Hello I'm Don Pate from Between the Lines, 00:00:29.58\00:00:32.12 and I welcome you today. 00:00:32.15\00:00:34.24 As we spend some time opening up the Bible. 00:00:34.27\00:00:37.31 We're going to open up the Bible to stories of Jesus 00:00:37.34\00:00:41.01 to spend just a few minutes with Jesus. 00:00:41.04\00:00:43.66 And the older I get and I feel like 00:00:43.69\00:00:46.13 I'm getting older everyday. 00:00:46.16\00:00:47.66 The older I get the more I'm coming to realize 00:00:47.69\00:00:49.94 that if I have a chance the very best thing 00:00:49.97\00:00:53.09 I can do with anybody is to take them 00:00:53.12\00:00:55.58 to spend a few minutes with Jesus. 00:00:55.61\00:00:57.24 And we're going to do that together 00:00:57.27\00:00:59.07 as we look at a powerful story. 00:00:59.10\00:01:01.59 But a story that's got some, some inner play 00:01:01.62\00:01:03.88 under the surface that most Christians 00:01:03.91\00:01:06.32 probably wouldn't know. 00:01:06.35\00:01:07.97 And I'm going to invite you to join me 00:01:08.00\00:01:10.44 as we look at a wonderful message 00:01:10.47\00:01:12.91 out of the Gospel of Mark. 00:01:12.94\00:01:14.97 Let's pray as we begin. 00:01:15.00\00:01:16.99 Lord today as we spend time with this wonderful old story, 00:01:17.02\00:01:20.49 we pray that the old, old story will speak to us 00:01:20.52\00:01:24.36 in a way we've may be never heard before 00:01:24.39\00:01:26.96 and that the Holy Spirit will whisper 00:01:26.99\00:01:28.76 to every individual distinctly the things 00:01:28.79\00:01:32.84 that you would wish to impress upon them today. 00:01:32.87\00:01:38.14 This is my prayer in the name of Christ, amen. 00:01:38.17\00:01:41.05 In the Gospel of Mark, you find 00:01:42.79\00:01:45.11 a story of a young girl. 00:01:45.14\00:01:47.43 Now as soon as I say Jairus' daughter, 00:01:47.46\00:01:51.04 many people who are with us in the broadcast here 00:01:51.07\00:01:55.15 will say "okay, I think I know that story, 00:01:55.18\00:01:58.12 I think I know it pretty well, so I don't have 00:01:58.15\00:01:59.64 to pay attention anymore, because well, 00:01:59.67\00:02:01.20 I know there was this, you know, 00:02:01.23\00:02:02.60 little girl she died and Jesus rose her back to-- 00:02:02.63\00:02:04.58 from the dead and brought her back to life." 00:02:04.61\00:02:06.66 Well, obviously there's got to be more than that. 00:02:06.69\00:02:10.20 Otherwise, I wouldn't plan to invest 00:02:10.23\00:02:11.98 a few minutes with you in this story. 00:02:12.01\00:02:13.85 I would like you to take your Bibles 00:02:13.88\00:02:15.25 please and turn to the Gospel of Mark. 00:02:15.28\00:02:18.93 Now this is one of those stories that is found 00:02:18.96\00:02:21.11 in all three of the first three 00:02:21.14\00:02:22.72 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, 00:02:22.75\00:02:24.12 and Luke if you were to look in Matthew 00:02:24.15\00:02:26.09 it would be Chapter 9. 00:02:26.12\00:02:27.49 If you were to go back and read 00:02:27.52\00:02:28.89 the same story in Luke, it would be Chapter 8, 00:02:28.92\00:02:31.31 but we're turning to Mark Chapter 5 00:02:31.34\00:02:34.33 just because I kind of like the way it's reported by Mark. 00:02:34.36\00:02:39.32 I sort of like some of the insights 00:02:39.35\00:02:41.57 that Mark brings to us that we don't see in the other two. 00:02:41.60\00:02:45.99 And so I would like you to turn 00:02:46.02\00:02:47.49 in your Bible to Mark Chapter 5. 00:02:47.52\00:02:50.50 And we find Jesus up in the Galilee region. 00:02:50.53\00:02:54.91 We find Him moving across throughout the various cities 00:02:54.94\00:02:57.87 and towns interacting. And if you know 00:02:57.90\00:03:00.49 anything about the Galilee within the Bible story 00:03:00.52\00:03:02.77 especially in the New Testament, 00:03:02.80\00:03:04.69 oh, there is some wonderful things 00:03:04.72\00:03:06.48 about the people of the Galilee 00:03:06.51\00:03:07.88 and there is also some negatives. 00:03:07.91\00:03:09.28 The negatives as you may know, of course 00:03:09.31\00:03:10.77 is that historically by the mainstream 00:03:10.80\00:03:13.38 of Jerusalem, they were seem to be the country bumpkins. 00:03:13.41\00:03:16.67 They were the backward folk. And they were also the people 00:03:16.70\00:03:20.65 who had somewhat sold out 00:03:20.68\00:03:23.53 to the Roman Authority in a way 00:03:23.56\00:03:25.06 that the people of Jerusalem hadn't. 00:03:25.09\00:03:26.73 Now don't get me wrong, the people in Jerusalem, 00:03:26.76\00:03:28.58 they had their problems too. 00:03:28.61\00:03:30.01 They certainly have done some of the things with the aliens 00:03:30.04\00:03:32.51 that was a little embarrassing, 00:03:32.54\00:03:34.51 but, you know, we all tend to be gentle on ourselves 00:03:34.54\00:03:37.59 with our own little flaws and weaknesses 00:03:37.62\00:03:39.30 and when we somebody else's problems 00:03:39.33\00:03:42.19 we tend to magnify them. We'd say, well, you know, 00:03:42.22\00:03:44.90 I would never do anything like that. 00:03:44.93\00:03:47.24 When in reality I probably do something a lot like that 00:03:47.27\00:03:49.78 but it's the area that I'm comfortable with 00:03:49.81\00:03:51.62 and so I don't critic it very well. 00:03:51.65\00:03:55.23 The Galilee people had some things going against them 00:03:55.26\00:03:59.15 not just the fact that they were, you know, 00:03:59.18\00:04:01.84 the simple folk of the land, the country bumpkins, 00:04:01.87\00:04:04.64 that wasn't all that was going against them 00:04:04.67\00:04:07.04 when it came to the mentality of the mainstream of Israel 00:04:07.07\00:04:10.34 in Jerusalem, the authorities in Jerusalem. 