Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 8:49

While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s [house,] saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

49. trouble not the Master ] Literally, “ worry not the Rabbi.” For the colloquial verb preserved also in St Mark see Luk 7:6.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Luk 8:49-56

Thy daughter is dead–

Christian consolation under bereavement by death

Now the great grounds of Christian comfort in times of bereavement are two.

One relates to those you have lost; the other relates to yourselves. The first is, that those who have died in Christ have made a blessed and happy change in leaving this world for that where they are now. And the second is, that if you and they be both united to Christ, you have the confident assurance that you shall meet again. And, indeed, brethren, when we think of the first of these, we are constrained to feel and lament our want of faith. No truth can be plainer than that heaven is better than earth–a hundred things go to prove that; but it is only now and then that we are lifted up to a height of spiritual insight and fervour in which we truly feel that it is so. Strong convictions, large but vague, are often indicated by little things; just as floating straws show the direction of a great wind. And there is one little peculiarity in our common way of speaking which shows our natural unbelief in the grand Christian doctrine, that to the believer to die is gain. Speaking even of friends who, we most firmly believe, have fallen asleep in Jesus, you know we habitually speak of them as though they were objects of pity; we speak of our poor friend, our poor sister, our poor little child, that died. This is, doubtless, a manifestation of that curious in consistency with which, I have already said, we think of the departed. Surely we should rather say blessed, happy; for have they not gone from this world of sin and sorrow and anxiety into the land of holiness, peace, and rest? But there is another reason why we should not mourn unduly for the dead who die in the Lord, one that touches us who remain more nearly. It is this, that we hope to meet them again; we know that if our own death be that of the righteous, we shall certainly meet them again: They have left you in this world, and you will miss their kind advice, and their warm affection, and their earnest prayers; but death can neither drown remembrance nor quench love; and they are remembering you and waiting for you, and theirs will be the first voices to welcome you entering the golden city. Now, let me remind you, in concluding, that all this strong consolation belongs only to such as have believed in Christ, and as mourn the loss of Christian friends. And the two practical lessons from this thought are, that if we would not have death part us eternally from those dear to us, we ought first to make our own calling sure by Gods grace, that we may not on the judgment day see them on the right hand of the throne, and ourselves cast out to perdition; and next, that we should care for the souls of those dear to us as well as for our own, lest upon that great day any such should accuse us of that neglect which ended in everlasting separation, saying that if we had warned them as we ought, they had not come to this end of woe! Do you sometimes think, as you sit by the warm winter-evening fireside, and hear the keen blast shake the windows, and howl mournfully through the leafless boughs, and as you look round on the cheerful scene within, with its warm light and its blazing fire, do you some times think then how, out in the dark of the winter night, the snow lies white or the rain plashes heavy above some dear ones grave; how the sharp blasts roar round the headstone that marks where such a one sleeps–sleeps cold, and motionless, and alone; and does it seem to you a hardthing and a sad thing that in that dreary melancholy of the grave the departed one of the family must lie and slumber, while the fire is blazing bright on the hearth of the old home, till it seems to you a natural thing to weep for the dead, condemned to that cold negation of all that is bright and cheering? And do you sometimes think, in the long beautiful twilights of summer–summer, with its green grass and its bright flowers–that surely it is a loss to those that are gone that they cannot see the softened evening light, nor breath the gentle air? but that in their cold and narrow bed they still must rest and moulder, knowing nothing of the sweet scenes that surround them; not seeing the daisies in the sunshine over them, nor feeling the soft breeze sighing through the grass that lies upon their breast? If you do these things, then remember that it is not the dead you loved that moulder in that grave; it is but the cast-off robe, the shattered cottage of clay, that is turning there to the dust; it is the weak fancy of erring humanity to dream that what in our friends we loved has part or portion there. Remember that dwelling above, in light and glory, they never miss the warmth of the winter evening fireside, or the calm of the evening in June. (A. H. K. Boyd)

Death and life

I. DEATH AND LIFE ARE TERMS WHICH HAVE A SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS A PHYSICAL MEANING. A dead man physically is not always truly dead, and a live man physically is not always truly alive. The first occasion on which the ominous words–life and death–were used ought to teach us the mystery hidden in these terms. In the Garden of Eden there was the tree of life, which could not be merely physical life, since Adam was alive before and after he had access to that tree. And there again was another tree, with which the sentence was coupled, The day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Of that tree Adam ate, and so died–although physically he continued to live for nine hundred and thirty years. No one can have failed to notice how decidedly our Lord corrects the earthly, carnal, and limited ideas of the Jews in reference to the great mysteries of life and death. How often He used words which were beyond, aside from, and even against the common mode of speaking; not, surely, for the sake of singularity, but in order that he might recall and affirm the whole truth. When, e.g., people were indulging in loud and formal lamentation over the death of the rulers daughter–as if she were literally lost for ever–as if her death were death in the fullest sense–as if the separation of her soul and body were the saddest event which could befall her or her family; when our Master saw through, not only the obtrusive formality of this loud grief, but penetrated the false notions on which rested the deep grief of her parents and those who sincerely lamented with them, He bade them know that their lamentations were out of place, for that she was not dead, but asleep. And when they who were wailing for her laughed Him to scorn; and when they, too, who wept for real sorrow, were incredulous–He demonstrated the truth of His assertion, for He took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

II. DEATH, IN ITS POPULAR MEANING, IS BEST EXPRESSED BY THE TERM SLEEP. in giving to the separation of soul and body the title sleep, Christ has disclosed to us the true doctrine of the resurrection of the body, together with a warning, and comfort, which must not pass without distinct notice.

1. The doctrine. The exact phraseology of the Creed teaches us with authority the evangelical truth that we shall rise again; but the lesson can be also learned in the fact that the body of the Jewish maiden–when deprived of the soul–slept. They who sleep, awake again; if the dead body be not dead, but asleep, that is to say, if the term sleep be the most accurate one which He who gave us speech could single out, to describe the fact of physical death, then no dogmatic statement, no decree of council, could more clearly affirm the fact of the resurrection of the body.

2. The warning. There is no power in sleep to change ones moral character; as we lie down, we rise up again when awake. Again, in sleep, though the body be motionless, the spirit is active. There are dreams that trouble, as well as those that please.

3. The comfort. Is it no comfort to be told that the friend you thought to be dead only sleeps? Is it not a perfect protection against over-much sorrow to receive the great mystery set forth here? There was a time when Christians took great consolation from this very truth, when it made them ready to die, and resigned to see those near them die at the call of God. Go look at the catacombs of Rome, and see in the records which those faithful caverns have preserved of the creed and life of our Christian fore-fathers–how the early Christians thought of death. The inscriptions are full offaith. Hero a mother sleeps in Jesus–there a child sleeps in Jesus husband, wife, and friend–they all sleep–there is no sign of death in the catacombs. Our martyred forefathers of the early Church may teach us how to live, to die, to bury, and to mourn for our dead. Our Master teaches us in the text that we are not to sorrow for the sainted dead as those who have no hope. They sleep. They shall rise. (Bishop W. H. Odenheimer.)

The rulers daughter raised to life

I. That sometimes while dealing with the Saviour the storm becomes darker than before. We cry for pardon, and feel a growing sense of guilt. We pray for sanctification, and the power of corruption seems to revive. We hope for deliverance, and our difficulties multiply.

II. Let us never deem importunity in prayer troublesome.

III. It is never too late to apply to the Lord.

IV. The way to obtain present ease, and certain relief, is to exercise faith under every discouragement. How well are Fear not and Believe only coupled together! Our Saviour could have healed the child at a distance, and with a word; but He chooses to go to the house of mourning–to teach us to go there. A family in such a condition is a very affecting and improving object. We melt into pity as we see the emblems of death. The world loses its hold of our minds. Weep not: she is not dead, but sleepeth.

1. He spake modestly. Another would have said, Come; examine this patient; see, there are no remains of life in her–you will witness, before I begin, that there is nothing to aid my operations. But He would not magnify the action He was going to perform. He sought not His own glory.

2. He spake figuratively. Sleep is the term commonly, in the Scripture, applied to the death of all believers; and it is peculiarly just. Sleep is the pause of care–the parenthesis of human woe.

3. He spake in reference to His present intention. Instead of a burial she was going to be raised to life.

4. He said this also to try His hearers. Accordingly, it showed their disposition. Here we are led to note two things. First: How much more are men governed by their natural views and feelings than by the word of truth; and how easily are they befooled in Divine things by their sense and reason! Secondly: We observe that a serious state of mind is the best preparation for Divine truth. A scorner, says Solomon, seeketh knowledge, and findeth it not. After they had made a declaration, which they could not retract, concerning the certainty of her death, He put them all out; and, as the Resurrection and the Life, lie took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise, when, lo! the fountain of life is warmed, the blood begins to liquefy and flow, the pulse beats again; she breathes; she looks–her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and He commanded to give her meat.

This order was to show–

1. The reality of the miracle, by the use of her faculties.

2. It evinced the perfection of the miracle: she was not restored to the state in which she died–that was a state of sickness, in which food was rejected; but to the state she was in before her disease–a state of health and appetite.

3. It was also to mark the limitation of the miracle: nothing further was to be done preternaturally; but her life, which had been restored by extraordinary agency, was to be preserved, as before, by ordinary means. It also distinguished this miracle from that of the final resurrection. The resurrection will produce a spiritual body, requiring neither sleep nor food; but this damsel was raised only to a natural life, subject to the same infirmities as that of other people, and liable to die again.

Let us conclude.

1. If our Saviour so amazed the spectators, and honoured Himself, by the revival of one body newly dead, what will it be when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe; when He shall speak, and all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth–they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation! Again: It is worthy of remark that of the three persons whom our Lord raised from the dead, Lazarus was the loved and only brother of Martha and Mary; the young man was the only son of his mother; and the damsel the only daughter of Jairus: so touched is He with the feeling of our infirmities; so much regard does He show to relative affection. (W. Jay.)

Consolation for mourners

I. In the text we perceive A DEEP SORROW EXPRESSED They all wept and bewailed her. But, as we have said, where a bereaving providence is felt, the genuine expressions of sorrow will not be wanting, nor are they out of place.

1. This is natural.

2. To weep and bewail the loss of beloved relatives and friends is also consistent and affectionate.

II. To THE CONSOLATORY IDEA OUR TEXT COMMUNICATES–Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. Many believers, through fear of death, are all their lives subject to bondage; but the consoling representation of our text strips it of all its terrors, for, surely, if we sleep, we do well.

1. Now the spirit is unconfined.

2. This is a consoling idea, because in sleep bodily labour is suspended.

3. The idea in the text is consoling, because our sleeping friends will awake again.

III. We now consider, thirdly, THE VALUABLE INSTRUCTION WHICH THIS SUBJECT SUPPLIES.

1. We may learn the necessity of faith in the Redeemer. Every spiritual blessing is promised alone to those who believe in the Saviour.

2. Our subject to-day teaches us the folly of an inordinate fear of death.

3. Once more, our subject reminds us of the duty of daily preparation for our approaching change. (T. Gibson, M. A.)

The Christians death a sleep

First, character; secondly, comparison; and, thirdly, conclusion.

I. We shall speak upon CHARACTER. It is entirely through the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that the death of the believer receives and presents so mild, so peaceful, so softened a character as sleep.

II. We shall now consider the comparison in the text, or the several striking resemblances between death and sleep, and how they beautifully describe the condition of departed saints; and–

1. Sleep is exclusively applicable to the body, it does not appertain to the spirit; often while the body sleeps, the soul is conscious, and busily active in dreams of the most astonishing character.

2. Death and sleep have a marked resemblance. Sleep is certainly a type of death. Ovid, the Roman poet, said, O fool, what is sleep but the image of cold death?

3. Death, under the figure of sleep, represents a state of rest, a state of sweet repose.

4. Sleep is useful, is most profitable to the body. By sleep the powers of the body are strengthened, and refreshed, and fitted for the labours of the future day.

5. Sleep is absolutely essential. Who could live for any protracted period without sleep?

6. Sleep delightfully illustrates the prospect of restoration. We expect at lying down to rest to-night, to awake and to arise to-morrow morning.

III. We proceed to the CONCLUSION, or the inferences which the living should draw from the state of the dead, and especially the happy dead.

1. Are you yet unrenewed, unchanged by the Spirit of God?

2. Are you the children of a spiritual resurrection, passed from death to life, translated out of darkness into amazing light?–while we live here, let us live.

3. Let us act as believers in parting with believing friends. (T. Sharp, M. A.)

The daughter of Jairus

Subject: the delay of Christ in going to the house of Jairus, and allowing the child to die before He reached there.

I. CHRISTS MASTERLY INACTIVITY.

II. HOW IT CAME TO PASS.

III. WHAT GOOD IT DID.

IV. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.

1. If we really feel our need of Christ we shall not mind how, when, or where, we seek Him.

2. Christ could not take a walk without doing good and being sympathetically ready to do it.

3. Christ never felt any call amiss to Him.

4. This miracle teaches that Christ can love the youngest.

5. We cannot do better than closely imitate the manner, spirit, and method of Christs working. (R. H. Lovell.)

The Master of Life

When the title which is here translated Master was in common use, it meant the master of a school. Using the word in its English sense, every man is more or less, in relation to one thing or another, a master; but in Christ alone does the term find its full and perfect realization.

I. VIEW THESE WORDS AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE NARRATIVE TO WHICH THEY BELONG. Was it of no use to trouble the Master?

II. VIEW THESE WORDS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE HISTORY OF OUR OWN EXPERIENCE. Trouble not the Master, cries the specious philosopher, the mocking secularist, the trivial worldling. Unbelief, Pride, Despondency, Indolence, all say, Trouble not the Master. Test some of these objections.

1. Trouble not the Master, for there is no real power in prayer.

2. For the help you ask is too great for Him to render.

3. For the help you ask for relates to matters too insignificant for His dignity to notice.

4. For you have no assurance of His love.

5. For this is not the right time for your supplication.

Be deaf to every voice that bids you trouble not the Master, and listen to the voice from heaven that is for ever saying, Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. (C. Stanford, D. D.)

Fear not, only believe

Manly faith

This encouraging direction was spoken by Christ to a man in the very crisis of his acutest agony, and was so efficacious in its influence that it lifted its recipient at once to the highest rank among the heroes of a victorious and manly faith, the faith that

(1) is persistent and triumphant in its contest with difficulties in the gravest perils of human experience;

(2) Opens, and keeps open, the nature for evermore to the highest, holiest, and helpfullest; and

(3) Eagerly avails itself of all contemporary life-interpreting facts.

I. Only believe. Yes, only, but what an only! Put yourself in this mans position. Only believe, meant for Jairus attempting the hardest task mortal man ever engaged in.

II. Short as this sentence is, it is an ellipsis, and on the way in which it is completed depend the chances of our gaining a true conception of what a manly faith is, not less than a clear notion of this rulers act. Only believe–what? whom? Oh! if only some of our teachers would take thetrouble to think this clause out to its fullest significance, the passage would cease to be a miserable fetish, and become a spiritual power. What was this rulers faith? A correct idea? Yea, verily, for faith without knowledge is superstition. A feeling? Most surely. A tender regard for the Saviour glows in the scene, and faith works by love, and inspires courage never to submit or yield. Obedience? Yes I every step he took alongside of Christ revealed it. But was this all? Knowledge, love, obedience? No! The act is complex. Go to its roots, and you cannot set it out in a short phrase, or dispatch it in a definition. It is vital, like life; and like life, indefinable. It is an opening of the entire nature, in all its powers and faculties, to Christ, to receive of His energies, so that Christ is flowing into him, healing and strengthening him, and sustaining him as he journeys along, and finally giving him a complete victory over himself and his painful and distressing lot.

III. But it must not be forgotten that this quickening and stimulating counsel was enforced by an actual and positive fact, illustrative of that very heroism–of faith to which this perplexed and agitated man was encouraged. The direction is set in a background that brilliantly illumines and enforces it; for I cannot avoid thinking that the dangerous delay in reaching the poor mans home, and the obvious determination of Christ to bring the tired and trembling woman to the front, and to compel the confession of her sad and lengthened illness, and of her speedy cure, was meant to encourage this believer in his difficult task. There is always close to us the human fact interpreting and enforcing the Divine direction, if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear the message of our Lord. God never gives us words alone.

IV. Let me ask you to take this direction and apply it to yourselves as this man took it. Cling to Christ, the truth, hold fast the gentle and healing hand of Christ. (J. Clifford, D. D.)

On the death of little children

Let me speak of the spirit and work of Christ in the home of a sick child.

1. By the death of little children the unity of home life is broken up.

2. There is something which we call unnatural in this manner of death.

3. The bereavement of children is a bereavement that so often never seems to be fully repaired till the bereavement shall be over, and the separated have met again face to face.

4. There is for us, however, over their tiny graves, a glorious nevertheless. We can enter into the joy of the word of the Lord that assures us that our loved children, numbered among the dead, are yet not dead, but only sleeping.

(1) It is a great blessing which God confers on a home when its inmates can say: Part of our family is in heaven.

(2) Those who form this part so perfectly blessed are for ever safe from all moral dangers and ills.

(3) And this because they are ever pure, without fault before the throne of God. (T. Gasquoine, B. A.)

Our lost children

She is not dead. This He said of all our children we have seen lying thus. Christ here reveals to us, as truth, what the poets of all ages have been telling the world. Our children are not lost. They sleep. The burden has been too much, the road too broken, the light too dim for their eyes. (E. Aston)

Not death but sleep

I. The words of the messenger (Luk 8:49) may serve to REMIND US OF THE LIMITS WHICH ORDINARILY OUR UNBELIEF SETS TO OUR FAITH. While theres life there is hope, we are accustomed to say. But if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Christ has the same power over death now as He had when on earth. The difference between His treatment of death now, and His treatment of it then, is not in kind–it is only in circumstance and scene. Cling to the belief that Christ has abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light, and that one day your loved ones shall be restored to you and you to them, and, when set over against the consolation which that belief has power to yield, the question of the time when will come to matter less and less to you.

II. Looking at the text itself we find in it–

1. That when Christ reached the house of Jairus the relatives and neighbours who had assembled in the deathchamber, were, according to Eastern custom, bitterly weeping and loudly bewailing the loss which had just befallen the family; and–

2. That He bade them cease their mourning. WHY, THEN, DID CHRIST SAY TO THEM WEEP NOT? Surely their grief was pardonable and even fitting. Surely it would have argued the possession of a callous heart and an unsympathetic nature if they had been unmoved in that house of mourning that day. It seems to me that we must invest these words in the mouth of Christ with the tenderest look and the most sympathetic tone, and that we must regard them not as condemnatory of a grief that was natural, but as gentle chiding of sorrow that was hopeless, and therefore unbelieving,

Weep not for them! it is no cause of sorrow

That theirs was no long pathway to the tomb;
They had one bright to-day, no sad to-morrow
Rising in hope, and darkening into gloom.
Weep not for them! give tears unto the living;
O waste no vain regret on lot like theirs!
But rather make it reason for thanksgiving

That ye have cherished angels unawares.

