Mark 5:35 says, While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? While Jesus was healing the woman, people came to tell the ruler of the synagogue that his daughter had died. He had come to Jesus seeking His help, and by all appearances it was too late for Jesus to help him. We should never reach the point where we believe that Jesus cannot restore us to spiritual life, no matter how long we have been spiritually dead. Verse thirty-six adds, As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. When Jesus heard what the people told the ruler of the synagogue, He told the man to not be afraid, but to only believe in Jesus. When things seem totally hopeless today, we as followers of Christ need not be afraid, but need to only to put our faith in Jesus. If you have not put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, as long as you are alive, there is hope if you do, not matter what the people of the world may say. Never allow the word of those who do not believe in Jesus Christ to lead you to believe that there is no hope of salvation for you. Verse thirty-seven continues, And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. Jesus had the man and Peter, James and John to follow Him. We are not told why Jesus did not have the other disciples come with Him, only that He didn't. We may not always understand why Jesus calls some people to a certain task and not others, but we need to only be concerned with what we are called to do. Verse thirty-eight concludes, And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue ruler, the people there were weeping and wailing in distress. I am not sure if they knew that the man had gone to Jesus for help or not, but they were definitely focused on the situation, and not on Jesus. As Christians, no matter how bad things may be, we need to keep our focus on Jesus. Verse thirty-nine declares, And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. As Jesus arrived to see the man's sick daughter, He met a bunch of mourners. They were looking at what they saw as the facts, and not at Jesus and His power. Sometimes, we may be mourning or in despair over a situation because we are focusing on what we see to be the facts instead of on bringing the problem to Jesus. Some people even use facts about their life to keep them from coming to Jesus for salvation, believing that they are too spiritually dead to ever be revived. As long as a person has breath and the ability to think it is never too late to come to Jesus for salvation. Jesus asked them why they were making so much ado, and they told Him that the damsel was dead. Jesus replied that she was not dead, but was sleeping. Verse forty adds, And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. When Jesus entered the room where the damsel lay, after saying she was only sleeping, they laughed at Him with scorn. If we focus on what we think we know instead of focusing on Who Jesus is, we may be filled with doubt and basically laugh at what Jesus is telling us. Jesus put everyone out but the parents. Sometimes, we may need to remove the doubters and scoffers from our midst in order to see God work miracles. We certainly need to remove scoffing and doubting from our life if we want to see Jesus do miraculous things. I believe the parents still had hope that Jesus could heal their daughter. Even if everyone around us loses faith in the power of Jesus Christ, we cannot do so. Verse forty-one continues, And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Jesus when He came to the daughter said to her, “Arise." When Jesus comes to us while we are still spiritually dead, He is going to call on us to arise from our spiritual death. Verse forty-two states, And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. The damsel, who was twelve years old, arose and walked. When Jesus calls us to arise by faith in the salvation that He provides, we need to respond by getting up spiritually and walking by His commands. The people were greatly astonished. I believe that we should feel a sense of astonishment today anytime a person is saved, or made spiritually alive, by faith in Jesus Christ. This whole series of events started by a father coming by faith to Jesus to get healing for his daughter. When we come to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and Lord, it has an effect not only on us, but on others as well. Verse forty-three adds, And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat. Jesus told them not to tell anyone what had happened, whereas today we have the command to tell everyone. Just as this happened by one man coming to Jesus by faith, the first step anyone needs to take today to be spiritually healed and have everlasting life is to come to Jesus Christ by faith in Him as their personal Savior and Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment