Building Biblical Character Through Knowing Bible Characters -Jairus-Be A Father Worth Following

Be A Father Worth Following

Summary:  Be A Father Worth Following.1. Seek the Lord (vs. 21-22). 2. Stand-up for your children (vs. 22-23). 3. Stay close to the Savior (vs. 24-35). 4. Smother your fears with faith (vs. 35-43). This is a message I did on Jairus, an eyewitness of Christ. This is the series I did on Building Biblical Character Through Knowing Bible Characters.

Date: 25, October 2015

Series: Building Biblical Character Through Knowing Bible Characters.

Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21-43 with emphasis on Mark 5:21-24; 35-43

INTRODUCTION

How do you deal with a hopeless situation? Thankfully, I now have the answers… answers to such topics as “How to Evade a MiG”; “How to Win a High-Speed Car Chase”; “How to Escape from Handcuffs”; “How to Escape a Sinking Cruise Ship”, and others. Helpful stuff, huh? Even more exotic stuff like “How to Perform the Jedi Mind Trick” and “How to Perform the Vulcan Nerve Pinch” are included in a great gift I received this past Christmas: The Action Hero’s Handbook. I looked for the most hopeless situation described, and I found out how to save someone who’s hanging from a cliff (read excerpt on page 62 beginning with “The accomplished action hero…” to end of paragraph, then read bullet points). Hope that was helpful!

This morning, let’s look at an inspirational dad from the Word of God. His name is Jairus. That means "enlightened by God," and we can learn a lot from his life, so please open your Bibles to Mark 5:21-43. With that in mind, stand with me as we read our text together today! 

21 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.

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

23 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.

24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

37 And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.

39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

43 And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. May the sweet Holy Spirit add His manifold blessings to our text this morning... in our hearing. Amen! You may be seated in God's Presence.

SERMON

While Jesus was about His daily work of the kingdom He was continually interrupted. Jesus saw these interruptions as God sent opportunities for Him to minister to the needs that brought people to Him so that He might prove God's love for the people and authenticate Himself as God's hand of love. The man in our story today faced a situation which could certainly have been described as “hopeless”. Dad’s we thank God for you! -- And we thank you for all of the good you are doing in your family, our church and our community. The longer I live, the more I appreciate my dad. My dad helped raise his four little sisters and two brothers when his father abandoned the family. He went off to save democracy. My dad was compassionate and kind, hard working, funny, and full of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  And you can be a father worth following. Jairus shows us how.

1. First: Seek the Lord

You want to sell hopeless? Go somewhere else. Because Jesus doesn't do “hopeless”! The totally of Jesus’s authority will be revealed as a father comes to Jesus for the life of his daughter in Verses 22-23 22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 23 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.

[1] Seek the Lord for His help. 

Jairus was a man of power and position and Highest-ranking religious leader in Capernaum. “An official of the synagogue” would be a well-known and important person in a community held together by the rituals of religion. He was one of several rulers over the synagogue who led in public worship (Acts 13:15). Mark and Luke say this man's name was Jairus (Mark 5:22; Luke 8:41). As ruler of the synagogue, Jairus was responsible for administration- looking after the building, supervising worship, running the school on weekdays, and finding rabbis to teach on the Sabbath.

[Before the year 586 B.C., virtually all Jews lived within one hundred miles of the temple, so they all worshiped there. But in 586 B.C., the Jews were carried away into Babylon and held hostage for seventy years. No longer able to worship in the temple, they established synagogues in every neighborhood with ten or more Jewish men. The synagogue then became the place of assembly for the Jews where they would worship and study the Scriptures. Each synagogue had ten leaders, called elders. Of those ten, one was elected by the other nine to be the ruler. The ruler of the synagogue was a man of tremendous importance. Not only was he in charge of the synagogue, but he would also settle civic disputes within the neighborhood.

[Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003, S. 66.]

2] But also seek the Lord for worship. 

Possibly a Pharisee, a member of the group that ridiculed and opposed Christ. He was a man of social and religious prominence, a man who risked ridicule and rejection in coming to Jesus. Yet, he was a desperate man

So synagogue rulers had power and influence. Jairus was such a man. Yet he was willing to risk it all and come to Jesus because death had crept into his family. This loving father had probably exhausted all efforts to heal his daughter girl and was now in need of what only God could do, so he comes to Jesus. Despite being a worshiper of the One true God he bows down, prostrates himself at Jesus' feet and worships. Desperation should put us on our knees before God. May the sickness and death of our relations should brings us to Christ, who is life. If it doesn't, what would?

The ruler’s exceptional faith in Jesus is shown not only by his worshipful posture before Jesus but also in His plea “come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” This request reveals great faith in Jesus. Although his daughter has just died (according to Matthew), he believes Jesus can nevertheless revive her. To this point Jesus had performed all His healing miracles on people who were still living. The official’s faith in God is evident in his bold assertion that the touch of Jesus would return her to this life.

Verse 23 uses the term “little daughter”; that’s what she was to Jairus.

It seemed only yesterday when that newborn’s cries had filled the home. He had rocked her to sleep, bounced her on his knee, and when the time came, helped and watched as she’d taken her first steps. His heart melted each time a tear fell from her eye. When she said, “Daddy”, a lump would rise in his throat. He had watched as she had grown now to the verge of becoming a young woman, but now as she was about to enter her adolescent years, a deathly illness had come on her. No conventional treatment was effective.

So, out of selfless concern for his daughter, and in desperation with no care for his reputation he comes and bows at the feet of Jesus acknowledging his need and demonstrating faith in Jesus’ ability.

No sacrifice is too great to this father whose love for his little girl knew no bounds. We sense an intense anxiety in his pleading voice, “please come and lay your hands on her, so she will get well and live!” Note his considerable faith, “and she shall live!” We all need to worship the Lord. But dads, our worship is especially important for us to be the fathers God wants us to be.

And the Bible tells us that Jesus responded to that faith, beginning to go with him. [Touching a dead body was considered the most defiling kind of uncleanness (Num. 19:11-22). Most religious leaders and teachers would have refused to come anywhere near the dead.] Jairus shows us exactly what to do in a situation like that:Seek the Lord! Take your troubles to Jesus! Go to Jesus humbly, boldly, passionately, and expectantly. Go to Jesus.

Jesus' response to the expressed faith and hope is seen in verse 24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. In response, Jesus said nothing but acted by rising and following the official, accompanied by His disciples. There was no question on the part of Jesus that the Father had given Him authority to minister to this need.

Ill. A legend is told about A RABBI from a small Jewish town. 

The people had gathered in the synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), but when the time came for the most important service of the Jewish year to begin, the rabbi was nowhere to be found. During the delay, a young mother rushed home to check on her little daughter, whom she had left sleeping. To her surprise, she saw the rabbi sitting quietly in a chair, holding the child in his arms. He had been walking by her home on the way to the synagogue when he heard the infant crying and stopped to help. He held the little one until she fell asleep.

 There's a lesson for us in this rabbi's example and in Jesus' love for people. In our hectic and busy lives, we tend to get so caught up with our own concerns that we lose our sense of compassion for others. We must make time to observe and respond to individuals - whether they are little children, parents, or older believers. Somewhere amid all the demands on you as a servant of Jesus Christ, take the time to hold the hand of an aging believer, to comfort a tired mother, or to cradle a child until she sleeps. Great occasions for service come seldom- little ones surround us daily.

As Jesus traveled to the girl, His journey of mercy was interrupted by another person in need. It did not matter what Jesus was doing, how He was ministering, He allowed these interruptions. Whether He was speaking to a crowd (Mk. 2:1-3), conversing with His disciples (Mt. 16:21-24, 26:31; Lk. 12:12-14), traveling (Mt. 20:29-31), sleeping (Mt. 8:24, 25), or praying (Mk. 1:35) He made time for those who needed Him. These intrusions were viewed as opportunities for ministries and not for rebuke. What would be an interruption for us He uses as a spring board to teach or perform a marvelous deed. As we too go on our errands of mercy we will pass other sorrowing hearts, so tightly packed are the hurts of men. 

Note As some one rightly said

 Our society would be infinitely better off today if dads would seek Jesus without shame, if we all would be the spiritual leaders in our homes. Our nation is in the mess it’s in partly because dads are out seeking golf balls on Sunday morning instead of seeking God. They send the wife and kids to church. 

2. But also stand-up for your children.

Dad’s, let your kids see YOU seeking the Lord in worship: Taking them to church, reading the Word of God, praying together, living for Jesus. May God help us all to be dads who will faithfully seek the Lord!

Note:  We need to realize the tremendous impact that dads have on children. Dad, your children need you desperately. Listen to some statistics from a 1995 book by David Moore:

-Fatherless daughters are 111% more likely to have children as teenagers.-Fatherless daughters are 164% more likely to have an out-of-wedlock birth.-Fatherless daughters have a 92% higher divorce rate than girls raised with Dad at home.-Fatherless sons are 35% more likely to experience failure in their own marriages.-Fatherless sons are 300% more likely to wind up in state juvenile institutions.-And fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of high school. 

["Lies" by David T. Moore - Tyndale House Publishers, 1995 - p.89-90 ]

3. But also stay close to the Savior.

But in the interim, a woman with an issue of blood touches Jesus’ garment in the crowd, and Jesus stops to minister to her. We pick the story back up in verse 35. We see the gloom and doom boys come, and with the tact of a steamroller, crush the hopes of the believing Jairus. “She’s dead,” they intone, “why bother now?”. Jairus stayed and in verse 36 he heard Jesus speak these strong, encouraging words: 

"Do not be afraid; only believe."

-When unexpected problems crop up, stay close to the Savior.-When other people seem blessed and you seem forgotten, stay close to the Savior.-When your situation seems hopeless, stay close to the Savior.

Dear Potter's Home International Listen to this: Even when things seem worse than ever, stay close to the Savior.

-And Dad, you can be a father worth following if you stay close to the Savior. Amen...

4. But also smother your fears with faith.

Faith, though, is not sidetracked by naysayers and doubters. Rather, faith is often rewarded even when all hopes seems to be lost.

In Genesis 22, we read that Abraham had a knife to his son’s chest, in obedience to God, soon to plunge it into his body, with no concrete assurance that God would tell him not to. But you know how that story of extreme faith ends: God had provided a lamb to take the place of the child for the sacrifice, foreshadowing that day when a Lamb would become the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Exodus 14 records how Moses, in the face of the advancing armies of Egypt, with his back to the sea and no explanation of how God was going to get them out of this jam, stood strong in faith. The situation sure seemed hopeless, but the Bible says that, “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The LORD will fight while you keep silent.’” 

He wasn't sure how the Lord was going to pull it off, and the situation looked desperate, but God rewarded the faith and obedience of Moses.

David faced down a monster who had defied the armies of God. Talk about a hopeless looking situation: if ever there was one, this was it. But David courageously stood up to the giant in faith and through him, God won the victory.

And Jesus looks at this religious leader and says, in effect, “the final chapter of this story hasn't been written yet. Just believe!”

Naysayers forty years ago were relegating Christianity and the church to the margins of world society, irrelevant relics of a time gone by. Now, I do have concern about the impact that we are having on society — or rather the lack of it — but today the church around the world is stronger than ever — even if it is weaker here in many respects. Christian faith is the world’s fastest growing faith, and there are strong efforts underway to demonstrate both the validity of our faith and also its relevance to the world around us.

The Bible counsels us that, in the last days, “evil men and seducers will continue to grow worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Crime, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, homelessness, poor education, terrorism, the advance of the radical homosexual agenda, the waning respect for life — the list goes on and on. What do we as believers do? Throw up our hands and begin to doubt that God is in control of things, that ultimately everything that takes place will bring him glory? Or do we trust Him, place our hope in Him, regardless of appearances and circumstances? Keep believing!

Getting back to our story, Jesus takes His inner circle, Peter, James, and John, along. As they approached the house, the Bible says that they “saw a commotion”. It was certainly that, all right! The awful sound of mourning filled the air. There was no quiet organ music playing peacefully in the background; you need to understand the Jewish custom of the day.