III. THE REASON WHICH CHRIST GAVE WHY THEY WERE NOT TO WEEP. She is not dead. And yet the very next verse tells us that they all knew very well that she was dead. How came Christ then to deny a fact so patent to all? It was because He set His face and the whole weight of His thought and speech against the merely natural and temporal views of men as to what death is–The illuminating significance of the fact of Christs indisposition to use the word death.

IV. We have seen that Jesus said, and why He said, that the daughter of Jairus was not dead. How, then, does He explain the wondrous and awful change which has come ever her visible form? HE SAYS THAT SHE IS SLEEPING. Perhaps never was a time, since men began to seek out the analogies in things, when they did not see and speak of the striking similarity between Death and his twin-brother Sleep. But is this fact enough to account for Christs use of the similitude? I think not. If Christ had done nothing more for humanity, says Munger, than give to it this word sleep in place of death, He Would have been the greatest of benefactors. To that which seems the worst thing, He has given the best name, and the name is true. It is a great thing that we are able to take that almost sweetest and most soothing word in our tongue–sleep–and give it unto death: sleep that ends our cares and relieves us of our toils, that begins in weariness and ends in strength., Out of sleep there is awakening, and the light of the eternal morning gladdens the vision of all who fall asleep in Christ. (J. R. Bailey.)

Talitha cumi

Very tender is the word in which Jesus addresses the dead child, as if she were still living. St. Mark alone records the original Aramaic expression, Talitha cumi, which had doubtless been indelibly impressed upon the memory of St. Peter, from whom St. Mark, who was his special friend and companion, must have obtained it. And the original expression is recorded, because it cannot be translated without losing much of its charm and significance. It contains a term of endearment derived from a Syrian word signifying lamb, often applied by fond parents to their children. It is as if the Good Shepherd had said, in bringing back in His bosom to the fold of the living this lost lamb that had wandered into the land of forgetfulness, My little lamb, I say unto thee, arise. By the word of love and the touch of power, the spirit is re-called from the everlasting spring, and the hills of myrrh, to the forsaken tabernacle. The wave of life rushes back to the quiet heart, the pulse is set beating anew; a warm glow diffuses itself through the frame and mantles on the cheeks and lips. She rises from the couch as from a profound dreamless sleep, in mute astonishment at the strange scene around her, all the feebleness of her illness gone. The sun of her life- as happens in the natural world on the borders of the Arctic regions in summer–just dipped below the horizon for a little, and then rose again; and dawn and sunset shone in the same sky. (H. Macmillan, LL. D.)

The Saviour raised Her hand from off her bosom, and spread out The snowy fingers in His palm, and said, Maiden! Arise!–and suddenly a flush Shot oer her forehead, and along her lips And through her cheek the rallied colour ran; And the still outline of her graceful form Stirrd in the linen vesture; and she claspd The Saviours hand, and fixing her dark eyes Full on His beaming countenance–arose. (N. P. Willis.)

He commanded to give her meat

The command of Jesus to give the restored child meat was intended, we may suppose, to serve several purposes: to supply

(1) a physical want, and in so doing to give clear, unmistakable proof of the reality of fine life restored to perfect health;

(2) to calm the apprehensions and the great astonishment of the parents; and

(3) to show that the course of nature, though violently interrupted for once, must be resumed according to the usual order. Jesus descended from the region of the supernatural to the region of ordinary life, from the working of a miracle to the satisfying of a commonplace want. And by that circumstance He teaches us the important lesson, that the spiritual life which He has imparted by Divine power must be sustained by human means. (H. Macmillan, LL. D.)

Death pleasingly described

It would seem that the Romans had even an aversion to mention death in express terms, for they disguised its very name by some periphrasis such as, Discessit e vita–He has departed from life; and they did not say their friend had died, but that he had lived–vixit! Even among a people less refined the obtrusive idea of death has been studiously avoided. We are told that when the Emperor of Morocco inquires after any one who has recently died, it is against etiquette to mention the word death; the answer is, His destiny is closed. (I. DIsraeli.)

What withers on earth blooms in heaven

A delicate child, pale and prematurely wise, was complaining on a hot morning that the poor dewdrops had been too hastily snatched away, and had not been allowed to glitter on the flowers like other happier dew-drops, that live the whole night through and sparkle through the moonlight, and through the morning onwards to noon-day. The sun, said the child, has chased them away with his heat, or has swallowed them up in his wrath. Soon after came rain, and a rainbow; whereupon his father pointed upwards. See, said he, there stand the dew-drops gloriously re-set–a glittering jewelry–in the heavens; and the clownish foot tramples on them no more. By this, my child, thou art taught that what withers on earth blooms again in heaven. Thus the father spoke, and knew not that he spake prophetic words; for soon after the delicate child, with the morning brightness of his early wisdom, was exhaled, like a dew-drop, into heaven. (Jean Paul Richter.)

A glorified memory

Christian parents have a rich inheritance in the memories of their sainted children, and in the living treasures laid up in heaven. Years ago, says Dr. W. M. Taylor, when I was leaving my Liverpool home to fulfil an engagement in the city of Glasgow, the last sight on which my eyes rested was that of my little daughter at the window in her grandmothers arms. As the carriage drove me away, she waved her hand in fond and laughing glee, and many a time during my railway ride the pleasant vision came up before my memory, and filled my heart with joy. I never saw her again l The next morning a telegram stunned me with the tidings of her death; and now that earthly glimpse of her has been idealized and glorified, and it seems to me as if God had set her in the window of heaven to beckon me upward to my eternal home. I would not give that memory for all the gold on earth. I would not part with the inspiration that it stirs within me for all that the world could bestow.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

While he yet spake,…. The above words to the woman;

there cometh one: Mark suggests there were more than one, Mr 5:35,

[See comments on Mr 5:35] and the Persic version here reads, “some of the ruler’s family came”; that is, to him, who was now with Jesus: from the ruler of the synagogue’s house; so the word “house” is supplied by the Syriac and Ethiopic versions; otherwise the words would be,

from the ruler of the synagogue; which could not be, since he was still with Christ: hence some versions, as the Vulgate and Arabic, render them, “to the ruler of the synagogue”; and which give a true sense, and a right view of the case; for this messenger both came from his house, and to him:

saying to him, thy daughter is dead, trouble not the master; to bring him any further, since all hope of help was now gone. The Vulgate Latin version, instead of “master”, reads “him”; and the Ethiopic version, “Jesus”.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

From the ruler of the synagogue’s house ( ). The word “house” is not in the Greek here as in Mr 5:35 where is used rather than , as here. But the ruler himself had come to Jesus (Lu 8:41) and this is the real idea. Trouble not ( ). See on Lu 7:6 for this verb and also Mark 5:35; Matt 9:36.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

From the ruler of the synagogue ‘s house. A. V. and Rev. properly supply house, as the ruler himself is present with Jesus.

Dead. Placed first in the Greek order, for emphasis. “Dead is thy daughter.”

Trouble. See on Mt 9:36; Mr 5:35. Tyndale renders dis – ease, in the old verbal sense of disturb.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “While he yet spake,” (eti autou laloutos) “While he was still speaking,” regarding this daughter of faith, Luk 8:48; Mar 4:35, and to this woman.

2) “There cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house,” (erchetai tis para tou archisunagogou) “There came (approached) a certain one (messenger) from the ruler of the synagogue of that area;” The story of Jairus continues after the interruption from Luk 8:44; Mar 5:35.

3) “Saying to him” (legon) “Repeatedly saying,” with anxious care, to the synagogue ruler who had fallen at Jesus’ feet, appealing for Jesus to come and heal his only daughter, Luk 8:41-42.

4) “Thy daughter is dead;” (hoti tethneken he thugater sou) “Your daughter has died,” has already deceased, as happened to Lazarus, Joh 11:21; Mar 5:35. It was his opinion that it was too late for Jairus to get help from Jesus. But He is “God of the dead,” as well as of the living, Act 7:60; 1Co 15:6.

5) “Trouble not the master.” (meketi skulle ton didaskalon) “Do not trouble the teacher any further,” Mar 5:35.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk. 8:40. Returned.I.e. to Capernaum. Gladly received Him.The word gladly is inserted by the translators, but it is implied in the phrase in the original: welcomed Him (R.V.).

Luk. 8:41. Jairus.In Hebrew, Jair (Jdg. 10:3). Ruler of the synagogue.The affairs of the synagogue were ruled by a college of elders, one of whom was president or ruler. It is interesting to see that faith in Jesus was not altogether wanting among the official class in Galilee. Come into his house.Jairus had not the faith of the Roman centurion (Farrar).

Luk. 8:42. Lay a dying.Was at the point of death. St. Matthew, who does not mention the coming of a messenger from the house of Jairus (here noted in Luk. 8:49), describes her as even now dead: he anticipates, that is, the mention of her actual death.

Luk. 8:51. To go in.Rather, to enter in with Him (R.V.). Peter, and James, and John.These same three disciples were chosen by Jesus to be witnesses of His transfiguration and to be near Him during His agony in Gethsemane.

