Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 2 Study # 4
March 1, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(210)
1901 ASV
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 Request.
- A. Its particulars.
- 1. "Having come" directly indicates the request began with "Come...".
- a. This "come" is actually an aorist participle attached to a primary verb, "lay [your hands] upon [her]", so that it is Jairus' description of what must happen for the real request to be fulfilled. Jesus, said Jairus, must "come" so that He might be close enough to this "little daughter" to reach out His hands and place them upon her so that she "might be 'saved' and 'live' ".
- 1) The "real" request was that his "little daughter" might "live".
- 2) The "preliminary requirements were two: You must come; You must lay your hands upon her.
- b. Very interestingly, this verb is first used by Mark in 1:7 where the announcement is made that "The Strong One is coming...".
- c. After that beginning, Mark used this verb in 82 more texts, the second of which (1:9) directly ties John's announcement of "The Strong One is coming..." to Jesus from Nazareth.
- d. This characterization of "The One Coming" is rooted in the prophecies Mark quoted regarding John's identity as forerunner to "The Lord" (identified in Isaiah 40:1-3 and Malachi 3:1) as "Yahweh", The One Whose "tabernacle" stands as a declaration of His "having come" into the realms of this creation as "Our Great God and Savior" according to Titus 2:13, Whose second "coming" we await).
- 1) The word used in Malachi 3:1, translated "temple" by the NASB, was originally used in the pre-temple days to refer to both the tabernacle and to certain specific parts of it (such as the sleeping quarters where Samuel slept as a child; 1 Samuel 3:3).
- 2) David used this word in 2 Samuel 22:7 to refer to the place of God's residence from which He heard David's appeal. The larger context strongly implies that God was "in heaven" and heard David's appeal from there, but the point is that Yahweh's "residence" is the "tabernacle" (Revelation 21:3), whether on the earth or in heaven.
- 3) The point is that Jesus "tabernacled" among us (John 1:14) by "coming".
- e. The implication is very strong that "The Strong One" must "come" in order to bring His "Salvation" and "Life", the two things which comprise the request of Jairus. As an aside, it is interesting that the centurion of Matthew 8 notoriety did not seem to think that Jesus "must come"; He had only to speak the word.
- 1) Jairus is clearly in the middle of the "Truth" that the Deliverer had to "come" and "tabernacle" among us in order to save us. The centurion was not of that theological/ historical tradition so that he naturally did not see Jesus' "coming" as a necessity; for him, the necessity was that Jesus exercise the authority that He possessed.
- 2) This explains the "having come", but not the laying on of hands.
- 2. "You might place the hands upon her...".
- a. The "laying on of hands" is another major theme of Scripture, running a long gamut between contact for the purpose of accomplishing a task (3:1-6 as a record of a man whose ability to do work with his hand was non-existent (and Jesus did not lay His hands upon him), and 6:2 as a record of the awareness that Jesus' abilities were demonstrated by the use of His hands) to contact for the purpose of distributing a blessing (the greatest example of which is Acts 8:17-18).
- b. Mark's first reference to this action is in the record of Jesus' healing of Simon's mother-in-law in 1:30-31. This is notable as the initial demonstration of "Strength" as it applies to physical realm needs, which followed strongly on the heels of Jesus' initial demonstration of "Strength" as it applies to spiritual realm authority over spirits in the synagogue on the Sabbath in 1:21-29.
- c. This is a second strong implication: "The Strong One" must "lay hands upon" the one in need to communicate His impact. Interestingly, in the interrupting record in this paragraph, it is the woman who "makes the contact" to receive the blessing and not Jesus.
- d. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, cautioned him about his "laying on of hands" because it created a link between both parties to the degree that they shared responsibility for what was done by the established link (1 Timothy 4:14 and 5:22).
- B. Its desired outcome.
- 1. Jairus wanted his "little daughter" to be "saved".
- a. Mark's use of this verb, unlike the knee-jerk response of so many in our day who think that deliverance from divine wrath is the meaning in every place, also runs a gamut that began in 3:4 of "deliverance from some form of harm to life" to the idea in 10:26 that "being saved" means "being qualified to enter into the kingdom of The God", the ultimate "deliverance into Life".
- b. It is clear that Jairus' main interest is the preservation of his "little daughter" from physical death, but there may have been deeper issues lurking in the shadows of his mind.
- 1) According to John's initial message regarding "repentance leading to forgiveness", Jairus had already "been saved" because of his "repentance" that resulted in his turn to Jesus for a need he could not meet.
- 2) But, whether Jairus had made this connection yet in his own mind/heart, is debatable, being over-concerned about the physical situation facing his "little daughter".
- 3) There is a "straight line logic" from physical need to spiritual deliverance, but not all men are aware of it.
- 2. Jairus wanted his "little daughter" to "live".
- a. Bottom line: "live" has two major spheres of application that can be bifurcated into distinctly separate issues.
- b. As above, we do not know whether Jairus had the understanding to put the two together, or not. We do not know if his concern was for both his "little daughter's" danger in the physical realm of life and in the eternal realm, or was so distraught by the impending end of physical life that he did not consider anything more.
- C. Jesus' response: He departed with him.