Mk 5:36b “Do not be afraid… ;only believe.”

Summary Notes

What did Jesus say?

Do not be alarmed because of bad news but instead cling to hope.

Why would He say this?

A man came seeking Jesus’ assistance to heal his dying child. Just moments after he asked Jesus to help, the man received word that his child had died. But Jesus told him to cling to the belief that first brought him and to be filled with hope rather than succumb to fear and sorrow.

As it turned out, the fact of the child’s death was inaccurate. Miraculously the child recovered and the man’s hope was fulfilled! This happy result would not have occurred if the man believed the unverified bad news and gave up his hope in a solution and walked away without taking Jesus with him.

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COMMAND 192: “Do not be afraid… ;only believe.”

REFERENCE:  

Mk 5:36b; See also Lk 8:50; Mt 9:23-25 includes this event but does not record the command

RECIPIENT:

Mk 5:22a  One of the synagogue officials named Jairus

CONTEXT:

Jesus and His disciples had just returned to Capernaum by boats from the country of the Gerasenes where two demon possessed men were delivered when Jesus sent their demons into a herd of swine. The leaders of the people there implored Jesus to depart from their region, which He did.

Mark

Mk 5:22-24a; 35-36a  One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet  ²³and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”  ²⁴And He went off with him;

³⁵While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”  ³⁶But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official…

Matthew

Mt 9:18-19  While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”  ¹⁹Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.

Luke

Lk 8:41-42a; 49-50a   And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house;  ⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying…  While He was still speaking, someone came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”  ⁵⁰But when Jesus heard this, He answered him,,,

COMMAND FULL TEXT AND IMMEDIATE RESULT:  

Mk 5:36b “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”

Lk 8:50b “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.”

RESULT:  

Mark

Mk 5:37-43  And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.  ³⁸They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.  ³⁹And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”  ⁴⁰They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was.  ⁴¹Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴²Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.  ⁴³And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Matthew

Mt 9:23-26  When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder,  ²⁴He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.  ²⁵But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.  ²⁶This news spread throughout all that land.

Luke

Lk 8:51-56  When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother.  ⁵²Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”  ⁵³And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.  ⁵⁴He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.  56  Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

MY  COMMENTS AND NOTES:

Jairus was a distraught father who was seeking the restoration of his daughter’s life. She was dying and he had no recourse to save her except that he heard that Jesus was nearby.  Since Jairus was from Capernaum he no doubt had witnessed or heard the stories from credible witnesses of the miracles that Jesus had performed. Jairus believed enough to find Jesus and implored Him to come and heal his daughter. Some well meaning friend or relative came from his house to inform Jairus that his daughter had apparently died and to dissuade him from seeking Jesus’ help.  I wonder what would have happened if Jairus had been told about his daughter’s death a minute prior to talking with Jesus. 

Was she dead?

The people at the house thought so and her funeral had already begun. Jesus said that she was not dead but asleep. All three accounts of the story record that Jesus denied that she was dead. Therefore, I believe she was not yet dead. Luke’s account says that her “spirit” returned, but the literal meaning was that her breath returned.  It makes no difference to the story whether or not she was dead when Jesus arrived. He restored her life because ancient Jewish customs prescribed very quick burial after death, often the same day. If she was not yet dead when Jesus arrived she soon would be upon burial.  I think that a good lesson here is to verify the key facts of what everyone believes to be true when the situation is critical and the truth is absolutely essential to the outcome.

Opposition

Have you ever had people try to dissuade you from trying to do something out of the ordinary by telling you that it was dangerous or impossible or that they would never do such a thing?.  I sure have!  This kind of feedback used to discourage me.  But, I’ve learned over the years to view such words as helpful. If I can trust that naysayers are well meaning people who actually care about me then I can appreciate their concern and to listen to their advice. Many times I’ve been forced to consider a new perspective and to evaluate my plans and to change or improve them.  

Do not be afraid

Like Jairus, I seek God’s help through my life’s struggles. I want to be successful by accomplishing good things that benefit myself, my family, my customers, my employer, my church and the people whom I meet.  As a Christian I believe that God loves me and, like a father with children, He delights when I’m successful in the various areas of my life. I think that fear makes me focus on what can go wrong. And rational fear is not all bad; it has kept me alive and injury free on many occasions!  But prolonged fear dwells on the negative and con blind me to the possibilities of success and ultimately ensures what can go wrong will go wrong.  

How does God help me?

When I believe God delights in my  success in doing good things then I can be confident that He will help me to accomplish them.  Perhaps there are more ways that God will help but I thought of these:

• • My mind is alert to recognize opportunity.
  • My determination is bolstered to push through difficulties.
  • I am confident that problems can be solved so that I try to solve them.
  • I believe that He puts people or resources in my path that will help me.
  • When I read His words with application in mind then I can more easily apply the wisdom.
  • I am confident that through the experience I will grow as a person.

DEFINITIONS:  Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text

afraid: G5399   φοβέω  fob-eh’ -ō   —  to frighten or terrify so as to flee;  or passively to be alarmed; by analogy to be in awe or to reverence.

any longer:  these words were added by the translators as implied by the text but not in fact present

only:  G3440   μόνον   mon’-on   —   alone or merely

believe: G4100  πιστεύω  pist-yoo’-ō   —  to think to be true, to be persuaded, to credit, to place confidence

spirit: G4151  πνεῦμα   pnyoo’-mah   —  a current of air such as a breath or a breeze; figuratively the spirit, that is the rational soul or the vital principle that defines a living, rather than dead, thing.

MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application and please share it in the comments

God loves me and is delighted when I succeed in doing good.  When I commit myself to the accomplishment of some good achievement, I need not be afraid of obstacles or naysayers but I can be confident that I will receive the wisdom, discernment, knowledge and resources that I need.  When I believe that success is possible for me then I will recognize opportunity, make plans and apply myself to the tasks while learning from the problems. In this way I will grow as a person and will be grateful when I ultimately achieve what I set out to do.

RETURN TO COMMAND

© 2020 Christopher Carlson

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB

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