Luk. 8:52. All wept.Rather, all were weeping and bewailing her (R.V.). I.e. in the house, not in the chamber of death. The word translated bewail meant originally to beat or strike oneself: probably there is a reference to beating the breasts as a sign of grief. St. Matthew mentions the minstrels or flute-players, who together with other professional mourners were ordinarily employed on such occasions. Not dead, but sleepeth.I.e. she is as one who sleeps, for she is shortly to awake. A similar word is used of Lazarus, Joh. 11:11.

Luk. 8:54. And He put them all out.To be omitted: omitted in R.V., probably an interpolation from the parallel passages in the other Gospels. Maid, arise.St. Mark gives the exact Aramaic words used, Talitha cumi.

Luk. 8:55.The command to give her to eat shows that she was restored to actual life with its wants and weaknesses, and in that incipient state of convalescence which would require nourishment.

Luk. 8:56.St. Matthew tells us that secrecy was not maintained; but, on the contrary, the fame thereof went abroad into all that land. We need not suppose the parents were disobedient to the command of Jesus; an event of the kind, known to so many, could scarcely be concealed.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 8:40-42; Luk. 8:49-56

The Sleeping Child awakened.Sorrows and need make short work of prejudices. Jairus, as a synagogue official, was probably not over-favourable to Jesus; but he must have known of the cures already done in the synagogue at Capernaum, and so he forgets his doubts and dignity, and flings himself at the feet of the new Teacher, who, whether a heretic or not, may heal his little girl. His faith was probably merely a belief in Christs miraculous power; and he was far behind the heathen centurion, who did not ask Jesus to come, but only to speak. But his agony was sore, his need great, his beseeching plaintive, and Jesus does not stop to put him through a catechism before He responds to his prayer. We are taught to think more loftily of Christs willingness and power by His swift and exuberant answers to the poorest faith. Jesus has just come from exhausting toils on the other side of the lake; but He asks for no leisure, but goes with the impatient father at once, attended by a gaping crowd of sight-seers. Take our Lords three sayings (Luk. 8:50; Luk. 8:52; Luk. 8:54) as guides to the narrative.

I. He invites and encourages faith even at the moment when all seems hopeless.The impatience of Jairus was justified by the message of the childs death. His faith, such as it was, was ready to collapse. He could believe that Jesus could heal, but to bring to life again was too much to expect. It obviously had not occurred to him as possible. How should it? And at that moment, when the last faint spark of light in the fathers darkened heart has been blown out, Christ, for the first time in the story, speaks. His words sound strange and almost meaningless, Fear not. What more was there to fear? The last and worst had come. Only believe. What was there to believe now? She shall be made whole. But she is dead. But there lies hidden to be found by the believing father a comfort which was enough for faith to lay hold of, though it might not be put in plain language. He gives Jairus enough to cheer him and relight the flame of hope. He never bids us not to be afraid without bidding us believe in Him, and giving faith something to cling to. A true faith will accept His assurances even when they seem to imply impossibilities; and many a mourning heart that has heard Jesus speak thus over the dear dead whom He has not raised, knows how true it is that dying they have been made whole, and live a fuller life.

II. He announces that the irrevocable is not irrevocable to Him and His, for He comes to awake the sleeper.This word was spoken in the house, at the door of the chamber. Flute-players, and hired mourners, and curious neighbours, and all the crowd that comes to buzz round sorrow, were there; and a yard off, on the other side of a wall, lay the poor child quiet and deaf to it all. It is absurd to imagine that the saying of Christ is to be taken literally, and that the child was simply in a swoon or trance. The bystanders unfeeling laugh is proof enough that what men call death had unmistakably taken place. They had seen the last moments, and knew that she was dead. What then does the saying mean? Jesus is not dealing in sentimental fine names for the unchanged horror, as we sometimes do; but His change of names follows a change of nature. He has abolished death, and, while the physical fact remains, the whole character of it changes. Sleep is not unconsciousness. It suspends the power of affecting, or being affected by, the world of sense, but does no more. We live and think and rejoice in sleep. It has the promise of waking. It brings rest. Therefore our Lord takes the old metaphor which all nations have used to hide the ugliness of death, and breathes new hope into it.

III. His last word is the life-giving one in the death-chamber.Silence and secrecy befitted it. He kept out the noisy mob, and with the parents and the three chief disciples enters the sacred presence of the dead. Why this small number of witnesses? Possibly for the sake of the child, whose tender years might be disturbed by many curious eyes; but also, apparently, because, for reasons not known to us, He desired little publicity for the miracle. How simply and easily the stupendous deed is done! One touch of His hand, two words, the very syllables of which St. Mark gives, and her spirit returned. He is the Lord both of the dead and the living, and His word runneth very swiftly over the gulf between this world and the abode of the dead. They sleep lightly, and are easily waked by His touch. Their sleep, while it lasts, is sweet, restful, conscious, if they sleep in Jesus. As for the weary body, it slumbers; and as for the spirit, it may be said to sleep, if by that we understand the cessation of toil, the end of connection with the outer world, the tranquillity of deep repose; but, in another aspect, the sleep of the saints is their passing into a fuller and more vivid life, and they are satisfied, when they close their eyes on earth, to open them for heaven, and sleep to awake in His likeness.Maclaren.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Butlers Comments

SECTION 5

In Eternity (Luk. 8:49-56)

49 While he was still speaking, a man from the rulers house came and said, Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more. 50But Jesus on hearing this answered him, Do not fear; only believe, and she shall be well. 51And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. 52And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said, Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But taking her by the hand he called, saying, Child, arise. 55 And her spirit returned, and she got up at once; and he directed that something should be given her to eat. 56And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Luk. 8:49-53 Only Believe: Jairus had been following Jesus closely all the time. No doubt Jairus was growing more anxious for his daughters life moment by moment. While Jesus was still speaking to the woman healed of her issue of blood Jairus was standing next to Jesus in the pushing, pressing multitude. Suddenly, pushing through the crowd, came someone from Jairus house (he was the ruler of a synagogue in Capernaum and a very important man of the community) blurting out the shocking news, Your little daughter is dead, do not vex the teacher any longer. There was no doubt on the part of the messenger that the little girl was dead for he used the Greek word tethneken, a perfect tense verb which indicates the child had died before he left the house and was even now dead. Jairus must have been pestering Jesus constantly to hurry up to this house for the Greek word skulle (trouble) literally means to flay off the skin of someone and so in a figurative way means to agitate, vex, annoy, distress.

Jesus, hearing the shocking announcement, spoke directly to Jairus (Gr. apekrithe, answered him), rather tersely, Do not fear, only believe and she will be saved. The Greek word translated well, is sothsetai, the future tense of sodzo, meaning, to save, to make whole. It is the same word Jesus used with the woman with an issue of blood. Jesus did not explain how the child would be saved or who would do the savingHe implied that Jairus was simply to trust Him and all would be well. Arriving at Jairus house, Jesus entered the house with only Peter, John and James, and Jairus and his wife (cf. Mar. 5:37). Inside the house was pandemonium; flute players (Mat. 9:23), a tumult (Mar. 5:38), and a crowd of people weeping and bewailing the child loudly (the Greek word, thorubon, translated tumult in Mar. 5:38-39, literally means, loud, deafening noise, confusion). Confusion, loud wailing, flutes playing funeral dirges, and rooms packed with curiosity-minded people was in no way conducive to the majestic, yet privately tender thing Jesus was about to do, so He put them all outside (Mar. 5:40), He commanded them (Gr. anachoreite, imperative mood), You all withdraw (Mat. 9:24) for she is not dead but is sleeping.

Jesus knew He was going to clear the house of all the confusion and noise by ordering the mourners outside. What he was going to do needed to be done, for the sake of the parents and the girl, as privately as possible. This was no time for even more confusion and uproar, well-intentioned though it might be. At the same time, Jesus wanted eyewitnesses to the event whose personal involvement might not later be challenged as it might if the father and mother themselves were the only witnesses. These three disciples would be impersonal and objective in their observance. Furthermore, it is evident from Luk. 8:56 that Jesus wanted as little publicity of this miracle as possible because it would simply attract more and more multitudes seeking only healing, and intensify official opposition, (cf. also Mat. 9:26). If people wanted to believe and trust Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, He had already done enough miracles. Jesus did not have to heal every single sick person in the world to establish His power and faithfulness to keep His promise to forgive. As a matter of fact, the more physical healing that took place, the more people tended to seek it and neglect the cleansing of their souls unto salvation.

Why would Jesus say the child was sleeping when it was plain to everyone present she was dead? As G. Campbell Morgan puts it, From Christs viewpoint that is not death which we call death. When the spirit has left the body, that is not death. Death is a deeper thing than that. Physical death is merely the separation of the spirit from the body. Jairus daughter still lived, somewhere, in another existence, absent from the body of flesh. Jesus wants everyone to know that the child is very much alive somewhere else, and that He has the power to bring her back from there to her fleshly body if He wishes. For Jesus, death is separation from God. Sin brings death in all its terrible reality. Death is separation from goodness, truth, purity, loveliness, wholeness and guiltlessness. Separation from God is by choice. Men may choose death or life. Life is by faith in God and His son. This little girl was not deadshe evidently believed in God and was still alive somewhere else. So Jesus simply used a figure of speech to describe the state of her present existence as one of rest (cf. Rev. 14:13)not unconsciousness. When He spoke to her, she heard and obeyed. Jesus has the power to speak to invisible spirits. But when Jesus said, She is sleeping the people laughed at Him. The Greek word is kategelon, literally, laughed-downin other words, they scorned Him or ridiculed Him.

