HOW TO RAISE YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE DEAD
MARK 5:21-43
INTRODUCTION… Bill Cosby on Father’s Day (http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/f/fathers_day.htm)
Two humorous observations from Bill Cosby’s book, Fatherhood. He writes: Now that my father is a grandfather, he just can’t wait to give money to my kids. But when I was his kid and I asked him for fifty cents, he would tell me the story of his life. How he got up at 5 A.M. when he was seven years old and walked twenty-three miles to milk ninety cows. And the farmer for whom he worked had no bucket, so he had to squirt the milk into his little hand and then walk eight miles to the nearest can. All for 5 cents a month. The result was that I never got my 50 cents.
But now he tells my children every time he comes into the house: “Well, lets see how much money old Granddad has got for his wonderful kids.” And the minute they take money out of his hands I call them over to me and I snatch it away from them. Because that is MY money.
The other story that Cosby tells that I like is the difference between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. He insists that Mother’s Day is a much bigger deal because Mothers are more organized. Mothers say to their children: Now here is a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father and you surprise me on Mother’s Day. You do that for me.
For Father’s Day I give each of my five kids $20 so that they can go out and by me a present——a total of $100. They go to the store and buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and contains three shorts. They tear them open and each kid wraps up one pair, the sixth going to the Salvation Army. Therefore, on Father’s Day I am walking around with new underwear and my kid’s are walking around with $90 worth of my change in their pockets.
Being Father’s Day, I would like us to focus on a miracle of Jesus that also has to deal with a father. We will read from Mark chapter 5 today.
READ MARK 5:21-43
At the peak of His popularity, Jesus began ministering in Capernaum. There He met huge crowds of people pressing in on Him from every side. Jesus always had crowds around Him because He was quite popular with the people and his reputation was getting around. People were hearing about all the miracles and healings and demons being cast out. Even without CNN, people heard about Jesus! From among the crowds, Jarius came to Jesus with an urgent request concerning his daughter. "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
It is interesting to note that Mark chapter 5 actually mentions two daughters and one father: Jarius’ daughter, and the woman with the issue of bleeding is also called ‘daughter.’ Each is a daughter and each has a mention of the number twelve: the woman had been subject to bleeding for twelve years and the little girl is twelve years old. The father that is mentioned is Jairus. It is Jairus that I would like us to focus on today.
I. JAIRUS WAS A LEADER (VERSE 22)
How in the world do we know that Jairus was a leader? Well, verse 22 tells us two very important things about Jairus that inform us of his leadership. First, verse 22 tells us that he was a ruler of the synagogue. This meant that he has the courage and ability to be a leader among people. And yet, that is really not the leadership that I noticed in the verse. Being a synagogue ruler meant that you were a person of influence, wealth, and stature. Who did Jairus send when it came to the health of his daughter? Who did Jairus send when it came to asking Jesus of Nazareth to heal his little girl? Did he send a secretary? Did he send his servant? No, Jairus went himself. Jairus showed his leadership in his home by going to Jesus himself.
Men need to assume their proper roles of leadership both in the House of God as well as in their own homes. Notice that when Jesus entered Jarius’ home he surrendered his leadership to Jesus. This is the
Biblical model of Christian leadership both in Church and at home. A man’s visible role as a spiritual leader has a tangible impact particularly on his own children.
II. JAIRUS WAS A WORSHIPPER (VERSE 22)
How do we know that Jairus was a worshipper? Verse 22 also tells us that when Jairus came to Jesus he fell at his feet and created a humble atmosphere around him. This was a man who was a leader in his community and probably one of the more wealthy people around. He should not be on the ground, but he was and he meant to be.
Jarius assumed the posture of humility and lavished honor upon Jesus. The act of falling at Jesus feet captured the Lord’s attention and drew Him into his predicament. The end result is that in verse 24 Jesus went with him. We do not know where Jesus was headed before Jairus came to Him. We do not know what Jesus was about to do in the moments before Jairus fell at His feet. Yet, we know where Jesus is going and what He will do once He meets Jairus. Worship creates an atmosphere in which Jesus can lift us up and work miracles in our lives. Jarius was not counting on his own strength, but on the strength of the One who was standing before him.
ILLUSTRATION… (http://www.higherpraise.com/illustrations/worship.htm)
The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn’t know what to do. Napoleon’s massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church. The pastor rose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us." The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.
III. JAIRUS WAS A MAN OF PERSISTENCE (VERSE 23)
How do we know that Jairus was a man of persistence? We get a more full picture of what Jairus did when we look at the wording used in other translations of Scripture:
NIV = “pleaded earnestly”
KJV = “besought him greatly”
MSG = “[he was] beside himself as he begged”
NASB = “implored him earnestly”
The picture we get, even from the original language, is that Jairus came and was begging Jesus to help him. Jairus was asking in a persistent manner for Jesus to come and heal his daughter. He had set his mind that he was going to ask until Jesus said yes. The persistence that he showed led to his daughter being healed.
IV. JAIRUS WAS A MAN OF FAITH (VERSE 23)
How do we know that Jarius was a man of faith? I think we can see the great faith that Jairus had in the words that he spoke to Jesus in verse 23. He asked Jesus to put His hands on the girl and he knew that his daughter would be healed and would live. Jairus believed that the result of the touch of Jesus would heal. Jairus even believed the word of Jesus in verse 36 when he got word that his daughter had died. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
Jarius believed that Jesus could heal his daughter and take away the threat of death from her. Many try to separate Jesus from the miraculous--but how can that be possible? Jesus is the miraculous and faith in Him opens the door to miracles. In spite of the physical evidence before his eyes and the news that he received from home, Jarius maintained His faith.
APPLICATION
As Jarius maintained his leadership, maintained his worship, maintained his persistence, and maintained his faith, his daughter was raised to new life. For some reason, when I read this passage, I thought of you fathers whose children have turned away from God or have never come to Him in the first place. Many of you have expressed to me the great concern you have for your children who do not come to church and seemed to have turned their backs on God. Many of you have asked me what you should do.
* Maintain your leadership = children follow our examples as parents
* Maintain your worship = your attitude and atmosphere you create will help
* Maintain your persistence = never give up on your children
* Maintain your faith = children will see your example as proof of what they are missing
