All little Lambs: Jesus Raises Jairus' daughter from the dead

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

All little Lambs: Jesus Raises Jairus' daughter from the dead

 

In previous studies, we have already considered the times Jesus raised children of Israel from the dead. In the last study, we looked at the wondrous raising of the Widow of Nain's son, stopping a funeral procession in progress, and granting back to a mourning mother, her one surviving son. With the raising of her son, Jesus brought hope back to the mother in Israel, not far from where Elijah had raised the son of the widow of Zarephath from the dead. 

 The most astounding raising from the dead was that of Lazarus, no doubt, as so many attended, and Jesus raised a man 4 days dead, whose name means 'who God helps'. A reminder also of the admonishment, that raising from the dead is unique among the healings of the Lord, as all other healings are toward the living.  The purpose of both kinds of healing is to be made whole, but the raising from death is even more a sign to Israel, that Jesus, Yshua was "the resurrection and the Life" and not merely of the nature of prophets that had gone before. He showed not only a restoring of life once in centuries, but several times in a three year span, that life and death were held in the hands of the Lord and Savior.

As Jesus travels through the region of Galilee,  he has just prior to this event attended to the healing of the 'madman' of the Gadarenes,  who wandered through the tombs of Israel, insane and distraught.  Restored to health, Jesus sends him to tell what he has done for him,  and returns to the ship crossing back over the Galilee.  As he returns, he encounters a man named Jairus,  of whom we are only told is a "ruler of the synagogue" but certainly also a loving and :

 

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: Luke 8:41

It is noteworthy that the father seeks Jesus out, and in grief and mourning, leaves the bedside of his daughter and weeping wife, and leaves to find this 'Yshua', the son of David. News of Jesus' healings must have travelled far:  without telephones or broadcasts,  word of the cure of the madman, or the man released from the demonic spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum still must have been heard of by some who went out to see and returned 'the other side of the lake' to tell about this astonishing teacher and healer.  Perhaps it was in desperation or in utter faith, that Jairus comes to 'fall down at Jesus' feet',  a gracious act of humility and supplication.   Now, a ruler of a synagogue if he was less than humble could have approached Jesus in demanding that he come right away,  but the abasement of spirit shows a truer faith, that the Lord could indeed do something even to the point of raising the little girl from death.   This was a remarkable and loving display of great faith in Israel.

The little girl was only 12, and there is no doubt she was dying as the words 'lay a dying' or

ἀποθνῄσκω (apothnēskō)

 means to die without dissension, not merely the possibility of it.  Jesus leaves immediately at the father's request and heads to Jairus' house.  

For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him. Luk 8:42

As soon as he turns in that direction though, he is thronged by crowds of people who wish healing, teaching or who have come to see the wonder in Israel.  It must have been a trying experience for Jesus to purpose to go immediately to attend to the death of a little girl and not even be able to get through, for the press of people who confront him:  it is not unlike today that all had their self-interest at heart, perhaps even with a good motive, wishing to be healed of a multitude of diseases and devils,  but the Lord's heart was focused upon the love for a little girl and her sorrow filled family.

This is the one healing out of the Bible as far as I can recall, that is interrupted by a parenthetical healing.  As Jesus leaves to attend to Jairus' household, a woman with an issue of blood touches only the 'hem of his garment', and another healing is recounted while on the way to the little girl's side.  That healing is dealt with in another study.  After the healing of the woman, before the Savior arrives at his destination with his disciples, he is met by either servants or one of the household of Jairus:

Luk 8:49 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.

Consider that they come to tell Jairus that his daughter has died, and to keep him from beseeching the 'Master' or messiah, didaskalos meaning particularly 'teacher' (as in didactics) but as Thayer's lexicon notes, is used of the Messiah as the 'teacher of Salvation'.  Curiously no where and no one in scripture is viewed favorably for trying to stop someone from seeking Yshua. (Mark 10:14).

It took a great deal of faith to even seek out Jesus in this healing:  he was out of favor with the religious hierarchy of the day,  and many had been threatened with disfellowship from the synagogue if they followed after this itinerate Rabbi.

 

Jhn 9:22 These [words] spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.