00:04:10.37\00:04:12.40 They were two areas that may surprise you 00:04:12.43\00:04:14.87 that may actually give you more understanding, 00:04:14.90\00:04:18.49 of what's going on, you know, between 00:04:18.52\00:04:20.40 the lines of the story. And that is number one, 00:04:20.43\00:04:23.45 when the exiles back in the days of Ezra, 00:04:23.48\00:04:26.58 Nehemiah within the text when the exiles came back 00:04:26.61\00:04:30.04 from the Babylonian Persian captivity, 00:04:30.07\00:04:33.60 when the 70 years were completed 00:04:33.63\00:04:35.79 and they were allowed to go home 00:04:35.82\00:04:38.03 and the decree went forth to rebuild 00:04:38.06\00:04:40.32 and restore Jerusalem. 00:04:40.35\00:04:42.27 Well, it was just a minority that left Babylon. 00:04:42.30\00:04:45.22 In fact, clear until the Middle Ages, 00:04:45.25\00:04:47.47 this may surprise you, clear until the Middle Ages 00:04:47.50\00:04:49.75 the largest Jewish community in the world 00:04:49.78\00:04:53.84 was the Babylonian Jewish Community. 00:04:53.87\00:04:56.24 They had been there ever since the Exile. 00:04:56.27\00:04:58.22 In fact, you often if you know 00:04:58.25\00:04:59.90 anything academically or historically about it, 00:04:59.93\00:05:01.83 you often hear it refer to as the Babylonian Talmud. 00:05:01.86\00:05:06.13 That it was the work done by the congregation, 00:05:06.16\00:05:08.60 the house of faith of Judaism in Babylon. 00:05:08.63\00:05:12.35 Babylon remained a major stronghold 00:05:12.38\00:05:15.49 of Jewish life clearly until the Middle Ages. 00:05:15.52\00:05:19.47 But the few that came back of the exiles, 00:05:19.50\00:05:22.56 the remnant, the few that Ezra, Nehemiah, 00:05:22.59\00:05:26.44 Zerubbabel had as they went back to rebuild 00:05:26.47\00:05:29.43 the land and rebuild the city. 00:05:29.46\00:05:31.78 Not all of them made it back down 00:05:31.81\00:05:33.28 to the temple region. Not all of them 00:05:33.31\00:05:35.27 made it all the way down to Jerusalem, 00:05:35.30\00:05:36.67 you may not know that. Some of them just barely 00:05:36.70\00:05:38.65 got across the border from the east and said, 00:05:38.68\00:05:41.38 "well, you know, this is the land of Israel, 00:05:41.41\00:05:43.27 this is the Promised Land, that's it 00:05:43.30\00:05:44.67 we're sticking out here, we're just planting our self. 00:05:44.70\00:05:46.75 We're not going down in Jerusalem. 00:05:46.78\00:05:48.15 Jerusalem is too much work, too much effort, 00:05:48.18\00:05:49.98 all it counts is we're back in the Promised Land." 00:05:50.01\00:05:52.42 And so there were some who never went 00:05:52.45\00:05:54.74 all the way to Jerusalem 00:05:54.77\00:05:56.14 and those who did go all the way 00:05:56.17\00:05:58.17 to Jerusalem kind of like back over the shoulder 00:05:58.20\00:06:00.64 at the ones who had compromised, 00:06:00.67\00:06:03.45 settled in and they look down their noses 00:06:03.48\00:06:05.99 at them with disdain and said, 00:06:06.02\00:06:07.39 "you know, if you really, really, really, 00:06:07.42\00:06:08.82 really had a heart for God, you would be down 00:06:08.85\00:06:10.22 here in Jerusalem doing the dirty work with us. 00:06:10.25\00:06:12.52 You know, you would be lifting the bricks 00:06:12.55\00:06:13.92 and you would be rebuilding the wall, 00:06:13.95\00:06:15.32 and you would be dedicating the temple. 00:06:15.35\00:06:17.14 You know, we're the holy ones, 00:06:17.17\00:06:18.54 you all just a sort of half citizens of the land." 00:06:18.57\00:06:22.51 As early as that timeframe 400 years before Jesus, 00:06:22.54\00:06:25.84 as early as that there came to be a distinction 00:06:25.87\00:06:29.79 between the people of the Galilee 00:06:29.82\00:06:31.19 and the people of what's called Judea, 00:06:31.22\00:06:33.09 the region of Jerusalem to the south 00:06:33.12\00:06:34.99 that Galileans were looked at as being 00:06:35.02\00:06:38.89 not really the people that have a true heart 00:06:38.92\00:06:41.63 for the ways of Israel. 00:06:41.66\00:06:43.46 But more than that it actually came out 00:06:43.49\00:06:45.72 in a more literal fashion after Herod the Great 00:06:45.75\00:06:49.01 ascended to the throne in Jerusalem. 00:06:49.04\00:06:51.50 He looked around his territory and saw certain problems. 00:06:51.53\00:06:54.63 He wanted to be a major player in the world 00:06:54.66\00:06:56.95 and I don't know how much you know about Herod. 00:06:56.98\00:06:58.72 Herod is one of the great anomalies of history. 00:06:58.75\00:07:01.35 Herod is one of the most 00:07:01.38\00:07:02.75 fascinating characters of history. 