Jesus Did It! He Conquered Death.

I can’t imagine how painful it would be to have a child that was dying.  Her smile and joy that would light up my day is turned to discomfort and pain. She was so full of energy running around and playing with the other kids but now she doesn’t have the strength to get out of bed.  My wife and I would try everything.  We would go to every doctor in the city but how horrible to see her getting worse and worse.  Of course we would try to be strong for our daughter, but the day would come when we just wouldn’t know what to do anymore. So was the situation for Jairus. It looked like death had won. But

JESUS DID IT! HE CONQUERED DEATH.

In His Power We Have Faith

Jairus was a synagogue ruler in Capernaum.  Mark recorded earlier “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach” (Mark 1:21).  And again in Mark 2 is record of the paralyzed man dropped down through the roof whom Jesus healed. Jairus probably heard Jesus teach and had seen his miracles.  And now Jairus needed Jesus to come and heal his little angel. This is it.

“When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³and repeatedly pleaded with him, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”

This is Jairus’ last hope, his last chance. Then it happened, “²⁴Jesus went with him,”  There still is hope.  Can you see how excited Jairus is?  Then he notices, “people from the synagogue ruler’s house arrived, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”

No! It can’t be. She’s dead? Why? WHY? She was so young. The joy of my life is gone. My servant is right, why bother Jesus anymore. There is nothing he can do now. Or so he thought.

“³⁶But when Jesus heard this report, he told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”

Ok, if you say so Jesus.  “³⁷He did not allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.” They start the walk to Jairus’ house…..

That sound. That awful sound of the women screaming and crying pierces right into Jairus’ heart.  They are so loud and their cries are agonizingly painful. The waves of despair crash over Jairus so that he can barely stand. But then Jesus speaks. “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”  How could Jesus say that?  They are crying because my daughter is dead!  How can Jesus make jokes at a time like this? “⁴⁰They laughed at him.”  They were laughing alright, but they were laughing at Jesus. From their perspective Jesus was only making Jairus’ pain worse.  Jesus knows what to do.  “But after he put everyone out, he took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him and went in where the child was.” There she was.  All color was gone from her face. Her soul left her.  Jairus’ baby girl was gone.  Jesus knelt beside her,

“⁴¹Grasping the hand of the child, he said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (When translated, that means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”).  ⁴²Immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.)”

She’s alive. JESUS, YOU DID IT! You Conquered Death!

Talk about an emotional roller coaster for Jairus. He went from the despair of having a sick daughter, to the utter hopelessness of a dead daughter, to the joy of having his daughter again alive. I want to point out Jairus’ faith on his emotional roller coaster ride. Would you say he had strong faith or weak faith?  He went to Jesus in the first place. Think of it as if Jairus had two hands of faith holding on to Jesus. When he found out his daughter died one of those hands slipped off. Then the one, who brought the news of his daughter’s death, told him to not bother Jesus anymore. It made sense what more could Jesus do? His faith was down to three fingers. Then as they came to the house and he heard the weeping and wailing. This must have made the despair of Jairus worse. Twofingers. And then they laughed at him only leading Jairus to question if Jesus could really do anything. His fingers are about to slip off.

But what did Jesus do? He reached down and grabbed on to Jairus. Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” Believe in me. Believe I have the power to rescue your daughter. Then he proved he had power over death. He raised Jairus’s daughter. And if Jairus had any doubt before, now Jairus Had Faith in Jesus’ Power! JESUS DID IT. He went from having one finger barely holding on to Jesus to bear hugging Jesus. That is the kind of faith Jesus created in the heart of Jairus!