  Jhn 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess [him], lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

Jairus, though was undaunted:  he sought the Savior, he humbled himself before the Savior, and even at the news of his daughter's death, he did not lay down his faith. Jesus though, hearing the rebuke, promises a healing beyond death:

Luk 8:50  But when Jesus heard [it], he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

We see again here, the call of Jesus for the people of Israel to "be made whole",  to come back into the state of wholeness, health, equilibrium, to the right state and condition in which they were created.  Apart from 'wholeness' we 'miss the mark' whether it is due to sin or disease (dis-ease).   We also see again though the command to “Fear Not: believe only…”   What an astounding command that is coming from the Lord and Savior about to stand beside the death bed of a child, to the broken parents.  Truly it would cruel if He had not the power to raise the little girl, but in this healing as in so many he was after their faith.

Fear is an often misunderstood concept in the Scriptures.  When we think of fear, we consider the mundane incidents of some threatening occurrence which leaves us frightened.   Fear in the scripture is sometimes used that way, and sometimes used to indicate awe or reverence, as in the admonishments to ‘fear God’  or ‘the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’.  (Psalm 111:10)  Indeed in the New Testament in the book of Revelation, fear is a sin equated with even murder, as a form of unbelief leading to spiritual death:

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Fear is a form of unbelief.  That is why Jesus is cautioning or really commanding the parents not to fear:  the fear they have is the fear of suffering the loss and the pain of mourning, of not having their beautiful daughter with them in life.     The word for fear is straightforward:

φοβέω

phobeo

The word from which derives our word ‘phobia’ or ‘phobic’.  It is speaking of raw fear, terror, or a sort of horror.  When Jesus says ‘fear not’ it is because he knows that within moments, the little girl will be back with them, alive,and the sorrow will cease, but he is looking for their faith.  “Believe only” and she shall be made whole is the prescription for fear.  ‘Believe’ and that with nothing added in: no words, no actions, no rituals or candles,  but belief:  that is what the Savior exacts from those he heals.   Fear and unbelief go together.  Belief goes with boldness and a lack of fear.  To the natural mind, this is an insurmountable task at the thought of a daughter who has just died:  to the spiritual mind, it is trust in the living God.

As Jesus approaches the bedside of Jairus’ daughter, he allows in with him only Peter, James and John, and the parents. (Luke 8: 51)   Even in this Jesus’ thoughtfulness and love for people is seen:  12 year old little girls are often very modest and concerned about what others think:  Jesus has thought ahead to her waking, and must have known it would have been too traumatic to waking from death to find a crowd staring down, not to mention the parents need for quiet and privacy at such intense emotions and act of faith.   We often read over the healings and miracles as though they occur in a vacuum,  as though Jesus perfunctorily performs the miracle or healing and then walks away.  Yet just as he is always eliciting faith from the Children of Israel and the others he heals, he also is constantly showing the love of God.

The love is God is what the whole Gospel is about, surely what the whole Bible is about.  The love for others that Jesus shows in the Gospels attend every healing though his words and actions at time may seem a little exacting:  his ultimate concern is for their health, wholeness and wellbeing,  in the context of the tenderloving kindness of God.  He turns no one away, he is not offended by the sick, or lame, or those with grotesque deformities: he does not see the people he heals as the disease nor affliction they carry but as the person afflicted by the disease in need of liberty and wholeness.  This is what the Lord offers, as he does here to mourning parents.  He is also attendant on the wholeness of the young maid.

The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter

As Jesus draws near to the little girl though,  the thing he says further confounds expectations:

Luke 8:52  And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not: she is not dead, but sleepeth.

There was no doubt here that the little girl was dead:  Jairus’ father knew she was near death when he sought Jesus; Jairus’ servants knew when they sent for Jairus to tell him not to bother the Master,  and as Jesus leaves to go to Jairus’ house and enters we find grieving parents and that “all wept and bewailed her..(Luke 8:53)”   The little girl had just passed away.   Jesus’ word then “Weep not: she is not dead, but sleepeth” seem utterly preposterous to the  crowd standing around,  yet seemingly contradictory : sleep is not death.  Jesus,  I do not believe was saying that she was not dead, only that as a point in comfort,  that death, in the hands of God, is but sleep and that further, what begins as death, in his hands becomes sleep.    In ancient mythology sleep and death were seen as ‘twins’,  and while the context is certainly not that,  Jesus though somewhat misunderstood,  is speaking life into her:  “she is not dead”.  The Life, speaks life, and life comes back from death, and indeed, ‘sleepeth’.   It was hardly the faith of the scorners who exacted the miracle of resurrection.