00:07:02.78\00:07:04.42 He is truly just a dual personality 00:07:04.45\00:07:07.13 that is overwhelming. 00:07:07.16\00:07:08.53 On the one hand that boy was, he was a genius. 00:07:08.56\00:07:12.22 The world has never seen engineering capabilities 00:07:12.25\00:07:16.28 and ingenuity for design and building 00:07:16.31\00:07:18.61 such as Herod had. It's just, 00:07:18.64\00:07:21.09 it's overwhelming, the more you understand 00:07:21.12\00:07:23.10 about Herod and his massive public works programs 00:07:23.13\00:07:25.80 in the buildings not just the temple, 00:07:25.83\00:07:27.84 but with the Herodion and Masada 00:07:27.87\00:07:30.07 and the regions up to the north 00:07:30.10\00:07:32.41 and Caesarea by the sea, 00:07:32.44\00:07:33.96 Caesarea Maritima, that when you come 00:07:33.99\00:07:36.14 to understand Herod's ingenuity 00:07:36.17\00:07:38.42 and genius in building up 00:07:38.45\00:07:40.72 this land with these edifices mostly for his own glory, 00:07:40.75\00:07:44.55 but it's remarkable. On the other hand, 00:07:44.58\00:07:46.89 he was crazy as the days long. 00:07:46.92\00:07:49.15 I mean, insane, unbelievably insane. 00:07:49.18\00:07:52.17 Married at least ten times. 00:07:52.20\00:07:53.57 His favorite wife was Mariamne. 00:07:53.60\00:07:56.08 He was really sorry after he killed her 00:07:56.11\00:07:57.65 that he regretted having done that. 00:07:57.68\00:07:59.97 That was his favorite wife. The man was insane, 00:08:00.00\00:08:03.15 a matter of I think two days before he died. 00:08:03.18\00:08:08.00 He had one of his own son's executed in prison. 00:08:08.03\00:08:11.52 In case that son might try to take the throne from him 00:08:11.55\00:08:13.87 and Herod was already on his death bed. 00:08:13.90\00:08:16.26 I mean, you know, this man he is such a contrast 00:08:16.29\00:08:19.21 of incredible ability and incredible insanity. 00:08:19.24\00:08:22.69 It's just-- he is a fascinating character. 00:08:22.72\00:08:24.48 And one of the things, Herod really was a wily old codger. 00:08:24.51\00:08:28.08 One of the things that Herod understood as he found himself 00:08:28.11\00:08:31.61 as a street fighter who rose to the top in his world, 00:08:31.64\00:08:35.36 not even Jewish of course, you remember, 00:08:35.39\00:08:37.29 he was Idumean, he was not Jewish. 00:08:37.32\00:08:39.65 When Herod came to ascendancy here in Jerusalem, 00:08:39.68\00:08:42.03 he looked around the land and he realized 00:08:42.06\00:08:44.54 that he had certain problems. 00:08:44.57\00:08:45.94 One was he had no safe harbor. 00:08:45.97\00:08:47.55 There was no port along the Mediterranean 00:08:47.58\00:08:49.70 seacoast and so he created one. 00:08:49.73\00:08:52.40 The falls harbor, the marble harbor at Caesarea, 00:08:52.43\00:08:55.36 to this days a fascination to archeologist 00:08:55.39\00:08:58.04 and an amazement to scientists. 00:08:58.07\00:08:59.59 But, beyond that he also looked up 00:08:59.62\00:09:01.96 at the Galilee region and he said you know, 00:09:01.99\00:09:03.75 what, this is very fertile soil, 00:09:03.78\00:09:05.37 but more than that 00:09:05.40\00:09:06.77 it's an un-protective frontier. 00:09:06.80\00:09:09.66 I need some population based there. 00:09:09.69\00:09:12.83 And so Herod bribed people from Judea, 00:09:12.86\00:09:16.35 from Jerusalem, the southern region 00:09:16.38\00:09:18.11 and he said, "look I'll give you tax breaks, 00:09:18.14\00:09:19.98 if you'll be willing to displace to move 00:09:20.01\00:09:22.56 out of Jerusalem and get yourself 00:09:22.59\00:09:24.62 out to populate the hinterlands. 00:09:24.65\00:09:26.57 If you go up in the Galilee and settle in 00:09:26.60\00:09:28.85 and farm the region and get the resources 00:09:28.88\00:09:32.38 from that region and also provide 00:09:32.41\00:09:33.95 a bit of defense shield for me, 00:09:33.98\00:09:36.41 I'll give you tax breaks." 00:09:36.44\00:09:37.81 And so it was with some skepticism 00:09:37.84\00:09:40.16 that the Jerusalem class looked 00:09:40.19\00:09:42.31 at the people of the Galilee, 00:09:42.34\00:09:43.71 because not only had some of them 00:09:43.74\00:09:45.11 never really gotten home after the captivity, 00:09:45.14\00:09:47.86 but here even in their own lifetimes 00:09:47.89\00:09:49.94 there were some who would sold out to Herod, 00:09:49.97\00:09:52.91 to go up to move into the Galilee 00:09:52.94\00:09:56.46 for the benefit of tax breaks. 00:09:56.49\00:09:59.32 And they looked down their nose at the Galilean 00:09:59.35\00:10:01.83 and you can understand why. 00:10:01.86\00:10:03.43 Now when Jesus began 00:10:03.46\00:10:07.36 His ministry of course, 00:10:07.39\00:10:09.12 things were always extremely sensitive around Jerusalem, 00:10:09.15\00:10:12.08 but as you know, up in the Galilee 00:10:12.11\00:10:14.96 He received greater acceptance. 00:10:14.99\00:10:17.86 Less was demanded of Him, 00:10:17.89\00:10:19.34 He didn't have to sit there and measure every word, 00:10:19.37\00:10:22.93 you know, for those who are public figures. 