In a spiritual grand-slam, Jesus was about to complete 2 more miracles that combined with His first 2 would produce 4 sequential “proofs” of His identity as the literal Son of God. In just the space of a few days, Jesus opens with commanding nature and it obeys. In this He proved He is our Creator, and the Creator of this world, no matter what evolutionists would like to say about the rules of science. For wind, wave, and storm though inanimate, hear the voice of He who made them and do His will in an instant. The distance across the lake is transcended in the blink of an eye, thus bending time and space, all within the first hit of this spiritual grand-slam … nature, time and space bend to the will of God alone. Next He commands nearly two thousand demons to leave the body of a man beyond human ability to help. Satan and his many hosts cannot stand in front of the light of love that emanates from Jesus Christ. Nearly 2 legions of the supernatural are dismissed in a single command. Satan and his followers do not cede to the commands of men, but in front of Christ are powerless to resist. In his second hit, Jesus demonstrates no enemy can stand before Him, truly Love conquers all.
As Peter continues recounting the story in the gospel of John Mark in chapter 5, Jesus will end a lifelong disease and fatal in His time of (hemophilia); which was again beyond human capacity to heal. No illness was beyond His ability to heal, no affliction including that of our deep-rooted addiction to sin, was or is beyond His reach to heal even now. Then finally as the fourth act in this sequence, Jesus would bring back to life she who was dead. Not even death was beyond the scope of He who was and is the author of all life. Four times in a row, Jesus would demonstrate time and time again, that He was and IS our Creator. He can bring back to life that which was dead and dying. He can restore what we cannot. He can heal what is beyond our reach. Perhaps it is our reach itself, that interferes with His ability to do just that for us here and now. Perhaps if we were to be satisfied with the role of stunned observer, relying solely on Him to do what He has demonstrated He can do, our lives would be entirely different here and now. The lessons of these stories were not meant to be those of history alone, but object lessons of what is possible in His name today. Perhaps we should ponder this perspective as we examine the opening of His third and fourth acts in this sequence.
Peter picks up the recollection in verse 21 as John Mark transcribes saying … “And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.” Jesus had accomplished His mission to free the demoniac and now returned back to the other side of the sea where He had recently been preaching. There was no point to attempting another storm to kill Him, as His command over nature had been firmly established. The disciples did not need a repeat encounter to remember what would forever be etched into their memory. A lesson perhaps for us; we sometimes encounter the miracles of Christ in our lives. They are great, mysterious, and have a profound impact on us. But as time passes we tend to forget how great His love to us truly was. It fades, and we begin to ask, where God is, as if He had never interacted with us at all. Yet what happened, happened. It does not have to be repeated to be as real. No matter how often, or seldom (due to our convenient memories), our God interacts with us, He does in fact, interact with us.
Peter then recalls a surprising encounter as John Mark writes in verse 22 saying … “And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,” A closer examination of this truth is warranted here. In our day there is movement entitled Black lives matter. It is a slogan based on the point of view of oppression. Our black brothers and sisters attempt to call out the injustice they experience from our policing organizations sometimes based solely in the difference in skin color. Our black family calls for an end to injustice and oppression from those who have no basis for this treatment - though not all police are guilty of it. The broader prevailing view is to extend the sentiment to encompass not only our black family members, but ALL our family members. To say ALL lives matter is to say that injustice and oppression are experienced more by the poor than by those of means. Poverty is often more the recipient of injustice and extends not just to those of black skin color, but of Hispanic, Asian, Native Americans, and White. The idea of ALL lives matter extends even to our policing organizations as their service is critical to our social order and well-being, and not all policemen are corrupt or inflict injustice to those who are poor, or of darker skin tone.
But what Peter describes here is a level beyond that. The Pharisees and Sadducees, the “rulers of the synagogue” were committed to killing Jesus Christ. This was not just injustice and oppression by the powers of the day, by the policing force of the day, it was an intention to kill innocence with the full knowledge of innocence. This ruling group was unlike our police force. Our police force has a small minority of participants who wreak injustice, and reveal corruption, but the majority of it are well intentioned and trying to do their best for our society. The facts bear this out, as crime is not out of control and it would be, if the majority of police officers were corrupt themselves and also engaging in it. But the rulers of the temple can barely count three or four of the hundreds in charge who were not actively trying to kill Christ. Nicodemus, Lazarus, Joseph of Arimathea, and here Jairus are some of the only names not directly tied to killing Christ. Talk about corruption. If this were our condition, it would be like having 98% of our police force, who by the way were well armed, organized, and trained … intent on killing us … who are poor, untrained, and undefended. Not one of us based on these conditions would start a movement to declare that the lives of our ENEMIES matter. Justice would demand we condemn this group. Anyone with ties to it would be universally guilty of its sins. People would have to resign from this group in order to be treated better by us, or fairly by us, as a group this completely corrupt would have “no redeeming value”.
