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Thomas F. Fischer, M.Div., M.S.A., Editor
The Sixth Sunday After Pentecost
Series B
Option #1: "The Master's
Authority"
Mark 5:21-24a; 35-43
Rev. Wayne Dobratz, B.S., M.Div.
1. Teaching a teacher
A. Jesus, the Teacher--Mk 10:17; John 11:28
B. Jairus, the synagogue ruler, the taught--Matt
9:28-29; John 4:48-50; Rom 4:18-24 ("Sola Fide")
2) Expelling the scoffers--v40; again later--Matt 25:41, passim
3) Restoring life--Luke 7:15; John 11:11-13; Acts 9:40-41
John Mac Arthur, Jr. on Matthew 9:23ff.: Jesus surprised and
annoyed the mourners first of all by His asking them to leave. They were
following the long-established and revered traditions set down by respected
rabbis centuries earlier. What they were doing was not only proper but required.
Jesus surprised and annoyed them even more, however, by daring to suggest that the
girl has not died, but is asleep. In scorn and derision, they began
laughing at Him. It was the hard, haughty laughter of those who gloat over a
foolish act or statement by someone to whom they feel superior. That their
weeping could so quickly turn to laughter, even mocking laughter, betrayed the
fact that their mourning was a paid act and did not reflect genuine sorrow. It
also betrayed their complete lack of faith in Jesus power to raise the girl
from the dead.
In Christ there is no longer reason to fear sickness, disease,
demons, deformity, tragedy, or even death. As believers, we can even rejoice in
dying, because our Lord has conquered death. Though we will not be brought back
to this life, we will be raised to new life. In Him is fullness of joy and life
everlasting. "No longer must the mourners weep," a poet reminds us,
"nor call departed children dead, for death is transformed into sleep and
every grave becomes a bed."
When as a young man D. L. Moody was called upon to preach a
funeral sermon, he began to search the gospels to find one of Jesus funeral
messages--only to discover that He never preached one. He found instead that
Jesus broke up every funeral He attended by raising the dead person back to
life. When the dead heard His voice, they immediately came to life.
Arthur Brisbane has pictured the funeral of a Christian as a
crowd of grieving caterpillars, all wearing black suits. As they crawl along
mourning their dead brother and carrying his cocoon to its final resting place,
above them flutters an incredibly beautiful butterfly, looking down on them in
utter disbelief.
Death can strike Gods saints in unexpected, painful, and
seemingly senseless ways. Yet He does not promise to give explanations for such
tragedies. Instead He gives the wondrous assurance that "he who believes in
Me shall live even if he dies" (John 11:25).
+ + +
Children's Message on Mark 5:22-23a; 35-43
Today I want to talk to you about something that no one wants to talk about.
No one wants to think about a child dying. But sometimes we have to think
about it. In the first church that I served I remember getting a phone call
from a nurse at the hospital. She told me that two little girls from my
church, ages eight and six, had a plugged-in hair dryer fall into the
bath tub with them. "It
doesnt look good," the nurse said. She was right. By the
time I traveled the six blocks to the hospital, they stopped trying to
revive them and they were pronounced dead. That was a very hard time, a time I
will never forget.
Nobody wants to think about it, but children can die. So you need to be
prepared for it, just as you prepare for your life.
There was a boy named Ken who must have heard a story like the one I told you.
He asked his Father what it was like to die. His father was ready for the
question. "Ken," he said, "do you remember when we went to your
Uncle Jims for that birthday party a few weeks ago? We stayed past your bed
time and you fell asleep on uncle Jims big bed. I picked you up when it was
time for us to go and I carried you on my shoulder to the car and then I laid
you on your bed. Now you dont remember any of that, do you?"
He didnt. "Well, Ken,
thats what it is like to die." You fall asleep with
faith in the Lord Jesus in a place that is not your home. Then Jesus picks you
up and carries you on his shoulder and you wake up where you belong, at home
in our Heavenly Fathers house.
In the Gospel for today, Jesus was asked to come quickly to the home of a man
named Jairus. His daughter was very sick. While Jesus was on the way to this
mans house, a messenger came. "Why
bother the Teacher anymore? Your little girl is dead." Jesus said:
"Dont be afraid; just believe." And Jesus raised that little girl
from death, just the way he will raise up you and me when he comes again.
When we die, its like Ken lying down on his uncles bed. When Jesus wakes
us up, we will be in our Fathers House. He gave us this promise: "In
my Fathers House are many rooms... I will come back and take you to be with
me that you also may be where I am."
Until then, make sure that Jesus is the most important part of your life.
Hes the only one who can help you in this life and in the life which is to
come.
+ + +
Option #2: "Cross-Cultured
Ministry"
Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43
Rev. Kelly Bedard, B.A., M.Div.
Goal: renewed understanding of and
appreciation for the miracle of our salvation
Malady: seeing God as a mere earthly problem-solver, needs-meeter
Means: the Father's dominion over life; the Son's gift of Life; the
Spirit's empowering faith
Notes:
1. Iaeiros {ee-ah'-i-ros}, v21: Jairus = "whom God enlightens" (Strong's)
2. Jairus begs that Jesus might come and sothe
his daughter... Sozo can
refer to healing or delivery from danger, but the OT often uses it to refer to
the salvation of the Israelites (Psalm 44:1-8; Isa 43:11; 45:21; 63:9; Hos
14:3) and the NT uses it to refer to Christian salvation (1 Cor 1:21; 9:22;
Eph 2:5). The stor[y] of Jairus'
daughter...[is] not just [a] healing stor[y], but [a] salvation stor[y] as
well. (Richard Donovan)
3. Jairus, the girl's father, is a synagogue official. He's trained in Old
Testament religion. He knows that when God takes away a child at age twelve,
that is not a sign of God's good pleasure toward him. In fact, it is the
opposite. He knows the words from Sinai about God's "visiting the
iniquities of the fathers upon the children." Is the girl dying because
of her father's iniquities? Is something "sick" in Jairus's link
with God? Or the God-relationship of both women? God is already
"visiting" them, touching their lives, and the touch is deadly. Is
there anything that can bring a healing touch before all is lost? Anyone?
Answer: yes indeed--and he (Jesus) is the one to whom these fearful ones go
for help. What makes such healing happen? How does he stop that deadly touch
and replace it with a healing touch? The full story of his doing it takes us
to the end of Luke where he goes to the cross. It is there that he switches
places with us. He receives God's deadly touch, meant for us, and in exchange
he offers us his healing touch. On Easter Sunday God comes to the tomb and
"touches" Jesus back to life. With that God signals his approval of
Jesus as healer, and verifies that when touched by Jesus we are healed with
God as well. And when we are healed with God, healing spreads through every
part of us.(Ed Schroeder)
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