00:10:22.96\00:10:24.64 I don't know if you're aware, 00:10:24.67\00:10:26.04 it can be quiet simply a pain in the neck. 00:10:26.07\00:10:29.76 In the ministry Between the Lines, sometimes 00:10:29.79\00:10:31.29 I'll get letters from the people around the world 00:10:31.32\00:10:33.62 everywhere and they'll criticize the way I pronounce 00:10:33.65\00:10:35.90 the word that it doesn't quite match their expectation 00:10:35.93\00:10:38.77 just even the pronunciation of a word 00:10:38.80\00:10:41.19 --that will send them little haywire, 00:10:41.22\00:10:43.08 it's a critic, and they may or may not be right, 00:10:43.11\00:10:45.66 you know, sometimes they're actually wrong. 00:10:45.69\00:10:47.09 But it doesn't matter and you sit there always weighing out 00:10:47.12\00:10:50.03 and measuring the fact that there are those out there 00:10:50.06\00:10:52.30 from whom you may get ]the dirty letters, whatever. 00:10:52.33\00:10:55.64 A public figure always is, is--as the old proverb 00:10:55.67\00:11:00.48 said anyone who sticks his head 00:11:00.51\00:11:02.31 above the crowd is an easy target. 00:11:02.34\00:11:04.26 You know, if you stayed down in the mass, 00:11:05.60\00:11:07.19 you're not an easy target. 00:11:07.22\00:11:08.71 Well, Jesus, it were on Him too. 00:11:08.74\00:11:13.09 To always have people right on the edge of jumping on Him 00:11:13.12\00:11:18.82 that wasn't easy for Him either, and so 00:11:18.85\00:11:21.15 He often remained in the Galilee, 00:11:21.18\00:11:23.29 because it was good stewardship. 00:11:23.32\00:11:25.10 It was good stewardship of His time. 00:11:25.13\00:11:26.58 Why should Jesus stand in Jerusalem 00:11:26.61\00:11:28.15 banging his head against the wall 00:11:28.18\00:11:29.56 when He wasn't gonna get anywhere, 00:11:29.59\00:11:31.31 when He actually could make a difference in the lives 00:11:31.34\00:11:33.90 in the Galilee if people-- because people up there 00:11:33.93\00:11:36.03 were receptive and willing. 00:11:36.06\00:11:37.93 There are many reasons for why Jesus 00:11:37.96\00:11:39.66 remained more in the Galilee. 00:11:39.69\00:11:42.48 But of course, these people were somewhat 00:11:42.51\00:11:44.96 not the mainstream, but we're dealing 00:11:44.99\00:11:46.61 with the man here in Mark Chapter 5 00:11:46.64\00:11:49.08 who is mainstreamed in the Galilee. 00:11:49.11\00:11:51.23 It's very easy to understand 00:11:51.26\00:11:52.75 why he is mainstreamed because he is ruler 00:11:52.78\00:11:54.83 of the synagogue. This man may be Galilean. 00:11:54.86\00:11:59.01 Jairus may be Galilean, but he is a man 00:11:59.04\00:12:01.89 who is at least a half step closer 00:12:01.92\00:12:04.97 to acceptance by the Jerusalem class 00:12:05.00\00:12:07.88 by the power brokers. 00:12:07.91\00:12:09.30 He is a half step closer to their acceptance, 00:12:09.33\00:12:11.68 because he is in authority within the line of Israel. 00:12:11.71\00:12:14.77 This man has responsibilities for the defense of the faith. 00:12:14.80\00:12:19.40 He is ruler of the synagogue and of course as you know, 00:12:19.43\00:12:22.81 in the story Jesus Chapter 5, verse 21, 00:12:22.84\00:12:27.31 Jesus passes over along the lake shore there by ship 00:12:27.34\00:12:30.89 to the other side and many people gathered 00:12:30.92\00:12:33.05 to be near him for many reasons I'm sure. 00:12:33.08\00:12:36.50 He was a celebrity. He was notorious. 00:12:36.53\00:12:38.44 That's where the action was. 00:12:39.41\00:12:41.60 Some people were there simply because they really, 00:12:41.63\00:12:43.14 really did want to hear what he had to say. 00:12:43.17\00:12:44.54 There are probably all kinds of reasons 00:12:44.57\00:12:46.93 why crowds collected around Jesus, 00:12:46.96\00:12:49.53 some hoping for a miracle for a show, 00:12:49.56\00:12:52.48 others just needing His embrace. 00:12:52.51\00:12:55.65 There are so many reasons why the crowds 00:12:55.68\00:12:57.87 would follow Jesus, and Jesus had the crowds gathering 00:12:57.90\00:13:01.18 around Him and he was by the side of the sea 00:13:01.21\00:13:03.66 not into the sea it says in verse 21 and verse 22, 00:13:03.69\00:13:06.67 he is coming along the shore line 00:13:06.70\00:13:08.46 right at the edge of Capernaum. 00:13:08.49\00:13:10.76 Now Capernaum wasn't the largest 00:13:10.79\00:13:12.91 town of the Galilee by any means. 00:13:12.94\00:13:14.85 In fact, there is a town and this is a wonderful 00:13:14.88\00:13:16.95 insight into the gospels. There was a town 00:13:16.98\00:13:19.40 that Jesus could see as a child from Nazareth 00:13:19.43\00:13:22.91 on the precipice of Nazareth where they were going 00:13:22.94\00:13:26.05 to throw him off the cliff you remember, 00:13:26.08\00:13:27.45 looking right off that cliff that cliff 00:13:27.48\00:13:29.04 just down there three miles away was the capital 00:13:29.07\00:13:32.25 of the Galilee, a major Roman town. 00:13:32.28\00:13:35.63 It is estimated that there may have been upto 00:13:36.52\00:13:39.32 30,000 people living in the town of Sepphoris. 00:13:39.35\00:13:43.40 It was the capital of the Galilee. 