Luk. 8:54-56 Overwhelmingly Blessed: This miracle, as recorded by the gospel writers, demands an absolute decision about Jesus one way or another. Either He did raise this little girl from the dead or He is the worlds biggest fraud. The account precludes any possibility of mythology or figurative language. Taking the girl by the hand, in the presence of her parents and three disciples, Jesus said (in Aramaic, Mar. 5:41), Talitha cumi, which means, Little girl, I say to you, arise. Surely her parents knew whether she was dead or not. If Jesus simply pretended to raise her from the dead and did not, what a cruel trick He tried to play upon the bereaved parents. If she was not dead, what a cruel trick Jesus has played upon millions of believers (including His own contemporaries). If either of these propositions be true Jesus should not be considered a teacher worthy of following no matter how eloquent His doctrines. But Jesus is no fraud! He actually raised the girl from the dead.

The gospel writers record that the little girl got up immediately and walked and Jesus directed that she be given food to eat. All this proves beyond any doubt that it was a real resurrection and not a symbolic one. This was no spiritist seanceJairus daughter was no ghost! The parents were amazed with great astonishment (Mar. 5:42). The Greek word exestesan is translated amazed but literally means, stand out from. In other words, the girls parents were beside themselves with astonishment at what Jesus had done.

Why would Jesus enjoin the parents to tell no one what had happened? We have already discussed the probable reasons above. Matthew notes that the report of this miracle went through all that district (Mat. 9:26) so someone told. In the very next chapter of Lukes gospel we see that Jesus great popularity as a miracle-worker precipitates an official inquiry by the murderous Herod Antipas (Luk. 9:7-9) and poses problems for the further conduct of a public ministry by Jesus (Luk. 9:11-17; Mar. 6:31-44; Mat. 14:13-21). These are the fundamental reasons Jesus wanted to keep a low profile as a miracle-worker.

STUDY STIMULATORS:

1.

What is the seed in the parable of the sower?

2.

What is Jesus saying generally about evangelism or proclamation of the gospel in the parable of the sower?

3.

How is the attempt of Jesus mother and brothers to see Him an illustration of the parable of the sower?

4.

How did Jesus evaluate the faith of His disciples during the storm at sea?

5.

How many demon-possessed men came to meet Jesus on the other side of the sea?

6.

Do you see a problem in the ethics of Jesus in allowing the demons to destroy a herd of swine? Why?

7.

In such a clamoring, pushing multitude in Capernaum, why was Jesus concerned that someone had touched Him?

8.

What implications, other than physical, did the womans hemorrhaging have upon her life?

9.

Why did Jesus command the mourners to leave the house of Jairus?

10.

Why did Jesus say the little girl was asleep when she was dead?

11.

Why did Jesus tell the parents to tell no one what had happened?

IS THERE DEMON POSSESSION TODAY AS THERE WAS DURING THE TIME OF CHRISTS INCARNATE MINISTRY?

By Paul T. Butler

It is my opinion that there is no demon possession of human beings today in the precise manner such as manifested in the phenomenal way it was during Christs incarnate ministry (and perhaps as it was during the remainder of the ascendancy of the Roman empire).

It is my opinion that the binding of Satan in Rev. 20:1-6 was initiated and resulted from the redemptive work of Christ in His Incarnation. It was completed when the beast of the 4th universal empire (as Daniel predicted), Rome, fell. At that time, it is my opinion, demon possession, as manifested in the Gospels and Acts apparently was to cease. All binding of Satan is relative. He has always been bound to some degree or other due to the fact that God is Almighty. God is the only being who is Almighty. It is my opinion a part of Satans binding has to do with the restriction imposed by God that Satans demons are no longer able to possess human bodies as they were during the time of Christs incarnation.

1.

To have this opinion does not mean I deny the power of Satan to deceive the minds of people today who deliberately choose to believe falsehood perpetrated by lying signs and wonders. If the definition of demon possession means simply that Satan has captured the minds of men by unbelief, I would agree.

Satan entered into Judas . . . (Luk. 22:3 and Joh. 13:27) but he was not what other scriptures describe as demon possessed.

2.

Do the alleged demons possessing people today ever enter into animals? (See Mat. 8:28-34; Luk. 8:26-36; Mar. 5:1-16.)

3.

Do the alleged demons possessing people today ever testify to the identity and deity of Christ or the messengers of Christ and what their work is? (See Act. 16:17; Act. 19:15; Mat. 8:29; Mar. 1:24 and above references.)

4.

Do the alleged demons possessing people today ever speak out as recognizable separate individualsdefinitively separate from the human whose body they possess?

5.

How may demons (alleged) today be exorcised? Is the exorcism always miraculous and always instantaneous? If not, is it simply a matter of conversion by the power of the gospel regenerating the mind through preaching and teaching? When there is an unsuccessful exorcism, or casting out, are those possessed by alleged demons doomed to suffer such possession until they die?

6.

Only Jesus could give power to exorcise demons. That was a direct gift and a supernatural power. It apparently did not require being a born again believer to receive this powerJudas apparently was given this powerhe was one of the twelve (cf. Mat. 10:1; Mat. 10:8).

7.

On the other hand, many pseudo-faith-healers today, and ministers from all differing theological and doctrinal positions, claim they have cast out or exorcised demons. Whom are we to believe? Who has that power today among all who claim it? What are we to conclude from their claims? Who is to decide which are real demons and real exorcists? By what criteria?

8.

Demons in the scripture were not ecto-plasmthey were (and still are, in the abyss) real persons!

9.

The psychic powers of the human mind over matter have been well documented. What some think is demon possession could very well be such psycho-somatic phenomena. Voodooism, etc., may be classified under this heading.

10.

The most destructive power of the devil is not possession of a human body but a mind or soul (cf. Mat. 10:28). It appears that while demons possessed bodies of some humans during Christs incarnationthe mind or soul of that person was not possessed. Demons merely troubled humans (Luk. 6:18); they drove people to do, physically, what they did (Luk. 8:29).

11.

Of all the miraculous gifts the Corinthian Christians were given, exorcism of demon possessed was not among them (I Cor. ch. 1214).

12.

How do we know when someone is demon possessed? What is the criteria by which distinction is made between demon possession and epilepsy, mental illness, perverted maliciousness and crazed murderousness (e.g. Hitler, de Sade, etc.)?

13.

Is it not possible that all the mania for the occult and the practice of it is being used by the devil to get people to think he has powers which he does not really have (Rev. 13:13-15)?

14.

If demon possession could only come to those who were willingwas the little daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman a willing victim? In other words, demon possession had nothing to do with the willingness of the possessed. Therefore, exorcism was not done by conversion but by the exercise of divine authority in a miraculous way.

15.

It seems apparent that only Jesus and the apostles, or specially endowed disciples (Luk. 10:1-42) could exorcise demons. This they did, not by conversion but by miracle. There is no evidence from the scriptures that this miraculous power could be given by any other than Christ Himself and that while He was in His incarnate ministry.

16.

If miracles of healing, speaking in foreign languages, prophecy, including discernment of spirits (1Co. 12:10), etc., ceased with the end of the New Testament era and the death of the apostles (or the ones to whom the apostles imparted these gifts), so that we can only be certain of the documented miracles of Scripture, then the same principle ought to be applied, for the same reason, to demon possession and exorcism. Otherwise, we are in a quandary to decide about modern claims of demon possession and exorcism among religious groups from one end of the doctrinal spectrum to the other. There are also pagan exorcists making claims.

17.

There really is not any documentation of demon possession in the Old Testament such as occurred during the Incarnation (with an exception or two, e.g. King Saul).

18.

It appears, then, that demon possession in the precise manner in which it occurred during Christs incarnate ministry was uniquely for the purpose of affording historical evidence that Christ (and His apostles) possessed the Sovereign Spirit of Godthat their message was one of victory and power over Satan and all of hell.

19.

A recent case in point, excerpts from article in Joplin, Mo., Globe, 38-81:

Catholic priests were attempting to rid an 11 year old boy in Brookfield, Conn. of demons. (The boys name is unknown.)

A 19 year old friend was watching these sessions, challenged the demons to take me on. Control me. Leave this boy alone, acc. to tape recordings of the sessions. Arne Johnson was the friend.
Johnson allegedly stabbed to death a co-worker (Alan Bono) after Bono had quarreled at Bonos apartment.
Johnson is now pleading that he is not responsible for his acts because of demonic possession.
Ed and Lorraine Warren, who worked on the Amityville Horror case were asked to help the boy who appeared to be possessed (the 11 year old boy). The Warrens said they found movement of objects and frightening manifestations in the house. The Warrens said the boy was indeed possessed, and he seemed to be possessed off and on, 24 hours a day, said one family member. Tape recordings the Warrens made of some of the sessions have the boy making guttural and hissing sounds, cursing his mother, and threatening to stab and kill those present in the room.
Photographs of the sessions show family members attempting to restrain the boy, who the Warrens said seemed to have superhuman strength.
A priest named Virgulak was called to investigate the case; he has made several reports to the bishop of the diocese, but no public reports. He has declined to discuss the reports but said no formal exorcism has ever been requested or performed on the boy.
There were prayer sessions called a deliverance which is supposed to be a lesser form of exorcism that does not require approval of the bishop.
The Warrens say Johnsons attempts to help the boy were amateurish because the only way to order demons out of a person is by using the name of Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Warren said, . . . (Johnson) he challenged what was within the child to take him onand none of us ever do that, not even priests. Problems with this account:

a.

Based on a number of begging the question statements such as, appeared to be . . . , seemed to be . . . , seemed to have . . . , no public reports . . . , supposed to be . . . , approval of the bishop. . . .

b.

