Clearing the Scene: Mark 5:37-40

Sometimes God’s power is meant for an intimate setting.  Jesus only brings along 3 disciples when He goes to Jairus’ house.  We don’t really know why.  It could be that the others weren’t spiritually ready for what Jesus was about to do.  It could be that Jesus asked them to pacify the crowd with some of His other teachings so they would be less inclined to follow Him.  It could be that He needed them to physically bar the crowd from following.  Perhaps the other disciples weren’t even present.  The reality is we don’t know.  Our best guess is pure speculation.

What’s interesting, though, is that while Jesus limits the number of His followers, there are plenty of people at Jairus’ house waiting.  They make a grand show of their mourning.  Mark calls it a commotion.  They impress upon Jairus how upset they are that his daughter died.

Without trying to be callous or accusatory, there are enough clues in this passage to indicate the mourners are there for reasons other than genuine grief.  First, in those days you wouldn’t find large crowds of distraught people wailing in public over the death of a young girl.  Sure, the parents might be distraught.  Losing a child is never easy.  If they were still alive, the grandparents of the young girl might also be distraught.  There might even be a distraught aunt or even cousins if they had been particularly close – although usually family members put on a strong and resilient face when a sibling is facing a hard challenge.  In that way they can be a help during a tough time.  It feels odd to have this many distraught people mourning.

Second, the mourning is relatively public.  People who are truly grieving tend to put on a steady face in public and genuinely mourn in private.  Grieving is an incredibly intimate act; most people do it in intimate settings.

Third, Mark calls it a commotion. I doubt Mark would use such a callous description of a scene of genuine mourning.  Jesus Himself calls it a commotion.  I can’t imagine Jesus looking into the eyes of grieving people and claiming their actions are a commotion.

Finally, when Jesus tells the people that the girl is only sleeping, they laugh at Him.  I can’t imagine what it feels like to believe someone is dead and then have someone tell me they are just sleeping.  I don’t believe, however, that laughter is a common reaction in such a situation.  Genuine mourners might be horrified.  They might think Jesus was being blasphemous.  Or, they might see Jesus’ words as an offering of hope, clinging desperately to any hint of life.  The laughter of the mourners strikes me as disingenuous.

This is likely a public display put on by people who want Jairus to see them mourning.  Jesus turns and puts them out.  This isn’t for them.  They aren’t ready to see God’s miracle happen.  Sometimes God’s power is meant for an intimate setting.