Epiphany 6 – February 19, 2017
Miracles #7: Jesus’ Power Over Death
Mark 5:21-24,35-43
In the name of our Lord and Savior, dear friends,
What I have here is a Pizza Box, and it has been sitting in my office since Wednesday night when we had pizza. I was wondering if maybe you would like a piece? Why not? Do you think there might be something wrong with it? It would make you sick? But I have another surprise for you – the box is empty! It’s only a shell, a container. The real thing is long gone.
That is a picture of what’s like when a person dies. Some might think that there’s nothing good, like a spoiled pizza. But we know the truth. Those who believe in Jesus have gone away to be with the Lord in heaven, and all that’s left is an empty box, a shell! The shell may get crumpled up too—ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but the real person, the thinking, living conscious part, which we call the soul, is with God in heaven. We can be so sure of it because that’s what God’s Word teaches us. “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. John 11:27
And there’s more! Just like Jesus raised the young girl from the dead, he has also promised to raise each of us up! Our containers are not thrown away, but God will put the real you back together into your container – only it will be a body without problems, without weakness or pain, without sin or disease, a glorious body that will live forever! That’s what I call a miracle! It was all foreshadowed that day in Capernaum when a little girl came to life again.
Did Jesus actually raise this young girl from the dead, or did family and friends make a mistake in diagnosis? Perhaps she was simply unconscious or in a coma? Did Jesus really do all those miraculous things the Bible says he did?
My answer is Yes!! Or course he did those things. We believe in miracles. But be prepared for the skeptic to scoff: “You believe in miracles? You believe exactly what that old book says? Bah. You’re out of touch with reality.”But it’s the same people who don’t know how to handle the reality that this life ends, and sickness and death are very real. Many people would like to avoid those subjects entirely. They don’t want to think about what happens when we get sick or old or die. Let’s all pretend that we’ll always be strong and healthy, and that no one gets older than 39!!! So who’s out of touch with reality?
What a joy to know that we have a Lord with power over everything and that includes death itself. With eyes of faith we see that power today, as we witness:JESUS’ POWER OVER DEATH.
- Hear His Promise
Let’s set the scene, as we go to Capernaum. Daddy’s little girl was dying. The little girl he had held in his arms and rocked as a baby, the little girl who had sat in his lap and laughed at his jokes, the little girl who had just been running and playing and was rushing to grow up to be a woman at the age of 12, this little girl was now so sick on her bed that it seemed she wasn’t going to make it. Daddy’s name was Jairus and he is described as one of the synagogue rulers, which is as close as they came back then to being a pastor of the local church. What do you think Jairus thought and felt? “Why is this happening to us? I’ve done my best for God and our daughter has been a good girl. This doesn’t make sense.” But he had one last hope. Maybe Jesus, the promised Messiah, could do something for his dying daughter. So he came to Jesus to seek his help.
As they were trying to make their way through the suffocating crowds, a messenger came from his house. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Why bother the teacher any more?" All Jairus’ hopes died too. Yes, why bother? But Jesus said: "Don't be afraid; just believe.” Was there hope? Could he believe that she would be all right? What was Jesus going to do? There was nothing to do but wait and see.
When we must face the reality of death, listen again to Jesus’ promise: Don’t be afraid, only believe. That’s the hardest to do when we have to face the mortality of young children. Oh how we pray that each one on the TV commercials could be healed. It’s so hard to understand that from God’s perspective of eternity 6 or 10 or 12 years of life is not a huge difference from 80 or 90 years. So we fear for our children or grandchildren, Jesus says: “Don’t be afraid, only believe. Your times are in my hands. Trust me.” That’s not always so easy because we want that child to be alive and we know that there are only a few times in the history of the world where God brought people back to life again on this earth.
There is a legitimate reason why we are afraid of those situations. Death is not a friend, it’s an enemy. St. Paul says: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Death is an enemy, but it will be destroyed. When Jesus returns that will be the death of death! As we get older, each day brings us closer to that day of earthly death. Hear Jesus’ promise: “Don’t be afraid, only believe. Whoever believes in me will not perish but have everlasting life.” So even though I don’t always understand why God takes some people home at such a young age, I trust in his promises. We don’t have to be afraid of death.