In the name of Jesus means in the Bible, by the authority of Jesus. Does Roman Catholicism have the authority of Jesus to exorcise? The name of Jesus is to be used in exorcism by only those authorized to use it (cf. Act. 19:13-16). Whom are we to believe now has that authorization? What credentials do they present for it? Do such exorcists agree doctrinally with the Word of the Holy Spirit in the Bible? If not, are we to believe they have the power of the Spirit?

20.

There are two Old Testament prophecies, clearly Messianic, which predict the cessation of sorceries and soothsayers (Mic. 5:12-13), and unclean spirits or demon-possession (Zec. 13:2). Homer Hailey, in his book, A Commentary on the Minor Prophets, pub. Baker, sums up Zec. 13:1-6 in these words, A fountain for sin and uncleanness will be opened for all the people. At that time the falsehood of idols will cease, prophesying will be discontinued, and the unclean spirits will pass out of the land. Mr. Hailey contends that Zec. 13:1-9 is entirely Messianic and says, Once the foundation was laid and the new revelation was complete, the need for prophets would cease. Daniel indicates the same in a strong Messianic prophecy, when he said of the anointed one, the prince, that He would bring in everlasting righteousness, and seal up vision and prophecy. Likewise, unclean spirits, the antithesis of the prophets, would cease. In the conquest of Christ over Satan and his forces, unclean spirits have ceased to control men as they did in the time of the ministry of Christ and the apostles.

Of course, these prophecies from Micah and Zechariah do not preclude the attempts of human beings and Satan to try to deceive the world that demon possession and sorceries are still supernaturally viable. We believe the Bible clearly indicates what is alleged today to be supernatural demon possession is no longer a possibility. Lying wonders and deceiving signs remain very much a possibility so long as men and women refuse to believe and love the truth and prefer to believe what is false (see 2Th. 2:10-12; 2Ti. 4:3-4, etc.).

21.

The crucial and ultimate question about modern (alleged) demon possession is: Whose testimony is reliable? Whose testimony is inerrantly, infallibly reliable besides the testimony of the Scriptures? None! Any man today, without the inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Spirit to verify his experience and accredit his testimony may be either deceived or a deceiver.

Appleburys Comments

Raising Jairus Daughter From the Dead
Scripture

Luk. 8:49-56 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogues house, saying, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Teacher. 50 But Jesus hearing it, answered him, Fear not: only believe, and she shall be made whole. 51 And when he came to the house, he suffered not any man to enter in with him, save Peter, and John, and James, and the father of the maiden and her mother. 52 And all were weeping, and bewailing her: but he said, Weep not; for she is not dead, but sleepeth. 53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he, taking her by the hand, called, saying, Maiden, arise. 55 And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately: and he commanded that something be given her to eat. 56 And her parents were amazed: but he charged them to tell no man what had been done.

Comments

While he yet spake.Jesus was still speaking to the woman who had just been miraculously healed when one came from Jairas home to give him the tragic news, Thy daughter is dead. Perhaps we now see why Jesus had not let that miracle go unnoticed. The messengers said hopelessly, Do not trouble the Teacher.

But Jesus hearing it, answered him.He had already given them a reason to hope. Now He said, Fear not; only believe, and she shall be made well. He wanted them to believe what they had seen and to have hope that He would perform this miracle also.

And when he came to the house.He allowed only Peter, John, and James, and the father and mother of the child to enter the house with Him. The crowd had already seen the wonder of healing the woman in their midst. Jesus did not work miracles merely to be spectacular. His miracles were done primarily to prove that the message He taught came from God. See Heb. 2:3-4.

All were weeping.Inside the house, He met the usual mourning that accompanied death. He said to the mourners, Stop crying. She did not die, she is sleeping. That turned their mourning to scornful laughing, for they knew she was dead.

But he, taking her by the hand.Without further rebuke, Jesus gently took the hand of the dead child and said, Child, arise. Luke simply adds, Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately, and He directed them to give her food.

And her parents were amazed.Nothing is said about those who had laughed at Him in the presence of death. Did anyone of them have the grace to apologize to the Lord? Were they ashamed of what they had done? Did they acknowledge the miracle as the woman in the crowd had done? The parents were amazed. Thus in simple words, Luke tells about the effect of this wonderful miracle. Their gratitude must have been unlimited, but Jesus told them to say nothing of what had happened.

Summary

Jesus and His disciples were on one of the many tours that took them through the villages and towns of Galilee. Certain women whom He had healed accompanied them and ministered to the group.
On one occasion a crowd gathered and He taught them in parables. The parable of the sower showed them that the Word of God is the seed. Four classes of hearer were described by Jesus, but the ones who heard and understood produced the harvest.
The parable of the lamp explained that Jesus intended them to understand His words, for a lamp lets people see. He warned them to be careful how they heard.
On another occasion when He was teaching, His mother and brothers asked for Him; but He said that those who hear the word of God and do it are the members of His family.
The pressures of His busy ministry made it necessary for Him to get away for some rest from time to time. Jesus and the disciples got into a boat, and Jesus said, Lets go to the other side. As they set out, He fell asleep. A sudden storm was about to sink their boat. The fearful disciples awoke Him. He rebuked the winds and waves and a calm set in. In reverent wonder they said, Who is this who speaks to the winds and waves and they obey Him?
They were met by a demon-possessed man as they landed on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus cast out the legion of demons and allowed them to enter a herd of swine that was feeding nearby. The swine rushed over the cliff and drowned in the sea. People came to see what had happened and were amazed to find this one whom they had never been able to control sitting calmly at Jesus feet. Fear seized them and they asked Jesus to leave. As He was getting into the boat, Jesus said to the man, Go to the people of your house and city and tell them about the great things God has done for you.
The daughter of a ruler of the synagogue was dying. Jairus, the father, asked Jesus to come to his home and help him.
On the way, a woman from the crowd that was following touched Him and was immediately healed.
On arriving at the home of Jairus, they were told that the child was dead. Jesus took Peter, James and John and the parents and entered the house. Taking the girl by the hand, He said, Child, arise. Her spirit returned and she arose. He said, Give her something to eat, but say nothing to anyone about what has happened.

Questions

1.

Where did Jesus conduct His teaching ministry?

2.

What do the Scriptures indicate about preaching in the great centers of population?

3.

What did Jesus and the disciples preach?

4.

How were they supported?

5.

What are the known facts about Mary Magdalene?

6.

How explain her loyalty to Christ?

7.

What is a parable?

8.

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

9.

What do the four types of soil represent?

10.

What is represented by the seed?

11.

How did the disciples learn the meaning of the parable of the sower?

12.

What bearing does this have on understanding figurative language of the Bible?

13.

What is meant by mysteries of the kingdom?

14.

What lesson is taught by the parable of the sower?

15.

How does the parable of the Lamp continue the lesson of the parable of the Sower?

16.

What lesson is taught by the parable of the Lamp?

17.

What was the attitude of Jesus brothers toward Him during His ministry?

18.

Why did Jesus and the disciples start across the sea?

19.

What changed their view?

20.

What lesson did Jesus teach about spiritual kinship?

21.

What is known about storms on the Sea of Galilee?

22.

What effect did the miracle of stilling the storm have on the disciples?

23.

Why did Jesus ask, Where is your faith?

24.

Where is the country of the Gerasenes?

25.

What proof that the man was demon-possessed?

26.

Why did the people ask Jesus to leave?

27.

What did Jesus say to the man who wanted to go with Him? Why?

28.

Who was Jairus?

29.

What did he ask Jesus to do?

30.

What happened on the way to his house?

31.

Why did the woman in the crowd have faith that Jesus could heal her?

32.

How does this differ from the lack of faith that kept the disciples from casting out the demon from the epileptic boy?

33.

Why did Jesus ask, Who touched me?

34.

When did they learn that the daughter of Jairus was dead?

35.

Why did He say, Fear not; only believe, and she shall be made well?

36.

Why did He limit those permitted to enter the home?

37.

What did He do in raising the child from the dead?

38.

What was the effect of the miracle on the parents?

39.

What restriction did Jesus place on them? Why?

40.

What about those who had laughed at Him in the presence of death?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

‘While he yet spoke, there comes one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.”

But with the climax came the anticlimax. In the midst of the joy which followed the healing a messenger came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house to inform them that it was too late. One ‘Daughter’ had been wonderfully healed. The other daughter was dead.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The raising of the daughter of Jairus:

v. 49. While He yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

v. 50. But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, Pear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole.

v. 51. And when He came into the house, He suffered no man to go in save Peter and James and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

v. 52. And all wept, and bewailed her; but He said, “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

v. 53. And they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

v. 54. And He put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

v. 55. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway/ and He commanded to give her meat.

v. 56. And her parents were astonished; but He charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

The matter with the woman had delayed Jesus for some time, and this was altogether in line with His plans. For now one of the servants of the ruler of the synagogue came and told Jairus that his daughter had really died, adding that he should no longer vex the Master, should in no way bother Him anymore. All help was now too late. But Jesus wanted to strengthen the faith of the distracted father, and therefore calmly told him: Fear not, only believe. Mistrust, suspicion, fear is an enemy of faith. For faith demands a trust with all the heart, with all the soul, and with all the mind. Even when the last breath has been drawn and one of our loved ones lies quiet in death, even then trust must not be thrown away. Faith reaches beyond the grave. In the house of Jairus everything was in commotion. The official mourners had arrived as early as this and were making the day hideous with their noises, with their weeping and wailing. And when Jesus sternly bade them desist from their weeping, they called out to Him in derision, knowing that the girl had really died. But Jesus cleared the house, taking only the parents and three of His disciples into the room where the child lay dead. He there took hold of her hand, saying, at the same time, in the Aramaic language: Maid, arise. And at once her spirit, which had left her body, returned to her. She could get up immediately. She was returned to complete health. She needed food, probably having been without it for some time during the sickness, and she was able to take it. The parents were extremely amazed at the miracle which was done before their eyes to their beloved daughter. But Christ retained His calm manner, merely impressing upon them the necessity of keeping the fact for themselves. He wanted no advertising of this miracle, especially not at this time. Jesus of Nazareth has life in Himself and gives it to whomsoever He will. With His human voice He called back this girl from death. The human nature of Christ possesses the full powers of life also in the state of humiliation. Therefore we have in Jesus, the Savior, a Lord that can and does deliver from death. When Christ, our Life, will be revealed on that Great Day, then He, by His almighty voice, will call us and all the dead out of the grave, and will give to all believers in Him eternal, glorious life.