Jesus is aware of the intentions of this ruling class. He already knows what He will suffer because of this group and it will be injustice in the highest form. “None” of these enemies “should” be given the time of day. But this is far from what happens next as Mark continues recording Peter’s account in verse 23 saying … “And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.” One of these enemies has done the unthinkable. He has come to Christ and fallen at His feet. He begins to beg Jesus Christ to come to his home and heal his daughter who is gravely ill. In front of a great crowd who has assembled to hear Jesus preach and watch Him do His miracles … comes a sworn enemy of Christ. This enemy who by reputation alone is supposed to have nothing to do with “this carpenter from Nazareth” where nothing good comes from; has come anyway, and has prostrated himself in humility before the feet of Jesus Christ. He begs for the life of his daughter. This is the motivation for the actions of Jairus, but in these actions are revealed a few facts.
Jairus “knows” Jesus Christ “can” heal his daughter. He is not there on a maybe. If Jesus were just another physician, Jairus would not have ruined his own reputation to seek Him out. The miracles of healing of Jesus Christ are so widely publicized by this time, and so widely witnessed, they have been established as “facts” by the people who live in this day. The ruling class can deny these miracles all they want, but like the atheists of our day, it is a choice NOT to believe, where for others who have personally witnessed the transforming power of God, there is “proof” of His existence and power and love. Despite all the denials of the ruling class, when push comes to shove, Jairus knows the miracles are in fact true. Jesus can heal his daughter when no other doctor will be able to. But then why should He? Jesus has no logical incentive to help one of the members of His enemies. Jairus was not breaking ties with the ruling class, in order to heal his daughter. He remained one of the rulers of the temple. In point of fact, even as he throws himself at the feet of Jesus, he remains tied to the group who is bent on killing Christ.
Jairus, like us, is not yet ready to give up everything for the sake of his daughter. He could have abandoned the temple and committed there to become a disciple of Christ. He could have given away his wealth and become the thirteenth disciple, but he was not ready to go that far yet. So why should Christ help this man, if spiritually this man was not ready to be a disciple? Why should Christ help us, if like Jairus, we are not even ready to give our all to Him in exchange for His help? For Jairus to come to Jesus reveals yet another “fact” he was counting on … namely the love of Jesus Christ. Jairus knew of Jesus’ love for His enemies. This was not just a slogan, or a myth. He had heard enough about it, and seen it perhaps for himself, in how Jesus responds to those who mean Him harm, to have faith and confidence to come to Jesus and beg for help. Jairus trusts that Jesus will love him, even though he is a sworn enemy as tied to this group. Jairus is banking on the love of Jesus, if not for himself, then for his daughter.
But the response of Jesus was consistent with who Jesus is. Our God loves us. Not just some of us. Not because of our skin color, or level of wealth, or job we cling to in our society … instead He loves ALL of us, because to Him even the lives of His enemies matter. In fact, our God would rather die for His enemy, than see an enemy suffer that fate. So perhaps predictably Peter recounts the response in verse 24 saying … “And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.” Jesus does not argue with Jairus, He does not delay him to debate the merits of going with him. He does not demand that Jairus publicly denounce the evil intentions of the ruling class, before he is worthy of assistance. Jesus just goes with him, without a single precondition. He asks Jairus for nothing. He does not ask for money, or future fairness and consideration. He does not ask him to think about the group of folks he is working with, or to reconsider killing Him later on. He does not ask Jairus to be part of a reform movement that might work to correct the corruption of the ruling class. In short, he does not ask Jairus to change in any way, shape, or form, before he goes to help him and his daughter. He meets Jairus just where he is, hears his request, and is answering it, without a single precondition.
It would be like the cop who pulls the trigger completely unwarranted and without cause, coming to the mother of the deceased, and asking for help … without being willing to apologize, change his profession, or even stop doing what he did that caused her so much pain. And the mom going without a word, to help the cop out. This is the level of love Jesus has for the life of His enemies. He does not try to change His enemies by demand, or as precondition. Instead He lets His love speak for itself. Instead He shows His enemy how He loves them, and how much He loves them, and the power of love melts the heart steeped in evil. There is no heart of stone that cannot be reached by the depth of the love of Jesus Christ. Love does not need to command obedience. When Love is truly witnessed, when Love is truly experienced, obedience is the natural response. It is automatic. Jairus will be changed by these events, but not because he was commanded to be changed, but because he witnesses the power of love in his life and the life of his family.
But the second half of this spiritual grand-slam had only begun, on the way to the final act to demonstrate the identity of Christ, was the third miraculous story which will continue in our next installment …
Wonderful! Thank you!
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