Jesus puts the crowd out in the room where the daughter lies,  and does two things:  he takes here by the hand, and he commands her to arise:

Luke 8:54  And he put them all out, and took her by the hand and called, saying, “Maid, Arise”.

One renown ministry, Chuck Smith in a curious word study notes through the origin of the word, that maid bears the connotation of ‘lamb’,  as in ‘little lamb arise’,  and while I truly hold to the perfection and inerrancy of the word,  there is a root for both.

 While there is no error in translation,  it points again to his merciful and tender nature, and shows the magnificent concern for the life-from-death of all of the Good and Great Shepherd’s lambs.  We have noted in other studies this command ‘arise’.     In Mark 5: 41, the exact command in Aramaic is given:

And he took the damsel by the hand and said unto her, Talitha cumi: whi is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee,arise.  Mark 5: 41.

“Talitha” or more closely ‘talita’ comes from the origin ‘taleh’ meaning lamb or a young lamb.  ‘Cumi’ comes from ‘kuom’ meaning ‘arise’ but when the interpretation is given in the scripture the word is

ἐγείρω

which is the word that indicates arise in other healings, meaning ‘arouse from sleep’  or raise from the dead, and its use as rise or raise is the eminent useage.    Curiously both phrases reflect back on the dual usage and reference of Jesus to sleep and death.

Little Lamb Arise

The culmination of the astonishing encounter,  is that she is made immediately well:

Luke 8:55  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.

The spirit of the little girl ‘comes again’ meaning it had departed , also indicating that she had indeed died,  and the healing from death is immediate.   Many modern healers lay hands on the sick,  often without even being born again believers,  and claim that though the healing does not show, it will come about.  The healings of Jesus and the apostles were immediate:  not only does this little lamb arise ‘straightway’  but Jesus, in the love of God he has walked in,  commands that she be fed,  a rather complete healing with no recovery period.   The astonished parents . Mark 5: 42 notes also that she walked. 

The fame of the incident according to Matthew 9:26 spread abroad though in the other two accounts of the gospel in which the raising is spoken of,  Jesus commands that no one should spread it abroad.   This comes up with several healings, and has always been a point of discussion:  why would Jesus not want people to tell of the healing?

It is clear that regardless of any admonition of Jesus not to spread it abroad, almost every time the command went out in Israel it was disobeyed.   I have always suspected it was because the crowds were already growing out of control,  and it was very difficult for Jesus to find the quiet and rest he needed to draw near to the Father (he was one with the Father, but the quiet and prayer were still necessary in a tabernacle of flesh),  and the clamor of the noisome world must have been almost painful to him.  

The little girl arose though, returned to her parents, and the news of a raising from death spread across Israel.  It was the foreshadowing with the other resurrections, of one yet to come, which would astonish the world for the next 2000 years.

Till next time.  Grace and Peace from the Lord and Savior, Blessings.

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Posted by Elizabeth K. Best, PhD at 1/25/2011 02:29:00 PM

A Second Widow's Son: The Messiah to Nain

According to AncientSandals.com the city of Nain was located just 7 miles outside of Nazareth, where the Lord and Savior was raised, and one could see it from Nain. Nain lay just on the north side of Moreh, the hill of the Rabbi, the place Abraham had set the first altar of God, between Sichem and Moreh. The authority and sovereignty of the 'shoulder' (Sichem or Shechem) and the hill of the Rabbi leave little doubt, that this place was ordained one day for a great work of God, and the history of Israel had already proven it: long before Jesus came to Nain, Elijah had already raised the son of the Shulamite widow, the Widow of Zarephath, in a city nearby[] many centuries before the day the Lord and his disciples came to the gate of Nain.¹

Jesus and his disciples have just been in Capernaum the day before, where he encountered a Roman Centurion, a friend of the local synagogue, who pleaded on behalf of his servant who was sick. Healing the soldier's servant by the word of his mouth, Jesus commended the Centurion, a gentile, for faith greater than he had found in Israel: a remarkable commendation.The authority of the Lord and Savior was comprehended by a representative of brutal Rome, who understood power and authority.