Summary. Jesus, continuing His ministry in Galilee, teaches in parables, calms the storm on the sea, heals a demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes, cures the woman with an issue, and raises the daughter of Jairus.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

49. ] Little marks of accuracy come out in each of the two fuller accounts. Here we have , which was doubtless the exact fact: in Mark , generally expressed. In Mark again we learn not only that Jesus heard, but , i.e. it was not reported to Him, but He overheard it being said , which is a minute detail not given here. Nothing could more satisfactorily mark the independent authority of the two narratives.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 8:49-56 . Previous narrative resumed (Mat 9:23-26 , Mar 5:35-43 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 8:49 . : one messenger, several in Mk.; one enough for the purpose. . ., from the ruler = belonging to his house. Vide Mar 3:21 : . Mk. has here.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 8:49-56

49While 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, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” 51When 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. 56Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

Luk 8:49 “Your daughter has died” This is a perfect active indicative. She died and had entered into death. Whether this girl was dead or in a coma is difficult to know (cf. Act 20:7-12). The family thought she was dead and had hired professional mourners, which was a common practice in that day.

“do not trouble” This is a present active imperative. This word was also used by the centurion seeking Jesus for healing (cf. Luk 7:6).

“the Teacher” Luke never calls Jesus “rabbi” because he is writing to Gentiles. However, this designation is also used often in Matthew’s Gospel. It was a way to characterize Jesus’ ministry. He acted, then He explained the significance of His person, work, and mission. Preaching and teaching are used interchangeably in the Gospels.

Luk 8:50 “Do not be afraid” This is a present middle (deponent) imperative with the negative participle, which usually denotes the cessation of an act in process.

This man had stood there patiently as Jesus visited with the woman, but now it was too late. This delay may have been purposeful to test this man’s faith in Jesus (cf. Mary and Martha’s test of faith in John 11).

“only believe” This is an aorist active imperative. Faith is the opposite of fear (doubt). Believe what? Believe that Jesus was capable of healing his daughter and fulfilling His word.

This is still the issue today. Will Jesus fulfill His word? Can we trust Him to do what He promised?

Luk 8:51 “He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James” This is the inner circle of disciples who were present at all the intimate, special times with the Lord.

Luk 8:52 “they” This must refer to the crowd of mourners gathered at this home (cf. Luk 8:53).

“Stop weeping” This is another Present active imperative with the negative particle, which usually means to stop an act in progress.

“asleep” Sleep is an OT circumlocution for physical death (cf. Joh 11:11). It is difficult to know whether this is a healing (cf. Luk 8:52) or a resuscitation (cf. Luk 8:49; Luk 8:53; Luk 8:55). This series of miracles has shown Jesus’ power over nature, the demonic, illness, and death.

Luk 8:54 “arise” This is a present active imperative. This is a common verb with a large semantic range; it is often used of resuscitation (cf. Luk 7:14; Luk 7:22; Luk 8:54; Luk 9:2; Luk 20:37), but also of the resurrection (cf. Luk 9:22; Luk 24:6; Luk 24:34). Jesus has power over death (cf. Joh 10:17-18).

Luk 8:56 “He instructed them to tell no one what had happened” In the Synoptics, Jesus’ deity is veiled until after the great truths of Calvary and the resurrection are revealed.

1. demons not allowed to reveal His person

a. Mar 1:34; Mar 3:12

b. Luk 4:34-35; Luk 4:41

2. those He healed not allowed to tell others about it

a. Mat 8:4; Mat 9:30; Mat 12:16

b. Mar 1:43-44; Mar 5:43; Mar 7:36

c. Luk 5:14; Luk 8:56

3. the disciples not allowed to reveal His Messiahship

a. Mat 16:20; Mat 17:9

b. Mar 8:30; Mar 9:9

c. Luk 9:21 The crowds wanted favors, not truth; healing, not conversion

Jesus did not want to be known as a healer. The crowds wanted favors, not truth; healing, not conversion.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

from. Greek. para. App-104.

dead. Emph. by Figure of speech Hyperbaton. App-6.

Master = Teacher. App-98.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

49.] Little marks of accuracy come out in each of the two fuller accounts. Here we have , which was doubtless the exact fact:-in Mark ,-generally expressed. In Mark again we learn not only that Jesus heard,-but , i.e. it was not reported to Him, but He overheard it being said, which is a minute detail not given here. Nothing could more satisfactorily mark the independent authority of the two narratives.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

he: Luk 8:41-43, Mat 9:23-26, Mar 5:35-43

trouble: Luk 7:6, Luk 11:7, Isa 7:12, Mar 5:35

Reciprocal: Mat 9:18 – ruler Luk 18:39 – rebuked Joh 11:21 – if

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE verses we have now read, contain one of the three great instances which the Holy Ghost has thought fit to record of our Lord restoring a dead person to life. The other two instances are those of Lazarus and the widow’s son at Nain. There seems no reason to doubt that our Lord raised others beside these three. But these three cases are specially described as patterns of His almighty power. One was a young girl, who had just breathed her last. One was a young man, who was being carried to his burial. One was a man, who had already lain four days in the grave. In all three cases alike we see life at once restored at Christ’s command.

Let us notice, in the verses before us, how universal is the dominion which death holds over the sons of men. We see him coming to a rich man’s house, and tearing from him the desire of his eyes with a stroke. “There cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead.” Such tidings as these are the bitterest cups which we have to drink in this world. Nothing cuts so deeply into man’s heart as to part with beloved ones, and lay them in the grave. Few griefs are so crushing and heavy as the grief of a parent over an only child.

Death is indeed a cruel enemy! He makes no distinction in his attacks. He comes to the rich man’s hall, as well as to the poor man’s cottage. He does not spare the young, the strong, and the beautiful, any more than the old, the infirm, and the grey-haired. Not all the gold of Australia, nor all the skill of doctors, can keep the hand of death from our bodies, in the day of his power. When the appointed hour comes, and God permits him to smite, our worldly schemes must be broken off, and our darlings must be taken away and buried out of our sight.

These thoughts are melancholy, and few like to hear of them. The subject of death is one that men blink, and refuse to look at. “All men think all men mortal but themselves.” But why should we treat this great reality in this way? Why should we not rather look the subject of death in the face, in order that when our turn comes we may be prepared to die? Death will come to our houses, whether we like it or not. Death will take each of us away, despite our dislike to hearing about it. Surely it is the part of a wise man to get ready for this great change. Why should we not be ready? There is one who can deliver us from the fear of death. (Heb 2:15.) Christ has overcome death, and “brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (2Ti 1:10.) He that believeth on Him hath everlasting life, and though he were dead yet shall he live. (Joh 6:47; Joh 11:25.) Let us believe in the Lord Jesus, and then death will lose his sting. We shall then be able to say with Paul, “For me to die is gain.” (Php 1:21.)

Let us notice, secondly, in the verses before us, that faith in Christ’s love and power is the best remedy in time of trouble. We are told that when Jesus heard the tidings, that the ruler’s daughter was dead, He said to him, “Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole.”-These words, no doubt, were spoken with immediate reference to the miracle our Lord was going to perform. But we need not doubt that they were also meant for the perpetual benefit of the Church of Christ. They were meant to reveal to us the grand secret of comfort in the hour of need. That secret is to exercise faith, to fall back on the thought of Christ’s loving heart and mighty hand,-in one word, to believe.

Let a petition for more faith form a part of all our daily prayers. As ever we would have peace, and calmness, and quietness of spirit, let us often say, “Lord, increase our faith.” A hundred painful things may happen to us every week in this evil world, of which our poor weak minds cannot see the reason. Without faith we shall be constantly disquieted and cast down. Nothing will make us cheerful and tranquil but an abiding sense of Christ’s love, Christ’s wisdom, Christ’s care over us, and Christ’s providential management of all our affairs. Faith will not sink under the weight of evil tidings. (Psa 112:7.) Faith can sit still and wait for better times. Faith can see light even in the darkest hour, and a needs-be for the heaviest trial. Faith can find room to build Ebenezers under any circumstances, and can sing songs in the night in any condition. “He that believeth shall not make haste.” “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” (Isa 28:16; Isa 26:3.) Once more let the lesson be graven on our minds. If we would travel comfortably through this world, we must “believe.”

Let us notice, finally, in these verses, the almighty power which our Lord Jesus Christ possesses even over death. We are told that He came to the house of Jairus and turned the mourning into joy. He took by the hand the breathless body of the ruler’s daughter, “and called saying, damsel, arise.” At once by that all-powerful voice life was restored. “Her spirit came again, and she arose straightway.”

