Jesus and the Little Girl

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Jesus and the Little Girl ------------------- Date: 1/15/2003
Keywords: "child" "children" "girl"
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Passage: Mark 5:35-43*

35. While [Jesus] was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?"

36. But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe."

37. And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

38. They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.

39. And entering in, He said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep."

40. They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was.

41. Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").

42. Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.

43. And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Questions

1. Do you struggle with believing that God cares about you and wants your best?

 

2. If you were the child’s father, and had just learned from friends that she had died, would you be able to accept Jesus’ words, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe."?

 

Practical help

I’m sure some of your friends would acknowledge Jesus was a "special" person. Perhaps they would even admit he was a saint or holy man. They might even go so far as to encourage you to study his life in order to glean little nuggets of truth. But they would never go so far as to recommend you really take him seriously. When life caves in, this group of "friends" will be the ones who ask you why you are still bothering this teacher call Jesus. "What can Jesus do for you now that you have a ‘real’ problem?" they will ask.

It’s one thing to be a spectator watching Jesus heading toward the little girl’s house, and it’s totally something else to be the father whose little girl has just died. More to the point, how do you trust Jesus’ words to stop fearing and just believe when your world is falling apart? May I point out that Jesus doesn’t endorse having a positive attitude as the key to success. He is not suggesting when the chips are down that you just try to believe in anything good. No, Jesus is saying, "Believe me." Jesus want’s to work on your behalf, but first you must have a relationship with him. Do you believe Jesus? Do you believe he has control of life, even when your circumstances seem to imply chaos?

If you are struggling with pornography, it’s not that you are too weak to stop. It’s that you love yourself more than you love Jesus. If you love anything more than you love the Lord, then you are missing the point. Ultimately life is not about you, it’s not about pleasure, it’s not about pain avoidance. Ultimately life is about Jesus redeeming fallen men and women from their enslavement to Satan and this world’s dying system of self gratification.

Even though the people scoffed and laughed at Jesus in today’s story, keep in mind who had the last laugh. And along with Jesus’ laughter a little girl rose from the dead. That’s why I serve him. How about you?

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."