00:13:43.43\00:13:45.54 Arabians lived there, Arabs lived there, 00:13:45.57\00:13:49.13 Romans lived there, Greeks lived there, 00:13:49.16\00:13:52.53 Jews lived there. It was a very 00:13:52.56\00:13:53.93 cosmopolitan town, an amazing place. 00:13:53.96\00:13:55.57 In fact, it is a Christian myth 00:13:55.60\00:13:58.71 to somehow have the sense that Jesus as a young boy 00:13:58.74\00:14:01.56 growing up never had any idea of city at all. 00:14:01.59\00:14:05.23 That he was just in this little back water 00:14:05.26\00:14:07.00 village of Nazareth and he never had 00:14:07.03\00:14:08.96 any interaction with city at all. 00:14:08.99\00:14:10.41 The Bible doesn't say that, that I think is a legend 00:14:10.44\00:14:13.70 somehow that Christians carry that cannot be true. 00:14:13.73\00:14:16.51 Because Jesus as a young boy could stand there 00:14:16.54\00:14:18.98 and just three miles away you could see a major city, 00:14:19.01\00:14:21.46 but the reason you've never heard about it 00:14:21.49\00:14:23.31 is because Jesus--we have no gospel interaction there. 00:14:23.34\00:14:28.25 Jesus never went there in the gospel 00:14:28.28\00:14:29.65 here that we have any record. 00:14:29.68\00:14:31.67 Now Capernaum probably was the second 00:14:31.70\00:14:35.46 in line of importance within the Galilee region. 00:14:35.49\00:14:40.15 It certainly was the queen city 00:14:40.18\00:14:41.99 of the lake right around the lake. 00:14:42.02\00:14:43.92 Jesus came to Capernaum. 00:14:43.95\00:14:45.92 And Jairus who was the ruler of the synagogue, 00:14:45.95\00:14:48.18 the defender of the faith, the number one top 00:14:48.21\00:14:50.51 dog in the religious hierarchy of the lake region is Jairus. 00:14:50.54\00:14:55.74 Now at first glance I'm sure that many people 00:14:55.77\00:14:58.11 who were standing watching this event on that day 00:14:58.14\00:15:01.27 would have thought wait a minute here comes, 00:15:01.30\00:15:03.30 you know, here comes Jesus who by this time is already 00:15:03.33\00:15:05.70 somewhat of a heretic prophet rejected in Jerusalem, 00:15:05.73\00:15:08.90 you know, he's coming up this way and here is Jairus, 00:15:08.93\00:15:10.98 defender of the faith, he's coming this way 00:15:11.01\00:15:12.51 and we're gonna have some fireworks. 00:15:12.54\00:15:13.91 I mean, you know, some confrontation here. 00:15:13.94\00:15:15.51 Jairus is gonna look at Him and say 00:15:15.54\00:15:16.91 you got to stay out of my town. 00:15:16.94\00:15:18.31 You know, it's my responsibility 00:15:18.34\00:15:19.71 to defend the faith in the village 00:15:19.74\00:15:21.55 of the Capernaum in this region 00:15:21.58\00:15:22.95 and I'm commanding you stay out of my town. 00:15:22.98\00:15:24.72 Some people might have thought that, but of course, 00:15:24.75\00:15:26.93 you know, that's not why he was coming to Jesus. 00:15:26.96\00:15:29.81 Jairus, the man, when he saw Jesus, 00:15:29.84\00:15:33.19 he fell at Jesus feet, 00:15:33.22\00:15:34.59 he fell at his feet that's verse 22, 00:15:34.62\00:15:36.77 and he begins his appeal to Jesus verse 23. 00:15:36.80\00:15:39.77 I've got a problem it is more than you can know. 00:15:39.80\00:15:43.73 My little daughter lies at the point of death. 00:15:43.76\00:15:48.48 That is what drives Jairus to Jesus that day. 00:15:48.51\00:15:51.40 It isn't going to be this confrontation of two 00:15:51.43\00:15:55.14 views of religion within Israel. 00:15:55.17\00:15:58.39 It is a man, a father who is desperate. 00:15:58.42\00:16:01.01 Now my graduate studies are all in Jewish studies. 00:16:01.04\00:16:04.05 I'm the only Gentile who ever attended 00:16:04.08\00:16:06.40 the center for Jewish studies, what a great privilege. 00:16:06.43\00:16:08.84 What an honor it was for me to do that. 00:16:08.87\00:16:11.40 And there are certain things happening 00:16:11.43\00:16:13.21 within the mentality here of Judaism 00:16:13.24\00:16:16.22 that many Gentile Christians just we would never know. 00:16:16.25\00:16:19.94 It just goes right on by. 00:16:19.97\00:16:23.10 Jesus is listening and the man says 00:16:23.13\00:16:25.55 my little daughter lies at the point of death. 00:16:25.58\00:16:28.56 Now as you go into the story, 00:16:28.59\00:16:29.96 you find out that she is 12 years old. 00:16:29.99\00:16:32.89 Now you probably know that the breaking point 00:16:32.92\00:16:35.58 of 12 within Judaism for young man 00:16:35.61\00:16:39.11 relates to the issues of Bar Mitzvah 00:16:39.14\00:16:40.67 when he becomes a son of the law 00:16:40.70\00:16:42.81 responsible to the law for himself 00:16:42.84\00:16:44.32 that if a young boy killed a cow when he was 11, 00:16:44.35\00:16:47.91 you know, dad paid for it. 00:16:47.94\00:16:49.53 But when he accidentally may be killed a cow 00:16:49.56\00:16:52.70 when he was 13, he paid for it. 00:16:52.73\00:16:54.81 In fact, even to this day in a Bar Mitzvah ceremony 00:16:54.84\00:16:57.54 the father's prayer part of the Bar Mitzvah 00:16:57.57\00:16:59.72 ceremony is where the father in prayer says, 00:16:59.75\00:17:02.31 "I thank God that this thing is no longer on my conscious. 