Mark 5:35-43—Jesus Has the Final Say

Mark brings Jairus back into view at the worst possible moment. Jesus has stopped for a woman who had suffered for twelve years, and the delay now seems unbearable because Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter has died. The people from Jairus’ house say, “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Death looks final, and the crowd sees no reason to keep walking.

Jesus answers the news with words that Jairus has never had to test at this level before: “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” Fear does not have to cancel faith. Fear should not make the decision and say that Jesus is too late, that the situation has run its course, or that there is nothing left for God to do. Jesus has healed the sick, cast out demons, and done miracle after miracle, but Mark has not yet shown Him raising anyone from the dead. Jairus has to keep walking without knowing how this will end.

The house of Jairus is full of commotion, flute players, wailing, and people who know a child has died. The crowd laughs at Jesus when He says the child is asleep. Their laughter becomes ridicule because they think Jesus does not understand what they have seen. Jesus, however, does not stand outside the pain and guess at what is going on. Christ enters the house, puts the crowd out, and takes the father, mother, Peter, James, and John with Him.

Mark sandwiches the woman’s story into Jairus’ story to show that both people are trapped in desperate circumstances with no hope apart from Jesus. Jairus is a synagogue leader, while the woman has been isolated by her bleeding, yet both come to Christ because only He can do what nobody else can do. Despair becomes the prelude to grace when a person finally stops telling God what He cannot do.

Jesus takes the girl’s hand, though touching the dead should make a person ceremonially unclean. Christ is not made unclean by death. Power flows from Him into the girl, just as healing flowed to the woman. “Talita Kum,” carries the tenderness of a parent waking a child: “Honey, get up.” The servant King speaks life into death, then tells the parents to give her something to eat. Jesus cares immensely, personally, and completely. Christ is not only present on Sunday; He is with His people in the family problems, work pressures, fears, and hard Mondays of life.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Fear does not cancel faith Fear often tells believers that a situation is beyond repair and that Jesus cannot do anything more. Jesus does not deny Jairus’ pain or pretend death is small. Christ calls him to believe while the circumstances still look impossible. [09:27]
• 2. Do not let fear decide Fear can keep a person standing still, even after claiming to trust God. Jairus has to continue walking with Jesus toward the house where grief and ridicule are waiting. Faith is not merely saying, “I believe”; faith takes the next step with Christ. [16:08]
• 3. Desperation can lead to grace Jairus and the bleeding woman come from very different places, yet both discover that need brings them to the same Savior. Their desperation strips away self-sufficiency and exposes their lack of hope apart from Jesus. Christ meets people who have exhausted every other answer. [18:23]
• 4. Jesus has the final say Death, crowds, doctors, finances, and human opinions can all sound final. Christ alone is the author of life, and His word carries more weight than every hopeless conclusion. Humility begins when a person lets Jesus have the final say. [20:43]
• 5. Christ’s power comes with tenderness Jesus does not raise the girl with cold distance or public spectacle. His hand reaches into what others avoid, and His voice calls her up like a loving parent waking a child. His command to feed her shows that resurrection power is joined to personal care.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:16] - Jairus’ Urgent Request
• [01:39] - When God Seems Delayed
• [05:11] - Jairus Receives the News
• [06:21] - Mark’s “Immediately”
• [08:21] - Don’t Be Afraid, Just Believe
• [09:27] - Fear Does Not Cancel Faith
• [12:06] - The Commotion at Jairus’ House
• [13:44] - The Crowd Ridicules Jesus
• [16:08] - Do Not Let Fear Decide
• [18:23] - Despair as a Prelude to Grace
• [20:43] - Let Jesus Have the Final Say
• [22:13] - Talita Kum: Honey, Get Up
• [23:40] - Power Flows From Christ
• [24:32] - Give Her Something to Eat
• [25:33] - Jesus Cares Every Step of the Way

Bible Reading

Mark 5:35–43

Verse 35: “While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’” [05:05]

Verse 36: “Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’” [05:21]

Verse 37: “He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.” [05:28]

Verse 38: “When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.” [05:35]

Verse 39: “He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’” [05:43]

Verse 40: “But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.” [05:52]

Verse 41: “He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’).” [06:03]

Verse 42: “Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.” [06:12]

Verse 43: “He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.” [06:21]

Mark 5:25–34

Verse 25: “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.” [00:53]

Verse 26: “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had; yet instead of getting better she grew worse.”

Verse 27: “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,”

Verse 28: “because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’”

Verse 29: “Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”

Verse 30: “At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes