Mark 5:35-36 “While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?"36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."
Have you ever noticed the intense conflict that surrounds the words of Jesus!? Here in Mark 5:35, while Jesus is still speaking news that directly contradicts the words of Christ is brought to the man who is in crisis. This passage is remarkably similar to the parable of Christ in Mark 4:15 where Jesus said “some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Jesus has not even finished speaking and already a negative report has come to steal the words of faith that Jesus is planting into Jairus’ heart!
Some well meaning men come to Jairus with the news that his daughter is dead and their attitude is “why bother the teacher anymore?” What happens next is a truly marvelous demonstration of faith. Verse 36 presents to all of those who have ears to hear what the Lord is saying a powerful illustration of the conflict between faith and unbelief. Verse 36 simply states that Jesus ignored the report that these men brought. Instead He turns to Jairus and confronts his temptation to fear. “Don’t be afraid; just believe!” These words ring loudly in my ears.
How many times have you been faced with the contrast between what the natural mind says is reality and what faith says is possible with God. We are called to live in the realms of possibility thinking. In. Mt. 19:26 Jesus teaches his disciples about the kingdom of God and states emphatically “with God all things are possible!” The question is “where will you place your focus, with God or with man?” With God that which man says is impossible suddenly becomes possible! Jesus simply confronts Jairus’ temptation to accept the limitations of what the world says is possible; “just believe.”
He. 11:25 chronicles the faith of those who lived extreme lives for the sake of the kingdom of God; men and women who transcended the thinking of the natural mind and lived with their eyes set upon a kingdom that is eternal and invisible. The pages of scripture are filled with the testimony of people who lived by a higher law, the law of faith. They lived by a higher standard, the standard of the kingdom of God. They lived by a higher calling, the calling of God. They faced their fears. They believed God even when the world around them said despair. Jesus called Jairus to extend his faith beyond what was humanly possible, what was intellectually conceivable and said “just believe.” He is speaking the same message today to anyone who has ears to hear. “Today, just believe!”
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