Let us take comfort in the thought that there is a limit to death’s power. The king of terrors is very strong. How many generations he has mowed down and swept into the dust! How many of the wise and strong, and fair, he has swallowed down and snatched away in their prime! How many victories he has won, and how often he has written “vanity of vanities,” on the pride of man! Patriarchs, and kings, and prophets, and apostles, have all in turn been obliged to yield to him. They have all died. But thanks be unto God, there is one stronger than death. There is one who has said, “O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be thy destruction”! (Hos 13:14.) That One is the Friend of sinners, Christ Jesus the Lord. He proved His power frequently when He came to the earth the first time, in the house of Jairus, by the tomb of Bethany, in the gate of Nain. He will prove to all the world when He comes again. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1Co 15:26.) “The earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isa 26:19.)

Let us leave the passage with the consoling thought, that the things which happened in Jairus’ house are a type of good things to come. The hour cometh and will soon be here, when the voice of Christ shall call all His people from their graves, and gather them together to part no more. Believing husbands shall once more see believing wives. Believing parents shall once more see believing children. Christ shall unite the whole family in the great home in heaven, and all tears shall be wiped from all eyes.

==================

Notes-

v49.-[Thy daughter is dead.] Chemnitius remarks, that, with one exception (Mar 1:30), we never read in the Gospels of children coming to Christ on behalf of their parents, though we frequently read of parents applying on behalf of their children. He makes the deep observation, that “love is more prone to descend than to ascend.”

[The Master.] Let it be noted that the Greek word so translated is not the same as that used in Luk 8:45. It here signifies “the Teacher.”

v51.-[Peter, and James, and John.] These three apostles, it should be remembered, were three times singled out from the rest of the twelve, and allowed to be our Lord’s companions on special occasions. They were with him on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the occasion of this miracle. None of the apostles had such a clear revelation of our Lord’s divinity, our Lord’s humanity, and our Lord’s power and compassion towards the sorrowful and sinful.

v52.-[She is not dead, but sleepeth.] Much has been said about the difficulty of this expression, but without any just cause. The strength of it has led some to assert, that the daughter of Jairus was not really and literally dead, but only in a trance. Such an assertion contradicts the context, while there is really no difficulty in the expression, that does not admit of explanation.

Burkitt says, that our Lord’s meaning was this:-“She is dead to you, but asleep to me; not so dead as to be beyond my power to raise her to life.”

Alford says-“The words are most probably used with reference to the speedy awakening which was to follow.”

Jones, of Nayland, says-“As we have but imperfect notions of the relation and difference between life and death, our Saviour, when he was about to raise a maid to life, said to those who were present, ‘the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.’ He did not say, She is dead, and I will raise her to life; but, she is asleep, whence it was to be inferred that she would awake. They who were not skilled in the language of signs and figures laughed him to scorn, as if he had spoken in ignorance what was expressed with consummate truth and wisdom. The substitution of sleep for death has the force and value of a whole sermon in a single word.”

v54.-[He put them all out.] When we read this expression, we should remember the words in the preceding verse, “They laughed Him to scorn.” It seems a rule in Christ’s dealings with men not to force evidence upon them, but rather to withhold from scorners and scoffers those proofs of His own mission which He affords to others. And as it was when He was upon earth, so it is now. The scoffing spirit is the spirit which is often left to itself.

v55.-[Her spirit came again.] This is one of those texts which show plainly the separate existence of spirits, and their independence of the body. Matthew Henry remarks-“This proves that our souls exist and act in a state of separation from the body, and therefore are immortal, that death does not extinguish the candle of the Lord, but takes it out of a dark lantern.” It is not, as Grotius observes, the temperament of the body, or anything that dies with it; but something that subsists by itself, which, after death, is somewhere else than where the body is. Where the soul of the child was in the interval we are not told. It was in the hand of the Father of spirits, to whom all souls at death return.”

[To give her meat.] This would be proof positive that her body was really alive again, and that her parents saw no vision, but real material flesh and blood. It is the same evidence of resurrection which our Lord gave His disciples after His own rising from the dead: “Have ye here any meat? And he did eat before them.” (Luk 24:41-43.)

v56.-[Tell no man.] Let us note here, as in many places, how little our Lord desired publicity. To do great works and say nothing about them-to work powerfully, and yet noiselessly and quietly is to walk in Christ’s steps. The shallowest streams and emptiest vessels make most noise.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 8:49. There cometh one. Mark is less definite.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, 1. The doleful news brought to Jairus’s ears: Thy daughter is dead. The Lord does sometimes suffer the faith and patience of his children to be greatly exercised and tried. The loss of dear relations, particularly of children, especially of an only child, is one of the greatest sorrows of human life; a trial which has often shocked an ordinary patience and constancy of mind.

Observe, 2. Our Saviour’s seasonable word of advice and comfort: Fear not, only believe. Christ stands ready to comfort believers in the hour of their greatest trials and temptations.

Observe, 3. Christ’s application of himself in order to the raising to life Jairus’s dead daughter.

And here, 1. He goes into the house only with three of his disciples, and the father and the mother of the maid, which was sufficient to bear witness of the truth of the miracle. Our Saviour, to avoid all show of vain glory, would not work this miracle publicly before all the people.

2. Our Saviour rebukes them for the show they made of immoderate grief and sorrow for the dead damsel: they wept and wailed greatly, with minstrels making a noise, say the other evangelists, according to the custom of the Heathens, who, by a mournful sort of music, did seek to stir up the passion of grief at their funerals. To mourn immoderately for the dead is an heathenish custom and practice; it is hurtful to the living, it is dishonorable to the dead; nor is it an argument of more love, but an evidence of less grace.

3. Christ adds a reason for this rebuke given by him: For the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth; “She is dead to you, but asleep to me;” not so dead as to be beyond my power to raise her to life.

Souls departed are under the guard of angels, near her dead body, waiting the pleasure of God, in order to its disposal, either to restore it again to its body or to translate it to its eternal mansion.

Observe, farther, the nature of death in general, and of the saints’ death in particular; ’tis a sleep. Sleep is a state of rest; sleep is a sudden surprisal; in sleep there is an insensible passage of our time; the person sleeping shall certainly awake. Oh how much it is our wisdom to prepare for the bed of the grave; and so to live, that when we lie down in it, there may be nothing to disturb our rest!

Observe farther, with what facility and ease our Saviour raises the dead damsel with a word speaking, and St. Mark tells us what the words were Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. Mar 5:41, Syriac words, to show the truth of the miracle; not like a conjuror muttering a charm in an unknown tongue. The miracles which Christ wrought were real miracles, and carried their own evidence along with them.

Observe lastly, the charge given by our Saviour not to publish this miracle; he charged them to tell no man what was done, that is, divulge it not imprudently to such of the scribes and Pharisees, as would not be convinced by it, but only cavil at it, and be the more enraged against him for it, and seek his death before his appointed time was come.

Again, tell it no man unseasonably, and all at once, but gradually and by degrees: for it was the will of God, that the divine glory of Christ should not be manifested to the world all at once, and on the sudden, but by little and little, during his state of humiliation; for his resurrection was the time appointed by God for the full manifestation of Christ’s Godhead, Declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. Rom 1:4

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Vers. 49-56. The Prayer granted.

We may imagine how painful this delay had been for the father of the child. The message, which just at this moment is brought to him, reduces him to despair. Matthew, in his very summary account, omits all these features of the story; and interpreters, like De Wette, who maintain that this Gospel was the source of the other two, are obliged to regard the details in Mark and Luke as just so many embellishments of their own invention! The present , in the received reading, signifies: Only persevere, without fainting, in the faith which thou hast shown thus far. Some Alex. read the aor. : Only exercise faith! Make a new effort in view of the unexpected difficulty which has arisen. This second meaning seems to agree better with the position of , only, before the verb. Perhaps the other reading is taken from Mark, where all the authorities read .

The reading of the T. R., , having entered, Luk 8:51, is not nearly so well supported as the reading , having come. But with either reading there is a distinction observed between the arrival () or entrance () into the house and the entrance into the chamber of the sick girl, to which the which follows refers: He suffered no man to go in. What obliges us to give this sense to this infinitive, is the mention of the mother amongst the persons excepted from the prohibition; for if here also entrance into the house was in question, this would suppose that the mother had left it, which is scarcely probable, when her daughter had only just expired. Jesus’ object in only admitting just the indispensable witnesses into the room, was to diminish as far as possible the fame of the work He was about to perform. As to the three apostles, it was necessary that they should be present, in order that they might be able afterwards to testify to what was done.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

The raising of Jairus’ daughter 8:49-56 (cf. Matthew 9:23-26; Mark 5:35-43)

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jesus’ words of encouragement as well as His recent demonstration of power prepared Jairus for what followed. He had just witnessed Jesus overcome ceremonial defilement and disease. He needed to believe that Jesus could overcome ceremonial defilement and death. Luke stressed the sad finality of the occasion by using the perfect tense Greek verb translated "she has died" and by placing the verb in the emphatic first position in the sentence. The messenger’s command also implied that there was no hope, but Jesus immediately fortified Jairus’ faith.

"Whereas the woman’s faith needed bolstering because it was shy, Jairus’s faith needs to be calmed, persistent, and trusting. . . .

"We often struggle to understand God’s timing. In fact, much of faith is related to accepting God’s timing for events." [Note: Bock, Luke, pp. 248, 249.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)