Does this ever happen to you?  I believe everyone here has faith.  But, the devil uses the death of a loved one, the stresses of this world, or even persecution from others to try and make you lose your grip on Jesus.  You’re like a little kid swimming in a pool. My kids were lifeguards at the Rowlett Pool for years.  I can’t count the number of times they would come home with a similar story.  The kid thinks he is strong enough to make it across the deep pool on his own. He starts out strong but then gets tired. The water splashes up in his face and makes him start coughing. His legs and arms get tired and he starts struggling. He is right in the middle of pool with nowhere to go and begins to sink.  That’s a picture of us all trying to make it through this sinful world on our own but then life gets hard. You get tired of all the stress of life. You plan things out but then an unexpected event ruins everything. Or people ridicule you for believing in Jesus and the resurrection. They are in your face and you lose focus.  We know our lives are filled with tragedy and death. The despair weighs heavy on our heart and it drags us down. The devil tempts us to give up. He takes away hope. He pulls at your grip on Jesus just like Jairus.

It is when the kid is sinking, the lifeguard reaches down and pulls the kid up and carries him to the other side of the pool. When we are sinking in this life, Jesus reaches down and says, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” You will never make it through this sinful world and the attacks of Satan on your own power, but thank Jesus we don’t have to. Jesus pulls us up, carries us through, and strengthens Our Faith In His Power. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Believe in me. Believe in my power.”  Believe in Jesus because he has the power even to CONQUERED DEATH for you!  Because Jesus did this for us,

Now By His Power We Have Life

When you’ve been sick in bed for a while, you probably take some time to get your strength back.  Did you see what happened when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter?

“⁴²Immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.) They were completely and utterly amazed. ⁴³Then he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat.” 

This girl was raised and ready to roll!  Well done, Jesus! She walked around (picture that!  Probably running around the room getting hugs from everyone!).  She was given something to eat—and you all know how 12 year olds can eat!  And everyone in the room was stunned!  No kidding!  But, what about Jesus’ words to not tell anyone?  Well, we have seen what happens when people hear about Jesus’ miracles.  They only want Jesus for his earthly blessings and forget about his heavenly blessings.  We are so thankful that Jesus does takes care of our earthly needs (that last only a short time), but our eternal needs are far more important food, health, and earthly life.  Jesus still needed time to teach the people about those heavenly needs.  The people needed to learn about Jesus’ Power over Death!  Praise be to God that you have recognize the most important part of Jesus’ ministry to save you from earthly death and eternal death!

Now, when we look in the Bible, we can see Jesus’ power of his own death in two ways.  The Bible says, “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again” (1 Thess 4:14).   And “he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead” (Rom 8:11).  Jesus’ resurrection is described in two ways, he rose from the dead and he was raised from the dead. The difference between them is the one doing the action. Jesus rose from the dead is Jesus doing the action, but Jesus was raised from the dead means someone else brought Jesus back to life.  So what does that mean for you that Jesus rose from the dead?  Listen to the rest of Romans:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”

Romans 8:11

You know that our God is a perfect God who demands perfection. Be holy, and you will have eternal life. But, every human being is born sinful, that is spiritually dead.  Because of our sin we are doomed to the prison of eternal death and punishment with no escape.  We are like Jairus’ daughter on our dead bed with no possible escape.  But, the Bible teaches us that Jesus came into this world and lived a perfect life.  When he hung on the cross he was put in the same prison we were doomed to be in.  Then Jesus died.  However, through his death the perfect payment of sin God demanded was paid.  Then Jesus Did It! He Conquered Death!  Jesus rose from the dead by his own power, and was raised from the dead because God was satisfied with his payment for our sin. Because of Jesus Power Over Death We Also Have Power to Live!  Believe it!

What an amazing victory!  When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter he showed his power at work.  When Jesus rose from the dead he showed his Power Over Death.  Since Jesus gave his life for us, how much more will he see us through the days when we mourn the death of loved ones, the stresses of life, and the persecution we face for giving testimony about Jesus!  We shout for joy in his victory and can say to the devil and death,

“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

And since Jesus has shown us his Power over Death, we can enjoy real Life!  When death attacks your faith, cling to Jesus!  When all your plans come crashing down or everything that could go wrong, goes wrong, cling to Jesus!  Jesus rose from the dead and will take you to heaven. HE DID IT. HE CONQUERED DEATH.  Have Faith in His Power.  Have Life in His Power.  With confidence we say, “I will rise, I will rise indeed.” Amen.