Leaving Capernaum, on the next day, Jesus and his disciples come to the gates of the city of Nain, meaning 'pleasant'.

Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.

Jesus walked always in sovereign paths, so it would be error to suggest that they 'happened on' a funeral in a random city, nonetheless Jesus and his disciples,as they enter the gate of Nain on the North side of Moreh, encounter the weeping and mourning of a death procession for the only son of a widow of Nain.

Funeral processions in those days in Israel were not the sanitized ceremonies we have now in the 21st century, with brief memorials. Death and life were important in Israel, and even though death was all around in Roman-occupied Israel, through open killings and crucifixion, and even live burnings. Remembering the deceased person, though was not an hour long quiet memorial: it often lasted days, especially for an important person. When Jacob [Israel] dies, Joseph leads a band of Egyptian government officials back to Machpelah and 'AbelMizraim' {the sorrow of Egypt] to make mourning for his father, lasting some time:

Gen 50:9And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which [is] beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. Gen 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This [is] a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which [is] beyond Jordan.

The death of the great man and father Jacob was mourned first seven days with a small army and entourage in attendance, even commemorating with a name change the place of mourning. As Jesus enters into Nain, though the son's name is not mentioned, nor is there knowledge of his eminence, there does appear to be a great attendance on the death of this only son:

Luk 7:12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

Widows and only Sons

The plight that met the widow on that sad morning, caused Jesus to be greatly moved: it is not made clear when his own earthly father Joseph died, but it appears to have been before his ministry, so Jesus both from the mind of Messiah as well as from experience growing up knew how hard it was for a widow in Israel. These were the days long before welfare systems and retirement homes: a woman whose husband died was remanded to family members to care for her: if the man had brothers or a living father, they were to provide for her, and in both testaments, 'raise up seed' for the deceased son. If a woman had no living relatives, her children were to care for her if she was of a certain age, for it was hardly a day of women's rights, and women were seldom hired for more than menial tasks. A widow therefore would hardly be able to take care of herself, and given the rebuke of Jesus to the Pharisees regarding the 'devouring of widow's houses' it was highly likely, that little help was to be found at the Temple, though this was their charge. (e.g. Anna the prophetess who abode at the temple).

One can only imagine that the hardship for this widow in Nain was even worse than for most, for having lost her husband, she now was losing her son, which meant a very sorrowful life of want and trial in old age. Jesus had compassion. He comforts her and admonishes her not to weep; this would certainly be insensitive, unless he intended a great work of God to follow:

Luk 7:13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

Much of what Jesus does in the New Testament does not require words, or only requires words. As Jesus comforts the widow, the admonition not to weep is with great cause: he walks over to the bier that the pallbearers are carrying and with only a touch, they stop, and Jesus commands the son who has died, to rise:

Luk 7:14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare [him] stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

It is interesting to note that the pallbearers stand still with Jesus' touch of the bier. It is also interesting to note that Jesus is touching death: if the son did not arise at command, this would have been an unclean act for a rabbi in Israel. Jesus does touch the bier though, and gives the command so often heard "Arise".
The word 'arise' seems very clear, and certainly is, just as it is accurate. The greek word for arise is





ἐγείρω

The meaning can range from getting up from a static position, to rising from death,  and is used in many of the healings Jesus and later the apostles performed.  At the very least, the implication is a change in state.

