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Just Believe (Mark 5:35-43)
It was Easter and I had determined to speak to someone about the Easter message. My opportunity came when I visited a local shop and fell into conversation with the shop assistant. I knew her to be a cheerful and approachable person and turned the conversation to spiritual things. I simply asked whether she had any special plans for the Easter holiday and whether she might be going to church. With that the whole tone of the brief encounter went downhill.
"Don't talk to me about God!" she exclaimed, and proceeded to
tell me about the son she had lost horribly in a house fire when he
was just eighteen years old. "How could a loving God allow such a
thing?" she asked, I felt rhetorically.
Now I don't know how you deal with these things but I always feel that platitudes don't cut it. Any offer to "explain" things seemed doomed to failure after her outburst and so I expressed my sympathies and left. It troubled me a lot. I felt as many feel on these occasions, that I should have been able to do or say something.
Later the very same week - and you have my word on this - I met a lady who had lost her son in an innocent game at home that had gone terribly wrong. He was fourteen years old. He had died of asphyxiation in his bedroom as she sat downstairs and the circumstances were such that the police were involved and an investigation, along with all that entails, ensued. The verdict was "accidental death". She was near to tears as she expressed here thankfulness that in the weeks leading up to this tragedy he had quizzed her about the things of God, and just two weeks before he died he had asked the Lord to save him.
Perspective
In this story from Mark's gospel we learn that there is the way we see things without God, and the way we see things with Jesus in our lives. Like the poor lady in my first story, Jairus might well have asked, "How could Jesus allow this? Why would he delay when he knew the urgency of the situation?" But at the news that Jairus' daughter is dead Jesus' response was remarkable.
Don't be afraid; just believe.
Contrast this with the scene that met him when he arrived at Jairus' house.
When they came to the home of the synagogue
ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly
(v38)
Now before we condemn anyone for lacking faith let's be honest and say that this was normal. It is how any of us would have reacted in the situation. We can easily find ourselves in circumstances where we don't know where to turn, where we feel that all is lost, where our worse fears have been realised. But what do we learn from this story and from the examples I began with?
1. To come to Jesus is to recognise our desperate need. In verse 22
we read that on seeing Jesus Jairus, "fell at
his feet and pleaded earnestly with him". You don't become a
Christian by developing a curiosity about Christ, or a respect for religion.
The sinner who comes to Jesus has finally realised the depth of the
stain of sin in their heart and fall at his feet, pleading earnestly.
2. Spending time with Jesus is never a waste, whatever the circumstances. The lady who was able to praise God for her son's salvation saw things from an entirely different perspective than the other lady because she had spent time with Jesus.
3. Even if the situation looks hopeless it is never too late so long
as it is today. In Isaiah 55:6 we are told that we should "seek
the Lord while he may be found." The psalmist declared:
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness;
Therefore you are feared. (Ps.130:3-4)
Notice that when Jesus spoke to the little girl "Immediately
the girl stood up…" That word 'immediately' is wonderful and applies to our own forgiveness. To the truly repentant heart there is 'immediate' forgiveness - if we will 'only believe'. May this week find us believing, knowing his forgiving touch, and trusting him whatever the circumstances we find facing us.