Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 2 Study # 3
February 22, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark, following Paul's theology as given in
2 Corinthians 7:9-10, presents the "workings" of "godly sorrow" that brings about "repentance" as the "front side" of what brings salvation, and makes the point that "faith" is the non-negotiable with God.
Introduction: So far in our look into this paragraph we have seen that Mark's intention is to record the way(s) that Jesus provided His disciples with those things that are required to represent Him to others. He "made" The Twelve for the purposes of "being with Him", "being sent forth to proclaim [Him/His Gospel]", and "being sent forth to cast out demons" (
3:14). In this "being with Him" section, we have seen that Jesus provided them with "The Message" by revealing "the mystery" (of the Kingdom which they were to preach) in the form of parables which He explained in detail to them (
4:1-34). Following that, He led them into a violent storm upon the sea of Galilee so that THE issue would surface: Faith in His true identity (
4:40-41). Then, in typical Markan form, Mark recorded a corollary event in which Jesus cast thousands of unclean spirits out of a man (to answer the question of His true identity given in
4:41). Thus, by powerful dominance over physical forces of creation and by powerful dominance over thousands of rebellious spirits, He made Himself known as "The Lord" (Yahweh) according to
5:19-20.
Thus, as we began our look into this next record, we saw the major thesis set forth: "Faith" is the divine non-negotiable. Without faith it is impossible to please God and when a person operates by faith, it is impossible to not please God. When the disciples are sent forth to proclaim and to cast out demons, they must be believing and they must set forth "faith" as the only, but absolute, necessity.
We saw that Mark deliberately chose an event that would begin to nail this down: a man named "Jairus" (one who illumines), who was living a major lie as a ruler of an apostate synagogue, was forced by his circumstances to humble himself before Jesus and seek the exercise of His power for the life of Jairus' "little daughter".
This evening we are going to pursue Mark's record of this humiliation of Jairus so that we may see one of the most critical issues of "believing".
- I. Mark's Record of Jairus' Desperation.
- A. As already noted, this "Jairus" was eminently disqualified by his position in the synagogue from having any basis in legitimacy for seeking Jesus' use of His power for himself.
- B. Also, as already noted, Jesus did not turn him away because of his "mountain of disqualifying arrogance".
- C. It is in the details that we see his desperation.
- 1. He "is coming".
- 2. He "is falling before the feet of Jesus".
- 3. He "is 'summoning much'".
- 4. He "is describing his desperation".
- a. He describes his 12 year old as "my little daughter".
- 1) Mark is the only New Testament author to use this term and he uses it on twice in contexts where the diminutive "little" is rejected.
- a) Mark's use is probably sponsored by his decision to quote Jairus, who said, "My little daughter...".
- b) But Mark's use is expanded by one further use in 7:25 where the decision is his to use the term again without "quotes".
- 2) Mark's second use is an element of "literary design", using a term not used by any other to set forth a contrasting/comparable record.
- a) In the second use, there are multiple parallels with contrasts.
- i. Both records deal with "significantly unqualified" parents whose "little daughters" are in dire straits; the one at the point of death, and the other grievously tormented by an unclean spirit. (Note Mark's omnipresent pattern of 'power in the physical realm' set over against 'power in the spiritual realm'.)
- ii. Both records deal with a parent, but one is a man of significant social stature and the other is a "dog" of a woman of Syrophoenicia.
- iii. Both records deal with "potent" emotional ties to their "little daughter" (a term used only because it reveals these "potent emotional ties").
- iv. Both records deal with the "faith" issue, but the "man of stature" is weak in "faith" needing Jesus' encouragement to keep him from jettisoning it, and the "dog" woman is powerful in "faith" contradicting Jesus' initial refusal and deliberate insult [Note: Matthew 15:28 is forthright in Matthew's presentation of this woman as one "of great faith" very much like Matthew 8:10's record of the "great faith" of the centurion which Luke uses to contrast with the woman with the issue of blood in our present text in Mark 5.]
- v. In both records, the parents get what they sought from Jesus in spite of their massive disqualifying characteristics at the outset of the records.
- b) Thus, by "literary design" Mark reaffirms his major point: God requires "faith" in all cases except for those which fall under what is often called "common grace" as an action of God taken by Him for no reason except His own gracious nature.
- b. He uses another word not found anywhere else in the New Testament to describe the extreme straits of his "little daughter".
- 1) He says of her "she is having the very last things (of life)" [Note: the translators of Matthew 9:18 falsely translate the words of Jairus as "My daughter has just died" because they misunderstand Jairus' description.]
- 2) Jairus' point is that his situation is at the most extreme level, indicating that he may well have refrained from coming to Jesus earlier because of the humiliation it would cause him.
- II. Mark's Larger Point.
- A. At the beginning of his Gospel, Mark presented "repentance" as the key to forgiveness, but by the time he wrote his Gospel, "justification by faith" was a settled issue, which some have lately used to deny any place to repentance in being reconciled to God.
- B. But, for Mark, "repentance" is the front face of the "coin" of the "faith" that justifies, and the persuasion that results in what is called "faith" is the back face of that same "coin".
- C. And this is beyond dispute when we see that Paul actually taught the "theology" of this "Jairus" story in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 where he pointedly says that being forced into extreme emotional distress often leads to "repentance" that results in "salvation": Jairus is simply the historical narrative of that theology.