00:17:02.34\00:17:05.68 I'm not responsible for this kid." 00:17:05.71\00:17:08.02 You know, you're on your own between you and God. 00:17:08.05\00:17:10.18 That's actually part of the prayer. 00:17:10.21\00:17:13.32 That breaking point of 12 is very important. 00:17:13.35\00:17:16.47 Now we see in the next few verses beginning 00:17:16.50\00:17:19.30 at verse 25 and onward, 00:17:19.33\00:17:20.70 there is actually a woman who gets thrown into the story 00:17:20.73\00:17:22.58 who's had the issuance of the blood for 12 years, 00:17:22.61\00:17:24.28 but that's a whole another story. 00:17:24.31\00:17:26.55 This little girl is right on the edge of womanhood. 00:17:26.58\00:17:30.87 Now the Mishnah actually debates about, 00:17:30.90\00:17:33.58 it's clear that for a Jewish boy 00:17:33.61\00:17:35.90 in the Mishnah it said 13 years and a day. 00:17:35.93\00:17:38.87 The completion of the 12th year. 00:17:38.90\00:17:40.65 For a girl there is actually some argument 00:17:40.68\00:17:42.63 with some other Rabbis about that she became technically 00:17:42.66\00:17:45.36 a woman after 11 years and a day. 00:17:45.39\00:17:47.85 But, I don't want to debate that, 00:17:47.88\00:17:50.25 it's just that we know when you're talking somebody 00:17:50.28\00:17:52.49 who is right at the edge of 12 that something is happening 00:17:52.52\00:17:56.39 in the story about a girl who is leaving 00:17:56.42\00:17:59.46 childhood into adulthood. 00:17:59.49\00:18:03.10 Now remember, it's his daughter, 00:18:03.13\00:18:06.98 it's his only child and she is right 00:18:07.01\00:18:10.71 on the edge of the adulthood. 00:18:10.74\00:18:13.82 Now most Christians would begin to think 00:18:13.85\00:18:16.67 and they'd say, okay, now I understand 00:18:16.70\00:18:18.07 it's brutal to lose a child. 00:18:18.10\00:18:21.25 And it's even worse if it's your only child, 00:18:22.00\00:18:23.78 may beI don't now, I don't know 00:18:23.81\00:18:25.18 if it can be worse. But, thereis something 00:18:25.21\00:18:28.58 going on here, probably more than we see at the surface. 00:18:28.61\00:18:32.32 Let me share with you what it is. 00:18:32.35\00:18:34.83 For several years, I taught college, 00:18:34.86\00:18:38.40 I served as a college professor, 00:18:38.43\00:18:40.88 and the areas that I thought were history of the Holocaust, 00:18:40.91\00:18:44.76 and Second Temple history. And in order to understand 00:18:44.79\00:18:48.38 either one of those issues of the world, 00:18:48.41\00:18:51.73 you have to understand certain things that are going 00:18:51.76\00:18:53.45 on within the mentality of Judaism either through 00:18:53.48\00:18:57.24 the precursors of the Holocaust 00:18:57.27\00:18:58.98 or in the Second Temple era. 00:18:59.01\00:19:02.31 One other things that most Christians don't know 00:19:02.34\00:19:05.44 about much of Judaism through history 00:19:05.47\00:19:08.43 especially the Middle Ages onward was 00:19:08.46\00:19:11.36 there is a very cosmic sense. 00:19:11.39\00:19:12.81 You know, sometimes we look at this issue 00:19:12.84\00:19:14.55 of chosenness in Judaism, 00:19:14.58\00:19:17.13 and we say you know that's pretty smug. 00:19:17.16\00:19:19.36 That you look down your nose at the rest of the world, 00:19:19.39\00:19:21.44 and say well, you know, we're the chosen. 00:19:21.47\00:19:24.50 That Judaism has some very provocative 00:19:24.53\00:19:26.63 things for Christians to chew on in that issue 00:19:26.66\00:19:29.04 and one of the areas that it plays out 00:19:29.07\00:19:33.21 is in the concept of God 00:19:33.24\00:19:37.67 needing the continuation of Israel. 00:19:37.71\00:19:42.60 It's a cosmic view. 00:19:42.63\00:19:44.89 Now let me just take a second to try to get you 00:19:44.92\00:19:46.58 to understand what I'm saying here. 00:19:46.61\00:19:49.44 If God made a promise to Israel, 00:19:49.47\00:19:52.30 "so shall your seed and your name remain" 00:19:52.33\00:19:54.01 we read that in Isaiah 66. 00:19:54.04\00:19:56.90 If God made a promise to Israel about the protection 00:19:56.93\00:19:59.90 and defense and continuation of that race. 00:19:59.93\00:20:03.20 If the day--follow me, if the day would ever come 00:20:03.23\00:20:06.87 at least this is the mentality of much of Judaism, 00:20:06.90\00:20:08.92 if the day would ever come when Judaism no longer 00:20:08.95\00:20:13.31 continues then God has not kept his promise. 00:20:13.34\00:20:18.75 And if God doesn't keep His promise 00:20:18.78\00:20:21.58 the universe goes to chaos. 00:20:21.61\00:20:24.39 If God cannot keep His promise to Israel, 00:20:24.42\00:20:28.27 then how can He run His universe? 00:20:28.30\00:20:29.86 That's the thinking of this issue of chosenness. 00:20:29.89\00:20:33.63 That God has in some ways painted Himself into a corner 00:20:33.66\00:20:37.65 by His promises and He has to fulfill those promises, 00:20:37.68\00:20:41.18 otherwise He can't run His universe. 00:20:41.21\00:20:43.59 Therefore God is dependent upon 00:20:43.62\00:20:45.34 the continuation of Israel 00:20:45.37\00:20:47.34 and that's some of the issues of what we consider 00:20:47.37\00:20:50.40 when we talk about the issues of the holocaust. 