Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 7 Study # 2
July 5, 2009
Lincolnton, NC
(539)
AV Translation:
41 And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44 Came behind
him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press
thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
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:
41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him to come into his house;
42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went the multitudes thronged him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any,
44 came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched.
45 And Jesus said, Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter said, and they that were with him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush
thee.
46 But Jesus said, Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me.
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
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.
- 1. As a "man named Jairus", he was responsible for living up to his identity of a "light giver".
- a. He is identified by the typical word for a "capable/responsible male". Luke 5:18 deliberately uses distinct words for "man" in order to clarify. In the previous story, the demonized Gadarene was a "capable/responsible male" (8:27 and 38). Later in Luke's record another "capable/responsible male" appealed to Jesus because he had a son who, like Jairus' daugher, was an "only begotten" (9:38). In this case, the only begotten is a boy, not a girl, and he is demonized, not ill unto death. Luke 11:31 uses the same term in the context of those who will be called to account for their responsibilities. Luke 19:2 uses the same phrase found here ("and behold a man with the name Zacchaeus") as does 23:50 ("and behold a man with the name Joseph"), which uses the same word twice in the description of him in one verse. When we look into Luke's use of "man" and "name", we discover that the first use is 1:27 which reads "a man whose name was Joseph" and the last use is 23:50 which reads "a man named Joseph".
- b. Since many "men" are left unidentified by name, we must assume that there is an importance to Luke's record of the name (for example, the "man" in 9:38 is left anonymous). The Online Bible claims that the name is of Hebrew origin and means "whom God enlightens". In our record, Jesus did, indeed, "enlighten" Jairus by raising his daughter from the dead, but He immediately restricted him from "telling anyone what He had done" (8:56). This is in deliberate contrast to the "man" who was a demonized Gadarene who was commanded by Jesus to "go and tell" (8:39). I surmise from this that, because Jesus did not want the "witness" of "Jairus" to His works, there must have been some kind of "problem". It is also "telling" that the Gadarene who was sent to "tell" goes unnamed and the synagogue ruler who was commanded to not "tell" is revealed to be "Jairus".
- 2. As a "ruler" of the synagogue, he was the one responsible for the doctrine taught in it.
- a. Luke's multiple references to the "synagogue" are not encouraging. It was in such a place that a demon confronted Jesus in Capernaum (4:33); it was in such a place that the scribes and Pharisees sought to "accuse Him" (6:7); Jesus predicted that His disciples would be brought into such a place to be accused (12:11 and 21:12); it was there that the "high seats" were established to fulfill the lust of the scribes and Pharisees for recognition (11:43 and 20:46 -- [Note James 2:3 in this respect]).
- b. It was an almost universal reality that Jesus' teaching "in the synagogues" was met with amazed ignorance. These were the front line institutions of the education of the people. Any "ruler" of such a travesty had to be "suspect" in terms of any kind of real godliness and commitment to Truth.
- c. In 18:18 it was a "ruler" that asked Him about how "good" he had to be to inherit eternal life and walked away when Jesus told him (18:23).
- d. And in 24:20 it was "our rulers" who delivered Jesus up to crucifixion.
- e. It is highly likely that this is the "problem" mentioned in 1b above. The "doctrine" of the rulers of the synagogues was far too corrupt for Jesus to want a false "light giver" to give witness to Him.
- 3. As a "daddy", he was clearly subject to the "doctrine is not important in the face of my daughter's life" temptation. Running to a demon-driven "healer" (Mark 3:22) just because the complications of life threaten "an only daughter" is hardly reflective of a man of Truth and conviction.
- 4. As all of the above, he was living with a divine statement regarding his "law-keeping": the promises of the covenant precluded the illness and death of a submissive daughter. The fact that the daughter was dying seems to be indicative of some form of divine displeasure over something. This is precisely the "line" of the synagogue: If you are ill or demonized, God is showing His displeasure with you. It's pretty tough for a "ruler of the doctrine" to have it applied so publicly to himself. But, as a former Pharisee of the highest order, Luke's mentor wrote, in Ephesians 6:2-3, that "the first commandment" associated with a "promise" was the one that read, "Honor thy father and thy mother ... that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."
- C. The action of Jairus.
- 1. The text tells us that "he fell down at Jesus' feet". The word translated "fell" indicates the complete "removal of any sort of support so that collapsing occurs". This is the typical action of those who are in terrible need, or incredible joy (Luke 5:12 and 17:16). This is the only descriptive term in the list of those applying to this man that is unreservedly of a "positive moral quality". All of the others are "tainted" by Luke's use of them in the larger context in application to "negative" persons/attitudes. However, it is possible that this "collapse" had mixed causes -- the threat of the death of an only-begotten daughter as well as the strain of having to appeal to One of whom the man had been less than supportive.
- 2. The text continues with "and besought Him". This is the term used in 8:31 and 32 of the actions of the demons when faced with Jesus' demand that they depart from their host. It is deliberately not the term used of the formerly demonized man in his request that he be permitted to accompany Jesus (8:38). It is not really the expected term for one in terrible need [Note Luke 5:12; 8:28 and 9:38]. It actually has more of the subtle overtones of "command" than it does of "beseech" [Note 3:18; and 7:4]. For those conditioned by a "dominion" attitude, it is far more "automatic" to "command" (even in "request") than it is to adopt the real attitude of a suppliant who recognizes his lack of standing.