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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