Parents, sometimes you may wonder how to deal with that very real subject of death with your children. Should we try to hide it? Leave them at home with a babysitter instead of going with you to the funeral? Often it’s the parents who have a harder time dealing with death than the children. The children are almost always ready to trust with a child-like faith when we can say: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe. Jesus promised to take Grandpa to heaven.”
Even when we believe, there is a certain amount of fear about the unknown. It’s much like taking that first airplane trip, or trying out the new ride at a theme park. You know it’s safe, but you’ve never done it before. It can be scary, but there’s no need to fear. That’s how we can treat earthly death. You know it’s safe to die in the arms of Jesus, but you’ve never done it before and that makes it scary. Hear again his promise: “Don’t be afraid. Only believe. In my Father’s house are many mansions. I am going there to prepare a place for you….I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Yet the times will come when we are filled with sorrow and grief; Let us not only hear his promise but also:
2. See His Perspective
When Jesus arrived at the house, we hear: all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."
Jesus’ perspective on the earthly death of a Christian is sleep!
Many times, people try to cover up death and use nice sounding phrases that are intended to hide the reality of death. “He passed.” we say. Or “she’s no longer with us.” If we’re having a hard time with the death of a loved one, it’s isn’t always very easy to say: He died. Was that what Jesus was doing?
More than once, Jesus described earthly death as a sleep. The soul lives on, but the body, the part that died, is asleep—waiting for the resurrection of the last day. When we die, our bodies are going to sleep for awhile, even though they fall apart and return to dust. So we can say: He passed, on to a better life in heaven. She’s no longer with us on earth, but is in heaven. Or he’s asleep, because some day Jesus will come back and wake us all up, he will raise our bodies out of the bed of the grave. .
For the mourners in Jairus’ house, talk of sleep seemed ridiculous. They knew the reality: this little girl was dead! So we read: They laughed at him, know-ing that she was dead. This was not a funny laugh, it was scorn. Who is this guy? Comes in here and says she is only sleeping? Who does he think he is?” Ah..that’s the problem – they don’t know who this Jesus was! They didn’t know that he has all power, even over death itself!
Scorners still abound today, who ridicule Jesus’ power over death. They see Jesus as some kind of rabbit’s foot, a good luck charm, who helps some people get through the humps and bumps of life, but can do no real good. That’s why Marx and others called religion the opiate of the masses. But all scorn and laughter evaporates in the face of their own deaths. As one Christian writer puts it: There is one single fact with which we may oppose all scoffers, namely that no man ever repented of being a Christian on his deathbed. Jesus not only gives us the proper perspective, but then leads us to:
3. Witness His Power
Let us go with him and five others, mother and father and three disciples, to the upper bedroom where the little girl lay. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talithakoum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat. With two simple words, “TalithaKoum,” “Dear little girl, arise,” Jesus wielded his power over death. Her spirit or soul returned to her body. But more than that, she was healed of whatever had caused her death. She probably had not eaten for a few days while sick, but was now whole and ravenously hungry. So Jesus gave some very practical advice: Get her something to eat!
And think of that little girl. It must have been like falling asleep, but when she woke up and opened her eyes, she saw Jesus! One day we will experience the same thing. We will open our eyes on the other side of death’s door, and see Jesus face to face, and know that all our hopes and our faith were not in vain.
Jesus’ power over the death of one nameless little girl is like a crack in the door, just a glimpse of the full glory of his true power. That door was blown right off its hinges, when Jesus himself died and rose again in all glory. Death had no hold on him, and its power cannot hold us down either. Just as surely as death is real, so real is the truth of Jesus’ promise: Because I live, you will live also. Because Jesus left the grave, so will we. Because he is alive for all eternity, so it will be for us! Thank God for his miracles! Amen!