5:38,39
In the middle east people get much more emotional about death than we do in the west, at least outwardly. There were even professional mourners. So when Jesus went into the room there was a great commotion, with people wailing loudly. Jesus questioned them, asking why all the commotion. He also told them why there was no need for all the noise, for the girl was not dead. When Jesus gets involved in a situation all previous assumptions go out of the window.
5:40,41
The mourners thought Jesus was mad and just laughed at Him. Jesus took charge of the situation, turning the mourners out, so only the girl’s parents and the three disciples were left. We need to get used to the world saying “it won’t work”. We also need to not be intimidated by the world. Jesus the spoke to the girl, and Mark gives the words in Aramaic, and the Greek translation. Jesus told the girl to get up.
5:42,43
The girl immediately got up. As the mourners had all been utterly convinced that she was dead she must have been either actually dead, or at best in a severe coma. The healing Jesus brought was immediate and complete. Mark mentions that she was twelve years old. It doesn’t seem clear why this was mentioned, though twelve was the minimum age at which a girl could marry under Jewish custom, and it was thought to be a particular tragedy if someone died before that age. Jesus told the parents not to tell anyone. This seems rather odd, as people would know the state the girl was in before Jesus went in, and that she was now fully alive.
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