1. There was only a short time between death and the burial of the body; mourning would begin soon.

2. The mourners would tear their garments in grief.

3. “Professional mourners” would often be hired, usually women who would loudly wail the name of the deceased.

4. Every once in awhile, above the awful din of the mourners, the noise of flutists playing a dirge would be heard.

5. These were loud, disconcerting sounds, signaling emotional discord and deep grief and pain.

6. Since Jairus was an important official, we’d expect that many mourners had been secured and the flautists to have been raising quite a ruckus.

The interruption taken care of, Jesus continues on His way to the ruler's house. Christ went on in calm consciousness that even on such an errand that He was on that the power of God was sufficient to meet any occasion. The girl's father and the disciples might wonder why He stayed His steps to talk to a woman and feel that priceless moments were lost. But Jesus knew His resources. One would receive no harm by the delay and the other received a needed blessing. 

Jesus used sleep metaphorically for death in which the soul has separated from the body. For death to the Lord of life appears as but sleep. It is not worthy to be called death that from which we can and will one day be awakened. None who die are dead but only hibernate until the Caller to eternal existence speaks. 

Hired mourners were distasteful to Jesus, who quickly dismissed them and the confusion they added. Losing out on their opportunity to profit by the situation they strike back at Jesus. They interpreted His words literally. The New Testament again and again exposes the error of interpreting every word of Christ literally (Jn. 2:20,21; 3:3,4; 4:14,15,32,33; 6:51,52; 7:34,35; 8:51,52; 11:11,12,23,24; 14:4,5 etc.). They then laughed at Jesus. 

The skeptical laughter of the crowd underlines the greatness of the miracle that Jesus was about to accomplish. Today they also laugh and scorn His words that every being will be resurrected to stand in judgment on the last day. Whatever your belief, if God has said it, it matters little, it will be done.

Whenever Jesus wants to work in your situation, there will be mockers, saying, “It’s not going to happen. The Lord’s not going to help you. He doesn't care anything about you.” And these little voices inside of us, the voices of unbelief, of demons, or even of well-meaning friends, say, “Grow up. Don’t expect a miracle.”

The laughers, the scorners, and the mockers were moved out before Jesus went in. Move out the mockers, gang. Believe the promises of God, quote Scripture, rejoice in advance, and anticipate His blessing. 

[Courson, p. 67]

Jesus, his three disciples, and Jairus all enter Jairus’ home, and His response to the mourners is “why?” Notice the contrasts: Jesus, for Whom death was a mere technicality; they, for whom it represented much more finality. Jesus, thinking on the eternal; they, not considering anything beyond the gray finality of the now. Jesus, with power over a raging sea, a raving maniac, as he would demonstrate, over ravaging death; they with no power at all. He, with a heart of sincere compassion; they, insincere in their mourning, mercenaries with little real concern. 

I wonder what Jairus’ wife thought. She had to be overcome by grief, but at the same time, having the knowledge that the miracle worker was there, speaking words of reassurance and compassion. And yet His words, on their face, seemed preposterous. “She’s only sleeping, don’t worry! What are you mourning for?”

Who was this sick joker, this heartless buffoon who would deny the obvious and make sport at a time like this? Just who did he think he was? And the people began laughing. Now, while Jesus’ words must have struck them as funny, this was no time for laughter. These people’s grief was insincere; their compassion was faux compassion; their faith in Jesus was non-existent. That didn't stop Jesus; He just tossed them out and went about responding to the one who had faith: Jairus.

Tenderly, He takes the little girl by the hand, and His words were, “Talitha kum”, meaning, “get up, little girl!” Had she heard her mother utter those words a thousand times, awakening her in the morning? Jesus uses those words to summon her from the cold sting of death.

The words are strange to our hearing, but stranger still is that the cold dead ear of death hears and responds. Immediately her soul returns and she gets up. And the Bible says that at the simple word of Jesus, she gets up and begins walking around — just like that, as though nothing had happened. She was well — from cold corpse to full of life at the command of Jesus!

