogue" is deliberately the designation by four uses of the word (5:22, 35, 36, and 38) in spite of Mark's revelation of his "name" (Jairus, "one who enlightens") after the first use.
- 2. The people in this "ruler's" house showed a significant level of antagonism to Jesus when He arrived, and Mark's reason for this revelation of that antagonism needs to be understood.
- a. By this time, Jesus had a widespread, earned, reputation as both a "Teacher" and an executor of a level of power no one in Israel had ever seen before.
- 1) We have already noticed the negative vibes of the use of "Teacher" by those who reported to "the ruler of the synagogue": they, without reason, reduced Jesus to a "words only" 'teacher' when it came to the largest "problem" brought to Him to date: death.
- 2) When Jesus is being viewed as entering the house and making His declaration that the response of the people was inappropriate, the record reports that "they laughed at Him" by using a word that means the "laughter" was derisive [Luke actually says that this "laughter" was because they "knew" the girl died: 8:53].
- b. When we ask, "How is it that they laughed at Him, given His indisputable reputation?", we are faced with the deliberate four-fold description of the father of the dead girl as "ruler of the synagogue" rather than the more personal and favorable "Jairus".
- 1) This insistence that we view "Jairus" as "a ruler of the synagogue" is instructive: Mark is directly implying that the people's response of high disregard was due to their links to "rulers of synagogues" in the light of 3:22, the record of the "official" determination of "Jerusalem".
- 2) Thus, "Jairus" was faced with the outcome of his own failure as a Jairus.
- 3) This is a part of the residue of the biblical principle that "God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that shall he reap" (even after "repentance" and "faith in Jesus").
- a) As a "faith" issue, we see a distinction between the woman and Jairus.
- i. The woman's "faith" was rooted in Old Testament revelation.
- ii. Jairus' "faith" was now rooted in Jesus' own words (Luke 8:49).
- b) This distinction moves Jesus' words as "The Teacher" into the realm of divine revelation on a par with Old Testament revelation.
- B. The disbelief and laughter did not keep Jesus from being "gracious", but it did block them from any participation in its benefits.
- 1. Jesus treated the scoffers just like He did the demons.
- a. The word translated "putting them all out" is the same term that Mark uses to describe Jesus' "casting out" of demons in ten of the fifteen uses of the word in Mark's record.
- b. It is also used to describe how Jesus forced the "robbers" in the temple out (11:15).
- c. Its uses often carry strong overtones of irresistible force (9:47 and 12:8).
- 2. Even Jesus' words are selected to allow people to escape the obvious if they choose to do so.
- a. "...the child did not die but is sleeping..." (5:39).
- b. Jesus used the words according to their "bottom line meaning" and not according to the deceptive definitions given by unbelieving men.
- II. "Grace Unto Life".
- A. This reality is revealed by, first, Jesus giving Jairus a specific exhortation with an unrecorded (by Mark) implication: "keep trusting Me".
- B. This reality is further revealed by the fact that Jesus specifically drew both father and mother (as well as Peter, James, and John) into the room where the child lay dead.
- C. And, climactically, Jesus strongly demands that the child "arise" and, according to His words, she did.
- D. And Jesus insisted that they keep what happened to themselves.
