Mark 5:38-39
Have
you noticed how some people get spun up over the seemingly smallest things!
They go from zero to sixty emotionally in an instant. You try to reason with
them, but it is almost as if they can’t hear what you are saying, their
emotions get in the way. To an outsider their reaction makes little sense,
since it is out of proportion to the situation.
Often
the emotional reaction seems to get others caught up in the emotions. Soon it
isn’t one person, but a whole group who are reacting.
Not
all emotional scenes are out of proportion to the situation. Sometimes emotions
being expressed is a good thing, a healthy thing, a positive thing. When
someone dies it is a good thing to express emotions and not keep all the pain
bottled up inside. Some cultures do a better job at allowing these emotional
expressions than others. Many Western cultures do a pretty poor job at allowing
public expressions of emotion. The British call this having a “stiff upper
lip.”
Our
text records a crowd of people acting appropriately. A young girl has died.
This is something worth crying about! There is something deep inside us that
yells, “Children aren’t supposed to die before their parents!” So the crowd has
gathered to express their support for this family. They are joining them in
their grief. The family doesn’t need to feel alone while they walk through
their pain.
Jesus
comes upon this scene and knows that He is going to raise this girl back to
life. He knows the emotions are not helpful to the eventual outcome. He knows
the tears and crying are not necessary since he has arrived.
Jesus
tells the crowd and the family, including Jairus who came to get Him, that the
girl is not dead but asleep. Now either Jesus is telling this crowd that none
of them know what dead is, or Jesus is using the term asleep to indicate that
her state is temporary. I am sure they tried to wake her up when she first
died. I am sure they checked to see if she was breathing. All the noise and
commotion certainly would have woken her up, if she was capable of waking up.
The
reality is that if Jesus had not arrived she would be buried that day, as was
the custom. Even if she was in a deep coma, she would be in the ground within
hours. If Jesus hadn’t come, no matter her condition, the chapter had been
written. She was dead.
Why
does this matter? When Jesus enters a scene everything can change. Even the
worst marriage, the affairs, the addictions, the hurts, can be changed. The
worst financial situations, Jesus can change it. It might mean bankruptcy and
years of voluntary repayment, but Jesus’ grace will see you through it. The
most rebellious child can be changed. It might take some tough choices, like
intervention, treatment, jail. But Jesus can change a heart when He is invited
in to stay.