“Taking her by the hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha cumi.'” Which means, “‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately the girl got up and began walking for she was twelve years of age and they were immediately overcome with amazement.”
– Mark 5:41–42
Oh, beautiful verses. At the end of a succession of stories of miracles, Jesus at the end of Mark 4, showing that he has authority over the wind and the waves, over nature.
Mark 5:41–42 Shows Jesus’ Authority over Death
In the beginning of Mark 5, Jesus has authority over demons and evil spirits. Then you keep reading in Mark 5, and you see a woman with an issue of blood and Jesus has authority over disease and sickness. And then we have this daughter of Jairus a ruler of the synagogue who dies at 12 years old as Jairus is waiting for Jesus to come to his house.
And Jesus eventually gets there, walks in, takes his daughter by the hand and says, “I say to you, little girl, arise.” And immediately this girl who was dead gets up. Jesus has authority over nature, over demons, over disease, and Jesus has authority over death.
This is who we follow, the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth, who has authority to remove disease, who has authority to direct nature. The one who when he speaks demons and evil spirits flee. And he is the one who has authority to bring the dead to life. So I just want to encourage you today to trust in Jesus. He has all authority in heaven and on earth, Matthew 28:18 makes that clear. Which means no matter what you are going through in your life right now, no matter what challenges you are facing, no matter what obstacles lie before you, the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth is with you and for you, for all who have put their trust in him.
And does this mean that you will be healed of all your diseases today if you will just trust in Jesus? No, but it does mean that lack of healing in our lives is not because Jesus has any lack of authority over disease, it’s because even as we read here in Mark 5, and that’s part of the point of this story with this little girl, that Jesus knows and is doing things that we don’t see, and even when we don’t understand. I can only imagine being Jairus, watching Jesus stop for someone else, to heal them while his daughter is dying. And then people coming to him and saying, “Don’t worry about it anymore. She’s already dead, Jesus didn’t get there on time.”
Mark 5:41–42 Encourages Us to put All our Trust in Jesus
And Jesus looked at the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus and said, “Do not fear only believe.” Trust that Jesus has all authority, that Jesus has all wisdom, that Jesus loves you, that Jesus is working in the middle of all this for your good and for others good and for his glory and as a result, you can trust the one whom the wind and the waves obey, the one who causes demons to flee. The one who reigns his Lord over disease and even death itself. He is your savior.Jesus is your friend. He is your God.
So we praise you, Jesus, for your authority over all things. We praise you as the one who has risen from the dead and who has ascended to heaven, who is at the father’s right hand, right now, interceding for us in a world of natural disasters, in a world of demons and evil spirits warring against our souls, in a world of disease and in a world of deaths. We praise you that your Lord over all these things and we say together today, we trust in you. God, I pray Mark 5:36 over people who are struggling to trust in you right now. Oh, that they would hear you saying, even right now, “Do not fear only believe. Trust in me.”
God, I pray that you would help them to trust in you today and tomorrow and the next day, no matter what comes. Knowing that you have conquered death and that when each of us loses our breath, that we will not die. We will live. That you are the resurrection and the life. That you will raise us up to be with you forever. All glory be to your name, Jesus. Help us to proclaim this good news in a fallen world, in a sinful world. Help us proclaim this in a world filled with natural disasters, diseases, demons, and death.
Praying for the Bosniak People
God, we pray for the Bosniak people of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Croatia and different places. God, we pray for the spread of resurrection life among the Bosniak people of the world. Show all for your glory, Lord Jesus, as the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth. We trust in you. And we pray all of this in your name according to your word in Mark :41–42. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