No sooner are the words spoken by the Lord,  the young man from Nain sits up in his coffin and begins to speak.  The dead son is no longer dead, and is delivered to his mother:

"And he that was dead sat up and began to speak.  And he delivered him to his mother"  Luke 7:15

The reaction of the people at the funeral,  wailing in the procession,  is understandably one of raw astonishment:  they had no doubt heard of Jesus and the miracles he was performing in the region:  having just arrived from Capernaum,  a short distance,  he had just healed by word alone the Centurion's servant, and previously cast out devils in the synagogue there.  Similarly, his fame was spreading rapidly,  as he healed a man of palsy,  Peter's mother-in-law,  and a multitude of others:  even John the Baptist in Herod's prison, sent messengers to ask him if he were the Messiah or were they to look for another.   As the disciples walked into Nain, and as Jesus spoke the words that healed the mother's only son,  the fulfillment of their expectations was solidified.

The passage regarding their reaction mentions that they were struck with fear.

"and there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people." 7:16

There is a healthy fear of God that often confronts one who encounters God in a 'theophany' or 'christophany' such as when Daniel is confronted by an angel from Heaven, or similarly, Ezekiel.  The awe and glory of God is great, unexpected,  and beyond the range of normal experience.   In the venue of 'normal' experience, we adapt easily to things within a general range of experience.  When something unexpected or even phenomenal happens, we still have the ability to assimilate or accommodate the new information:  e.g. if someone sees an object in the sky that is not an expected one,  they 'adapt' the idea to the category of 'flying objects'  and until more is known, are satisfied with the general comfort zone of what they believe will be explained.

Here, though,  the crowd is at a funeral:  they are headed in the direction of a burial,  and instead of a burial and mourning,  the intrusion of life over death enters in,  defying description or understanding and causing fear:  Israel was no stranger to at least some miracles by this point, they were the 'children of the prophets' and through the centuries there had been many unusual events,  including the raising of a child to life by Elijah, (1 Kings 17:21-22) or the miracle of the 8 days of oil for the Maccabees.  However, the one raising from death was many centuries before, and oil lasting 8 days, while astonishing, is not the same, as a boy sitting up at his funeral,  raised from death by the touch of the Messiah.   Fear is often a reaction to what cannot be understood or comfortably fit into any mental or emotional framework we understand.   Certainly also, the presence of Messiah was so astounding that even the touching of his hem in one instance brought healing: there was a sense of his glory.   The first assumption though, was that Jesus was a prophet, or 'nabe' for at least the office of prophet still existed and was comprehended. (e.g. Anna and Simeon, at Jesus' birth both gave prophetic utterances and blessings).

In any event, the fear was more of an awesome fear,  equated with 'God visiting his people':  the people who witnessed the raising from death did not see it as some mere 'rousing from sleep',  but as a real coming back to life,  which indicates that there was no question in the minds of all that the son had indeed died.

In the end,  restored to life and his mother,  Jesus had brought unspeakable joy and hope to the bleakest of situations.   Rumors regarding the event stirred though, and also travelled throughout all Israel:   as mentioned, when John the Baptist heard, he immediately dispatched his disciples to inquire of Christ's Messiahship.    They ask:

Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 7:20b

Before Jesus even answers,  the answer comes in the events before them: 

7:21  And in that same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.

Opening the eyes of the blind was a sign of Messiah,  and here, Jesus raises the dead, cures disease, casts out evil spirits and heals blindness,  in addition to the opening of the eyes of the man blind since birth in John 9.  These miraculous events were for a purpose in Israel:  they were to confirm and declare the Messiah by signs which were prophesied in the Torah over the centuries.  Jesus answers the question of whether he is the Messiah or not for John's disciples succinctly:

"Go you way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the ded are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.  23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." Luke 7:22-3

Here in Nain, the Resurrection and the Life shows his sovereign power over life and death:  there is no power death holds, than he holds one greater.  This son of God, son of David, and son of a mother who by then it is assumed was alone in the world,  understood completely the plight of woman attending her son's funeral.   Beyond mere Love (as if it is 'mere'),  the love of God is demonstrated in the raising from death and countless other healings,  which declare that the power and presence of God is among men, and there for a purpose.  The one who affirms, "I am the Resurrection and the Life"  and " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"  gives life, and before the end of his ministry,  will show the great triumph, of life over death.

Till the next. ekbest.


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¹"Nain", in Ancient Sandals[http://www.ancientsandals.com/overviews/nain.htm]