Mark 5:21-24a, 35-43 - What Jesus Says at Funerals - July 11, 2021

Imagine for a moment that you had come here to church – only it wasn’t for a regular Sunday service. Imagine that instead you’re here on a weekday around 11a – for a funeral. And not just any funeral, but a funeral for a child; the child of one of your closest friends; his only child. Imagine standing in the visitation line waiting to walk up here to offer your condolences as he’s standing next to the casket of his little girl – what would you say? Even those of us who always seem to have something to say often struggle when it comes to saying something at funerals, don’t we? What do you say, what can you say at a funeral? We might have difficulty finding words to say at a funeral, but Jesus doesn’t. Today we will focus on the three things Jesus said at a funeral and what they mean to us today.

Jesus’ first words come in response to the voice of death. Did you know that death has a voice? Did you hear it in our text? While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue ruler’s house arrived, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?” That’s death speaking. Death saying, “that’s it; there’s no hope; just give up.” Have you heard death’s voice in your life? It’s the voice of the doctor on the phone who tells you to sit down before he gives you the results of the biopsy; the voice of a friend telling you that their cancer has metastasized; the voice of a sibling telling you you’d better drop everything and come and see mom or dad because the doctor says they have days or hours, not weeks. Why do those voices stop us in our tracks, make our hearts skip a beat – why do we need to be sitting down to hear the voice of death? Because the voice of death says that he’s arrived and there’s nothing you can do to stop him. And, humanly speaking, he’s right. If this pandemic has proved anything, it’s that mankind is utterly powerless to stop death’s brutal and violent war on life. But how does Jesus respond to death’s voice? He ignores it; he rejects it; he dismisses it; he defies it. And he urges Jairus to do the same: don’t be afraid.

Now, according to Mark, Jairus’ hadn’t said anything about being afraid. All he had done is beg Jesus to come and place his hands on his daughter so that she may be healed and live. Then why does Jesus tell him don’t be afraid? You know, and so do I. He’s afraid because his daughter is near death. Why is death so scary? First, especially if the death is sudden and unexpected, it’s hard to wrap your mind around the fact that the person you hugged or talked to on the phone just yesterday is gone. It’s hard to come to grips with the fact that we won’t ever see them again. We fear what we don’t and can’t understand.

But the second source reason is probably even more potent: when someone close to us dies it serves as a uncomfortable reminder that nothing more than a single distracted driver, a single strand of infectious disease, a single breath, a single heartbeat stands between us and death. Sure, we spend most of our lives trying to ignore and distract ourselves from the fact that death is so close. But at a funeral, you can’t avoid it. The only reason you’re there is because someone’s heart has stopped, their lungs have stopped heaving, they are dead. And one day that will be you. And that’s terrifying. And the closer you were to the deceased person, the harder and heavier fear comes at you – especially when that person was only a child.

In the face of this storm of fear gathering around Jairus, Jesus says don’t be afraid. Jesus says that there is no reason to be afraid at a funeral, no reason to be afraid of death. I imagine that Jesus would probably be kicked off of social media for making such a statement today. The “experts” today write long papers and give long speeches telling us how we should be paralyzed with fear at the thought of death. And that’s because, according to them, the “science” has determined that when a person dies – that’s it, they’re gone for good; you’re never going to see them again.

Well, Jesus doesn’t have much regard for the experts or the science – at this funeral he says don’t be afraid. Only believe. Believe what? Jesus hadn’t yet given Jairus anything to believe. He hadn’t told Jairus that he was going to go to his house, take his daughter’s hand and raise her from the dead; he hadn’t even told him to believe that on the Last Day his daughter would be raised from the dead and they would be reunited forever. So what was Jairus supposed to only believe? What was the only thing he could possibly believe? Nothing more – and nothing less – than the guy standing in front of him; in Jesus.

This isn’t such a foreign story for us, is it? There are many times we’d like a clear and direct word from God regarding something we should believe or do. “Lord, just tell me what school I’m supposed to attend or what person I’m destined to marry or what job I should seek.” “Lord, just tell me that my children will remain steadfast Christians, that our marriage will survive this latest argument, that I made the right decision to put mom or dad in a nursing home.” When you open your Bible, do you find those direct, clear answers and explanations? Nope. What do you find? You find Jesus. That’s the thing about faith. It’s not based on what we can understand, know, feel or think possible. It’s not necessarily based on specific details or rational explanations. Faith is based on a person. Faith is based completely on Jesus and what he has done, can do and has promised. At this funeral, Jesus tells a grieving Father to not be afraid of death but rather to believe in him, his power and his love.

In our culture, funerals are generally quiet, somber events – with everyone speaking in hushed voices (as if you might accidentally wake the dead). That wasn’t the case at this funeral. Mark says they went into the house of the synagogue ruler, and Jesus saw a commotion with people weeping and wailing loudly. Now you have to understand the culture. In first century Israel it was common to hire professional mourners. Even a poor person felt obligated to have a minimum of two flute players.  Jairus, being a synagogue ruler, would likely have been able to hire an entire band of instruments and a choir of mourners. It was an intense scene.

