Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Death Is Not the End | The Gospels | Mark 5:35–43

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Most people in the modern world don't know how to grapple with death. We don't love to talk about it. We don't often think about it. We say someone passed away, went to sleep. We shy away from telling children about even the word death. We try to protect them in the same way we want to protect ourselves from death.

Starting point is 00:00:32 We live our lives far removed from the reality of death. People live longer. Oftentimes they die in a hospital or a nursing home. Someone else takes care of their body, puts it in a casket, and buries it for us. Some people like Brian Johnson, the tech millionaire, are even attempting to use technology to achieve immortality. And yet, despite his best efforts to maintain a biologically young age, at any moment, he could be hit by a car. Now, if there's something absolutely certain in this world, it is that we are all going to die. Our bodies are slowly decaying.

Starting point is 00:01:11 The modern luxury of being able to distract ourselves from the reality of death or being able to remain removed from the actual process of death was not one that was afforded to people for centuries before us. In the ancient Near East, the world where Jesus lived and taught, death was constantly a reality. A companion. You had to face it. It was a part of life. A reality that no one pretended wasn't ever looming. And today's passage, well, it picks up in the middle of a story. Jairus, who's a synagogue leader, has come to Jesus to help him heal his daughter who is sick. But yesterday, we saw that on his way to heal the daughter, Jesus pauses to heal another woman who is desperately sick as well. And that's where our story picks up. Mark 5, verse 35. While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.

Starting point is 00:02:08 Your daughter is dead, they said. Why bother the teacher anymore? Over hearing what they said, Jesus told him, don't be afraid. Just believe. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, why all this commotion in wailing? The child is not dead, but asleep, but they laughed at him. Okay, so as Jesus finishes speaking to this other woman, people come to tell Jairus that it's too late. The reality of death has taken his daughter. The family has already hired mourners to wail loudly and mourn over their daughter, something that was common in the ancient Near East because the

Starting point is 00:02:55 intensity of the mourning showed how much you loved the one who had died. You can see how this culture is different from our own. They were prepared for death. People were ready to mourn. Jiris was rushing to save his daughter, his last hope, but now he was too late. It was over. But Jesus surprisingly doesn't get on board. First, to Jairus, he says, don't be afraid, just believe. Then to the mourners, he says, she is not dead, but asleep. And they live. And they love. laugh. They laugh because Jesus is asking them to suspend reality, to step outside of the world they know, a world of death, decay, a world where a young girl can and has tragically and cruelly died at 12 years old. He's asking people who are face to face with the reality of death to believe,

Starting point is 00:03:52 believe that the stark reality in front of them is not the end of the story. And Jairus, he must believe, he must be able to have faith in Jesus because instead of riding him off, he follows him home, follows him into his daughter's room, allows Jesus to speak over her even when he sees for himself the lifeless body of his daughter. Verse 41. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went into where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, Talitha Kum, which means little girl, I say, to you, get up. Immediately, the girl stood up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. At this, they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this,

Starting point is 00:04:43 and told them to give her something to eat. The reality of death is overturned by the voice of Jesus. His words bring life. They push back the reality of death. They turn decay on its head, and they restore breath back into the body of this 12-year-old girl. She gets up, she walks, she eats. The visual signs of the reality of her life replace the former signs of the reality of her death. You see, Jesus came to proclaim and establish his coming kingdom, to teach his followers about the ways of that kingdom. And it was on the cross through the reality of his death as he took the punishment, the burden, the weight of the brokenness of this world, the brokenness of our hearts, our sin,

Starting point is 00:05:30 our rebellion to the grave. It was through that that he established himself as our king. And three days later, when he rose from the dead, his resurrection brought forth the restorative reality of his kingdom for all who believe. For all who follow after him like Jairus did, face to face with the reality of death, willing to believe that Jesus could do so. something about it, could be right, could be powerful enough, good enough, merciful enough, to offer life in his kingdom in place of death. In John 11, 25 to 26, Jesus says, I am the resurrection in the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? First Corinthians 15, 49 to 52 says,

Starting point is 00:06:22 and just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In a flash in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet,

Starting point is 00:06:47 for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised in perishable. and we will be changed. See, Paul here is reminding us of the greatest gift we've ever been offered. The kingdom of God is real, and through the resurrection of Jesus, we too can be like him when he returns. Some will never face death, they'll just be transformed, and those who have faced death will they'll be raised and transformed into resurrected bodies just like Jesus' physical bodies that never die. physical bodies that are sustained purely and perfectly by the Holy Spirit, we can live with Jesus in his kingdom forever. Death vanquished, gone, no longer a reality. In our home, we have tried to be open and honest with our kids about the reality of death. I don't want them to grow up with a fear of

Starting point is 00:07:43 death. We've had to have more conversations recently about death because of the death of our pet. It was tempting to tell Jude that our dog had found a new family or gone to live on a farm somewhere with lots of treats. But instead we talked about what happened. We talked about the finality of his death. We talked about how his body was sick and broken. And as we were talking, Jude looked at me and said, Mom, when Jesus comes back, he's going to heal Oliver's body and make him better again. Then he'll wake up.

Starting point is 00:08:13 And to be honest, this didn't feel like the moment to theologically determine whether or not dogs go to heaven. So instead, I said, yeah, that's right, Jude. And then we got to have a really good conversation about the hope of resurrection that we have as believers. See, death doesn't have to be scary because it isn't the end of the story for those who follow Jesus, who believe that even when it looks like death is one, the third day is coming. Jesus will return. Resurrection is a part of our reality as believe. believers. When we run from the idea of death, when we pretend it won't get us, when we try our best

Starting point is 00:08:55 not to think about it, we sell the gospel short. We make it less than what it is. It's only when we acknowledge the devastation of death apart from the hope in Jesus that we can recognize the magnitude of what is being offered to us, what is being asked of us to believe, to trust, to hope for. It's not about being morbid or living terrified of dying each day. It's about knowing that death is inevitable for all but those who live when Jesus returns, but it does not have the final say. We follow a God who tells us, do not be afraid, just believe. We follow a God who promises to return and restore all of creation, to do for everyone who believes what he did for Jairus's daughter. Believe in Jesus' is promised to deliver you to resurrected life. Death is not final. Have the kind of faith that can

Starting point is 00:09:52 boldly look death in the face and know that it is not the end. Resurrection is coming. Praise God.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Death Is Not the End | The Gospels | Mark 5:35–43

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