00:20:50.43\00:20:54.35 You'd probably know that within Judaism 00:20:54.38\00:20:57.99 the continuation of the race goes 00:20:58.02\00:21:00.38 through the line of the mother, 00:21:00.41\00:21:02.68 matrilineage, who your father is, 00:21:02.71\00:21:06.10 you know, who cares. 00:21:06.13\00:21:07.67 Timothy, we don't care that your father, 00:21:07.70\00:21:09.10 you know, wasn't part of the package. 00:21:09.13\00:21:10.96 You had a good Jewish mother 00:21:10.99\00:21:12.36 and a good Jewish grandmother that's what counts. 00:21:12.39\00:21:14.89 We see that in Paul's writings paraphrased obviously. 00:21:14.92\00:21:18.12 It's not exactly the way he words it. 00:21:18.15\00:21:20.80 Matrilineage, the line of Israel 00:21:20.83\00:21:24.33 goes through the mother. 00:21:24.36\00:21:25.80 There is a very simple reason for that by the way. 00:21:25.83\00:21:28.96 You can always question who the father was, 00:21:28.99\00:21:31.24 you can never question who the mother is. 00:21:31.27\00:21:34.14 That's always pretty obvious who the mother is. 00:21:34.17\00:21:36.66 And so matrilineage defines the continuation of the race. 00:21:36.69\00:21:40.44 Therefore, if I was a Jewish person 00:21:40.47\00:21:42.68 and I had a Jewish son and he married outside 00:21:42.71\00:21:48.60 the faith and I had a Jewish daughter 00:21:48.63\00:21:50.78 and she married outside the faith, 00:21:50.81\00:21:52.52 it's actually potentially a greater tragedy 00:21:52.55\00:21:54.85 for the son to marry outside the faith, 00:21:54.88\00:21:56.46 because if he married a Gentile, 00:21:56.49\00:21:58.67 none of his children would ever be Jewish, 00:21:58.70\00:22:00.66 whereas if my daughter married 00:22:00.69\00:22:02.10 a Gentile it wouldn't matter, 00:22:02.13\00:22:04.52 they're still going to be Jewish, 00:22:04.55\00:22:06.63 because of the laws of matrilineage. 00:22:06.66\00:22:10.21 This is an only child more than that it's a daughter, 00:22:10.24\00:22:16.76 the continuation of the race and the promise is depended 00:22:16.79\00:22:21.34 upon this one little girl for his family. 00:22:21.37\00:22:25.71 There are no more. There is something 00:22:25.74\00:22:28.32 very cosmic going on in the mind of Jairus. 00:22:28.35\00:22:31.49 My little girl, my daughter-- 00:22:31.52\00:22:32.93 and remember she is 12 years old. 00:22:32.96\00:22:34.33 She is right on the front edge of being a woman. 00:22:34.36\00:22:36.15 It's a rather modern in concept 00:22:36.18\00:22:38.75 this thing called adolescence 00:22:38.78\00:22:40.48 where we have kids with adult bodies, 00:22:40.51\00:22:42.85 but no adult responsibilities. 00:22:42.88\00:22:45.20 We don't hold them countable for anything 00:22:45.23\00:22:46.66 until 18 or 21 or something like this. 00:22:46.69\00:22:48.60 Back in the old days, in the world agrarian times 00:22:48.63\00:22:52.30 when you're 14 years old, your dad died, 00:22:52.33\00:22:55.11 you took over the farm. 00:22:55.14\00:22:57.84 This issue of adult bodies without adult responsibilities 00:22:57.87\00:23:01.40 that's a modern concept in society, 00:23:01.43\00:23:05.10 the idea of adolescence. In these, 00:23:05.13\00:23:08.52 in this day back in these days 00:23:08.55\00:23:10.58 when a young girl was 11, 12, 13, 14 00:23:10.61\00:23:14.45 when she was edging into womanhood, 00:23:14.48\00:23:17.21 she soon became a wife 00:23:17.24\00:23:19.70 and part of it was because of course life 00:23:19.73\00:23:21.10 expectancy was much shorter too. 00:23:21.13\00:23:23.56 A young boy it was nothing for him 00:23:23.59\00:23:25.34 at the age of 14, 15, 16 to be engaged 00:23:25.37\00:23:28.23 and being married and be a man 00:23:28.26\00:23:29.67 because he was a man, he was Bar Mitzvah. 00:23:29.70\00:23:34.22 This little girl was on the edge 00:23:34.25\00:23:35.62 of being a woman. All the hopes 00:23:35.65\00:23:37.77 and dreams of this man not only for his own family 00:23:37.80\00:23:40.48 line and name, but the cosmic view 00:23:40.51\00:23:43.13 of the continuation of Israel 00:23:43.16\00:23:45.19 is wrapped up in his daughter 00:23:45.22\00:23:49.99 That's why he approaches Jesus. 00:23:50.02\00:23:51.65 He is going to throw away his reputation 00:23:51.68\00:23:55.33 with the boys in Jerusalem, 00:23:55.36\00:23:57.53 if he goes to Jesus, 00:23:57.56\00:23:58.93 but he has got nowhere else to turn, 00:23:58.96\00:24:00.33 because she was the princess of the village. 00:24:00.36\00:24:04.20 I can imagine then he and his wife probably 00:24:04.23\00:24:05.81 sat around at night around supper after little girl 00:24:05.84\00:24:10.30 was in bed from the time that she was eight or nine 00:24:10.33\00:24:12.34 onward talking about the young man in the region 00:24:12.37\00:24:13.86 about who would we like to marry our daughter off 00:24:13.89\00:24:16.23 to because they would get the pick of the crop, 00:24:16.26\00:24:19.02 because he was the ruler of the synagogue. 00:24:19.05\00:24:21.48 She was the princess of the village. 00:24:21.51\00:24:24.59 They would be able to select her groom in a way 00:24:24.62\00:24:28.58 that nobody else in the region could. 