“Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”
Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 21When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him near the sea. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and repeatedly pleaded with him, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place your hands on her so that she may be healed and live.”
24Jesus went with him.
35While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue ruler’s house arrived, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”
36But when Jesus heard this report, he told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” 37He did not allow anyone to follow him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 38They went into the house of the synagogue ruler, and Jesus saw a commotion with people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”
40They laughed at him. But after he put everyone out, he took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41Grasping the hand of the child, he said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (When translated, that means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”) 42Immediately the little girl stood up and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.) They were completely and utterly amazed. 43Then he gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and he told them to give her something to eat.
By the mercies of the LORD we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23). Amen.
They thought it would be funny. At the WELS Youth Rally, 14 teens got into the elevator. The capacity for the elevator was 5.
They thought it would be funny. On the count of 3 all 14 teens jumped.
The elevator stopped. They still thought it was funny. They were at the rally with 2900 teens, and they were stuck in an elevator.
It stopped being funny 20 minutes into the ordeal. There wasn’t a lot of room to move or even sit down in the elevator. It was hot. It was cramped. Teens started getting nervous. Anxious. Even a bit afraid.
But they all cheered when the fire fighters arrived to open the elevator and rescue them.
Fear is a common, everyday emotion. Perhaps it is even the strongest of human emotions, often stemming from the unknown, unfamiliar, and indefinite. There are many things we are afraid of. Afraid of physical creatures like snakes and spiders. Afraid of physical ailments like a stroke or dementia. Afraid of emotional conditions like depression or loneliness. All of us are afraid of death – the death of a child, the death of a spouse, the death of a parent, and facing our own death.
He uses the Greek word “eschatos,” “ending.” “My little daughter is ending.” But in Jesus, it will be just the beginning.
On the way to Jairus’ home, some men came from his house with the sad news, “Your daughter is dead.” Now she is the perfect patient for the Great Physician of body and soul. For if Jesus came not for the healthy, but for the sick, then above all, he came for the dead. To give life from death.
Death is not natural. It is the terrible rending of the soul from the body. We were created not to die, but live. But death has reigned since the forbidden fruit was tasted. Fear took over with the sound of God’s footsteps in the Garden. Fear finds its fulfillment in God’s curse: “From dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).
As sinners, we should be afraid of death. For the Bible says, “you are dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1); and “the soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:20); and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We are as dead as a little girl whose heart and breathing have stopped. Though we may look good on the outside, our bodies are being ravaged by the effects of sin – illnesses, ailments, tumors, strokes, dementia, etc. Our bodies are always one step from the grave.
“But when Jesus heard this report, he told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36). Jairus gets to see what nine of Jesus’ regular disciples did not get to see – Jesus raises his daughter back to life. Jairus saw Jesus stare death in the face and death back down.
That’s a picture of what is going to happen to you and your Christian loved ones. The world laughs at that, as the gathered mourners laughed at Jesus when he said, “The child is not dead but sleeping” (Mark 5:39). Unless Jesus returns before you die, you will be like this little girl. You will be awakened from the sleep of your death by the voice of Jesus. He will take you by the hand and raise you to a new life that will never end. Then he will have someone get you something to eat from his marriage feast of the Lamb.
Here’s what you need to know and believe. In your Baptism, Jesus has already said to you what he said to the little girl in your native Aramaic tongue, “Talitha koum!” “My child, arise!” And that’s what Jesus is going to say to you upon the trumpet blast ushering in Judgment Day, “Talitha koum!” “My child, arise!” calling you from your grave. Then you will run around heaven for an eternity, and Jesus will feed you at his feast forever.
Those teens stuck in the elevator weren’t going to die. But they were still afraid. Our greatest fear comes from looking at death. But Jesus’ words chase away fear. When Jesus draws near, fear flees and faith is strengthened. Fathers are comforted. Mothers behold the miraculous. Adult sons are reunited, and little girls rise from the dead – if not today, then on the Last Day.