And Jesus walks right into this intense scene and says: Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping. Why is death such a commotion for us? Because from our point of view dead is a black hole. It’s something we haven’t experienced, can’t figure out, and can’t see the other side of. But that’s not what death is to Jesus. To Jesus death is sleep, a nap. The dead are no farther away from Jesus than a sleeping person is from us. Even more, Jesus raises the dead as easily as we raise someone who’s sleeping: with nothing more than a word and a touch. Can you see why Jesus tells Jairus and us that we don’t need to be afraid of death? Are you afraid of going to sleep? (Now, granted, some of us may suffer from nightmares or painful flashbacks while we sleep – but in general, we’re not afraid of falling asleep.) Do you call 911 when your children take a nap? (Most parents instead say, “Hallelujah!”) Sure, you might miss their presence temporarily, but you know that you can wake them up at any time. That’s the power Jesus has over death. He can raise anyone at any time – and on the Last Day he will raise all people of all times.

Jesus could do this and he will do this because he is the Lord of life and of death. Jesus earned this right by descending from heaven and taking on human flesh and blood in the womb of the virgin Mary. As true God, Jesus could not and would not have died, but by taking on our flesh he took on our being able to die. Of course, death is the wages of sin (Romans 6:23), and Jesus had no sin (1 Peter 2:22)., so that there was no reason for Jesus to die. He was completely innocent as Pontius Pilate himself declared no fewer than seven times (Luke 23:4, 6-15, 22; Matthew 27:24; John 19:4, 6, 7-12). But Jesus did die. The Romans made sure of it by piercing his side with a spear (John 20:33-34). Jesus’ heart stopped beating; his lungs stopped breathing; his brain stopped sending electrical signals. Death didn’t take Jesus – Jesus gave himself over to death, for us (John 10:18). Jesus died the only death we should be afraid of: the death of the damned; death without hope; death that not only meant the separation of the soul from the body but the separation from God’s love in hell. But while Jesus died in our place, death couldn’t keep him. Because he was true God, death had to spit him out in the resurrection. And the good news is that where Jesus has gone, so will we – through death to life. Paul says for as in Adam they all die, so also in Christ they all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). That’s why we don’t need to fear death – because in the hands of Jesus, death is nothing more than a nap; than sleep.

We’ll close by comparing what Jesus said at funerals during his earthly ministry; what he will say on the Last Day; and what he is still saying to the world today. Jesus’ third statement was directed to the little girl: “Talitha, koum!” (When translated, that means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”) Jesus is recorded as having raised three people from the dead. And in each case, his words are very narrow, very specific, very personal. Here he says little girl, I say to you, arise. At Nain he says, young man, I say to you, get up! (Luke 7:14) At Bethany Jesus said Lazarus, come out (John 11:43). In each instance, even in that cemetery at Bethany, Jesus only raised three particular individuals. (Had he said “All you dead people, get up!” all the dead people in all the world would have arisen.) It wasn’t yet time for that, but that is exactly what Jesus will say and what will happen on the Last Day. Jesus says a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out (John 5:28-29). On the Last Day, Jesus’ word of resurrection won’t be narrow, specific or personal – it will be global and universal – he will raise all people of all time to life. But that won’t be good news for everyone. Daniel writes that many who are sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, to everlasting torment (Daniel 12:2).

So what’s the difference? The difference lies in whether or not a person hears and believes what Jesus is saying today. What is that? Well, he’s obviously not showing up at funerals raising dead people out of their caskets. Jesus’ – and his apostles’ words which raised the physically dead to life were limited – Jesus only raised three people from the dead and Peter and Paul raised one each (Acts 9:40; 20:7-12). Jesus didn’t use his voice to raise many to physical life, but what did he constantly, continuously, consistently preach and teach day in and day out? The forgiveness of sins. In the words of Absolution, Jesus gives life – here and now – to people dead in sin. Jesus’ words that raised the physically dead to life were limited, but the word of Absolution Jesus has commanded his messengers to speak by his command and with his authority (John 20:21-23) is unlimited right up until the moment the last trumpet sounds (1 Corinthians 15:52). And the right to speak the words of absolution isn’t limited to pastors, either – these are words you can – and should – use on a daily basis; especially with those you are closest to (James 5:16). No, these words won’t bring a loved one out of the casket – at that point it’s too late. But today, to the people you know who are dead in sin – or who have hurt you with sin – there are no words more powerful than “For Jesus’ sake, your sins are forgiven,” – because those words truly do bring the dead to life.

There’s an old joke about a group of guys sitting around talking about what they want to hear said at their funeral. One person says, “I want to hear that I was a good father.” Another says, “I want to hear about my service to my country in the military.” A third says, “I want to hear that I inspired many people.” Finally, a fourth say, “I want to hear, “Look, he’s still breathing.”” That might be the next best thing to hearing Jesus say at your funeral get up, but it’s nothing compared to hearing today: “As a called servant of Christ, and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Because hearing and believing those words now not only determines what the pastor will say at your funeral, it determines what Jesus will say to you on the day of Judgment. Amen.