Jesus, Lord Over Death

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The Twenty Fifth Sunday After Trinity
Jesus, Lord Over Death
November 9, 2008

TEXT:  NKJ Mark 5:21 Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. 22 And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet 23 and begged Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live." 24 So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. … 35 While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue's house who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?" 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe." 37 And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38 Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly. 39 When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." 40 And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. 41 Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." 42 Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement. 43 But He commanded them strictly that no one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.
 
This incident teaches us that our Lord has power over death—we know that men must die—men have been dying since Adam and Eve—men will continue to die until judgment day—we know these bodies are temporary for this world—but we are not of this world—our citizenship is in heaven
 
NKJ Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
 
Our bodies are temporary—Paul even calls this body a tent—a temporary dwelling
 
NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
 
Our earthly body will eventually fail us—but our heavenly body awaits us—Jesus, through His discussion with Martha, told us we will never die—He spoke these words while Lazarus lay dead
 
NKJ John 11:26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
 
We have to understand that from the beginning of time—from the time of creation—you, as a Christian were chosen—and God placed you in this world to bring Him glory
 
NKJ Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
 
It is said that the only two things you can count on are death and taxes—I agree with taxes—but I cannot be sure that we must all face death in this world-those of us here on Judgment Day will not taste death—all believers will be taken home without this body dying on Judgment Day—in that sense we are free from death—and as Jesus told Martha—we will never die—we live in Him
 
NKJ John 5:24 " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
 
We all sin—we all deserve death as the payment or wage of those sins—but in Christ we have eternal life
 
NKJ Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
Isn’t it sad that the gift of God is not received by all men?—all that is required is obedience to the Word—but most men reject and despise the Word—Luther says consider that if you had an illness and a great doctor came and said here is the cure—and you refused the pill—what a fool you would be—but God says in His Word here is the cure—and the world cheers that you reject it
 
People die every day—and each death should be a reminder that God offers a gift of eternal life—we should thank God and look forward to the gift—but instead, most of us get caught up in the things of this world—the distractions—the “really important” things—and we fail to recognize the gift offered for free by God
 
Jairus was a powerful and important man—a man of great faith who knew Jesus could heal his daughter—as important as he was, Jairus left the bedside of his dying daughter  and ran to find Jesus and beg for His help—Jairus did not care what the world thought of him—he loved his daughter enough to beg Jesus for help—today most men deny the power of death—they ignore it—make believe it won’t happen—but time marches on—this body weakens—and finally it will fail—where will we go?—Christians know they will go to eternal life with the Father in heaven—but the best thing an unbeliever can do is deny the existence of the heaven they will never see—Jairus begged for the life of his daughter—Jesus gave him that which he asked for—and then revealed to him the glory of God—look at the resurrection of Lazarus—and know that the glory of God was no less revealed by the raising of Jairus‘ daughter
 
NKJ John 11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"


 
 
When everything comes to an end—when friends forsake us and ridicule us for our faith—when no one in the whole world can help us—there still is a helper—our Lord Jesus Christ—He can rescue us from death’s power—Jairus followed Jesus to the bedside of his dead daughter—he followed Jesus in spite of the ridicule and mocking of the crowd—Jesus revealed the glory of God to a man of faith—and He will reveal that same glory to each of us who follow Him in faith—that is the purpose of this record in Scripture—to lead us to eternity in glory
 
On Judgment Day God will knock on your grave—you will no longer remain there—you will be judged and sent to heaven—or you will be sent to hell—and either way it will be for all eternity
 
NKJ Matthew 25:31 " When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
 
Jesus has the power to resurrect all from the dead—and He chose to demonstrate this power several times—He resurrected Lazarus—He resurrected the widow’s son at Nain—and He resurrected the daughter of Jairus—but all believers will be resurrected in the end—that is what Jesus is teaching us when He answers the Pharisees
 
NKJ Matthew 22:31 "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
 
Abraham—Isaac—Jacob—all are men of faith and will be part of the great resurrection that will glorify God—and each and every believer all through history will be there also—that is the lesson of the raising of the daughter of Jairus
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!