Showing further compassion, Jesus playfully suggests, “you’d better get that little girl something to eat; she’s probably famished!” In their exuberance and love, they might forget the fact that death might well have created quite an appetite in this young lady!

What a miracle — from utter hopelessness to hope fulfilled at the word of Jesus. Now switch gears with me and consider the topic of hopelessness in a different light — Ephesians 2:1-10 will guide our thinking for the remainder of our time.

Hopeless? The word “dead” does describe that from a human point of view; “where there’s life, there’s hope” is the saying… but the implication is that, where there isn't life, there isn't hope!

I remember the first time as a child I really thought about death up close. A little girl, probably a year or two younger than myself, named Rani, died of Reyes Syndrome. I must have been eight. Though I really only knew her in passing, I remember that her death really hit me. 

The truth is, though, that we encounter death every day, and often don’t even consider it. But this is how the Bible describes us — dead in trespasses and sins. Dead equals hopeless, apart from something which brings us to life again.

Before we move on, note also that we are hopeless because we “walk according the course of this world”. That’s odd; we are literally, as Paul puts it, “dead men walking!” We walk in disobedience toward God, in lust as regards the appetites of our flesh, and the result is that we are under the wrath of God. Summing up, we are Disobedient Dead Destined to experience God’s wrath That’s just about the definition of hopelessness, is it not? 

It even exceeds the hopelessness that characterized Jairus’ daughter. She was gone, but was there the knowledge of God’s wrath and judgment? But in our case, we are dead and headed on the path of experiencing the righteous wrath of a holy God. That is just about as hopeless as it gets! Verse 23 says, “but God!” The situation for Jairus looked bleak, but Jesus! God changes everything, and here in Ephesians 2, Paul explains what it is God does to change everything from hopelessness to peace. God Is rich in mercy. That is what I need if I’m going to have a chance; I don’t need what I deserve, nor do you; I need mercy! 

Loves us with a great love. This is getting better all the time! Someone who truly loves me has my best interests at heart. He has made us alive, even though, Paul reminds us again, we were dead! He does this “with Christ”; just as Christ rose from the dead, so we too, in the likeness of Jesus, have been resurrected to new life!

INVITATION AND THE FINAL CHALLENGE

So how do you deal with a hopeless situation? You recognize that God is a God of hope in the bleakest of circumstances, and you turn yourself, your life, your plans, your future, and all of its outcomes over to Him. Jairus did, and I hope you will too! You want to sell “hopeless”? Go somewhere else, because Jesus doesn't do “hopeless”.

The synagogue ruler didn't come to Jesus until his daughter was dead - it was too late for anyone else to help. But Jesus simply went to the girl and raised her! In our lives, Christ can make a difference when it seems too late for anyone else to help. He can bring healing to broken relationships, release from addicting habits, and forgiveness and healing to emotional scars. If your situation looks hopeless, remember that Christ can do the impossible.

Jesus’ goodness turns our problems into occasions of hope, His greatness makes our needs seem small, His graciousness makes our ultimate healing sure. That He can heal is without question; that it is His will to heal is another question. We must seek to discern the will of God. Yet not matter what we must seek to be authentic witness of His presence and purpose and ask for what who give Him glory. Our witness often includes suffering for the ministry of healing is the church’s privilege more than her program.

[Augsburger, Myron. 1982. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 24. Matthew. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc. S. 18.]. 

Jesus came through in a miraculous way for Jairus. And He will always come through for us. No, we will not always see miraculous healing in this world. But Jesus Christ will always come through for us. So smother your fears with faith! "Do not be afraid; only believe."Trust in the Lord!

-Trust in His Word and His work.

-Trust Him when you get the most disastrous news.

-Trust Him when others are laughing in disbelief.

-Trust Him to do the most amazing things in your life.

-Trust Him even when the miracle doesn't come through for you.

It will help us to be a father worth following.

We can all be people worth following. We can all be friends, neighbors and family members worth following, if we will follow the Lord.
-So seek the Lord.
-Stand-up for children.
-Stay close to the Savior.
-And smother your fears with faith.