00:24:28.61\00:24:30.36 And now they're going to lose it all and how many times 00:24:30.39\00:24:34.02 I'm sure Jairus must have looked up to heaven 00:24:34.05\00:24:35.72 as she started to fade and he would rage, etc. 00:24:35.75\00:24:38.50 How many times he must have looked up to heaven and said, 00:24:38.53\00:24:41.54 "What did you expect of me, God? 00:24:41.57\00:24:43.01 I was defender of the faith. 00:24:43.04\00:24:44.41 I did the best I can do, I've served 00:24:44.44\00:24:45.81 the house of Israel till the end 00:24:45.84\00:24:47.21 and this what I get in return? 00:24:47.24\00:24:48.75 I'm going to lose my daughter." 00:24:48.78\00:24:50.65 And then of course, he finally, 00:24:50.68\00:24:52.35 he loses his propriety he runs, 00:24:52.38\00:24:54.76 he breaks, and falls before Jesus asking for help 00:24:54.79\00:24:57.59 from the heretic profit at least that's what the boys 00:24:57.62\00:24:59.81 at Jerusalem would have thought. 00:24:59.84\00:25:02.08 He loses his propriety and throws it all the way 00:25:02.11\00:25:04.59 for the hope of keeping his daughter 00:25:04.62\00:25:06.19 only to have her die anyway. 00:25:06.22\00:25:11.18 The princess of the village dies 00:25:11.21\00:25:14.31 and Jairus has got to be broken in this. 00:25:14.34\00:25:17.09 He's got to be broken when the word comes verse 35, 00:25:17.12\00:25:19.67 "Thy daughter is dead." 00:25:19.70\00:25:21.48 Imagine I don't know about you, 00:25:21.51\00:25:24.19 you probably a much better Christian than I'm, 00:25:24.22\00:25:26.05 but I'm sure I would have looked at heaven 00:25:26.08\00:25:28.03 and just been furious with God. 00:25:28.06\00:25:31.15 After all I have done for you and this is my reward? 00:25:31.18\00:25:34.85 How could you do this to me? 00:25:34.88\00:25:37.29 That would have been my perception. 00:25:37.32\00:25:39.73 And Jesus of course came up 00:25:39.76\00:25:41.28 and put His hand on the man's shoulder 00:25:41.31\00:25:42.68 and said take me to her. 00:25:42.71\00:25:45.82 I'm going to resolve this mess. 00:25:45.85\00:25:47.24 When they got to the top of the hill up 00:25:48.72\00:25:50.47 where the rich people live or wherever 00:25:50.50\00:25:52.05 the suburb was for the upper class. 00:25:52.08\00:25:56.37 This girl was already being mourned. 00:25:56.40\00:25:58.48 Rabbi Judah actually said that appropriate mourning requires 00:25:58.51\00:26:01.59 at least two flutes and three wailing women. 00:26:01.62\00:26:06.56 I'm sure that she had a whole lot more 00:26:06.59\00:26:07.99 than two flutes and three wailing women. 00:26:08.02\00:26:09.95 She was the princess of the village 00:26:09.98\00:26:11.78 and Jesus said take me in to her. 00:26:11.81\00:26:14.43 I know that one Bible commentator 00:26:14.46\00:26:16.15 actually spoke about Jesus, you know, standing there 00:26:16.18\00:26:18.89 just tensed and flexed, because He is ready, 00:26:18.92\00:26:23.38 He is ready to do something miraculous 00:26:23.41\00:26:25.05 and that He knows what he is going to do. 00:26:25.08\00:26:26.45 And I can imagine Jesus going 00:26:26.48\00:26:27.85 into that little girl's death room 00:26:27.88\00:26:30.38 with Jairus' wife sitting there just oblivious. 00:26:30.41\00:26:32.69 She is just lost in her grief, maybe not 00:26:32.72\00:26:35.02 even catching on to the fact that the girl is really dead. 00:26:35.05\00:26:37.83 And Jesus I'm sure he entered that room 00:26:37.86\00:26:40.16 with a smile on his lips, it was his way of looking 00:26:40.19\00:26:42.41 and saying Satan, you know, often you get your way. 00:26:42.44\00:26:44.88 Satan, my father allows you enough rope to hang yourself 00:26:44.91\00:26:47.69 and you're going to, but not today, 00:26:47.72\00:26:49.37 not in this room, not in this place, 00:26:49.40\00:26:50.94 I'm not gonna let it happen. He came in. 00:26:50.97\00:26:56.31 He'd already asked the people outside, 00:26:56.34\00:26:57.71 "Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" 00:26:57.74\00:26:59.39 Why make you this a do? It says verse 39, come on. 00:26:59.42\00:27:05.11 He reaches out and touches her hand 00:27:05.14\00:27:07.08 and the voice that can call forth people from death 00:27:07.11\00:27:12.35 through 6,000 years of death cuts through the dead 00:27:12.38\00:27:16.41 ears of a little girl in a back room in the upper 00:27:16.44\00:27:19.93 society homes of Capernaum. 00:27:19.96\00:27:23.08 The little girl I say unto thee, arise 00:27:23.11\00:27:26.80 and the dead ears heard Him. 00:27:26.83\00:27:32.24 Oh, the hope of the resurrection 00:27:32.27\00:27:33.72 for everyone of us when the dead ears hear 00:27:33.75\00:27:36.54 and Jesus turned the sorrow into rejoicing. 00:27:36.57\00:27:40.16 He dispelled the flutes and the wailing women. 00:27:40.19\00:27:44.40 What a marvelous thing 00:27:44.43\00:27:46.28 when we find Jesus interjecting 00:27:46.31\00:27:48.20 Himself into an incredible story to show us the hope 00:27:48.23\00:27:52.40 that He cuts through and no matter 00:27:52.43\00:27:53.92 what your problem is, 00:27:53.95\00:27:55.32 no matter how hopeless it may seem. 00:27:55.35\00:27:57.29