Jesus was calm when the storm on the Sea of Galilee churned around him. Jesus also remains calm when death swirls all around him. And why shouldn’t he remain calm? He’s the expert. He’s the One who stared death in the face and shouted its defeat, “It is finished!” He’s the One who conquered death by dying on the Good Friday cross. He’s the One who crushed death with his resurrection on Easter Dawn.
In 252 A.D., St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote treatises and preached sermons encouraging Christians who were experiencing death all around them from a plague. Understandably, many were afraid to suffer and die. Cyprian has some powerful words for Christians looking at Death riding towards them – and facing it without fear. He chastises that only non-Christians should be afraid to die:
“Doubtless, let him fear to die, and only him, who, unborn of water and of the Spirit, is the property of hell-fire; let him fear to die, who is without title in the Cross and passion of Christ; let him fear to die, who is to pass from death here into the second death; let him fear to die, on whom at his going away from life, an eternal flame will lay pains that never cease; let him fear to die, on whom the longer delay
confers this boon, that his tortures and groans will begin later. Unbelievers should be afraid to die for they have nothing to look forward to after death. Instead, they should fear death for they will then suffer the second death.”
Cyprian is saying that only unbelievers have reason to fear death. Christians, though, should never fear death. Jesus promises, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last—the Living One. I was dead and, see, I am alive forever and ever! I also hold the keys of death and hell” (Revelation 1:17, 18).
Our annual trip to the tomb with the women every Easter morning is important for us as Christians. It is fitting that at the grave the angels tell the women: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:5). It is fitting that the risen Jesus tells the women hurrying away from the tomb: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10). And it is fitting that Jesus reminds us repeatedly: “Do not be afraid. Only believe.”
There at that Easter tomb we hear a refrain that resounds almost 100 times in just the New Testament: “Do not be afraid.” The women had come out to the grave of their (supposedly) dead Master with a mixture of fear, powerlessness, and hopelessness. But suddenly they learned that their dear Lord was no longer dead. Just as he had promised, death held no power over him. In his saving power, they no longer had any reason to live in hopelessness and fear.
As they left the tomb, already the Easter message allowed the fear in their hearts to begin to mix with a great dawning joy. Then, as if the angelic messenger’s words had not been enough, Jesus suddenly stood before them. They heard their risen Lord’s lips repeat the refrain: “Do not be afraid.” His repetition displays the patient mercy of the Savior who knows how difficult it is to drive fear from the hearts even of his believers! His repetition reveals he will not abandon them to their clinging fears. He wants them to know that their lives – and their eternal lives – are in the hands of a crucified and risen Lord. There is nothing more to fear.
That same resurrection message still resounds to this day: “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” Easter proclaims that there is nothing in ancient times, current times or future times that can rightfully make us afraid –not plagues or pandemics or World Wars or anything else that brings death.
Even in a fallen world where Death rides its pale horse to haunt and hunt us down, Jesus still patiently reassures us: “Do not be afraid.” Death's back is broken. Satan has been stomped. The gates of Hades have been ripped off their hinges. Christ rides victorious on his white horse (Revelation 6:2). He has conquered and he continues to conquer. “Death is the last enemy to be done away with” (1 Corinthians 15:26), If Death is done, nothing else can win. If Death has been destroyed, then there is nothing else to fear.
Death lies broken and defeated. And now you get to decide whether the rest of your troubles, the worst of your fears, and the greatest of your anxieties are worth your worries.
Can the terrors of troubles outweigh trusting in the Almighty God?
Can the wrath of war overshadow the Lord of Armies?
Can the dread of demons live up to their demands?
Can the panic of pandemics be greater than Christ walking victoriously out of his grave?
That’s why we need to be reminded that we Christians alone have an answer to human fear. That answer is found in a little girls’ room. It is found at an empty tomb. It is found in a message that calms our fears at the cemetery. “Do not be afraid,” says the angel. “Do not be afraid,” says the risen Lord. “Do not be afraid,” says the pastor at the Christian funeral service.
You have no reason to ever be afraid again. As death comes calling, Jesus reminds you, “Don’t be afraid; only believe.” Amen.
For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and bring us (together with you) into his presence (2 Corinthians 4:14). Amen.